ITANAGAR, May 12 � Arunachal Pradesh has earned the distinction of a wine producing State with the launch of �Arun Kiwi Wine,� a brand produced by Pune-based Hill Crest Foods and Beverages Pvt Ltd after inking a MoU with Arunachal Pradesh Horticultural Produce Marketing and Processing Board (APHPM&PB).
�A good beginning for the State which has immense potential in horticulture,� commented Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, while formally launching the product in the State on Tuesday last week.
The APHPM&PB had signed the MoU with the company on December 2013. The product was initially launched at Pune in September last year. The brand name bears the name of Arunachal Pradesh, the largest Kiwi fruit producing State in the country.
Kiwi fruits cultivated in Arunachal Pradesh are of high aroma and flavour, thus producing a very crisp and fresh Kiwi wine.
�After a few years we should be in a position to export Arun Kiwi,� Tuki exuded hope and advocated for popularising the product through publicity saying increase in sale of the product would indirectly help Kiwi farmers.
Terming the venture as a source of sustainable development, he said through such ventures, every family would be able to earn handsomely and stressed on the need for framing a wine policy for the State.
Stating that fruit wine could be a money spinner for the State with innumerable horticulture potential, the Chief Minister advocated for organising workshop on fruit wine in other parts of the country to attract market linkages.
Terming the occasion as �historic�, State Agriculture and Horticulture Minister Chowna Mein said a green revolution has already started in the State with many youths embarking on horticulture and agriculture farming.
Mein appreciated progressive rubber planter Likha Maj who was also present on the occasion and termed him as the pioneer in Kiwi cultivation in the State. � PTI
