By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Agriculture Minister Dr. Arun Sahoo was on Monday said a total of 61.80 lakh Hectare land will be cultivated during Kharif-2020. The target was to cultivate rice in 36.55 lakh Hectare, moong, Biri, and cereals in 8 lakh Hectare, groundnut and sesame in 3.81 lakh Hectare, maize in 2.70 lakh Hectare, cotton in 1.80 lakh Hectare and vegetable in 5.60 Hectare of land. Dr Sahoo said the government has decided to provide crop loans to the tune of Rs 7500 crore during Kharif 2020 through Cooperative Credit Societies.
Addressing a review meeting of officials at Lok Seva Bhavan here Dr Sahoo said an ambitious programme for the production of 96 lakh Metric Tons of food grain during Kharif-2020 season has been drawn up by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment.The minister said WhatsApp groups have been formed by involving 100 to 200 farmers and they will be sent video clips and messages relating to agricultural info from time to time.
Unveiling Kharif Programme 2020, the Minister said the farmers will be covered through crop insurance. Development commissioner Suresh Chandra Mohapatra stressed that the farmers should rely more on the use of biofertilizer to boost production.
