ODISHA CM ON CHENNAI TOUR

ODISHA CM ON CHENNAI TOUR 11/05/2012

SIDDHARTHA SHANKAR MISHRA, BUREAU CHIEF,ODISHA
INDINO/THESE DAYS NEWS SERVICE:



Odisha Chief Minister arrives in Chennai on Thursday. Mr.Patnaik was received and greeted by Tamil Nadu Environment Minister BV Ramanna and members of Utkal Association of Madras at Chennai Airport.

Today CM Patnaik will attend the occasion of 'bhoomipuja' of Odisha Bhavan. Along with him, Tamil Nadu chief minister will grace the occasion. He will meet members of the Madras Odisha Association and also attend a function to mark the 76th Odisha day.


In evening CM Patnaik visited an exhibition on agriculture research at Swaminathan Foundation. Patnaik held discussion with the farmers of Jeypur and Koraput through video conferencing relating to the cultivation of Kalajira variety of rice under the guidance of the foundation. He discussed cultivation of kalajeera rice and seaweed.


During the video conferencing, the farmers of Jeypur area urged the foundation authorities to extend the cultivation of Kalajira variety paddy to other villages. At present, the foundation has undertaken the cultivation of the rice variety in 16 villages and signed a deal with the NAFED for procurement of the paddy produced in the area. The Chief Minister also urged authorities of the foundation to consider cultivation of sea weeds in saline water in the coastal areas in Odisha.


It should be noted that M.S. Swaminathan research foundation (MSSRF) has human resource development centre at Jeypore of Odisha. MSSRF at Jeypore has been engaged itself in the promotion of a non-basumati scented rice, Kalajeera, which is a shining example of how the traditional ones could be purified, made to yield more and fetch double the price of other varieties with proper market linkage. Promoting cultivation and value addition and providing drudgery free machines to the villagers will go a long way to promote cultivation of nutritious but neglected millets.


The efforts made by the foundation in 25 villages on bio-village, livelihood, organic agriculture, micro enterprises, water management and promoting off -season vegetable cultivation through summer irrigation are all measures taken to improve the living standards of the people.