The first consignment of 21 tonnes of Grand Nine variety of bananas from Tamil Nadu, will be shipped from Cochin Port Thursday to Trieste in Italy.
State Agriculture minister R Doraikannu, agriculture secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi and Deputy Director General of the Indian Council of Agriculture, A K Singh flagged off the first container of bananas, grown in Gudalur in Theni district, from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University campus.
"TNAU and the National Research Centre for Banana has put in a lot of effort into exploring market opportunities for bananas abroad.
This will further increase our banana farmers' income," Duraikannu, who spoke through video conference from Chennai, said.
Bedi said 36 lakh tonnes of banana are cultivated in about 90,600 hectares and export of the fruit would increase farmers' income and opportunities.
Horticulture department dean N Kumar said a sample pack of 400 kg of these bananas was sent to the University of Udine in Italy. The results showed superior shelf life of upto 40 days, he said.
The National Research Centre for Banana had come up with a shipping protocol for the fruit, keeping in mind European guidelines for export and the fruit was stored in 18 kg boxes, he said.
Banana Growers Federation President A Karuppaiah said that depending on the success of the shipment, growers cultivating different types of this fruit in Tamil Nadu could expect to receive regular orders with Rs three to Rs five per kg more than the local market rate.
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