GUWAHATI: Assam Finance Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah has called for greater support for the state’s agarwood sector to create new opportunities for farmers and rural communities. He also zeroed in on the importance of agricultural financing.
Speaking at the two-day conference on “Financing India’s Journey towards Viksit Bharat” in New Delhi, Mallabaruah called for developing a robust agarwood value chain.
“Assam’s agarwood sector has immense economic potential. Smooth export channels, streamlined regulatory clearances, quality testing facilities and local processing infrastructure can help our farmers realise greater value from this high-value crop,” the FM said.
The minister further called for a region-specific approach to agricultural financing, stronger institutional credit and end-to-end value chains to raise farm incomes and accelerate agricultural transformation, highlighting Assam’s distinct agricultural potential and the need for financing frameworks that reflect regional realities.
The state FM said that around 40-46 per cent of India’s workforce is engaged in agriculture and allied activities, while the sector contributes around 18 per cent to GDP.
Mallabaruah raised concern that a uniform financing framework may not adequately address the diverse production patterns. “Uniform financial and agricultural frameworks may not always address the specific requirements of every state. Regional production patterns and local realities must be considered while designing support mechanisms,” he said.
The minister called for greater emphasis on the complete agricultural value chain from production and primary processing to storage, marketing and exports, so that farmers could secure better and more predictable returns.
Mallabaruah said regional disparities in institutional agricultural credit and called for a more inclusive financing approach for the Northeast. He highlighted the difficulties faced by tenant and leasehold farmers, cultivators of government land, Forest Rights Act beneficiaries and small tea growers in accessing institutional credit because of land-title-related constraints.
The minister said the distribution of Farmer IDs, which commenced in Assam, could facilitate more targeted institutional support for tenant farmers, lease farmers, forest dwellers and other cultivators. He stressed the need for decentralised processing and value addition infrastructure close to production centres.
While cold storage, warehousing, transport and marketing infrastructure remain important, the FM said local processing facilities were particularly critical for perishable commodities. Such infrastructure, he added, can reduce post-harvest losses and enable farmers and rural communities to retain a greater share of the value generated from their produce.
