In a first, dragon fruit exported from Gujarat, Bengal to London and Bahrain

New Delhi, Aug 4: In a major boost to exports of exotic fruit, consignments of fiber & mineral-rich dragon fruit’, which are sourced from farmers of Gujarat & West Bengal, have been exported for the first time to London, United Kingdom & Kingdom of Bahrain. In India, dragon fruit is also referred to as Kamalam.

 

The consignment of exotic fruit exported to London was sourced from farmers of Kutch region and exported by APEDA registered packhouse in Bharuch, Gujarat. Besides, the consignment of ‘dragon fruit’ exported to Kingdom of Bahrain was sourced from the farmers of West Midnapore (West Bengal) and exported by APEDA registered enterprises, Kolkata.

 

Earlier in June 2021, a consignment of ‘dragon fruit’ that was sourced from the farmers of Tadasar village, Sangli district, Maharashtra was exported to Dubai by APEDA recognized exporter.

 

 

At present, dragon fruit is grown mostly in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. West Bengal is new to taking up cultivation of this exotic fruit.

 

In July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in ‘Mann Ki Baat’ program had mentioned about the dragon fruit farming in the arid Kutch region of Gujarat. He had congratulated the farmers of Kutch for the cultivation of fruit for ensuring India’s self-sufficiency in the production. His dream has come true when the fruit is being exported to the UK and Kingdom of Bahrain.

 

 

APEDA is making efforts to export it to other European countries to get better price realisation to the farmers of their produce. It promotes exports of agricultural & processed food products by providing assistance to the exporters under various components such as Infrastructure Development, Quality Development and Market Development.

 

Apart from this the Department of Commerce also supports exports through various schemes like Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme, Market Access Initiative etc.