The ₹2.5-crore packhouse being set up under the supervision of the Vegetables and Fruits Promotion Council Keralam (VFPCK) at Pariyaram, near Chalakudy in Thrissur district, is expected to give a fillip to export of fruits and vegetables from Kerala via the marine route. The facility is expected to be inaugurated in about three weeks, sources in VFPCK said.
Export of fruits and vegetables has so far been using the air route, which has considerably restricted its volume, sources said. However, experimental shipping of fruits, mostly nendran bananas and pineapple, using containers has proved to be a success and more such consignments are expected to follow.
The Pariyaram project is being implemented with the support of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, VFPCK sources said. They said that a consignment of seven tonnes of nendran variety of banana was shipped to the United Kingdom in April so that the package reached consumers by the Vishu festival in the middle of April.
The consignment from Kochi took 35 days to reach the U.K. and had just made it before the massive blockade in the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal traffic had been disrupted for about a week following the grounding of the container ship Ever Given .
VFPCK sources said that the success of the export of bananas from Kerala was the result of coordinated efforts. The fruits were monitored from the time they were harvested, cleaned and packaged for the export.
Following the success of the exports, two consignments were sent to Kuwait, which took 21 days to reach the destination. The success has prompted more orders from the Gulf countries and another consignment is being despatched to Kuwait this week. The consignment comprises nendran as well as njalipoovan bananas and vegetables like ridge and snake gourds.
The VFPCK effort is to enhance farmer income by about 50% and recent efforts have seen their income going up by 20%. Products from Palakkad, Ernakulam and Kozhikode have been exported so far and efforts are being taken to include produce from all parts of Kerala.
