Targeted Region & Communities
Total Beneficiaries: 800 Smallholder Farmers
Empowering Dhemaji’s farmers with sustainable, climate-resilient agro-enterprise
The proposed project focuses on developing the value chain of Bau Dhan, an indigenous red rice variety traditionally grown in Dhemaji, one of Assam’s most flood-prone districts. Cultivated for generations by ST and marginal farmers, Bau Dhan is celebrated for its nutritional richness, including high iron, antioxidants, and fiber, and its cultural importance in local communities.
What sets Bau Dhan apart is its adaptability to waterlogged and low-input conditions, making it a climate-resilient crop especially suited to Dhemaji’s challenging agro-climatic conditions. It plays a crucial role in food security and seasonal income, particularly for smallholder farmers affected by recurring floods.
Despite these strengths, Bau Dhan remains largely absent from formal markets due to lack of organized processing, value addition, and branding. Most farmers sell unprocessed rice at low prices to local traders, receiving minimal returns for a high-potential product.
This project envisions establishing a sustainable agro-enterprise ecosystem around Bau Dhan through organized production, scientific processing, eco-friendly packaging, and national market linkage. A Farmer Producer Company (FPC) will lead this effort, ensuring local ownership and fair price realization. Infrastructure such as a Common Facility Centre (CFC) will support activities from aggregation to branding.
Establish a sustainable, export-ready agro-enterprise by organizing red rice production, enabling value addition, and creating market linkages through a locally managed Farmer Producer Company.
SFURTI, Under Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MoMSME), Government of India
Total Beneficiaries: 800 Smallholder Farmers
