Agri Exports - Riding High | Gist of Rajya Sabha TV / RSTV (now Sansad TV) - UPSC PDF Download

India’s Agri Exports

• The agricultural exports from India have crossed a record 50 billion dollars for the year 2021-22, the highest so far. This marks a growth rate of 19.92% compared to the previous year.
• India had achieved a growth rate of 17.66 per cent in 2020-21 and had clocked agri exports worth 41.87 billion in that year.
• The growth has been significant in marine products, plantation crops and staples like rice, wheat, sugar and cereals.
  • Wheat has registered a growth rate of about 273%. Wheat accounted for $2119 billion in 2021-22.
  • India has captured nearly 50% of the world’s rice market. Exports of rice were the top forex earners at $9.65 billion.
  • Dairy products showed around a 96% growth rate.
• This growth coming amidst the logistical challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic makes it even more remarkable.
• The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) was able to export agricultural and processed food products of the value of around 25.6 billion dollars, which is 51% of India’s total agricultural exports.

Factors aiding this growth rate

Favourable government policies

• Agri Export Policy of 2018 and institutional set-up to promote the policy
• One Product One District Programme
• Necessary infrastructure has been created like logistics for transportation and cold storage centres.
• Production cluster development
• Identification of markets and consumption trends. Quality standards have been set to retain export standards. This results in increased trust in Indian agri exports.

Geographical potential of India

• India has diverse climatic conditions. This makes India suitable for the cultivation of a diverse number of crops.

Other external reasons

• The Russia-Ukraine conflict and its effect on international supply chain disruptions has helped create a market for Indian agri produce.

Significance

• The record agri exports will help enhance farmers’ incomes in line with the government’s vision to double farmers’ incomes.
• The exports of products like rice and wheat will help rationalize the buffer storage capacity of India when it comes to foodgrains.
• The emergence of India as an agri export powerhouse augurs well for India’s image in the global arena.
• India’s exports are helping contain food inflation in many countries.

Recommendations to make India a food export powerhouse

• Further improve the infrastructure to ensure a supportive ecosystem for agri exports. There is a need to ensure a robust logistics chain.
• Strengthen the Geographical Indicator regime for agri products.