Northeast India

More than 50,000 reusable cloth bags have been produced in support of removing single use plastic bags and moving households and shops to reusable ones. 10,000 of them were supported by the Government of Meghalaya under the Chief Minister’s Plastic Challenge, sponsored by Max Cement and Star Cement.

SLRD led the project to set up a plastic waste recycling unit in South West Garo Hills in 2019. The unit is operated by a village committee. A recycling unit handles the plastic already in circulation. A cloth bag stops the next one entering.

• 50,000 and more bags produced
• 10,000 bags under the Chief Minister’s Plastic Challenge
• One recycling unit, operating since 2019

Farmer training and organic input supply under the state organic mission, the largest single training programme delivered anywhere in the portfolio.

• 10,000 people trained
• Farmer training, organic input supply and produce value chain support

A 36 month programme in Ri Bhoi with the UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme and TERI, working with Farmer Producer Organisations and rural communities to build a climate resilient agricultural value chain.

The work runs across climate resilient agriculture, crop diversification, FPO capacity building, nursery development, food processing, post harvest management, certification and advisory support, market and digital connectivity, water management and renewable energy integration.

• 1,200 farmers trained
• A turmeric processing plant commissioned, serving 1,800 farmers
• A 12 kW solar cold storage, solar water pumps and off-grid systems
• 300 trainees in the 2025 fisheries development programme
• Reviewed on site by a TERI and UNDP delegation, July 2026

Solar cold storage, solar water pumps and off-grid systems are in place across the Ri Bhoi cooperatives under the UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme. In June 2026 a solar installation at Madanheh village, Marngar, moved a farmer enterprise from traditional cultivation to solar powered processing, co-funded with SELCO Foundation.

Cold storage takes post harvest loss out of the fruit and vegetable chain at the point where the loss occurs, which is why the energy component sits inside the value chain programme rather than alongside.

A farmer owned cluster built around the Western Ri-Bhoi Farmers Producer Cooperative Society at Patharkhmah, registered in 2020 with 525 members.

• Dehydration unit rated at 1,000 kg of fresh produce a day, giving around 150 kg of dried product
• Products covering pineapple, amla, bay leaf, lemongrass and medicinal and aromatic herbs, with an agreed buyback
• A one acre agroforestry nursery for around 150,000 seedlings a year, serving 1,500 to 1,800 farmers
• Planting material covering timber species, fruit plants, bamboo, aromatic plants and areca

No photograph Neither the nursery beds nor the dehydration unit has been photographed. The entry publishes without an image rather than borrowing one.

A hub and spoke model for the fish farmers of Jirang Block, developed with the Global Association of MSMEs and Living Roots Network, and prepared to the format of the Department of Fisheries, Government of Meghalaya.

The design argument is road hours to Guwahati rather than water area, so the investment goes into seed and live fish logistics rather than a small processing plant.

• 993 fish farmers
• 135 hectares of ponds
• Fingerling bank, solar supported feed mill, live fish holding and purging, live haul, cold chain and market connect

In June 2026 the Global Association of MSMEs signed an agreement with Meghalaya Rural Bank to help self help groups, artisans and agricultural processors become bankable enterprises. Training alone does not move a producer into business. A bank willing to lend against a producer institution does.

SLRD leads a consortium applying for empanelment as a skilling partner with the Meghalaya State Skill Development Society, with self-employment as the declared outcome for every course.

Six steps between May and August 2026, each recorded in Action Updates.

• May 2026. General body meeting with the Board of Directors and farmers of Jirjar FPC at Donkamokam, followed by village profile surveys.
• May 2026. Board meeting at Dhanshreeghat and farmer sensitisation at Majbhat with the Thalua Cooperative Society, built as open discussion rather than briefing.
• May 2026. Meeting with the Agriculture Production Commissioner, Government of Assam, on an integrated agroforestry and rural livelihood initiative covering five integrated units.
• June 2026. Technical site verification at Majbhat, assessing soil, available agricultural area and siting of plantations and processing units.
• August 2026. Introductory meeting with the Deputy Commissioner, Dima Hasao, at Haflong.
• August 2026. Board meeting at Mahur and signature of a twenty year agreement between Jatinga Valley FPC and SLRD.

Each cluster processes plantation and residue biomass into biochar, converts biochar into soil inputs, and distils aromatic grasses into essential oil. Each is planned with 250 acres of aromatic cultivation and 500 acres of bamboo around the site, plus a block of degraded land taken up for restoration.

SLRD and its technical partners hold long term agreements with the partner institutions covering implementation, operations support, statutory compliance, technical support and market connect, with performance monitored on a digital platform.

• Jirjar FPC, West Karbi Anglong. DPR completed, financing under way
• Jatinga Valley FPC, Dima Hasao. 1,000 households directly and around 5,000 indirectly
• Thalua Cooperative Society, Udalguri. Baseline data, cooperative integration, land selection and feedstock assessment completed in FY 2025 to 26

Lemongrass and Java citronella grow at all three Assam sites and at Mokokchung in Nagaland. Variety selection follows regional research rather than general recommendation. The lemongrass variety is Jor Lab L-8, developed by CSIR-NEIST for North East conditions. The citronella variety is Bio 13, with Jorhat C2 and Java C5 as alternates. Variety and agronomy work continues with CSIR-CIMAP.

Cultivation is organic. No chemical fertiliser, weedicide or synthetic input is used. Farmyard manure and vermicompost carry the nutrition, and biochar based biofertiliser from the unit returns to the same fields. Farmers are paid a procurement price per kilogram of harvested herbage, and the unit produces the oil.

Bamboo plantation covers 500 acres at each of four locations. Land targeted is empty patches around villages, spare farm land, community hill areas and degraded slopes.

• 750 acres of aromatic cultivation planned across the three Assam sites
• 2,000 acres of bamboo across four locations
• Site elevations from 85 metres at Udalguri to 650 metres in Dima Hasao, so agronomy is set separately for each site

A two district programme under NEER, the North East fisheries programme led by the Global Association of MSMEs with SLRD and Living Roots Network. Kamrup Rural is the market district and Goalpara the resource district.

Existing fish feed units are audited and brought back into production rather than replaced with new construction. Fingerling supply, ice and live fish transport are the first fix, because irregular supply and heat loss cost the farmer more than yield does.

• 2,100 farmers targeted
• 1,000 hectares of ponds and 287 hectares of beels
• 6 FFPOs
• Pond productivity moving from a 1.68 tonne per hectare baseline towards 2.45 tonnes in year one
• Two entrepreneur owned retail outlets with a daily board showing pond of origin and harvest date

No photograph No photograph from either district. The entry publishes without an image rather than using a fisheries stock photograph.

An agreement with the Assam Science Technology and Environment Council on climate resilience and innovation, March 2025. The North East Sustainable Business and Entrepreneurship Conclave at Guwahati with the Pollution Control Board, Assam, June 2024. The Farm Tiger range of biopesticides and biofertilisers, developed for North East conditions with Assam Agricultural University Jorhat and ICAR-NEH, launched by the Union Minister of Agriculture.