A meeting to review the preparations and distribution related to millet procurement was held by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment of the Government of Odisha, under the Shree Anna Abhiyan.
The meeting was chaired by Principal Secretary Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee. Present were Sudarshan Chakravarthy, Managing Director of the Odisha State Supply Corporation, and Shubham Saxena, Director of Agriculture and Food Production, along with other senior officials from the Food Corporation of India, the Odisha Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation Limited, and the Agriculture Department.
During this meeting, several measures were discussed to facilitate this year’s millet procurement program, focusing on including as many farmers as possible. District Collectors have been instructed to remain vigilant to prevent unscrupulous traders from exploiting this assistance. The meeting also emphasised the distribution of procured millet through various state government schemes and its supply to the central government’s reserves via the Food Corporation of India. Notably, 758,000 quintals of millet were procured last year, with over one lakh quintals exported for the first time to the State of Andhra Pradesh and the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar.
Secretary Dr. Padhee stated that the state government is committed to promoting grains like millet in response to climate change.
