Kpersoh

Kpersoh, under NABARD's Tribal Development Fund, has worked with 200 tribal households in Laskein Block, West Jaintia Hills District, on the WADI horticulture model — combining horticulture with intercropping to build a long-term, climate-resilient income source. The project has led to the formation of the Kpersoh Agri-Horti Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd., a Farmer Producer Organisation now constituted and operating, with training in post-harvest handling, organic methods, marketing and value addition including jam and juice. Farmers here are also part of a wider spice value chain: through Integrated Village Cooperative Societies promoted under Meghalaya LAMP by the Meghalaya Basin Management Agency (MBMA), raw Lakadong turmeric is collected, processed and marketed in bulk. BIDS, through its RRTC, has partnered with Northeastern Hill University (NEHU) and MBMA to set up a processing unit at Laskein producing oleoresin and turmeric oil for export to the Netherlands and Germany — a project that is still ongoing.