Bhubaneswar: In a major step towards sustainable agriculture and enhanced farmer income, the Odisha Cabinet on Saturday approved the continuation of the “Crop Diversification Programme” for another three years — from 2025-26 to 2027-28 — with an estimated outlay of ₹1,523.98 crore.

The programme, implemented by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, was first launched during Kharif 2021 under the Mega Lift Irrigation Projects on a pilot basis to encourage farmers to shift from paddy to non-paddy crops in upland and medium land areas. Following its success, it was scaled up in FY 2022-23 with two additional components — promotion of indigenous aromatic rice and non-paddy high-value crops.

The newly approved phase marks a significant expansion of the initiative, reaffirmi

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