Building Resilient Food Systems for Odisha’s Smallholders Through Convergence and Innovation

by Swati Nayak*, Arabinda Kumar Padhee**, Sk Mosharaf Hossain*, Subhasmita Mahapatra* Dilip Kumar Rout*, Girija Prasad Swain*
(International Rice Research Institute*, **Department of Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment, Government of Odisha)

In Odisha, the eastern state of India, smallholder farmers are adapting and mitigating the challenges of drought through a unique collaborative effort by IRRI and the State Department of Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment. Supported through the Odisha State Disaster Management fund, the “Dynamics of Drought and Its Impact and Mitigation Options for Smallholder Farmers in Odisha” project opens new dimensions of integrating tailored mitigation strategies, innovation bundling, and a multi-stakeholder convergence model to help build resilience and promote behavioral change within farming communities.

Opportunities and Challenges in Odisha’s Agricultural Landscape

Odisha is India’s 13th largest economy with ₹8.3 lakh crore of Gross State Domestic Product (Odisha Economic Survey, 2024). It is also among the fastest-growing regions, with an 8.5% growth rate (Odisha Economic Survey, 2024). Agriculture and allied sectors form 21% of its Gross State Value Added (Odisha Economic Survey, 2024), sustaining 83% of the rural population and employing 61.8% of the workforce (State Agriculture Policy, 2022).

Paddy dominates crop production, with 11.9 million tonnes contributing to Odisha’s total food grain output of 14.1 million tons (Odisha Economic Survey, 2024). However, productivity lags at 2.3 t/ha, below the national average of 2.8 t/ha, and is far behind agriculturally leading states like Punjab (4.3 t/ha) and Haryana (3.8 t/ha) (Agriculture at a glance, GoI, 2022)

Reliance on rainfed systems and mono-cropping, compounded by frequent droughts and erratic rainfall, poses significant risks, particularly to the state’s 93% smallholder farmers (NSSO, 2019).