Odisha to launch state potato mission from 2015-16 fiscal

Hit by potato scarcity, Odisha government today decided to launch the state potato mission from next fiscal with an objective to make the state self-sufficient in production of the tuber in coming 3 years.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the Mission would be based on a task force report on the subject. He also asked officials to chart out a comprehensive implementation programme on potato.
The state has already set up a task force with a target for expansion of potato cultivation in 60,000 hectares over three years to achieve the targeted production of 11.25 lakh tonnes by 2017-18, Patnaik said.

Patnaik also said the state government would maintain a buffer stock of four lakh tonnes to meet emergency needs.
Agriculture Secretary Rajesh Verma said the total financial implication for the proposal would be Rs 544.32 crore in three years up to 2017-18.
It has been proposed that 50 per cent of the project cost would be funded from the state plan while the balance would be taken up by converging various central plans and central schemes, he said.
Stating that the state government has also decided to enhance the storage capacity and distribution in the next three years, he said the state government's three-pronged strategy was -- incentive to farmers, focus on seed supply and to provide cold storage facilities to cultivators.

According to the Task Force report, though potato is one of the major vegetable crops grown in over 15,000 hectares with annual production of about 2.5 lakh tonnes, the amount was found to be insufficient. The productivity of potato in Odisha is only 16.48 tonnes per hectare against the national average of 22.8 tonnes per hectare.