The ODOP (One District One Product) is soon to be implemented by State Government of Assam. It is an approach to gain the benefits of scale in terms of accession of inputs, availing of common services and marketing of products.
“Chintan baithakat”, a brainstorming session by Ministers and top-level bureaucrats at the Kaziranga National Park in September-end this year was held to discuss on the roadmap of the departments for the upcoming five years to develop the state by 2026. ODOP, including its implementation, was a topic among other issues, the session had a detailed discussion about.
The ODOP product of a district and its allied sectors could be a perishable agricultural produce, cereal-based product, or a food product, which are widely produced. An list of such products includes potato, tomato, litchi, mango, tapioca, millet-based products, pickle, kinnu, bhujia, pitha, papad, fisheries, poultry, meat as well as animal feed, among others. Some innovative and traditional products, including waste-to-wealth products, could get support under the scheme. The product wise distribution of districts as per ODOP adopted by the Government of Assam are– honey in Baksa, milk products in Barpeta, potato in Biswanath Chariali, turmeric in Bongaigaon, pine apple in Cachar, rice-based products in Charaideo, lemon in Chirang district, mustard products in Darrang and Dhemaji, chilli in Dhubri, mustard products in Dibrugarh, ginger in Dima Hasao, banana in Goalpara, black rice in Golaghat, areca nut in Hailakandi, sugarcane (jaggery and wine) in Hojai, chilli in Jorhat, banana in Kamrup, fruits and vegetables (pickles) in Kamrup (Metro), ginger in Karbi Anglong, areca nut/betelnut in Karimganj, mushroom in Kokrajhar, piggery (smoked meat) in Lakhimpur, mustard oil (seed) in Majuli, groundnut products in Morigaon, fruits and vegetables (pickle enterprises) in Nagaon, rice (soft and sticky)-based products in Nalbari, red rice-based products in Sivasagar, jackfruits in Sonitpur, cashewnut processing in South Salmara, citrus products in Tinsukia, potato in Udalguri and ginger in West Karbi Anglong.
According to sources from officials, to reduce wastage, storage and marketing, support for agricultural products will be for processing.
The Department of Commerce is focusing on the Agriculture Export Policy of agriculture crops on a cluster approach for exports. The Ministry of Agriculture is also focusing on a cluster approach for specific agricultural products in districts with comparative advantage.