BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha State Seeds Corporation (OSSC) has announced 11 per cent dividend to its shareholders for 2022-23. This is for the third consecutive year that the corporation made profit and declared dividend. Announcing the dividend at the annual general body meeting of the corporation here on Saturday, OSSC chairman Bijay Kumar Nayak said the state PSU has made a profit of Rs 3 crore in 2022-23 as against Rs 1.4 crore in the previous financial year.
The corporation had given dividend to its shareholders for the first time in 2011. It had been incurring either losses or making operating profit from 2011-12 to 2018-19. The business of the corporation has started looking up from 2019-20 onward, Nayak said.
The corporation which was incorporated on February 24, 1978 with the objective of producing certified seeds and marketing it at reasonable price to the farmers has crossed Rs 200 crore business for the first time. The seed business of the corporation has touched Rs 209 crore in 2022-23 as against Rs 195 crore in 2021-22, said OSSC managing director Bhavesh Kumar Nayak.
He said the corporation has made a target to achieve Rs 250 crore business in the current financial year. This kharif season, the corporation has targeted to produce four lakh quintal of certified paddy seeds, 10,000 quintal of certified groundnut seeds, 1,000 quintal of certified Mandia (finger millet) and 500 quintal of certified arhar dal (pigeon pea) seeds, he added.
The corporation is going to open 314 seed sale centres in all the notified area councils (NACs) in public-private partnership (PPP) mode. Women self-help groups (WSHGs) and farmer producer organisations (FPOs) will be given preference to run these new seed outlets, said the OSSC MD.