Orissa government has decided to extend farm loans to the tune of Rs 9,165 crore during the 2010 kharif. It has set 74.64 lakh tonnes food grain production target for the season. The total farm loan disbursement was Rs 3945 crore and the food grain production was 73.58 lakh tonnes during 2009.
The state agriculture minister, Damodar Rout, told FE the state government has taken three-pronged strategies to improve the productivity as well over all production during the kharif 2010. Besides the enhancement in farm loan, the government is proposing to implement ?Sri? system of farming under the National Agriculture Development Programme (NADP), and to introduce e-pest surveillance to protect the crops during the season, the minister said.
The state has set a target of covering a total of 62800 acres under the Sri system at the rate of 10 acres in each of the gram panchyat. The self help groups (SHGs) will be involved in the implementation of the scheme besides the farmers, agriculture officers and the agriculture science centers. Under the kharif programme, a total area of 58.48 lakh hectares out of the total 61.50 lakh hectares cultivable land in the state is expected to be covered this year.
To save the crop from pest attacks, the government has decided to introduce e-pest surveillance system from this kharif season. The e-surveillance system, which will be introduced in 13 districts to start with, is expected to save at least 2.5 quintal of grains per hectare. Last year, crop over 40,000 hectares was damaged due to attack by swarming caterpillars in the state.
As part of the kharif strategy for 2010, the state government is also proposing to increase paddy seed replacement rate to 21.95% from 18.90% in 2009, crop diversification from paddy to remunerative crops, increase in use of fertilizer to 78 kg per hectare from 58 kg in 2009, and timely pre-positioning of the inputs like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, implements etc.
The minister said the State Seed Corporation has been directed to expedite the supply of seeds to the farmers as the monsoon is expected to arrive in time this year. Till now, 1.82 lakh quintal of paddy seeds have been supplied to the districts, Dr Rout said, adding 82,000 quintals would be supplied very soon.
While the total paddy seed requirement in the state is 24-25 lakh quintals, the state government is only able to supply 10 to 15% of it to the farmers. Last season, the total government supply was 4 lakh quintals.