Guwahati: Union Minister for Communications and Development of the North Eastern Region, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, on Wednesday called for a product-focused, cluster-driven strategy to unlock the agriculture and horticulture potential of the Northeast, as he participated in a High-Level Task Force (HLTF) meeting chaired by Prem Singh Tamang.
The meeting, convened in New Delhi, brought together Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, Assam Agriculture Minister Atul Bora, Arunachal Pradesh Agriculture Minister Gabriel D. Wangsu, Sikkim Agriculture Minister Puran Kumar Gurung, senior officials from the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region, and representatives of state governments from across the region.
The HLTF focused on addressing persistent gaps in value chains and market linkages that continue to limit farmer incomes in the Northeast. Participants agreed that the region’s agri-horti growth must be built around its inherent strengths, specialised crops, quality produce, and distinct regional identity, positioned as the unique selling proposition of NER products.
A key thrust of the discussion was the need to systematically diagnose bottlenecks across production, post-harvest handling, processing, marketing, and logistics.
Reducing post-harvest losses and lowering high marketing and transportation costs were flagged as critical to improving value realisation for farmers.
The task force also deliberated on drawing up a clear, phased roadmap, starting from foundational interventions and moving towards full-scale value chain integration.
This would include developing a strategic infrastructure map for export readiness, identifying priority commodities for each state, and promoting cluster-based development to ensure scale, efficiency, and market alignment.
Officials proposed a blueprint-based approach that would begin with selecting one product at a time and addressing its entire value chain through defined short-, medium-, and long-term plans, backed by product-wise targets and investment estimates.
The model would also assess how many farmers are engaged in each product across states and measure income gains once interventions are rolled out.
The HLTF concluded that a focused, product-specific strategy, anchored in clusters and supported by targeted investments, could deliver measurable and sustainable outcomes, strengthen market access, and ensure long-term income growth for farmers across Northeast India.