Bhubaneswar, Dec 5: Following the success of the Millet Mission, the Mukhyamantri Maka Mission (MMM) has boosted Maize production in Odisha by at least 51%.
It was revealed in a high-level review meeting of the MMM held by 5T & Nabin Odisha chairman VK Pandian in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. The review revealed that 44,730 quintals of maize had been collected by the Farmer-Producer Organisations (FPOs) by the end of November.
It was decided in the meeting that more FPOs would be formed for the collection of maize so that the farmers could get fair prices. More private traders would also be involved to ensure more value to the produce of the farmers.
The government had set the target to form 15 FPOs by the end of this year and 13 have already been formed including 4 for women only. In the first year of the Mission, the target is to collect and market 20,000 tons of maize.
It was also decided that steps would be taken to increase the capacity of FPO and involve ORMAS in the primary processing and marketing of maize. At present, the Mission is being implemented in the Nabarangpur, Koraput, Gajapati, and Nuapada districts.
The meeting decided to set up a Kia flower processing unit through APICOL and provide financial assistance of Rs 84,000 under Horticulture Mission Plus and Rs 16,000 under NHM to the farmers taking up lemon grass farming in Koraput. It was revealed that the Chief Minister has announced interest-free loans up to Rs 1 lakh for betel leaf farmers.
The progress of the programs implemented under the scheme to solve various problems of betel leaf, Kia flower and lemongrass farmers was also reviewed in the meeting.
Among others, Chief Secretary Pradip Kumar Jena, Chief Advisor to the Chief Minister’s Office Suresh Kumar Mohapatra, Development Commissioner Anu Garg, Principal Secretary, Agriculture Arabinda Padhee and district collectors of Nabarangpur, Ganjam, Puri and Koraput participated in the meeting.
