Clusters identified for promotion of agri exports: Commerce Ministry

The commerce ministry Wednesday said it has identified six clusters in Maharashtra for grapes, mango, pomegranate, banana, oranges and onion to boost export of these commodities.

These clusters are identified as part of the implementation of the agriculture export policy, announced by the ministry in December 2018.

Officials are holding meetings of stakeholders and organising workshops with farmers on the implementation of the policy, it said in a statement.

"More such workshops with farmers and meetings with state governments will be held to strategise the implementation of the policy," it said.

For successful implementation, it said, farmer producer organisations and co-operatives should be linked with the farmers and exporters.

"Required infrastructure needs to be provided in these clusters and the use of latest technology in agriculture has to be adopted," it said adding that the Indian Institute of Packaging has been roped in for working on packaging standards.

Further, it said many countries in the Middle East region are ready to invest in facilities like cold chain and warehousing in India for import of agro and processed food products by them.

In India, agriculture and horticulture production is around 600 million tonne per year.

"About 30 per cent of fresh horticulture produce goes waste and there is an urgent need to strengthen the supply chain to avoid the losses," it said.

As part of the policy, shrimps, meat, rice, grapes, bananas, pomegranate, vegetables, cashew, medicinal herbs in value-added form, food-based nutraceuticals, aromatics, spices, organic food have been identified as potential winning sectors, it added.