Prudent agribusiness model for Northeast

The launch of the North East Region Agri Commodity E-Connect (NERACE) web portal and mobile application by Union Minister for DoNER and Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia has put the spotlight on high-value agricultural commodities produced in the region. NERACE has been designed to provide digital marketing support to the farming community in the region to tap the inter-northeast, inter-state, and export markets. The fact that the region continues to be a net importer of foodgrain to meet its own food requirements is a pointer towards the challenges in boosting production of identified exotic and high-value agricultural and horticultural commodities. Finding the right agribusiness model is critical to reaping the benefits of interventions like NERACE and similar initiatives in the past. The number of high-value agri-horti commodities from the region with a Geographical Indication (GI) tag has increased to 21, which is indicative of the potential for diversifying the export basket of the region. The majority of farmers in the region are small and marginal, so boosting production for commercial success is not a challenging task. As the land holdings of these farmers are small, expansion of areas under these agricultural commodities is often not feasible for the majority individual farmers, as they also must grow the principal crop and other agricultural products they require for their own household consumption. Boosting production on the same plot of land requires the adoption of modern farming with quality and high-yielding seeds, adequate irrigation facilities, pest and weed control, and fertilisers that involve higher input costs. Even when a small and marginal farmer can get government support for meeting the increased input costs under various schemes to boost production, meeting the desired target of producing enough marketable surplus is not easy due to the small size of the land holding. Lack of adequate storage for aggregated products from farm fields of small and marginal farmers is another bottleneck in the commercial expansion of traditional and indigenous crops in the region, with few exceptions. Particularly in hill states, finding suitable land ideally located to the advantage of all stakeholders for setting up cold storage to reduce post-harvest losses is easier said than done. Connectivity to interior places in the region has created new opportunities for agricultural marketing, but the progress of the construction of roads and bridges is quite slow, which poses impediments to achieving the targets set for boosting the production of identified crops. An individual farmer will not be convinced to experiment with increasing the production of a particular commodity grown traditionally until the farm households can see for themselves the establishment of the entire agribusiness value chain from farmgate to retail markets. The absence or presence of the same ecosystem of agribusiness also influences the decision of individual farmers to take part in cooperative initiatives. The cooperative models of farming can increase the negotiation capacity of small and marginal farmers and increase the scope of aggregating marketable surpluses from individual farmers to attract wholesale buyers. However, cooperative movements in the region failed to replicate the success stories of Amul business scales scripted by small dairy farmers. Apart from land holding, connectivity bottlenecks, and decision-making being a top heavy structure of officials and influential farmers, the cooperative model could not gain much ground in the agriculture sector in the region much except dairy cooperatives scripting success stories in a few pockets. Government initiatives to support Farmers Producer Organisation (FPO) or Farmers Producer Company (FPC) are a fresh initiative of a modern cooperative model with progressive management strategies for motivating small and marginal farmers to take the lead role in strategizing their agribusiness model. The FPO or FPC can play a play a significant role in bringing down input costs through bulk procurement. There must be adequate safeguards against the vulnerability of all member farmers to crop failure owing to the supply of inferior-quality seeds by the supplier. The capacity building of FPO and FPC in quality control at every stage is crucial to achieving the end objectives behind the collectivization of small farmers. The ecological fragility of the region needs to be kept in mind while promoting a particular crop that has higher market potential but may have long-term consequences on soil quality, while maintaining diversity of crop and cultural practices. Some of the food crops grown in the region are intricately linked to the food habits of different communities and are considered crucial identity markers of these communities, which explains the importance of maintaining traditional crop diversity even while pushing high-value crops. Digital technology access for small and marginal farmers is crucial to breaking the silos and opening the window of agribusiness opportunity for them. The FPOs and FPCs can play a crucial role as facilitators with the support extended by the government under various schemes and programmes. The objectives of NERACE will be optimally achieved when the primary challenges faced by small and marginal farmers in boosting production and productivity in the region are adequately addressed.