1 MT organic pineapple flown to Delhi from Imphal
Source: The Sangai Express / UNI
Imphal, July 29 2018:
State and the Horticulture & Soil Conservation Department today achieved a major milestone as 1 MT of organic pineapples grown in Manipur was airlifted to Delhi from the Imphal International Airport.
This is the first ever airlift of locally grown organic pineapples from the State.
Horticulture & Soil Conservation Department had tied up with NE Agro Products, a Gurgaon based company for selling fresh organic and chemical free pineapples (850 grams to 1.5 kilograms) of 'queen' and 'kew' varieties.
The pineapples are produced by the Organic Pineapple Growers of Thayong, Andro, Waithou Chiru, where queen variety is cultivated and Bunglon and Khousabung where kew variety is cultivated under the Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCD-NER) implemented by the Mission Organic Mission Agency (MOMA) in the State.
At present, 600 organic growers/farmers are cultivating organic pineapples covering 600 hectares of land under phase-1 of the scheme and another 1,000 growers/farmers are being promoted at 1,000 hectares of land under the phase-II of the mission.
The seasonal fruit is available in the State from the month of July to October.
Addressing the media persons at his New Secretariat office, Horticulture and Soil Conservation Minister Thounaojam Shyamkumar described the first ever airlifting of the consignment of organic pineapples to Delhi as a new dawn for the department and for the organic farmers of the State.
Encouraging the organic farmers of the State, he asked them to work harder and cultivate more pineapples as the Government is committed to providing a suitable market for the pineapples.
Shyamkumar opined that with the initiative, people outside the State can savour the unique characteristics and special refreshing taste of the varieties of pineapples grown in the State.
The move will benefit the farmers as well the State and many more such initiatives will be taken dp in the future to benefit all the stakeholders, he said.
The Minister further lauded the officials of his department as well as the officials of MOMA for their hard work and determination.
Advising them to continue with their effort, he said it is definitely a proud moment for all those involved in the task.
He opined that the pineapples of the State will surely leave a mark among the people from outside the State for its unique taste and flavour which will further increase the demand.
K Debadutta Sarma, Project Director, MOMA said it is indeed a major achievement for the Horticulture and Soil Conservation Department, and thanked the Minister for his continued support.
He also credited the Horticulture and Soil Conservation Director K Kipgen, for his direction and supervision.
Debadutta Sarma said, till now the State has been unable to fulfill the demands from outside the State due to lack of post harvest infrastructure, logistic arrangements and facilities, cold chain infrastructure in the State.
The pineapple farmers have been facing uncertain market and heavy post-harvest losses of around 30-40 per cent due to market glut and stagnation.
He further said the NE Agro Products have agreed to airlift 1 MT of pineapples everyday or every alternative day till the produces are available with the farmers.
He said NE Agro Products, Krushi Karma Naturals Pvt.
Ltd and MOMA have collaborated for airlifting the pineapples.
The department believes that the organic produces of the farmers will be able to attract more and more National and international buyers and build a committed market linkage in the future, he added.
Debadutta Sarma said Mission Organic will be implementing Value Chain Processing Plants for exports oriented organic horticulture produces in the State in the coming years.
Meanwhile, the pineapple growers in the State will surely be benefitted with an assured market for their produces till the processing plants come up under the Mission, he added.
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