Promote ‘One District One Spice’, urges Niti Aayog Member

Subject: Schemes

Concept:

Dr Ramesh Chand, Agricultural Economist and Member Niti Aayog urged All-India Spices Exporters Forum (AISEF) to draw up a “one district one spice” action plan for promoting spice cultivation, as a sequel to the “One District One Product” initiative of the central government to fuel economic growth.
Out of the total crop area of 200 million hectares in this country, spices are grown only in 2.2% of the total crop area which comes only to 4.4 million hectares.
But the spices’ share in production in terms of value in the total crop sector is 6%.

One District One Product (ODOP)

It was launched in January 2018, by the Uttar Pradesh Government, and due to its success, was later adopted by the Central Government.
The ‘One District, One Product (ODOP) was later launched by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, to help districts reach their full potential, foster economic and socio-cultural growth, and create employment opportunities, especially in rural areas.
The initiative is carried out with the ‘Districts as Exports Hub’ initiative by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Department of Commerce.
It is a centrally sponsored scheme to be shared by the central government and states in 60:40 contributions.

Significance

The ODOP initiative is aimed at manifesting the vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India to foster balanced regional development across all districts of the country.
The idea is to select, brand, and promote One Product from each District of the country
For enabling holistic socioeconomic growth across all regions
To attract investment in the District to boost manufacturing and exports
To generate employment in the District
To provide an ecosystem for Innovation/ use of Technology at the District level to make them competitive with domestic as well as international market