Bhubaneswar: In another step towards enhancing farmers’ income in the State, 62 blocks of 12 districts have been brought under the orbit of millet mission. The activities of the Mission were reviewed by Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi over a video conferencing with the concerned Collectors yesterday afternoon. Emphasizing on the mission, Chief Secretary Sri Padhi said that millet cultivation while adding to nutritional security would result in enhancement of the farmers’ income significantly.
He directed the collectors to finalize the action plan and
register the millet farmers for field demonstration activities. Development Commissioner Sri R. Balakrishnan advised to identify in advance the storage and procurement points for millets in concerned districts. Review revealed that last year 30 blocks in 7 districts namely Rayagada, Nuapada, Malkangiri, Koraput,
Kandhmal, Kalahandi and Gajpati were included in the Mission. In the meanwhile, the mission has extended its activities to other 25 blocks of 4 districts namely Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj, Bolangir and Ganjam. Seven blocks in Keonjhar district have also been brought under its orbit through initiatives of district administration. The proposal for further extension the programme to some blocks of Bargarh and Nabarangpur district was also
discussed in the meeting.
Principal Secretary Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment Sri Saurav Garg appraised that Farmer’s Interaction and Advisory Centers ( FIACs) have been operationalized at all block and GP levels involving the field level officers of 6 departments like Agriculture, Panchayatiraj, Water resources, Cooperation , Food supplies & consumer welfare and Fisheries & Animal Resource development.
The VLAW has been directed to make himself available on a specific day in GP office for having interaction with farmers and resolve the issues then and there. The block level FIACs must meet each fortnight to discuss the issues forwarded by the VLAWs and farmers and resolve those at their level. The issues requiring higher level intervention should immediately be communicated to proper quarter accordingly. Chief Secretary Padhi directed to conduct the FIAC meetings regularly and resolve the issues relating to agriculture on property basis.
The provisions and compliances of contingent matters like pre positioning of fertilizers and seeds, enrollment of
farmers for crop insurance, special emphasis on enrolment of non-loanee farmers, strict vigil to monitor pest
situation, vigil over any crop damage and taking amelioratory measures, timely dissemination of crop advisories
etc were also reviewed in the meeting.
Principal Secretary Cooperation Smt Ranjana Chopra, Director Agriculture Sri Muthukumar along with senior
officers of the concerned departments participated in the video conferencing.
Comments are closed.