Odisha Cabinet nod for creation of Rs.200 crore corpus fund to provide fertilizer and quality seeds to farmers

By B.Maharana
31 Jan , Bhubaneswar

Odisha Government Saturday in principle decided to create a corpus fund of Rs 200 crore to ensure provision of fertilizers and quality seeds to farmers .
The decision was taken at the Cabinet meeting held at state Secretariat here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Briefing newsmen , the Chief Secretary Gokul Chandra Pati said that Cabinet gave its nod to the proposal of the Agriculture Department for creation of a corpus fund for pre-positioning of fertilizer to provide the farmers during both the Kharif and Rabi season to avoid any short supply at the time of need. The step would also facilitate the farmers to enhance fertilizers consumption for achieving better productivity, Pati said.
Pati said ,as per the arrangements, out of Rs 100 crore corpus, Rs 75 crore will be given to Markfed and Rs 25 crore will be given to Odisha Agro Industries Corporation.
“The major stumbling block in improving fertiliser consumption is the availability of fertilisers at the right time and right place. Odisha State Co-operative Marketing Federation (OSCMF) and Odisha Agro Industries Corporation (OAIC) will be involved in procurement and supply of fertilisers to the farmers through the corpus fund,”the chief secretary said.
He also said the cabinet approved to create another corpus fund of Rs 100 crore for pre-positioning quality seed and planting materials by the institutional agencies and supplying them to farmers on time.
State agencies Odisha State Seeds Corporation Ltd (OSSC), OAIC and Odisha State Cashew Development Corporation Ltd (OSCDC) will be involved in this to ensure adequate quantity of seeds and planting material for the farmers.
In order to expand the irrigation facilities, the cabinet also approved the tender for two mega lift projects cluster to be executed on Indravati reservoir at an estimated cost of Rs. 1272.80 crores, said the Water Resources Secretary PK Jena.
“The tenders have been awarded to L&T ltd through a competitive bidding process. The first lift irrigation project costing Rs 757.80 crore will be executed in Poksara, Jayapatna and Dharmagada blocks of Kalahandi district. The second project will cost Rs 515 crore”, Jena said.
The Cabinet also approved the proposal for setting up of an Open University in Sambalpur.