Odisha Govt Disburses Rs 9964 Crore Farm Loan In 2020

Bhubaneswar: The state government has disbursed agriculture loan amounting to Rs 9964.47 crore through different financial institutions benefitting 21 lakh farmers in 2020. Though the last date to avail kharif crop loan ends on September 3, farmers can still avail the benefit this month, said Agriculture secretary Saurabh Garg.

Speaking to mediapersons after agriculture cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Garg said  14.08 lakh farmers have been enrolled for crop insurance coverage. While the target of this year’s kharif crop has been fixed at 61.61 lakh hectares (ha), 55.52 lakh ha have been covered.

The government is taking steps for ensuring smooth supply of urea and other fertilisers with the support of Central government and through rigorous monitoring and enforcement, he said.

On implementation of chief minister’s package for COVID-19, Garg said the livelihood interventions for Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment department and Fisheries and Animal Resources Development department are worked out where 24,99,850 farmers would benefit with an outlay of Rs. 373.958 crore. Till now, 8,15,793 farmers have benefitted.

It was also revealed at the meeting that two primary components of KALIA (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation) scheme have been implemented from 2018-19. Those are support to cultivators for cultivation and livelihood support for landless agriculture households. At present, 55,29,680 beneficiaries are eligible for getting KALIA assistance.

On drought proofing through farm ponds, a target of 5 lakh farm ponds in 5 years (2019-20 to 2023-24) has been fixed. As many as 8900 farm ponds were completed generating 36 lakh persondays with an expenditure of Rs.107 Crore, under MGNREGA in 2019-20.

During 2020-21, it is targeted to dig 1,03,770 ponds which would generate around 4.51 crore person-days with an outlay of Rs. 1,038 crore.

On the day, a single window meeting of Heritage Cabinet, Agriculture Cabinet and General Cabinet was held.

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