Bhubaneswar, February 28: Microsoft cofounder and the founder & co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates’ Foundation Bill Gates on Wednesday visited Krushi Bhawan here.
The Odisha Government has been partnering with the Bill & Melinda Gates’ Foundation since 2017 to forward shared goals around improving farmers’ income, nutrition security, and climate resilience in the State.
This partnership has allowed the state to emerge as a leader in Digital Public Infrastructure, with the Government launching key farmer-facing systems including the Krushak Odisha database, GO-SUGAM portal, and Ama Krushi extension system.
Following the demonstration, Gates interacted with two successful farmers in the state who have improved their income and practices through the digital public infra set up by the department. The Delegation also visited the Millets Cafe in Krushi Bhawan.
Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Department Principal Secretary Arabinda Padhee on how “Ama Krushi AI chatbot” makes it easy for farmers to get the latest information about their crops at Krushi Bhawan monitoring centre.
Padhee said, “Bill Gates, along with his team visited the Krushi Bhavan. The department has been partnering with the foundation since 2017 to advance shared goals like improving farmers’ income, climate resilience, and nutritional security.”
“We have gone for a few digital agriculture tools in our State. The analytics for decision-making and agriculture transformation, the Krushi Samiksha Kendra or the Integrated Command and Control center, and how the farm registry through our Krushak Odisha Portal is helping farmers, he was very appreciative of our efforts.”
