After pineapple and lemon, now jackfruit grown in Tripura is flying abroad. This is for the first time that Tripura would be exporting jackfruits of its soil to the United Kingdom (UK).
The first consignment of around 350 jackfruits has already been shipped on trial run from Agartala on Thursday for exporting to the United Kingdom.
Tripura Agriculture Minister Pranajit Singha Roy first posted the update on his official Twitter handle.
“England to get taste of Tripura’s sweet jackfruits. First time Tripura is exporting jackfruit that has huge potential. First consignment already shipped. After state’s queen pineapples now jackfruits also in export list. Kudos to our Farmers, Agriculture & Horticulture Dept,” the Agriculture Minister tweeted.
According to official sources, a Guwahati-based export company has priced Rs. 30 per piece jackfruit.
The initiative came based on a proposal received from the Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) to export the jackfruit of Tripura to the United Kingdom.
Krishi Sanyoga Agri Producer Company Limited of Melaghar in Sepahijala district has sent the jackfruit consignment through Kiega Exims Private Limited of Guwahati. The process is facilitated by Basix Krishi Samruddhi Limited.
“The consignment of 350 jackfruits has been sent to Guwahati on a trial run in a train on Thursday, which will then be exported to the United Kingdom via Delhi on Friday,” said Director of Horticulture Phani Bhusan Jamatia.
The Director said, the consignment on trial would be flagged off officially by the APEDA under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce from New Delhi in virtual format. Horticulture Secretary C.K. Jamatia would represent Tripura in the virtual programme.
He also said the jackfruits produced in Tripura have a special taste which attracted the company for this procurement drive and send them to UK.
“If the trial run becomes successful, the Guwahati-based exporter is expected to purchase 5 ton of jackfruits from Tripura every week,” he said.
Meanwhile, earlier the state had exported pineapple to Dubai and also scented lemon abroad. According to the Director, the state has recently written letters to 17 exporters from across the country for export of pineapple and some of them had already given positive replies.
