Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority(APEDA), along with State Government of Andhra Pradesh and one of the largest member exporter of banana, dispatched the first shipment of 890 MTs of high quality bananas,loaded in 43 refrigerated containers,from Tadipatri, Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai yesterday for export to international markets.

Government of India under Agri Export Policy has notified banana cluster in Anantpur and Kadapa districts of Andhra Pradesh. The exporting company has been able to change the package of practices by providing expertise and technology to help banana growers in Andhra Pradesh for enhancing the quality of banana production.

More than 500 farmers cultivating bananas in more than 1800 hectares have been trained to boost the production and export of the fruit from Anantpur and nearby districts.

The long distance of the Andhra Pradesh farms to the export port in Mumbai affects the viability of export shipments due to high transport cost and quality losses during long transit. Efforts have been made for reducing the transit time to Mumbai port by using refrigerated rail containers.

More than three thousand farmers with an annual production of over 1 lakh MTare being handheld for exports directly. The efforts of APEDA with the support of the State Government and exporters are likely to provide a good opportunity for India to increase its share in world trade of banana.

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MM/SB