1.2 tonne jackfruit from Tripura exported to London

Nearly 1.2 tonne of fresh jackfruit from Tripura was for the first time exported to London on Friday, in a move that could potentially boost exports of agricultural and processed food products from the northeast.

The jackfruit were exported by Kiega Exim, which sourced them from Krishi Sanyoga Agro Producer Company of Tripura. As part of the trial run, a consignment of 350 jackfruit was on Thursday shipped to Delhi from Agartala for its export to the UK, state horticulture director Phani Bhusan Jamatia said. If this export is successful, the exporter may purchase five tonne of jackfruit from Tripura every week, Jamatia said.

Earlier, pineapples and lemons were exported from Tripura to West Asia. Recently, the first consignment of iron-rich red rice, grown in Brahmaputra valley, was exported to the US from Assam.

“Promoting products from the northeastern region is a thrust area of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority,” the agency’s chairman M Angamuthu said. It will continue to focus capacity building, quality upgrade and infrastructure development in the northeast, he said in a statement.