KOCHI: With Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam’s (VFPCK’s) trials of sending nendran to Europe and the Middle East proving successful, experts say that it opens immense opportunities for farmers in Kerala in tapping the export market for GI-tagged food products from the state.
“With the exports of nendran becoming successful, we could even try sending GI-tagged nendran and other food products to overseas markets, especially the Middle East,” said Prof CR Elsy, former coordinator of the IPR Cell of Kerala Agricultural University.
She said that Chengalikodan nendran, the variety of banana from Thrissur which commands a premium in domestic markets, is one such product to be tried next. “Compared to Europe, there is a sizable population of Thrissur natives in the Middle East and they are the people who got some attachment to the Chengalikodan variety of nendran,” she said.
People from other states and countries usually prefer Robusta variety of banana, but it is Malayalis who prefer nendran the most, so where there is a considerable number of Malayalis, Kerala could find an easy market worth tapping, she added.
However, farmers and exporters have to adhere to the food quality parameters of the overseas market, which needs a new set of protocols to be followed by farmers. “Trichy-based National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB) had developed protocols for the same,” said Elsy.
Sivaramakrishnan, CEO-in-charge, VFPCK, said that it is the first time that nendran is being exported. “Malayalis in the Middle East had told us that they were getting a relatively-hardy variety of nendran originating from South Africa at local markets. And when we exported, we had given QR code to ensure traceability of our products. The nendran was sent in a temperature-controlled climate at 12 degrees Celsius. The consignment was sent to the UK and the second one to Kuwait,” he added.
Elsy said that other than nendran, we have a handful of other products which are worthy of being exported. “Marayoor jaggery is one such product. With the current style of packaging it could get a shelf-life of two months and with a better packaging, this could be extended,” she added.
Some of the unique rice varieties of Kerala could also find buyers in other parts of the world, she said. “Wayanad Jeerakasala rice and Wayanad Gandhakasala rice are two such products. Navara rice, which is cultivated in 12 districts of Kerala, and Vazhakulam pineapple could also find buyers in foreign markets,” Elsy said.
According to Elsy, Kerala should explore overseas markets aggressively. “This is because UK and European countries are GI-tagging more than 40 products in India to explore our domestic markets. Hence it is ripe time for us to explore the European markets with our own GI food products,” she said. Moreover, when the domestic prices are low, the export markets could fetch a decent price for the growers, she added.
