Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has announced a comprehensive revamp of its Potato Mission to enhance tuber production and provide stronger support to farmers.
Agriculture Minister KV Singh Deo, speaking to the press on Saturday, outlined the government’s commitment to increasing potato yields by extending the mission’s tenure for three more years.
The Minister criticized the previous BJD government for its ineffective implementation of the scheme, attributing the mission’s earlier failure to poor planning.
Singh Deo explained that the previous administration’s late distribution of seeds—well into the potato harvest season—severely hampered farmers’ productivity.
To address this, the revamped mission will focus on timely seed distribution. The government plans to procure high-yield seed varieties from Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, ensuring that farmers receive them by the first week of November, well ahead of the planting season.
Additionally, Singh Deo announced that more cold storage facilities will be developed at the sub-division level under public-private partnership (PPP) models, allowing farmers to store their potato harvest efficiently and reduce post-harvest losses.
