Rain cloud over paddy stock in open mandis in Odisha Kalahandi.

With Met office forecasting rain from first week of June, farmers of Kalahandi district apprehend heavy loss of their paddy crop which is lying in the open at various mandis. 50 per cent of paddy crop have been harvested and brought to mandis or procurement centres. Of the total 89 mandis opened so far, 45 do not have permanent shed or store house. As a result, the hundreds of bags of paddy have been dumped in the open. Kalahandi administration has set a target to procure 16 lakh quintals of rabi paddy and toll date, 9,204 quintals have been procured from 125 farmers through 27 mandis of PACS.