Review meetings on agriculture and allied activities in the Agency area of East Godavari district will no more be conducted in the air-conditioned conference halls. Be it a tree shade or a bund between two farm fields, it can be converted into the venue for the meeting and the stakeholders from the vicinity such as farmers and cattle rearers will take part in the meeting to give their feedback on the implementation of various schemes. The first such meeting was held at Pedda Bheerampalli village near here under the stewardship of Project Director of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency Nishant Kumar. It was decided to address the low-voltage problem at the Musurumilli lift irrigation scheme and to undertake repairs to the interior roads on priority basis. Distribution of pigeon pea seed to the tribal farmers from the next kharif season and steps to install mini rice mills in the tribal villages were the other decisions taken by the meeting that was held under a mango tree. “Conducting review meetings in the fields will for sure help us understand the ground realities. Once we know the requirements, schemes can be designed accordingly,” pointed out Mr. Nishant Kumar.
Observing that more and more tribal farmers were evincing interest in zero-budgeted natural farming and intercropping, the official said that the soil was suitable for the natural farming. “Minimum support from the government will help the farmers earn more profits from agriculture. We are planning to rope in bankers too in the meetings, so that delay in extending financial help to the needy can be avoided,” he explained.
Visit to nearby village
On his visit to nearby Ootla village, where a good number of tribal farmers have been to sericulture, Mr. Nishant Kumar interacted with the mulberry farmers and noted down the issues raised by them. “Paddy cultivation is going on in 8,100 acres in the Agency and cotton is planted in another 2,000 acres. There is a need to encourage aquaculture and sericulture here, besides extending support in the form of distributing cattle and poultry birds to the families,” he said while referring to the agenda of the meetings to be conducted in the future.
