Bhubaneswar: Inaugurating the five-day Krushi Odisha 2019 here, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Tuesday claimed that ‘KALIA’ is his government’s biggest scheme and an ideal scheme for the farmers of the whole country.
Naveen once again skipped Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official programme at Bolangir and attended the inaugural ceremony of the Krushi Odisha Sammilani, an annual farmers’ convention at Baramunda ground, organised in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in the capital city.
Addressing the gathering, the CM said, “KALIA scheme is the state government’s biggest scheme with a total budget outlay of Rs 10,000 crore. Our 92 per cent of farmers including small and marginal farmers, sharecroppers and farm labourers will be benefited”
They will get financial assistances for khariff and rabi seasons, interest free loan upto Rs 50,000, crop insurance and livelihood support under the scheme, he said.
“I will be very happy, if you (farmers) will utilise the monetary assistance to be provided under the scheme for agricultural purpose and your income will rise,” the Chief Minister told the farmers at the meet.
The first phase registration of farmers for the scheme concluded Tuesday while the second phase of registration will begin from January 25 and will continue till February 5, he stated.
On his government’s promise made in 2014 for creation of irrigation facilities for additional 10 lakh hectares of land, Naveen said, we have spent about Rs 30,000 crore in irrigation sector over past four years. Till date, eight lakh hectares of land has been provided with irrigation facility. We will achieve the target by April this year.”
Claiming that Odisha has been a pioneering state in bringing about agrarian reforms, he further said, “We have been presenting separate agriculture budgets for last six years with massive increase in allocation for the sector. My government has intensified its efforts to enhance farmers’ income with sustainable agricultural practices by promoting efficient extension and production technology, post harvest solutions, effective value addition and remunerative market options.”
Besides, Odisha has been awarded with ‘Krushi Karman’ award five times with the cooperation of farmers. Odisha has been self-reliant in the foodgrain production. Odisha is supplying food to other states, he added.
During this occasion, Naveen launched the Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO) Policy and felicitated farmers who used innovative technology in agricultural activities.