Shillong, August 12: Pineapples from Meghalaya are at display celebrating the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsa, at the Al-Wahda mall at Abu Dhabi. The pineapples are being marketed through the eminent Lulu Group into the prestigious Gulf markets.
An official statement said on Saturday that the journey of the pineapples from the fertile slopes of Garo Hills to the sandy shores of UAE has been a challenging and fruitful one. The remarkable feat of exporting the pineapples has been successfully accomplished by Jamge Integrated Village Cooperative Society (IVCS) from Songsak C&RD Block of East Garo Hills district, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, and Meghalaya Basin Management Agency (MBMA).
The Jamge IVCS has over 250 farming households from across 4 villages, producing almost 100 tonnes of pineapples throughout the pineapple growing seasons. The IVCS presents an example of how successful collectivisation can result in doubling farmer’s incomes. The farmers were previously receiving only a meagre Rs 10 per pineapple irrespective of the weight of the fruit. But, through collectivisation and market linkage with international buyers they received Rs 16 per kg. This is equivalent to receiving Rs 21 per fruit, with the average fruit size exported to LuLu group being 1.3 kg. Thus the price realisation for the farmers was more than double, through the intervention.
Over recent times, the pineapples from the state have been gaining more and more popularity. The Meghalayan pineapples have very low pesticide and heavy metal residue compared to pineapples from mainland India. Also, in regard to taste, they are less sour and significantly sweeter. The pineapples have a Brix value of 16-18, which indicates to the sweetness of the fruit. Meghalaya has pineapples as the One District One Product for the districts of Ri Bhoi and East Garo Hills.
According to the statement, the state also recognises the role that processing of perishable horticulture produce like pineapples can play in enhancing shelf-life and thus reaching wider markets. Efforts are also being directed towards further increasing the processing capacity and infrastructure in the state through the local farmer collectives. An example of this is the successful collaboration between Karnataka based IQF Private Food Limited and Ri Bhoi district based Umdihar IVCS, to set up a mobile processing unit for quick freezing of pineapples. This collaboration was facilitated by the Agriculture and Farmers welfare department of the state. Over the first 3 weeks of its operation, the processing unit has processed over 52 MT of pineapples.
The department has also facilitated a supply chain arrangement closer home with Reliance recently, whereby pineapples are being regularly supplied to Reliance Retail stores across Assam. This endeavour is being undertaken by Tomonpo Anglong Organic Producer Company Ltd, Umwang Pyllun IVCS Ltd and Jirang Organic Agro Producer Company Ltd. from Ri Bhoi. The farmer collectives are being trained by the department to aggregate, grade, sort and package pineapples for regular shipment. Thus far over 5.2 MT of pineapples from the farmer collectives have been supplied in 3 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’.
Similar to pineapple, such interventions have been undertaken for other crops like Lakadong turmeric, ginger, Khasi mandarin, honey, black pepper and others.
