A group of people huddle around a map of Assam at the State Commerce and Industry Department in Guwahati. They are from an Indian-owned hypermarket chain with a presence in the Gulf, and are exploring options to procure fruits from the North-East.

Procuring agri-commodities from India for their stores in West Asia is nothing new to the group. But coming to Guwahati for strawberries or bananas is new. The credit goes to the Assam government’s year-long promotion of agri-horticultural exports.

Struggling farm sector

The issue is tricky. When it comes to farm production, the region is largely dependent on supplies from the rest of India. Except in Lower Assam, agriculture is a single crop affair. The yield is low as farm techniques are conventional. There are only 29 soil-testing laboratories in the entire region.

Yet, the North-East produces some of the finest varieties of seasonal farm products. But either the production is small or scattered in pockets.

All the four processing units of the North-East Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation are idling. Bangladesh-based PRAN, which had set up a pineapple processing unit in Tripura, imports concentrate as the local procurement is low.

Four years after it was set up in Nalbari, Assam, the North-East Mega Food Park is yet to push local value-addition. Half of the 27-acre facility is unused, while the other half has units making pastries or noodles with materials sourced from outside the region.

“Failure of the Food Park project was inevitable as it was not customised for the region. The region’s agri-production profile demands innovative solutions to procure in low quantities from a wide area,” said Ronn Pakrashi, former CEO of the Food Park.

The World Bank recently initiated a project to promote agri-processing clusters in Assam. But these will take years to deliver.

To address the issue of low returns for its produce, the Commerce and Industries Department of Assam turned to exports.

“Farmers here barely use chemical fertilisers. We are trying to capitalise on it,” said a State Government official.

It tied up with some 450 farmers for supplying products graded and sorted to customer’s choice.

According to State government sources, the initiative worked. A dozen trucks carrying vegetables left for Nepal every month this winter. Some buyers from Maharashtra and Karnataka procured potatoes. Bhutan imported a fair quantity of mushrooms.

However, the crowning moment came in November 2018 when SpiceJet ferried a consignment of farm products from Guwahati to Dubai.

Tea industry benefits

Benefits of these initiatives helped greatly Assam’s tea industry, which was exporting via Kolkata. According to State government sources, beginning April, SpiceJet will ferry tea to Europe from GuwahatiFarm products may be shipped from July.

While tea may be doable as planters are well-prepared, there are some questions about the State’s plan to promote farm product exports.

Many problems

M Krishna Saikia, partner of Greencover Overseas, a Guwahati based exporter, flags many issues.

Greencover exported 40 tonnes of vegetables by sea over the last couple of months. Due to non-availability of authorised packing services in Guwahati and low availability of refrigerated containers in Kolkata, he is routing exports through Mumbai, taking a hit in profitability.

Saikia also flags issues of limited knowledge of farmers on pesticide residue, plant quarantine and quality.

Five consignments have so far been sent from Guwahati airport, giving a tough time to airport quarantine officials. At least one was rejected due to pesticide-residue issues.

“Infrastructure inadequacies make exports from Guwahati costly, and it will take two-three years of effort for things to improve,” he said.

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