DIMAPUR, Jan 11 � While stating that majority of the consumers in the country are still unaware of the Northeastern region�s quality horticulture products, Nagaland Parliamentary Secretary for Horticulture R Khing has emphasised the need to establish brands for the outside markets.
�The intervention of the Central and the State Government as well as the research institutions are immensely required in certain sectors to provide productive measures like advertisements via mass communication which shall help build the image of the brand and also earn the confidence of the consumers,� Khing said while addressing the inaugural programme of the two-day regional workshop-cum-training on �Marketing of spices in NER� at Chumukedima near here recently.
Maintaining that the Nagaland Horticulture department has the distinction of being the first State in the region to achieve Geographical Indication (GI) rights for Naga King Chilli (Bhut Jalokia) under the brand name �Naga Mircha�, the Parliamentary Secretary said it (brand name) has gradually helped the entrepreneurs in export and import. To this, he said more efforts have been made by tying up with ICCOA, Bangalore, for organic certification of ginger, turmeric and large cardamom with more crops in the offing which ultimately will bring better price for the farmers.
�Once certified, this would help the State to diversify its products by way of encouraging the finished organic products for sale in the markets of the region as well as in international markets,� he added.
Also stating that North Eastern region has taken great strides in the field of horticulture and is now becoming a horticulture hot spot that holds promise in shaping the lives of future generations owing to the naturally available factors such as climate, soil, and topography, etc, Khing further said the horti department has grown from a nascent department into a forerunner in terms of setting up development targets and achieving them which is evident from the private and public investors as well as the enthusiastic farmers.
While maintaining that horticulture in the region and particularly Nagaland is by and large organic by default which can be explored profitably, he said, in the last few years, consumers demand for processed spice products like large cardamom capsule and Naga King Chilli for making sauce, pickle and powder, etc, has increased significantly during the past few years. He, however, said this necessitates conducting studies and surveys to assess consumers� preference or the trends in the markets.
