Strawberry fields forever

Meghalaya is the largest producer of strawberry in the North-East and is the sixth largest producer of the 'fruit of love' in the entire country. This was disclosed by officials at a strawberry festival held in the state.

Lauding the government's effort to promote the people's livelihood, Governor RS Mooshahary said cultivation of strawberry serves two purposes. "One is for promoting wealth, but alongside this horticultural crop contains lots of nutritional properties which is good for health," he said.

"The concept of strawberry cultivation by the farmers should not be concentrated only for commercial purposes but should also leave aside some for their children to get the advantage of health nutrients that fruit has," he said. The governor who is a strawberry grower himself has produced about 100 kg of strawberry at the Raj Bhavan campus.

 "Meghalaya has enormous potentials in term of horticultural produce and the state will not only be famous for the clouds and rains but soon it will become popular of its horticultural products," Mooshahary said.

"Strawberry cultivation has contributed a lot to the welfare of the people and has to a larger extent increase the living and economic standards of the farmers in term of healthcare and education," said director of horticulture C O Rngad.

He said some of these enterprising farmers earned up to a six figure income which is a major boon to the state of Meghalaya. "The demand for this fruit has tremendously increased over the years," he said.