Odisha Emerges as India’s 5th Largest Rice Producer, Focuses on Climate-Resilient Farming

Bhubaneswar, Sep 18 : From once being infamous for starvation deaths, Odisha has transformed itself into the fifth-largest rice producer in India, a success attributed to strong institution-building and sustained investment in irrigation, senior officials said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a high-level regional policy dialogue on “Food Policy for a Changing World: Lessons and Priorities for South Asia” in New Delhi, State Development Commissioner Anu Garg highlighted Odisha’s remarkable journey in the agriculture sector.

“Today, our focus is on embedding climate resilience into agriculture so that this progress endures,” Garg said while addressing the event, convened by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, emphasized that Odisha is among the few states to have established both a Climate Resilience Cell (CRC) and a Gender Responsive Cell (GRC).

“Through CRC and GRC, we want to build into our design the gender and climate lens from the beginning,” Padhee noted. He also underlined the importance of regional cooperation, citing initiatives such as Seeds without Borders, which help accelerate the spread of climate-resilient crop varieties across countries.

The policy dialogue also marked the South Asia launch of IFPRI’s 2025 Global Food Policy Report (GFPR). The event brought together senior policymakers, researchers, and development partners to deliberate on how South Asia can strengthen resilient, inclusive, and sustainable food systems in the face of climate change, malnutrition, and demographic transitions.