With the monsoon arriving in time and Weather Department forecasting a normal monsoon, the State Government has drawn up an ambitious plan to maximise seed replacement and improve the supply of chemical fertiliser for kharif crop.
The Agriculture Department has planned to increase the seed replacement rate to 30.56 per cent as against 21.64 per cent last year.
Estimating the total paddy seed requirement at 26 lakh quintals, the department is making arrangement to supply over 6.67 lakh quintals of certified seeds to the farmers.
“Arrangement has been made to supply 6.91 quintals of quality seeds of different crops during the current kharif and seed production programme will continue through seed village programme,” Agriculture and Food Production Director RS Gopalan told this paper.
He said district-wise target has been given for production of certified seeds with Ganjam district being given highest traget of 57,000 quintals followed by 39,000 quintals to Puri district. It has been planned to produce over 7.68 lakh quintals of quality paddy seeds.
The State achieved an all time high foodgrain production of 115.37 lakh tonnes during 2012-13 kharif despite drought in four districts.
Expecting a normal monsoon, the State Government has set a moderate target for producing 100.69 lakh tonnes of foodgrain including 84 lakh tonnes of rice.
After the third revised estimate on food grain production, the State Government claimed a record rice production of over 94 lakh tonnes during last kharif.
In a recent advisory to the district collectors, the Government asked them to give emphasis on low monetary inputs like adoption of better agronomic practices such as line sowing, line transplanting, irrigation at critical stages of crop growth and need based plant protection measures for better productivity.
The district collectors have been advised to ensure timely distribution of fertiliser to the farmers and take adequate measures to check black marketing during the peak demand for chemical fertiliser.
While the average fertiliser consumption in the State during last kharif was 59 kg per hectare, the Department has set a target to increase the consumption level to 86 kg per hectare.
As the fertiliser consumption is very less in the State compared to the national average, the Ministry of Agriculture has asked the Government to bring the consumption level to at least 35 per cent.
