47 villages in Latur selected under scheme for climate-resilient farming

Forty-seven villages in Udgir and Jalkot tehsils in Maharashtra's Latur district have been selected under the Project on Climate Resilient Agriculture (PoCRA), a state minister said. PoCRA aims "to enhance climate-resilience and profitability of smallholder farming systems in selected districts of Maharashtra".

Of these villages, the best performing ones under the scheme will be given Rs 10 lakh each from the basic development plan and the MLAs' local area development fund, Minister of State for Environment and Water Supply, Sanjay Bansode, told PTI.

There are 23 different schemes under the PoCRA, he said.

"The government has brought the project under the 'Nanaji Deshmukh Krishi Sanjeevani Yojana' with an aim to provide benefits of the state-run schemes to small and medium farmers. It will bring an economic revolution in the lives of farmers and we will create a new Udgir pattern in the agriculture field," he said.

The agriculture department officials have been instructed to expedite the process and implement all the government schemes effectively, he said.

"I have asked the officials as well as sarpanchs and gramsevaks of the villages concerned to ensure that farmers in Udgir and Jalkot tehsils get 100 per cent benefit of the schemes," the minister said.

Talking about the work done under the Palakmantri Panand Raste Yojana, a scheme aimed at creating access roads to farms, in his Udgir constituency, he said farm roads is a central point of the agriculture development.

"Farming is the heart of farmers, while farm roads are the blood vessels. In order to make transportation easier from the field, farm roads are necessary," he said.

For the work of farm roads, the state government has sanctioned a total of Rs 5 crore funds. Of this, Rs 4 crore will be allocated for Udgir, while Rs 1 crore for Jalkot tehsil.

"Under this scheme, the work of putting in place 600-km-long farm roads is underway," he said.