Bhubaneswar: During a state-level conference of horticulture officers in Bhubaneswar Deputy Chief Minister and Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment and Energy Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo directed officials, including the Director of Horticulture, to submit monthly reports on their field visits.

Singh Deo instructed officials to visit the field regularly, interact directly with farmers, understand their concerns and provide practical solutions. He also stressed the need to monitor whether government schemes are reaching beneficiaries at the grassroots level and directed officers to apply the knowledge gained through government training programmes in their field operations.

The conference organised by the Directorate of Horticulture under the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment focused on strengthening agricultural development, increasing farmers’ incomes and improving nutritional security across Odisha.

Key issues discussed included expansion of oil palm cultivation to reduce dependence on edible oil imports, improving crop quality to meet international export standards, and promoting high-value crops and commercial floriculture to maximise returns from available land.

The conference also deliberated on modern farming practices, adoption of advanced technologies, effective implementation of government schemes, post-harvest management and facilitating direct sales of agricultural produce from farmers to consumers.

As part of the programme, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Khety Agro Pvt. Ltd. and the Directorate of Horticulture to promote climate-resilient agriculture in the State.

Commissioner-cum-Secretary Sachin Ramchandra Jadhav, Director of Horticulture Kalunge Gorakh Waman and other senior departmental officials attended the conference.