Arunachal Pradesh sits on some of the most fertile and ecologically diverse land in the country — and yet, for too long, that potential has remained largely untapped. Agriculture Minister Gabriel D Wangsu wants that to change, and he’s not wasting time talking about it.
At a high-level consultative meeting held in Naharlagun on Monday, Wangsu made a pointed case for deeper, more purposeful collaboration between the state government, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and allied institutions. His message was clear — research sitting in lab reports and conference papers is useless unless it reaches the farmer standing in a field in Upper Siang or Longding.
“Scientific innovation, sustainable and climate-resilient practices and stronger value chains are important,” Wangsu said, “along with focused and coordinated interventions responsive to the state’s diverse agro-climatic conditions.” He wasn’t just listing priorities. He was outlining a problem that anyone who has spoken to Arunachal’s farming communities already knows exists — the disconnect between what scientists discover and what farmers actually get to use.
The meeting was organised by the ICAR Research Complex for North Eastern Hill Region (ICAR-NEH), based in Umiam, Meghalaya, in partnership with Arunachal’s Agriculture and Allied Departments. The goal on the table was ambitious: a comprehensive, outcome-driven action plan to accelerate the growth of agriculture and allied sectors across the state.
One crop got particular attention — kiwi. Arunachal has been quietly building a reputation around it, and the consultation zeroed in on strengthening kiwi as a signature USP crop through better research, improved varieties, post-harvest handling, value addition and, critically, stronger market linkages. Getting the fruit from the farm to a market that pays fairly remains one of the biggest gaps, and everyone in that room knew it.
Another significant proposal discussed was the mentorship of the State Horticulture Research and Development Institute (SHRDI) by ICAR-NEH. This isn’t just about technical guidance — it’s about building the institutional muscle that Arunachal needs to sustain agricultural growth long after any single meeting or policy push. Capacity building, joint research, knowledge exchange — these are the unglamorous building blocks that actually make change stick.
The consultation also turned toward natural farming. Scientific validation and certification of natural farming practices came up as a priority, with a push for proper on-farm validation and a certification framework suited to Arunachal’s varied agro-climatic zones. Given the state’s relatively lower dependence on chemical agriculture compared to the plains, there’s a real opportunity here — if the framework is designed thoughtfully.
What emerged from the deliberations is a proposed three-year action plan — time-bound, with clear responsibilities and a monitoring mechanism. It’s the kind of structured approach that, if actually implemented rather than filed away, could meaningfully shift how farming communities in the state access technology, markets and support.
Wangsu’s consistent drumbeat on this issue — he has now made multiple trips and engagements with ICAR this year alone — signals genuine intent. The question Arunachal’s farmers are rightly asking, though, is whether that intent will survive the long journey from the meeting room to their doorstep. The land is ready. The science exists. Now it’s time for the bridge between the two to actually be built.
