Other States   

Chatahat, a weekly market with a difference

Farmers flock the bullock market organised in Kendrapara district.

KENDRAPARA: Chatahat, a weekly market in Orissa’s Kendrapara district, now bustles with activities. Along with villagers, hundreds of bullocks congregate in the huge market spaces adjacent to National Highway-5 (A). With the new farm season about to begin, farmers are now busy in choosing bullocks of their choice before getting down to toil in agricultural fields.

Although the market looks like any other common point for a community, the volume of business turns out to be a mind-boggling one. In a single day, bullocks worth Rs. 80 lakh are exchanged, said those who control the market.

Farmers, who have nourished their young-pair of bullocks well earlier, it is time to reap the benefit. “I have come up with a pair of bullocks and quoted Rs. 35,000 for it,” Dhaneswar Sethi of Shyamsundarpur village said.

Pari Sethi, a veteran at bullock market, said depending on the health of bullock the price could go up to Rs. 40,000. The seasonal business has started to pick up in different corners of the state with sowing of paddy will get intensified within a week.

Do bullocks still hold significance in annual farm plans of Orissa at a time when State government claims that farm mechanisation has gained strength in recent years?

“Bullocks are important segment in every farm plan. Going by the land holding pattern in the State, tractors and power tillers cannot enter all the agriculture land. The land patches are small and further getting smaller. We need bullocks to cultivate these lands,” said Bijoy Kumar Sahu, dean of College of Veterinary Science in Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology.

Mr. Sahu said of the 14.2 million of cattle population, bullocks numbered 3.95 millions in the State. Since 53.6 per cent of total farmers in Orissa were small and 22.6 per cent marginal, bullocks in the State were used to cultivate 80 per cent of total agricultural land, he said.

Of late, rearing bullocks has become a costlier affair. Several farmers hire bullocks on rent. Pari Sethi too acknowledged saying at Chatahat the rent business increased over the years.

The visit to the bullock market reveals the fact that despite increased use of tractors in rural interior, bullocks are still in great demand.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Boys outshine girls in matric exams
Chatahat, a weekly market with a difference
Assault case against NCP MLA
Tension prevails in Kalinganagar
For a fair deal

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu