Arunachal Pineapple Festival begins with focus on boosting farmers’ income, agro industry

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: The third edition of the Arunachal Pineapple Festival began on Friday at Bagra in West Siang district, with a strong focus on expanding pineapple cultivation, improving marketing and exports, and creating new agro-based livelihood opportunities for farmers.

The festival, an agro-based initiative that started in 2024, has been declared an annual calendar event by the state government. It is jointly organized by the state horticulture department and the Bagra Welfare Society (BWS).

Addressing the inaugural event, Lumla MLA Tsering Lhamu said Bagra circle has fertile soil ideal for pineapple cultivation and noted that farmers’ incomes are rising due to various government welfare schemes.

She urged growers to work towards making Bagra the “pineapple bowl” of the state and the country, and assured support on some demands raised by the organizers.

Horticulture director Tobom Bam in his address, highlighted the agro-based nature of the festival and encouraged farmers to expand pineapple farming along with allied activities to ensure sustainable livelihoods.

Arunachal Pradesh Industrial Development and Finan e Corporation Limited (APIDFCL) chairman Nani Lajie said the state government will soon revive the non-functional fruit processing unit at Nigmoi near Doji Jeko. Lajie also announced plans to establish a mega food park at Nigmoi, stating that the Pushi–Bagra region is well suited for horticulture. He added that the projects are expected to be completed before 2029. Aalo West lawmaker Topin Ete in his address urged farmers to increase pineapple and other fruit cultivation, saying the region’s produce is of high quality and is already being exported to countries such as Singapore and Saudi Arabia.

The Arunachal Pineapple Festival Bagra 3.0 will conclude on January 18.

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