Gujarat govt to honour farmers with ‘Best ATMA Farmer Awards’ tomorrow

Gandhinagar, Oct 2 (IANS) Gujarat will honour 93 progressive farmers with state and district-level 'Best ATMA Farmer Awards' at a ceremony in Gandhinagar on Friday, recognising work across natural farming, horticulture, animal husbandry and value-added agricultural products. 

The ceremony, scheduled for October 3, will be held under the chairmanship of Governor Acharya Devvrat and in the presence of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Agriculture Minister Jitu Vaghani and Minister of State for Agriculture, Ramesh Katara.

Of the 93 awards, 10 will be presented at the state level and 83 at the district level. Fifteen awards will be given for work in natural farming, 45 for fruit, flower and vegetable cultivation, 15 for animal husbandry, and eight for excellence in value-added products, packaging and other areas.

As part of the programme, around 100 sales centres for natural farming produce will also be inaugurated across Gujarat. The centres include 24 at municipal corporation and municipality headquarters, 18 at district headquarters and 58 at taluka headquarters.

According to the agriculture department, the initiative is aimed at strengthening the link between “farmer to market and market to consumer”, providing natural farming producers with a platform to sell their produce while improving consumer access to such products.

The event will also see the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Directorate of Agriculture and the Space Applications Centre (SAC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to promote the use of satellite and geospatial technology in agriculture.

The technology is expected to provide farmers with timely advisories covering different stages from sowing to harvesting, along with crop-wise area estimation, production estimates and assessment of crop damage.

Appointment letters will also be handed over to 14 newly appointed officers selected as Assistant Directors of Agriculture (Class-II).

The move is aimed at strengthening and making agricultural extension services more effective. In addition to the main state-level event, district-level programmes have been planned at 34 locations across Gujarat in the presence of ministers in charge, MPs and MLAs.

Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary will attend the programme at Vav-Tharad, while Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi and Assembly Deputy Speaker Purnesh Modi will be present at the programme in Surat.

Thousands of farmers from across Gujarat are also expected to join the ceremony through digital platforms.

--IANS

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