Question : Which country has emerged as largest exporters of cucumber and gherkins in the world ?
a. India
b. Germany
c. Australia
d. Canada
Ans. a.
Related facts —
- India has emerged as the largest exporter of gherkins in the world.
- In 2020-21, India had shipped 2,23,515 Metric Tonnes of cucumber and gherkins with a value of USD 223 million.
- India has exported cucumber and gherkins to the tune of 1,23,846 Metric Tonnes with a value of USD 114 million during April-October, 2021.
- India has crossed the USD 200 million mark of export of agricultural processed product, – pickling cucumber, which is globally referred as gherkins or cornichons, in the last financial year.
- Background —
- Gherkin cultivation, processing and exports started in India during the early 1990s with a modest beginning in Karnataka and later extended to the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
- Nearly 15% production of the world’s gherkin requirement is grown in India.
- Gherkins export destination — Major destinations being North America, European countries and Oceanic countries such as USA, France, Germany, Australia, Spain, South Korea, Canada, Japan, Belgium, Russia, China, Sri Lanka and Israel.
- Contract Farming(CF) —
- In India, cultivation of gherkins is carried out under CF by around 90,000 small and marginal farmers with an annual production area of 65,000 acres.
- Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority —
- It has played a significant role in promotion of export of processed vegetables and it has been providing financial assistance for development of infrastructure and enhancing quality of processed gherkins, products promotion in the international market and implementation of food safety management systems in the processing units.
By – Pankaj Pandey