What Constrains Nagaland and Meghalaya In Capturing NE’s Fruit Market?

At present phase organic fruit produces have more demand with good price offer in comparative to veg and non- veg produces due to limited stock availability but if a rich resource centers of NE like Nagaland and Meghalaya emphasizes on this section then their efforts will be of greater worth.

For today in (Northeast) NE to national market there is higher demand with fetch of best price for organic fruits with rich medicinal to mineral values where Nagaland government’s Agri and Horticultural department can target entrepreneurs to farmers to emphasize its productivity through special training and economic strength to producers to garner greater revenue from it.

A great pat goes to Dream Dragon Fruit Firm owner Lucy Ngullie to make such a bold initiative to improve production on a different complex segment fruit that is highly beneficial to people by outgrowing her own dragon fruit farm in various NE states for greater product accessibility to large scale customers.

NE states instead of importing the fruit from outside nations could have made a cost effective plan with Nagaland’s trading system if its production had been much emphasized with more farmers involvement then this expensive fruit could have been released at more attractive price and simultaneously boost more farmers in its production and equivalently help develop employment in state.

On a comparative note with one of the NE’s best fruit providing states, Dexter Sunogh from COLKS Shillong, Meghalaya had to highlight that the fruits of Meghalaya have greater clients from the neighboring nation Bangladesh apart from other strong economic states of India like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka. So the stocks are limited and availability in rest of NE market is minimal. The farmers are being trained but then it depends on the farmer’s confidence to take ahead challenging fruit crops to suffice NE market demand.”

Shillong Horticulture official Bah Kharnaior Dho had to add by stating, “Currently the main organic fruit produces of Meghalaya are Pineapples, Bananas and Oranges where due to sufficient stock availability there is distribution in entire NE states as the farmers find it easier to grow with lower maintenance. Rest fruits like dragon fruit and passion fruit including variety of other local items require lots of care where usage of poor quality pesticides have deteriorated its scale of production.”

It has been noted that NE’s rich soil quality has been deteriorated due to extensive deforestation, climatic change and growing population due to which natural scale of fruit production have ceased and so as farmers’ hope on its cultivation due to economic and opportunity constrain. 

Various orchard owners of Meghalaya had to state that many decades back Shillong use to take pride of its blooming tree with rich peaches, apricots, saphlong and sohyong fruits on seasonal basis. But pollution and deteriorating soil quality had shrunk its produces and so its prices have soared extensively. Today the situation has changed and the people could not enjoy the time of relishing various fruits by landing their hand on neighbor’s fruit court tree through their house window.

Lucy Dragon Fruit Firm

Lucy the Dream Dragon Fruit Firm owner is quite optimistic about her entrepreneur’s mission in fruit segment and stated, “It will take three to four years time to make Nagaland a self sufficient state in local fruit items. So that it can generate enough produces that meets NE market demands. Especially in dragon fruit segment.”

NEIC Market Analytic Report: Sumi Bora