Bhubaneswar: The majority of Odisha’s farming community are marginal farmers. There are over 36 lakh marginal farmer families in the State.
As per the 2015-16 Agriculture Census, there are 36,36,658 marginal farmers, 8,87,272 small farmers, 3,37, 945 medium farmers, 3,975 large farmers and 9,05,184 sharecroppers in the State, informed Ranendra Pratap Swain, Minister Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment in a written reply to a question asked by BJD MLA from Bhandaripokhari Prafulla Samal.
Swain said that the State government has taken a variety of measures for the sale of agricultural produce.
He said that while Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department procures paddy at the minimum support price (MSP), pulses and oilseeds produced in the State are procured through the Price Support Scheme of the Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Department.
Similarly, while millet is being procured under the Odisha Millet Mission programme, cotton is being procured through the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and authorized private traders.
