Odisha Govt to invest Rs 150 cr for climate-resilient seeds

Bh u b a n e swa r : Th e Odisha government has planned to open a seed bank in 5,000 villages in the state and provide climate-resilient seeds to farmers. A budget of Rs 150 crore has been earmarked for this to be spent in 10 years. It has also targeted to cultivate climateresilient crops in 2 lakh hectares of land by 2030 with an investment of Rs 200 crore in 10 years. The state government has prepared an Agriculture Action Plan to check the adverse effects of climate change on agriculture. Efforts are on to bring change in traditional farming and farming techniques. The Odisha government will invest a total of Rs 5152 crore in 10 years on new agricultural techniques, i n f r a s t r u c t u r e development, and cash crop promotion. The farmers will be provided special sessions on climate change and its impact on agriculture, use of new technology and equipment to skill them. Climate Change Cells will be opened at 31 places across the state and around 80,000 farmers will be trained. A sum of Rs 28 crore will be invested to skill farmers, employees, and officials of the agriculture department. Besides, 170 weather stations will be opened across the state and will be connected with district weather offices. Drip irrigation will be focused on instead of traditional irrigation and 1.5 lakh hector land will be covered by 2030. Similarly, fruit farming will be encouraged with a target of farming 2 lakh hectares of land with a budget of Rs 3,000 crore.

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