Roadside vendors turned exporters: Meghalaya’s ‘numbered’ farmers reap fruits of labour
Neighbours Prestina Sangkly, Dilip Rabha, and Mercy Lyngdoh, unknown to each other a decade ago, had something in common. They were farmers who struggled to
Neighbours Prestina Sangkly, Dilip Rabha, and Mercy Lyngdoh, unknown to each other a decade ago, had something in common. They were farmers who struggled to sell their fruits of labour—the seasonal Khasi Mandarin orange and the Kew and Queen pineapples, and the perennial banana—by the roadside or at weekly markets. Their lives began changing after they and 430 others became “unique numbers” in Meghalaya’s experiment with farm collectivisation with the formation of the Jirang Organic Agro Farmers Producer Company Limited (FPC) in 2017. A block headquarters in the State’s Ri-Bhoi district, Jirang is about 52 km southwest of Guwahati and 120 km northwest of Shillong. “There may be others bearing my name, but none can flaunt SBORG17MLRBJ06035, my farmer code as a member of our FPC, which has helped us increase our collective income from ₹1.5 lakh during 2017-2021 to more than ₹1.17 crore in 2025,” said Ms. Lyngdoh, who has 1.42 hectares out of her 3.1-hectare farm in Warmawsaw village under organic fruit and condiment cultivation. The code number bears the organic certification by a New Delhi-based agency and Meghalaya’s code for rural Jirang. Rabha of Sukurburia village, who grows pineapples, oranges, banana, ginger, and black pepper on more than 50% of his 2.22-hectare land, is proud of his farmer code too. “From a nameless vendor, I am now exporter number SBORG17MLRBJ02014, who also supplies to major Indian retailing brands in several metros,” he said. ‘Big leap’ The Jirang FPC was formed under the centrally-aided Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region. Its chief executive officer and farmer, Ibalahun Thangkhiew, said the first few years were spent on coordinating with fellow farmers and training them for the “big leap”.
The FPC expanded gradually from New Jirang, the centralised location of its product collection centre, to rope in 433 members across 18 villages—the farthest 25 km away—cultivating approximately 500 acres of land. About 75% of the members are women. “Our farmers began getting premium prices for their products after the FPC came into existence. A farmer who used to fetch ₹400-500 for 80 pieces of the GI-tagged Khasi Mandarin earned ₹700-800 and even ₹1,000 for the bigger pieces. Similarly, a pineapple that sold for ₹8-10 per piece started fetching ₹20-25,” Ms. Thangkhiew told The Hindu. “More importantly, post-FPC, farmers were spared the trouble of selling their products at Patharkmah, the sub-divisional headquarters 5 km uphill, or faraway weekly markets. Today, Reliance Retail, Blinkit, Safal-Mother Dairy, and other brands send air-conditioned trucks to buy our products,” she said. After 2022, when the first consignment of Jirang’s Khasi Mandarin oranges was exported to Dubai, each FPC member has been earning ₹50,000-80,000 annually from fruits alone. Additionally, each grows paddy and vegetables for self-sustenance and sale. Pulping push The “big leap” that the farmers had been preparing for came after a ₹2.46-crore aseptic pulp processing unit was set up within the 2.5-acre collection centre, which also houses a cold storage, in September 2025. It was the first fruit pulping unit established under Meghalaya’s innovative Community-Public-Private Partnership model with support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the FOCUS (Farmer’s Collectivisation for Upscaling Production and Marketing Systems) programme. “This unit, with a capacity to process 10 metric tonnes of fresh fruits per day, has drastically reduced wastage.
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