Visit of Union Agriculture Minister to ICAR-CRRI, Cuttack Marks a Key Milestone in Empowering Odisha’s Farmers”.

Bhubaneswar: 10 Nov 2025 ,( Pratyusha bureau )The Hon’ble Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ WelfareShri Shivraj Singh Chouhan chaired a high-level meeting on”Convergence Strategies for Implementation of PM Dhan-Dhanya KrishiYojana, Mission for Atmanirbharta in Pulses and National Mission forNatural Farming” during his visit to ICAR-Central Rice ResearchInstitute, Cuttack on 10th November 2025. Shri Kanak Vardhan SinghDeo, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Mnister, Govt. of Odisha graced the occasionas special guest. Dr. M.L. Jat, Secretary, Department of AgriculturalResearch and Education, Dr. Devesh Chaturvedi, Additional Secretary,DARE & Secretary, ICAR joined virtually. Smt. F. Deborah Initha, JointSecretary (Crops), Govt. of India, Dr. D.K. Yadav, Deputy DirectorGeneral (Crop Science); Dr A.K. Nayak, Deputy Director General(Natural Resources Management); Dr. N.P. Dixit, Director, Indian Instituteof Pulse Research, Scientists, officers from state governmentdepartments and about 400 farmers participated in the meeting.The Hon’ble Union Minister stated that central governmentschemes, in collaboration with the state government, will significantlytransform the lives of farmers. He highlighted that Odisha is makingremarkable progress in vegetable cultivation through natural farming.He emphasized efforts to ensure farmers receive fair prices for theirproduce. The Hon’ble Minister encouraged the large-scale production ofpulses in Odisha for its favorable climate. He urged farmers to moveaway from toxic chemicals and adopt natural and integrated farmingpractices, including animal husbandry, fisheries, and poultry. During hisvisit to Rajhans village in Cuttack Sadar, the Hon’ble Minister interactedwith farmers to understand their agricultural challenges and advisedthem to diversify their crops beyond rice and vegetables, including seedproduction.Shri Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, Deputy Chief Minister andAgriculture Minister, Government of Odisha in his address said that theState of Odisha is working jointly for the betterment of agriculturethrough Central Government sponsored schemes, financial andtechnical assistance, decentralized schemes, policy convergence andcoordinated implementation of various programmes.Dr. M.L. Jat, Secretary, DARE & Director General of ICAR, statedthat Odisha has a vast biodiversity structure. Currently, Odisha isemphasizing natural farming, and ICAR has undertaken domain work for this. Very soon, the domain of natural farming will be integrated with
Odisha’s biodiversity. Dr. Devesh Chaturvedi, Additional Secretary of
DARE and Secretary of ICAR, emphasized the need for area expansion
and increased production of palm oil in Odisha.
Dr. D.K. Yadav, DDG (Crop Sciences), emphasized the need for
coordinated efforts among government agencies, agricultural institutions,
and farmer groups to effectively implement agricultural plans at the
grassroots level. Dr. A.K. Nayak, DDG (NRM), highlighted that natural
farming enhances soil health, reduces costs, and raises farmers’
incomes by eliminating costly chemical inputs and conserving water.
Mrs. F. Deborah Initha, Joint Secretary (Crops), outlined the
implementation schedule of the Pradhan Mantri Dhan-Dhanya Krishi
Yojana, covering four districts of Odisha among 100 nationwide. Dr. N.P.
Dixit, Director, IIPR, emphasized India’s potential to become a leading
global exporter of pulses.