Bhubaneswar: The state government, as part of its 5T initiative, has prepared an online database of 76 lakh farmers which will help it in the disbursement of various benefits to the farmers.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Friday, launched various online programmes of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment including the database of the farmers of the state. Naveen asked the officials concerned to complete verification of database within 100 days.
He said that it is a great effort to set up a database of farmers in Odisha.
The government has also decided to provide identity cards to the registered farmers. This will allow farmers to reap the benefits of various schemes and services very soon.
The Chief Minister said that he wanted the farmers of the state to avail all government benefits at their doorstep without visiting various government offices frequently. “Today, the 5T initiatives have made it a success,” he said.
The launching of Krushak Odisha, allotment of online licence to input dealers, online certificate system for OUAT students and Dakshata app for field-level agriculture staffers will directly connect the farmers with the department, the Chief Minister said.
Stating that everyone should work together for the development of agriculture and farmers of the state, the CM said agriculture is the backbone of the state economy and it has emerged as biggest hope during this Covid-19 pandemic.
He also congratulated the farming community as the state is expecting a bumper crop this year.
During the event, agriculture officials and farmers of Nuapada and Ganjam districts shared their experiences on the success of government schemes.
In 2014, crop information was provided to only 50,000 farmers. Now, about 10 lakh farmers are provided information on 15 crops.
On the occasion, Agriculture Minister Arun Sahoo said that under the direction of the Chief Minister, his department is continuing its efforts towards improvement of agriculture and farmers. The department is strictly adhering to the 5T initiative, he said.
Among others, Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy, Development Commissioner SC Mohapatra, agriculture production commissioner RK Sharma, department secretary Sourav Garg and secretary to CM (5T) VK Pandian were participated in the programme.