Kolkata: In the backdrop of reports of indiscriminate sale of betel leaves violating the state’s directive of sticking to 70 leaves in a single guchi (collection), the state government on Saturday warned of strong legal action against such malpractice. “We are running our Sufal Bangla initiative successfully by procuring vegetables through Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO). We are ready to form similar FPOs involving the betel leaf farmers and purchase directly from them and provide marketing support and facilitate their export to other states or countries. However, there should not be disparity in a single guchi and it should be strictly 70, as decided in a meeting with all stakeholders in the month of November last year,” said Becharam Manna, Minister-in-Charge of state Agricultural Marketing department. Manna chaired a meeting in presence of senior officials of the district administration in South 24-Parganas that include MLAs from the cultivation areas, representatives from the betel leaf industry, including farmers and stockists.
Presently, 3 lakh-odd farmers in the state are associated with betel leaf cultivation. It is cultivated in some 17-odd districts in the state but the majority of the production takes place at Tamluk in East Midnapore and Kakdwip- Patharpratima in South 24-Parganas. “The farmers are sometimes given lesser amount than the highest price declared in an auction thereby depriving them. Safeguarding the interest of the farmers is the state’s top priority, hence it has been clarified that the amount announced in auction must be given to a farmer,” said Manna. MLA Patharpratima Samir Kumar Jana said that the provisions of strong legal action for violating state’s directive was there, however, the state had been adopting a lenient approach for so long. However, strict instructions have been given by the minister that ignoring the state’s directions would entail strong legal action. A similar meeting will be held at East Midnapore on June 16 from where similar irregularities have surfaced.