It was his first visit after taking the charge of Agricultural Ministry. Speaking on this occasion, Maharathy said he is moving each and every district to study and ascertain the natural problems of the farmers and also to know what farm should be set up in which district.
The Minister further expressed that he is going to the field with the departmental officials to review the reasons of the farmers' suicide. "After listening to several problems of the farmers, I came to know that mainly a farmer requires four things such as water, fertiliser, seeds and market. In order to meet these requirements, I am committed to take several initiatives," Maharathy said. For the better future of the farmers, there would be a soil testing laboratory and seed processing unit here soon, he added.
Confessing failure to check the black marketing of fertiliser, the Minister strictly instructed the District Collector to take stiff action in this regard. He further said the distribution of cheques to the beneficiary farmers who lost crop last year due to unseasonal rain would be concluded before the August 15.
Agriculture Director RS Gopalan said there is no scarcity of fertiliser in the State except Potash which is now scarce almost in every State. The Central Government is procuring Potash from other countries. Firm action would be taken against the banks which deny agricultural loans to the farmers, he assured.
Joint verification by the District Collector and Agriculture Department will be made to verify the supply of water from Bhaskal Irrigation Projects. Considering the necessity of cold storage unit, Gopalan said 40 per cent subsidy would be given to the farmers for construction of cold storage unit. Timely supply of insurance amount to the farmers would be made through Samabaya Samiti, he added.
Principal Secretary Rangalal Tamunda said fertiliser inspectors would be posted soon in each gram panchayat (GP) to prevent the black marketing of fertiliser. More lift irrigation and waterside projects would be made to meet the scarcity of water, he added.
Among others, IT& Fishery Minister Ramesh Majhi, APICOL Director Balakrishna Rath, Nabarangpur district Collector Sibabrata Dash, Nabarangpur district BJD president Jaydeb Parida, Nabarangpur MP Pradeep Majhi, Nabarangpur MLA Monahar Randhari, Umerkote NAC Chairman Jhadeswar Mohanty, NAC EO Manoranjan Panda and Tehsildar Niranjan Behera were present. According to sources, due to poor health, Umerkote MLA Jagabandhu Majhi failed to attend the meeting.
