With this, Tamil Nadu on Wednesday formally commenced export of banana to Italy with the State’s Agriculture Minister R Doraikannu flagging off the first shipment through video conferencing from Chennai. This attempt, claimed to be the first of its kind from India to Europe (via sea) would probably pave the way for more shipments from the Indian state.
Agriculture Secretary Gangandeep Singh Bedi said that the government would take steps to help farmers export more Grand Naine banana and other native varieties as well.
According to thehindubusinessline.com, the president of the Tamil Nadu Banana Growers' Federation said the Grand Naine was cultivated on around 18,000 hectares out of the total 90,000-odd hectares under banana in the state. To facilitate export, farmers in the Theni belt followed the scientific and logistic protocol developed by the National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB), Trichy.
