‘Krushak Melas need to be more informative for farmers’

BHUBANESWAR: State MSME minister Prafulla Samal on Friday said Krushak Mela should be more informative for the farmers. He said this while attending the concluding session of TOP (Tomato, Onion and Potato) Expo and summit organized jointly by Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and state government.
Samal said eminent experts of agriculture sector should take part in these melas and tell farmers about important aspects of farming in local languages for easy understanding.“Krushak Mela has been organized in every district. But participation of farmers is very low. Because, we have to make them understand about farming through local language,” he added.
He said around 90 per cent of farming community in Odisha are small and marginal farmers. State government has taken various measures for the development of agriculture and allied sectors. Budgetary outlay of agriculture and allied sectors has increased from Rs 7,162 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 14,930 crore during 2017-18, he added.
Development commissioner of the state Asit Tripathy stressed on rotation farming in the state. He urged farmers to produce exportable agriculture commodity. “Farmers of the villages, which have better connectivity with big towns, should try to tap nearest big markets to make their income sustainable,” he added.
During the expo, around 10 firms and companies have shown their interest to invest in the agriculture and food sector of Odisha. Among others, director of agricultural marketing, Odisha, Ravindra Pratap Singh, convener of ICC Sriram Panda, farmers, NGOs, companies and traders attended the two-day expo.