Meghalaya’s agriculture sector received a huge boost on Friday when Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the Northeast’s largest organic spice processing unit in Ri-Bhoi district.

She asserted that the future of agriculture belongs to those who produce “not merely more, but better, cleaner, safer, more traceable and more sustainable products”.

An official statement said the facility is the first certified organic spice processing unit in Northeast India and is certified under the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) and the EU Organic Standards, enabling direct access to premium domestic and international organic markets.

Developed with an investment of around ₹32 crore, the facility is designed to process more than 10,000 metric tonnes of high-value organic spices annually. Equipped with modern infrastructure including cold storage, dry storage, washing, drying and pulverising facilities, the unit will process crops such as ginger, turmeric, black pepper and chilli.

The plant is expected to directly benefit approximately 5,500 organic farmers across Meghalaya and the wider Northeast region.