Context: India has emerged as the largest exporter of gherkins in the world.
Key takeaways
India has crossed the USD 200 million mark of export of agricultural processed product, – pickling cucumber, in the last financial year.
It is globally referred to as gherkins or cornichons.
Gherkin cultivation started in India during the early 1990s in Karnataka and later extended to Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Nearly 15% production of the world’s gherkin requirement is grown in India.
Apart from its export potential, the gherkin industry plays a key role in the creation of rural employment.
In India, cultivation of gherkins is carried out under contract farming by around 90,000 small and marginal farmers with an annual production area of 65,000 acres.
