Varanasi: Despite COVID-19, Commerce Ministry delivers mangoes to global markets

The Commerce Ministry sought to deliver exquisite mangoes and vegetables from Varanasi and neighbouring areas to foreign markets in Europe and Middle Eastern countries for the first time while the entire country was under strict lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The COVID-19 lockdown period since March last year was utilised to bring vegetables and fruits from Varanasi to the international markets through both land and sea routes. Varanasi was connected to the export markets through both air and; sea resulting in the export of fresh vegetables (green chilly, long guard, green peas and cucumber), mangoes (Banarasi, Langra, Ramkheda and Chausa), etc to Europe and the Middle Eastern countries," Commerce Ministry officials told ANI here.

The exports were made possible, said to officials because they linked the Fresh Vegetables and Fruits Exporters Association in Mumbai with farmer groups in Varanasi. The exporter association looked for markets for Varanasi produce and assisted farmers in making more money from their harvest.

"Till March 2021, 48 metric tonnes of fresh vegetables and 10 MT of mangoes have been exported from the Varanasi cluster," they stated.

Another notable export success thanks to the efforts of the Commerce Ministry, led by Piyush Goel, has been black rice, which was exported for the first time from Chandauli to Australia and New Zealand. The Varanasi cluster includes Chandauli as well.

According to the Commerce Ministry, the country's agricultural and allied product exports increased by 17.34% to USD 41.25 billion in 2020-21, and this rise is likely to continue in the current fiscal year.

On the sidelines of a conference, Deputy Director Rajan Sharma of the Commerce Ministry's Agriculture Division told ANI, "During the lockdown, as per the directions of Commerce Minister, the team led by Joint Secretary burnt the midnight oil and left no stone unturned to reach out to exporters and resolving their problems."

In the first week of lockdown itself, around 1000 calls of exporters were attended and all the issues like the movement of consignments, trucks, labour, issuance of certificates, lab testing reports, sample collection etc faced by the exporters were addressed after taking them up with the concerned authorities viz. local administration, police, ports. shipping and foreign trade authorities and ensured the real-time clearance of export consignments," he said.

He explained that the issuance of various certificates was made online to assist farmer groups and exporters and that all exporters can access certificates for export, certificates of origin, health certificates, and other documents through their mobile phones rather than visiting government offices, making exports more convenient.