This will cover areas near biodiversity hotspots and ecologically sensitive regions for a period of five years from 2025-26, the officials said.
The Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment launched the scheme – Revival and Sustainable Intensification of Forgotten Food & Neglected Crops in Odisha – on Wednesday.
The initiative will also help generate additional financial support for the cultivators, especially those belonging to the tribal community, the officials said.
The scheme has been developed under the guidance of Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and has been formally approved by the government, they said.
The expected outcomes of the scheme include “documenting numerous landraces and recipes, increasing their availability, conducting nutritional profiling, developing an open digital knowledge platform, and positioning Odisha as a global model for reviving forgotten food & neglected crops”, said Arabinda Kumar Padhee, principal secretary, Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment Department. PTI BBM BDC