Uttar Pradesh government plans clusters to meet farm exports target

The Uttar Pradesh government is targeting farm exports of Rs 50,000 crore in the next three-four years with export-oriented agricultural and horticultural clusters.

Currently, the state’s annual farm export is around Rs 20,000 crore.

The state government plans to leverage the Centre’s Rs 1,800 crore Clean Plant Programme to enhance the quality of horticultural exports. Key export crops will include mangoes, non-basmati rice, Indian gooseberry (amla), and bananas.

In 2022-23, India harvested 355 million tonnes (mt) of horticulture crops whereas the export value of fresh fruits and vegetables reached Rs 15,000 crore in 2023-24. Recent developments, such as Canada granting conditional market access for Indian horticultural products, are expected to further support these efforts.

Recently, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced the establishment of 100 export-oriented horticulture clusters in the next five years.  With nine distinct climate zones, fertile Indo-Gangetic plains, and abundant water resources, Uttar Pradesh is well-positioned to benefit from central schemes, a senior official in the Uttar Pradesh government said.

“Recognising the transformative potential of cluster farming, the state is upgrading existing agricultural clusters along with creating new ones for a range of fruits and crops,” he said.

Additionally, the state is upgrading districts under flagship One District One Product (ODOP) farming for grading, packing, branding, and marketing through Common Facility Centres (CFCs).

Also, agricultural goods are being transported via the inland waterway from Prayagraj to Haldia. The state plans to extend this route to Ayodhya to benefit farmers in the Central and Eastern regions of the state. The upcoming Jewar International Airport is also expected to boost farm exports from the western region of the state.

T Damodaran, director of Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture (CISH), said the institute had established clusters for the Dasheri and Chaunsa mango varieties in Lucknow and western Uttar Pradesh, benefitting around 4,000 orchardists.

The initiative is part of the Uttar Pradesh Agriculture Growth and Rural Enterprises Ecosystem Strengthening, a collaboration between World Bank and the state government with a budget outlay of Rs 4,000 crore.

For the first time, a consignment of 5 tonnes of Dasheri mangoes from Malihabad (Lucknow) was exported to the United States.