Super structure of civilisation based on agriculture
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Bhubaneswar, 18th February, 2023 : Governor of Odisha Prof. Ganeshi Lal today said the civilisation started off with agriculture and the super-structure of civilisation is based on agriculture. Addressing the valedictory session of ‘Krushi Odisha 2023’, organized by the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, Govt of Odisha, jointly with Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Prof. Lal urged the farmers to benefit from all schemes announced by state government and help the state to go further and prosper in the area of agriculture.
Citing, “ Only a farmer can do the magic in agriculture,” Odisha Governor stressed on the need for coordinated efforts from all the stakeholders to help farming community tide over the challenges they have been facing. Praising the KALIA scheme, Prof Lal added that the scheme has proved to be a game changer for income security of farmers.
On the session,Mr Ranendra Pratap Swain,Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment and Fisheries & ARD said that Agriculture is the only sector which was not at halt during the pandemic times.
He asserted, “Odisha is now self-sufficient in many crops. The state is 4th largest rice producer of the country. We are near self-suffient in milk, egg and fisheries.”
“Our sincere effort will become helpful to bring down the cost of farming. To achieve this goal, we need farm mechanisation,” added Mr Swain while urging the farmers to use new machine and technology in farming.
Ms Basanti Hembram, Minister, Women & Child Development and Mission Shakti, Odisha said that, “Agriculture is livelihood for seventy percent population. Government is giving primary importance to agriculture and development of farmers. She said that our other focus areas are Kalia, Balaram scheme, nutritional foods and commercialisation of agriculture.”
Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment said government focuses on farm mechanisation, crop diversification, development of allied sector and entrepreneurship development.”
Mr Suresh Kumar Vashishth, Principal Secretary, F & ARD Department said, “We have achieved significant development in animal resources and milk production. We have developed technology and showcase on cage culture, Tilapia fish and bio-floc.”
Mr T R Kesavan, Chairman, FICCI National Agriculture Committee & Group President, TAFE Ltd emphasised on input cost reduction in farming to make it water use effective. He elaborated various aspects of water efficiency in farming so that technology based agriculture can be sustainable.”
Mr Smruti Ranjan Pradhan, Director of Fisheries delivered welcome address. Mr Prem Chandra Chaudhary, Director, Agriculture and Dr Yeddula Vijay, Director of AH & VS, Mr Rama Chandra Panda, Advisor to Dept . A & FE, Odisha were also present at the dias.
During the session, the Governor also launched India’s first AI Chatbot for agriculture sector – Ama KrushAI , which will run under pilot project with above 10,000 farmers and will be implemented in full fledge in next two months.
Ama KrushAI chatbot will help the farmers with best agronomic practices, government schemes and loan products from more than 40 commercial and cooperative banks.
Organized with an aim to promote farm mechanisation and enhancement in farmers income, the 3days Krushi Odisha -2023 witnessed the attendance of more than twenty thousand farmers and agri-entrepreneurs from across the state and focused on emerging technologies in agriculture this year.
