Paperman Media (Dhenkanal )- The Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment (DAFE), Government of Odisha, Sachin Ramchandra Jadhav, visited Kandabinda village under Odapada block in Dhenkanal district today to review ongoing EcoLime+ demonstration fields and interact with farmers.
Senior officials, including the Collector of Dhenkanal, Chief District Agriculture Officer (CDAO), Director of Horticulture and other departmental representatives were present during the visit. Around 40 farmers participated in the interaction programme.
The demonstrations are being conducted under the SAFAR project supported by the Government of Odisha. During the visit Pratap Bhattacharyya, Principal Investigator of the project along with Rubina Khanam and Dillip R. Sarangi from ICAR-CRRI, explained the benefits and field performance of EcoLime+.
EcoLime+, a composite value-added product, provides essential nutrients such as phosphorus, silicon, calcium, and magnesium. It plays a key role in managing acidic soils by increasing soil pH, thereby improving phosphorus availability. Scientists informed that its application can potentially reduce the use of DAP fertilizer by up to 25 per cent.
Farmers shared their experiences during the interaction, noting visible improvements in soil condition and crop performance following the use of EcoLime+.
The visiting team appreciated the ongoing efforts and emphasized the need to scale up such sustainable agricultural technologies for wider adoption across the state.
