One District One Product: Agriculture Ministry Shortlists 135 District-Specific Unique Products

As per the ‘One District One Product’ approach, the Ministry of Agriculture has zeroed on 135 district-specific unique products for 728 districts across the country, Times of India reports.

Each district has been identified with a specific horticultural, agricultural, marine, milk or poultry products. 60 per cent of the total 728 districts are dedicated to fruits (226 districts), spices (105) and vegetables (107).

Massively produced foodgrains like wheat (5), pulses (16) and paddy (40) are associated with a meagre number of districts. The listing is done keeping in view the necessity for processing and support that the concerned products might need for their value addition and also in terms of establishing a brand for export promotion.

Specific inputs were taken from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and focus was laid on existing clusters and also the current availability of raw products.

These district-wise identified products will receive support from the PM Formalisation of micro food processing enterprises (PM-FME) scheme that rolls out incentives to promoters and micro-enterprises.

Joint secretary in agriculture ministry Shubha Thakur said, “These products will be promoted in a cluster approach through convergence of the central government schemes to increase the value of the products with the ultimate aim of increasing the income of the farmers.”

Meanwhile, active participation has been sought from the state governments for a plan regarding the implementation of this program. It aims to fulfill the value addition expectations and shooting up agricultural export.

One of the related officials told TOI, “The identification of products has also been done with focus on intended diversification of crops in mind. If you look at the list of Punjab and Haryana, you won’t find the two most popular foodgrains — paddy and wheat — among farmers. The list mostly carries horticultural produce which requires help for creating a robust supply chain and processing/storage infrastructure.”

For example, the list in Delhi focuses on bakery, ready-to-eat products and milk-related products whereas Mumbai is associated with marine products. Bengaluru is listed with poultry and bakery products and Hyderabad is linked to ready-to-eat snacks.

The PM-FME initiative aims to extend the ‘Operation Green’ plan and provide support to farmers of all fruits and vegetables and not just that of tomato, onion and potato as before.