INDIA RECORDS AROUND 15% RISE IN EXPORT OF AGRICULTURAL AND PROCESSED FOOD PRODUCTS

India has recorded 14.7% significant rise in the export of agricultural and processed food products from April to October.

According to the Quick Estimates released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), the overall export of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports Development Authority (APEDA) products increased from USD 10,157 million to USD 11,651 million.

This rise in exports has been achieved notwithstanding COVID-19 restrictions. This current rise has been seen as a testimony of the government’s commitment to increase farmers’ income through giving thrust on boosting exports of agricultural and processed food products of the country.

The significant rise in exports of agricultural and processed products during the initial seven months of current fiscal is in continuation of development in exports witnessed in the financial year 2021.

Export of rice recorded a positive growth of 10.5 per cent representing an increase from USD 4777.35 million in April to October 2020 to USD 5278.95 million in April-October 2021.

The Quick Estimates also indicated that the exports of fresh fruits and vegetables recorded an 11.6 per cent growth, while shipment of processed food products like cereals preparations and miscellaneous processed items reported a growth of 29 per cent. As per the Quick Estimates, fresh fruits and vegetables were exported to the tune of USD 1374.59 million which rose to USD 1534.05 million from April to October, 2020-2021 respectively.

Also, the export of cashew witnessed a growth of 29.2 per cent from April to October as the export of cashew rose from USD 205.29 million to USD 265.27 million in that same period.

The export of other cereals increased from USD 274.98 million to USD 509.77 million, while the export of meat, dairy and poultry products increased from USD 1978.6 million in 2020 fiscal year to USD 2286.32 million in 2021.

The Chairman of APEDA, Dr. Angamuthu said “We continue to focus on creating infrastructure for exports from eastern, north-eastern regions and hilly states, where infrastructure was earlier not adequate.”

Sources reveal that the rise in export of agricultural and processed products is because of APEDA’s various initiatives taken for the export promotion of agricultural and processed food products such as organizing B2B exhibitions in different countries, exploring new potential markets through product specific and general marketing campaigns by active involvement of Indian Embassies.

Currently, APEDA is continuing with the initiative of conducting Virtual Buyer Seller Meets (VBSM) with potential importing countries to popularize the products of major agricultural commodities exported.

According to APEDA, it has identified 220 labs across India to provide services of testing to a wide range of products and exporters.