Bhubaneswar: A meeting on strengthening cold storage infrastructure was held today at Lok Seva Bhavan under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo.
Chairing the meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Singh Deo maintained, “Agriculture is a continuous process. It provides food to the people throughout the year and provides a continuous source of employment. Odisha is an agricultural state and is rich in natural resources. Its long coastline and maritime transport system are also being strengthened.”
Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Farmers Empowerment and Energy, Singh Deo, further said that Odisha, which was previously a food-deficient state, has now become a food-surplus state. Now, its fruits, vegetables and food grains are also being exported to foreign countries. The demand for Odisha’s indigenous fragrant rice and vegetables abroad is gradually increasing. Providing farmers with adequate farm-to-market linkages, fair prices for their produce, and protection of surplus grain are our priorities. Keeping this in mind, the process of constructing cold storages in every sub-division of the state is underway. This will help in boosting the income of our farmers and can eliminate the artificial shortage of items in the state.
A proposal was also presented by a company in the meeting for the construction of cold storage facilities in the state. Director of Agriculture Shubham Saxena and other senior officers were present at the meeting.
