Tripura’s pineapples are famous among its connoisseurs for their exceptional sweetness and taste. Indeed such is their fame, that they are increasingly being exported to cities like Kolkata, Delhi, and even Dubai.
Yet, the year has been disappointing for pineapple farmers as the yield has been low compared to previous years. According to them, the low harvest was a direct impact of deficient rains. The second lockdown in June-July, when pineapples are harvested, also made exports difficult leading to losses among the farmers. Overall, there might be a shortage of pineapples in the market.
Manindra Debbarma is a pineapple farmer near Agartala who is one of the many affected by low production this year. He has been in the business for 40 years now and says this has been one of the worst years. “The yield this year has been very low compared to previous years. Rains were scanty and so plants remained barren. On top of that I could not sell them as traders could not come due to the lockdown,” he adds.
Every year Tripura produces about 1.28 lakh metric tonnes of pineapples. It is cultivated in an area of about 9,700 hectares. The amount of land under pineapple cultivation has risen in the last few years after its demand increased outside of the state. Farmers usually have small farms where pineapple is cultivated and then sold in the markets. This year the timing of the lockdown meant that some of the fruit rotted in the fields in the absence of workers and sellers.
Apart from pineapples, Tripura, despite its small area and population, grows delicious jackfruits, mangoes, litchi, lemons, and coconuts.
This article has been created as a part of the Adivasi Awaaz project, with the support of Misereor and Prayog Samaj Sevi Sanstha.