World Bank project to support Climate Resilient Agriculture in Odisha

 A new world bank project 'Odisha Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture' is on its way to implementation to support the smallholder farmers strengthen the resilience of their production systems, as well as to diversify and improve the marketing of their products for an increase in income. According to a government statement, the Government of India, Government of Odisha, and the World Bank signed a US$165 million loan agreement for the implementation of the project on Thursday. The project has a grace period of six years and a maturity period of 24 years, read the statement. 

According to the Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Sameer Kumar Khare, the project is one of the many initiatives supported by the government to achieve the sustainable agriculture-related targets of the SDGs by 2030, reported the government statement. Further, the agreement was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs on behalf of the Government of India, Surendra Kumar, Principal Secretary of Water Resources Department on behalf of the Government of Odisha and Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, on behalf of the World Bank.

About the project

According to the government statement, the project will be implemented in rural areas that are largely dependent on rainfall for agriculture. Further, the project will benefit around 125,000 smallholder farmers from around 15 districts in Odisha. It is also projected to strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers by improving their access to resilient seed varieties and production technologies. The statement further read that the project will improve the access of farmers to better water management and irrigation facilities. 

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Project to support rehabilitation

According to the government statement, the project will be supporting the rehabilitation of 532 water tanks. Along with it, it will also support 'aquaculture' in the rehabilitated tanks. According to the statement, rehabilitating the existing tanks will make agriculture more productive and climate-resilient for smallholder farmers. Along with this, the project will help disseminate improved aquaculture practices and post-harvest management, read the statement. 

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