Small potato growers allege harassment by big farmers
BS Reporter / New Delhi/ Jalandhar Nov 12, 2009, 00:51 IST
The Potato Seed Welfare Association (PSWA) of small farmers has alleged that small-time potato growers are being harassed by the district administration, allegedly at the behest of big farmers, their godowns raided and some of the farmers even being arrested.
“Since we have emerged as competitors to the big associations, including Jalandhar Potato Growers’ Association (JPGA) and POSCON, and started sending our crop on our own to West Bengal to avoid our exploitation by the big farmers, they have started using their political influence and enabled raid on our godowns,” President of the PSWA, Jassa Singh Nagra told reporters.
“As big farmers were purchasing the crop at cheaper rate for sending it at higher rate to West Bengal, our association protested on such exploitation and decided not to sell our crop to them and instead started sending it direct to the associations of West Bengal, which irked the big farmers,” Nagra alleged complaining that in connivance with Mandi Board officials, the raids were being conducted at their godowns without having any valid reason for the same.
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