A review meeting was held by the Agriculture Department to assess the crop loss by the recent flood situation

Bhubaneswar, July 2026 — Demonstrating a firm commitment to safeguarding the livelihoods of agriculturalists, the Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, Energy Shri Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo chaired a comprehensive high-level review meeting today to evaluate crop damage caused by the July 2026 flood situation.

The meeting was attended by the Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Agriculture, Shri Sachin Ramchandra Jadhav, Vice-Chancellor of OUAT, Dr. Pravat Roul, Director of Horticulture, Shri Kalunge Gorakh Waman, Director of Soil Conservation, Shri Subrat Kumar Panda, Managing Director of APICOL Shri Shubhranshu Mishra, and Managing Director of OSSC. Reassuring the farming community, the Deputy Chief Minister emphasized that the state government is pursuing a strict “Farmers First” approach and urged farmers across affected regions not to panic. With early assessment, robust contingency measures and relief mechanisms have immediately been activated.

To ensure a swift and transparent evaluation, the government has constituted a dedicated assessment panel that will submit a detailed crop loss report shortly. Based on this report, a comprehensive agricultural assistance package will be rolled out, giving preference to the most severely impacted districts. The Managing Director of Odisha State Seeds Corporation presented a full contingency report detailing seed availability to support farmers through this early damage phase.

In addition to relief measures, the government is issuing daily crop advisories in collaboration with OUAT, Krushi Vigyan Kendras experts to help farmers protect and revive their standing crops. Agriculturalists are advised to take immediate care of existing paddy nurseries, adopt short-duration crop varieties, and switch to non-paddy crops where damage is severe. The government will also place extra focus on the upcoming Rabi season to make up for Kharif losses. To address field issues and queries, a three-tier grievance mechanism is in place with a Nodal Officer at Headquarters, dedicated officers at the district level and block level. Farmers can also call the toll-free helpline 155333, active daily from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, for guidance and assistance.

Senior officers from all the Directorates of Agriculture, Water Resources Department, SRC office attended the meeting.

On this occasion Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister expressed his gratitude on behalf of the people of Odisha & farmers’ towards the Hon’ble Prime Minister for extending the PM-KISAN scheme for another five years and cabinet approval of ‘Pradhan Mantri Surya
Sarovar Yojana (PM-SSY)’ for Development of Floating Solar Photovoltaic Projects with Energy Storage Systems.