“Mission One Million Fruit Tree Plantation” Starts in Odisha

For the First time in India, “Mission One Million Fruit Tree Plantation” project of ‘One Tress Planted (OTP)’ USA, the Climate Reality India and SPARSH Foundation of JK Paper Mills Ltd, conducted by FREEDOM, a local NGO network has been launched in Odisha by the Speaker of the state on 4^th August at Durgadashpur Gram Panchayat in Pipill block. 

This huge project aims to distribute at least a million fruit trees within two years to one Lakh households in Odisha and produce around 5-6 thousand Agri entrepreneurs in nutritional fruit productions, processing and marketing.  

Dr. SN Patra, honorable speaker of Odisha Legislative Assembly said on the occasion, “If Odisha has to become a $ trillion economy by 2030, it has to revolutionize its agriculture and allied sectors, particularly the agroforestry, processing, and marketing fields. Though Odisha has become the food surplus producing state, it is lagging behind in fruit productions in the climate change mitigation and adoption perspective, Odisha has been severely threatened in the coastal soil erosion and land degradations ”. 

The speaker urged upon the public that this mission which aiming to produce 1000 metric tones of fruits in five years times is unique as it is announced in the village, not in the state assembly.  

Among the delegates including MLA Pipili, Pradeep Kumar Mohanty and former agriculture minister have marked their presence and expressed their happiness over the mission launched by the speaker of the assembly. 

Some important personality including Mr. Prafulla Kumar Dhal, CSR head of JK Papers Mills and convenor of SPARSH, Aditya Pundir, country manager of the Climate Reality Project India and Raj Mohan, the founder of SGI also marked their presence and address the gathering. 

"India has targeted to plant 1000 core plants by 2030 to combat climate crisis", said Pundir with an enthusiastic tone.