Experts call for better agri management for development of Orissa

The New Indian Express, BBSR :

With Orissa earning the dubious distinction of having the highest percentage of poor in the country, experts have called for better agriculture management to generate more income for rural poor.

With more than 85 percent of the population depending on agriculture, most of them being marginal farmers, ‘hidden calamity’ like soil acidity must be addressed first. Studies have found that 70 percent of our cultivable soils is acidic causing plant nutritional problems, fungal diseases and poor utilisation of bio-fertilisers.

According to soil scientist and Chairman of Western Orissa Development Council (WODC) Prof. Niranjan Panda, there would be no change in productivity if nature of soil remains acidic. Cost-effective liming materials rich with calcium can be used in the uplands to benefit the farmers, he said.

Irrigation needs to be strengthened, he said adding the highly water deficient western and northern Orissa can also benefit from rainwater harvesting as the land is sloppy there. Sustainable rainwater management practices with the help of villagers would ensure absorption of 40-50 percent of the surface run off into the soil, he said adding it would help partly manage flood, drought and ensure improved cropping intensity.

With per capita availability of land pegged at 0.14 hectare, many lands still remain fallow. Also with poor use of mechanised practices and rising labour costs, there is a loss of interest among small farmers. So at panchayat level agricultural implants can be made available in public-private partnership mode to help the poor, he added.

Noted economist Prof Baidyanath Mishra said with varying poverty indices from World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Human Development Report by UN agencies the definition of poor is changing and there is no more a fixed parameter. “However, with rising cost of living if we put our the limit at $2 per day then more than 80 per cent of Indians will come below poverty line,’’ he said.

There are huge variations, he pointed out. While 20 percent of the rich have more than 42 percent of the national income, 20 percent of the poor have only 9 percent, he added.

Land reforms, mechanised agriculture practices and irrigation facilities can augment productivity, he pointed out.