The CII in collaboration with the Government of Odisha organised a seminar cum exposition on food processing and agribusiness potential of Odisha on Saturday here.
Agriculture Minister Dr Damodar Rout congratulated the CII for organizing the event, entitled Farm 2 Fork. As the time is critical, Government of India has recently launched Kissan Sampada Yojna to improve the food processing strength of the country, said Rout.
Addressing the gathering, Agriculture Production Commissioner informed that the farm growth of the State has been doubled in the last five years. Odisha’s per acre productivity is higher than the national average. He also informed that in the coming two months of time, APICOl will introduce single window mechanism and eliminate manual application.
Member, Advisory Board of CII - Jubilant Bhartia Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence (FACE) and chairman, Global Agrisystem Pvt ltd Gokul Patnaik mentioned that time has come to look at agriculture in a more holistic manner. Agriculture should now be renamed as agri-business, he stated.
Former Chairman, CII Odisha State Council and CMD, Suryo Udyog ltd Amarendra Dash mentioned that the current business of sea food sector is hovering around Rs 3,000 crore and mentioned that the sea food sector can easily reach Rs 10,000 crore.
Earlier, convenor, Agro and Food Processing Panel -CII Odisha State Council and Chairman, Surendra Agritech Pvt ltd Dr Pradipta Mohanty gave the welcome address.