THE PINEAPPLE FEST, A SLICE OF MEGHALAYA IN DELHI

The three-day-long Meghalaya Pineapple Fest is not only a celebration of the northeastern state's bountiful produce but also a peek into what makes the state unique

- RITAJA ROY

THE three-day-long Meghalaya Pineapple Fest 2023 organised in Delhi by the Meghalaya government aimed to celebrate and promote the northeastern state's wide array of agricultural and horticultural produce. Rooted in traditional practices, most of these crops are cultivated in an organic manner. Among these, the Kew pineapples, the Khasi mandarin and the Lakadong turmeric are already famous and have made their way into European and West Asian markets.

Held at Dilli Haat, August 1820, the festival's chief guest was the Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma. During the inauguration, he outlined what made Kew pineapples popular. "The Meghalaya pineapples are famous for their high sugar content [their Brix value is 16-18; one degree Brix is 1 gram of sucrose in 100 gms of solution], and they are less sour. They are mostly being cultivated without any use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, resulting in significantly lower heavy metal and pesticide residue in the fruit," he said.