Odisha Signs Pact With ICRISAT For Project On Marketing Of Farm Produce

Bhubaneswar: In order to facilitate marketing of agricultural products to the farmers, the Odisha government has signed an agreement with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad.

For the benefit of the farmers, the Cooperation department has launched “Agri Marketing Network” which would bring all 66 Regulated Market Committees (RMCs), 43 Krushak Bazars, 76 Municipal markets including 800 FPOs and Women SHGs under one umbrella.

The Odisha State Agricultural Marketing Board (OSAM Board), on behalf of the Department, signed  Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the ICRISAT to facilitate implementation of the project in the presence of Sanjeeb Kumar Chadha, Principal Secretary, Cooperation department in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.

Among others, Additional Secretary Subhra Mohanty, general manager of OSAM Board Dharitri Mishra, Joint CEO of ORMAS Sujay Kar, CEO & Cluster leader ICRISAT Aravazhi Selvaraj, Deputy Secretary Sangram Rout and other departmental officers were also present.

Speaking on the occasion, Chadha said the fruits and vegetables sector in Odisha faces several challenges which impact almost the stakeholders linked with the value chain from production at the level of farmers to marketing at the level of end consumer.

“High variation in quality of products, lack of structured and scientific processing infrastructure, lack of systematic and updated supply chain infrastructure and exploitative role by middlemen are some of the major challenges which need immediate intervention. A sustainable solution needs to bring the critical value chain players to a single platform addressing the major issues at each level through technological interventions to benefit the small farmers,” he said.

In order to address these issues, ICRISAT has signed the agreement on behalf of one of its wing, the Agri-Business Incubator at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT-ABI), he added.

The project aims at transforming agri-marketing through operationalising RMCs, developing market linkages and empowering farmers through supply chain management. The agreement includes study for developing entity level integration and development of implementation plan, handholding and mentoring for effectively operationalising primary processing centres/pack houses in RMC areas, establishing market linkages for Women led SHGs and development of market information system/MIS Dashboard Platform, Chadha said.

Chadha further said on successful completion of the project, the Board aims to bring in transformative changes in the sector of fruits and vegetables, ultimately empowering the primary producers especially, small and marginal farmers which in turn will serve the target of doubling farmers income in a foreseeable future. This would reduce the role of middlemen in the agri-value chain and link the WSHGs/FPOs to the e-NAM ecosystem of the country.

The project will be implemented for 3 years from the date of signing of the MoA. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), AIP-ICRISAT will be the nodal officer for implementation of the project.