Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has signed an MoU on management of rice fallow land with five top institutions.
The Agriculture and Farmer Empowerment department signed the agreement with IRRI, ICRISAT, ICARDA, MSSRF and AFC in presence of deputy chief minister and Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Empowerment KV Singhdeo at Krushi Bhavan in Bhubaneswar.
While the state has around 16 lakh hectare (HA) rice fallow land, the Agriculture department has started management of 70,000 HA in 2022-23. It aimed at proper use of the land and retention of its fertility.
As per the management, the department motivated the farmers to cultivate short duration crops like masur dal, green peas and mustard for maximum use of the land’s moisture after harvest of paddy crop.
With the land management turning a success in the first year, the department extended the targeted area to 3.9 lakh HA in 2023-24. It has targeted to cover 4.55 lakh HA in 2024-24 financial year to benefit more than 5 lakh farmers.
Of the targeted area, 3.45 lakh HA will be covered by the state government under CRFM and the rest 1.10 lakh HA under the Centre’s TRFA scheme.
The government signed the MoU with the five institutions to further strengthen its fallow land management and benefit more farmers.
