Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today evening inaugurated the 5-day-long State-level agriculture expo ‘Krushi Odisha-2021’.
Addressing through video conferencing, Patnaik said that he has always stood with farmers and shall continue doing so.
Emphasis is being laid to ensure that farmers get a suitable value for their produce, he added.
“My focus has always been that farmers get remunerative prices for their produce, make available fertilizers, seeds, and loan assistance,” said Patnaik.
By now, over Rs 20,000 crore has been made available to farmers in form of loans, he added.
The Chief Minister informed that recently Rs 1,272 crore has been provided to farmers as assistance under the KALIA scheme.
“Our fight for increasing minimum support price (MSP) is on and shall continue,” he asserted.
He requested farmers to avail benefits under the various schemes of the government and use new technology while emphasizing crop diversification to boost income.
“You all know that Corona has hit the country’s economy hard but our farm sector has worked like sanjeevani and strengthened our economy. I salute the hard work and sacrifice of our farmers,” Patnaik said.
He informed that Odisha’s Millet Mission has drawn the attention of the entire country.
Fish farming by farmers of Kalahandi has ranked first in the country, he added.
“I am proud of our farmers. Odisha farmers are in no way inferior to anyone,” Patnaik said.
He further requested farmers to get themselves vaccinated against Covid-19 under the vaccination programme underway in the State.
‘Integrated Farming – Towards Farmers Prosperity’ is this year’s theme for Krushi Odisha.
The event is being jointly sponsored by the Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment Department and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).
The exhibition is focusing on innovations and best practices in Agriculture, Food Processing, and allied sectors and to make it more remunerative for the farmers.
Around 500 farmers are participating in the expo. The expo has a total of 160 stalls.
