Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government is proposing to extend the Odisha Millet Mission to two more districts — Bargarh and Nabarangpur. At present 62 blocks in 12 districts have been covered under the Mission. A budget provision of Rs 100 crore has been made for the Mission with a view to benefit about 5 lakh small and marginal farmers in the state. The government will procure millets and utilise these in various schemes.
Last year the districts of Rayagada, Nuapada, Malkangiri, Koraput, Kandhmal, Kalahandi and Gajapatihas were covered under the Mission. Meanwhile, Sundergarh, Bolangir, Ganjam and Mayurbhanj have been included in the list. With the District Mineral Foundation Fund, millet cultivation has been ecouraged in 7 blocks of Keonjhar.
The chief secretary, AP Padhi, said the millet cultivation would add to nutritional security and result in improving the farmers’ income significantly. Padhi was taking a review on the Mission,here on Wednesday.
The development commissioner, R. Balakrishnan, said that the officials have been directed to identify in advance the storage and procurement points for millet in the districts.
Agriculture principal secretary Sourav Garg, cooperation principal secretary Ranjana Chopra, agriculture director Muthu Kumar were present.
