Peda, Bindi, jaggery, spices among items under One Dist One Focus Product scheme

As part of its effort to boost farm exports, enhance farmers’ income and raise rural jobs, the Centre on Saturday finalised a list of products from agriculture and allied sectors under the “One District One Focus Product (ODOFP)”, scheme that will be promoted in a cluster approach in 728 districts across the country.

For instance, Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district is to be promoted as Bindi ( tikuli) cluster; Deoghar and Dumka in Jharkhand for Peda products hub; Rajouri for spices; Anantnag for trout fish; Ayodhya for Jaggery; Auraiya for food processing desi ghee; Srinagar for flowers; Budgam for exotic vegetables; East Delhi for namkeens, and South-west Delhi for milk-based products. 

Similarly, Kupwara is to be developed for walnut; Ganderbal for honey; Bandipora for processed poultry/mutton; Durg and Koriya in Chhattisgarh for tomato-based products; Surguja for litchi; Batod in Gujarat for guava; Porbandar for gram-based products; North Goa for jackfruit; Ambala for onion and Kinnaur for fruit wine under the ODOFP scheme.

According to the Ministry, the product chosen in the district for promotion, having export potential which will boost farm exports and enhance farmers’ income. Besides, also help to provide jobs in rural sector.

The list includes 25 districts of Arunachal Pradesh; 38 districts of Bihar; 28 districts of Chhattisgarh; 2 districts in Goa; 22 districts of Haryana; 12 districts of Himachal Pradesh, 24 districts of Jharkhand, 20 districts of Jammu & Kashmir; 31 districts of Karnataka; 14 districts of Kerala; 52 districts of Madhya Pradesh; 36 districts of Maharashtra; 16 districts of Manipur; 30 districts of Odisha, 23 districts of Punjab, 4 districts of Sikkim, 36 districts of Tamil Nadu; 8 districts of Tripura, 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh, and 18 districts of West Bengal.

As many as 13 districts each of Uttarakhand and Andhra Pradesh, 11 districts each of Delhi, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland; and 33 districts each of Assam, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Telangana have been included.

That apart, three districts of Andaman & Nicobar Islands; total three districts of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu; two districts each of Ladakh and Puducherry; one district each of Chandigarh and Lakshadweep are part of this exercise.

According to the Ministry, fruits have been identified for 226 districts, the highest in the list while vegetables for 107 districts and spices for 105 districts are at the second and the third position in the list.  Paddy will be promoted in 40 districts, wheat-5 districts, coarse cum nutri cereals in 25 districts, pulses 16 districts, commercial crops 22 districts, oilseeds 41 districts, plantation 28 districts, floriculture 2 districts, honey 9 districts, animal husbandry/dairy 40 districts, aquaculture/marine fisheries 29 districts and processed products 33 districts. The Ministry said that the list of products have been finalised after taking inputs from the States/UTs and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

“These products will be promoted in a cluster approach through convergence of the Government of India schemes, to increase the value of the products and with the ultimate aim of increasing the income of the farmers. These identified products will be supported under the PM-FME scheme (PM Formalisation of Micro food Processing Enterprises Scheme) of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries which provides incentives to promoter and micro-enterprises,” the Ministry said.

At the governing council meeting last week, the NITI Aayog also reiterated that food processing and export under One District One focus Product scheme not only aligns perfectly with district-level crop diversification, but will also help raise rural jobs and income of farmers.

“This future development of agriculture with rise in income will augment shift in demand towards processed food and thereby furthering this cycle,” it said.