The Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) in collaboration with the Government of Meghalaya congratulated the inaugural export shipment of Geographical Indication (GI) tagged Khasi mandarin oranges to Dubai.
The test export shipment of the fruit is from the Farmer Producer Company (FPC) based at Jirang in Ri Bhoi district.
#APEDA in collaboration with #Meghalaya the government congratulated the export shipment of the maiden #GI labeled #Khasi mandarin #orange a #Dubai.#aatmanirbharbharat @PIBShilong pic.twitter.com/W1wz3IP0Zz
— APEDA (@APEDADOC) December 1, 2022
मेगलाय के खासी मांदरिन संत्रे अधाई, बाई
Geographical indication pic.twitter.com/MkEleDgZ9x— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) December 2, 2022
These oranges are grown under the Mission for Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER), which is a sub-division of the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
According to reports, the consignment was flagged off by the Agriculture Secretary, Government of Meghalaya – S Sadhu. While, APEDA President M Angamuthu addressed the meeting virtually and highlighted the transformation of the North East region into an export hub for organic products.
It is worth noting that APEDA, the apex agricultural export promotion organization of the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, recently hosted the Buyer Seller Meet (BSM) in association with the Ministries of Agriculture, Commerce and Industries and North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd. (NERAMAC).
It aims to promote the export of Mizoram’s potential agro-horticultural products and provide market linkages to farmers, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), Farmer Producer Companies of the North Eastern State.
Moreover, APEDA’s intervention led to a huge increase in the export of agricultural products from the eight northeastern states, including Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.
The region saw a growth of 85.34% in the export of agricultural products in the last six years, from USD 2.52 billion in 2016-17 to USD 17.2 billion in 2021-22 . The main export destination has been Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Middle East, the United Kingdom and Europe.
To provide possible market linkages, APEDA organized field visits of importers to have first-hand information on the quality cultivation practices followed by farmers by inviting importers from neighboring countries, Middle East, Far East countries, European countries and Australia, etc.
During the unprecedented times of the COVID-19 period, APEDA continued to push its export plans through Virtual Buyer Seller Meet (BSM), in association with Indian Embassy located in different countries with exporters and FPOs /FPC of the North East region regarding the supply of pineapple, ginger, lemon, orange, etc.
APEDA also organized Virtual Fairs during the pandemic and facilitated export abroad.
It has also planned to undertake several other projects such as capacity building of 80 emerging entrepreneurs and exporters in the region, FPOs and FPCs and state government officials to organize skill development and training in food processing , added value to horticultural products, etc.