A slump in the export of perishable commodities such as fruits and vegetables from India, due to high airfreight charges, has prodded the government to explore the cost-effective alternative of water transport to boost the trade and give Indian products an edge over their competitors in the international market.
In order to fine-tune the export strategy, the Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) has started experimenting with the transport of perishable commodities to different countries by low-cost shipments.
And it has succeeded in shipping 10 tonnes of bananas from Kochi to Dubai, which reduced transportation charges by a sixth as compared to airfreight.
"We have started the new practice with bananas. Last week, we shipped 10 tonnes of bananas to Dubai in a controlled environment in a week's time. It cost the exporter just Rs 10 per kg while the airfreight would have been be Rs 60 per kg," Apeda Chairman D.K. Singh told IANS.
"We are also going to send one more consignment soon. We are trying to develop a sea protocol for shipping bananas. Once we establish it, the water transport mode will be introduced for other fruits and vegetables."
According to the Apeda's export statement of principal products, export of fresh fruits went up in 2015-16 by almost 40 per cent to 7,98,755 tonnes compared to the previous year. However, it went down by almost 80 per cent to 1,65,103 in 2016-17.
