Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government is set to introduce a new agriculture policy aimed at promoting organic farming across the state, Deputy Chief Minister and Agriculture Minister KV Singh Dev announced on Friday.
Speaking at a workshop titled ‘Advancement of Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Odisha’, Singh Dev highlighted plans to increase agricultural production and facilitate export of farmers’ produce to international markets.
“To support this initiative, the state government is considering deploying a dedicated cargo flight service,” the deputy chief minister added.
The new agriculture policy will adopt a collaborative approach involving all departments related to agriculture. The opinions of experts have been collected in the workshop organized with the support of IFPRI, CGARI and the state government.
“We need a holistic agricultural policy that helps farmers to increase production, especially in organic farming. Excessive use of fertilizers is harmful to health, hence the need to move towards organic farming,” emphasized Singh Dev.
“Our farmers get the maximum benefit if they can get their produce to the international market. To facilitate this, we need a dedicated cargo flight service,” he reiterated.
Arvind Padhe, Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment said, “Odisha’s agriculture policy has been recognized as inclusive on global platforms. We will incorporate the suggestions of experts from the workshop while implementing the new policy.”