Bhubaneswar, Dec 9 (PTI) Amid raging farmers protest against the new farm laws, the Odisha government on Wednesday decided to demand the Centre to implement M S Swaminathan Committee recommendations on MSP for all the crops.

A resolution to this effect was approved at the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here.

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The meeting stressed on the point that implementation of the Swaminathan Committee recommendations will help in doubling the income of farmers in the state and other parts of the country.

The Naveen Patnaik-led party has opposed the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and the Farm Services Bill, in Parliament. The BJD, however, stayed away from the December 8 Bharat Bandh against the new agri laws.

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Chief Secretary A K Tripathy said that the state government policies and programmes, including the new Agricultural Policy 2020 'SAMRUDHI', are aimed at achieving rapid agricultural growth through improved profitability, inclusivity and sustainability.

State Parliamentary Affairs minister B K Arukha said the state government considers that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) is an important tool for income generation of the farmers.

The state government feels that the income of farmers needs to keep pace with the growth of income in other sectors and the rise in the costs of cultivation, the chief secretary said.

The MSP of any agricultural produce has to be fixed in a holistic manner so as to make farming operations profitable and to safeguard the farmers against all types of risks, he added.

Odisha Legislative Assembly had earlier passed unanimous resolutions in this regard in 2017 and again in 2018.

The M S Swaminathan chaired National Commission on Farmers had recommended that "MSP should be at least 50 per cent more than the weighted average cost of production".

"The state cabinet has decided to request the centre to implement the recommendations of the M S Swaminathan committee regarding MSP for all crops," Arukha said.

On the state governments Agriculture Policy-2020 "MAMRUDHI", the chief secretary said efforts are being made to enhance the status of agriculture from the present level of subsistence agriculture to profitable, commercial venture, so that young persons can accept agriculture as a means of self- employment.

The policy also aims to generate adequate employment opportunities and take the knowledge of modern farming system available at the doorstep of farmers and to reorient agriculture towards export, he said. This apart, Tripathy said the state governments focus is on horticulture crops including dry-land horticulture.

The government also intends to facilitate increased long term investment in the agricultural sector for farm as well as off farm, both by private sector, public sector and private public partnership (PPP), particularly for post-harvest management, marketing, agro processing and value addition, he said.

Tripathy said the cabinet took altogether 12 decisions of which two each were related to the departments of agriculture and farmer empowerment, water resources department, panchayati raj and drinking water.

Others pertained to the energy department, skill development and technical education, finance department, home department works department and one to parliamentary affairs department.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)