Dhenkanal Tuber Crop Processing Cluster is established under the SFURTI Scheme of the Ministry of MSME, which is initiated for the development of rural and traditional industries. This cluster has been taking a definitive shape with the support and guidance of KIIT-TBI as a Technical Agency and with ground-level execution of Kalyanji Seva Trust as the Implementing Agency of the cluster. To inform farmers of the cluster about government initiatives and schemes and as an inherent part of the scheme, an awareness workshop on Central and State Government schemes was conducted in Gram Panchayat Meeting Hall, Sankarpur, Dhenkanal on 07th June 2023. The workshop’s objective was to sensitize cluster farmers by imparting knowledge of these schemes and how they can benefit from them.
Mr. Gyana Ranjan Rout, the Cluster Development Executive, coordinated the event. Approximately 160 farmer-beneficiaries from the cluster attended the workshop. NA, TA and SPV members joined the workshop through hybrid mode to encourage the farmers. The workshop started at 10:00 AM and continued till 3:00 PM. The program was inaugurated by Mr. Diptiranjan Biswal, Director. Kalyanji Seva Trust and ended with the vote of thanks of Mr. Rabindra Kumar Behera, Sarpanch of Sankarpur Gram Panchayat. Amongst the guests and the trainers, who gave valuable insights on various aspects were, Dr. Dibya Sundar Kar and Dr. Sefali Rout, Scientists from Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Mr. Pramod Kumar Sahoo, General Manager –of District Industries Center (DIC), Dr. Jyotidipta Pattnaik, Deputy Director of Agriculture, Dr. Geetashree Parhi, Deputy Director of Horticulture, and Mr. Asish Pradhan, Manager of Odisha Gramya Bank from respective offices of the Dhenkanal District Administration.
A total of 8 interactive sessions were conducted in the workshop covering various topics, such as
- Government schemes for Training facilities to the farmers provided by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Dhenkanal
- Government schemes for Agri-processing industry promotion
- Agri-finance & social security schemes
- Various state and central sector schemes managed at the Gram Panchayat level
- Government schemes for the promotion of agriculture in the cluster
- Government schemes for the promotion of horticulture in the cluster
- Progress report presentation to the farmers about Dhenkanal Tuber Crop Processing Cluster
The Awareness workshop created a positive impact on local farmers by strengthening their knowledge of the future scope of availing these benefits rolled out by the state as well as central government; thereby enhancing their economic as well as social status.