BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Friday criticised the Odisha government stating that farmers in the state were neither provided right pesticides nor properly trained to fight the pest attack menace. Shekhawat who was in the city to attend two-day AgriVikas conclave at SOA university campus said that though Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) researchers had warned about possible pest menace and suggested preventive measures the agriculture department of the state government couldn't sensitise farmers about it.
"Farmers of Odisha were in serious trouble last year. There was a drought in 12 districts on one side and there was a menace of brown plant hoppers in 12 districts the other side," Shekhawat said during his address at the AgriVikas - 2018 conclave.
"When I visited the state to take stock of the situation, I ordered an enquiry into the quality of pesticides farmers were provided to fight the menace," Shekhawat said, adding, "It was found that less than 10 per cent of these pesticides were genuine."
"Of the 200 sample bottles of pesticides collected, reports revealed 68 per cent worked as a nutrient for the pests. Only 10 percent of the remaining samples were found useful while the remaining were spurious," he said. The union minister further said that while ICAR had suggested preventive measures and had provided printed brochures for distribution among farmers to the state Agriculture department, during his interaction with farmers in four districts he found no such sensitisation has been done and no printed materials have been distributed.
Shekhawat asked Agriculture scientists and researchers to come forward to bring change in Agriculture sector. He said that given the resources available in Odisha it can be the land of second Agriculture revolution. "While the first Agriculture revolution was production centric, this time it should be market-centric," he said.
Union minister for MSME Giriraj Singh who attended the programme also criticised the Odisha government. Stating that many youths from Odisha are going outside in search of jobs, he said the present government in the state is in deep slumber.
Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan who was the chief guest of the event said AgriVikas programme will help in enhancing capacity building of farmers and promoting Agri-entrepreneurship.