Farmers at the pineapple festival in Bunglon. Telegraph picture

Bunglon (Churachandpur), Aug. 27: For a sleepy hamlet in Manipur, it has been a sweet, fruitful 63-year-old tryst with pineapples.

It was way back in 1947 that the first pineapple crop was planted at Bunglon, a tiny village in Churachandpur, with seeds brought from Silchar in Assam. Six decades later, the village today has not only been transformed into a well-heeled one by the residents, but has also set a trend.

For the 50 families engaged in pineapple cultivation in the village, the practice has become a tradition, passed on to them by their forefathers. Bunglon has just 60 families with a population of a little more than 300.

The villagers today celebrated their success by organising the state’s third pineapple festival at a ground on Bunglon High School campus, named after former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who visited the hamlet in 2006.

A beauty pageant — Manipur Pineapple Queen contest — will round off the two-day festival tomorrow.

The Manipur pineapple festival committee has been organising the event not only to help the farmers but also to promote and popularise pineapple farming.

“In 1947, our elders brought some pineapples from Silchar and planted the fruit here. Today, we are grateful to our forefathers for introducing this,” Hechuon Gangte, 62, a pineapple grower, said.

Gangte today received a cash reward of Rs 2,000 with a citation from the festival organisers for being a role model in his campaign to popularise pineapple cultivation among the villagers.

“It is because of pineapple cultivation that I could educate all my four children. One completed his master’s degree, the other his graduation, another joined the army while the youngest has passed Class XII,” Hechuon, who cultivates the fruit in a two-hectare farm, said with pride.

Denila Kom, a young mother of two, said, “We have a one-hectare area farm. We earn about Rs 60,000 from it annually.”

Only 14 growers participated in the festival this year. But the message is loud and clear. The villagers assembled at the school ground attired in their best to celebrate the day. Cultural programmes were also held to complete the celebration.

“This is an alternative to jhum cultivation. We can generate income and save our forest cover. Jhum cultivation is destroying the state’s environment,” festival committee chairman Soizalal Thangjom said.

Official sources said about 2,400 acres in Manipur are under pineapple cultivation. Of these, 700 acres are in Churachandpur alone with the district having about 400 pineapple growers.

But Bunglon is a role model. The village has a high rate of literacy and several people have been absorbed in government jobs. One of them was recently selected for Indian Information Service.

The village, significantly, scripted the success story without any help from the state government. The apathy was apparent with the director of the horticulture department, K. Ngachan, failing to turn up at the inaugural programme.

The farmers, so far, have not faced much problems in marketing. But their concern is absence of cold storage facilities. “The committee is now planning to contact outside food processors for bulk sale,” Thangjom said.

Quite aptly, the villagers of Bunglon are now demanding that pineapple be declared a state fruit by the government.