Agriculture Production Commissioner Ajay Singh on Friday said that a hike of two per cent had been made in the cropping area in the Bastar region.
Singh was chairing a review meeting on the progress of work during the Rabi 2012-13 season and the Kharif 2013 season at the divisional headquarters here .
He informed in the meeting that there had been a rise in production achieved in cultivation of ‘hybrid maize’ and there are many farmers who have happily adopted the new agricultural technique for the crop in Bastar region.
The Agricultural Production Commissioner also informed in the meeting that emphasis had also been paid on production of vegetables besides cashew as per the climatic condition of the Bastar region.
He said that the farmers in Bastar region would be encouraged to adopt the ‘Drip Irrigation Technique’ for farming.
Singh directed the officials to prioritise the task of distributing seeds and fertilizers to the farmers for achieving the targetted agricultural production in the prescribed time frame.
He said that the Government distributes various agricultural implements to the farmers under various schemes by offering grants.
Singh directed that short-term training programme for farmers must be organised for imparting information on superior farming techniques and the timely use of fertilizers.
The Agriculture Production Commissioner said that the farmers attending the training camps in the South Bastar region of Dantewada and Bijapur would be offered a total of five tractors for tilling land using agricultural implements.
The tractor would also be utilised for executing work of the farmers besides tilling their land, he said.
Singh directed a higher level official of Agricultural Engineering Department to arrange for tractors in the South Bastar region.
Proposal to manufacture ice cream and custard from custard apple Kanker District Collector Ms Alarmelmagai D. and Deputy Director, Agriculture Department, Nageshwarlal Pandey , in the meeting, expressed the possibility of setting up food processing units under the Public Private Partnership model keeping in view the ample cultivation of custard apple in Kanker district.
They suggested that if the machine to draw the pulp of custard apple is made available then there is immense possibility of promoting small scale food processing units in the Kanker region under PPP model.
Terming the proposal as affirmative, Singh said that the technology is available and the unit could be established in Kanker by finding out where the machine is manufactured while directing to take appropriate action in their regard.
It was informed in the meeting by MARKFED Managing Director Surendra Jaiswal that there was sufficient availability of fertilizers this year and keeping in view the demand for fertilizers as per number of farmers families in the division suitable arrangements would be made for their distribution.
Jaiswal informed that the State government has developed a ‘Fertilizer Monitoring System’ (FMS) and the concerned officers can make superior fertilizers distribution arrangement with the use of the system.
The meeting today was attended by all seven district collectors of the division besides officials from Agriculture, Horticulture and other departments.