The pineapple sector is doubly impacted

After the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is now tensions with Nepal that are causing major losses for the pineapple sector in West Bengal state, east of India.

 

 

 

West Bengal state is located in the east of India, it is bordered by Nepal to the northwest, by Bhutan to the north, Bangladesh to the east and the Bay of Bengal to the south. Its capital is Kolkata, formerly Calcutta.

 

 

 

Pineapple crops cover almost 25,000 hectares and production reaches 6.2 lakh tonnes (620,000 tonnes). Pineapple exports to neighboring Nepal for the period June to August total around 3,000 tonnes per year.

 

 

 

This year, traffic restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic increased transportation costs, which slowed sales. To this economic impact were added border tensions with Nepal which declared part of its territory areas hitherto Indian. These tensions led to the suspension of pineapple exports.

 

 

 

This suspension of exports will cause significant losses for the 100,000 pineapple producers in the state. Professionals in the sector believe that it is now necessary to explore other markets, the markets of other Indian states and markets abroad.