‘Drone’ to be used to survey crops: Minister Shivashankar Reddy
Govt to encourage growing of ‘Aane Bidiru’ (Elephant bamboo)
Bengaluru, August 08: Agriculture Minister HN Shivashankar Reddy said that due to scanty rainfall in 13 districts including Raichur, Koppal, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Davangere and Chitradurga, the sowing percentage in kharif season has come down drastically.
Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha here on Wednesday, the Minister said that it was targeted to sow seeds in 74.59 lakh hectare of land. But till August first week, the sowing was done only in 49.47 lakh hectares which is just 66 per cent achievement. Due to scanty rainfall in most of the districts, the sowing activity was not done as expected. So, steps were taken to distribute required seeds and fertilizer to those 13 districts to grow alternative crops, he added.
After monsoon season, the sowing activity would be held in 8 lakh hectares of land during August and September. He was confident of reaching the target of 110 lakh metric tons food grains production this time, he exuded confidence.
Drone survey
It was decided to take the help of Drone technology to survey the crops in various places of the state due to which the government would get actual picture on crop patterns and their conditions. This would help insurance scheme also. The crop patterns were not being mentioned in pahanis. So, it was decided to conduct survey which will be started within a week. This survey would cost minimum Rs 15-20 crore, the Minister said.
Encouragement to agriculture
The government was encouraging zero cultivation method. Shortly a team of officials led by him would visit Ananthapura district in Andhra Pradesh to study zero cultivation methods being adopted there. A comprehensive programme would be introduced to encourage zero cultivation in the state, he said.
Appointment of staff
The appointment process of recruiting total 588 officers and staff including 153 assistant agriculture officers was completed and within 15 days, appointment orders would be issued, he said.
Millets to door-steps
In order to encourage usage and cultivation of millets, marketing facility would be made available through HOPCOMS and KMF to sell the millets. It was also planned to supply the millets to the door-steps of the consumers to avoid middlemen, he added.
“To put an end to the cultivation of eucalyptus and acacia trees which are detrimental to the ground water table, moisture and environment, the government has decided to encourage the programmes to grow elephant bamboo. It was decided to implement the programme as a pilot project in Bengaluru rural, Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts. From this crop, the farmers would get minimum Rs 4 lakh revenue from one acre in just three years”.
- HN Shivashankar Reddy, Agriculture Minister
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Assam to lift all cases against Koch Rajbongshis in Foreigners' Tribunals: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
Guwahati, Apr 4 (PTI): The Assam cabinet has decided to lift all cases pending against people from the Koch Rajbongshi community in the Foreigners' Tribunals, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
They will also no longer carry the tag of 'D' or doubtful voters, he said.
''There are 28,000 cases pending in different Foreigners' Tribunals in the state against people of the community. The cabinet has taken a historic decision of lifting the cases with immediate effect,'' Sarma said at a press conference here after the cabinet meeting.
The government believes that the Koch Rajbongshis are an indigenous community of the state and they are an inextricable part of ''our social and cultural fabric'', he asserted.
The people of this community are poor and have suffered a lot over the years, he said.
''They will no longer carry the tag of foreigners or ‘D’ voters,'' the CM said.
Foreigners Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies, particularly in Assam, established to determine if a person residing in India is a "foreigner" as defined by the Foreigners Act of 1946, based on the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order of 1964.
These tribunals are designed to address matters related to citizenship and the presence of “foreigners” in India, specifically focusing on cases where someone is suspected of being an illegal immigrant.
There are 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals across Assam.
The Koch Rajbongshis have a sizeable presence in Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and parts of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, and they demand Scheduled Tribe status.
