Bhubaneswar: In a major initiative to strengthen nutritional security and enhance farmers’ incomes, the state government will prepare a comprehensive roadmap to promote healthier rice, millets and their value-added products across the state.
Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo announced the move Saturday, saying nutritious rice varieties developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), underutilised traditional rice varieties of Odisha and locally grown millets would be used to develop a range of nutritious value-added products at a dedicated processing facility.
The proposed facility, named the Odisha Agricultural Centre of Excellence for Value Addition (Agri-CEVA), is expected to position Odisha as a national leader in preventive nutrition while opening new opportunities for farmers, women entrepreneurs and rural enterprises.
Agri-CEVA will represent a new phase of agricultural transformation by connecting farmers directly with value addition, branding, processing and premium markets. It will provide shared infrastructure and common processing facilities to Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), women Self-Help Groups (SHGs), Mission Shakti groups, startups and rural enterprises.
The processing-led initiative is expected to reduce post-harvest losses, improve the shelf life of agricultural products and enable Odisha-origin products to reach distant domestic and international markets in processed and branded forms.
IRRI will work closely with the Department of Agriculture and Mission Shakti, providing technical expertise in healthy rice production, processing, logistics, traceability, quality certification and the development of nutritious rice-based value-added products.
The Agricultural Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha Limited (APICOL) will facilitate market linkages and develop sustainable business plans to operationalise the specialised rice and millet processing facility. It will also strengthen domestic retail networks and export opportunities through an integrated value chain.
The initiative will further strengthen women-led enterprises by improving their production capabilities, quality assurance and food safety practices. Continuous capacity building, technical guidance and mentorship will be provided to ensure sustainable livelihoods and greater market competitiveness.
Earlier, Singh Deo, along with Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Women and Child Development and Mission Shakti Pravati Parida, visited the upcoming value-addition facilities for speciality rice and millets and Odisha Bazar at Baramunda in Bhubaneswar.
The Department of Agriculture also organised a workshop to formulate the implementation strategy and institutional framework for the initiative. The discussions focused on sustainably enhancing farmers’ incomes while ensuring nutritional security through technological integration and inclusive agricultural value chains.
Singh Deo said there was considerable scope to expand their cultivation and consumption as cooked rice, besides developing nutritious value-added products from broken rice and rice bran, which generally have lower commodity value.
Such products could generate additional premium returns for farmers and other stakeholders while contributing to the state’s overall socio-economic development, he said. “Our vision is clear. We want every farmer to earn more, every woman entrepreneur to grow confidently, every district to participate in value addition, and Odisha to emerge as a global destination for healthier rice, heritage rice and millet innovation,” Singh Deo said.