The rice-based agriculture is a key source of livelihood for about 40 million people in North-East Region (NER). But crop yields are very low much below the national average.. This paper examines the the importance of rice-based food system and its growth performance, bring out constraints and suggest a roadmap to improve livelihoods of about 40 million people of NER. Series of secondary data on rice and other food products for the past fifteen years for each state of NER were collected from published and unpublished reports, and same were analysed using regression for estimation of compound growth rates. There has been considerable increase in food grain production from about 6 to 8.1 million tonnes over the past fifteen years due to special efforts by However Union Government after 2004 to improve livelihoods of rural households in NER. But the NER continues to be in food deficit by about half million tonnes per year. Low crop yields, despite high rainfall and fertile soils, is the primary reason for food insecurity in the region. Further, lack of adequate value addition and market access, high levels of illiteracy, poor infrastructure, etc. are some more reasons why low-income levels persist in the region, and thereby food and nutritional insecurity. Without improving productivity and income from rice-based agri-food systems, improved household food and nutritional security cannot be achieved in NER. Major constraints to increasing farm productivity and, thereby, incomes of rice-farming households include: lack of a wide range of varietal choice suitable for diverse production environments for rice and pulses/vegetables, very low seed replacement rate (ca. 12%), poor water management and poor drainage systems, low fertilizer use (less than 20 kg /ha), unwillingness to take up rice in the second season due to perceived losses from animal grazing, absence of electricity in many rural areas of NER for pumping groundwater in the dry season, lack of marketing systems to purchase any marketable surplus at affordable price, absence of post-harvest loss management, lack of farmer-acceptable farm machinery, and increase wage rates of farm laborers. Based on critical analysis of growth performance, and potential opportnities and challenges, a 3-pronged strategy is suggested in the paper for improving productivity and nutritional quality of rice-based agri-food systems in the NER.

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