On Friday, August 1 2025, while attending the Meghalaya Pineapple festival 2025 in New Delhi, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan stated that Meghalaya’s Pineapples have strong Potential to make a global presence. The Meghalaya Pineapple Festival 2025 was held in New Delhi, in which Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma and other senior officials were also present.
The event opened with the formal signing of numerous MoUs to improve the marketing and export of Meghalaya’s pineapples. Not only this, but a booklet was also released which carried Meghalaya’s progress in the agriculture sector. Furthermore, Chauhan lauded the taste and quality of Meghalaya’s pineapples and called them distinct and world-class and stated that the farmers’ efforts deserve national recognition. He asserted that from fruits to spices, tea, turmeric, ginger, and mushrooms, Meghalaya’s produce is organic. This is the time we push these products to global markets. On a related note, he promised that the Central government will fully endorse the state’s efforts to export its agricultural produce internationally and that private sector involvement will be uplifted. He added further: “We are committed to the development and progress of the Northeast. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally invested in ensuring this region gets its due”. The Union Minister asserted that he would soon visit Meghalaya with a team of agricultural scientists to evaluate the on-ground challenges. He recalled his earlier visit under the Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan, where farmers had raised concerns regarding the short shelf life of perishable produce. Besides this, he said, “ICAR scientists have been instructed to address this. Research is already underway.”
Interestingly, Chauhan also endorsed the proposal to airlift agricultural produce from Meghalaya to key markets and asserted that the train transport options would also be explored. Additionally, plans to set up local processing units and increase per-hectare pineapple productivity were also reviewed.
