Foundation stone for Boko pineapple processing unit laid

Boko: Farmers of many villages in the Boko area are involved in pineapple farming. Pineapples is an important horticultural farming in the area and farmers are economically benefited by selling it.

Boko Sub-divisional Agriculture Officer Hitesh Deka said that to uplift the pineapple growers and generate the employment in the area, Kamrup District Commissioner, Keerthi Jalli, laid the foundation stone for a pineapple processing unit for the Boko Pineapple Farmer Producer Company (FPC) Ltd of Kamrup District at Gamerimura in Boko, Kamrup, recently.

The pineapple processing unit is funded under the Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCD-NER) Scheme of the Directorate of Horticulture and Food Processing, Assam.

The total approved budget for the pineapple processing unit is Rs 34.87 lakh, with a Rs 25 lakh government subsidy. The Kamrup district administration has also allotted one bigha of government land to the Boko Pineapple FPC on lease through the Agriculture Department for the establishment of the processing unit.

Speaking at the event, District Commissioner Jalli expressed optimism about the positive impact of the processing unit on the farmers. She expressed hope that it would enable them to export their products internationally in the near future.

The Boko Pineapple Farmer Producer Company Limited was formed in 2016 with support from the Directorate of Horticulture & Food Processing, Assam, and subsequently taken under MOVCD-NER in 2019. Since then, the FPC has been successfully producing certified organic pineapples covering an area of 1,000 hectares. The turnover of the company for the fiscal year 2023-24 was Rs 70,00,000.

People of the Gamerimura and other nearby villages which include Jakuapara, Sukuniapara, Bamunigaon, Joypur, Langapara, Gamerimura, Christanipara, Kodompara, Gongrapara, Bakapara, Kaulipara and many other villages are involved in pineapple cultivation. The Gamerimura weekly market on Friday is famous for the pineapples. Niten Rabha, General Secretary of the Gamerimura Market and also a pineapple grower said that not only in the weekly market, everyday more than ten thousand pineapples are sold out in the Gamerimura area. Niten Rabha also emphasized that pineapple growers have income of around 20 lakhs rupees per year. “June to September month and October to December months are the main time to sell the pineapples,” added Niten.

Sub-Divisional Agriculture Development Officer, Kamrup, Manash Protim Mahanta, who also attended the programme, informed that the organic pineapples produced by the FPC are currently being sent to markets outside the state, like West Bengal, Karnataka, Hyderabad, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. Once the food processing unit is completed, it will enable the FPC to produce various value added products like jelly, jam, juice, canned slices etc, helping them access international markets as well.

Additionally, under the MOVCD-NER scheme, the Boko Pineapple FPC has set up 500 vermicompost units for 500 beneficiaries, with a total cost of Rs 18,75,000. The FPC has also been provided with vermiwash units, two collection centres, and tractors under the MOVCD-NER scheme till date.

Hitesh Deka, SDO Agriculture, Boko said that the processing unit will be started within 8 to 9 months. Deka also said that pineapples from Gamerimura are fully organic and the variety of the pineapple is ‘Kew’ variety, which is quite juicy.

Pineapple cultivation in the total area in hectares is around 2563 and production in tonnes is around 52 thousand tons per year in Kamrup district.

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