The State government will step up pressure on the Centre to include Kerala in the National Agricultural Export Promotion (NAEP) scheme and set up export clusters for rubber, banana, mango, turmeric, cashew, pepper, coconut and tea, Chief Minister told the Assembly on Monday.
Replying to a calling attention motion moved by Mons Joseph, he said the State had urged the Union Commerce Ministry to establish export clusters for domestic crops. The draft National Agricultural Export Policy published by the Commerce Ministry had mooted the idea of developing export clusters for 22 crops in 50 districts across the country.
Ernakulam and Wayanad are the only two districts in Kerala that figure on the list for export promotion of pineapple and ginger respectively.
Mr. Vijayan said the Centre had identified three districts in Tripura for setting up rubber export clusters, while Kerala had been left out. “We will exert pressure on the Centre to address these concerns.”
He added that the task force set up by the Centre to study the problems faced by rubber farmers in Kerala had convened twice. “We have highlighted the need to recognise rubber as an agricultural crop and curb imports as well as to slash the GST on plastic cups used to collect rubber from trees,” he added.