Government-led policies are propelling Odisha’s journey toward nutrition-sensitive agriculture
Edited by Ankita Tiwari
India’s nutrition challenge
India, despite being one of the world’s largest producers of rice, continues to grapple with serious nutrition challenges. According to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 36% of children under five are stunted, 19% are wasted, and 32% are underweight. Anaemia is rising sharply, affecting nearly 67% of children and more than half of women. At the same time, lifestyle-related conditions such as diabetes are escalating, with more than 101 million Indians living with diabetes and another 136 million in a pre-diabetic state.
This dual burden of malnutrition and non-communicable diseases represents one of the biggest public health challenges of our time.
Odisha has made steady progress in nutritional outcomes over the years, supported by persistent interventions and enabling policies. Between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5, encouraging improvements can be observed, showing that efforts are moving in the right direction. At the same time, further attention is needed to strengthen nutritional security, particularly around key areas such as stunting, wasting, and anaemia in children. Among adults, 20.8% of women and 15.3% of men have low BMI, and rising blood sugar levels highlight an area to watch closely as lifestyle-related diseases grow across India. With 83% of the state’s population living in rural areas and rice consumed at least twice a day as both a staple food and a cultural cornerstone, enhancing nutrition through rice—alongside other complementary interventions—represents a practical and necessary opportunity for lasting impact.
The Specialty Rice Project
To tackle this, the Government of Odisha and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have joined hands with support from various national OneRice breeding network partners under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) through the Specialty Rice Project. This first-of-its-kind initiative primarily focuses on large-scale dedicated deployment and scaling of healthier rice varieties. It seeks to combat malnutrition and lifestyle diseases by mainstreaming them in production practices, seed systems, and market systems for catalyzing scaling. This innovation includes a range of nutritionally enhanced rice varieties rich in zinc and protein, and with low glycemic index (GI).
Every year, the project engages approximately 5,000 targeted lead farmers across 2,000 hectares in four districts (Bolangir, Bhadrak, Ganjam, and Mayurbhanj) while fostering farmer-to-farmer knowledge transfer, mass demand creation, localised seed production and availability, and varietal sourcing. Various Interventions include engaging local extension agencies and functionaries to take varietal positioning to farmer fields and various intermediaries like dealers, conducting participatory varietal trials and experiments, farmer training around seed production, and consumer awareness campaigns, with a strong participation from Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and women’s groups in the targeted districts. At each level, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare functionaries and CDAOs at the district level are involved in creating local sensitization, visibility, and informed demand creation of these new rice varieties among rural households and surrounding urban and peri-urban settings.
As Dr. Swati Nayak, South Asia Lead for Seed Systems at IRRI and 2023 Norman Borlaug Award laureate, explains, “Taking these nutritious varieties to farmers and consumers is equally important as just developing them. By cultivating, scaling, and consuming these healthier rice varieties, we no longer need to feel guilty about eating the most popular, culturally significant staple and gluten-free cereal. Rice is not just food—it is our culture and heritage. As research advances, with healthier rice varieties to arrive in the future, the future slogan might well be: ‘A rice bowl a day keeps the doctor away.’
Bolangir: A case study in nutrition-sensitive agriculture
Bolangir, part of Odisha’s drought-prone region, has long been associated with poverty, seasonal migration, and malnutrition. The district consistently reports nutrition outcomes that need attention and intervention. 44.4% of children under five are stunted, nearly 70% of children and women are anaemic, and zinc and protein deficiencies are widespread (NFHS-5). Against this backdrop, rice, the staple food eaten twice a day by almost every household, emerges as both the problem and the solution.
It is here that the visionary and forward-looking support of DAFE, Government of Odisha, is steering the change for science-driven solutions. The Specialty Rice Project has taken root most vividly, translating science into community action, creating awareness, and mitigating many myths, while fostering behaviour change around adoption and consumption patterns. During the 2024–25 season, the project worked across 39 villages in Bolangir, directly covering more than 500 hectares and directly involving 518 farmers, who are envisaged to lead to a strong spillover effect and community-driven dissemination. The strategy was four-fold: demonstrate the agronomic performance of healthier rice in realistic field conditions (led by farmers), build local seed and grain enterprises, strengthen early generation seed multiplication and mainstreaming led by Odisha State Seed Corporation (OSSC), and create consumer demand for healthier rice.
Demonstrations and mini-kit trials. Farmers participated in cluster demonstrations of zinc-, protein-, and low-GI rice varieties, grown side by side with traditional varieties. This gave farming communities firsthand exposure to differences in yield, resilience, and cooking quality. Alongside, mini-kit trials distributed 5 kg seed packets to progressive farmers. These trials allowed households to experiment independently, building confidence that nutrition-rich rice could integrate seamlessly into their cropping patterns without added risk.
Women-led crop cafeterias. One of the most distinctive interventions in Bolangir has been the establishment of crop cafeterias popularly called Nutri-cafeteria, which act as a living lab of nutrition-rich rice varieties. Two of these cafeterias are women-led—managed by the Maa Maheswari Self-Help Group (SHG) and the Loisingha Women Services Farmer Producer Company (FPC). Together, they have been showcasing, evaluating, and maintaining specialty rice varieties on small, replicated demonstration plots. These cafeterias served not just as learning sites for farmers but also as centres of women’s empowerment. Local women, traditionally seen only as labourers in rice farming, assumed leadership roles as custodians of new varieties, quality seed producers, and ambassadors of nutrition. “Earlier, we grew what our families had always grown,” shared a member of the Maa Maheswari SHG. “Now we are cultivating rice that can fight malnutrition in our children—and also give us better income.” We are carefully validating yield, grain quality, taste, milling and cooking quality comprehensively for all entries in our cafeteria.
Seed and grain enterprises. The project also focused on building local seed systems to ensure sustainable access to healthier rice. In Bolangir, SHGs and FPOs were trained and supported to produce breeder and foundation seeds of promising varieties such as CR Dhan-315, DRR Dhan-63, and CGZR-2. Within a single season, groups like Maa Maheswari SHG and Puintala FPC successfully produced four tons of seed and ten tons of grain, much of which was sold during local open market exhibitions and fairs like the Pallishree Mela. Here, many healthier rices were demanded at ₹100/kg—nearly double the price of ordinary rice and attracted strong consumer interest. For many urban and semi-urban buyers, the pitch was simple yet powerful: a rice that tastes like the traditional staple but carries added nutritional value. This marked the beginning of a premium nutrition rice market in Bolangir. These all-strategic positioning were led by rural producer groups, women collectives, with confidence and rigour. In the process, these growers also turned into both grassroots scientists and marketing experts.
Farmer training and capacity building. To sustain these gains, the project organized season-long farmer field schools and training workshops. Over 118 farmers and SHG members were trained in the entire seed value chain, from field preparation and crop management to harvesting, storage, and seed certification. Trainers included experts from KVKs, the Seed Certification Agency, and local agriculture offices. For many women participants, this was the first time they had interacted directly with scientists and extension officers, breaking long-standing gender barriers in agricultural training.
A key measure of success in Bolangir has been consumer acceptance. Households tested new rice varieties in their kitchens, preparing traditional foods such as parboiled rice, idlis, and pakhala bhata. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive: the rice cooked well, retained taste and aroma, and blended seamlessly into familiar diets. This acceptance is critical because in rural Odisha, food is deeply tied to culture, and nutrition interventions succeed only if they respect these traditions.
The Bolangir experience demonstrates the multi-dimensional impact of nutrition-sensitive agriculture. Farmers are gaining confidence in cultivating premium rice that links them to higher-value markets. Women’s groups are emerging as entrepreneurs and leaders in seed and grain enterprises. And consumers—both rural and urban—are being introduced to the idea that healthier rice is not an alien product but a natural evolution of the staple they already cherish.
Bolangir thus offers a compelling case study: by embedding healthier rice into local farming systems, community enterprises, and cultural diets, the project is addressing malnutrition from the ground up—literally from seed to plate.
Scaling the model across Odisha
With direct participation of thousands of farmers and four districts already engaged, Odisha is positioning itself as a national leader in linking agriculture with nutrition. The Specialty Rice Project aims to deepen this model by expanding consumer education, developing premium urban and rural markets, and integrating healthier rice into state nutrition schemes like the Public Distribution System and school meals.
As Dr. Arabinda Padhee, Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Odisha, has noted, this is “a first-of-its-kind initiative that shows how agriculture can directly combat malnutrition.”
Rice as the bridge between agriculture and nutrition
The Specialty Rice Project is not simply about growing a new variety of rice. It is about reimagining agriculture as a frontline strategy for better health. By embedding nutrition into the staple that dominates Odisha’s food culture, it tackles undernutrition and lifestyle disease at once, while also enhancing farmer incomes.
Bolangir’s journey demonstrates the transformative potential of this approach. As the project scales across Odisha, it offers a model for India and other rice-growing nations, proof that the humble rice bowl can indeed become a powerful tool for building healthier, more resilient communities.
Research Team: Swati Nayak, Sk Mosharaf Hossain, Dilip Kumar Rout, Girija Prasad Swain. Special acknowledgment to the vision of Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Principal Secretary, Agriculture, and Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of Odisha
