Maharashtra has accounted for the lion’s share of export of fruits, vegetables and flowers from the country. The Economic Survey of the state for the year 2022-23 shows that the state has managed to retain its leadership position for the last three financial years.
Known as the Fruit Bowl of the country, Maharashtra has over the years managed to thrive in both horticulture and the floriculture industry. Grapes, mangoes, bananas and pomegranate are its chief horticulture crops, while rose is a major flower crop grown for export markets. Nashik, Pune, Ahmednagar, Solapur, Nagpur and Jalgaon are major regions where horticulture crops are grown.
The state is the largest producer of onion in the country and is also a leading exporter. The Economic Survey, which was placed before the state legislature on Wednesday, showed a constant growth in the export of fruits, vegetables and flowers in the country. When it comes to fruits like mangoes, grapes, pomegranates and bananas, the national trend has been a sinusoidal pattern with peaks and lows marking the time. Thus after high exports of 2021-22, they are expected to take a hit this financial year as untimely rains have affected the crop and the availability of export-ready material.
The year 2021-22 was the best in terms of exports both in the state and the country. Thus, compared to 27,873 tonnes of mangoes exported from the country, Maharashtra alone accounted for 20,874 tonnes. Similarly, of the 2.63 lakh tonnes of grapes sent abroad, Maharashtra shipped out 1.62 lakh tonnes. The trend was similar for bananas (3.76/2.73 lakh tonnes) and oranges (1.19/1.07 lakh tonnes) was the same. Only in the case of pomegranate the trend showed a change, with Maharashtra exporting 16,381 of the 99,043 tonnes of the fruit. Of the 15.36 lakh tonnes of onion exported, 5.78 lakh tonnes were from Maharashtra. Of the 1,199 tonnes of roses exported, 210.6 tonnes were from the state and of the 22.8 tonnes of rose plants exported, 21.2 tonnes were from Maharashtra.
Over the last several years, clusters have been developed for producing export-quality fruits and vegetables in the state. Thus grape growers in Nashik or rose growers in Pune have perfected growing techniques for export quality produce. Hapus or Alphonso and Kesar are among major types of mangoes exported from the state.
