BHUBANESWAR: The state government and Bill &
Melinda Gates
Foundation (BMGF) on Friday inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with an aim to improve the lives of small farmers and also to promote inclusive agricultural transformation.
The
Gates Foundation
would help the state government for expansion of biofortified crops for better harvesting, crop diversification, developing joint programmes on soil diagnostics and generating evidence on policy issues pertaining to farmers’ income, land and women in agriculture.
Initially, the foundation would develop a data management system, a digital platform that would help the state agriculture department to make policies and interventions accordingly. The project will combine data from government sources into a single platform also to help the department monitor and improve its work.
“Though the platform, we would be in a position to know about the variety of crop used by different districts, utilization of fertilizers, water availability, land types and production details. It would be a GIS-enabled platform. If we would get real time data on various issues, we would design policies accordingly,” said agriculture secretary Manoj Ahuja.
The agriculture secretary would head an advisory committee that would monitor its effective implementation. According to the MoU, the Gates foundation would invest nearly Rs 32 crore for the project, official sources said.
Under the project, the state government may also set up a call centre in the later stage to provide real time information to the farmers.
Agriculture director Hari Ballav Mishra and Nick Austin, director of agriculture development of the Gates foundation signed in the MoU in presence of chief minister Naveen Patnaik. Agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy was also present on the occasion.
“The state government is committed for development of agriculture and allied sector in the state. The MoU will bring improvement on the livelihood of small and marginal farmers,” Naveen said on the occasion.
According to 2011 census, Odisha had 41.04 lakh cultivators and 64.40 lakh agricultural labourers. Over 70 per cent people in Odisha depend on agriculture of which 80 per cent are small and marginal farmers.
Start a Conversation
Post comment