In a step towards boosting horticultural crops exports, the first commercial shipment of Mishri variety of luscious cherries from Kashmir valley has been exported to Dubai from Srinagar. APEDA assisted the shipment of cherries to Dubai by Desai Agri-Food, a venture company of Innoterra, Dubai.

Prior to this shipment, a sample consignment was sent in the middle of June 2021 from Srinagar to Dubai through air transshipped from Mumbai. Following an encouraging response from the consumers in Dubai, the first commercial shipment of the Mishri variety of cherries was exported to Dubai.

The union territory of Jammu and Kashmir produces more than 95% of the total country’s production of commercial varieties of cherries in the country. It produces four varieties of cherry — Double, Makhmali, Mishri and Italy.

Prior to the shipment, the cherries were harvested, cleaned, and packed by APEDA registered exporter while the technical inputs were provided by the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Science and Technology of Kashmir.

APEDA-National Referral Laboratory at National Research Centre for Grapes, Pune, provided support for ensuring food safety and quality in the shipment, which would help create a brand for cherries, especially in the middle east countries.

According to the ministry of commerce and industry, the commencement of commercial shipment of cherries would provide huge opportunities for exports of several temperate fruits like plums, pears, apricots, and apples from Kashmir, especially to the Middle East countries in the forthcoming seasons.

APEDA has been conducting interactions with farmers, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), government officials and other stakeholders for boosting the exports potential of agricultural produce from Kashmir such as apples, almonds, walnuts, saffron, rice, fresh fruits and vegetables and certified organic products.

Several rounds of virtual awareness creation programs involving the local producers, suppliers, FPOs and exporters from Kashmir are being conducted for ensuring the export of temperate fruits from the region.

To ensure exports of quality agricultural produce that adhere to global standards, APEDA has also initiated an awareness program on the National Programme on Organic Production and ISO-17065 requirements for the officials of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The purpose of such a program was to acquaint officials of the UTs with the third-party certification system for organic products and international trade of organic products.