However, the market value of the fruit is affected by pericarp browning. The current packaging and marketing practices are not sufficient for Bihar litchi to reach other parts of country, but IG International is changing this.
IG International Pvt Ltd., under it's two group companies Vaishali AgriVenture and GNS Food Tech have made Bihar Litchies available across India - with fresh, high quality, they say and without the pericarp browning.
GNS Food Tech with its special air treatment technology helped in extending the shelf life of litchis. However Vaishali Agri Venure developed a potential alternative method of packaging (MAP) and refrigerated transport network to transport the fruit countrywide. The combined efforts of the two companies of IG International Pvt Ltd. have opened a new horizon of market for litchi producers of Bihar, said Mr Tarun Arora, director of IG International Pvt Ltd.
This season IG International Pvt Ltd is marketing Bihar litchi in all the important markets of India. Mr Arora said that litchi is very popular in Europe and fruits are imported from South Africa, Madagascar, Reunion, Mauritious and Australia during Winter and from Thailand, China and Israel in summer. Annually the European markets import approx 20,000 mt litchi, of which half goes to France. Mr Arora is very confident about the technologies developed by the companies of IG International and is of the view that efforts will be made to popularize water treated methods to enhance shelf life with organic components and potential alternative method of packing (MAP) technologies among the litchi exporters of Madagaskar and other litchi exporting countries in the coming winter season.
