BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha State Seeds Corporation Limited (OSSC Ltd) has proposed the state government to launch a ‘Seed on Wheels’ initiative to deliver high-yielding varieties of paddy seeds to farmers in their localities to enable large-scale production in the state.
Informing about the proposed initiative at the two-day national workshop on ‘Positioning and Scaling Healthier Rice in Odisha’s Agri-food System’ organised by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment department on Monday, OSSC managing director Niti Ranjan Sen said the initiative will take good quality and high-yielding varieties of seeds to each and every farmer in the state and help them know about the healthier, bio-fortified and other certified seeds that can be used for large-scale production.
The system will also open up a large market for production and sale of good quality rice that are bio-fortified and have low glycemic-index (GI), Sen said at a session on ‘Strengthening Seed System for Healthier Rice’. He said the demand for healthier and bio-fortified rice in the state is gradually growing and varieties of nutrient-rich rice such as DRR Dhan 167, DRR 63, DRR 69 and CR Dhan 411, etc., have been found to be good for the health.
Sen said the state has already registered over 6,000 seed growers on Sathi portal of the Centre and procuring seeds from them. However, to encourage them to go for production of these seeds, more support is needed.
The workshop brought together policymakers, scientists, seed system experts, private-sector leaders, farmer organisations and development partners to chart an actionable roadmap for mainstreaming specialty rice, including high-zinc, iron-rich, protein-rich and low-GI varieties across Odisha and India.
ICAR-Central Rice Research Institute director GAK Kumar, ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research RM Sundaram and state agriculture officials said scaling healthier rice varieties is not merely a nutrition agenda but a strategic investment in farmer livelihoods, resilient food systems and informed consumer choice.
“The workshop delivered a practical roadmap for scaling specialty rice, along with policy recommendations, a seed scaling plan, and a market development framework to support sustainable adoption,” said IRRI scientist and South Asia lead for seed systems Swati Nayak.
Key focus areas of the workshop included seed system strengthening, policy and scheme integration, commercialisation and market development, on-farm performance and farmer preferences and pathways to farmers’ income and entrepreneurship, with emphasis on women and community-led seed and grain enterprises.