Photo Courtesy: nenews
Shillong: The Samgong Horti Hub in Williamnagar drives Meghalaya's horticulture sector. Spread over 13.3 hectares, the state-run facility produces flowers, fruit, and spices. It operates under the Directorate of Horticulture. The hub grows Anthurium, Gerbera, Lilium, and Chrysanthemum. It also raises specialty field crops like Bird of Paradise, Curcuma, and Heliconia, alongside ornamental foliage plants including Xanadu, Dracaena, Golden Bottlebrush, Raphis Palm, and Leatherleaf Ferns.
Infrastructure upgrades push the farm forward. A Rs 70-lakh expansion funded by NABARD added a 1,200-square-metre shade-net house. This project included new irrigation and fogging systems. The facility now produces three Anthurium varieties: white Presence, pink Sante Royal, and red Charisma. Between 6,000 and 7,000 cut stems hit the local market in 2025-26, selling for Rs 5 to Rs 25 each.
Black pepper propagation remains a priority. A 1,000-square-metre polyhouse houses 192 vertical columns for Panniyur-2 vines. The farm produced 8,000 cuttings this year. It also sold 10,909 black pepper plants for Rs 2.40 lakh. Dragon fruit operations utilize 168 Cosmic Charlie plants across 42 concrete posts. These sold 2,850 units for Rs 30,500. Meanwhile, the farm raised and sold 16,050 Khasi Mandarin plants, generating Rs 2.34 lakh.
Training anchors the hub's mission. Local farmers visit to study commercial practices. Schemes for orchard maintenance brought in Rs 9,80,120 during 2025-26. This money sustains 26 workers, including 12 skilled staff, 10 semi-skilled, and four unskilled laborers. The Central Institute of Horticulture recently granted the site a two-star nursery certification. This accreditation covers its "Black Pepper, Khasi Mandarin and Dragon Fruit planting materials."
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