Strawberry in Ri Bhoi District

Like her, there are many other women and men in Sohliya village, who have witnessed a sea change in their lives. With incomes ranging from Rs. 40,000 to more than a lakh per season, 66 of the 67 households in the village are engaged full time in the cultivation of strawberry with most of them cultivating the crop in small homestead plots ranging from one fourth acre to three acres of land. In the words of Shri O. Lyngkhoi, General Secretary of the Ri Bhoi Strawberry Growers Association, who is himself a grower and the headman of Sohliya village, "Strawberries has changed the lives of the rural village".He cites the example of families in his village who were earlier earning an average weekly income of Rs.400/- to Rs.500/- by toiling as agricultural laborers and who now, by virtue of strawberries, are able to earn an average of Rs. 7000/- to 9000/- per week.How this change has come about, one may ask and for the answer one would have to turn to a place called Dewlieh, 30 kms from the State Capital of Shillong, along National Highway No 40, wherein nestled amidst the sylvan environs of Dewlieh Lumnongrim village, the Dewlieh Horticulture Farm of the Directorate of Horticulture, Government of Meghalaya is the location of one of Meghalaya’s landmark horticulture destinations; the Center of Excellence and Pilot Project on Strawberries and Roses, under the office of the District Horticulture Officer, Ri Bhoi District, Nongpoh.

Evolution of the Center of Excellence - Conceived in 2004-2005 under the Technology Mission for the Integrated Development of Horticulture in the North Eastern Region, the Centre is spread over an area of 8.4 hectares and is a catalytic focal point in the development and widespread adoption of Low Volume High Value horticultural crops like Strawberries, Roses, Liliums etc in a holistic C2C (Concept to Completion), PPP (Public Private Partnership) mode and was set up with the following objectives:
To harness the potential suitability of various crops to the district and its natural resources by encouraging farmers to opt for low volume, high value cropping ventures.

To achieve total integration of the various production and post harvest needs of crops under the mission, such that a single window technology-clearing house is created which will meet all the requirements of the farmers and facilitate the adoption of target crops and their by-products amongst the growers and entrepreneurs of the state respectively.

To encourage the area expansion under these crops on a cluster basis so as to achieve commercially viable production scales.

To encourage the development of post harvest processing and ancillary industries based on various crops in partnership with the private sector.
To stimulate direct and indirect employment generation in the rural areas through area expansion and by virtue of the widespread adoption of technological strategies developed by the Centre.
To facilitate the adoption and implementation of the Agri-business model developed by the Centre throughout the state and the region.
To empower growers, entrepreneurs and institutions by providing infrastructure facilities and resources for transfer of technologies.