Farmers have combined traditional methods with technology to increase agricultural output.
Under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Raman Singh, Chhattisgarh has made rapid strides in the agriculture sector. Chhattisgarh is the first state to roll out the “Food Security Act”. The state has also received the “Krishi Karman Award” four times. Chhattisgarh is rich in forest resources. The state is famous for its sal forests. In addition, teak, bamboo, saja, sarai and haldi are also found in large numbers. Tendu leaf, which is used in beedi-making, is the principal forest produce of the state.
Passy Procurement Process
Paddy procurement under the “Support Price Scheme” in the state is done through 1,990 procurement centres of 1,333 Primary Agriculture Credit Cooperative Societies. Due to the large scale of the procurement and huge forward and backward linkages, the procurement process has been fully computerised.
Programme details
The paddy procurement system contains modules for online society, online runners, online millers, online food controller, online DMO, online C.M.R. module of NAN/ F.C.I, online storage centre, online Markfed Head Office and online billing module of C.M.R. and paddy (FCI & NAN).
Challenges
Standard Operating Procedures not defined and implementation changes.
Decentralized procurement of rice causing process and cost in-efficiency.
Procurement of rice by PACs millers is district- wise, rather than geographic proximity, causing cost inefficiency.
Technology-related challenges such as digitization of past records, comprehensive ERP software, and integration with other modules.
E-trading system
Many mandis of Chhattisgarh are currently linked to the e-NAM system—an e-trading system for selling agricultural produce. As per reports, a total of 585 markets across the country were supposed to be integrated to the e-NAM systems by March 2018. Recently, officials from Rajasthan visited Chhattisgarh to adopt Chhattisgarh’s e-trading system of selling agricultural produce.
The Chhattisgarh government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) to develop clusters for providing a major push to exports of agricultural products from the state.
There is a plan to create a “cluster” for horticultural crops in common geographical locations with a view to selecting the best produce for their packaging and their processing for the exports market, according to reports. APEDA would assist the government in finding exports markets to sell the produce. For this, the government has chosen three key horticulture producing locations in which papaya, bananas and vegetables are grown. For papaya and bananas, Durg, Bemetara, Raipur, Bilaspur and Rajnandgaon districts have been chosen, whereas for vegetables, Durg, Bemetara, Raipur, Bilaspur, Rajnandgaon, Balod, Surguja, Bastar and Raigarh have been identified. The Chhattisgarh government has prepared a five-year Master Plan to provide a fillip to the cultivation of horticulture-based crops in the state. The Master Plan is for the period 2017-18 to 2021-22, as per reports. Horticulture is a sunrise sector in the state. The acreage under horticulture crops had increased several times since 2004-05. According to the Master Plan, the target is to increase acerage of horticulture crops by about 4.52 lakh hectares. The increase in acerage will cover fruits, vegetables, masala (spices), crops and flowers.