The State Government on Saturday announced an additional package for farmers in 18 cyclone and flood affected districts to the tune of Rs100 crore. With this, the total package for the 2013-14 Rabi campaign has been worth Rs 453 crore.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who last month had announced a special package to the twin calamity hit famers on Saturday, approved the additional benefits to stimulate agricultural growth and reaffirm the dedication of the Government for the development of farmers and their welfare and sustain their livelihood, said the Agriculture Minister Debi Prasad Mishra.
The additional package would benefit an estimated 17.39 lakh farmers in the Phailin and subsequent flood hit areas, Mishra said.
The Chief Minister’s special package to the farmers in the current Rabi season provides for supplying 4 lakh pulse kits in the affected areas to take up crop demonstration of pulse and oil seeds in one lakh hectares of land and distributing vegetable kits for 5 lakh farmers.
Further, he said the additional package envisages taking up demonstrations in 40,000 hectares of field to increase productivity of groundnut. The farmers would be provided with quality groundnut seeds at a subsidized price of Rs 35 a kg. The distribution of groundnut seeds would start from Monday next, he said.
Stating that as per a preliminary survey by the Coconut Board, as many as 15 lakh coconut trees have been damaged due to the Phailin, particularly in Ganjam, Puri, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapada districts, the Agriculture Minister said that the Government had decided to provide four seedlings of coconut to each family free of cost covering one lakh farmers in the affected districts.
Informing that a seed treatment campaign will be taken up in the affected areas, he said it was decided to cover 1 lakh hectares of paddy and 2 lakh hectares of pulses and oilseeds crops. As per the additional package, two lakh families will be provided at the rate of 10 fruit saplings – five papaya, two drumstick, three banana per family.
The Agriculture Minister said that to revive sugarcane cultivation, a special assistance for demonstration on sustainable sugarcane initiatives over 600 hectares of areas will be provided.