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The agri export zone is expected to benefit about 3,000 farmers and would generate additional employment for about 1,500 farmers.

Pune , July 15

THE Government has approved the setting up of agri export zones for oranges and bananas in Maharashtra.

The memorandum of understanding has been signed between the Union Government and the State Government.

The districts of Jalgaon, Nanded, Dhule, Hingoli, Nandurbar, Buldhana, Wardha and Parbhani would come under the banana agri export zone, while Amrawati and Nagpur districts would be for oranges.

According to a release from the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board, Jalgaon district accounted for about 60 per cent of bananas in the State followed by the other districts.

It said the banana AEZ was a five-year programme and after implementation would be able to export close to 5,000 tonnes of bananas to Dubai, 2,500 tonnes to West Asian countries and 2,000 tonnes to the UK and other European countries. This would earn a foreign exchange of about Rs 21 crore, it said. Under the AEZ, training for production techniques for exports, pre- and post-harvesting practices, banana harvesting, grading, packing, processing and export would be given to the farmers. In addition to this, infrastructure facilities for exports, such as handling, grading, packaging, pre-cooling and processing, would be established.

Senior officials said an investment of about Rs 13.45 crore is estimated for the creation of export facilities and processing. Of this, about Rs 3.26 crore would come in from the Department of Agriculture, APEDA, National Horticultural Board (NHB) and the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Rs 3 crore from the State Government and the remaining Rs 7.16 crore from the private sector. The AEZ is expected to benefit about 3,000 farmers and would generate additional employment for about 1,500 farmers.

India is the largest producer of bananas in the world, about 168 lakh tonnes followed by Ecuador, Brazil, China and the Philippines. Of this, Maharashtra accounts for 43.3 lakh tonnes, Tamil Nadu 48.5 lakh tonnes and Karnataka 20.1 lakh tonnes. Asked about the orange, AEZ officials said an additional 11,000 tonnes of exports is expected after five years. An investment of Rs 26.24 crore is envisaged for AEZ orange, of which the State Government would contribute Rs 5.36 crore, APEDA Rs 40 lakh, Ministry of Food Processing Rs 1.65 crore, NHB Rs 3.42 crore and the private sector Rs 15.42 crore.

The AEZ for oranges is expected to benefit about 2,500 farmers and would generate additional employment for close to 700 farmers.

They added that around two lakh hectares is under orange cultivation in India with a production of 16.6 lakh tonnes. Maharashtra, the largest orange producing State, has 1,37,000 hectares of area under cultivation with a production of 11.17 lakh tonnes. In Maharashtra, the orange producing districts are Amrawati, Nagpur, Yeotmal and Akola, of which Amrawati and Nagpur alone account for about 84,000 hectares.

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