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Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday distributed the financial assistance of Rs 800 crore directly to the bank account of 40 lakh small and marginal farmers of the state.
The transfer was made under Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme on the occasion of Akshay Tritiya and Krishak Diwas. On the occasion, Chief Minister advised farmers to utilise the money for the cultivation of crops and use it for agriculture purposes only. "Development of Agriculture and farmers' welfare is the most important programs of the state government. This year more than Rs 20,000 crore has been provided in the budget for Agriculture," said Chief Minister. According to the state government, as many as Eight new agricultural development programs were launched on the occasion including the Jackfruit Mission and ReWARD (Rejuvenating Watershed for Agricultural Resilience through Innovative Development) program, the Millet Mission and the Special Program for the Promotion of Integrated Farming. A total of Rs 97 crore has been allocated for the promotion of Jackfruit cultivation in nine districts under the Jackfruit Mission and Rs 500 crore has been allocated to increase the productivity of farmland through a scientific watershed program under the ReWARD scheme. Similarly, Rs 2,808 crore has been provisioned for farmers in 182 blocks of 19 districts under Odisha Millet Mission, while Rs 239 crore has been earmarked for the special program to promote integrated farming among 1.8 lakh farming families in 8 districts. A total of Rs 3,644 crore will be spent on these four programmes. Chief Minister added that the "state government is stressing on capital investment in agriculture and they will continue with their efforts to develop farming a profitable occupation." On this occasion, Chief Minister inaugurated the new 'Krishak Odisha' portal for the farming community of the State Farmers can get required services and advice by updating their data on it. In addition to this, Chief Minister also launched the Go-Sugam portal for farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs. This is the first of its kind single Windows platform for farmers in the country. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was also signed between the International Food Policy Research Institute and the Department of Agriculture, Odisha to formulate a realistic policy to increase farmers' incomes in agriculture and allied sectors. (ANI)
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