Bhubaneswar, November, 26: Deputy Chief Minister and Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo on Wednesday flagged off the Land Resource Inventory (LRI) Jatra under the REWARD programme at the Krushi Bhavan here.

This outreach initiative, being implemented in five pilot districts – Nayagarh, Koraput, Sambalpur, Dhenkanal and Deogarh - will create awareness on scientific watershed management and empower our farmers with precise land resource data for sustainable cultivation.

REWARD is a World Bank assisted Watershed development program which is being implemented from 2021 to 2026.

“I firmly believe the LRI Jatra will strengthen transparency, enhance planning, and mark a milestone in Odisha’s journey towards agricultural innovation and farmer-centric growth,” said the Deputy CM.

As part of the initiative, awareness chariots will be move in 79 panchayats in five pilot districts. Highest 22 gram panchayats (GPs) of Sambalpur district will be covered under the programme, awareness raths will move in 19 GPs of Nayagarh district followed by 16 GPs in Koraput, 14 GPs in Dhenkanal and eight in Deogarh district.

“This significant outreach initiative, beginning across five pilot districts, will create awareness on scientific watershed management and empower our farmers with precise land resource data for sustainable cultivation,” said Deputy Chief Minister Singh Deo.

The objectives of REWARD programme is to strengthen capacities of national and state institutions to adopt improved watershed management for increasing farmers resilience and support value chains in selected watersheds of participating States.

Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment Secretary Arabinda Padhee and senior officials were present during the launch of the programme.