Orissa sets target of 22 lakh tonnes crop in rabi season

Faced with extensive damage to the kharif crop due to unseasonal rain during the harvesting period in December, Orissa government today targeted production of about 22 lakh tonnes crop during the rabi cultivation.

Besides targeting production of 14.5 lakh tonnes of paddy, the state government also set a target of producing 7.32 lakh tonnes of pulses and 621 tonnes of oil seeds during the rabi crop, said state Agriculture Minister Damodar Rout.

In a bid to supply required volume of water for irrigation, the government also decided to dig at least 12,000 borewell for use of ground water for agriculture purpose.

While the water resources department was given a target of digging 8,000 borewells, the Agriculture Department would ensure that 4,000 such wells were put in place by June, Rout said.

Even as there was large damage to the paddy crop during the kharif crop due to unseasonal rain, Rout claimed that mazie production was more than satisfactory in parts of Orissa.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

It was also decided that the state should develop its own potential to produce pulse seeds instead of depending on other states.

"The seeds could be produced in PPP (public-private-partnership) mode," said a senior official.