Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday presented a budget of Rs 2.90 lakh crore in the state assembly. This includes a proposed outlay of Rs 14,701 Crore for Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment Department.
More than 80 per cent of the population reside in rural areas, where agriculture is the principal source of income, Majhi said in his budget speech. Keeping in view the need of farmers, he proposed to increase the allocation under agriculture and allied sector to Rs.37,838 crore in 2025-26, which is about 12 per cent more than the previous year’s allocation.
Of total allocation in budget for Agriculture department, the CM proposed to enhance the provision from Rs. 5000 crore to Rs. 6000 crore under Samrudha Krushak Yojana. The State Government has already implemented the scheme for the Kharif Marketing Season 2024-25 and more than Rs.4500 crore has been disbursed till 15th February, 2025. About 13 lakh farmers have been benefited under the scheme so far.
He proposed a sum of Rs 2020 crore for the year 2025-26 under CM-KISAN for timely financial assistance and input support to the farmers in the state.
He said that an area of about 2 lakh ha has been planned to be diversified to different non-paddy crops in the ayacut of Mega Lift Irrigation Projects. Under this programme, his government’s approach is to double the income of small and marginal women farmers by establishing model Agriculture Production Clusters (APC).
To increase potato farming in Odisha, he said that the state government would highlight programme to support Rabi potato cultivation. This year, the government has set a target to cover 1.80 lakh farmers under this initiative. Under the programme, the department has supplied 1.60 lakh quintals of certified seed potatoes to farmers in Rabi Season this year.
He allocated an amount of Rs 600 crore for Odisha’s flagship scheme “Shree Anna Abhijan” to promote millets addressing nutrition and sustainability in agrifood system. He said that scheme has been extended to 177 blocks in all 30 districts. The state government has decided for an additional budgetary support of Rs.210 per quintal over and above the existing MSP of Rs.4290 per quintal for the current year, thereby the procurement price of Ragi is fixed at Rs.4500 per quintal.
The government announced Rs.252 crore towards financial assistance to cold storages for the period from 2025-26 to 2029-30.
He proposed an allocation of Rs.425 crore under the scheme, ‘Farm Mechanization and Agriculture Entrepreneurship’. Under the scheme, Mukhyamantri Krushi Udyog Yojana (MKUY) promotion of agri- enterprises are being facilitated through ease of doing agri-business. Rs.264 crore has been allocated for the scheme.
Besides, an amount of Rs 74 crore was allocated for Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) that include credit access, financial and technical aid, infrastructure support, and market linkages to improve incomes and livelihoods for small and marginal farmers in Odisha.
