‘Vast Scope For Young Entrepreneurs In Agriculture Growth Of Odisha’

Bhubaneswar: Considering the present schemes of Central and state governments, the role of young entrepreneurs for agricultural growth of the state was stressed at a webinar here.

Speaking at the webinar organised by Odisha Corporate Foundation (OCF), a non-profit organisation, on “Agri-Business: Scopes and Opportunities” on Friday, Dr Saurabh Garg, Principal Secretary, Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, said steps should be taken to encourage the young entrepreneurs to invest in agriculture and allied sectors.

“Loans worth Rs 1,00,000 crore could be availed by farmers from banks and other financial institutions under the Agricultural Infrastructure Fund, while Odisha farmers will be able to avail loans worth Rs 2,500 crore under the fund,” he said.

Director, Agriculture and Food Production, Dr M Muthukumar said providing scope for use of new technologies and availability of proper agri infrastructure will enable the current generation to adopt agriculture and allied sector as their occupation. He also shed light on proper storage of paddy and vegetables as the state produces a huge amount of these.

Urging the youth to invest in floriculture, mushroom cultivation and production of spices, Rohit Kumar Lenka, Director of Horticulture spoke on subsidies available under different schemes to develop infrastructure and storage of agricultural produces.

“The state government is planning to promote one agri produce from each district to encourage micro-enterprises. Besides, integrated supply chain hubs in two major cities – Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur – are on the cards,” Lenka said.

Among others, Dr PK Roul, MD, APICOL; Mart Global Management Solutions partner Pankaj Mishra and former Chief Secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik spoke. Ecociate co-founder Kirti Prasanna Mishra delivered the welcome address at the webinar.