Agriculture, Allied Sectors Open To National & Global Players: Odisha CM

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik stressed on linking farmers directly to market and removing intermediaries with the objective to improve the income of farmers.

Inaugurating the Odisha Agri Conclave 2021 on virtual platform on Friday, Naveen said the state government lays emphasis to enhance the income of farmers. “We must respond to the dynamics of the market. We need to streamline their connectivity to aggregators and processors to play the role as producers. We need to remove intermediaries who don’t add value to the supply chain,” he added.

“We aspire to become investment destination of choice by continuously creating and delivering outstanding opportunities for business growth, fostering all round socio-economic development for the state and its people,” Naveen added. Agriculture and allied sectors of the state are now open to national and global players, he emphasised.

The Conclave aims to link farmers of Odisha to organised national market, said the CM and invited top agri-business leaders to be partners in scripting the growth story of agribusiness in Odisha.

Citing challenges of frequent natural calamities including drought, cyclone and flood, he said the state government has worked out all possible measures to ensure uninterrupted growth of agriculture and economy of the state. It is now evident that agri-sector is a silver lining in the current COVID-19 pandemic situation, he added.

“Odisha has attained self-sufficiency in food production, and is now the third largest contributor to nation Public Distribution System,” the CM said.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Arun Sahoo said Odisha is a pioneer in promoting agriculture enterprises through ease of doing business. Mukhya Mantri Krushi Udyog Yojana has been a great support to farm sector business, he added.

Chairman WODC and principal Advisor to CM Asit Tripathy, Development Commissioner PK Jena; Business Head, Foods of Adani-Wilmer Ltd Satyendra Aggarwal and CEO of GTechnicio, Science Ltd Soundara Radjane also spoke.

NAFED MD Sanjeev Chaddha and Agriculture and FE Secretary Suresh Vasishth were present.

Odisha Agri Conclave 2021 is a joint endeavour of State Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Department and National National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India to make the process of farming easier for farmers.

Adani-Wilmer ltd, Tata Agri, Parley, Amul, Coffe Board of India, Big Basket and many other top national and global players participated in the conclave.