New Delhi, Feb 14 (PTI) The commerce ministry on Friday said the first consignment of Nagpur oranges was flagged off to Dubai from Navi Mumbai.

Mrig crop (monsoon blossom) of oranges, which matures in February – March, has great potential for export, it said.

According to Maharashtra State Agriculture Department 40 lakh hectare land is under orange cultivation in Nagpur and major orange growing pockets are Warud, Katol, Saoner, Kalameshwar and Narkhed in Nagpur and Amravati districts.

The international trade in 2018 for orange was USD 10.18 billion.

India produced 8,781 thousand tonne of orange in 2018-19 (orange includes Mandarin, clementine).

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)