Meghalaya today send off 20 metric tonne export consignment of the King of Oranges—the Khasi Mandarin to Dubai.
Oranges are among the most loved, and widely accepted, fruits in the world and the Khasi mandarin is the king of them. Called Soh Niamtra or Soh Myntra in Khasi (Komola or Humoptira in Assamese; Komla in Bengali) the Khasi mandarin is widely cultivated in Meghalaya, Assam and the other North Eastern States.
The golden orbs obtained the Geographical Identification (GI) tag in 2014.
The fruits were sourced from Farmer Producer Company in Jirang Ri Bhoi, Tomdaksan Multipurpose Co-operative Society Limited in East Garo Hills, Gangga IVCS, West Garo Hills, Nongsteng IVCS, South West Khasi Hills, Narwang MPCS, East Jaintia Hills, Nongkdait Nongtwah IVCS, East Khasi Hills, Durama MPCS, West Garo Hills and Rongmil IVCS, East Garo Hills.
A flag off ceremony was held at IATC, Upper Shillong which was attended by Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare minister Ampareen Lyngdoh, Mylliem MLA Ronnie V Lyngdoh and other dignitaries.
In her address, the minister emphasised the government’s unwavering commitment to supporting farmers and assured to foster agricultural prosperity and to strengthen international trade ties.
She said earlier the state would only send these oranges on trial at 1.5 MT to 2 MT. “Today, we are talking of 20 MT which will instill a sense of security with farmers, telling them that we will grow together, we will benefit together. They (farmers) are going to be dictating our economy,” Lyngdoh said.
The minister said the next biggest challenge that the government has is to handhold all our farmer groups to get back to natural farming practices. “The Organic Mission needs to be attended to. We have to reclaim our confidence in the farming communities. We will do what it takes to sensitize, educate, expose, and financially assist our farmers,” she said.
The event was also attended by representatives from Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Lulu Group International.
APEDA Deputy GM in charge NER Sunita Rai in her address said, “This is a stepping stone to success. I hope that in the days to come, from 20 MT, we can sustain to commercial shipment. We should be proud of some other local fruits which we aim to popularise.”
Senior GM of Lulu Group International, Ravi Kumar said, “Last year, we promoted hardly one ton of Khasi Mandarin from Meghalaya, this year we are going to export 20 tons of Khasi Mandarin. I am expecting at least we should add one more zero next year because zero does not have value but if we put in the right place, we can have a lot of value. Automatically, the dollars will come to Meghalaya state and the lifestyle of the farmers will increase.”
It may be mentioned that the maiden trial export to Doha and Bahrain in the UAE commenced last year.
