The Similarity between the name Orissa and the Greek name for rice Oryza has led many to speculate that the name of the State derives its name from the crop known as Oryza Sativa. Historians say the term ‘Odra Desha’ meaning land of cultivators, led to the state being named Odisha anglicized as Orissa

In 1885, while constructing a water wheel, Engelberg observed a group of slaves stripping the hulls from rice with pestles by hand, the main method of cleaning rice at the time. Engelberg experimented with the method and found that by rubbing the rice between his fingers while applying pressure, the hulls were easily removed. He returned to his workshop and immediately began working on a machine that he finished the next day, thus creating the first horizontal cylinder rice “peeler.” The invention was named the Engelberg Huller and soon was adapted to work with coffee. Once it made it to market, the device revolutionized the processing of coffee and rice throughout the world