Mayurbhanj, Odisha: NABARD, in partnership with the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Government of Odisha; Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Palladium organised a strategy workshop in Mayurbhanj of Odisha for farmer producer organisations (FPOs) on exporting fresh vegetables from Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, and Balasore districts in the north zone of the state. Facilitated by Palladium as a technical support unit (TSU) to the Directorate of Horticulture, Odisha, the event aimed to enhance the export potential of fresh vegetables from the region.
The workshop focused on educating FPOs about the processes and opportunities in the export market, with a specific goal of exporting okra, bitter gourd, and long beans to Dubai within the next six months, as per the demand. In the last three months, for the first time, eight FPOs exported over 86 quintals of mangoes and fresh vegetables to seven countries in the Middle East and Europe – United Kingdom, Italy, Ireland, Poland, Qatar and UAE.
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The workshop saw an active interaction of representatives from FPOs with other stakeholders. Mahila Pragati Farmer Producer Company, an FPO from Rayagada, presented its success story and the plan for diversifying into other commodities for export. The all-women FPO with over 1900 members has recently been exporting mangoes and fresh vegetables.
Addressing the workshop, Dr. Sudhanshu KK Mishra, CGM, NABARD, said, “Three areas are key to boost export in the state – strengthening supply to meet market demand, adherence to international quality standards, and role of packaging. The markets are demanding, and only good quality produce will fetch remunerative prices. NABARD along with APEDA, Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment and Palladium, will focus on the value-chain development in fruits and vegetables to increase the export of fresh produce from the state.”
Biswajit Behera, Associate Director, Palladium said, “Facilitating export of fresh produce from Odisha is one of the key focus areas of the state government as it is facilitating cold-chain facilities across the state to boost export from the state. Palladium is working closely with the FPOs in the state to make the farmers market-ready and the FPOs supply-ready.”
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“Palladium is facilitating multiple stakeholder consultations to develop concrete action plans and roadmap for export. Moreover, the team is working with the government, APEDA, NABARD and exporters to identify and bridge the gaps in exporting fresh produce from the state,” he further said.
Sitakanta Mandal, Regional Manager, APEDA said, “Production planning, infrastructure support and training and handholding FPOs is crucial for strengthening the supply of fresh produce from FPOs to international markets. To achieve this, we need to adopt a collaborative approach with the key stakeholders. Our next focus would be to conduct a state-level export sensitisation workshop to provide technical handholding to FPOs in Odisha on export process and potential.”
Many experts, including exporters, representatives from NABARD, APEDA, and state and district officials from the department and Palladium participated in the event.
