Nexus of Good: From local to global

Among many commercial varieties of banana, Nendran is very unique as it is the only variety that is consumed in many forms and at different stages of ripening. It is a popular variety in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, with a share of 50 per cent in the local market of these states. The fruit is relatively longer and has a thicker skin with a distinct neck.

Efforts for boosting agricultural exports started during 2014-15 when KR Jyothilal, an IAS officer, was Secretary (Agriculture) in Kerala. When DK Singh, another IAS officer took over as the Agricultural Production Commissioner, he looked at the possibility of exporting Nendran to countries with Indian diaspora, especially in the context of the State Agriculture Export Strategy announced by Kerala Government in 2019. However, there were a large number of issues that were required to be addressed before considering such exports. One of these constraints was the high cost of transportation by air. Discussions revealed that transportation by sea would be 1/7th of the cost incurred by air. However, transportation by sea posed another challenge — longer periods required for shipment to EU and North American countries. On account of their perishable nature, these agricultural products cannot survive long-distance container transport.

Despite the challenges relating to transportation by sea, it was decided to promote Nendran Banana. In consultation with the National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB), Trichy, it was decided to conduct some research work on the development of a protocol for the long-distance shipment (30-35 days) of Nendran Banana to Europe. Financial assistance for the project was obtained under the RKVY scheme of the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council, Keralam (VFPCK) was entrusted to execute the project. The project was designed in a PPP mode with the participation of multiple organisations like Department of Agriculture, Agri (PPM Cell), VFPCK, NRCB, Krishna Traders, Trace X and others. Under close monitoring and guidance of the current Agricultural Production Commissioner, Ishita Roy, the first consignment was shipped on March 8, 2021 from Kochi port. It reached London Gateway port on April 9, 2021, after sailing for 32 days.

The project enabled evolution of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) relating to pre- and post-harvest handling and cultivation practices. As a part of the entire exercise, 15 farmers were selected after field visits by NRCB scientists. Frequent visits by the officials to the farms and documentation of inputs used was ensured. Integrated nutrient management, pest and disease management practices etc. were conducted for getting good quality fruits.

A well-designed and -administered traceability system was integrated in the value chain. A Bangalore-based agri start-up provided food safety and supply chain traceability software as a service platform through a mobile application. The barcode provided in the clusters/cartons had the entire value chain data captured. The consumer could provide feedback after scanning the barcode.

Selected fields were visited every week during bunch emergence/flowering stage and tying of bunches that flowered simultaneously with same color ribbons. Repeating the same, during the following weeks, flowers were tied with different color ribbons for easy identification/harvest of bunches of same maturity.

Harvesting was done on March 2, 2021, ensuring 80-85 per cent maturity.

Harvested banana was transported to APEDA-Certified packhouse of VAFPCL at Nadukkara. Here, packhouse protocol that included washing, grading and fungicide treatment was followed. To delay ripening, bananas were packaged in a vacuum. Those were then palletised and kept in cold storage for 12 hours to bring down the temperature to 13.5 degrees Celsius, ensuring 80-85 per cent RH. Reefer containers were used to maintain the temperature and humidity conditions while transporting to the port. After port clearances, the consignment was loaded to the ship that sailed on March 8, 2021. The ship reached London Gateway Port on April 9, 2021. On arrival, bananas were still green without any deterioration in appearance and quality

The feedback received about the bananas was overwhelming. The demand for Nendran is building up in the UK markets. The enquiries made by other European and Middle east countries have been extremely encouraging.

There were a few other operational challenges that had to be overcome. Farmers had various apprehensions about assured income from exports. They had to harvest bananas a bit early as compared to their usual practice for the domestic market, which reduced the weight of the bunches — impacting their income. Further, for export, the 'hands' needed to be uniform and hence the first and last 'hands' in a bunch had to be discarded and domestic market needed to be sought for selling the same. The 'hands' had also to be de-handed in the field itself and the bunch covering removed carefully. The entire operation had to be carried out carefully on a flat surface that entailed additional labor charges. During the initial trials, the farmers could be convinced but this would be a challenge as the venture is scaled

The other set of challenges centred around selling the rejected bananas during packhouse operations; these bananas were also of good quality for the domestic market but were discarded due to packing specification of five bananas per hand. VFPCK could sell it through the VFPMC and Thalir network. In future, too, it would entail coordination with a number of agencies.

The temperature (below freezing point) in London was another challenge. This delayed the ripening. However, with the support of NRCB Trichy and the technical experts in London, and by adjusting temperature in ethylene chamber and exposure timing, ripening was triggered, yielding the desired result.

The success of the project will pave the way for new market prospects by integrating Kerala to the global value chain, and thereby ensuring that farmers get better and consistent prices. The reduced logistics cost shall benefit the producers as well as consumers.

Remarkable feature of this project had been the support from the Agricultural Minister VS Sunil Kumar. Ishita Roy and her team present a wonderful example of Nexus of Good as they have demonstrated that if there is a vision, a well-defined strategy, meticulous planning and commitment to execute, it can be made to happen by taking all the stakeholders, including the politicians, into confidence and by conveying a value proposition. The approach adopted is replicable.

Views expressed are personal