The first shipment of 890 MTs of high-quality bananas, loaded in 43 refrigerated containers, from Andhra Pradesh to Mumbai to save high transport cost and quality losses during long transit.
The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), along with the government of Andhra Pradesh and one of the largest member exporter of banana, dispatched the first shipment of 890 MTs of high-quality bananas, loaded in 43 refrigerated containers, from Tadipatri in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT), Mumbai, recently for export to international markets.
This was stated by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. The Union Government, under the Agri Export Policy, has notified a banana cluster in Anantapur and Kadapa districts of Andhra Pradesh. The exporting company has been able to change the package of practices by providing expertise and technology to help banana growers in Andhra Pradesh for enhancing the quality of banana production.
Over 500 farmers cultivating bananas in over 1,800 hectare have been trained to boost the production and export of the fruit from Anantapur and nearby districts.
The long distance of the Andhra Pradesh farms to the export port in Mumbai affects the viability of export shipments, due to high transport cost and quality losses during long transit. Efforts have been made for reducing the transit time to Mumbai port by using refrigerated rail containers.
Over 3,000 farmers with an annual production of over one lakh MT are being handheld for exports directly. The efforts of APEDA with the support of the state government and exporters are likely to provide a good opportunity for India to increase its share in world trade of bananas.
