File Photo
In view of the growing demand of the fruits, Tripura will now have a Pineapple and Jackfruit Mission for next five years.
The cabinet in its sitting on Tuesday approved a proposal for setting up the Pineapple and Jackfruit Mission at a cost of Rs. 153 crore, said ICA minister Sushanta Chowdhury.
Speaking to the media at the civil secretariat, Chowdhury said, “the tenure of the proposed mission under the Industries and Commerce department will start from April 1, 2022 and end in April 2027. The tenure may be extended further based on the success rate.”
Expressing hope, he said the project would increase the demand and production of jackfruit and pineapple in the state and it would play an important role in export of such fruits to foreign countries.
Earlier, in a tweet, Tripura Chief Secretary Kumar Alok mentioned that the new initiative would mainly focus on processing and marketing of Pineapple and Jackfruit and it would largely benefit the jackfruit and pineapple growers of the state.
“State Cabinet has decided to set up a Pineapple and Jackfruit Mission primarily to focus upon processing and marketing of these fruits. Pineapple and jackfruit growers will be immensely benefitted,” the Chief Secretary tweeted.
According to Agriculture minister Pranajit Singha Roy, out of the total project cost of Rs 153 crore, Rs 10 crore would be given from the state budget while the remaining Rs 143 crore under convergence mode shall be managed from various central government schemes or loan from World Bank, NEC DoNER, TRLM or the Horticulture Department.
Meanwhile, Tripura has already exported several consignments of jackfruit and pineapple to Dubai, United Kingdom and Germany.
Even the initiative of Tripura for exporting the fruits was appreciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Maan Ki Baat programme. Earlier, the Tripura government announced queen pineapple as state fruit.
