Connect with:
Sunday / February 23. 2025

logo
mobile-logo
HomePosts Tagged "Directorate of Horticulture"
Agribusiness, AgroPolicy, Collaborations, Company News, Horticulture, India, Start ups, Trade

These MoUs aim to bolster the export and value addition of Odisha’s fresh fruits and vegetables, empowering local farmers with better market access, fair pricing, and global recognition.

In a groundbreaking move to advance Odisha’s position in agricultural exports, Directorate of Horticulture, Government of Odisha in collaboration with Palladium Consulting India Pvt. Ltd., signed 11 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with private sector exporters at the prestigious Krushi Odisha 2025. The ceremony took place in the presence of esteemed dignitaries, including Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singhdeo, Principal Secretary (Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment) Arabinda Padhee, Director of Agriculture Prem Chand Chaudhury, Director of Horticulture Sri Nikhil Pavan Kalyan, and Director of Fisheries Ramashish Hazra.

This milestone agreement aims to bolster the export and value addition of Odisha’s fresh fruits and vegetables, empowering local farmers with better market access, fair pricing, and global recognition. The MoUs mark a significant stride in Odisha’s journey to establish itself as a leader in agricultural and horticultural exports, aligning with the state’s strategic vision for sustainable growth.

With nearly 10,000 participants, including farmers, women-led self-help groups (SHGs), Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), exporters, students, and agri-entrepreneurs, Krushi Odisha 2025 serves as a vibrant platform for knowledge exchange and innovation. Featuring 13 technical sessions, farmer-scientist interactions, and over 200 stalls showcasing advanced technology and products, the event underscores Odisha’s commitment to transforming its agricultural sector.

The event spotlighted the launch of the Amala Utkala crop information booklet, developed by the Directorate of Horticulture with Palladium as the Technical Support Unit. This booklet offers a comprehensive overview of Odisha’s crops, detailing varieties, production statistics, and market linkages, empowering farmers with critical insights for informed decisions and export opportunities. The event also celebrated sustainable farming by felicitating progressive farmers, SHGs, and FPOs from all 30 districts of Odisha. Key sessions on ‘Developing Organic Commodity Value Chains: An Opportunity for FPOs,’ and ‘Promoting climate resilient Horticulture through ag-tech adoption and innovation’ organized by the Directorate and Palladium Consulting India, highlighted adoption of climate-smart practices for sustainability, market-led organic production systems, emphasizing FPOs and women farmers. Experts shared valuable insights on supply chain efficiency, export potential, agri-entrepreneurship and role of ag-tech in development of sustainable food systems.

Nikhil Pavan Kalyan, IAS, Director of Horticulture, said, “Odisha is on a transformative path to position itself as a leader in agricultural exports. Our collaboration with exporters supported by Technical support Unit led by Palladium and the signing of these MoUs reflects our dedication to empowering farmers, enhancing value addition, and ensuring remunerative market access for our produce on a global scale.”

Biswajit Behera, Associate Director, Palladium Consulting India Pvt. Ltd., said, “At Palladium, we are committed to creating sustainable value chains and enabling inclusive economic growth. Through these MoUs and our partnership with the Government of Odisha, we aim to unlock the state’s agricultural potential, provide farmers with global market opportunities, and strengthen Odisha’s position in the export ecosystem.”

These MoUs aim to bolster the export

AgroPolicy, Horticulture, India

This strategic alliance aims to facilitate the seamless integration of Odisha’s premium mango & fresh vegetables produce into international markets.

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and the Directorate of Horticulture with support from Palladium as the technical support unit (TSU) of the Promotion and Stabilization of Farmer Producer Organizations (PSFPO) project joined forces to redefine the market linkage of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) in Odisha.

This strategic alliance aims to facilitate the seamless integration of Odisha’s premium mango & fresh vegetables produce into international markets, marking a significant milestone in the agricultural landscape of the region. The PSFPO team facilitated the initiative by working closely with the APEDA officials, exporters and FPOs. The team started off by identifying the suitable clusters and FPOs, followed by visiting the FPOs along and facilitating discussions between the FPOs and the buyers. This was followed by creating an action plan and ensuring smooth coordination to facilitate the off take, adhering to quality standards, storage, handling, packaging and transportation and other logistics requirements.

Through the initiative, the state FPOs marked a significant milestone with the first commercial shipment of fresh produce shipped via Biju Pattnaik International Airport (BPIA) on 15th May 2024. With this, 0.75 metric ton of fresh produce have been shipped to Dubai, with an incremental price realization of 20 per cent -30 per cent for the farmers. Out of this, 0.5 MT of the fresh produce was supplied by Madanamohana Farmers Producer Cooperative Society Ltd., an FPO supported by Harsh Trust from Odapada block of Dhenkanal district. Additionally, 1.22 metric tons of Amrapalli mangoes and Dussehri mangoes from the FPO have been exported to Italy, in the last two days achieving a 40 per cent increase in price realization for the farmers.

On this collaboration, Sitakanata Mandal, Regional head, APEDA, said, “This season we wanted to operationalize the supply of fresh produce (fruits and vegetables) to global markets. This has been possible with the partnership with Palladium, the Technical Support Unit under Directorate of Horticulture. We started by identifying the clusters and FPOs to source the fresh produce and the effort culminated in shipment of first commercial shipment of fresh produce shipped via Biju Pattnaik International Airport (BPIA) on 15th May 2024! The efforts put it by the Palladium under Directorate of Horticulture in connecting FPOs of Odisha to the global markets is appreciable.”

While the above marks the beginning export of fresh produce to Dubai and Italy markets, the collaboration has helped create a sustainable market linkage of the FPO with remunerative markets, both domestic and international which have high demand for fresh produce such Mangoes, Okra, Bitter Gourd, and other vegetables through partnerships with exporters and institutional buyers.

“With 800+ FPOs in the state, Odisha has a huge potential for supply of fresh produce to global markets. Palladium works on Marketing System Development (MSD) approach to catalyse income enhancement for the smallholder farmers. Such global market connects initiatives not only boost the confidence of farmer producer organisations from remote parts of the state but also offer opportunities to scale up their supply positions with cost efficient quality control systems in place. Looking forward to connecting more FPOs in Odisha to profitable global markets through sustainable linkages through active participation from the private sector and inclusively transform agribusiness ecosystem in the state of Odisha”, said Biswajit Behera, Associate Director of Palladium.

This strategic alliance aims to facilitate the