Nagaland exports king chillies to UK

July 29, 2021 111 Views No Comment

Correspondent/Dimapur KOHIMA, JUL 29 (NPN) : The State on Wednesday exported 250 kg of king chilli, popularly known as raja mircha, to the United Kingdom. This is the first export consignment of the chilli that has Geographical Indication (GI) tagging.

Agriculture production commissioner (APC) and commissioner secretary Y Kikheto Sema, Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) chairman Dr M Angamuthu and APEDA director Tarun Bajaj and Nagaland State Agriculture Marketing Board (NSAMB) CEO Ikuto Zhimomi jointly flagged off the first consignment from Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati virtually.

Sourced from Peren district, the consignment is expected to reach London on Thursday.

Interacting with media persons after the flag-off, Kikheto said the State intended to export more food items like pineapple to Netherlands.

He mentioned that the State government was initially not looking for profit and assured to give handholding until the agricultural produce reached the targeted markets, adding the farmers would be encouraged to take up king chilli farming on a large scale.

Kikheto said the Northeast, Nagaland in particular, was endowed with rich bio-diversity and had a suitable climatic condition for growing a wide range of crops, from tropical dragon fruits to sub-tropical pineapples and temperate fruits like kiwi.

Pointing out that the crops grown in Nagaland were by default organic, he said currently about 70% agriculture was shifting cultivation in which no chemicals were used, adding that the whole State could be declared as agro-chemical-free State.

He, however, remarked that the traditional practice of jhum cultivation was not economically viable, nor ecologically sustainable.

The APC said the agriculture & allied department identified few agricultural produce with export potential like king chilli, pineapple, tree tomato, kiwi, bamboo shoot, Naga cucumber, passion fruit, rajma (kholar), etc, as niche and premium crops, adding creation of markets for these niche produce was being emphasised.

He thanked APEDA for constant support and guidance, besides Nagaland State Agriculture Marketing Board (NSAMB) for its tireless efforts in marketing State’s agricultural produce.

He said State Level Coordination Committee (SLCC) had on July 27 held a virtual meeting with all HoDs, AHoDs, National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD), National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) and Small Farmers’ Agri-business Consortium (SFAC) in connection with formation of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and to identify the right FPOs for production and marketing of viable niche products of the State.

Mentioning that king chilli as world’s hottest chilli was preferred by many for its aroma and flavour, Sema it was the State’s first agricultural crop to have got GI registration in August 2008 and was grown in jhum field as well as in homesteads.

The APC termed the export of first consignment of king chilli to Europe as a historic day for the farming community of the State.

He hoped that the event would increase awareness about king chilli and thereby expand its market, which would ultimately benefit the farmers. He assured that the State government would assist and support the farmers in this regard.

In his address, Bajaj lauded the initiative of the officials of agri & allied department and NSAMB to export king chilli overseas and assured to assist in every ways possible even in future.

Speaking on the occasion, the NSAMB CEO acknowledged APEDA for the support and for which king chilli could be exported, adding that exporting pineapple was in the pipeline.

Referring to the State government’s initiatives of introducing air cargo, AC organic product market and cold storage, Zhimomi hoped all this would help in increasing supply to the international market.

APEDA officials from Delhi and different regions and officials from agri & allied department attended the flag-off.

Meanwhile, interacting with the media at Dimapur, Ikuto mentioned that laboratory test conducted on king chilli by a Delhi-based test agency qualified it for export to European market, adding that second consignment would be exported as per demand.

He said the produce would remain fresh for a period of 15 days, if kept under the right temperature.

Claiming that Naga organic produces were in high demand in Australia, Dubai and European markets, Ikuto added that produces like pineapple, Naga kiwi, ginger, large cardamom, etc, were in the pipeline for export to international markets.

Source: http://www.nagalandpost.com/nagaland-exports-king-chillies-to-uk/237255.html