Odisha has bagged the 9th Global Agriculture Leadership Award 2016 in recognition of its efforts towards development of agriculture and bringing rural prosperity. Odisha Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Minister Pradip Maharathy received the award from Haryana Governor K S Solanki at a function at New Delhi .

• Seed Replacement Rate (SRR) in paddy, which is one of the key contributors to higher production and productivity along with technology inputs, has increased to a record high of 35.57 per cent during 2015-16. For such remarkable achievement in food grain sector, the State has bagged the prestigious Krishi Karman Award four times in the last five years.

• this award Instituted by Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) in 2008 the award is given annually to the individuals and organizations in recognizing excellence and leadership roles played by individuals and organizations towards development of agriculture affecting the lives of millions of farmers.

•  the state recorded 22.7 per cent growth in foodgrains production from 96.36 lakh MTs in 2013-14 to 118.24 lakh MTs during 2014-15. The state has also recorded achievement in increasing the productivity of food grains.

• ICFA in recognition of the efforts have awarded the state in the category of Best Agriculture State for the year 2016. The National Awards Committee of ICFA headed by Prof M S Swaminathan, the Pioneer of India’s Green Revolution have decided to confer the Best Agriculture State Award for 2016 to Odisha for successfully launching a large number of progammes to revitalize agriculture in the state leading to higher growth rate, improved farm income and accelerated pace of overall agriculture development