Stepping up pressure on the Centre to include Kerala in the national agricultural export promotion scheme, the State Cabinet on Wednesday called for setting up export clusters for rubber, banana, mango, turmeric, cashew, pepper, coconut and tea.
The Cabinet meeting decided to urge the Union Commerce Ministry to establish export clusters for rubber in Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam and Kannur districts and banana clusters in Thrissur, Wayanad and Thiruvananthapuram. The meeting proposed an export hub for mango in Wayanad and clusters for turmeric in Wayanad and Alappuzha.
The draft National Agricultural Export Policy published by the Commerce Ministry had mooted the idea of developing export clusters for 22 crops in 50 districts across the country.
Ernakulam and Wayanad are the only two districts in Kerala that figure on the list for export promotion of pineapple and ginger respectively.
The Cabinet resolved to demand export clusters in Kasaragod for cashew, Wayanad for pepper, Kozhikode for coconut and Idukki for tea.
The meeting observed that the tentative list of export clusters prepared by the Centre had given Kerala a raw deal. Many of the major crops produced in the State had not been considered for export promotion, it noted.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had written to Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu pointing out that the tentative list published by the Centre had identified three districts in Tripura for setting up rubber export clusters, while Kerala, a State which produces 80% of the natural rubber in India, had been left out.
Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar told The Hindu that the government had already submitted its plea on the draft policy to the Commerce Ministry. “The preliminary list of export clusters has been a disappointment for Kerala. We have conveyed our dismay and hope the Centre will address our concerns.”
