Bhubaneswar dt.08.06.2023

            A Tripartite Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) has been signed today among Odisha Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture (OIIPCRA) ; Director of Fisheries, Odisha  and  WorldFish to support the climate-resilient aquaculture practices in Odisha.

            This has been signed in presence of Development Commissioner-cum-ACS , DoWR Smt. Anu Garg, Principal Secretary, Fisheries and ARD Shri Suresh Kumar Vashisth & Principal Secretary,A&FE Dr.  Arabinda Kumar Padhee , in a programme organized at  Department of Water Resources,  in the 1^st Floor Conference Hall of  Rajiv Bhawan. 

            Director of Fisheries,Odisha Shri Smrutiranjan Pradhan, Director, OIIPCRA Shri Rashmiranjan Nayak and WorrlFish, India, Team Head  Shri Arun Padhiyar have signed  the MoA.

            Odisha Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture (OIIPCRA) is being implemented in 15 districts of the State with support of the World Bank, through Odisha Community Tank Development & Management Society (OCTDMS), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under DoWR with the objective  to intensify and diversify agricultural production and enhance climate resilience under four components: climate smart intensification and diversion of production; improving access to irrigation and water productivity; institutional capacity strengthening and project management.

             Besides improving availability and irrigation through 538 tanks, the project is taking up cross-sectoral convergence of water, agriculture, horticulture and fisheries sectors to benefit farmers through increased quality of irrigation service; average yields; marketable outputs; diversified incomes; climate resilience etc.

            In Fisheries Sector, the activities are being taken up under the aquaculture production sub-component are in promoting climate-resilient aquaculture practices in 263 MIPs to increase the ability of small-scale farmers and promotion of species diversification through polyculture.

            This project has helped in Capacity building of stakeholders for enhancing knowledge on aquatic food production system and to strengthen community-based institutional architecture and promotion of intensive aquaculture through adoption of new technologies such as bio- floc fish farming technology.

            Demonstration of freshwater prawn nurseries to produce quality prawn juveniles by farmers and the community has become possible where as small feed mixing and pelletizer plant to local community organizations to promote supplementary feeding by farmers using locally available fish feed has been provided.

            Also water testing kits to farmers engaged in fish farming in MIP, individual tanks, and           bio-floc in order to monitor water quality parameters for adaptive measures to increase fish production in this climate changing scenario has been supplied. Fish farmers have   been assisting fish farmers for harvesting fish by providing drag nets and strengthening post-harvest marketing infrastructure such as three and four wheelers with ice box.

            This MoA will support implementation of different activities and induce good practices. This will assist to monitor and evaluate the programmes and  activities including realtime tracking by integrating the Decision Support System of FARD with the OIIPCRA application, conduct orientations and workshops for the stakeholders, prepared the technical contents for various IEC materials such as training manuals, leaflets, posters, video documentaries for all schemes & activities under the project, prepare the scheme implementation guidelines for all schemes and activities under the project, conduct exposure visits, review of the aquaculture sub-component of the project by involving all DFOs, concerned block level AFOs, SOs, UNDP DPMs etc.   This will also assess the project interventions through schemes by conducting crop outcome surveys with preparation of periodic project reports.

          APD, OIIPCRA Sri Saroj Kanta Das, other senior officers of OIIPCRA. A&FE, F&ARD including DoWR were present on this occasion.