Bhubaneswar: Today morning from Biju Patnaik International Airport cargo terminal in Bhubaneswar at 8:30. Dragon fruit was exported for the first time from Odisha. This fruit has grown in Patnagarh in Balangir district has been exported to Dubai. Earlier Mangoes from Dhenkanal, parwal from Bolangir have been exported abroad.
Now the government is stressing upon horticulture, and advising farmers to adopt this practice.
The Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo introduced himself as a proud farmer and said that the decision taken during the covid has borne fruit today and today 4 quintals of dragon fruit have been exported to Dubai through Indigo Cargo. The fruits are grown completely organically so that the nutrients of the fruits remain intact and they stay fresh longer than those produced with other chemical fertilizers. Dragon fruit is beneficial for health. By consuming it, the body will not have problems like cancer, diabetes, constipation etc, the Deputy CM added.
Incentives are provided by the state government for horticulture. These incentives include farm ponds, irrigation system, subsidy through DBT etc. Today horticulture has been given more importance as the demand for it is increasing day by day and the farmers are also getting more return with lesser investment and within a short span. In the coming days, the aim is to export high-quality agricultural products from Odisha to foreign countries in large scale added the Principal Secretary DAFE, Dr. Arabinda Padhee. Before the launch of this export, Singhdeo broke coconuts and flagged off the export. Director Horticulture Nikhil Pawan Kalyan, other senior officials from Department and Sitakanta Mandal, Biswajit Behera, Debarati Ghatak, Arthak Darshan, Sritam Panigrahi, Bibhuti, Bikash Pilai from APEDA and Palladium were present.