Odisha government sanctions farmers' projects worth Rs 350cr

The Odisha government Saturday sanctioned 20 new projects worth Rs 350 crore for augmenting farmers' income, official sources said.

The projects were sanctioned at the State Level Sanctioning Committee meeting of Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) chaired by Chief Secretary A P Padhi.

Padhi directed the officials to ensure that the projects were completed on time.

Padhi also said that all the projects should result in providing more income to the farmers in the state.

The projects would be financed by the central and state government in the 60:40 ratio.

Of the total project cost, around Rs 120 crore would be invested during the current fiscal itself, officials said.

The major projects include agricultural machinery (Rs 24.85 crore), strengthening of phytosanitary laboratory for issue of phytosanitary certificate (Rs 20.1 crore), and pest surveillance through light trap for crop protection (Rs 94.3 crore).