The organic products, produced in the North-Eastern Region of India are slated for catering the consumers residing in rest of India. The Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER) is going to make suitable arrangements for showcasing the products outside of the region. An initiative in this direction has already begun with the opening up, recently, of a Showroom-cum-Restaurant bearing a common brand name “ONE” (Organic North East) at Dilli Haat in New Delhi.
This was informed by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr Jitendra Singh while chairing a meeting of NERAMAC (North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation) at Guwahati in Assam on Friday. The Minister was in Assam to take part in the programmes commemorating the completion of three years of the Narendra Modi Government.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the high priority accorded to the Northeast by the is evident from the fact that the Prime Minister chose to observe the completion of three-years of government in this region.
Emphasising on the importance of developing the agri-horticulture ecosystem of Northeast, Singh said, NERAMAC must take up the responsibility of carrying forward this mission and build a modern dynamic marketing apparatus for the purpose. He said, in the absence of organised “Mandis” in most parts of the region, one of the priority activities of NERAMAC should be to act as an aggregator of agri-horti produce in the region, particularly when 80 percent of the agri-horti produce from the region happens to be organic in nature.
The Minister said, people in other parts of the country are yet to be introduced to the rich and exclusive organic produce of the North-Eastern region and once this happens, they would spontaneously come looking for it. This would not only give a boost to trade and business, but also create opportunities of livelihood.
Earlier, Managing Director of NERAMAC, Pankaj Kumar Prasad made a brief presentation on the organisation’s role to act as organic aggregators for Northeast. He said, the NERAMAC is confident to succeed in its plan to promote organic farming and its marketing through different linkages at different levels. Notwithstanding the constraints of poor connectivity and infrastructural drawbacks, the NERAMAC has succeeded in pushing forward its operations, he added.
