The Centre has decided to provide 10.75 lakh tonnes of fertilisers to Odisha as per its demand for the current Kharif season and to provide support for enhancing sugarcane cultivation under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM)-Commercial Crops.
Earlier, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had urged Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh to raise the fertiliser quota and to include Odisha under the NFSM-Commercial Crops in view of huge crop loss due to drought.
The Ministry of Fertilizer conveyed to the State Government about the revised feretiliser quota, sources said. The State would now get 5.25 lakh tonnes of urea instead of earlier allocaition of 4.80 lakh tonnes. Other allocated fertilizers include 2.50 lakh tonnes of complex fertilisers, 1.60 lakh tonnes of DAP, 90,000 tonnes of MOP and 50,000 tonnes of SSP.
According to official sources, the Agriculture Ministry has already provided Rs40 lakh to the State Government towards sugarcane cultivation under the NFSM-Commercial Crops.
Besides, the Union Agriculture Minister has decided to send a team of officers to the State to assess situation for enhancement of allocation for cashew plantation from the Directorate of Cashew and Cocoa Development (DCCD).
Cashew plantations are now being undertaken in 1.60 lakh hectares of land in Odish and 1.10 lakh tonnes of raw cashew nuts are being produced annually.
More than 50 Percent of the existing cashew plantations in Odisha are old and senile and the productivity from these plantations is decreasing gradually. Moreover, huge extent of plantation has been damaged due to the cyclone Phailin in 2013.
Keeping this in view, there is need to promote new cashew plantations and also replace old and senile plantations with financial assistance from the DCCD, urged the State Government.
A Central team led by Additional Secretary of Agriculture Ministry Ashok Dalwai would visit the State soon for this purpose, official sources said.