Sustainable Agricultural Entrepreneurship in Assam: Trends, Challenges, and Research Gaps

Abstract

Sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship has emerged as a critical pathway for addressing agrarian distress, environmental degradation, and rural livelihood vulnerability in developing regions. Assam, characterised by ecological fragility, smallholder dominance, and limited industrial diversification, presents a unique context for examining sustainability-oriented agripreneurship. This paper undertakes an extensive literature review of published research to synthesise existing knowledge on sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship in Assam. Drawing on studies from agricultural economics, entrepreneurship, sustainability science, and rural development, the paper analyses dominant trends, structural and contextual challenges, and persistent research gaps. The review reveals that agripreneurship in Assam is predominantly necessity-driven and resilience-oriented, with sustainability functioning more as an adaptive strategy than as a source of competitive advantage. Institutional constraints, environmental risks, and limited innovation ecosystems continue to restrict agripreneurial transformation. The paper concludes by identifying critical theoretical, methodological, and policy-oriented research gaps and proposes directions for advancing sustainability-driven agripreneurship research in Assam and comparable peripheral agrarian regions.