Odisha farmers, officials to visit Malaysia on 7-day international exposure tour

Bhubaneswar, April 18 (IANS) The officials of Odisha's Department of Agriculture & Farmers' Empowerment (DA & FE) department, along with farmers, will embark on a 7-day international exposure visit to Malaysia.

The visit has been organised under the Odisha Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture(OIIPCRA) by the state Agriculture department, the Department of Water Resources (DoWR) in collaboration with BIRD, Lucknow.

The visit aims to provide hands-on learning opportunities in advanced horticultural practices and climate-resilient agricultural techniques.

During the week-long programme, participants will engage in exposure to agro-based industries, interactions with agricultural experts and entrepreneurs, visits to agro-research centers, mushroom production technologies, value addition, and modern packaging methods.

As many as 14 farmers selected from different districts and equal numbers of agricultural officials are scheduled to visit Malaysia for the week-long international exposure programme from April 19.

On Friday, Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo attended the flag-off ceremony of the programme held in Krushi Bhavan, Bhubaneswar.

Development Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief Secretary Anu Garg, Principal Secretary of Agriculture Department Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee were present during the programme.

“What they (the officers and farmers) see and learn there during the exposure visit, they will later provide the training and ensure the technical knowhow gets implemented in their respective areas. I have also asked the officers as well as farmers to note down what they learn everyday and submit the report to the government after their return to Odisha,” said the Agriculture Minister.

He also told the mediapersons that the report submitted by the officers will be evaluated and considered during the promotion of the officers.

Dr Shudhanshu K.K. Mishra, Chief General Manager , National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), while speaking to IANS said that the farmers are visiting Malaysia to acquire technical knowhow on improving palm oil cultivation, increase paddy production, crop diversification which they can implement in Odisha.

--IANS

gyan/pgh