Agriculture exports up 10% to $21.8 bn in April-January

Exports of agricultural and processed food products rose by 10% to $ 21.79 billion during the first ten months of the current fiscal (2022-23) compared to the same period last year, driven by a spike in shipment of rice, fruits and vegetables, livestock and dairy products.

This comes at a time when India’s merchandise exports shrank by 6.59% to $32.91 billion on year in January, 2023 because of the slump in global trade and a moderation in domestic investment, and consumption demands. Cumulatively, however, during April-January 2022-23, the country’s merchandise exports rose 8.51% to $ 369.25 billion.

According to the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, the value of Basmati rice exports during April-January (2022-23) rose by more than 41% on year to $ 3.8 billion from $ 2.7 billion in the previous year.

The shipment of non-Basmati rice registered a moderate growth of 3.3% to $ 5.1 billion during the same period.

Because of robust demand and lower shipment from Pakistan due to floods impacting the crop last year, realisation from the Basmati rice rose by 19% to $ 1044/tonne in April-January (2022-23) against $877/tonne realised a year ago.

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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in its February, 2023 crop outlook has stated “India remains the most competitively-priced source for Asian rice,”. India’s broken-kernel rice was quoted at $ 435/tonne last month.

“Strong global demand and competitive pricing have ensured surge in rice exports in the current fiscal and adherence to quality parameters has resulted in significant demand for Indian rice with the grain being shipped to more than 75 countries,” M Angamuthu, Chairman, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Development Authority (APEDA) told FE.

The export of meat, dairy and poultry products declined marginally compared to last year at $ 3.3 billion during the April-January period of the current fiscal compared to previous year. The dairy products alone registered a growth of 10% to $ 512 million during the same period.

Processed fruits and vegetables reported export growth of 29% to $ 1.6 billion in April-January, 2022-23 on year.

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For the current fiscal, an export target of $ 23.5 billion has been set by APEDA. Other key agricultural products exported from the country include marine products, spices, tea, coffee and tobacco

Exports of products under APEDA basket was $ 25.6 billion in 2021-22, which was around 51% of the country’s total agricultural goods exports of more than $ 50 billion.

Commerce ministry officials attribute the rise in the export of agricultural and processed food products because of the centre’s initiatives such as organising B2B exhibitions in various countries, tie ups with global hypermarket chains, exploring new potential markets through product-specific marketing campaigns by the active involvement of Indian missions.