India Fruit Exports Surge 47% in 5 Years: Govt

New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) There has been a 47.5 per cent increase in exports of fruits from India in the last five years, the government on Friday informed the Rajya Sabha.

Replying to supplementaries during question hour, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada said the free trade agreements with the UAE and Australia have also helped increase exports of fruits to the UAE and Australia by 27 per cent and six per cent, respectively.

"As far as fruits export goes, there has been increase of 47.5 per cent in the last five years. Major fruits exported from India are mangoes, grapes, bananas, apple, pineapple, pomegranate and watermelon.

"I can assure you that the government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that our fruits and food supply through exports is ensured," he said in the Rajya Sabha.

The minister assured the members that the government is doing everything to ensure the quality of our products and fruits are of international standards, and pesticide level is very low.

"Because, any product that goes from India is brand India and the name of India and no stone has been left unturned to ensure the quality of our products and fruits sent abroad," he said.

Prasada said utmost care is being taken to ensure quality and minimum residual limits as far as pesticides is concerned. There are a lot of challenges in this field. But, a lot of improvement and supply chain gaps has been filled up, he noted.

"We are exploring new markets for fruit exports. The free trade agreement has helped increase exports to UAE, where there has been a 27 per cent increase in fruits export and with Australia where there has been a 6 per cent increase in export of fruits," he said.

In his written reply to a starred question, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said among the major measures taken by the Department of Commerce, through APEDA, at the state level, in collaboration with respective state governments, for supporting the fresh fruits trade include development of post-harvest handling facilities and developing cold chain network in the form of integrated pack houses, reefer vehicles and in-house testing facilities to maintain quality and longevity of fruits and treatment facilities like Vapour Heat Treatment (VHT), Hot Water Treatment (HWT) etc. to mitigate the infestation/incidence of pests in specific fruits.

Besides, participation of exporters, FPOs in international trade fairs including the events exclusively organised for trade in fruits such as Asia Fruit Logistica (Hong Kong), MACFRUIT Italy etc. and organising international buyer-seller meets in states for promotion of agri exports including for fruits and carrying out campaigns for promotion and branding of Indian fruits in key international markets during prominent trade fairs.

"India currently exports fresh fruits to more than 85 countries. APEDA works in close collaboration with the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer's Welfare for entering new markets like Australia, Europe, USA and emerging markets. Intensive discussions are ongoing at the level of NPPO India and its counterpart agencies for gaining market access for India's fresh fruits in new markets.

"In the last three years, market access was achieved for the following fresh fruits in the following countries: (i) fresh banana in Canada; (ii) pomegranate arils in Australia, USA, Serbia, and New Zealand; (iii) whole pomegranates in Australia via irradiation treatment," the minister said.

"As a result of government's intensive export promotion measures for fresh fruits, India's exports of fresh fruits in the period 2019-20 to 2023-24 have grown by 47 per cent in value terms from USD 668.7 million to USD 986.3 million and have grown by 69 per cent in terms of quantity from 7.55 lakh MT to 12.76 Lakh MT," he said.

"The government is focusing on development of the sea protocols for perishable products particularly fresh fruits which will enable export of higher volumes particularly to long distance markets at more competitive prices enabling higher realisations to all stakeholders in the export supply chain including farmers.

"Department of Commerce through APEDA is getting these protocols developed through the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Sea protocols have been developed for bananas and pomegranates and are under development for mangoes, oranges and pineapples," the minister also said.