The State of Orissa lies along the Bay of Bengal, the eastern sea board of India. The agro-climatic diversity in the state with its high rain fall distributed over a four month monsoon and a reasonably moderate winter allows for growing a variety of Horticultural crops. The normal rainfall received from June to September from South-West monsoon is immensely suitable for growing perennial fruit crops like mango, litchi, guava, oranges and limes : annual fruit crops like banana, pineapple and papaya, spices like ginger, turmeric and chilly, a variety of root and tubers and a whole range of vegetables.

The low temperature existing in hilly areas at higher altitude offer ideal conditions for growing off-season vegetables .The state thus enjoys a natural comparative advantage for Horticulture with possibilities for growing a diversified basket of fruits, vegetables, spices, tuber crops and flowers whose potential has not been fully exploited.

Organic crops also help the farmer to secure against unforeseen droughts. Preferably existing high land of our state is mostly suitable for cultivation of organic crops. Likewise large tract of soils in the state having light textured red soils, with low water holding capacity, low fertility are quite conducive for growing agricultural crops e.g. paddy.

As an agrarian economy odisha employs around 73% of its population in farming & almost all the Paddy grown in the state over an area of 44.54 lakh ha out of which Kharif is about 41.24 lakh & Rabi 3.31 lakh ha. The major part of paddy is produced in Cuttack, Sambalpur, Puri, Ganjam, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Baleswar, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh Bolangir Koraput & Kalahandi.

The Agriculture development in the State can assure year-round employment to farm labourers and once agriculture is developed, allied sectors like processing, packaging and export can also gain momentum.

The objectives of the scheme is to increase the production and productivity of agricultural crops in the state thus enhance the economic status of the farmers, promotion of export oriented agro-based industries through provision of subsidy on supply of quality planting materials, training and development of Post Harvest Management & Market infrastructure etc.

Objectives:

  • To bring 2250 ha under Certified Organic Farming in the state of Orissa.
  • Enhancing the productivity of Vegetable and Fruit in the selected districts through organic farming.
  • To establish market linkages for value added certified organic produce.
  • To increase net-income of approx. 1954farmers by 10 – 15%.

Methodology:

SUVIDHA has developed this project to establish a scalable model of organic clusters for select crops, totalling about 2250 ha and involving over 1954farmers in the state of ORISSA. The project shall be implemented five districts of Orissa, totalling to 2250 ha. This project entails at creating scale economies, an efficient supply chain management and providing the farmers with scientifically validated organic farming methods in the select crops in the following districts of Orissa:

S.No Name of Districts Area in hec. No. Of Farmer
1 – Cuttack 250 Hec 329
2 – Jajpur 250 Hec 303
3 – Bolangir 1000 Hec 836
4 – Kalahandhi 250 Hec 284
5 – Koraput 500 Hec 202

 

The project seeks to focus on the following activities as part of its Methodology:

  • Back end i.e. Production in the Value Chain Management
  • Pre production & Production management includes
    Harvest & Post Harvest management
  • Supply Chain Management, Processing, and Packaging for value addition.
  • Supply Chain & Logistics
    On Farm Processing & Value additio
  • Marketing-Distribution-Export for Brand Building through Competitive Advantages.
  • Marketing of Agri. Produce (both bulk & retail) as per International Quality Norms
  • Retail & Food Services (hotels, kiosks, carts, stands, & restaurants)
  • Quality Management
  • Capacity building and training of officers & field functionaries: