Arunachal kiwi fruit fight odds to take on New Zealand

'Anteri' was merely another wild fruit to relish that grew in the jungles of Ziro valley, a habitation of Apatani community, situated atop 5,600 feet in Arunachal Pradesh's Lower Subansiri district.

Barely a decade ago, a few farmers realised that anteri was in fact, the kiwis, hitherto imported from New Zealand and was having monopoly among kiwi lovers in Indian markets. The equally sweet, if not sweeter and luscious, organically grown kiwis of Arunachal Pradesh are now gradually making a mark in the marts and malls, despite numerous odds in storage and transportation.

Big Basket, the "online supermarket" provided a big push to the farmers as they agreed to travel to Ziro with their fridge vehicles to directly buy kiwis at a remunerative price for markets outside the Northeast.

"They have agreed to buy in bulk. We prefer bulk buyers as it is difficult to store for more than a month without cold storage," Aomri Murten, the Lower Subansiri ditrict horticulture officer told DH on Tuesday.

Anteris are the wild ones. But those grown in the farms now are mainly of four varieties known as havard, alison, bruno and monti.

"Although havard is preferred by buyers due to its similarity with those imported from New Zealand, all are sweet and great in fragrance. The plus point of our kiwis is that we don't use any pesticides. It is our pride that we grow fully organic kiwis which are equally tasty," said Taku Chatung, who grows kiwis in Ziro. Chatung, however, has not sold his produce yet.

Over 250 hectares of sloppy land in Ziro are now under kiwi cultivation and nearly 175 farmers are now registered for selling their produce oustide. Farmers in and around Tawang and Bomdila, situated at an altitude of 6,500 feet to 8,000 feet, close to China border are also similarly selling kiwis now.

The North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC), a government agency provided the first big push to the kiwi farmers last year by buying 11 tons.

"We sold to suppliers in Kanpur, Delhi, Kolkata and Siliguri. Mother Dairy bought kiwis from us for their fresh milk and fruit products. This year, we have bought 5.2 tons so far and hope to buy more. We are paying Rs. 100 per kg to the farmers for those weighing between 80 to 100 grams. We are also buying kiwis from Nagaland," said Muzadid Hussain, the assistant general manager of NERAMAC, based here.

The Arunachal Kiwis, the brandname coined by NERAMAC are sold between Rs 300 to Rs 350 in retail markets against Rs 400 to Rs 600 fetched by the imported ones.

He said 97% of the kiwis grown in India are from Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Sikkim.

But transportation is a problem for them. "We have to take our fridge vehicle empty from Guwahati to Ziro to bring the products. This increases the cost. The farmers should be provided with cold storage, fridge vehicle and facility for mechanised sorting," he said.

Chatung said the 120-km "horrible" road that connects Ziro with Lakhimpur in upper Assam was affecting marketing of kiwis and other organically grown produce in Ziro.