In a major boost to fruits exports prospects, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), which works under the aegis of Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has facilitated the export of the first trial shipment of fresh pomegranate to the USA through air route. The first export consignment of pomegranate to USA was initiated by APEDA in collaboration with National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of India, the US’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (US-APHIS), Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB), ICAR-National Research Centre on Pomegranate, Solapur (NRC-Solapur) and others.
Chairman, APEDA, Shri Abhishek Dev said that the increase in pomegranate exports to the USA would result in higher price realisation and increase in farmers' income. There has been encouraging response from the importers of the pomegranate shipment.
The trial shipment of pomegranate was carried out by the APEDA registered ‘INI Farms’, which is amongst the top exporters of fruits and vegetables from India. It has built a value chain of banana and pomegranate by working directly with farmers. As a part of Agrostar group, complete services from agronomy, agri-inputs and off-take is provided to farmers with the produce exported to over 35 countries across the world. As the long-distance market and high cost was prohibitive in commencing commercial operations, the export of trial shipment of pomegranate would help in building capacities amongst Indian exporters and US importers by ensuring that quality fruits are exported.
Buoyed over the acceptance of Indian mangoes in US markets, exporters are hopeful that pomegranate would also become a successful product in the USA. For ensuring traceability in the export value chain of pomegranate, APEDA organizes sensitisation programmes on a regular basis in association with state governments to register farms under AnarNet – a system developed by APEDA. APEDA has played a significant role in gaining market access by opening the pathway to allow high quality Indian pomegranates in USA and Australia.
Because of its high antioxidant content and super fruit characteristics, ‘Bhagwa’ pomegranate from Maharashtra has a substantial export potential. The ‘Bhagwa’ variety of pomegranate has substantial demand in the overseas markets. The Solapur district in Maharashtra contributes almost 50 percent of the pomegranate export from the country.
In 2022-23, 62,280 metric tonne of pomegranate worth USD 58.36 million was exported to the countries including United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bangladesh, Nepal, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bahrain, Oman. India is the second largest producer of horticulture crops. In 2021-22, India recorded a total 333.20 million metric tonne (MMT) production of horticulture crops out of which the share of fruits and vegetables is 90%. The total production of fruits during 2021-22 was 107.10 MMT and pomegranate accounted for around 3 MMT.
India ranks seventh in production of pomegranate in the world and the total area under cultivation is around 2,75,500 hectares. In India, the major pomegranate producing states are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. APEDA has formed Export Promotion Forums (EPF) for Pomegranate to give an impetus to exports of pomegranate and remove bottlenecks of the supply chain. The EPF has representatives of the Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture, state governments, national referral laboratories and top ten leading exporters of the product.