Bhubaeswar: The sixth meeting of Agriculture Cabinet Committee was held here on Wednesday. Matters such as Kharif crop, innovation, KALIA scheme, COVID-19 package and drought proofing were discussed in detail at the Cabinet meeting. Below are the highlights:
Response to COVID-19: Agricultural Package declared by Chief Minister
The progress on implementation of CM Package for COVID-19 were discussed in detail. The livelihood interventions for Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Department and Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Department are worked out where 24,99,850 of farmers would be benefitted with an outlay of Rs. 373.958 Crores. Till now, 8,15,793 farmers have been benefitted.
Kharif Preparedness
Kharif 2020 preparedness was discussed in detail. The programme for KHARIF – 2020 was made for 61.61 lakh hectares and at present 55.52 lakh hectares have been covered. The crop and pest situation is being monitored through e-Pest Surveillance upto GP level. The crop-pest advisories are being issued at weekly intervals by a technical team headed by OUAT through AMA KRUSHI with helpline number – 155333.
Steps are being taken for ensuring smooth supply of urea and other fertilisers with the support of GoI and through rigorous monitoring and enforcement. Farm credit amounting to Rs. 9964.47 Crores have been disbursed by the financial institutions benefitting 21 lakh farmers. 14.08 lakh farmers have been enrolled for crop insurance coverage. Actions are being taken as per the Crop Contingent plan prepared.
Innovations for better support of farmers:
A number of innovative changes has been taken for better support of farmers i.e. procurement of non-paddy crops like pulses, oil seeds, ragi, cotton and jute, weekly GP sittings by field functionaries of agriculture and allied sectors monitored by Agri-Extension App, fortnightly meeting of Block Technology Team (BTT), Geo-tagging of demonstrations and assets, onboarding of nine lakh farmers under “AMA KRUSHI” platform, formation of WhatsApp groups of farmers, implementation of Odisha Millet Mission(OMM), engagement of students of Agricultue and allied subjects as programme associates etc.
KALIA (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation)
The following two primary components of KALIA Scheme have been implemented from 2018-19:
- Support to Cultivators for Cultivation.
- Livelihood Support for Landless Agriculture Households.
An extensive verification process was started in August, 2019, along with grievance redressal mechanism which was opened on KALIA Portal with simultaneous field and State level verification to facilitate addressing the grievances of existing beneficiaries in the data base as well as inviting new applications, so that no one will be deprived of getting KALIA assistance, which is still continuing.
At present, 55,29,680 number of beneficiaries are eligible for getting KALIA assistance.
It is also programmed to implement KALIA Scholarship Programme for the children of KALIA beneficiaries on a common scholarship Platform.
BALARAM (Bhoomihina Agriculturist Loan & Resources Augmentation Model)
This Scheme has been formulated by Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Govt. of Odisha in association with NABARD. The main objective of the scheme is to augment flow of credit to farmers cultivating land as sharecroppers. The target of the scheme is to form 1 lakh Joint Liability Groups(JLGs) covering at least 5 lakh farmers mainly from among those who are share croppers using ATMA (Agricultural Technology Management Agency) platform of the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, Govt. of Odisha over the next 3 years.
Drought proofing through farm ponds
Construction of farm ponds i.e, “Every willing Farmer to have a farm pond” has been conceptualised to supplement the water scarcity during critical junctures and particularly to provide life-saving irrigation during Kharif. Concurrently the aim is also to popularise Integrated Farming Systems (IFS) which will smoothen a farmer’s income and help to counter frequent extreme weather events.
A total target of 5 lakh farm ponds in 5 years (2019-20 to 2023-24) has been fixed for this purpose. During 2019-20, 8900 no. of farm ponds were completed generating 36 lakh persondays with an expenditure of Rs.107 Crore, under MGNREGA. During 2020-21, the target is fixed for execution of 1,03,770 nos. of farm ponds which would generate around 4.51 Crore person-days with an outlay of Rs. Rs. 1,038 Crores.
DAKSHYATA : An Employee Incentive Programme under 5T
Under one of the objectives of 5T Charter of Chief Minister, Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment has launched Dakshyata – The Employee Incentive Framework to recognise and incentivise the efforts of employees towards improvement of agricultural practices and upliftment of farmers.
The performance evaluation under DAKSHYATA is based on employees’ performance across 5 broad components which are (i) Scheme implementation, (ii)5T implementation, (iii) State priorities, (iv) Risk management and (v) Mo Sarakar amongst more than 5000 employees.
Apart from grant of incentives as outlined by GA & PG Department i.e. top 1% performing Group B & C cadre employees, DA&FE Department have planned to recognize and felicitate the top 5% employees from each cadre and each district through introduction of two types of rewards i.e. Annual and Monthly recognition of top performing employees.
