SHILLONG: In a first, a consignment of GI-tagged Khasi Mandarin oranges of Meghalaya was exported to Dubai.
The trial export shipment of the GI-tagged Khasi Mandarin orange of Meghalaya to Dubai was facilitated by the union ministry of commerce and industry on Thursday.
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The trial export of the Khasi Mandarin oranges was carried out in collaboration with the Meghalaya department of agriculture and farmers welfare.
The project is a part of its initiatives to promote exports of locally-sourced Geographical Indications (GI) tagged agricultural products.
The Centre has taken the initiative through its apex agricultural export promotion body agricultural and processed food products export development authority (APEDA).
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The trial shipment started with one tonne of the organic juicy citrus fruit sourced from Jirangbased FPC (farmer producer company) under the Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya.
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The Khasi Mandarin oranges of Meghalaya are grown under the Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER), which is a sub-mission under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
The shipment was flagged off by S Sadhu, agriculture secretary to the government of Meghalaya, while APEDA chairman M Angamuthu addressed the gathering virtually and stressed on making the North Eastern Region a hub of organic products’ export.
“With the intervention of APEDA, there is a tremendous increase in the export of agricultural produce from North Eastern states like Meghalaya, Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. Due to the initiatives taken by APEDA, the NE region witnessed an 85.34 percent growth in the export of agricultural products in the last six years as it increased from USD 2.52 million in 2016-17 to USD 17.2 million in 2021-22. The major destination of export has been Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Middle East, the UK and Europe,” an official statement said.