Northeast's first Kisan Rail train flagged off from Tripura

The first Kisan Rail train from the Northeastern region, carrying consignments of fruits produced by the farmers of Tripura, was flagged off from Agartala railway station by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Friday.

The train is carrying 8,990 kg of pineapple to Adarshanagar of Delhi and 1,145 kg of pineapple and jackfruits to Guwahati, official sources said.

Indian Railways started running 'Kisan Rail' in the country in August last year to transport perishable goods and agri-product, including milk, meat and fish providing a wider market to farmers and enabling them to increase their income.

''With the inauguration of the Kisan Rail, the transport cost for agricultural products will now come down to a great extent. Earlier, the transportation cost for sending these products by air was Rs 20 to 50 per kg. Now, it will come down to Rs 2.25 per kg for Delhi and 88 paise for Guwahati,'' Deb said after flagging off the train.

The chief minister said that currently only pineapple and jackfruit have been sent in view of the pandemic.

''But, paddy, lemon, cashew nut, dragon fruit and Kashmiri Apple Ber are also produced in the state and their popularity is also good outside. So, special focus will be given to the export of such produce next time. The government is committed to double the farmers income,'' Deb said.

The aim of the central government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to ensure more development in primary sectors and the introduction of Kisan Rail is an example of that, he said.

The primary objective of running Kisan Rail trains is to increase the income in the farm sector by connecting production centres to markets and consumption centres.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)