Shillong: Meghalaya’s diverse agro-climatic conditions and traditional farming practices result in a variety of naturally organic agricultural and horticultural products. These unique and flavorful produce, such as Lakadong turmeric, GI-tagged Khasi mandarin, and Kew pineapples, are gaining popularity around the world.
Pineapples from the state have become increasingly popular in recent years. This is due to their low pesticide and heavy metal residue, as well as their sweet taste. Meghalayan pineapples have a Brix value of 16-18, which is a measure of sweetness. The state of Meghalaya has designated pineapples as the One District One Product (ODOP) for the districts of Ri Bhoi and East Garo Hills.
The sweetest pineapples from Meghalaya are the centrepiece of the elaborate display celebrating the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, at the Al-Wahda mall at Abu Dhabi, Commissioner & Secretary of the Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department said with pride.
These pineapples are being marketed through the eminent Lulu Group into the prestigious Gulf markets.
The journey of these pineapples from the fertile slopes of Garo Hills to the sandy shores of UAE has been a challenging and fruitful one. This remarkable feat of exporting the pineapples was accomplished by Jamge Integrated Village Cooperative Society (IVCS) from Songsak C&RD Block of East Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, and Meghalaya Basin Management Agency (MBMA).
The Jamge IVCS has over 250 farming householdsfrom across 4 villages, producing almost100 tonnes of pineapples throughout the pineapple growing seasons. Farmers who were previously receiving only a meagre INR 10 per pineapple irrespective of the weight of the fruit, began to receive Rs 16 per kg through collectivisation and market linkage with international buyers.
This is equivalent to receiving Rs 21 per fruit, with the average fruit size exported to LuLu group being 1.3 Kgs. The price realisation for the farmers was more than double, through this intervention.
The Government of Meghalaya recognized the role that processing of perishable horticulture produce (like pineapples) can play in enhancing shelf-life and reach wider markets. Efforts are also directed towards increasing the processing capacity and infrastructure in the state through the local farmer collectives.
The Department also facilitated a supply chain arrangement closer home with Reliance recently, whereby pineapples were regularly supplied to Reliance Retailstores across Assam. This endeavour is undertaken by TomonpoAnglong Organic Producer Company Ltd, UmwangPyllun IVCS Ltd and Jirang Organic Agro Producer Company Ltd from Ri Bhoi.
The farmer collectives are trained by the department to aggregate, grade, sort and package pineapples for regular shipment. Over 5.2 MT of pineapples from these farmer collectives have been supplied in three weeks to Reliance stores across Assam. Similar marketing activity has also been taken up by Ringgi Demdema Organic Farmer Producer Company from West Garo Hills for a shipment of 12 MT to Varanasi though ‘DeHaat Seeds to Market’.
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Similar to pineapple, such interventions have been undertaken for other crops like Lakadong turmeric, ginger, Khasi mandarin, honey, black pepper and so on. Over the past three years, the government’s efforts were to drive community-led change in the agriculture sector. This is being achieved by mobilising farmers to form farmer collectives and then investing in strengthening these farmer collectives.
To strengthen these collectives, the government has ensured availability of good quality planting material, provides training on good agriculture practices, builds infrastructure for value addition and post-harvest management, and facilitates market linkages.
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