Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) organized an in-store export promotion programme in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) for Manipur’s organic pineapples among consumers on Saturday. This followed as a step to elevate the export potential of organic certified fresh pineapples of North east India.
The in-store export promotion programme of organic certified fibre rich Kwe variety of Manipur pineapples,was organized at Dubai’s largest supermarket , the Lulu hyper market in association with Manipur Organic Mission Agency (MOMA) of Manipur Government. This was a part of APEDA’s initiative to boost and promote locally produced organic agricultural products to the international markets.
During the occasion APEDA chairman,Dr. M. Angamuthu , emphasized on promotion of processed form of value-added pineapple to sustain in the global export market for a longer time period.
The displayed pineapple is fibre-rich sweetener from NER are procured from Thayong Organic Producer Company Ltd in Imphal East district, Manipur. Consumers were offered Manipur pineapple to taste the sweetness of the fruit during the in-store export promotion show.
Manipur Organic Mission Agency (MOMA) has supported the sourcing of organic certified Kwe variety of pineapples directly from the farmers of Manipur.
With a production of 134.82 metric tonne (MT) in 2020-21, Manipur ranks sixth in pineapple production having a share of 7.46 per cent in total production in India. UAE, Nepal, Qatar, Maldives, USA, Bhutan, Belgium, Iran, Bahrain and Oman are the top ten importing countries of Indian pineapples. In the year 2021-22, a total of 7665.42 MT of pineapples valued at USD 4.45 million was exported.
After APEDA stepping in ,there has been a remarkable increase in the export of agricultural produce in the last few years from Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Meghalaya. Apart from pineapple, the APEDA now has decided to promote other locally grown unique horticultural products like tamenglong orange, kachai lemon, black rice etc., from Manipur to the international market.
