Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday led the State-level Akshay Tritiya celebrations held at laxminarayanpur gram panchayat in the Pipili area of Puri district where he claimed that farmers’ income in the State has grown two fold in the last 10 years.

As per a report of Union Government, the income of the farmers in the State has doubled in 10 years, he said, adding, “We will make further strides (in this regard) in the coming years.”

“I have directed the district Collectors to give priority to farmers’ issues. We have made significant progress in terms of production, productivity and income generation. Keeping up the momentum, we will make further improvement in coming years,” Patnaik said.

The Government has set up two corpus funds of Rs 100 crore each, one for seeds and the other for fertilisers. Besides a new agriculture policy and special Budget for farmers, the Government provides crop loan at one per cent interest rate, he added.

Patnaik also ran a ceremonial plough on the occasion.

Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy, who had recently courted controversy for his statement on farmers’ suicide, said the State Government is mulling farm loan waiver and crop insurance of farmers.

“We will step up our efforts to increase productivity from 1.18 MT to 1.50 MT. We are at the service of farmers,” Maharathy said.

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Prasad Harichandan also participated at an Akhi Muthi Anukula programme at Paniora near Jatni in Khordha  district.