Paudi Bhuyan, a tribal community, will take up potato cultivation in the wake of acute scarcity of the vegetable in the State recently.
For the purpose, the Paudi Bhuyan Development Authority (PBDA) has provided potato seeds and agriculture implements free of cost to the tribals.
The potato seeds were provided to the PBDA by the State Government at a subsidised rate.
Pallahara Sub-Collector Sarat Chandra Panda said 1,258 Paudi Bhuyan families in Pallahara block have been provided 314.5 quintals of high quality potato seeds.
Each family has been given 25 kg of seeds.
Horticulture and Agriculture Department officials have trained these families on farming for harvesting 3500 quintals of potatoes by the end of this season.
Apart from potato, Chairman of PBDA and District Collector Ranjit Mohanty said agriculture implements worth `13.84 lakh have been provided to Paudi Bhuyans which include ploughs, rake weeders, trench hoes and garden rakes.
“We have appealed to the tribals to take up potato cultivation in a big way owing to recent crisis of the vegetable faced by the State. They will raise the tuber crop over four decimals of land each,” Mohanty said.