Right from
the moment when a produce is harvested from the farm to the time it takes to be
on board for moving to its desired destination, the life of the agricultural
produce gets battered at various stages. It is estimated that almost 30-40 per
cent of the produce of fruits and vegetables is wasted due to lack of adequate
infrastructure for post-harvest handling, transportation and storage.
The
inadequacy of post-harvest infrastructure facilities and wastage has
persistently been underlined as a major bottleneck in boosting export of
perishable products from India. Apart from it, the country’s agriculture export
policy sometimes gets affected by short term interventions or restraints like
ban on export of farm produce in the times of sudden price rise or supply
constrictions. Whenever such restraints are imposed, processed and/or value
added products have to bear the brunt. Processed food sector and value addition
in India forms but a minuscule portion of the overall agri economy and accounts
for a small fraction of export of their commodities. Requirement of continuity
in policy regime for encouraging investment in processed food sector is
therefore an imperative.
In the light
of all these problems, the Government, in coordination with Agricultural and
Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), has been
providing necessary technical inputs and financial assistance. APEDA has taken
several initiatives for promoting export of perishable commodities. APEDA has
set up common infrastructure facilities like Centres for Perishable Cargo (CPC)
at various international airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bagdogra,
Amritsar, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa, Nashik, Vapour Heat Treatment
facilities for export of mangoes to Japan and Australia, Irradiation facilities
for export of mangoes to USA, integrated pack houses, pre-cooling facilities,
high humidity cold stores, Asceptic Packaging Unit and collection centres among
others. In addition, exporters, through Scheme of Infrastructure Development,
are encouraged for purchase of reefer vans, setting up integrated pack houses,
pre-cooling facilities, high humidity cold stores etc. so as to maintain cool
chain which ultimately helps in maintaining the quality of the produce exported
from India.
Appropriate
market intelligence in terms of reliable trade data on demand, supply, season,
process etc. is another critical requirement of the exporters to diversify and
explore new markets. APEDA has achieved market access for various products in
hitherto inaccessible markets such as mango to USA, Japan, Australia and China;
grapes and bitter gourd to China, basmati rice to Japan, Mexico and China;
mango products to Mexico, livestock products to Algeria, Syria, Egypt, Morocco
etc. Packaging is critical for delivery of product in good condition. APEDA has
got developed packaging standards and specifications for various fruits,
vegetables, cut flowers etc. Exporters using packaging of these standards and
specifications are also given financial assistance to the tune of a maximum of
Rs. 5 lakhs per annum.
Food safety is
a primary concern in international trade. There is an increasing need to
provide greater assurance about the safety and quality of food to the end
consumers. Paying heed to the concerns of food safety and traceability shown by
importing countries, APEDA has introduced traceability system for export of
grapes to the EU countries via GrapeNet, pomegranates to EU via AnarNet
and organic products via TraceNet. APEDA has encouraged and provided
financial assistance to exporters for implementation of food safety standards
in various sectors such as meat, poultry and dairy manufacturing units, units
manufacturing mango pulp, pickles, dehydrated products etc. APEDA has also
introduced a stringent system for recognition of export testing laboratories
(23 at present), which has helped in upgrading their testing capabilities in
terms of human skills and testing infrastructure.
Research
& Development is an important activity with the objective of export
enhancement programme. For the benefit of processors/exporters, APEDA gets
R&D work conducted through expert institutions in accordance with trade
requirement for development of value added products, improvement in processing
technologies, development of new varieties etc. High airfreight cost has been a
persistently inhibiting factor in enhancing export potential and erodes the
production cost advantage in India. High storage and inland transportation
costs further aggravate the situation impeding growth in export of agricultural
and processed food exports. Through the scheme for Transport Assistance, aid to
exporters of horticultural, floriculture, processed food and animal products is
extended. To further facilitate the export of perishable agri produce, the
Government through the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 made a provision for
introduction of a Single Window System.
Apart from
these initiatives, APEDA has also taken several other export promotion measures
for fruits and vegetables from time to time. A number of agri export zones for
fruits and vegetables have been set up in different parts of the country. AEZs
entail focused channelisation of efforts and assistance in a converged fashion
for the overall development of supply and value chain of the identified
produce. APEDA also encourages exporters to participate with it in various
international trade fairs which offers opportunity to the participants to get
exposure and access to business channels overseas, thus augmenting export
opportunities. APEDA has initiated a programme for integrated training of
horticulture produce for some identified fruits like grapes, mangoes, litchis
in selected regions. In the first step, APEDA has selected certain varieties of
mangoes from the major producing belt i.e. Alphonso mangoes from Ratnagiri,
Kesar mangoes from Aurangabad. APEDA has implemented the Integrated Training
Programme in identified mango areas, response of which have been encouraging. APEDA
has also made efforts to establish a semi-commercial facility in India to meet
the commercial requirement. In this direction, APEDA received a 1.5 tonne
capacity machine to treat 20 feet containers (8-10 tonnes in one-day
treatment). This facility has been established by Maharashtra State
Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) at Vashi, Mumbai. APEDA has also initiated
experiments of Controlled Atmosphere containers for the sea transportation of mangoes
to various countries. APEDA has also been providing financial assistance to
exporters for packaging, infrastructure development like packhouses,
pre-cooling facilities, reefer vans etc, brand publicity through advertisement,
purchase of laboratory testing equipment and implementation of quality systems
etc. In this way, efforts for upgradation of post-harvest handling,
distribution and marketing facilities have been able to cut down on wastages
and for preserving the quality of fresh produce.
