Airlifting of fresh organic pineapples grown in different parts of Manipur has begun for this year with the first consignment of 1.2 mt to Gurgaon and Jaipur flagged off by additional chief secretary P Vaiphei from Bir Tikendrajit International Airport.
Krooshi Karma Naturals Private Ltd, Imphal in collaboration with Manipur Organic Mission Agency (MOMA) has set a target to export at least 250 metric ton (MT) of pineapples to Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Jaipur.
Apart from pineapples, the company has also been marketing Kiwi fruit and avocado outside the state since 2018.
It will benefit around 900 farmers. From 2018 to 2020, airlifting and marketing of pineapples outside the state had benefited more than Rs 78 lakh to organic farmers of the state. Last year, around 220 MT was exported.
The pineapple being marketed is mainly the Queen variety, cultivated in Thayong, Andro, Chiru-Waithou areas.
Fresh queen pineapples of the state have good demands in different markets of the country. It may also be highlighted that various firms have marketed more than 800 MT of fresh fruits and spices outside the state this year with institutional support from MOMA benefitting a large number of farmers of the state.
Speaking at the occasion, P Vaiphei said that for the farmers now, there is nothing to worry about the market. Under a market intervention scheme, he said, the State Government had created a corpus fund of Rs 3 crore to buy all the horticulture produce from farmers and store it in cold storages for supply to different markets.
Vaiphei said that it is a matter of satisfaction that with dedicated efforts from MOMA, Manipur had been able to export organic pineapples to different cities for the fourth consecutive year despite facing COVID-19 pandemic. The additional chief secretary also urged the farmers to contact MOMA to sell their produce. MOMA project director K Devdutta Sharma and Imphal Airport director Alok Nath were also present on the occasion.
