Odisha's farm economy holds lessons for others

Odisha has shown fast and significant poverty reduction driven by exceptional agricultural transformation.

- Devesh Roy

The state's experience offers valuable lessons to others. It adopted a healthy and sustainable systems approach to understanding and applying knowledge for agricultural transformation. At the basic level, Odisha mainstreamed productivity and profitability. The state's turnaround story is based on inclusiveness, with a healthy and sustainable food system as the goal.

Odisha's strategy is based on leveraging markets to level the playing field across crops and activities. Paddy, the primary crop, witnessed significant growth following a focus on deploying technology and digital innovation to engage markets. As a result, Odisha went from being rice deficit to being a poster state for grain production.