Assam finance minister Jayanta Mallabaruah calls for region-specific agricultural financing

Assam Finance Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah has called for region-specific agricultural financing, wider access to institutional credit and stronger value chains to improve farm incomes, particularly in the Northeast, while highlighting Assam’s potential in high-value crops and agricultural exports.

Baruah made the remarks while addressing a session on ‘Financing Agriculture Sector Transformation’ in New Delhi on Saturday in the presence of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, according to an official release.

The Assam Finance Minister said agricultural financing frameworks should take into account differences in production patterns, geography and the credit requirements of individual states rather than follow a uniform approach across the country.

“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,” Baruah said.

He noted 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 the country’s GDP. He stressed the need to improve productivity, value addition, market access and farm incomes through stronger financial and institutional support.

Baruah also called for greater focus on the entire agricultural value chain, from production and primary processing to storage, marketing and exports, saying this would help farmers secure better and more predictable returns.

Focus on credit access in Northeast

The minister highlighted disparities in institutional agricultural credit across regions and called for a more inclusive financing framework for the Northeast.

He pointed to the difficulties faced by tenant and leasehold farmers, cultivators on government land, beneficiaries under the Forest Rights Act and small tea growers in accessing institutional credit because of land-title-related constraints.

Baruah said the distribution of farmer IDs has commenced in Assam, which could help facilitate more targeted institutional support for tenant farmers, lease farmers, forest-dwelling cultivators and other sections that face difficulties in accessing formal credit.

Push for local processing infrastructure

The minister also stressed the need to develop decentralised processing and value-addition infrastructure closer to agricultural production centres.

While acknowledging the importance of cold storage, warehousing, transportation and marketing infrastructure, he said local processing facilities were particularly important for perishable commodities that can deteriorate within two to five days of harvest.

According to Baruah, establishing such facilities near production centres can help reduce post-harvest losses and enable farmers and rural communities to retain a larger share of the value generated from their produce.

Assam's agarwood sector

A significant part of Baruah's intervention focused on Assam's agarwood sector, which he identified as an area with considerable economic potential for farmers and rural communities.

He called for streamlined regulatory clearances, quality-testing facilities, local processing infrastructure and stronger export channels to develop an integrated agarwood value chain in the state.

“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,” Baruah said.

He stressed that increasing value addition within Assam would allow a larger share of the economic benefits from the sector to reach farmers and other stakeholders.

Export push for ginger, turmeric

Baruah also highlighted the export potential of premium-grade ginger and turmeric produced in Assam’s hill regions, calling for dedicated export linkages and supporting infrastructure.

He further emphasised the need for direct international air-cargo export facilities to facilitate the movement of high-value agricultural commodities from Assam to overseas markets.

The minister's intervention centred on strengthening agricultural financing alongside processing, logistics, market access and export infrastructure, with a focus on addressing region-specific constraints and increasing the share of value retained by farmers.