India’s may be one of the top ranking countries in terms of agricultural production but we have a long way to go before we make our mark in global markets. An important pre-requisite to stepping up exports is improving the transportation system for agricultural produce. Extending the shelf life of perishable cargo is of vital importance while determining the mode of transport to be used. The duration of the journey and the rigours the cargo will counter in transit are other contributory factors to be considered. But when it comes to overseas shipping of perishable cargo, one criterion that carries maximum weight is the cost factor.

“In India 99 per cent of perishable cargo is transported by sea. Since air transport is very expensive, it proves to be uneconomical. Therefore, just a negligible one per cent of all perishable cargo is transported overseas by this mode,” explains Anil James, partner, P. James & Co., a freight forwarding and custom house agents firm that handles sea export of reefer cargo originating from Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

Agricultural products that are routinely shipped abroad include vegetables, fruit pulp, and fresh fruits like mangoes, grapes, sapotas, papayas, guavas and pineapples as well as meat and poultry, which are classified as agricultural products because there is no separate export promotional council for them.

Fruits with a shorter shelf life are exported to the Middle East, which is accessible by sea in about four to seven days. Fruits with a longer shelf life such as grapes are shipped to Europe. For the last six years the Agricultural Products Export Development Authority of India (APEDA) has been exploring the European markets to identify outlets for mangoes with longer shelf life. Mangoes such as the Alphonso from Maharashtra and Baiganpali from Hyderabad are the main varieties that are being exported.

The temperatures required to be maintained while transporting fruits and agricultural products depend on the kind of fruit or vegetable. For example, mangoes are kept at 200 C (not in a frozen condition). At this ambient temperature the process of semi-fermentation takes place. On the other hand grapes are best when maintained at 0 C to 10 C.

Export of vegetables by sea is limited mainly to Okra, onions, potatoes, and peas (in frozen condition). Other agricultural products including flowers and certain kinds of vegetables with a shorter shelf life (less than a day) find air transport the only alternative. There is extensive scope for including many other kinds of fruits and vegetables to be exported overseas, there has been little progress or any development visualised in this regard due to improper pre and post harvest management by Indian farmers.

From farm to port

Exporters generally have a pre-cooling unit on their farms or in their locality. After harvest, the commodity is immediately chilled and stored in this pre-cooling plant. When shipping the commodity the reefer container is taken directly to the farm and the fruits or vegetable items are loaded into the container at the site itself and brought to the port.

Fruits are generally packed in cartons. Grapes are packed into perforated bubble polybags since there is ethylene emission of the fruits. The bubbles help to absorb shocks during transport.

Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) is a new technique of packaging, which has not yet been fully exploited in India. In this method an atmosphere is created around the product, which acts as a preservative for a specific period of time. The atmosphere is adjusted to vary the level of various gases required. If oxygen is found to be harmful for certain products then all the oxygen is removed from the enclosed storage space where the products are placed and nitrogen is injected. Similarly, other components of air can also be adjusted according to the requirement of the product to be transported so as to create the right atmosphere to maintain the products’ texture, colour, taste, freshness, etc., till the delivery of the goods.

In the case of grapes, MAP is employed to enhance the shelf life, the grape guard bag used are sulphur bags which help to neutralise the ethylene generated within the box. Sulphur dioxide that is also simultaneously produced acts as a pesticide, which further enhances the shelf life of the grapes to about 180 days.

In spite of India being the world’s largest grower of mangoes besides having a large variety of fruits in general, its export potential has not been properly exploited for a number of reasons. Though APEDA and other governmental authorities have been doing research, not much has accomplished in the area of harvesting and transportation.