Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that around 150 metric tonnes of organic pineapples were airlifted to Delhi and other cities last year. He said this was achieved even as organic Manipur pineapple is being consigned to marketing platforms such as Big Basket and NE Agro Products for sale in major cities of the country.
Stating that horticulture is a key sector to the economic prosperity of the state, the chief minister stressed the need to focus on some specific items like pineapple, lemon, orange, ginger and Yongchak (tree bean) among others, which are suitable for growing in the state.
He said organic produce of Manipur has been exported to different countries and that organic U-morok (King chilli) had reached Australia, Canada and the US.
He informed that since 2015-16, Manipur Organic Mission Agency (MOMA) had been able to register 12,500 organic farmers covering 12,500 hectares in the state. Under this mission, he said, 10 Farmer Producer Companies (FPC) had been formed, and an additional five more FPCs are in the process of forming.