Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Friday disbursed over Rs 833 crore as the fifth installment of financial assistance to more than 41 lakh farmers under the CM-KISAN scheme.
CM Majhi said all eligible beneficiaries — mostly small, marginal and landless farmers and those belonging to particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) — received assistance of Rs 2,000 each for the Rabi season in their bank accounts through direct benefit transfer (DBT) during the day.
The Chief Minister also claimed that no farmer suicide has been reported in the eastern state in the last two years after the BJP came to power.
“No farmer suicide has been reported in Odisha in the last two years as farming families receive Rs 10,000 per year under PM-KISAN and CM-KISAN schemes. Their financial issues have been resolved as the state also provides MSP of Rs 3,100 per quintal of paddy,” he said.
Claiming that the financial condition of farmers’ families has improved a lot during the period, CM Majhi said that apart from CM-KISAN and PM-KISAN assistance, the woman of the farmer’s family also gets Rs 10,000 per annum as Subhadra scheme assistance.
All these factors have contributed to the rising income of farming families, the CM said.
Slamming the previous BJD government, he said that the monthly income of farmers in the state was very disappointing for almost two and a half decades.
In 2022, the monthly income of a farming family in Odisha was only Rs 5,112, which was the second lowest in the country, only above Jharkhand on the list, the Chief Minister said.
“But the situation has changed now after the new government came in Odisha. The government aims to at least double the annual income of farming families,” he said.
Stating that about 92 per cent of the farmers in Odisha are small and marginal ones, he urged them to increase their income by availing government schemes and diversifying from paddy cultivation.
“Farmers should go for fish farming, mushroom growing, raising goats and cattle. There is a lot of provision for availing subsidy in different schemes, and farmers should take advantage of these,” he said.
CM Majhi said the state was giving adequate compensation to farmers facing crop loss due to floods, unseasonal rains and other calamities.
He said the government has recently announced a special assistance package of Rs 1000 crore for the farmers affected by the recent severe floods in the districts of Mayurbhanj, Kendujhar, Baleshwar, Bhadrak, Kendrapada and Sundargada.
Immediate compensation will be provided to the affected farmers on the basis of the loss assessment report of the field staff of the Revenue and Agriculture Departments, the CM said.
He said farmers in large numbers are now getting registered to sell their paddy after the state government made a provision of Rs 3100 per quintal.
He said that in the last Kharif season of 2025-26, 77.48 lakh metric tonnes of paddy were collected from 18.84 lakh farmers and a record Rs 5,663.84 crore was given as input subsidy and Rs 1,494.89 crore was given to 3.63 lakh farmers in the Rabi season.
Apart from this, Majhi said the state government has implemented the “Krishi Vidyanidhi Yojana” to help children of farmer families in higher technical education.
A record number of 68,910 beneficiaries have been provided scholarships worth over Rs 291.60 crore in the academic year 2025-26.
The Chief Minister has advised farmers to register their land details in the “Farmers Registry” to avail government benefits.
The government is giving special emphasis to ‘Shri Anna Abhiyan’ (Millet farming) and the National Pulse Mission.
CM Majhi said that 6.92 lakh quintals of Millet (Mandia) were procured in the state at a minimum support price of Rs 4,886. Along with this, there is a subsidy of up to Rs 1 crore under the Chief Minister’s Agriculture Udyog Yojana, the CM said.
Majhi also outlined the challenges ahead and said that although Odisha has made commendable progress in the agriculture sector, serious problems such as climate change, erratic weather, water scarcity and soil erosion are posing a threat to agriculture.
In view of this, organic farming, Millet farming and regenerative agriculture are being widely promoted in the state, he said.
The chief minister expressed happiness and said that this year, the state has achieved record production in the food grains, fruits and vegetables sector.
Even the cotton produced in Odisha has been included in the list of ‘Kasturi Cotton’, which has achieved the best standard in the country.
Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment KV Singh Deo said that the flood-affected areas have been directly inspected by government officials as well as the Cabinet.
