SHILLONG, APR 30: Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh on Tuesday visited the strawberry market at Khyndailad located at the heart of the city.
Organised at the commercial hub of Shillong- Khyndailad, the strawberry market offers a unique opportunity to extend the celebration of Meghalaya’s luscious strawberries and rich agro-tourism offerings.
The hand-picked, farm fresh strawberries grown in the fields of Nohron and Syntung are on display at this market.
Speaking to Media Persons at the sidelines of the festival, Lyngdoh said, “For the first time the tourism department in collaboration with the department of horticulture has gone ahead to encourage our growers, our farmers (by having this market).”
“Couple of weeks back we have had the strawberry festival in villages where strawberry is locally grown that is in Sohliya, Nohron and Syntung villages and the festival was meant to create awareness and sensitized people about the need to encourage locally grown produces and today we have gone a step ahead by also bringing the produce to the state capital. The idea being that the organic produce which is strawberry has got not only huge market potential for farmers but can also create livelihood opportunities for our farmers and growers,” he said.
The market is also committed to supporting the hardworking farmers who cultivate the strawberries.
Lyngdoh said, “The most important thing is that we would like to sustain this effort for which we request the members of the public as well as travellers to Meghalaya to visit the stalls here in the heart of our capital city and thereby encourage our children of the soil, who are tilling and engage in the production of strawberry, so that very soon like pineapple, our strawberry will also go global.”
Asked, the minister said that strawberry is one of the very rare fruits that is locally grown here in Meghalaya and it has huge market potential and its taste is something that is world class.
“And also we have growers from distant villages of Riwar and Ri-bhoi and we would like to make sure that the efforts of the tourism department should be insync with the livelihood of our people, which is why we have organized just couple weeks ago the strawberry festival and today is the second stage is to have this strawberry market and the footfall has been very encouraging,” he added.
The event provides a platform to the farmers to showcase their produce and with every purchase, the buyer will be contributing to the welfare and economic well-being of the farmers. The market will remain open from 12 noon to 8 pm.
It is interesting to note that the Meghalaya Grassroots Music Project (MGMP) has taken center stage at the market giving the attendees the opportunity to witness their favourite artists where sweet tunes meet juicy berries. This initiative brings together talented local artists offering them a platform to showcase their music and connect with the community.