Traditional crop culture scheme unveiled
Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has introduced a scheme to revive the traditional crop and food culture of the State and will focus on the conservation and marketing of such agricultural produce, officials said. The programme will be implemented in 25 blocks across 15 districts in the State and is expected to directly benefit approximately 60,000 farmers.
This will cover areas near biodiversity hotspots and ecologically sensitive regions for a period of five years from 2025-26. Agriculture & Farmers' Empowerment department launched the scheme - Revival and Sustainable Intensification of Forgotten Food & Neglected Crops in Odisha - on Wednesday.
The initiative will also help generate additional financial support for the cultivators, especially those belonging to the tribal community. The scheme has been developed under the guidance of Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and has been formally approved by the government.
The expected outcomes of the scheme include 'documenting numerous landraces and recipes, increasing their availability, conducting nutritional profiling, developing an open digital knowledge platform and positioning Odisha as a global model for reviving forgotten food & neglected crops', said Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Principal Secretary, Agriculture & Farmers' Empowerment department.
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