Assam agriculture-exports witness 80% growth

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: In the past six years, Assam witnessed around 80 percent growth in the exports of agriculture products, mainly to Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Middle East, the UK and Europe. The volume of exports increased from 2.5 million US dollars to 17.2 million US dollars.

Items exported are bhut jalakia, lemon, joha rice, black rice, brown rice, zinger, pumpkin, jack fruits, litchi, bean, brinjal, turmeric, betel nut, non-Basmati rice, etc. It led the region's youth to involve themselves in organic farming for quality products for exports.

APEDA (Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development and Authority) is extending all support to make Assam and the Northeast an Agri-export hub. It made the region registers 85.34 per growth in exports in the past six years.

Talking to The Sentinel, APEDA Chairman M Angamuthu said, "Assam and the Northeast have a favourable climate condition and soil type for growing almost all agricultural and horticultural crops. As most of the states in the Northeast share their borders with Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and China, there are possibilities of enhancing exports from the region."

APEDA also signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding), with Assam Agriculture University (AAU) to conduct various training programmes on pre-harvest and post-harvest management and other research activities for the promotion of exports from the region. "Assam lemon is now exported regularly to London and the Middle East. And as of now, more than 50 metric tonnes of lemon have been exported from the state, besides several consignments of litchi and pumpkin to different countries," Angamuthu said.

Tapping the export potential of pork and pork products, APEDA assisted the Assam Government in setting up a modern pork-processing facility at Nazira with a slaughtering capacity of 400 pigs per day. The unit is ready to be commissioned soon.

Angamuthu said, "With intervention from APEDA, Tripura exported jack fruits, and Nagaland exported king chilly to London through a local exporter for the first time. Assam regularly exports its local fruits called 'leteku' (Burmese grape) to Dubai, and Assam betel leaves to London."

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