Bhubaneswar: Attending the inaugural function of the five-day Krushi Odisha conclave here, agriculture experts Tuesday said Odisha needs to do a lot to minimize the production cost to ensure that farmers can get maximum benefit.
Speaking at the session, chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) Vijay Paul Sharma said, “The cost of agri production in Odisha is slightly higher than that in Punjab. But the productivity level is far behind compared to Punjab. So, cost of agri production is almost half than that of Punjab. The basic issue as far as Odisha is concerned is to reduce the cost of production and there is huge scope for this.”
There is a need to diversify the activities from agriculture to horticulture and fishery to strengthen the market infrastructure, Sharma suggested.
This aside, the policy makers should also think about post farming losses and availability of state-of-the-art technology to the farmers, the agriculture expert said.
Appreciating the KALIA scheme, Sharma said that it is inclusive in nature and would benefit the farmers of Odisha immensely.
Renowned agricultural economist and former CACP chairman Ashok Gulati said, “Odisha has done a commendable job for farmers but bigger change awaits Odisha. The level of the farmers’ income in Odisha is still 1/3rd of that of farmers in Punjab. There is a lot of ground to be covered. The state also suffers from malnutrition issue. The income of farmers should be augmented with to curb malnutrition.”
In addition, the state needs to take steps for providing irrigation facilities to all farmers, Gulhati said.
When asked about the state’s demand for an increase in paddy MSP, Gulhati said, “The paddy MSP should be one for the entire country and it cannot be changed for one state. If the MSP is hiked, states like Punjab will produce only paddy and it will be the gainer. Therefore, states like Chhattisgarh and Odisha should give bonus to farmers, if they feel that the cost of production is high.”
Both the experts praised the state government for launching KALIA scheme. The scheme can be act as light house to the nation to help the farmers, who are in distress, the scientist stated.
