Tripura: 'Queen' pineapple growers fear financial crunch amid corona

The COVID 19 induced lockdown and lack of rainfall had dealt a double whammy to the pineapple growers of Tripura prompting the farmers to demand a full-fledged fruit processing unit in the state so that they could be able to sell their produce despite all the odds.

Naresh Chandra Deb and Dulal Chandra Deb of Nandanagar were in the pineapple business since last 50 years and according to them, it was the first time when their 50 kani orchard had not received footfalls of wholesalers yet—after the harvest season passed already.

Both the Deb brothers seemed highly anxious about their produces, as they felt that it was the government that can only save them from the imminent financial crunch.

“In the months of May-June which is considered to be the harvest season from Queen Pineapple, huge number of buyers—mostly wholesalers used to pay visit to our orchards. By this time, we use to complete selling about 1 to 1.5 lakh pieces of pineapple. But this year, the situation is far away different from previous seasons”.

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“The primary issues”, he said, “are lack of rainfall and buyers. The sizes of the freshly grown fruits are smaller in size and we don’t feel that these crops will be a suitable choice for the wholesalers as the export prospects of the fruit largely depends on its size.”

Deb’s younger brother Dulal Chandra Deb, on the other hand urged the government to come up with a factory so that the fruits can be sold in spite of such problems even if in less rates.

“The biggest issue that require immediate redressal from the government is the mechanism of selling. Now, there are no buyers this year, the continuation of the lockdown has stopped even any hope of it. But, if the government sets up a factory here in Tripura the farmers will be largely benefitted. We can sell our produces directly to the processing unit even if in lesser rates there will be no problem”, Dulal pointed out.

Manidra Marak, a caretaker of the orchard said, “Last year in these months we can not even afford to take an hour’s break to meet the demands of the buyers. Had the buyers came like previous years almost of half of the orchard would have freed of ripe fruits by this time. But, unfortunately there are no activities in the orchard these days”.

Notably, many of the pineapple orchards fall beyond the international fencing with Bangladesh, that wore a deserted look after the imposition of lockdown. With trans border activities coming to an unprecedented standstill, the farmers are not allowed to enter their own plantations due to the strengthened border vigil.

Nonetheless, monkeys, stray animals and miscreants from Bangladesh side frequently damage crops to a large extent in the borders stretched in 856 kilometers.

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