Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Rural Development Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan attended the 'Meghalaya Pineapple Festival-2025' in New Delhi today. On this occasion, Chief Minister of Meghalaya Shri Conrad K. Sangma and senior officials of the Centre and the State were also present.

The event started with the exchange of various Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on pineapple. Thereafter, the Union Minister released a booklet on 'Meghalaya's progress in agriculture sector'.

Speaking on the occasion, Union Agriculture Minister Shri Shivraj Singh said that pineapples from Meghalaya are distinct in terms of taste and quality. He lauded the farmers and people of Meghalaya for their hard work and sincerity. Agricultural products including fruits, spices, turmeric, ginger, coffee, tea, jackfruit and mushroom of the state are of world class quality. Most of them are organic and need urgent promotion at global stage.

The Union Minister said that the Central Government will work in collaboration with the Chief Minister and senior officials of the state for exporting products from North East region outside the state and abroad. Private sector can also play a key role in this regard. It’s really heartening to see that the state government is giving thrust into it via MoUs.

Shri Chauhan further said that our Prime Minister is committed to the development of the North-East region. The Central Government will provide full support to Meghalaya for development works including agriculture.

The Union Agriculture Minister informed that he will soon visit Meghalaya again with a team of scientists. He said that when he visited the state during the ‘Vikasit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan’, the farmers had highlighted several problems and challenges related to agriculture. Farmers had demanded appropriate solutions for increasing the 'shelf life' of agricultural products. In this regard, necessary instructions have been given to the scientists of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Concrete measures will soon be available and researches are on.

The Union Minister said that processing of agricultural products is necessary and serious attempts are being made for establishing relevant processing units. The state government has also moved a proposal of 'air lifting' of agricultural products and it has been taken sincerely. The option of transporting these products via train will also be worked upon. Efforts will also be made to increase the production of pineapple per hectare. A requisite roadmap for the development of agriculture in Meghalaya will be prepared in collaboration with the state government.

Concluding his address, the Union Agriculture Minister called upon youth to establish agriculture startups. He also appealed to the countrymen to make maximum use of Meghalaya's products. “Our products are the best in the world, we shouldn’t hesitate in using them,” he observed.

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RC/ KSR/AR

(Release ID: 2151379)