As part of “Banana4growth”, a shipment of 22 tons of bananas from India was handled at Trieste port. The fruit will be donated to 51,000 less fortunate people in the Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto regions.

‘Banana4growth’ is development cooperation project co-financed with regional funds, of which Autorita’ di Sistema Portuale del Mare Adriatico Orientale (AdSP – Eastern Adriatic Sea Port Authority) is the leading partner together with the University of Udine, the University of Tamil Nadu and the Tamil Nadu Banana Producers Association.

With a total budget of €150,000, Banana4growth aims to help the banana producers of Tamil Nadu, a state in South India, in the realisation of more modern production and transport processes.

India is the world’s leading banana producer. However, due to the production and transport methods, they cannot be sold abroad. The main objective of the initiative was the construction of a prototype conveyor belt to transfer the bananas from the harvesting field in a faster and more efficient way, preserving the quality of the product.

According to an article on https://www.portseurope.com/trieste-port-may-become-gateway-for-europes-banana-imports-from-india/, a crucial role was also reserved for the specific training for the transport of goods from India to Trieste, identified as a gateway for reaching the European market.