Tripura state has already exported pineapples, lemons and jackfruits to West Asia, Germany, Europe and South East Asia countries such as Bangladesh, but Chief Minister Manik Saha has said his government is now aiming at doubling farmer income through value addition and boosting exports.
Manik Saha inaugurated the second Horticulture Integrated Pack House in the northeastern region at Agartala Tuesday. The pack house, which is expected to boost the exports, involves technological inputs to wash, treat, dry, sort, grade, pack horticulture products and seal them in cartons before shifting them to a loading area.
Tripura grows an estimated 128,000 tons of pineapples every year. Nagicherra Horticulture Research Complex in-charge, Dr Rajib Ghosh, said that the processing and packaging of citrus fruits, jackfruits and pineapples were earlier done in traditional methods manually. With the introduction of the mechanized processing and packing chain, things would be faster and more efficient, he said.
The integrated pack house launched at Agartala was set up at a cost of Rs 27.3 mln (€327,000), against the budget requirement of Rs 50 mln (€600,000) or more, since an existing infrastructure was repurposed and upgraded to cut costs.
Source: indianexpress.com