With the season of GI-tagged 'Queen' pineapples coming to an end, Tripura has started shipping the 'Kew' variety of the fruit to Dubai, a state minister said today.
The first consignment of 1.5 ton of 'Kew' pineapples was shipped to the Emirates yesterday from Darchai in Unakoti district, about 130 km from here, Minister of Agriculture Pranajit Singha Roy said today.
"More consignments of the tropical fruit would be sent to Middle East shortly. As the 'Queen' variety of pineapple was well-received by people in different parts of the country and abroad, we have decided to transport the 'Kew' variety too," he said.
The 'Kew' pineapple would grow for one more month or so, which gives Tripura an opportunity to tap the market for the fruit even further, the minister stated.
Now that the 'Queen' pineapple has been "brand positioned" in the international fruit market, Pranajit said, the 'Kew' variety will easily get its customers.
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"We shall set up marketing initiatives for 'Kew' pineapple, centering Tripura Bhavan at Pretoria Street in Kolkata, this month. As marketers from New Delhi have also been roped in for the initiative, the pineapple would be available at 'Delhi Haat' in the national capital," the agriculture minister explained.
Speaking at the flagging-off ceremony of the first consignment at Kumarghat in Unakoti district yesterday, BJP MLA Sudhangshu Das said the pineapples would make Tripura "familiar" to the rest of the world.
Das also stated that the BJP-IPFT government in the state would work to revive a fruit juice concentration plant, which was set up at Nalkata in Unakoti district in 1988. The plant became non-functional nearly a decade ago.
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