New Delhi: NITI Aayog, the apex public policy think tank of the Indian Government, has lauded the role of Odisha Millet Mission (OMM) in boosting ragi production in Koraput district.
The Odisha Millet Mission boosted ragi production in Koraput district of Odisha while creating new income opportunities for the farmers. Earlier, due to low productivity, the farmers of Lamtaput block grew ragi for household consumption only, NITI Aayog said.
Under the Aspirational Blocks Programme, incentives were provided to farmers to adopt innovative agronomic practices promoted by organizations like PRADAN and Koraput Nari Shakti Farmers Producers Company (KNSFPCL). Staggered nurseries and the System of Millet Intensification (SMI) have been encouraged to mitigate the effects of erratic rainfall on finger millets.
As a result, farmers have experienced higher productivity, allowing them to meet their consumption needs and sell the surplus in the market, including the government Mandi to take advantage of the Minimum Support Price (MSP), it added.
Odisha Millet Mission, a flagship programme of Department of Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment, Government of Odisha, aims at large scale revival of the indigenous the millets in farms and on plates.
In the first phase of implementation (2017-18), the programme was operational in 30 blocks across seven districts (Gajapati, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nuapada and Rayagada) and is subsequently, expanded to 65 blocks in 11 districts. In the second and third phase the programme reached out to 84 blocks in 15 districts during the year 2021-22.
Further it has been extended to 142 blocks of 19 districts during 2022-23.
Currently, the State Government has increased its area of Implementation from 142 blocks in 19 districts to 177 blocks in all the 30 Districts from 2023-24 onwards.
Comments are closed.