Shillong, August 12: Meghalaya has a diverse range of agro-climatic conditions which results in a variety of agricultural and horticultural products. Being grown by local communities in traditional manner, these crops are mostly naturally organic.
These factors attribute towards the produce from the state slowly being recognised for their unique quality and taste. Produce like the Lakadong turmeric, GI-tagged Khasi mandarin, Kew pineapples are gaining more and more popularity.
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. The State of Meghalaya has pineapples as the One District One Product for the districts of Ri Bhoi and East Garo Hills.
In a matter of great pride for the State, 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. 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 has been successfully 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 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 INR 10 per pineapple irrespective of the weight of the fruit. But, through collectivisation and market linkage with international buyers they received INR 16 per kg.
This is equivalent to receiving INR 21 per fruit, with the average fruit size exported to LuLu group being 1.3 Kgs. Thus the price realisation for the farmers was more than double, through this intervention.
The Government of Meghalaya also recognizes 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 have 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 these 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 etc. Over the past 3 years, the government’s efforts have been 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 ensures 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.
