BHUBANESWAR : Deputy chief minister KV Singh Deo on Wednesday blamed the previous BJD government for the failure of the Potato Mission stating it resulted in a huge gap in demand and supply of the tuber in the state.
Singh Deo was answering questions from the Opposition in the Assembly regarding measures taken by the state government to resolve the recurring potato crisis. Responding to a question from BJP MLA Manas Dutta, the deputy chief minister, who also handles the Agriculture portfolio, said lack of storage facility was the major reason for limited cultivation of potato.
“The previous government not only failed to create cold storage facilities as promised under the Mission but also handed over all operational cold storages under the cooperative sector to chit fund companies which mortgaged them paving way for closure. Taking advantage of the situation, the West Bengal government is playing petty politics with Odisha by frequently stopping potato supply to the state,” Singh Deo said.
The minister said the state government has taken necessary steps to increase potato production. As a first step, the government has decided to set up 58 cold storages in each sub-division in hybrid mode through public-private participation. Once these cold storages come up, it will build confidence among farmers to go for potato production on a big scale, he added.
“The annual consumption of potato in the state in 2023-24 was 13.81 lakh tonne but the production of the tuber was only 4.28 lakh tonne. Potato was cultivated over an area of 35,776 hectare including 8,019 hectare through government assistance. The state depends heavily on West Bengal for low production of potato,” the deputy chief minister said.
He further said the state government has made a budgetary support of Rs 64.17 crore for 2024-25 rabi season to cover 43,994 hectare (15,994 hectare through government assistance) with a production target of 5.28 lakh tonne. An assistance of Rs 42,718 per hectare is given to farmers under the ‘Development of potato, vegetable and spices’ scheme, he added.
Assly adjourned sine die
Bhubaneswar: The winter session of the Assembly was adjourned sine die on Wednesday, 20 days ahead of schedule. Out of the 30 working days, the Assembly met for only for 12 days. The session commenced on November 26 and was to continue till December 31.