New Delhi, June 6 -- Odisha Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo used the Agrivoltaics Conclave in Bhubaneswar to urge farmers to shift away from urea-heavy practices and adopt short-duration crops and natural farming.

"Both the Union Agriculture Minister and the Prime Minister have urged the people of the state to cultivate short-duration crops and to adopt organic or natural farming methods...we have observed that over the past 70 years, the government conditioned people to rely heavily on urea, while the focus was solely on maximizing production, no concern was shown for public health," he said. Citing this year's rainfall data and advisories, the Deputy CM said the PM has appealed to farmers to opt for short-duration crops t...