The Uttar Pradesh government is targeting Rs 50,000 crore in agricultural exports over the next three to four years with export-oriented agro-horticulture clusters.
Currently, the state’s annual agricultural exports are around Rs 20,000 crore.
The state government plans to tap the Centre’s Rs 1,800-crore Clean Plants Scheme to improve the quality of horticultural exports. Major export crops will include mangoes, non-basmati rice, Indian gooseberry (amla) and bananas.
In 2022-23, India harvested 355 million tonnes (mt) of horticultural crops, while the value of fresh fruit and vegetable exports reached Rs 15,000 crore in 2023-24. Recent developments, such as Canada granting conditional market access for Indian horticultural products, are expected to further support these efforts.
Recently, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced the setting up of 100 export-oriented horticulture clusters in the next five years. With nine distinct climatic zones, fertile Indo-Gangetic plains and abundant water resources, Uttar Pradesh is well positioned to benefit from the central schemes, a senior official in the Uttar Pradesh government said.
“Recognizing the transformative potential of cluster agriculture, the state is upgrading existing agricultural clusters and creating new ones for a variety of fruits and crops,” he said.
Additionally, the state is upgrading districts under the flagship One District One Product (ODOP) agricultural program for grading, packaging, branding and marketing through Common Facility Centers (CFCs).
Also, agricultural produce is transported via waterway from Prayagraj to Haldia. The state plans to extend this route up to Ayodhya to benefit farmers in the central and eastern regions of the state. The upcoming Jewar International Airport is also expected to boost agricultural exports from the western region of the state.
T Damodaran, director of the Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture (CISH), said the institute had set up clusters for Dasheri and Chaunsa mango varieties in Lucknow and western Uttar Pradesh, benefiting around 4,000 horticulturists.
The initiative is part of the Uttar Pradesh Agricultural Growth and Rural Enterprise Ecosystem Strengthening, a collaboration between the World Bank and the state government with a budget outlay of Rs 4,000 crore.
For the first time, a consignment of 5 tonnes of Dasheri mangoes from Malihabad (Lucknow) was exported to the United States.
First published: August 26, 2024 | 20:20 IS
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