Second Crop Farming: A Game Changer for Odisha's Farmers

by Pabitra Mohan Senapaty

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Cultivation of a second crop in fallow lands post-rice harvest has proven to be a game changer for the farmers in Odisha. The State government's ‘Rice Fallow Management’ scheme is a transformative agricultural initiative.

Bhubaneswar, July 23: Cultivation of a second crop in fallow lands post-rice harvest has proven to be a game changer for the farmers in Odisha. The State government's ‘Rice Fallow Management’ scheme is a transformative agricultural initiative.

Atmashakti Trust, while working with the farmers belonging to the marginalized SC and ST communities, has experienced very encouraging outcomes from this initiative.

‘Rice Fallow Management scheme is aimed at increasing income for tribal and marginal farmers in zero-irrigation areas, reducing distress migration, improving soil fertility through pulse cultivation, and combating malnutrition
Despite initial implementation-level challenges, the scheme has shown promising results.

According to the Jal Jeevan Mission Shakti report, Odisha's SC and ST populations total 16,418,360, with over 80% lacking access to irrigation. The state has 4.5 million hectares of land under rice cultivation, but average productivity is only about 1.5 tons per hectare. Consequently, many farmers leave their land fallow after the Kharif season, leading to seasonal unemployment and forcing them to migrate to the neighboring states to meet their financial need.

Atmashakti Trust has been working with the marginalised tribal and Dalit communities in sixteen districts of Odisha where agriculture remains the primary source of income.

Reaching out to over 11 lakh families we have taken various initiatives in the field of malnutrition, sustainable agriculture, education and women empowerment, said Atmashakti Trust.

Odisha’s reliance on rain-fed agriculture results in 74% of cultivated land lying fallow for six months after the Kharif season. Small landholdings, pose subsistence challenges and often lead to distress migration. In response, Atmashakti Trust initiated a series of awareness and capacity building activities to promote second crop cultivation during the Rabi season by mobilizing seeds from the Odisha government's rice fallow management program.

Approximately 23,000 farmers received free government seeds for Rabi in 2022-23 in 4 districts (Gajapati, Boudh, Nabarangpur, and Deogarh) where Atmashakti is actively present.

A study done by Atmashakti among 4,003 farmers revealed that cultivating pulses like Green gram, Black gram, horse gram and chickpea generated an income of Rs 18,000 by sowing approximately 8 kilograms of seeds on 1.1 acres of land.

The study also shows that 90% of farmers who were provided free seeds in 2022-23, grew pulses in 2023-24 without any support from the government. This demonstrates long term sustainability for the process.

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After Putin, Italian PM Meloni Says That India Can Resolve Russia-Ukraine Conflict

by Hemanta Pande

Rome, Sep 7: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday said that countries like India and China can play a role in resolving the conflict in Ukraine.

Meloni's remarks, made at the Ambrosetti Forum in northern Italy's Cernobbio city on Saturday - where she also held a meeting with the visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - came less than 48 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin also highlighted India's efforts in solving the ongoing crisis in the region.

"It is obvious that if the rules of international law are broken we will get a multiplication of chaos and crisis, but it is also obvious that with the multiplication of crisis, we will have a natural fragmentation of the geo-economic space, that is, in the long run, economic globalization and questioning of the rules of international law will not walk together. This is what I also said to my Chinese counterparts, we must choose, because the two things do not go together, it is also the reason why I think that in the end nations, like China and India, can play a role and must play a role in resolving the conflict in Ukraine," said Meloni.

On Thursday, while addressing the 9th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russian President Vladimir Putin had also mentioned India's role in providing a "helping hand" in resolving the issue.

"We respect our friends and partners who I think are sincerely interested in addressing and resolving all the issues associated with the conflict (with Ukraine). China, Brazil, India... I am in contact with my partners and I have no doubt that the leaders of these countries, and we have the relations of trust and confidence with one another, will be really interested in providing a helping hand," said Putin.

Meloni's comments came after her meeting with Zelensky met on the sidelines of the Ambrosetti Forum on Saturday where the two leaders discussed the latest developments on the ground and Ukraine's "most urgent needs" ahead of winter.

"The Head of State thanked for all the allocated military and technical assistance packages and emphasised the importance of transferring the relevant weapons to Ukraine as soon as possible," said Zelensky's office after the meeting.

It mentioned further that the Ukrainian President informed Meloni about the situation on the battlefield, the recent shelling of the country's civilian and critical infrastructure and spoke about current defence needs.

"The leaders discussed steps to implement the decision of the G7 to provide Ukraine with nearly USD 50 billion from frozen Russian assets," Kyiv asserted.

It added that the restoration and reconstruction of Ukraine, in particular of its energy system, was one of the issues discussed during the meeting.

The Italian PM's office stated that Meloni reiterated that support for Ukraine is a top priority on the Italian G7 Presidency's agenda and reaffirmed the ongoing commitment to Ukraine's legitimate defence and to a just and lasting peace.

The two leaders, it said, paid particular attention to the issue of reconstruction, also ahead of the next Ukraine Recovery Conference which will be held in Italy in 2025.

Later, in her address at the 50th edition of The European House – Ambrosetti Forum at Villa d'Este in Cernobbio, Meloni also highlighted the risks of destabilization for the geo-political and economic global space, and said she believed global actors such as China and India "will be able to play a role in resolving the conflict." (IANS)

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Odisha: 95 Teams Participate In Hackerwar 5.0 At ITER

by Hemanta Pande

Bhubaneswar, Sept 7: As many as 95 teams comprising 580 students from various engineering streams virtually participated in the two-day HackerWar 5.0, the fifth edition of the event, held recently at the Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER), Bhubaneswar, faculty of engineering and technology of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA), officials said on Saturday.

The competition aimed at fostering innovation and problem-solving abilities among the future technologists. The intense 24-hour virtual competition, spread across August 31 and September 1, was organised by the institute’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) in collaboration with ITER’s Codex Club, Centre for Innovation and Incubation (SOA CII) and the Atal Innovation Centre-SOA Foundation (AIC SOA).

“The primary objective of HackerWar 5.0 was to encourage innovative thinking, inspire creative solutions and improve problem solving skills among students, specifically within the realm of computer science and engineering,” Prof. Debahuti Mishra, Head of the Department of CSE, said.

Additionally, the event served as a platform for students to hone their skills ahead of the prestigious Smart India Hackathon-2024 (SIH- 2024) organised by the Ministry of Education and showcase their talent at the national level, she said.

The participants were invited to work on projects aligned with SIH-2024 themes covering a diverse range of real world areas including Smart Automation, Fitness and Sports, Heritage and Culture, Medtech/Biotech/Healthtech, Agriculture, Smart Vehicles, Clean and Green Technology, Blockchain and Cybersecurity.

A team of 65 faculty members led by Dr. Dibya Sundar Das, Assistant Professor in the Department of CSE, evaluated the projects and the top ten teams were recognized for their outstanding work and innovation, Prof. Mishra said.

The final evaluation was conducted by a jury comprising Amrita Priyadarsini, Senior Manager, Accenture Technology, Madhu Jyotshna Shome, Technical Lead, Wipro Technology Limited and Ramakrishan Sahoo, Group Project Manager, Infosys on Friday.

The top three winners along with seven additional teams, were presented jury prizes for their exceptional contributions. The top 30 teams from the event will be nominated by the institute to participate in the final SIH-2024 competition, she said.

Prof. Mishra thanked SOA Founder President Prof. (Dr.) Manojranjan Nayak, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Pradipta Kumar Nanda and Director, ITER Prof. Manas Kumar Mallick for their continued guidance and support for such endeavours.

The closing ceremony of the event was attended by Prof. Mishra, Prof. Sarada Prasanna Pati, Dr. Bharat Jyoti Ranjan Sahu, Dr. Dibya Sundar Das, Dr. Aditi Panda, Dr. Anukampa Behera and Dr. Satarupa Dash. Faculty members from various departments including CSE, Computer Science and Information Technology, Computer Application as well as Centers for Data Science, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning and Internet of Things were also present on the occasion.

Second Crop Farming: A Game Changer for Odisha's Farmers

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