Odisha government inks six MoUs to boost digital agriculture and farmer services
The Odisha Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment signed six Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the Department of Posts (Odisha Circle), the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) to expand digital farmer services and strengthen seed systems.
Under the MoU with the Department of Posts, Gramin Dak Sevaks will support last-mile delivery of digital agriculture services in rural and remote areas, including Farmer Registry enrolment, Farmer ID generation, CM-KISAN registration, PM-KISAN e-KYC, and Aadhaar/NPCI seeding.
Four MoUs with ICRISAT cover RKVY-DPR (Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana — Detailed Project Report) projects to strengthen seed systems for pulses and oilseeds, including chickpea seed production and speed breeding of climate-resilient varieties, aimed at self-sufficiency in pulses.
A separate MoU with MSSRF will implement a three-year Farming System for Nutrition project covering 3,000 small and marginal farmers, integrating biofortified crops, pulses, vegetables, backyard poultry, aquaculture, seed banks, nutrition gardens and community processing units.
Farmer Registry, AgriStack and the Digital Agriculture Mission
The Farmer Registry is a core component of India's AgriStack initiative under the Digital Agriculture Mission, aimed at creating a federated database of farmers linked to land records, crop details and government scheme benefits through a unique digital Farmer ID.
Key Details
- AgriStack assigns each farmer a unique 12-digit Farmer ID, conceptually similar to Aadhaar, linking land records, crop sown data and scheme entitlements
- The Union government set a target of creating 6 crore Farmer IDs nationally; Odisha is among the states where Farmer ID has been made mandatory for new PM-KISAN registrations
- PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi), launched 24 February 2019, provides eligible farmer families Rs 6,000 per year in three instalments of Rs 2,000 each, subject to periodic e-KYC
- Digital Agriculture Mission was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2024 as an umbrella framework covering AgriStack, Krishi Decision Support System, and a Soil Profile Map
The Department of Posts MoU operationalises Farmer Registry and PM-KISAN e-KYC delivery through Odisha's rural postal network, addressing the last-mile enrolment gap that limits AgriStack coverage in remote areas.
RKVY-DPR: Project-Mode Support Under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana
The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) is a Centrally Sponsored umbrella scheme that incentivises states to increase public investment in agriculture and allied sectors, with its DPR (Detailed Project Report) component enabling state-proposed, project-based funding for initiatives that fall outside existing scheme templates.
Key Details
- RKVY launched in 2007 as part of the erstwhile National Development Council resolution to raise agricultural growth
- The DPR sub-component allows states/UTs to propose innovative, gap-filling projects in agriculture and allied sectors (excluding animal husbandry and fisheries), covering infrastructure creation, seed systems and production growth
- Up to 30% of the RKVY-DPR outlay can be earmarked for such project-based interventions, including administrative and start-up components
- Odisha's four ICRISAT MoUs for pulses and oilseed seed systems are structured as RKVY-DPR projects
The seed-systems partnership with ICRISAT is delivered through the RKVY-DPR project route rather than a standalone scheme, illustrating how states use RKVY's flexible project mode to fund targeted, institution-partnered agricultural research initiatives.
ICRISAT and International Agricultural Research Partnerships
ICRISAT is an international, non-profit agricultural research organisation for the semi-arid tropics, established through an agreement between the Government of India and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
Key Details
- Established 28 March 1972 under a Memorandum of Agreement between the Government of India and CGIAR; headquartered at Patancheru, Hyderabad, Telangana
- Mandate covers dryland/semi-arid crops including chickpea, pigeon pea, sorghum, pearl millet and groundnut — directly relevant to India's pulses and oilseed self-sufficiency goals
- Part of the wider CGIAR network of international agricultural research centres addressing global food security
- MSSRF, the other signatory, was founded by M.S. Swaminathan — regarded as the architect of India's Green Revolution and posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2024
Odisha's partnership with ICRISAT for chickpea seed production and speed breeding leverages a five-decade-old India-CGIAR research relationship to accelerate climate-resilient pulses and oilseed varieties at the state level.
Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture and Biofortification
The MSSRF-partnered Farming System for Nutrition project reflects a policy shift from production-focused agriculture to nutrition-sensitive agriculture, which integrates diverse, biofortified food production with household nutrition outcomes.
Key Details
- Biofortification involves breeding staple crops with enhanced micronutrient content (e.g., iron-fortified pearl millet, zinc-fortified wheat, provitamin-A-rich varieties) to address hidden hunger
- Farming System for Nutrition models typically combine crop diversification, kitchen/nutrition gardens, small livestock and aquaculture at the household level to improve dietary diversity, distinct from income-focused schemes like PM-KISAN
- Poshan Abhiyaan (2018, since integrated into Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0) is the overarching national nutrition mission such state-level projects feed into
The three-year Nayagarh district project for 3,000 farmers operationalises nutrition-sensitive agriculture principles at household scale, linking Odisha's farm diversification push to broader national malnutrition-reduction goals.
- Six MoUs signed: 1 with Department of Posts (Odisha Circle), 4 with ICRISAT, 1 with MSSRF
- Farmer Registry: 12-digit unique Farmer ID; national target of 6 crore IDs; Odisha among states with mandatory Farmer ID for new PM-KISAN registration
- PM-KISAN: launched 24 February 2019; Rs 6,000/year in three instalments
- RKVY: launched 2007; DPR component allows up to 30% of outlay for state-proposed gap-filling projects
- ICRISAT: established 1972 (India-CGIAR agreement); headquartered at Patancheru, Hyderabad
- MSSRF nutrition project: 3-year duration, 3,000 small/marginal farmers, Nayagarh district
- M.S. Swaminathan: architect of India's Green Revolution; posthumous Bharat Ratna, 2024