Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Friday reiterated its commitment to empowering farming communities by entering into six key partnerships with the Department of Posts (Odisha Circle), International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) to strengthen digital agriculture, seed systems, climate resilience, nutrition and farmer livelihoods.
The state government’s Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment signed the MoUs in the presence of Deputy CM and Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, Commissioner-cum-Secretary Agriculture Sachin Ramchandra Jadha, Chief Postmaster General (CPMG) Nirmaljeet Singh, Director of Agriculture Shubham Saxena and Director of Horticulture Kalunge Gorakh Waman.
“These six historic MoUs mark a paradigm shift in Odisha’’s agricultural landscape. By leveraging our vast network of Gramin Dak Sevaks for AgriStack enrolment and partnering with premier research institutions like ICRISAT and MSSRF, we are decentralizing our seed systems, empowering our smallholder farmers, and tackling malnutrition at the grassroots level. This holistic approach will ensure self-sufficiency in pulses and oilseeds while guaranteeing last-mile service delivery to every farming household in Odisha,” the deputy CM said.
The agreement with the Posts Department will strengthen last-mile delivery of digital agriculture services, particularly in rural and remote areas. Gramin Dak Sevaks will facilitate Farmer Registry enrolment and Farmer ID generation, CM KISAN registration, PM KISAN e-KYC and NPCI/Aadhaar seeding, besides other farmer-centric digital services in future, as required. The initiative will focus on accurate registration, authentication and convenient access to government schemes.
The partnership with ICRISAT covers four RKVY-DPR projects focused on strengthening seed systems for pulses and oilseeds, promoting Atmanirbhar Odisha in pulses, chickpea seed production and speed breeding for improved and climate-resilient varieties. The collaboration aims to improve availability of quality seed, promote crop diversification, increase productivity and strengthen farmers’ resilience to climate variability.
The MSSRF partnership will implement a three-year Farming System for Nutrition project in Nayagarh for 3,000 small and marginal farmers. The project will integrate biofortified crops, pulses, vegetables, backyard poultry and aquaculture, along with seed banks, nutrition gardens and community processing units. It aims to improve yields of nutrient-dense crops, farmer incomes, dietary diversity and household nutrition.
