Agriculture Export Rises 14 PC In April-June Quarter

Ministry of Commerce and Industry has said that the exports of agricultural and processed food products rose by 14 per cent in the first three months of the current Financial year 2022-23 as compared to the corresponding period of FY 2021-22.

The government has set an export target of USD 23.56 billion for the agriculture and processed food products basket under APEDA for the year 2022-23. The initiatives taken by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry have helped the country in achieving 25 per cent of the total annual export target in the first three months of the current fiscal.

According to the Quick Estimates data released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), the overall export of products under APEDA ambit increased to USD 5,987 million in April-June 2022 from USD 5,256 million over the same period of the last fiscal. The export target for April-June 2022-23 was USD 5,890 million. The APEDA basket excludes Tea, coffee, spices, cotton and marine exports.

The exports of fresh fruits and vegetables registered 8.6 per cent growth, while processed food products like cereals and miscellaneous processed items reported an impressive growth of 36.4 per cent (April-June 2022-23) compared to corresponding months of the previous year. In April-June, 2021, fresh fruits and vegetables were exported to the tune of USD 642 million that increased to USD 697 million in the corresponding months of the current fiscal. Other cereals’ export increased from USD 237 million in April-June 2021to USD 306 million in April-June 2022 and the export of meat, dairy and poultry products increased from USD 1023 million in April-June 2021 to USD 1120 million in April-June 2022.

Rice exports witnessed a growth of 13 percent in the first three months of FY 2022-23, while the export of meat, dairy and poultry products increased by 9.5 per cent and export of other cereals increased by 29 per cent.

“We continue to provide technical and financial assistance to various stakeholders in the agricultural goods value chains for boosting exports of unique products from the country. Through creating a necessary eco-system of exports along with collaboration with key stakeholders in the agri-exports value chains, we are aiming to sustain the growth in India’s agricultural and processed food exports in the current fiscal as well,” M. Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA, said. 

The rise in the export of agricultural and processed food products is the outcome government’s various initiatives taken for the export promotion of agricultural and processed food products such as organising B2B exhibitions in different countries, exploring new potential markets through product-specific and general marketing campaigns by the active involvement of Indian Embassies. The government has also taken several initiatives to promote products having registered geographical indications (GI) in India by organising virtual Buyer Seller Meets on agricultural and food products with the United Arab Emirates and on GI products, including handicrafts with the USA.

In order to ensure seamless quality certification of products to be exported, the government has recognised 220 labs across India to provide services of testing to a wide range of products and exporters.