The 10th edition of the illustrious Odisha Citizens Award (OCA) instituted by Odisha’s no-1 news channel OTV is back this year to honour personalities to recognize their contribution to society in their respective fields. The selection committee of OCA-2022 has short-listed four nominees in nine different categories.
Vote For OCA 2022
Instituted by OTV, Odisha Citizens Award is a pioneer recognition conferred on personalities in recognition of their contribution to the society in fields of Agriculture, Art and Culture, Industry, Education, Entertainment, Social Service, Sports to Health Services and Politics. You can participate in online voting.
Here goes the list of nominees in the field of agriculture…
Purusottam Panda
Ex-army official Purusottam Panda has been nominated to get the Odisha Citizens Awards. He has grown Thailand apples, Kashmiri apples and other fruits on his 15-acre land without using fertilizers and chemicals. He has also a cow farm and he produces different dairy products. As many as 15-20 people work on Panda’s farms on a daily basis. People of the area are getting inspired by Panda and attracted towards agriculture.
Ram Prasad Gantayat
Jeypore-based Ram Prasad Gantayat from Koraput has also made into the list. Apart from paddy, he has been growing different breeds of mangoes on his 40-acre farmland. The types include Japan Miyazaki mangoes, Brazil mangoes and Thailand mangoes apart from Anna apple and Maharashtra guava. Gantayat has given employment to as many as 50-60 farmers.
Udayanath Kar
Udayanath Kar quit his cushy mechanical engineering job to follow his passion which is farming has been nominated to receive the coveted award in agriculture category. A mechanical engineer by qualification, but farmer at heart, Udayanath from Silandi village under Bhadrak’s Bonth block has taken farming to a different level through application of his professional skills and training. In his 22-acre sprawling farmhouse Kar ensured that every inch of land is utilised fruitfully. Be it Kashmiri Apples, Guava and Napier grass or fish farming, poultry, vermin, or rabbits, his farmhouse is teeming with many innovative farming ideas. That apart, he is very much into pisciculture and goat rehearing. He is giving employment to 20-30 farmers on a daily basis.
Narayan Panda
Narayan Panda of Basudevpur has scripted a success story as a farmer after quitting his government job. He took up fishery in 1993 and dug a pond. Now, he owns 11 ponds and gets profit of Rs 7-8 lakh. He has kept 40 cows and sells 50-60 litre milk every day. He has also chicken and goat farms. Besides, he grows vegetables and produces vermicompost.