Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo Monday promised to provide all kinds of help from the State government to the Manila-based International Rice Research Institute to open a research branch in Odisha.
He gave this assurance to Director General of International Rice Research Institute Dr. Yvonne Pinto during a symposium on scientific rice research in collaboration with
IRRI and State’s Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment.
Pinto highlighted new directions in the field of rice research in his lecture at the symposium here.
Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee and highlighted the approach of the conference.
The Deputy CM explained the origin of rice cultivation in Odisha and its relationship with our culture and his views on how the presence of various traditional varieties of rice such as Kala jeera rice, in the Koraput region is making Odisha proud on the global rice cultivation map.
Pinto thanked the state government for being able to research many problems related to rice cultivation in the climate of Odisha and take steps to solve them.
He also spoke on rice research, climate change issues, development of nutritious rice varieties and creation of export oriented markets along with creation of rice value chain to help Odisha lead in rice cultivation.
“The IRRI will play a significant role in eliminating hunger, poverty and malnutrition from the state through rice cultivation and creating a sustainable agricultural environment for rice cultivation by believing in science- based agricultural transformation of the state,” said Padhee.
