Farmers' income doubled in 10 years: Odisha CM

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday said the income of farmers has grown two-fold in the last 10 years and the government would continue to work to keep up the momentum in the coming years.

"We have made significant progress in terms of production, productivity and income generation. Keeping the momentum, we will make further improvement in coming years," said Patnaik.

Attending the state-level Akshaya Tritiya celebrations held in Pipili area of Puri district, he said the development of agriculture and farmers have been the top priority of the state government.

The government has set up corpus funds of Rs 100 crore each, for seeds and fertilizers. Besides a new agriculture policy and a special budget for farmers have been made while the government provides crop loans at one percent interest rate, said the Chief Minister.

Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy said the state government is mulling farm loan waiver and crop insurance for farmers.

The Chief Minister kicked off the "Akhi Muthi" ceremony and ploughed land in Pipili. Farmers across Odisha observed Akshaya Tritiya marking the beginning of the farming season in the state.

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Prasad Harichandan also held the "Akhi Muthi Anukula" programme at Jatni in Khurda district.

--IANS

cd/ruwa/bg