Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Dutch keen to trade in flowers; site finalised in Uttarakhand

India may shortly vie for world’s top exporter slot in cut and fresh flowers.

Dutch government is keen to triple India’s agro-exports, especially horticulture and floriculture products to corner a significant market share valued at billion euros in next 10 years.

Holland — world’s second largest agro-exporter — aims to retain India as sourcing base for fresh raw materials for its own agro-processing industry.

“We need good production base to source raw materials and fresh produce for processing and exports,” said Bob Heinsch, Dutch ambassador to India. Dutch firms fuelling agro-exports worth 64 billion Euros are now evincing huge interest in setting up bases in the country, he said.

Holland, a big player in cut-fresh flowers, is second only to US’ earnings from agro-exports. The country already recognises China as its ‘natural partner’ after tripling its trade with it in agricultural produce to 400 million Euros in last five years.

India’s current trade with Holland that accounts for less than 0.2 per cent of world’s farmland has already notched up to about 300 million euros in first nine months of the current fiscal. Of this, about 150 million euros worth trade is from fresh vegetables and floriculture.

A major processor and exporter of fresh agricultural produce, other than milk and cheese, Holland’s agri-exports are valued at 64 billion Euros and its imports stand at 42 billion Euros annually. This month, 25 Dutch companies backed with the government support, are hosting a joint trade expo of floriculture and horticulture producers in the capital.

“Our government had provided five million euros as support to the agro export industry to assist in framing new joint ventures and activities, a lot of them concerning technology transfer for evolving cross breeds jointly and post-harvest management are to be announced at the expo,” Dutch trade counsellor for Agriculture, Nature and Food Control, Henk van Dujin said.

http://www.mydigitalfc.com/news/dutch-keen-trade-flowers-site-finalised-uttarakhand-899

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