Tripura plans to revive pineapple processing unit

Tripura’s Agriculture & Farmer Welfare Minister Ratan Lal Nath on Saturday said the government is contemplating reviving a dormant pineapple juice factory in North Tripura’s Nalkata based on a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
The minister announced this while addressing a pineapple festival at Kumarghat in Unakoti district.
The North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd (NERAMAC), a central government enterprise, used to operate the food-processing unit till the nineties.
Pineapples, especially the Kew variety, are mostly grown in three districts of the northeastern state – North, Unakoti and Dhalai.
“If the project is implemented, the pineapple growers will benefit greatly. The present government wants to increase the income of farmers to boost the state’s economy,” he said.
In the northeastern state, pineapples are grown in 74,000 kani. In Tripura, one kani is a traditional land measurement unit, roughly equivalent to 20,000 square feet. The queen variety, which has already got the GI tag, is cultivated in 22,000 ‘kani’ of land, while the Kew variety is grown in the remaining portion.
Nath said DoNER Minister Jyotirditya Scindia has pushed a Rs. 132 crore project to promote the queen variety of pineapple globally because of its taste and food value.
“Out of nine species of pineapples grown in the country, queen pineapple is the best in terms of food value and taste. Pineapple has already been declared as the state fruit,” he said.
Nath said the northeastern state has exported a total of 73.15 MT of pineapples to countries such as Dubai, Qatar and Oman during the last seven years.
The minister added that the government is also planning to provide additional financial support to the farmers who practice organic farming.
“We are mulling over supporting the farmers who are practising organic and natural farming like PM Kishan Yojana,” he said.
Under the PM-Kisan scheme, each registered farmer receives Rs 6,000 in a year in three instalments.