In a major boost to agricultural exports from Uttarakhand, first consignment of vegetables including curry leaf, okra, pear and bitter gourd sourced from the farmers of Haridwar, was exported to Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Monday.
The exports of vegetables come after a consignment of millets grown in Uttarakhand was exported to Denmark in May, 2021.
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), in collaboration with Uttarakhand Agriculture Produce Marketing Board (UKAPMB) along with Just Organik, an exporter, sourced and processed ragi (finger millet), and jhingora (barnyard millet) from farmers in Uttarakhand for exports, which meets the organic certification standards of the European Union.
The Uttarakhand government has been supporting organic farming. UKAPMB, through a unique initiative, has been supporting thousands of farmers for organic certification. These farmers produce mainly millets such as Ragi, Barnyard millet, Amaranthus among millets.
APEDA has been carrying out promotional activities to bring Uttarakhand on the agricultural and processed food products export map of India. APEDA is planning to provide financial assistance for setting up a pack-house in Uttarakhand which would fulfil the mandatory requirement or infrastructure for exporting fresh fruits and vegetables to the international market.
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APEDA would continue to focus on the Uttarakhand region both in terms of capacity building, quality upgradation, and infrastructure development by linking buyers to farmers through strengthening the entire supply chain of agricultural produce.
In 2020-21, India exported fruits and vegetables valued at Rs 11,019 crore compared to Rs 10,114 crore worth of exports in 2019-20, which is an increase of close to 9 percent.
APEDA undertakes market promotion activities for export of food products, market intelligence for making informed decisions, international exposure, skill development, capacity building and high-quality packaging.
