Bhubaneswar: In a bid to enhance the income of farmers, the Odisha Government on Monday sanctioned as many as 23 out of the 26 projects under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikash Yojana (RKVY) worth around Rs 236 crore.
The approval was made during a state-level sanctioning committee meeting of RKVY, presided by Chief Secretary AP Padhi in the presence of officials of various departments.
The meeting mainly discussed on plantation of crops in the areas where there is low rice productivity and also on increasing fish farming in the damp areas. During the meeting, Padhi directed officials to make the projects more functional and that each project should add to farmers’ production and productivity.
Padhi further asked the Fisheries and Animal husbandry department to promote culture of the nutritious small fishes in rural and tribal pockets. He said consumption of this indigenous fish would add to the nutritional security of the people.
The other three projects, estimated at around Rs 14 crore, have been recommended for further technical examinations, Padhi added.
The decision of the government came just two days after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik claimed that Odisha was the only state in the country where the income of farmers has doubled in last ten years.
For the projects approved, the Centre would provide 60 per cent of the total funds, where as the State government will provide the rest 40 per cent, official sources said.
Speaking to media, Secretary Agriculture Sourav Garg said, “The major projects that were sanctioned today includes increasing irrigation potential through individually owned bore wells and cluster micro river lift points, popularisation of modern agricultural equipment, surveillance and monitoring of common diseases of the ducks, livestock support services at the doorsteps of the farmers, strengthening of cashew nurseries, promotion of intensive shrimp farming, promotion of advanced fingerling nurseries, installation of automatic milk collection units and development of integrated farming system for livelihood security of the small and marginal farmers.”
RKVY was started in Odisha in 2007. So far, around 615 major projects have been implemented in the state under the scheme. Of this, 417 projects have been completed and 198 projects are ongoing as per year-wise time schedule.
For 2017-18, the Centre has so far allocated Rs 205.19 crore against which the state government has provided Rs 136.79 crore, Garg said.