SHILLONG: After seeing the potentiality of the village to produce pineapple of very good quality, the State Government has named Mawphrew village in Ri-Bhoi district as the ‘pineapple village’.
The formal declaration as the pineapple village was made during a function held at the village recently.
Addressing the function, Principal Secretary of Agriculture P Kharkongor said that the village can become a model village in the production of pineapple just like the Sohliya village which is known for producing strawberry.
Kharkongor also believes that Mawphrew can even become a major tourist spot since there would be curiosity among people especially to know more, especially after the village is renamed as the pine apple village.
According to him, the State has the capacity to produce ninety thousand to one lakh tons of pineapple annually.
One of the interesting aspects of the village is that the farmers have adopted organic method of producing products using their own traditional practices and this would give lot of earning opportunities to the people since people now always demands organic products.
Former headman of the village Anthony Maring informed that the people in the village have been producing pineapples since 1974-75 and with the village now getting the tag of Pineapple Village, he is only hoping that it will bring new fortunes to the villagers who are largely dependent on production of apple for their livelihood.