Makhana in Assam fisheries: pilot in 30% of 186 AFDC beels

Assam plans to grow makhana, the fox nut that Indian kitchens use in snacks, kheer and fasting meals, in the wetland fisheries run by the state's own fisheries corporation. Minister Pijush Hazarika announced the plan at a meeting with fishery lessees in Guwahati on Friday, 6 November 2026. A pilot will cover 30% of the 186 fisheries managed by the Assam Fisheries Development Corporation (AFDC) Limited, and the agriculture department has set a target of bringing 30,000 hectares across the state under makhana cultivation, the minister said. He told lessees that makhana is already being grown in seven to eight beels, the natural wetlands of Assam, and that it would be extended to other suitable water bodies.

Makhana has a long place in Indian kitchens, and it is now also sold roasted and flavoured in packets as a snack. Reports around this Diwali described makhana and dry fruit replacing mithai as a default festive gift. Growing demand is one reason states beyond Bihar, home of the GI-tagged Mithila makhana, are trying the crop.

Assam has the natural setting for it. The state has a large number of beels, many of them leased out for fishing. The minister's pitch is that the same water can carry a second crop: fish below and makhana on the surface. Scientists have studied makhana in the wetland fisheries of Assam and the wider Northeast for some years, describing it as an opportunity for the region. What is new is a government plan to put it into the corporation's own fisheries on a fixed share and to set a state-wide area target.

For shoppers, this is a long-term supply story, not a price story. For the people who lease and work Assam's beels, the plan is about income. The minister's figure of up to Rs 25 lakh a year for a 25-bigha beel is a projection, and actual earnings will depend on yields, processing and prices, which the government has not set out.

Peepals calculation: A 30% pilot across 186 fisheries means about 56 AFDC fisheries (0.30 x 186 = 55.8). The minister's figure of Rs 25 lakh a year for a 25-bigha beel works out to about Rs 1 lakh per bigha a year (25,00,000 / 25). The national area under makhana has risen from about 13,000 hectares to about 35,000 hectares, according to the Union agriculture ministry; Assam's 30,000-hectare goal on its own would equal about 86% of that present national area (30,000 / 35,000). Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: Lessees of AFDC fisheries will be the first to be asked to take up makhana, and the minister's call to remove water hyacinth from beels is an immediate task for them. The pilot is at the planning stage; no start date for planting was given at the meeting.

Long-term: If the pilot works, Assam could become a significant new source of makhana, a crop whose national area has already grown sharply. That would need seed, training for lessees and local processing, details the government has not yet set out.

Who is affected: Fishery lessees and fish farmers in Assam, wetland communities, food processors and traders, and consumers who buy makhana as a snack or for festivals and fasts.

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