Hundreds of tonnes of cabbage rotting in the fields of Phek district have raised a larger question over Nagaland’s push towards commercial agriculture: can the state’s farm growth keep pace with the need for cold storage, transportation and market infrastructure?
The vegetable crisis in Razeba Range, reported by Hub News, The Morung Express and Eastern Mirror, has left farmers watching their produce perish after failing to find buyers. Growers have cited the absence of accessible cold storage facilities, procurement mechanisms, reliable transport and market linkages as major challenges.
A review by Mokokchung Times of official records shows that the need for post-harvest infrastructure has been recognised through various government interventions, with cold-chain projects approved under different schemes. However, the recent crisis highlights the continuing challenge of ensuring that such infrastructure reaches production areas and effectively connects farmers with markets.
In a Rajya Sabha reply in December 2023, the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare stated that Nagaland had received Rs 15.41 crore in financial assistance during the previous five years for two cold storage projects aimed at supporting perishable horticultural produce.
Subsequently, under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY) of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, three Integrated Cold Chain projects were approved in Nagaland – Nagaland Integrated Cold Chain, TJ Foods, and Mountain Fruits and Vegetables. The project list updated on March 11, 2025, showed these projects aimed at developing cold-chain infrastructure, including facilities for preservation and value addition of agricultural and horticultural produce.
By June 2025, official records indicated that one of the approved Integrated Cold Chain projects had been completed, while the remaining projects were under implementation.
The latest parliamentary data reviewed by MT, from a Rajya Sabha reply dated December 12, 2025, provided state-wise details of cold storage, frozen storage and controlled atmosphere/modified atmosphere (CA/MA) facilities. The reply listed four such facilities in Nagaland with a combined capacity of 1,000 metric tonnes.
The records also listed approved cold-chain projects under different government initiatives. However, the data represents different categories of infrastructure under separate schemes and does not constitute a single consolidated inventory of all cold storage capacity available in the state.
The relevance of the data has come into focus following losses reported by farmers in Razeba Range of Phek district, including Zhavame, Tsupfume, Zelome and Razeba villages — some of Nagaland’s major vegetable-producing areas.
Farmers said the crisis was not caused by poor production but by the inability to move produce to markets.
“This is not crop failure. It is market failure,” farmers said.
The VDB secretary of Zhavame village told Hub News that cabbage was being sold at around Rs 150 to Rs 200 per bag, with each bag containing around 40 to 50 kg of produce which does not make up the labor cost or the cost of procuring seeds.
“If there is any government or agency, we seek cold storage,” the village representative said, adding that the village previously supplied cabbage to Dimapur and Manipur but was now struggling due to the absence of buyers.
“We have tried searching for markets in different district headquarters but no luck so far,” farmers said, seeking immediate intervention, transport support and safeguards for growers.
Farmers also pointed to rising transportation costs and disruption of traditional markets as major challenges. According to The Morung Express, a pickup truck carrying cabbage, which earlier cost around Rs 12,000 per trip, now costs around Rs 26,000 to Rs 30,000, while the quantity transported has also reduced due to logistical difficulties.
A significant portion of Zhavame’s produce had earlier moved towards Manipur markets, but changes in transportation routes and higher costs have affected the supply chain.
The crisis comes amid Nagaland’s wider push towards technology-based agriculture. The state recently launched the Unified Digital Agriculture Ecosystem, an AI-powered platform aimed at providing farmers with market intelligence, weather information, field monitoring and digital advisories.
While the platform is expected to improve farm planning and decision-making, the recent vegetable crisis highlights that digital interventions must be complemented by physical infrastructure such as storage facilities, collection centres, affordable transportation and assured market linkages.
The challenge for Nagaland’s agricultural sector is therefore not only increasing production but ensuring that farmers can preserve, transport and sell what they produce.
For growers, the immediate question remains simple: producing more is meaningless if harvested crops cannot reach consumers before they perish.