APEDA: Helping Farmers to Look Outwards
Right from the moment when a produce is harvested from the farm to
the time it takes to be on board for moving to its desired destination, the
life of the agricultural produce gets battered at various stages. It is
estimated that almost 30-40 per cent of the produce of fruits and vegetables is
wasted due to lack of adequate infrastructure for post-harvest handling,
transportation and storage. The inadequacy of post-harvest infrastructure
facilities and wastage has persistently been underlined as a major bottleneck
in boosting export of perishable products from India. Apart from it, the
country’s agriculture export policy sometimes gets affected by short term
interventions or restraints like ban on export of farm produce in the times of
sudden price rise or supply constrictions. Whenever such restraints are
imposed, processed and/or value added products have to bear the brunt.
Processed food sector and value addition in India forms but a minuscule portion
of the overall agri economy and accounts for a small fraction of export of
their commodities. Requirement of continuity in policy regime for encouraging
investment in processed food sector is therefore an imperative.
In the light of all these problems, the Government, in
coordination with Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development
Authority (APEDA), has been providing necessary technical inputs and financial
assistance. APEDA has taken several initiatives for promoting export of
perishable commodities. APEDA has set up common infrastructure facilities like
Centres for Perishable Cargo (CPC) at various international airports like
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bagdogra, Amritsar, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa,
Nashik, Vapour Heat Treatment facilities for export of mangoes to Japan and
Australia, Irradiation facilities for export of mangoes to USA, integrated pack
houses, pre-cooling facilities, high humidity cold stores, Asceptic Packaging
Unit and collection centres among others. In addition, exporters, through
Scheme of Infrastructure Development, are encouraged for purchase of reefer
vans, setting up integrated pack houses, pre-cooling facilities, high humidity
cold stores etc. so as to maintain cool chain which ultimately helps in
maintaining the quality of the produce exported from India.
Appropriate market intelligence in terms of reliable trade data on
demand, supply, season, process etc. is another critical requirement of the
exporters to diversify and explore new markets. APEDA has achieved market
access for various products in hitherto inaccessible markets such as mango to
USA, Japan, Australia and China; grapes and bitter gourd to China, basmati rice
to Japan, Mexico and China; mango products to Mexico, livestock products to
Algeria, Syria, Egypt, Morocco etc. Packaging is critical for delivery of
product in good condition. APEDA has got developed packaging standards and
specifications for various fruits, vegetables, cut flowers etc. Exporters using
packaging of these standards and specifications are also given financial
assistance to the tune of a maximum of Rs. 5 lakhs per annum.
Food safety is a primary concern in international trade. There is
an increasing need to provide greater assurance about the safety and quality of
food to the end consumers. Paying heed to the concerns of food safety and
traceability shown by importing countries, APEDA has introduced traceability
system for export of grapes to the EU countries via GrapeNet,
pomegranates to EU via AnarNet and organic products via TraceNet.
APEDA has encouraged and provided financial assistance to exporters for
implementation of food safety standards in various sectors such as meat,
poultry and dairy manufacturing units, units manufacturing mango pulp, pickles,
dehydrated products etc. APEDA has also introduced a stringent system for recognition
of export testing laboratories (23 at present), which has helped in upgrading
their testing capabilities in terms of human skills and testing
infrastructure.
Research & Development is an important activity with the
objective of export enhancement programme. For the benefit of
processors/exporters, APEDA gets R&D work conducted through expert
institutions in accordance with trade requirement for development of value
added products, improvement in processing technologies, development of new varieties
etc. High airfreight cost has been a persistently inhibiting factor in
enhancing export potential and erodes the production cost advantage in India.
High storage and inland transportation costs further aggravate the situation
impeding growth in export of agricultural and processed food exports. Through
the scheme for Transport Assistance, aid to exporters of horticultural,
floriculture, processed food and animal products is extended. To further
facilitate the export of perishable agri produce, the Government through the
Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 made a provision for introduction of a Single
Window System.
Apart from these initiatives, APEDA has also taken several other
export promotion measures for fruits and vegetables from time to time. A number
of agri export zones for fruits and vegetables have been set up in different
parts of the country. AEZs entail focused channelisation of efforts and
assistance in a converged fashion for the overall development of supply and
value chain of the identified produce. APEDA also encourages exporters to
participate with it in various international trade fairs which offers
opportunity to the participants to get exposure and access to business channels
overseas, thus augmenting export opportunities. APEDA has initiated a programme
for integrated training of horticulture produce for some identified fruits like
grapes, mangoes, litchis in selected regions. In the first step, APEDA has
selected certain varieties of mangoes from the major producing belt i.e.
Alphonso mangoes from Ratnagiri, Kesar mangoes from Aurangabad. APEDA has
implemented the Integrated Training Programme in identified mango areas,
response of which have been encouraging. APEDA has also made efforts to
establish a semi-commercial facility in India to meet the commercial
requirement. In this direction, APEDA received a 1.5 tonne capacity machine to
treat 20 feet containers (8-10 tonnes in one-day treatment). This facility has
been established by Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) at Vashi,
Mumbai. APEDA has also initiated experiments of Controlled Atmosphere
containers for the sea transportation of mangoes to various countries. APEDA
has also been providing financial assistance to exporters for packaging,
infrastructure development like packhouses, pre-cooling facilities, reefer vans
etc, brand publicity through advertisement, purchase of laboratory testing
equipment and implementation of quality systems etc. In this way, efforts for
upgradation of post-harvest handling, distribution and marketing facilities
have been able to cut down on wastages and for preserving the quality of fresh
produce.
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