Exports in Bihar’s agricultural products such as Makhana, shahi litchi, jardalu mango, katrani rice, are going to be easier. Foreign products from Bihar can now be exported directly. This will also increase the income of farmers of Bihar. The Modi government at the Centre has approved the opening of the Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) in Patna. A place has been allotted in the Annexe Bhawan of Mithapur Krishi Bhawan complex. It will be inaugurated soon.
Increase in agricultural exports from Bihar
Agricultural exports from Bihar will increase after APEDA’s regional office opens. The goal is to trip it in the next three years. In the first year, 50 FPOs will be on board. 20 thousand farmers will be given related training. 10 pack house will be certified.
Deputy Chief Minister cum Agriculture Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha said that now farmers, productive organizations, processors and exporters will get training, certification, packaging, standardization and export facilities in Patna. This will give a fair price for Bihar’s agriculture and horticulture products in the international market. Farmers’ income will increase.
Certificate gets from Varanasi office
Farmers of Bihar were currently having to get certificates from the Agricultural Products of Bihar from the APEDA office in Varanasi. They had to look towards Kolkata and Lucknow for phyto sanitary lab. Exports used to get the green signal only after getting the certificate from there. There was a lot of delay in this process. In such a situation, exporters used to take raw materials from Bihar and packing in other states.
In this way, despite the product being from Bihar, it used to go to the export account of another state. Despite being an agricultural state, Bihar’s share in agricultural exports is still very low. In the year 2023, US $ 17.6 million was exported from here. Bihar contributes 71 percent in shahi litchi production in the country, 85 percent in Makhana, 9 percent in vegetables and 7 percent in maize production.
“APEDA will boost agricultural exports from Bihar and increase the existing potential threefold in the next three years. In 2023, exports were worth $17.6 million. We aim to triple that,” Sinha said in an agriculture department communiqué. He added that APEDA would help improve farmers’ income by promoting farming as a commercial venture through standard export practices.