Keonjhar: Keonjhar Collector Ashish Thakare has received the award for ‘Best Performing District on Innovative Initiatives Category’ for the initiatives undertaken in the district for promotion of Odisha Millets Mission funded under DMF Keonjhar.
Thakare received the award from Ranendra Pratap Swain on the occasion of Mandia Dibasa on Thursday.
The Keonjhar admin has been promoting millets cultivation and consumption by taking several initiatives including first millets processing unit, exclusive millets shakti café, inclusion of ragi ladoo in AWC under ICDS and recently launched Ragi ladoo in SSD Hostels of the district.
A Special Programme for Promotion of Millets in Tribal-cum-Mining Areas of Keonjhar was initiated in Keonjhar district as an extension of the Odisha Millets Mission in December 2018. It was a five-year programme funded by the District Mineral Foundation of Keonjhar covering mining-affected villages of 7 blocks in the districts viz. Banspal, Champua, Joda, Jhumpura, Harichandanpur, Hatadihi and Sadar.
The extension and expansion of OMM for next 5 years i.e. from 2022-23 to 2026-27 was approved in HPC meeting under the chairmanship of DC-cum-ACS, Govt of Odisha on 24.12.21 and the Go ahead was issued by DAFP on 11.03.2022. It was also decided that 4 new blocks will be included viz. Telkoi, Patna, Saharpada and Ghatagaon in the district under OMM.
In Keonjhar District, the mining affected villages are being targeted for the project as the programme is supported by District Mineral Foundation, Keonjhar. A total area of 7000 Ha has been planned to be covered over a span of five years.
To help farmers move from broadcasting (which has very low yield) to more remunerative practices, monetary incentives are provided to farmers via Direct-Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode on successful cultivation of millets through “Improved Agronomic Practices”. The package of improved agronomic practices includes the following support:
Kharif crop coverage Keonjhar as on 22-23- total outreach of farmers of 4020 in 88 GPs and the area coverage was 1822.64 Ha. in 7 mining affected Blocks.
Through Custom-Hiring Centres (CHCs) that are set-up in each block, small farm implements like cycle weeders, markers, sprayers, pump-sets, pipes, etc. are made available to the farmers on hiring basis. These centres are managed by Community Based Organizations (CBOs) like women’s SHGs or Farmers Groups or FPOs.
The Government of Odisha has procured Ragi at the MSP of Rs 3377/- per quintal to support Ragi growing farmers for surplus Ragi produced. TDCCOL is the state procurement agency for the programme while a Millet-Procurement Automation System (M-PAS) has been developed for online farmers’ registration, which is facilitated by the Facilitating Agencies (FAs) and CRPs supported under the programme.
Ragi Procurement under Kharif Marketing Season (KMS), Keonjhar for the FY 2021-22: 2392 quintals.
Four Ragi Laddus per week per student have been provided as a morning snack to pre-school children (between 3 to 6 years) enrolled under ICDS in Keonjhar district, over and above the existing menu.
One Millet Shakti Café at Collectorate, Keonjhar has been launched as a joint venture between Odisha Millets Mission and Mission Shakti. Millets-based hot cooked items, millet drinks, bakery products, ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat products are available at the café.