Tropical and subtropical vegetables (2+1)

Problems in Export

Inadequate Air Cargo Space:
                               Except onion and tuber vegetables, all other items are transported by air. Non-availability of sufficient air cargo space at a time has been a major constraint in increasing the export.

Higher Air Freight:
                              Air freight of vegetable export from India to Gulf countries and UK etc. is very high compared to Kenya, Jordan, Lebanon etc. This is one of the major bottlenecks in increasing the export.

Restriction in the Export:
                              Many times because of failure of a particular crop and increased local demand, the export has to be restricted. This does not allow regular export due to which we loose many foreign markets.

Non-Availability of Suitable Varieties:
                               In onion, we do not have production of yellow onions which are in demand in European and Japanese markets. Bigger clove garlic is also not available in adequate quantities, which are now demanded by almost every country.

Absence of Cultivation of Suitable Crops/Varieties Exclusively for Export as Fresh or For Processing:
                              Presently, there is no exclusive production of suitable varieties for export as fresh or processing. This increases cost which affects export adversely.

Improper Packing of the Produce:
                              In many vegetables, open mesh jute bags are still being used, whereas, preference is there for open mesh plastic woven bags. The corrugated fiber board boxes being used at present also do not have required strength and thus rare damaged in transit. No proper space handling / storage of material at ports/airports. Cold storage facilities at all ports or airports do not exist. Adequate handling space also does not exist. This results in damage to stock.

Inadequate Research & Development Backup:
                             Not much export oriented Research & Development programmes are being taken up in vegetables. The quality of the produce is, therefore, not uniform as per the requirement of foreign markets. Lot of labour is thus wasted in sorting and grading of the produce.