The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry facilitated the export of bananas from India to Russia via Sea by Gurukrupa Corporation, a Mumbai-based exporter of fruits and vegetables regularly exporting fresh fruits and vegetables to the EU and the Middle East. 

A consignment of 20 MT (1540 boxes) of bananas was flagged off on 17th February 2024 from Maharashtra by Chairman, APEDA, Abhishek Dev in a collaborative effort with the Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture (CISH). APEDA highlighted the development of sea protocol employed for this shipment by CISH for maintaining the quality of fruit in transit.

Chairman APEDA encouraged more exporters to employ novel methods in shipping new products to new destinations, with APEDA supporting and facilitating these endeavours. He highlighted APEDA’s financial assistance scheme, which now is putting special emphasis on supporting women entrepreneurs. He applauded the contribution of CISH in the development of the sea protocols and congratulated all personnel for a successful flag-off.  

Recently, Russia has shown keen interest in the procurement of tropical fruits from India with bananas being one of them, which significantly is a major Agri import of Russia, which was presently, primarily being imported from Ecuador, in Latin America.

The major export destinations for Indian bananas include Iran, Iraq, UAE, Oman, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Afghanistan, and the Maldives. Additionally, the USA, Russia, Japan, Germany, China, the Netherlands, the UK, and France present India with abundant export opportunities.

After harvesting, banana was brought to an APEDA approved packhouse in Maharashtra where it was graded, sorted, packed, boxed and stuffed in containers. The container was transported to JNPT for further voyage to Novorossiysk port, Russia for the final destination at Moscow Russia.

Banana is a major horticultural produce with Andhra Pradesh being the largest banana-producing state in India, followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. These five states collectively contribute around 67 percent to India’s banana production in the fiscal year 2022-23.

Within the next five years, Banana exports from India are expected to achieve the target of 1 billion USD. This achievement will ensure an increase in farmers’ income and improve the livelihood of more than 25,000 farmers, and is estimated to generate employment for more than 50,000 aggregators directly or indirectly linked to the supply chain.