BHUBANESWAR: Union minister for Agriculture Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday announced that a nationwide ‘Khet Bachao Abhiyan’ will be launched from June 1, with focus on balanced fertiliser use, soil health protection, adoption of modern technologies and farmers’ awareness campaign.
Inaugurating the Eastern Regional Agriculture Conference along with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi in the presence of Agriculture ministers from Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal here, Chouhan said, “The priorities before us in current situation is increasing production, reducing cultivation costs, ensuring remunerative prices, compensating losses and diversifying agriculture.”
The Union minister said that agriculture should move beyond paddy and wheat, and urged states to focus more on pulses, oilseeds, fruits, vegetables and other cash crops. Expressing concern over indiscriminate use of fertilisers, the minister said excessive application without soil testing damages soil fertility and increases input costs. He appealed to all the states to encourage farmers to adopt natural farming practices on at least a portion of their land.
Describing fake fertilisers, substandard seeds and counterfeit pesticides as “serious crimes against farmers”, he said strict action and stronger laws were necessary to protect cultivators. He also stressed that integrated farming should move beyond slogans and become a practical, field-level model. Combining crop cultivation with horticulture, fisheries, animal husbandry, beekeeping and agro-forestry could significantly benefit small and marginal farmers, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Majhi said that Odisha being an agrarian state is committed to making agriculture more inclusive, climate resilient and farmer-centric. He also informed that Odisha is working extensively on pulses production, edible oil self-reliance, crop diversification and expansion of cultivation. He highlighted the farmer-centric initiatives of his government including paddy procurement, CM-Kisan assistance, crop insurance, mechanisation, FPO strengthening and cold storage expansion.
Union ministers of state for Agriculture Bhagirath Choudhary and Ramnath Thakur, deputy chief minister and Agriculture minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, Agriculture ministers of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and officials of the eastern states were present.