New Delhi: APEDA, a department under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, facilitated the shipment of Indian bananas to Russia via sea through Gurukrupa Corporation Pvt. Ltd., a Mumbai-based exporter. A consignment of 20 MT of bananas was sent from Maharashtra on 17th February 2024, with Chairman Abhishek Dev leading the effort alongside the Central Institute of Sub-tropical Horticulture (CISH). APEDA highlighted CISH’s sea protocols developed to maintain fruit quality during transit.
Chairman APEDA encouraged exporters to innovate in shipping to new markets, with APEDA backing and aiding such efforts. He emphasized APEDA’s financial support for women entrepreneurs and commended CISH’s contribution to sea protocol development. Russia has recently expressed interest in importing tropical fruits from India, including bananas, which are a major agricultural import for Russia, mostly sourced from Ecuador.
Major export destinations for Indian bananas include Iran, Iraq, UAE, Oman, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Afghanistan, and the Maldives, as well as the USA, Russia, Japan, Germany, China, the Netherlands, the UK, and France.
Gurukrupa Corporation, a prominent female-led exporter registered with APEDA, sourced bananas directly from Andhra Pradesh farmers. After grading, sorting, packing, and boxing in a Maharashtra-based APEDA-approved packhouse, the bananas were containerized and shipped to JNPT for transport to Novorossiysk port, Russia, and then to Moscow.
India’s largest banana-producing states are Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh, contributing 67% of the country’s production. Despite being the top banana producer globally, India’s export share is only 1%, though it accounts for 26.45% of global production. In the fiscal year 2022-23, India exported bananas worth USD 176 million.
The goal within the next five years is to achieve USD 1 billion in banana exports, benefiting over 25,000 farmers and creating employment for more than 50,000 individuals linked to the supply chain.
APEDA’s initiatives, including B2B exhibitions, marketing campaigns, and involvement of Indian Embassies, aim to promote exports of agricultural and processed food products, especially fresh produce, through continuous efforts to develop sea protocols maintaining product quality during long-distance transport.