Written by Dinesh Balam, WASSAN Update | February 8, 2020
National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) of Government of India (GoI), Government of Odisha (GoO), Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of United Nations (UN) and Watershed Support Services and Activities Network (WASSAN) have launched a special innovation pilot for rainfed areas of Nuapada District titled “Landscape based Integrated Farming Systems for Rainfed Areas”. This project will be initiated in Komana Block of Nuapada district, Odisha
The inauguration ceremony for the project was organised on 4th February 2020 at Collectorate of Nuapada District. The inauguration meeting was chaired by Dr. Ashok Dalwai IAS (Retd). He is an Odisha cadre officer who is currently CEO of NRAA, GoI.
Project aims are:-
- Documentation and conservation of plant and animal biodiversity.
- Living Soils approach for increasing soil organic matter in the uplands.
- Designing procurement and value chain systems for non-paddy crops such as pulses, oilseeds, etc.
- Promotion of location-specific intercropping, poly cropping and multi layered farming systems in uplands.
- Adoption of improved agronomic practices for better yield.
- Integrated pest management in maize and cotton.
- Development of locally suitable protective irrigation models.
- Integration of crop-livestock and fisheries.
- Adoption of locally suitable farm mechanisation and Participatory machinery development.
Meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Tomio Shichiri, FAO Representative India. Mr. Pradipta Mohapatra, Agriculture Production Commissioner was the Chief guest for the meeting. Dr P K Agarwal Vice Chancellor OUAT was the “Guest of Honor”. Other key dignitaries were Mr. B. Rath, Technical Expert (Water) of NRAA and Dr. Sabyasachi Das, Director of WASSAN.
Ms. Madhusmita Sahoo IAS, Collector & District Magistrate of Nuapada said that there is great fluctuation in the rainfall pattern. The frequency of dry spells is also increasing. There is a steady decline in the area of pulses and a drastic decline in the area of oilseeds. Though area under millets has also declined, in the last two years, due to intervention of Odisha Millets Mission, the area under millets is slowly increasing. The area under cotton and hybrid maize is increasing. The major concern in cotton and maize is the pest issues.
Mr. Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra IAS, APC cum ACS, Govt of Odisha said that Government of Odisha has come up with an agricultural policy that promotes procurement of millets, pulses, oilseeds and cotton in upland regions. Odisha Millets Mission (OMM) has been a signature initiative of Government which is helping in the revival of millets. He said the state government would provide all the necessary support for the project.
Dr. Ashok Dalwai IAS, CEO, NRAA praised the initiatives of the Government of Odisha on the procurement of non-paddy crops. He said that this project is a design project, not an implementation project. This project aims to develop a design framework for rainfed areas. Once the scalable design is developed then implementation is not an issue. He said that the income of farmers should be increased. At the same time sustainability should also be considered. A comprehensive ecosystem planning approach for rainfed areas is the need of the hour for addressing the challenges emerging from climate change.
Mr. Tomio Shichiri, FAO Representative of UN-FAO, India said that It is of utmost importance to document and conserve biodiversity. Biodiversity stabilizes ecology. In order to mitigate climate change, it is important that agriculture systems should be redesigned as per the landscapes.
Dr. P K Agarwal, Vice-Chancellor, OUAT said that OUAT and KVK shall provide all the support required for the project. OUAT is currently developing single line hybrids which will be released soon. End to End comprehensive approach should be taken for the promotion of millets, pulses and oilseeds for their revival. He directed the KVK Nuapada to get actively involved in the project.
Dr. S Dhyani from ICRAF said that ICRAF will also extend all the technical support on agroforestry to the project. In fact, a series of discussions were already held between WASSAN and ICRAF on this score.
Dr. Sabyasachi Das, Director of WASSAN said that a Farmer Resource Centre for rainfed areas should be established which can serve as proposal development and a single-window clearance mechanism at the district level for the rainfed initiatives.
This was followed by a field visit to the project villages.
WASSAN News Update 