No takers for Tripura’s ‘Queen’ as lockdown impacts pineapple plantation

Tripura’s ‘Queen’ or Queen pineapple, which was declared ‘state fruit’ by President Ramnath Kovind in 2018, is facing the heat of the coronavirus-induced lockdown this year.With no workers available, and partly due to a dry spell, pineapple growers in the state say they are looking towards a grim business.

“There were no workers available to tend the pineapple plantations. Nobody wanted to come out to work out of fear of coronavirus. Also there were nearly no rain at the right time. The fruits are still small, immature, below the international export standards”, 65-year old Naresh Chandra.

Naresh and his younger brother Dulal Chandra Deb own 55 kani or 8.83 hectare ancestral pineapple plantation at Nandanangar in West Tripura.