By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment and Higher Education Minister Dr Arun Sahoo said government’s package of Rs 200 cr will be benefit 25 lakh farmers.
Attending as chief guest in the E-Conference on “Paradigm of Covid-19: Challenges & Opportunities for Agri, Food Production & Horticulture Sector in Odisha” organized by Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) here he said the government has also announced a special livelihood intervention package worth Rs 17,000 crore.
Dr Sahoo said the move aims to generate employment opportunities through different sectors like agriculture, fisheries, MGNREGS, Skill Development, handloom, Forestry and handicrafts.
The Minister also informed the gathering about Ama Krushi helpline created for the farmers to get help on farming and marketing.
Dr Sahoo said the Odisha government has launched a scheme called “Balaram” to provide agricultural credit of 1040 cr to landless farmers facing hardship due to the pandemic. He said nearly 7 lakh landless cultivators will be benefited from this programme in next two years.
Dr Saurabh Garg, Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, said the government has launched the Mukhyamantri Krushi Udyog Yojna and added that the main objective is to bring in a shift from subsistence agriculture to commercial agriculture by motivating farmers and entrepreneurs on commercial agri-enterprises.
This scheme will bring speedy development of agriculture, agro-based/food processing industries to build up a substantial base for production of value added agro-food products for domestic and export markets.
