GUWAHATI: Two products — tea and turmeric — grown in Assam and Meghalaya respectively have been identified for cluster development under the Agriculture Export Policy, 2018 which was recently approved by the Union Cabinet.
As part of the policy’s focus on a cluster development approach, 18 product categories have been identified for export promotion, of which, two are in the Northeast.
Three districts in Upper Assam districts — Tinsukia, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh — have been identified for tea while West Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya has been identified for turmeric.
According to the policy, a product or cluster is identified on the basis of existing production contributing to exports, exporters operations, scalability of operations, size of export market / India’s share, awareness about sanitary and phytosanitary requirements, and potential for increase in export in short term.
The Cabinet also approved the proposal for establishment of monitoring framework at Centre with Commerce as the nodal department with representation from various line ministries/departments and agencies and representatives of state governments, to oversee the implementation of the export policy.
The government has come out with a policy to double farmers’ income by 2022. Exports of agricultural products would play a pivotal role in achieving this goal. “A similar approach in export centric clusters is likely to result in a more focused pre and post-harvest management of the production as well as in upgrading the supply chain to attain much higher levels of export from those clusters,” the policy says.
The Union finance minister, while presenting the budget for 2018-19, had emphasized the need for focusing on a cluster development approach to boost the agricultural and horticultural production in India.
In April this year, the Meghalaya government came up with the Lakadong Mission Document setting a target to produce 50,000 metric tonnes of Lakadong turmeric in five years.
