North Eastern Region of India Untapped Potential
NER ECONOMIC PROFILE
1,432 1,569
1,777
1,981
199 219 229 241
297 129 137 162 180 112
123 139 152
192 118 111 217 136 125 256 166 146 184 164 73 84 103 116
2,365
2,610
2,978
3,314
-
500
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
-
1,000
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Nort
h E
ast
In
dia
GD
P
(₹ B
illi
on
)
₹ B
illi
on
Nagaland Assam
Sikkim
Meghalaya
Arunachal Pradesh
Tripura
Mizoram
Manipur
North East India
Gross State Domestic Product
North Eastern Region States Gross State Domestic Product; 2011-15
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 2 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Source: MOSPI
NER ECONOMIC PROFILE
FDI Inflow
North Eastern Region Total FDI Inflow; 2011-16
Source: Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion
Note: Excluding Sikkim
5
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 3 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
27
4
29
66
20
10
-
50
40
30
70
60
2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
₹ C
rore
NER AGRICULTURAL SECTOR SCENARIO
Top 10 Crops Produced in the North Eastern Region of India; 2014-15
Source: NEDFi Databank
8.24 8.01 7.40
2.17
1.46 1.12 0.96 0.85 0.65 0.59
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
-
Mil
lio
n M
etri
c To
nn
e
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 4 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
NER Animal Husbandry Sector Scenario
Milk Production in the North Eastern
Region of India; 2014-15 (000’ Tonne)
Egg Production in the North Eastern
Region of India; 2014-15 (Lakh)
Source: Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Source: Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries
829.46 , 62%
141.22 , 11%
82.96 , 6%
82.17 , 6%
75.68 , 6%
49.99 , 4%
46.07 , 3%
20.49 , 2%
Assam
Tripura
Meghalaya
Manipur
Nagaland
Sikkim
AP
Mizoram
4727.93, 47%
1979.48, 20%
1129.37, 11%
1056.99, 10%
377.33, 4%
417.26, 4% 352.77, 3%
57.53, 1% Assam
Tripura
Manipur
Meghalaya
Arunachal Pradesh
Mizoram
Nagaland
Sikkim
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 5 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
NER Animal Husbandry Sector Scenario
Meat Production in the North Eastern Region of India; 2014-15
(Thousand Tonne)
Source: Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries
66.99, 27%
42.57, 17%
34.24, 14%
26.56, 11%
18.72, 8% 12.5, 5%
3, 1% Nagaland
Assam
Meghalaya
Tripura
Manipur
AP
Mizoram
41.33, 17%
Sikkim
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 6 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Agriculture and
Allied Sector; 2014-15 Arunachal Pradesh Agriculture and
Allied Sector; 2014-15
Source: NER Databank, DAHD – GOI and Dept. of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare – GOI
Note: Livestock does not include egg production.
65%
29%
4% 2%
Food Grains
Horticulture Crops
Livestock
Oil Seeds
2,558
3,320 3,601
4,156
4,881
1,655 1,838
2,040 2,245
2,463
297 242 340 380 422
45 54 55 82 117 -
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
2013-14
₹ C
rore
2011-12 2012-13
Crops
Forestry and logging
2014-15 2015-16
Livestock
Fishing and aquaculture
Source: MOSPI
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 7 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Arunachal Pradesh
Top 10 Crops Produced in Arunachal Pradesh; 2014-15
Source: NEDFi Databank
409.0 394.5
285.0
109.2
75.0 70.0 57.0 33.9 32.0 27.0
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
-
Th
ou
san
d M
etri
c To
nn
e
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 8 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Arunachal Pradesh Priority Sectors
• The resources, policy incentives & climate in state support investments in
tissue culture & floriculture, plantation crops (tea, rubber, etc.) & agro-
based industries.
• Horticulture has a vast potential, owing to good agro-climatic conditions
and topography, for the development of varied varieties of fruits and
vegetables.
• Tourism is another conceivable sector with eco and adventure tourism,
cultural tourism and religious tourism being the major areas of interest.
• The state’s location provides opportunities for international trade with
South Asian countries such as Myanmar, Bhutan and China.
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 9 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Arunachal Pradesh Priority Sectors
• Based on the availability of resources, the identified thrust areas for
industrial development are:
• Industries based on agricultural, horticultural and plantation produce.
• Industries based on non-timber forest produce such as bamboo, cane
(rattan), medicinal plants/herbs, aromatic grass, tea and coffee.
• Textiles (handlooms and power-looms), handicrafts and sericulture.
• Food processing industries.
• Industries based on locally available raw-materials, except timber.
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 10 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Assam Assam Agriculture and Allied
Sector; 2014-15 Assam GSDP from Agriculture and
Allied Sector; 2011-15
Source: NER Databank, DAHD – GOI and Dept. of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare – GOI, Tea Board of India
Note: Livestock does not include egg production.
Source: MOSPI
62%
27%
2% 1%
3%
5%
Food Grains
Horticulture Crops
Likestock
Fibre
Tea
Oil Seeds
20,615
24,969
27,203 28,905
3,959 4,691 5,060 5,295
2,314 2,620 1,593
2,464 3,115
1,792 1,553 1,735 -
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
2011-12 2012-13
₹ C
rore
Crops
Forestry and logging
2013-14 2014-15
Fishing and aquaculture
Livestock
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 11 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Assam
Top 10 Crops Produced in Assam; 2014-15
Source: NEDFi Databank
5.46 5.35 5.22
1.71
0.87 0.77 0.67 0.47 0.42 0.29
-
1
2
5
4
3
6
Mil
lio
n M
etri
c To
nn
e
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 12 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Assam Priority Sectors
• There is a potential for wildlife tourism in the state as state has various
national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
• The agro-climatic conditions of the state favor growing of a variety of
fruits, vegetables/ spices. With better quality planting material, organic
farming, adequate research support and better know-how, the state could
easily cause a major boom in horticulture and food processing sector.
• Bamboo, which is the fastest growing plant and generates large bio-mass,
holds the potential to replace wood on many grounds. Bamboo based
industries could prove profitable in the state.
• With its vast hills and forests, Assam is the home of a variety of medicinal
herbs and plants. There is a scope for Extraction and Value Addition of
Herbal Medicinal and Aromatic Plants.
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 13 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Manipur Manipur Agriculture and Allied
Sector; 2014-15
Manipur GSDP from Agriculture and Allied Sector; 2011-15
Source: NER Databank, DAHD – GOI and Dept. of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare – GOI, Tea Board of India
Note: Livestock does not include egg production.
Source: MOSPI
56% 36%
6% 2%
Food Grains
Horticulture Crops
Livestock
Oil Seeds
1,378
1,686
2,056
2,266
526 583
673 755
422 439 432 458
191 264
338 352
-
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
2011-12 2012-13
₹ C
rore
Crops
Forestry and logging
203-14 2014-15
Livestock
Fishing and aquaculture
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 14 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Manipur
Top 10 Crops Produced in Manipur; 2014-15
Source: NEDFi Databank
427.2
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 15 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
398.5
334.1
136.7
99.2 94.2 90.7 58.8 57.4 52.94
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
-
Foo
d G
rain
s
Cer
eals
Ric
e
Pin
eap
ple
Pas
sion
Fru
it
Ban
ana
Cab
bag
e
Mai
ze
Pea
s
Lim
e/L
emo
n
Th
ou
san
d M
etri
c To
nn
e
Manipur Priority Sectors
• Production and trading units can flourish, taking
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 16 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
advantage of the
expanding international trade of various agricultural products from the
region.
• The food processing industry is a major thrust sector of Manipur. The
state’s agro climatic conditions are most suited for food processing
industry.
• Bamboo shoot production units have potential for bamboo cultivation and
marketing of processed bamboo shoots and products for the local as well as
international markets.
• Manipur has a pleasant climate, exotic greenery and varied flora, besides a
rich tribal culture, which makes tourism as one of the major potential areas
of the state.
Manipur Priority Sectors
• The potential industries in the agriculture sector
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 17 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
are integrated rice
parboiling, hulling/dehusking/milling, bran stabilizing and captive power
generation (based on rice husk biomass gasified duel fuel) unit, Non-
flavored potato chip projects.
• The potential industries in the horticulture plantation sectors are Multi-fruit
juice project, Orange Squash & Jam/Marmalade, Pineapple/Mixed Fruits
Jam and Jelly, Tomato sauce, Ginger oleoresin Extraction as the major
crops grown the state include the orange, pineapple, tomato, ginger and etc.
Meghalaya Meghalaya Agriculture and Allied
Sector; 2014-15
Meghalaya GSDP from Agriculture and Allied Sector; 2011-15
Source: NER Databank, DAHD – GOI and Dept. of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare – GOI, Tea Board of India
Note: Livestock does not include egg production.
Source: MOSPI
45%
44%
6% 4%
1% Food Grains
Horticulture Crops
Livestock
Oil Seeds
Fibres
1,631
1,986 2,085
2,232
2,606
596 609 693 724 754
561 557 581 607 645
41 75 85 96 127 -
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
2013-14
₹ C
rore
2011-12 2012-13
Crops
Forestry and logging
2014-15 2015-16
Livestock
Fishing and aquaculture
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 18 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Meghalaya
Top 10 Crops Produced in Meghalaya; 2014-15
Source: NEDFi Databank
353.8
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 19 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
342.5
298.2
191.5
124.6
88.7 78.4 66.3 63.0 52.0
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
-
Foo
d G
rain
s
Cer
eals
Ric
e
Pota
to
Pin
eap
ple
Ban
ana
Cau
lifl
ow
er
Jute
Gin
ger
To
mat
o
Th
ou
san
d M
etri
c To
nn
e
Meghalaya Priority Sectors
• Horticulture Based Units have high potential,
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 20 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
which include food
processing, mushroom cultivation and processing.
• There exist a high potential for the setting up of select, bio‐technology
based industries in Meghalaya. This industry is essentially
knowledge‐based and can function with minimum resources and limited
transportation infrastructure.
• Meghalaya accounts for 150 species of orchids. Thus, there is a large scope
for commercial exploitation in a systematic and scientific manner through
tissue culture.
• Setting up of high value export production units in the state, especially for
Spices, Oleoresin and other Essential Oils.
Meghalaya Priority Sectors
• Meghalaya needs units for hygienic and scientific processing of poultry,
piggery and other meat products.
• Meghalaya has a high potential for development of dairy and allied
products as well as for processing of animal hides and skins and for setting
up leather industries.
• Meghalaya has a good potential for cultivation of tea and rubber.
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 21 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Mizoram Mizoram Agriculture and Allied
Sector; 2014-15
Mizoram GSDP from Agriculture and Allied Sector; 2011-15
Source: NER Databank, DAHD – GOI and Dept. of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare – GOI, Tea Board of India
Note: Livestock does not include egg production.
Source: MOSPI
77.1%
19.2%
3.4% 0.2%
Horticulture Crops
Food Grains
Livestock
Oil Seeds
759
838
1,011
1,166
384 410 457 478
303 308 368
456
49 57 62 70 -
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
2011-12 2012-13
₹ C
rore
Crops
Livestock
2013-14 2014-15
Forestry and logging
Fishing and aquaculture
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 22 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Mizoram
Top 10 Crops Produced in Mizoram; 2014-15
Source: NEDFi Databank
183.4
141.0
75.3 69.3
60.7 48.8
41.2 32.9 31.2 26.5
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
-
Th
ou
san
d M
etri
c To
nn
e
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 23 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Mizoram Priority Sectors
• Production of fruits, vegetables, spices, cotton, coffee, tea, bird’s eye chilli,
anthurium, and rose has immense potential in Mizoram.
• The fish farming industry has great potential as only around 19% of the
state’s fishing potential has been utilized up till now.
• With abundant natural resources and supporting policies, the food
processing sector along with allied services such as cold chain management
offers potential for investment.
• Use of pesticides and fertilizers is low in Mizoram, leading to rich organic
produce, which makes it attractive for exports.
• Creation of tourist complexes, adventure sports and resort facilities,
amusement parks, health farms, hotels, convention centres, tourist travel
services, etc., offer various avenues for investment in the tourism sector of
Mizoram.
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 24 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Nagaland Nagaland Agriculture and Allied
Sector; 2014-15
Nagaland GSDP from Agriculture and Allied Sector; 2011-15
Source: NER Databank, DAHD – GOI and Dept. of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare – GOI, Tea Board of India
Note: Livestock does not include egg production.
Source: MOSPI
61.7%
31.0%
4.9% 2.2% 0.3% Food Grains
Horticulture Crops
Livestock
Oil Seeds
Fibres
2,043
2,574
3,406
3,758
831
1,024 1,153
1,238
796 835 930 998
63 70 77 85 -
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
2011-12 2012-13
₹ C
rore
Crops
Forestry and logging
2013-14 2014-15
Livestock
Fishing and aquaculture
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 25 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Nagaland
Top 10 Crops Produced in Nagaland; 2014-15
Source: NEDFi Databank
649.6
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 26 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
607.2
454.2
162.0 142.5 135.9 109.8 92.3
68.1 65.1
-
100
200
400
300
500
600
700
Foo
d G
rain
s
Cer
eals
Ric
e
Cab
bag
e
Pin
eap
ple
Mai
ze
Ban
ana
Tap
ioca
Oil
See
ds
Pota
to
Th
ou
san
d M
etri
c To
nn
e
Nagaland Priority Sectors
• The Horticulture is one of the promising sectors for the state in terms of
employment generation and income addition along with reducing
nutritional poverty.
• The natural resources, climatic conditions and policy incentives in
Nagaland support investments in industries related to bamboo, sericulture,
tourism and agro-processing.
• Nagaland has a rich wealth of flora and fauna. Favorable climatic and
geographical conditions in the state offer tremendous scope for floriculture.
• Nagaland has immense potential to produce organic honey and pollen due
to its rich biodiversity, traditional knowledge, practice of beekeeping and
numerous honeybee species.
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 27 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Nagaland Priority Sectors
• Eco-tourism, adventure tourism, ethnic culture tourism, health farms,
hotels, convention centres, tourist travel services, etc, has high potential in
the tourism sector of the state.
• The handicraft and handloom sector in Nagaland has enormous growth
potential due to the abundant availability of skilled labor and raw
materials.
• Setting up of private commercial and rural breeding farms on Private
Public Partnership mode.
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 28 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Sikkim Sikkim Agriculture and Allied
Sector; 2014-15
Sikkim GSDP from Agriculture and Allied Sector; 2011-16
Source: NER Databank, DAHD – GOI and Dept. of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare – GOI, Tea Board of India
Note: Livestock does not include egg production.
49%
40%
10%
1% Food Grains
Horticulture Crops
Livestock
Oil Seeds
782.07
949.42
1,044.40
1,149.76
1,308.78
76.27 87.47 129.86
173.38 229.25
40.17 41.37 44.71 45.29 47.15 2.87 4.52 5.23 6.04 6.99 -
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
₹ C
rore
Crops
Forestry and logging
2014-15 2015-16
Livestock
Fishing and aquaculture
Source: MOSPI
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 29 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Sikkim
Source: NEDFi Databank
102.2
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 39 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
96.4
68.9
52.1 49.9
23.1 18.4
9.3 9.1 7.5
-
20
40
60
80
100
Top 10 Crops Produced in Sikkim; 2014-15
120
Foo
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rain
s
Cer
eals
Mai
ze
Gin
ger
Pota
to
Car
dom
om
Flo
wer
s
Pea
s
To
mat
o
Ok
ra
Th
ou
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etri
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nn
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Sikkim Priority Sectors
• The surveyed arable land in Sikkim is 109,000 ha, of which only 9.5%
is
used; this provides a vast untapped potential for development.
• There are large areas of fallow land available, having the potential to be
converted into productive farms for cash crops.
• The handloom and handicraft industry has a great potential to generate
income and employment in the state.
• The demand for large cardamom in the export market is bound to increase
steadily. Thus, there is huge export potential for large cardamom from
Sikkim.
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 31 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Tripura Tripura Agriculture and Allied
Sector; 2014-15
Tripura GSDP from Agriculture and Allied Sector; 2011-15
Source: NER Databank, DAHD – GOI and Dept. of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare – GOI, Tea Board of India
Note: Livestock does not include egg production.
54.0% 39.9%
0.3%0.2%
5.7%
Food Grains
Horticulture Crops
Livestock
Fibres
Oil Seeds
3,190 3,391
3,751
3,976
1,098 1,193
1,331
488 665
1,242
1,690
337 422 705
1,451
882
-
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
₹ C
rore
2011-12 2012-13
Crops
Fishing and aquaculture
2013-14 2014-15
Forestry and logging
Livestock
Source: MOSPI
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 32 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Tripura
Top 10 Crops Produced in Tripura; 2014-15
Source: NEDFi Databank
761.5
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 33 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
753.1 747.0
300.0
170.9 159.5 141.3 86.2 62.6 62.5
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
-
Foo
d G
rain
s
Cer
eals
Ric
e
Jack
Fru
it
Pin
eap
ple
Pota
to
Ban
ana
Cab
bag
e
Man
go
Rad
ish
Th
ou
san
d M
etri
c T
on
ne
Tripura Priority Sectors
• Tripura acts as a gateway between Northeast India and Bangladesh. The state
shares a 856-km international border with Bangladesh. This offers enormous
potential for international trade.
• The state has a huge potential in tourism, specially eco-tourism, religious
tourism, heritage tourism, hill tourism, rural tourism, archaeological tourism
and water tourism.
• There is huge potential of RoFR land available for cultivation of fruit/
plantation crops like Pineapple, Jackfruit, Orange, Mosambi, Mango, Arecanut
etc., commercially which may cater the need of other North Eastern States and
neighboring country Bangladesh.
• There is a vast potential for setting up of food processing units in the State.
• The State also has potential in the meat processing sector.
• There is an ample scope for area expansion under organic spices cultivation in
Tripura.
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 34 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
NER Government Schemes Arunachal Pradesh
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)
Assam
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)
Manipur
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)
• Dairy Development Schemes
• National Agro Forestry & Bamboo Mission
Meghalaya
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)
• Funds for Promotion of Floriculture
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 35 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
NER Government Schemes Mizoram
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)
• National Mission for Food Processing
• Funds for Medicinal Plants
• National Bamboo Mission
Nagaland
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)
Sikkim
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)
• Schemes for Medicinal Plants
Tripura
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)
• National Agro Forestry & Bamboo Mission
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 36 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
NER Challenges • Logistics Challenge: Products are being traded to North East Region from
Arunachal Pradesh but not vice-versa. Also, for transportation of the
agricultural produce farmers generally uses bamboo baskets to transport their
produce manually. Poor road conditions, poor connectivity and fragmented
land holdings compel farmers to sell off their produce at a much lower price
and thus at loss.
• High Cost of Distribution: Population of the North East Region is scattered,
which results in high cost of distribution.
• Need to identify comparative advantages. The average productivity for all the
eight states in the North East Region individually was found to be lower than
all India average for fruits as well as vegetables, while it was reverse for the
spices. Thus, huge untapped potential for entrepreneurs lies in the spices
segment
• Packaging Issues: Entrepreneurs need to travel to other states for packaging
printing etc., which make product cost ineffective for producers as well as
consumers.
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 37 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
NER Challenges • Fragmented land holding: Overusing the same plot of land again and again
without proper knowledge of crop rotation has severely diminished soil
fertility. Another very serious side effect of fragmented land holdings is that
farmers earn only enough to sustain their immediate needs.
• Lack of a stable market: One of the major causes of low income of the NER is
the difficulty in marketing their crops. Due to the small size and scattered
nature of agricultural holdings, the productivity per acre is low. Consequently,
the collection of these surpluses for the purpose of marketing presents a serious
problem.
• Lack of mechanization: A farmer carrying out various farming steps such as
ploughing, sowing, harvesting or winnowing manually is a common thing. Post
harvest techniques such as cleaning, drying or slicing are done by the NE
Indian farmers manually. Northeast India actually is the major impediments in
the way of agricultural mechanization in the region. Due to poor mechanization
and crude agricultural techniques the farmers are not able to ripe good value
for their produce.
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 38 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
NER Challenges • Inadequate Infrastructure i.e. warehouses & cold storages, unavailability of
nutritious fodder for cattle and dearth of quality planting material, and illegal
market routes for livestock and poultry in the region were some other major
concerns.
• The region’s economy is generally characterized by low per-capita income, low
capital formation, inadequate infrastructure facilities, geographical isolation
and communication bottleneck, inadequate exploitation of natural resources
like mineral resources, hydro power potential, forests etc., low progress in
industrial field, lack of private and foreign direct investment (FDI) and high
unemployment rate among the relatively high literate people.
• Lack of education creates gap between Northeast India farmers and prosperity:
Due to the lack of proper education, farmers more often than not, are unable to
even capitalize on the various government schemes for farmers and the
unemployed youth of the region.
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 39 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Recommendations • High potential crops and produce need to be tapped.
• It is recommended to constitute a committee of experts from all relevant
aspects to analyze the crops for:
• Local as well as domestic consumption,
• Exports to neighboring countries and rest of the world and lastly for food
processing industry.
• Piggery could be a great opportunity as it is low input high output venture in
less time period and NER has natural resources in sufficient to undertake the
rearing.
• Skills development of the communities and technical exposure of farmers is
necessary.
• To tap the potential of such unexplored products, Government should earmark
funds to promote research regarding their feasibility and cost benefit analysis
in the region.
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 40 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Recommendations • It is also suggested that government through existing extension institutions
should demonstrate the scientific cultivation to harvest high quality and
quantity of yield.
• The region should have incubation centers for developing and testing of
technologies and testing labs to ensure the food and produce quality.
• Rather than fetching raw material for processing industry from NER to distant
places, setting up value addition and processing industry with support from
government is a feasible option.
• Crops with hardy nature and long shelf life should be promoted against
perishable nature commodities to sustain distant transportation.
• Quality planting material, produced under in-vitro conditions, is critical to
improving yields and profitability on sustainable basis. Thus, a modern tissue
culture lab and nursery need to be set up for key crops of the region.
• A food testing lab is the critical requirement for facilitating the growth of
organic as well as non organic food from the region.
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 41 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Recommendations • Supporting industry like packaging material and labeling needs to be promoted
to reduce the manufacturing cost of the agricultural and other products such as
animal husbandry handloom and handicraft products.
• NER has huge potential for the development of eco-tourism as the region is
perfect blend of natural wealth and topography.
• The region is endowed with rich and diverse bamboo resources. Thus, there is
a high potential for bamboo processing industries.
• The climate smart villages project should be set up to promote agriculture
practices that will mitigate the effects of climate change on agriculture and
help communities adapt to climate change to become resilient to extreme
weather events such as droughts, floods, and delayed monsoons.
• Developing commercial poultry production in the region by setting up Poultry
Park with one mother unit of about 25,000 birds and block level satellite units
of about 2000 birds each, taking one district as model is also advised.
Indian Council of Food and Agriculture 42 North Eastern India: Untapped Potential
Thank You