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OTHER DEPARTMENTS
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AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT
AGRICULTURE. Organisation.
The activities pertaining to Agriculture in the district are
under dual control of the State Government and the Zilla Parishad, respectively. The activities regarding plant protection scheme, cotton extension scheme, integrated oil-seed development scheme, mechanical cultivation scheme and Wasting and boring scheme and seed multiplication farm scheme are entrusted to the department of Agriculture in the State sector. All other works arc looked after by the Zilla Parishad and are thus in the district sector.
The department at the State level is headed by the Secretary of the Agriculture and Forest department who is the administrative head of the department. At the Directorate level it is headed by the Director of Agriculture with his headquarters at Poona. He is assisted by four Joint Directors each in charge of establishment, extension, agricultural engineering and agricultural research and education, respectively.
Superintending Agricultural Officer.
The Superintending Agricultural Officer responsible to the Director of Agriculture, Maharashtra State, Poona, is the technical head of the Division. Even though he is the officer in the
State sector, he guides the District Agricultural Officer in technical matters who heads the Agriculture department of the Zilla Parishad in the district sector. He is assisted in his work by the Personal Assistant, two Deputy Directors, one each for agricultural engineering and agricultural research and education, an Assistant Statistician, a Crop Protection Officer and a Horticultural Development Officer. Guidance is also sought from specialists on different branches such as Agronomist, Plant Pathologist, Agricultural Chemist, Agricultural Entomologist, Soil Specialist, Oil Seed Specialist, Rice Specialist, Millet Specialist, Statistician and Horticulturist.
District Agricultural Officer.
In the district sector, the District Agricultural Officer[Recently the posts of the Agricultural Development Officers have been
created in all the Zilla Parishads. The Agricultural Development Officer heads
the Agriculture Department of the Zilla Parishad.] controls
the activities of Agriculture department of the Zilla Parishad. He also works as the Secretary of the Agriculture Committee of the Zilla Parishad. He is assisted in his work by one Assistant District Agricultural Officer who looks after the day-to-day administrative and technical matters. The District Agricultural Officer under the Zilla Parishad is responsible to the Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Parishad. Even then, the advice of the Superintending Agricultural Officer, Nagpur Division, Nagpur and other higher authorities in the State sector prevails in technical matters.
Achievements.
Since the formation of the Zilla Parishad, the department has made great progress in kharif and rabi campaigns and irrigation programmes. The department has so for dug 1,000 rural compost pits. It has distributed 1,300 tons of Ammonium Sulphate Nitrate, 267 tons of Urea, 178 tons of Nitra Phosphate and 387 tons of Sulphur Phosphate. The achievement of the department in the horticultural development programme,
Citrus Psylla campaign and other plant programmes is considerable. The whole district has been brought under the farmers'
union. In all, 1,172 farmers' unions with a total membership of 57,771 have been established. All the six tahsils have been covered by tahsil unions. The district union has also been formed.
Animal Husbandry.
The Animal Husbandry department which was a separate
department at the district level till the formation of the Zilla Parishad now functions as a section of the Agriculture department of the Zilla Parishad. However, some of the activities of the department have been retained in the State sector.
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