Mohua Flower From Chhattisgarh and Himalayan Goat Meat Exported To UAE, France

The government's efforts to promote agricultural and processed food product exports from regions that were previously excluded from the country's export map are beginning to bear fruit.

Recently Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) facilitated the exports of dehydrated Mohua Flower from Chhattisgarh & Himalayan goat meat from Uttarakhand to France & the United Arab Emirates respectively. For promoting exotic fruits like dragon fruit exports, APEDA organized a promotional event at the Saudi Arabia market.

For the first time, a shipment of dehydrated Mohua flowers was shipped from Chhattisgarh to France via water. The food was sourced from a forest in Chhattisgarh's Korba region and processed by an APEDA-registered company. Mohua flowers were largely picked by tribal communities in the forests of Korba, Surguja, Pali, Kathghora, Pasan, and Churri in Chhattisgarh and shipped to France. Mohua flowers are dehydrated and used to make whiskey, syrup, and medication.

A consignment of processed Himalayan Goat meat sourced from the villages of Uttarakhand highlands was sold to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to enhance the revenue of small ruminant producers. The export of beef from Uttarakhand will help farmers earn a living and improve their financial situation. This project by APEDA and other organizations would boost the revenue of Uttarakhand farmers.

Meanwhile, boosting the agricultural exports potential, APEDA in association with the Indian Embassy organized a Virtual Buyer Seller Meet with Lao People’s Democratic Republic where the key officials & stakeholders from the food industries from both countries participated.

The virtual buyer-seller meeting with Laos was the 37th in a series of virtual buyer-seller meetings arranged by APEDA with other nations to enhance India's agricultural and processed food exports. Laos imports buffalo meat, groundnuts, oil meals, marine products, cotton, animal casings, and spices primarily from India.

APEDA, in collaboration with the Indian embassy, planned a dragon fruit promotion program for the Saudi Arabia market today, in collaboration with a top retailing group, as a huge boost to exotic fruit exports. In India, the Dragon Fruit is known as Kamalan.

APEDA recently facilitated the dragon fruit exports from Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Gujarat to the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia & King of Bahrain. The cultivation of dragon fruit requires less water & can be grown in various kinds of soils. At present, the dragon fruit is mostly grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Gujarat, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. West Bengal is new to taking up the cultivation of this exotic fruit.

Source: PIB