Odisha Agri-CEVA: heritage rice, millet processing centre planned in Bhubaneswar

Odisha plans to set up a processing centre in Bhubaneswar that will turn healthier rice varieties, the state's traditional heritage rice and local millets into ready-to-sell nutritious foods. Deputy Chief Ministers Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and Pravati Parida reviewed the planned specialty rice and millet processing facilities at Baramunda in Bhubaneswar on Saturday, 7 November 2026. The centre is to be called the Odisha Agricultural Centre of Excellence for Value Addition, or Agri-CEVA. Singh Deo said the state will prepare a roadmap to make healthier rice, millets and products made from them more widely available across Odisha. During the visit the two leaders spoke with scientists of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and officials of Mission Shakti, the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) and the Odisha Agro Industries Corporation.

Rice is central to Odisha's farms and kitchens, and the state has a range of indigenous specialty varieties, including Kalajeera, for which IRRI has offered support on cultivation and value addition. The state's plan tries to give such rice a wider market, by treating it as a premium, health-oriented food rather than an ordinary grain.

The word "healthier" here refers to particular varieties that IRRI and state researchers are promoting, including low-GI rice. GI, or glycemic index, is a measure of how quickly a food raises blood sugar after eating; lower-GI foods raise it more slowly. IRRI says its support to Odisha covers protecting the aroma, genetic purity and quality of the state's indigenous specialty rice, and developing health-oriented varieties. These are the researchers' and the state's descriptions; this story makes no claim that any variety prevents or treats disease.

Processing is the gap the centre is meant to fill. Officials say processing will cut post-harvest losses and extend shelf life, which would help Odisha's products reach markets in India and abroad. The state's own word for the goal is value addition: turning grain into products, with APICOL asked to find buyers and draw up business plans so the centre can run as an enterprise and not only as a research site.

Women's groups are part of the plan. The presence of Mission Shakti, the state's programme for women's self-help groups, at the review suggests that women-led enterprises are expected to make and sell some of the products.

Peepals calculation: Going from about 1,200 to 10,000 hectares of healthier rice means multiplying the area by about 8.3 (10,000 ÷ 1,200 ≈ 8.33). The October summit's deals, about Rs 6 crore for around 1,000 tonnes, work out to roughly Rs 60 a kilogram (Rs 6,00,00,000 ÷ 10,00,000 kg = Rs 60). Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: The state will now prepare its roadmap for healthier rice and millets, and APICOL will work on business plans and market links for the centre.

Long-term: If the centre is built and buyers come, farmers growing heritage and healthier rice could earn more per kilogram, women's groups could gain work in processing, and more of Odisha's traditional grains could reach shops outside the state.

Who is affected: Rice and millet farmers in Odisha, women's self-help groups, food processors, and shoppers looking for traditional grains.

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