Fresh fruit exports increases at a time when India’s overall exports have declined

NEW DELHI: When India exported its first consignment of grapes to Canada and pomegranates to the US last month, it offered a ray of hope for the otherwise dismal exports scenario of the country. Shipment of fresh fruit has witnessed an increase at a time when India’s overall exports have declined.

Fruit exporters said demand for Indian mangoes, grapes, bananas and pomegranates has increased and the country has sent trial shipment of fresh fruit to new markets over the last few months. Officials attribute the uptrend to timely rains that led to a better crop of fruit in 2015-16, and India’s adherence to the technical standards laid down by developed countries.

According to commerce ministry data, export of fresh bananas in the April-February period of 2015-16 rose 19.6% compared with the full year exports of 2014-15. Similarly, fresh pomegranate consignments in the first 11 months of FY16 were similar to the full-year exports of 2014-15 at $52.37 million.

“Our supply side was affected due to untimely rains that caused damage last year, but this time this was not the case. Season has been good for our main fruit. This year, we expect to export more to Japan, the US and Europe,” said an official. Last year saw Mauritius opening its market for Indian mangoes, while grape exports to Europe doubled.
India is the second largest producer of vegetables and fruit in the world, with the UAE, the Netherlands, UK, Russia and Saudi Arabia being top destinations for export of fruit.

Grapes topped the fruit export chart for 2014-15 with shipment touching 107.3 thousand tonnes valued at Rs 1,086 crore. Last fiscal, export of grapes from India rose almost 80% year-on-year to close to 2 lakh tonnes. During this period, export of grapes from Nasik nearly doubled to 1.08 lakh tonnes, becoming the largest contributor to the increase.

“Grape exports increased due to development of new markets in Canada, Australia and Russia along with a rise in production due to adoption of international certification like The Thompson and Global GAP, which are among the key requirements for exporting grapes to European markets,” said Ajay Sahai, director-general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations.