Fresh figs with GI tags from Purandar taluka in Maharashtra’s Pune region have been sent to Europe for the first time. A shipment from the Purandar Highlands Farmers Producers Company (PHFPC) was successfully sent to Germany. The Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board (MSAMB) enabled the export.
The first cargo was dispatched to Pilz Schindler GmbH in Hamburg, Germany, according to Rohan Ursal, chairman of the FPC. He stated that the farmer producing firm has been working on enhancing the fruit’s shelf life for the past two months. Fresh figs, while nutritious are perishable and their quality degrades within hours after being harvested. The FPC has been conducting studies with StePac, an Israeli packaging solution firm, and Bayer Crop Sciences’ food chain section over the past two months. The figs may be kept in great condition for 15 days after being prepared and tested according to precise standards in packhouse testing.
Following the success of this shipment, the farmer producer firm plans to start full-fledged shipments to Europe later this year, as well as penetrate the Pan-Asian market. The firm is also expanding its domestic footprint, having been able to transfer supplies out of Maharashtra through air freight to marketplaces in Hyderabad and other regions. Purandar Highlands has been operating in the fresh fig and custard apple sectors since January 2021. The firm has been exporting figs to seven states, including Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Cochin, and Hyderabad, under the ‘Super Figs’ brand name. Purandar Highlands fruit is also sourced by Nashik’s Sahyadri Farms, Tata Trent Hypermarket, and other retailers.
The FPC is now processing one tonne of figs per day and works with around 260 growers. He added the company plans to extend its operations to include additional farmers, as well as invite retail chains to set up packhouses in Purandar Taluka. With 0.3 million tonnes, Turkey is the world’s largest fig producer. The global fig production is estimated to be at 1.26 million tonnes.
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Fig cultivation is predominantly practised in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu in India. The overall area under fig cultivation is around 5,600 hectares, with a total yield of 13,802 tonnes of fruit. In Maharashtra, figs are grown on over 400 hectares, yielding approximately 4,300 tonnes of fresh figs. The Pune district produces about 90-92 percent of these figs. Poona figs are abundant in the Purandar region. The fig season lasts from May to June and December to January each year.
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