SHILLONG:
Agricultural Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh has assured to handhold the jackfruit farmer-producer groups and look forward to seeing the continuation of Jackfruit Mission 2.0.
She told reporters after attending the one-day event titled ‘Jack Start 2023’ organised by Directorate of Food Processing, “Having understood this entire phenomenon, I now am poised to take this up with the chief minister and request for the continuation of this jackfruit mission to jackfruit mission 2.0. So, if it is going to be good for farmers and it is productive for farmers, we must handhold these farmers.”
Stating that it was her first exposure to the Jackfruit Mission, she said that she has become aware of the fact that there are a million plus jackfruit trees that grow on its own in the wild.
“So looking at all these items and hearing the potential value of jackfruit even for pharmaceutical usage is something which has given me a lot of understanding and I feel that in any mission that the state embarks upon, it is important for the state to have a continuity and a five year mission likely will be inadequate time for us to evaluate the kind of entrepreneurship that is generated out of a mission,” she said.
Lyngdoh said that in her interaction with the former producing groups she learned that jackfruit entrepreneurs are earning between Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 and the fruit has a high potential for foreign market linkage.
She said, “I’m also given the impression that the jackfruit mission actually requested or gave a requirement of Rs 20,000 crores to the government but the government of Meghalaya has given them only Rs Five crores and despite this huge shortfall of the fund that was required to make this mission go ahead, the mission has yielded very positive results.”
The Minister said that there is a need to pump substantial amount of funds to ensure that the mission results in a huge market avenue given the fact that unemployment is a major issue in Meghalaya.
“It is time for the state government to revisit agriculture, horticulture and see how we can give benefits to the people of the state and there is no need for them to migrate to urban areas,” Lyngdoh said.
The minister said that the government of Meghalaya will partner with the government of India for the installation of research centers which will further give insight into the values and the varieties of jackfruit.
Chairman Meghalaya Farmers’ (Empowerment) Commission K.N. Kumar informed that jackfruit is concentrated in 2000 villages in Meghalaya out of the 6000 villages.
Sounding optimistic, he said “The next big thing will be Jackfruit Mission 2.0. India is the emerging diabetes capital of the world and the jackfruit seed flower is the best remedy for diabetes.”
He went on to say that the North Eastern region of India is going to be the global hub for jackfruit in the next two decades.
The minister interacted with farmer-producer groups who attended the programme and exhibited their products at the state convention center.