Tripura Govt announces ‘Pineapple and Jackfruit Mission’

 

Agartala: The Tripura government has announced to launch ‘Tripura Pineapple and Jackfruit Mission’ (TPJM) soon, to promote the production and value addition of the two horticulture crops that grow abundantly in the state. Initially, the TPJM project will be for five years starting from April 1, 2022, with a budgetary allocation of Rs 153 crore.

Of the total budgetary outlay, the state government will pump Rs 10 crore while the remaining fund will be arranged from various channels – North Eastern Council (NEC), DoNER, Tripura Rural Livelihood Mission (TRLM), Central Special Assistance and World Bank. This is for the first time, the state government has chalked out a holistic approach for promoting pineapple and jackfruit after Tripura Bamboo Mission (TBM). The Industries and Commerce department has been made the nodal department to implement the TPJM but there will be a project monitoring committee headed by the Chief Secretary.

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The state government informed that it aims to increase the production of both pineapple and jackfruit in a big way. The state has already started the exporting of pineapple and jackfruit to European countries like UK and Germany, apart from neighbouring Bangladesh. As of now, 8,800 acres of land are covered with pineapple cultivation and 8,929 hectares are used for jackfruit cultivation. The government wants to increase the production of both the crops and value addition to the crops. Side by side, we have to build cold storage and marketing linkage to ensure better return , Industries and Commerce Secretary PK Goyal said on Wednesday.

‘Right now, we don’t know the export demand of the two horticulture crops. Once the mission is launched, there will be deliberations on the issue and accordingly the target will be fixed. We want value addition from collection to packaging and marketing linkage’, Goyal said. He further said the state Cabinet in its last meeting held Tuesday has cleared the proposal for TPJM that will be officially launched on April 1. If the mission appears successful, its tenure could be extended for the greater interest of the state , he added.