Bhubaneswar: The Vedantas alumina refinery in Odishas Lanjigarh has provided seeds to the needy peasants in the area to help them develop a vegetable cultivation plan, a company official said.
The initiative aims to mitigate the effects of COVID- 19 on agriculture and allied activities in the area, the official said.
In the fight against the global pandemic, the alumina refinery is looking at restoring and sustaining the livelihood of the local communities, he said in a statement.
As part of this effort, the Vedanta team has helped develop a vegetable cultivation plan for the local farmers, whose source of income has been impacted adversely by COVID- 19.
Under this initiative, the plant is ensuring availability of good quality seeds of bitter gourd, cowpea, ridge gourd, etc to the local farmers in need, in collaboration with the Agriculture and Horticulture Department of the state, the statement said.
The team has reached out to over 100 farmers in nearby villages, such as Kadamguda, Balabhadrapur, Harekrushnapur, Chhatrapur, Bundel, Kapaguda, Kenduguda, Dengsargi and Basantpadain the first phase of this vegetable cultivation plan, which will help them in the cultivation of vegetables in kharif season.
On this initiative undertaken by the plant, Rahul Sharma, CEO Alumina Business said, “We are committed to enabling our communities to become self-reliant and self- sufficient. As part of this endeavour, we have perceived the need to support the farmers in the areas around our operations to help restore their livelihood.”
All support possible is being extended to help the people affected by the pandemic and bring their lives to normalcy. “We are closely working with the government alongside our people and partners to emerge from these trying times stronger together,” he said in a statement.
Over 1,00,000 washable cloth masks were prepared through local self-help groups which have been distributed free of cost to the communities in tandem with the district administration.
Over 100 SHG members are being provided free of cost training, sewing machines and raw materials as required, so they have a regular source of income to support their families at this time, when sources of livelihood are scarce, it added.