Banana farmers of Kadapa and Anantapur districts have exported the produce to the Middle East.
The first train with 43 refrigerated containers carrying 977 tonnes of bananas had left Tadipatri to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust Mumbai (JNPT), Mumbai, on January 22.
The Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) and the Business Development Unit (BDU) set up at the Guntakal division of the South Central Railway (SCR) played a vital role in exporting the banana stocks, said SCR General Manager Gajanan Mallya.
The 43 reefer containers were loaded from the storage and warehousing units located at Tadipatri, Pulivendula, Obulapuram and the neighbouring areas, he said.
CONCOR had arranged reach stacker for container handling, reefer plug points, diesel generator, genset mounted trailers and uninterrupted power supply to the trains en route.
“The farmers have benefited with the exports,” the authorities said.
“Transportation of bananas by road takes much time and the loss will be high due to damages. To provide a hassle-free transport and prevent losses to the farmers, the SCR, in coordination with CONCOR, is arranging reefer containers for exports,” a railway officer said.
Farmers said they had suffered heavy losses during the lockdown period as they had to sell the produce for a lesser prices or leave the bunches without cutting them in the orchards.
Mr. Mallya praised the efforts of the SCR, CONCOR and the BDU officers for helping the farmers.
“The facility will bring down the losses and give a boost to the export opportunities from the region,” he said, and appealed to the farmers to make use of the rail transport.
