The presentation highlights the policy imperative for agricultural infrastructure and capacity development in North East India.

1. North East India: Policy Imperative
for Agri Infrastructure and capacity
development
Dr.M.Islam Barbaruah
Chief Development Strategist, FARMER
( Fellowship for Agri Resource Management and
Entrepreneurship Research )
Global Agri Connect-2011, New Delhi

2. Understanding North East……..
 Strategic Location : Opportunities Vs Threat
 Political dynamics and Leadership : Role of numerous
tribes, The divide with mainland and feeling of alienation
 Predominant Agri and Natural Resource linked Growth
 Importance of Bio-diversity.
 The population density, topography, climate and
Communication Infrastructure.
 Social Systems, Traditional Practices, including ownership
of assets.
 Natural constraints of Productivity and supply chain
constraints e.g. Aggregation of produce.
 Predominance of First Generation Entrepreneurs
Global Agri Connect-2011, New Delhi

3. The key challenge !
Global Agri Connect-2011, New Delhi
Handling of regional disparity in development
between states of North Eastern Region (NER)
and mainland India.

4. The Approach: (1)
Global Agri Connect-2011, New Delhi
From investment allocation to
allocation determined by the
needs of the people…..

5. The Approach: (2)
Global Agri Connect-2011, New Delhi
Building local capacity / Skills to
implement projects primarily in
the field of Infrastructure.

6. What is included under Agricultural
Infrastructure? :
 Basic Services e.g. Irrigation
 Facilities e.g. Markets, Cold storage, Soil Testing
laboratory
 Equipments e.g. Grain dryers, Tractors
 Institutions e.g. Banks
 ……?
Global Agri Connect-2011, New Delhi
Investment in Agri Infrastructure is the best conduit of
development. Since It plays intrinsic and indirect role in
the development process, this ‘mantra’ is often ignored.

7. Glimpse of Changing face of Agriculture in North
East.
Global Agri Connect-2011, New Delhi
A buzzing weekly
Paddy market in
Assam
Black paper
Production in Tea
Gardens of
Assam

8. Glimpse of Changing face of Agriculture in North
East. ( Contd.)
Global Agri Connect-2011, New Delhi
Strawberry, Pineapple, Turmeric Production in Meghalaya

9. Glimpse of Changing face of Agriculture in North
East.( Contd.)
Global Agri Connect-2011, New Delhi
Apple, Kiwi and OSV Production in Arunachal Pradesh

10. Glimpse of Changing face of Agriculture in North
East.( Contd.)
Global Agri Connect-2011, New Delhi
Naga King Chilly cultivation and Contract growing of MAP in Nagaland

11. Glimpse of Changing face of Agriculture in North
East ( Contd.)
Global Agri Connect-2011, New Delhi
Floriculture in Sikkim and Mizoram

12. Glimpse of Changing face of Agriculture in North
East ( Contd.)
Global Agri Connect-2011, New Delhi
Rubber Production in Tripura

13. The policy imperative for Agri Infrastructure
development in North East India
 Equitable investment in all states to prevent sub regional
imbalance in growth.
 Facilitation of information dissemination and stakeholder
engagement for strong monitoring of investments.
 Incentive and Capacity Development for decentralized
infrastructure planning and execution.
 Augmentation of collaboration amongst Institutions for
assessment of operating environments, improvement in
quality of production statistics, analysis of trends and
future needs.
Global Agri Connect-2011, New Delhi

14.  Investment mobilization for skill development to manage
infrastructures.
 Facilitation of R&D on appropriate technology,
knowledge flow for quality and Sustainability of
Infrastructure.
 Incentive to private sector for infrastructure investment in
developed areas.
 Interlinking / integration of infrastructure projects with
scientific studies.
Global Agri Connect-2011, New Delhi
The policy imperative for Agri Infrastructure
development in North East India ( Contd.)

15. Capacity Development Framework:
Global Agri Connect-2011, New Delhi
Technical Capacities
Dimensions
Functional Capacities
Individuals
Organizational
Environment
Planning &Team Building
Capacity
Knowledge Integration
Capacity
Negotiation & Partnering
Capacity
Implementation Capacity
Developing Local Capacity to Plan and implement
Projects :
Diagram Source: FAO

16. farmerneindia@gmail.com
Or
barbaruah73@yahoo.co.in
Global Agri Connect-2011, New Delhi