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Executive Summary
The TIFAC report titled “Opportunities for Fruits & Vegetables processing in North Eastern Region of India”, released in February 2021, has broadly identified areas for technology interventions in fruits & vegetables processing in North Eastern region and recommended a technology roadmap for North East India in short, medium and long term to catch up with the national benchmark.
Diverse agro-climatic conditions of North Eastern Region offers anexcellent scope for growing different horticultural crops like fruits, vegetables, spices, plantation crops, medicinal & aromatic plants. The States of the region has enormous potential for horticulture both for domestic as well as export markets. Even the commercial plantation of fruits like lemon, lime, orange, pineapple, banana, passion fruit, amla, plum, olive, figs, wild apple, kiwi, mandarin, etc. and vegetables like mushroom, bamboo shoot, tomatoes, and leafy vegetables unique to the region have high potential. North Eastern Region accounts for about 5.1% of fruits and 4.5% of vegetables in the national scenario. In order to provide remunerative price to the farmers, processing of fruits and vegetables have got highest portfolio. Though, there are many constraints due to lack of appropriate infrastructure and value chain components, commercial horticulture through processing and value addition can make niche products thereby invite joint venture partners on both domestic and export front to make excellent strategic alliances in the region.
Huge quantities of fruits and vegetables go waste because of lack of facilities for proper storage, transport & other infrastructural facilities besides specific expertise and technology etc. To minimize such losses, there is need of processing of these horticultural crops having good market value into a different range of products with higher self life like canned/bottled fruits and vegetables, fruit juices, fruit pulp, jam, jelly, squashes, concentrates, RTS beverages, assorted pickles, preserves, Chutneys and good dehydrated as well as frozen fruits and vegetables etc. Many exotic fruits, medicinal and aromatic plants are grown in the region, which has potential to make nutraceutical and wellness products.
Due to the above limitations, fruits and vegetables processing sector in North East are in its primitive stage. Therefore, there is a need to give special attention for development of fruits, vegetables and spices production and processing sector in order to develop the livelihood of the rural mass. Awareness programs on food processing & a detailed study on the existing available food processors along with the appropriate latest technologies will be the essential step to develop food processing industries in the north east to gain market share. Mostly the local entrepreneurs of the region are first generation entrepreneurs and have a poor resource base and as a result, their risk bearing ability is quite low. It is needed to expose more knowledge towards successful integration of Industry & Agro-horticulture.
Price Rs. 30,000
