Agartala, June 25: A decision has been taken to expand the queen pineapple cultivation area in Tripura from 12,000 hectares to 15,000 hectares in the next three years, Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfate Ratanlal Nath announced on Thursday.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, he further said, the department has also planned to set up two bromelain extraction centres in Agartala and Gomati district.

He addressed the press conference in the national capital, announcing the Tripura Global Pineapple Festival 2026 scheduled to be held from June 27 to 29 at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

The Minister said that from June 27, International Pineapple Day will be celebrated. To mark the occasion, the Tripura government and its Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department will organise the Tripura Global Pineapple Festival 2026 from June 27 to 29 at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

“Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, DoNER Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and MoS of DoNER Dr. Sukanta Majumder have been invited for the event. In this programme, Tripura Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha and MPs will also be present. The main aim of this festival is not only to take Tripura’s pineapple to the world stage but also to promote tourism, culture, bamboo production, etc., and present it before national and international delegations,” said the Minister.

The Agriculture Minister said that since Narendra Modi assumed office as the Prime Minister, the agriculture sector has achieved massive success, and due to the Act East Policy, this has been possible.

“During this three-day programme, we will honour three queen pineapple farmers. 25 stalls will be opened. In Tripura, we have queen and Kew pineapple varieties. Our Queen pineapple received a GI tag, and the Tripura government declared Queen pineapple as the state fruit in 2018. Our Queen pineapple is famous worldwide for its sweet taste,” he said.

Nath further said, the pineapple is grown in over 12,000 hectares of land in Tripura at present and the annual average production is 1.78 lakh MT. The main aim of this programme is to create a value chain for Queen pineapple in the international market to provide financial benefits to farmers.

“We have undertaken a project worth Rs 234 crore with the help of the Central Government and MDoNER for marketing, processing, etc., of Queen pineapple. Our next aim is to expand Queen pineapple cultivation area in Tripura from 12,000 hectares to 15,000 hectares in the next three years. We have also planned to set up two bromelain extraction centre plants in Agartala and Gomati district,” he said.

During the press meet, Rajya Sabha MP Rajib Bhattacharya, Secretary of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Apurba Roy, Director of Horticulture Phanibhusan Jamatia, and Mission Director Rajib Debbarma of Tripura Organic Mission were also present.