Odisha moving towards value-driven rice economy

Bhubaneswar: Odisha is moving beyond conventional rice production towards a value-driven and farmer-centric rice economy, Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo said on Saturday.

This will play a key role in meeting future food security needs, he said at the ‘Odisha Healthier Rice Business Summit 2026’ here. “Bringing together our farmers and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) with research institutions, industry, and markets can promote healthier and nutritious rice, strengthen value addition, and create better income opportunities,” Singh Deo said.

The Odisha government is committed to providing the infrastructure, policy support, and institutional convergence required to take the state’s nutritious rice from the fields to national and global markets, he said. The summit’s central message is to take fortified rice to the commercial markets with the farmer as the primary beneficiary, the Deputy CM said.

Business commitments announced during the event involve around 1,000 metric tonnes of nutritious rice valued at Rs 6 crore, officials said. The summit was jointly organised by the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment (DA&FE) and the Department of Mission Shakti, in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Hans India