BHUBANESWAR: With an aim to enhance the production of pulses in the state, the Odisha government on Tuesday signed an MoU with several institutes and organisations of national and international repute for implementation of comprehensive project on rice fallow management.
With around 16 lakh hectare rice fallow areas and declining soil fertility, the department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment has targeted to upscale comprehensive rice fallow management (CRFM) to 4.55 lakh hectare in the current kharif season.
The plan includes 3.45 lakh hectare under the state-funded CRFM scheme and 1.10 lakh hectare under the Central government’s targeting rice fallow area for pulses (TRFA-Pulse) and TRFA-Oilseed schemes.
“This ambitious project aims to maximise the utilisation of residual soil moisture in these areas by cultivating short-duration pulses (green gram, black gram, Bengal gram, lentil, field pea and grass pea) and oilseed crops (mustard and sesame),” deputy chief minister KV Singh Deo said after signing of the MoU.
To effectively implement the project and reach approximately 5 lakh beneficiaries across the state, Singh Deo said the department has collaborated with renowned international and national institutions such as Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centre (CGIAR), International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), and AFC India Ltd (formerly Agricultural Finance Corporation). This collaboration will facilitate the timely dissemination of critical technologies.
A crop-specific input cafeteria is developed emphasising the use of bio-based inputs and IPM (Intelligent Power Module) devices to promote sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices. At the district level, coordination has been established between the district administration, block-level extension machinery, implementing partners and facilitating agencies to streamline demonstration activities, he added.
In addition, around 2 lakh hectare acidic areas of the state are to be treated with dolomitic limestone to improve soil health and productivity. The project was implemented in 2022-23 with an initial target of 70,000 hectare and it was scaled up to 3.9 lakh hectare in 2023-24, the deputy chief minister said.
A robust real-time monitoring system including geo-tagging of demonstration clusters and maintaining an Aadhaar-seeded farm registry through the Krushak Odisha portal, was implemented to track the progress of the project.