Pomegranates : We produce 60% of world's pomegranates and export 2%

My Dad loves pomegranate and its juice.And so I have the natural tendency of loving it as well. We in India get this juice on most of the local juice corners. But slowly and slowly it is getting costlier and costlier and so getting out of the reach of common people. I just got to know that India produce around 60% of worlds's pomegranates and has number 1 ranking in world.

India produce so many diverse variety of fruits and vegetables which are not possible in many other countries of the world. But still Indian fruits and vegetable export is very less as compare to many other countries.
For entrepreneur's point of view ,India has a great window of opportunity for the people working in food and vegetable export business.And that is the reason why Ashutosh Sawant(IIM-B) took up the challenge of making career in this feild. He started by working with farmers and help them produce export-quality fruits and vegetables and finally export them. He started a firm which looks at exporting frozen fruits like alphonso mangoes, frozen strawberry, pomegranate arils, frozen vegetables and cauliflower florets.

He says - "The main reason why our products could not be exported was because we used farming methods that were unacceptable in other countries — like using banned pesticides. I will work closely with farmers, help them with best practices and finally export the produce,"

Ashutosh has already started his pilot projects. Back at his hometown in Kadegoan, Karad taluk, Maharashtra, he has entered into a contract with the owner of a 150-acre mango grove. "I helped the farmers with the technical knowhow like dip irrigation and use of chemicals. They do not have access to such knowledge. I consulted with the Central Food Technological Research Institute. The first produce is almost ready," he said.

The total value addition to fruits and vegetables in India is less — around 4% — compared to global standards of 45%-50%, he points out.

Once the produce is there, he will look at marketing it to retail chains in other continents. The processing involves cleaning them from chemicals, cutting them according to the specifications of the client and packing in refrigerated containers. 

In the experiment, a group of men and women were given a 500ml bottle of pomegranate juice to drink every day for four weeks.The researchers found that nearly half of all volunteers had much lower NEFA levels by the end of the trial. They believe that this will make them less likely to store fat around their stomach.
Besides, more than 90 per cent of the men and women had lower blood pressure by the month end. 


There is no doubt that pomegranate juice is beneficial in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease because results showed a significant and consistent lowering of blood pressure.