Odisha Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture

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The objective of the Odisha Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture in India is to intensify and diversify agricultural production and enhance climate resilience in selected districts of Odisha. This project has five components. Component (1) Climate-Smart Intensification and Diversification of Production. The objective of this component is to intensify production, strengthen farmers’ capacity to adapt to climate change stresses affecting crop and aquaculture production, and diversify production, especially in Rabi in response to effective market demand. Subcomponent (1.1) Support to Improved Productivity and Climate Resilience. Funding under this subcomponent will support farmer adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies and practices to increase productivity, improve resilience to climate shocks and reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, as a co-benefit. Subcomponent (1.2) Support to Aquaculture Production. Project support under this subcomponent is opportunistic, taking advantage of the improved water situation as a result of irrigation modernization and management in the cascades, to support climate resilient aquaculture in the rehabilitated tanks, as well as other tanks in the cascade. Subcomponent (1.3) Support to Diversification and Produce Marketing. The objective of this subcomponent is twofold: (i) support farmers to reduce the current emphasis on food grains (especially paddy and wheat) and increase the share of high-value and more nutritious products (e.g. fruits and vegetables) in their overall production structure34; and (ii) improve produce marketing to reduce price risks associated with diversification, increase incomes, and ensure sustained farmer adoption of CSA practices to strengthen resilience to climate change. Component (2) Improving Access to Irrigation and Water Productivity. Improving the reliability of irrigation and increasing water storage is critical to enhancing crop productivity, building resilience to climate change, and promoting diversification and access to markets. Subcomponent (2.1) Support to Water Sector Reforms. Subcomponent (2.2) Support to Investments in Cascades. The project will invest in hydraulic infrastructure in selected cascades. Component (3) Institutional Capacity Strengthening. Delivery of agricultural public services in Odisha is the shared responsibility of several line departments, each with their own mandate and, frequently, rigid organizational boundaries. Component (4) Project Management. This component will finance activities related to state and district-level project coordination and management, including developing annual work plans and budgets, financial management (FM) and procurement, human resource management, safeguards compliance monitoring, development and implementation of a Management Information System (MIS), monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and impact evaluation (IE) studies, a communication strategy and citizen engagement as well as a Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM). Component (5) Contingent Emergency Response. This zero-cost, contingent emergency response component (CERC) will finance eligible expenditures in case of natural or man-made crises, disasters, severe economic shocks, or other crises and emergencies in Odisha.