Bhabesh Kumar Nayak, OAS(SAG), Managing Director, OSSC, Odisha State Seeds Corporation Ltd. was set up on 24 th February, 1978 as the nodal agency of the Government of Odisha to serve the farmers of the state for supply of quality seeds at reasonable prices. The Seeds of the Corporation sold under the brand name “ORISEED| is most popular amongst the farmers of the State..
The Corporation has a network of Growers in the state who participate in Seed Multiplication. The availability of quality seeds is necessary for achieving higher yield. Good quality seeds plays as a catalyst for realising the potential of all other inputs in agriculture .An improved seed is the most dynamic instrument for increasing agriculture production by 15 to 20% as against traditional varieties of seeds. The Corporation is channelizing the sale activities through Dealers and PACS from Kharif -2016 onwards as per the guidelines of the Government of Odisha Agriculture and FE Department through DBT mode.The Corporation is organising seed production programme through the registered growers inside the State for both paddy and non-paddy seeds as per the requirement of DA&FP, Odisha . The Growers of the State are being benefited on receipt of production incentive which is in extra i.e over and above the procurement price paid by the Corporation. Considering the requirement for cereal,Pulses and Oilseeds, the Corporation has executed long term MOU with the private seed producers for making available the certified seeds as per States requirement besides procurement out of its own production programme.The Corporation has undertaken modernisation of the existing plants besides setting up of new modern plants with higher capacity for quality processing. The Corporation is also planning to increase the production programme of paddy seeds for 6.00 lakh quintals and 15000 qtls of Biri and Moong seeds and 10,000 qtls of Groundnut seeds for utilisation by the farmers in the State. The Corporation in the meanwhile designed inventory management software with the help of NIC, Bhubaneswar which is running smoothly from 2016-17 onwards. The Corporation is also planning to link the software with the bank account of the Growers and that of the Corporation for payment of seed cost dues to do away with the offline processing of the files for release of seed cost.
The Corporation has streamlined the processing and allied activities at the processing plant site by engaging SHG Groups. However, the Corporation cannot stand still and more is being done to ensure OSSC is in the best position to supply good quality seeds to the farmers of the state