Bhubaneswar: In a strategic push to transform the root and tuber agrifood systems across Odisha, Dr. Simon Heck, Director General, International Potato Center (CIP), held high-level discussions with Shri Sachin Ramachandra Jadhav, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, Government of Odisha. The meeting focused on accelerating local potato and sweetpotato production, establishing robust seed infrastructure, and enhancing value addition to elevate farm incomes throughout the state.
Despite significant cultivation of potatoes across widespread agricultural tracts in Odisha, the state has historically relied heavily on seed supplies brought in from northern states like Punjab and West Bengal. This dependency often results in high input costs, supply chain bottlenecks, and variable crop yields for local farmers. The partnership with CIP aims to directly resolve these structural bottlenecks, paving a clear pathway toward long-term self-sufficiency.
A primary pillar of the CIP intervention involves introducing advanced seed technologies suited to Odisha’s diverse agro-climatic conditions. Techniques such as Apical Rooted Cuttings (ARC) and aeroponics will enable the state to generate high-quality, disease-free seed tubers locally. By shifting from importing costly seed stocks to decentralized community production, smallholders will gain reliable access to affordable, high-yielding, and climate-resilient crop varieties.
To address traditional scale limitations faced by small and marginal landholders, the initiative expands the Small Farmers, Large Fields (SFLF) operational model. Through this framework, smallholders combine their acreage to perform synchronized land preparation, bulk input purchasing, and coordinated harvests. This aggregation boosts bargaining power, optimizes equipment usage, and significantly lowers production overheads.
Recognizing that sustained self-sufficiency depends on Post-Harvest Infrastructure, the state government is expanding cold storage coverage alongside regional aggregation hubs. Improved access to temperature-controlled facilities will prevent post-harvest distress sales, stabilize price fluctuations during peak harvest periods, and protect seed quality for subsequent planting cycles.
Beyond raw produce, the collaboration targets value addition and market linkages. CIP will provide technical expertise to help local Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) process roots and tubers into commercial commodities, including biofortified sweetpotato products and processing-grade potato lines suited for manufacturing.
By unifying advanced seed systems, synchronized group farming, expanded cold storage networks, and commercial processing capabilities, the strategic partnership between Odisha and the International Potato Center sets a strong foundation for state-wide agricultural resilience and seed sovereignty.