The State Government on Thursday decided to capitalise on creating more irrigation facilities to optimise agriculture productivity in the State.
A decision to this effect was taken at the Agriculture Cabinet meeting held under chairmanship of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat here.
After the meeting, Chief Secretary AP Padhi told reporters that Odisha has become the first State where farmers’ average monthly income has been doubled.
“As per the National Sample Survey Organisation(NSSO) statistics, during the period from 2003 to 2013 average income of farmers in Odisha increased to 108 per cent while all India average in their income increase stood at 34 per cent,” Padhi said.
He said in 2003, the average monthly income of the farmers in Odisha was Rs 1,000 which went slightly over Rs 2,000 in 2012-13.
Padhi said the Cabinet decided to take steps to double the income of the farmers in the next five years. To achieve the target, irrigation network would be widened with focus on mega lift irrigation projects. It has been planned that there will be 10-15 mega lift irrigation projects in each of the 17 clusters of the State in the next five years, he said.
At present, wastage of water is on higher side than usage of water in Odisha, he added.
Padhi said the Government has targeted to energise 12,000 bore wells this year of which 6,500 bore wells have already been repaired.
He also informed that the Government is trying to investment more in Animal Husbandry and Fishing sectors.
He said a 5-lakh litre capacity plant of Odisha Milk Federation (OMFED) would come up near Barang on the city outskirts within two years.
The Chief Secretary also informed that a Drought Management Cell for the Odisha Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) would be formed to provide advance information regarding drought to the Government and the farmers.