Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Sunday sent 500 kilograms of queen pineapples to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, through the recently-inaugurated Agartala-Akhaura integrated check post.
The queen pineapple, the state fruit of Tripura, has received a geographical indication (GI) tag with the initiative of the North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation (NERAMAC) and 12 other fruits and vegetables of the Northeast. Dipak Baidya, assistant director of horticulture and soil conservation, commented on the occasion, stating that 100 boxes, each containing six queen pineapples, were delivered to Prime Minister Hasina on behalf of Saha.
Saha's gift was sent against the backdrop of Hasina's recent visit to New Delhi during which she met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and other top officials. During the visit, New Delhi and Dhaka signed a series of new agreements pledging cooperation in various areas, from their shared border to space, and agreed to start negotiations on free trade.
He said, "The bond with Bangladesh is long-standing and friendly, and exchanging gifts like these helps to reinforce our relationship. We have sent queen pineapples, which we consider among the finest in the world, to strengthen our ties. This consignment of queen pineapples, consisted of 100 boxes with each pineapple weighing around 750 grams, amounting to approximately 500 kilograms in total."
In July 2022, the largest consignment of pineapples was sent to Bangladesh as a goodwill gesture following the formation of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state in 2018 to strengthen friendly relations.
The fruit of the Queen pineapple variety is golden yellow, spiny, and has a sweet aroma. The best time to harvest these fruits is when their eyes turn yellow. This usually happens from mid-May to mid-July. This is a time when you find a lot of Queen pineapples doing the rounds in the market. The average weight of this pineapple is 600-800 grams and the juice is bright yellow.
On June 11, 2021, the then Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb flagged off the first Kisan Train which carried 13MT of fruits including 12 MT pineapple and 1 MT jackfruit to Delhi.
Tripura is also exporting the precious fruit to Dubai, Qatar, Holland, and Oman. Over the past five years, Tripura has exported 33MT of pineapples internationally and 12,500MT to other states in India, according to state government officials.
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