Under a programme of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Department Gobarddhan Debta cum the nodal officer visited Sambalpur and neighbouring districts to have direct interaction with farmers and also the officials of the department.
The main aim of his visit was to discuss with the farmers as to the way they have utilized the KALIA fund received from State Government and how far it had been helpful for their financial upliftment.
He met farmers at Sersuantal on Sindurpank-Parmanpur road and had a long discussion with them to collect direct information from them from KALIA. He made a video recording of the statements of the farmers as documentation.
Since there was scanty rainfall at the beginning of the rainy season, he asked the famers as to the preliminary crop loss and the problems they faced thereafter due to the drought like situation.
He also made a review meeting in the office of the Deputy Director of Agriculture where all the senior officials of departments like Horticulture, Watershed management, Soil conservation, MARKFED, Cooperative and Fisheries etc were present.
The Deputy Secretary wanted to know about the stock position of fertilisers and pesticides for the current season and asked officials to ensure that the farmers do not face any scarcity during the peak period. He also discussed with the officers of the Cooperative Department as to the agricultural loan disbursed to the farmers and any problem they faced for this particular purpose.
The Deputy Secretary asked the progress of all departments on the works assigned to them for increasing the income of the farmers to a satisfactory extent so that they could depend more on agriculture. He asked the watershed management officials to meet the target.
The concerned officials informed the nodal officer as to the activities done after the visit of the Agriculture Minister to the district. Notably, Debta has been appointed as the nodal officer for Sambalpur, Bargarh and Baudh districts to look after the progress in agricultural development activities and increasing farmers’ income.