The North Eastern (NE) India is renowned for its preference for animal-based food. This region is known for its traditional meat products. However, the popularity of these products remains confined to the specific community/location. The knowledge on the traditional preparation methods is generally passed across generations through practice and word of mouth. The traditional style of preparation and the specific ingredients added to each product makes them unique. In this review, an attempt has been made to identify the initiatives, opportunities, and market potential for commercialization of the traditional meat products. These unique features and properties of the traditional meat products have been highlighted. The commercialization of these products will enhance entrepreneurship development and ensure quality ethnic products to the consumer in the NE hill region of India.

The Northeast region (NER) of India comprises of 8 sister states namely Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Manipur. The region has an agrarian economy composing of rich agricultural resources which needs strategic exploration for inclusive growth of the region. This can be achieved through the realization of the immense scope and potential for agribusiness in the region. The study aims to explore the agribusiness scenario in the region and to throw light on the constraints in the sector prevailing in the region. Several agribusiness ventures have also been discussed which have potential in the region’s unique business ecosystem. Finally several strategies were provided which may have policy implications on future entrepreneurial development strategies in the region. The descriptive policy paper was formulated based on data collected and experienced gained from over four years (2016-2020) of entrepreneurial development activities by the Agri Business Incubation Centre under Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Research Centre for North Eastern Hill region (ICAR RC for NEH) and its 5 regional centers across the NER. Further, references from other researchers have been included to substantiate the topics discussed here and improve validity of the observations. Agribusiness sector in the region may be promoted through intensified entrepreneurial initiatives by adequately exploiting the resource potential, particularly in agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and fishery sector. This creation of market driven products to suffice the demands of growing middle-class consumers will lead to improve rural employment generation, augment farm income and raise revenue through intensified participation in export trade. However several infrastructural, technical and policy improvement have to be made in order to unlock the potential of these ventures. Only planned structural and strategic changes which include increased exports, impactful research and development, institutional support, etc., can be catalytic for entrepreneurial development in the region.

Dehydration is the key to food preservation reducing volume and increasing shelf life. Dehydration technology has witnessed renaissance with the development of advanced technology such as microwave drying, freeze drying, fluidized bed drying, and refractance window drying. Combination of drying methods has increased the versatility of dehydration process of which field-based drying methods have always been hyped and microwave drying being the most adorned of all, considering its ease of fabrication and drying efficiency. Synergizing it with methods such as hot air drying, freeze drying, fluidized bed drying, or vacuum drying enhances its performance and the quality of the dried product. The merits and functionality of each method in hybrid drying with microwave have been discussed in the chapter.