The Hindu : Front Page : Perishable cargo export needs more thrust

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 05, 2008
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Perishable cargo export needs more thrust

V.S. Palaniappan

Coimbatore: Potential for export of perishable cargo such as plants, cut flowers, flowers, fruits and vegetables from Coimbatore and nearby areas is not being fully tapped because of lack of a plant quarantine certification desk at the Coimbatore Airport.

Coimbatore, in spite of being a well-known agriculture economy, has not been able to tap its fullest export potential of the perishable commodities despite the launch of many direct flight services to Singapore, Colombo and Sharjah.

Cold storage facility

The quarantine certification desk is available in other major airports in the country but not in Coimbatore. The Airport Authority of India has all the logistics for the perishable commodities, including cold storage facility, but is yet to get the quarantine certification desk. Markets in the South East Asian and Middle East (Gulf) countries with a large Indian population require the perishable cargo items on a daily basis, some exporters said.

There was potential for export of close to 300 tonnes per month. Even the present export of two to three per cent of the perishable cargo is because of the services rendered by one of the scientists in Coimbatore (authorised to issue quarantine certificate).

At present only Maldives allows perishable commodities not accompanied by quarantine certification.

Exporters said if the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operation sanctioned a dedicated plant quarantine desk at the Coimbatore airport, the export potential of the perishable commodities from this region could be fully tapped.

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