Odisha Govt organises Training Programme on District Irrigation Plan
Bhubaneswar, Sep 12: A seven day national level training programme for All India Service Officers on preparation of District Irrigation Plan has been organized in ICAR-Indian Institute of Water Management (IIWM), Bhubaneswar. Addressing the valedictory session of the programme as Chief Guest, Chief Secretary Sri Gokul Chandra Pati advised the trainees to develop District Agriculture Knowledge Plan along with the District Irrigation Plan for catering to the need of the individual farmers. Sri Pati added that need of the farmers change as per the crop and agro-climatic zone. As such, agriculture knowledge plan will help in catering to these diverse needs of vast farming community.
Chief Secretary further said that there is heavy pressure on land and water in India as the country has to manage 17% of world population with only 2% available land resources and 4% water resources of the Globe. For this, per capita income from the farm sector remains low than that of non-farm sector. Sri Pati advocated for adoption of appropriate technology and application of available knowledge for enhancing farm productivity and boosting up farm income. He also advised to select progressive farmers for different crops from various agro-climatic zones and roll out extension services through them.
The Development Commissioner Sri U.N. Behera had inaugurated the training programme on 7th September, 2015. The programme continued up to 11th September. The Principal Scientist and Course Coordinator of IIWM Dr Parbhakar Nanda said that the training programme was organized under Prdhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yojana ( PMKSY). A total number of 14 IAS and IFS officers from the States like Odisha , West Bangal, Jharkhnad, and Bihar participated in the training. The training programme focused on development of district irrigation plan, district water resources scenario, importance of GIS and remote sensing in irrigation planning, convergence of different programmes with PMKSY, crop planning under different irrigation sources, and enhancing water use efficiency.
The Director, ICAR-IIWM Dr S.K. Ambsat summed up the activities of the Progrmme in the valedictory session. Chief Secretary Sri Pati distributed certificates to the participants. Ms. Amita Parasad Joint Secretary Ministry of Water Resources, Govt of India, Dr. P.K. Meherda Director Agriculture, Smt. Sujata Kartikeyan Director, Watershed Mission, Sri Susant Kumar Nanda Director Horticulture along with other dignitaries and experts were present in the valedictory session.