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Statesman reports on several strategies that were discussed on agriculture and horticulture. Following are some excerpts of that report.

The government has decided to encourage contract farming in cotton and has fixed a target of covering 60,000 hectors under such contract farming during 2007-08. To ensure renumerative price for cotton growers, two additional mandis will be set up in Ganjam and Gajapati districts.

With floriculture having tremendous potential in the state, the government has planned a mandi in Bhubaneswar. Among other proposals discussed today were the steps to encourage organic farming in Phulbani district and aromatic rice in Koraput district. Women Self Help Groups will be encouraged to undertake fishery activities.
Simultaneously, measures to train farmers will be stepped up. Last year, over 23,000 farmers were trained and over the next four years, another 3.32 lakh farmers will be trained, said official sources.

Cashew, mango and banana will be promoted and targets for such plantations were fixed for 2007-08. Primary seed replacement, seed production and other measures in this regard were also discussed.

PRESS RELEASE 29.05.2007 (CM ATTENDS NDC MEETING)

GOVERNMENT OF ORISSA

PRESS RELEASE

New Delhi

May 29, 2007

NAVEEN PATNAIK DEMANDS HIGHER ALLOCATION FOR ORISSA

TO CORRECT THE NEGLECT OF THE CENTRE

Speaking at the 53rd meeting of the National Development Council in their special session on Food and Agriculture, the Chief Minister, Shri Naveen Patnaik today demanded that the historical neglect for Eastern States like Orissa should be corrected during the 11th Plan.The advanced States of the country have had the benefit of huge public investment in irrigation and other related infrastructure in the past and the Eastern States have lost out in this race, he said. He pointed out that the various Working Groups on Agriculture have observed that the Eastern region has the maximum potential for agricultural growth during the 11th Five Year Plan and therefore region specific programmes based on the specific requirements of the different agro-climatic zones should be drawn up instead of uniform nation-wide schemes of one-size-fit-all variety.

Since irrigation is the key in agricultural growth, he suggested that Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) should have a large outlay and include not only major and medium irrigation projects but should also be extended to minor and lift irrigation projects.

For those lands which cannot be provided with assured irrigation, he suggested that a massive programme should be drawn up to cover rainfed areas on a Mission mode. He demanded that adequate funding support be provided by Government of India to the Watershed Mission of Orissa which has been set up by his Government to tackle the problems of rainfed agriculture.

He also suggested that seed production should be decentralized and seed villages encouraged so that adequate quantities of certified seeds are available to the farmers at affordable rates. He pointed out that nearly 70% of the cultivable land of Orissa is acidic in nature and transport subsidy should be provided by Government of India for gypsum and other inputs used for soil amendment.

Certain districts of Orissa such as Phulbani and Koraput have excellent potential for production of organic fruits, vegetables and spices. Since these districts are in the tribal sub-plan area, the resource-poor farmers cannot afford the high cost involved in certification of organic products. He suggested that the cost of such certification may be borne by the Government. He made a strong plea for a comprehensive crop insurance policy for cotton farmers of the State mainly in the Eastern and Southern parts of the State.

The CM also stated that farm mechanization and micro-irrigation systems are necessary in order to improve productivity of the land and timely agricultural operations. Specific schemes should be drawn up to promote a large number of cold storages in private sector with attractive incentives in the form of capital investment subsidy. Cold chain and post harvest management interventions should be put in place in order to support this sector, he added.