Bhubaneswar: Krushi Odisha 2023, organised by Odisha government’s Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment jointly with Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), ended on Saturday with Governor Prof. Ganeshi Lal addressing the valedictory session.
Prof. Lal said civilisation started off with agriculture and the super-structure of civilisation is based on agriculture.
He urged farmers to benefit from all schemes announced by Odisha government and help the state prosper further in the area of agriculture.
“Only a farmer can do the magic in agriculture,” he said.
The Governor stressed on the need for coordinated effort from all stakeholders to help farming community tide over the challenges they have been facing.
Praising the KALIA scheme, Prof. Lal remarked that the scheme has proved to be a game-changer for income security of farmers.
The Governor launched India’s first AI Chatbot for agriculture sector Ama KrushAI, which will run under pilot project with above 10,000 farmers and will be implemented fully in the next two months.
Ama KrushAI chatbot will help the farmers with best agronomic practices, government schemes and loan products from more than 40 commercial and cooperative banks.
Ranendra Pratap Swain, Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment and Fisheries & ARD, said that agriculture is the only sector which was not halted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Odisha is now self-sufficient in many crops. The state is 4th largest rice producer of the country. We are near self-sufficient in milk, egg and fisheries,” he said.
“Our sincere effort will help bring down the cost of farming. To achieve this goal, we need farm mechanisation,” added the minister, urging farmers to use new machine and technology.
Basanti Hembram, Minister of Women & Child Development and Mission Shakti, said observed that agriculture is livelihood for 70% of the population.
“Government is giving primary importance to agriculture and development of farmers. She said that our other focus areas are KALIA, Balaram scheme, nutritional foods and commercialisation of agriculture,” said Hembram.
The 3-day event saw more than 20,000 farmers and agri-entrepreneurs from across the state taking part.
