Bhubaneswar, Jan. 3 -- A satellite survey flagged a large number of fake farmers in Odisha, prompting the state government to initiate action against irregular registrations made to avail input subsidies.

According to data from the Cooperation Department, satellite surveys were conducted on 25 lakh land plots registered for paddy procurement. The exercise revealed that nearly 19 lakh plots did not have paddy cultivation, despite being declared as such by registered farmers. These plots were found to be non-cultivated or used for purposes other than paddy farming.

As per official figures, a total of 26,14,137 plots across all 30 districts of Odisha were registered for paddy sale so far. Of these, field-level verification was completed fo...