Bhubaneswar: The Directorate of Horticulture, Government of Odisha, marked Teachers’ Day with a massive state-wide Horticulture Outreach Programme across all 30 districts of the State.
The comprehensive educational drive reached over 26,900 college students across 220+ institutions to foster agricultural entrepreneurship, technical skill development and rural employment creation. The programme saw active participation of field-level officers including Deputy Directors of Horticulture, Assistant Directors of Horticulture, Assistant Horticulture Officers and Assistant Agriculture Engineers, who interacted directly with students to bridge academic learning with practical agricultural applications.
Leveraging Odisha’s diverse agro-climatic conditions, horticulture holds immense potential to enhance farm incomes, support agricultural diversification and generate rural employment, as highlighted in State’s Economic Survey.
To convert this potential into real economic opportunities, the Directorate focused on critical interventions including area expansion, quality production, protected cultivation, mushroom farming, beekeeping, post-harvest management, value addition and market linkages. By integrating practical training with field demonstrations, the initiative provided students with skill sets required to explore self-employment and agritech ventures.
The Directorate declared the event a grand success, noting that the outreach effectively raised awareness, developed practical skills and fostered entrepreneurial ambition among rural youth. By combining Teachers’ Day celebration with knowledge sharing and capacity building, the initiative sets a strong foundation for sustainable agricultural growth and youth-led economic development across the state.
