Post Harvest Management and Value Addition of Horticultural Crops in North Eastern India:Issues and Strategies

The North Eastern Hill region offers scope for cultivation of a wide variety of horticultural crops such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, tuber crops, spices and plantation crops because of its diversities in topography, altitude and climatic conditions. The fruits grown in this region range from tropical and sub-tropical fruits like banana, papaya, pineapple, jack fruit and citrus to temperate fruits like apple, pear, peach, plum, strawberry and even certain nut fruits. The region has rich diversity of different vegetable crops and both indigenous tropical vegetables and temperate vegetables are grown to a considerable extent. Among the flowering plants special mention may be made about the orchids, where about 600 species are reported to occur in the region alone. The other commercial flowers of the region are marigold, tuberose, gladiolus, gerbera and chrysanthemum. Recently rose, gerbera, anthurium and liliums etc. are introduced in the region. Tuber and rhizomatous crops like tapioca (cassava), sweet potato, Dioscorea, colocasia, ginger and turmeric grow abundantly in the region, while plantation crops like tea, coconut, arecanut, cashewnut have considerable impact on the economy of the tropical and sub-tropical parts. The region is the big reservoir of medicinal and aromatic plants. Besides, many other indigenous fruits and vegetables like prunus berry, tree bean, tree tomato, edible bamboo etc. are found in the hilly terrains that can be explored for processing and value addition.