One day workshop on Mini Millet & Rice factory operations and Business management strategies

Bhubaneswar, Aug 2025 : One day workshop on Mini Millet & Rice factory operations and Business management strategies under the project “Promoting SHG-Led Entrepreneurship through value Addition” was held today on 13th August at conference hall, Mission Shakti Bhawan, Bhubaneswar.

The project is being executed through a tripartite agreement between the Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Department, Mission Shakti Department and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The Total project cost comes to Rs. 60.17 cr to be implemented within a period of 3 years. The objective of the MoU is to establish a mini factory for production, processing, packaging, storage, and marketing Millet and Low GI rice and any other agriculture-based products through WSHG Federation.
A food court to offer varied Odia dishes including millet, forgotten food is going to be established under this initiative.

The session brought together officials from the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment (DAFE), Department of Mission Shakti (DMS), and the IRRI team.

Discussions also centered on a six-month operational plan covering sourcing, processing, branding, packaging, and marketing strategies for low glycemic index (GI) rice, the GI-tagged Kalajeera variety, and millets. The deliberations aimed to ensure that both DAFE and DMS mandates are integrated into the plan, with special emphasis on the active participation of self-help groups (SHGs) and farmer producer organizations (FPOs).

As an outcome of the workshop, various models and work plans to make the initiative viable and sustainable is expected to be recommended to Government.

Tanuja Mohanty
PRO