Orissa

The report on the State of Indian Agriculture placed by the Government to the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, calls for wide-ranging reforms in agriculture sector to enable it to meet the growing demands and meet the challenges posed by various human and environmental factors. The first issue of State of Indian Agriculture series had been published by the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) in 2009. 

The present report begins with a review of the status and performance of agriculture, especially during the last two decades, and also presents what could be the way forward, given our objectives of accelerated growth, inclusiveness and the reducing of poverty and hunger. As per the report, the significance of agriculture sector in India is not restricted to its contribution to GDP, but that on account of its complementarity with other sectors. It has far reaching ability to impact poverty alleviation and rural development. There are several areas of importance for the agriculture sector growth. These include, among others, enhancing public sector investment in research apart from effective transfer of technology along with institutional reforms in the research set up to make it more accountable and geared towards delivery, conservation of land, water and biological resources, the development of rainfed agriculture, the development of minor irrigation, timely and adequate availability of inputs, support for marketing infrastructure, an increase in flow of credit particularly to the small and marginal farmers.

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This special article in Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) by Saudamini Das examines whether the mangrove forests in Kendrapada district of Orissa played any protective role during the severe cyclone that hit the state in October 1999. Mangroves are tropical and subtropical coastal forests that grow in inter-tidal saline areas and estuary mouths between the land and the sea. These ecosystems provide a bunch of direct and indirect services to humankind.  

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This article by Arun Kumar Nayak in the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) examines the movement against the construction of the Hirakud dam in Orissa. It is evident that the domestic resistance to the project was variously compromised by nationalist rhetoric, imperatives of state development and absence of transnational support. The Hirakud dam project has failed on all of its objectives – flood management, hydropower production, irrigation and navigation. Its socio-economic impact has been devastating.

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This manual provides the users of marine and inland fishery statistics, data with a ready to use reference guide on methodological aspects of data (metadata) based on harmonized concepts and methodologies that facilitate international comparison and help in aggregation of statistics to derive meaningful conclusions. The adoption of the methodology suggested in this manual will go a long way in facilitating data aggregation and data comparison both at intra-regional levels, including international levels.

The section on both marine and inland fisheries consists of four chapters and appendices. Chapter I highlights the significance of the sector, need for statistical standards and development of statistical system of the sector. Concepts and definitions are placed in Chapter II. Chapter III presents sources of data and details of methodology being adopted for generating these data. Chapter IV conveys the suggestion for ensuring quality standards. Lastly, appendices include estimation methods, forms and schedules and major resources available in the Indian waters.Read More