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Despite emerging as the top State in vegetable production in 2018-19, West Bengal accounts for only around 20 per cent of the country’s total exports of fruits, vegetable seeds and fresh vegetables in volume terms. In value terms, the State’s share to the total exports is around 11 per cent.
West Bengal produced 29.55 million tonnes (mt) of vegetables in 2018-19 as against 27.70 mt in the year before. Vegetable production in UP, which held the numero uno position earlier, came down to 27.71 mt in 2018-19 from 28.32 mt the previous year, according to the State-wise horticulture production data released by the Agriculture Ministry recently.
Acreage
The total area under vegetable crop in West Bengal is close to 1,490.39 hectares and the productivity is around 19.82 tonnes per hectare. UP’s total area under vegetable crop is close to 1,256.27 hectares and has a productivity of 22.05 tonnes per hectare.
In 2018-19, West Bengal exported around 1, 43,925.89 tonnes of fresh vegetables estimated at around ₹258.22 crore, as against India’s exports of around 7,20,558.42 tonnes, valued at ₹1,950.96 crore. Fruits and vegetable seeds exports stood at around 6,013.44 tonnes as against the national total of 16,151 tonnes.
According to Pradip Kumar Mazumdar, Chief Advisor, State Agriculture department, West Bengal has been focusing on diversifying into many varieties of crops that are in demand. This helps ensure that farmers get better prices.
“The problem with agriculture throughout the country is that people are aimlessly chasing productivity enhancement without understanding the demand. In West Bengal, we have been focusing on diversifying into such varieties of crops which are in demand so that the farmer at the end of the day gets better price,” Mazumdar told BusinessLine .
While the State has been known for its potatoes across the country as it more “institutionalised” and has the involvement of industry, vegetables were being grown more “haphazardly” without much of guidance or support to farmers.
“Now we are trying to give a sense of direction in growing vegetables and fruits. For instance, we have introduced tissue culture banana, which is catching on and is going to international markets. Our farmers are small, they need handholding and guidance,” he said.
Bottlenecks
The West Bengal State Food Processing and the Horticulture Development Corporation Ltd had recently organised a stakeholders’ meeting to take stock of the various hindrances in exports including lack of necessary infrastructure and inadequate quality standards. A number of exporters and associations engaged in exports of fruits, vegetables and betel leaf were a part of the meeting.
“Lack of flights to transport perishables quickly, unsatisfactory quality of products and inadequate market connectivity are some of the key issues faced by exporters,” said one of the exporters who attended that meeting.
While there is a lot of prospect for exporting green chillies, okra (ladies finger), all kinds of leafy vegetables, betel leaf, certain varieties of lemon like Gandharaj and Kagaji from Bengal, however, not much has been happening on the ground.
“We need a certificate for exporting these products to other countries and the state government has not been too proactive in helping us get the same,” the exporter said.
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