Apicol signs two MoUs to promote agriculture entrepreneurship

To promote agriculture entrepreneurship and enhance the income of farmers in Odisha, a state-government undertaking has signed two agreements with an NGO and a Central government agency, an official said on Thursday. The Agricultural Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha Limited (APICOL) signed an agreement on Wednesday with Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN), a national-level NGO, for implementation of agriculture entrepreneurship promotion scheme in tribal selected blocks of the state, the official said.

Odisha Agriculture Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo said the farmers of the 40 tribal dominated blocks will benefit immensely with better information and agriculture entrepreneurship will get a boost resulting in doubling of farmers income. "The agreements will benefit state's farmers very much," said Agriculture Production Commissioner PK Mohapatra.

The pact will promote agriculture entrepreneurial ventures at grassroot level in 40 tribal dominated blocks of 12 districts on a pilot basis. The farmer producer organizations, farmer interest groups, and small and marginal farmers will be assisted by agricultural entrepreneurs (AEs) for increasing farmers' income through enhanced production and productivity measures in agriculture and allied sectors, the official said Additionally some AEs will also provide services for livestock rearing and fisheries where ever possible to augment farmer's livelihood.

APICOL on Wednesday signed the second MoU with CSC e-Governance Services India Limited (CSC-SPV), a Central government entity, for implementation of Mukhyamantri Krushi Udyog Yojana (MKUY) and to establish a number of commercial agri enterprises in the state. It aims at providing assistance to farmers and agri- entrepreneurs through Common Service Centers (CSCs) in the filling up of online registration process for them including uploading and viewing of documents in the web portal www.apicol.nic.in. The CSC will train its operators, agri-entrepreneurs, village-level agriculture officials on online process of MKUY, the official added.

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