India’s Growing Exports of Food Items

Continuing with the trend from the previous year, the exports of agricultural and processed food products rose by 31 percent in the first three months of the current Financial Year 2022-23 (April-June) in comparison to the corresponding period of FY 2021-22.

According to the provisional data released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), the overall export of APEDA products increased to USD 7408 million in April-June 2022 from USD 5663 million over the same period of the last fiscal. The export target for April-June 2022-23 was fixed at USD 5890 million.

The initiatives taken by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) that works under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry have helped the country in achieving 31 percent of the total export target in the first quarter of the current fiscal.

For the year 2022-23, an export target of USD 23.56 billion has been fixed by APEDA for the agricultural and processed food products basket.

As per the DGCI&S provisional data, fresh fruits & vegetables registered four percent growth, while processed fruits and vegetables recorded a significant growth of 59.71 percent (April-June 2022) in comparison to corresponding months of the previous year.

Also, processed food products like cereals and miscellaneous processed items reported a growth of 37.66 percent in comparison to the first quarter of the previous year.

In April-June, 2021, fresh fruits and vegetables were exported to the tune of USD 394 million that increased to USD 409 million in the corresponding months of the current fiscal. Exports of processed F&V jumped to USD 490 million in Q1 of the current fiscal from USD 307 million in the corresponding months of the previous year.

Basmati Rice exports witnessed a growth of 25.54 percent in the first three months of FY 2022-23 as its export increased from USD 922 million (April-June 2021) to USD 1157 million (April-June 2022), while the export of non-Basmati rice registered a growth of 5 percent in Q1 of current fiscal. Non-basmati rice export increased to USD 1566 million in the first three months of the current fiscal from USD 1491 million in the corresponding months of the previous year.

The export of meat, dairy & poultry products increased by 9.5 percent and the export of other cereals recorded a growth of 29 percent in Q1 of the current fiscal. The dairy products alone recorded a growth of 67.15 percent as its export rose to USD 191 million in the first three months of the current fiscal from USD 114 million in corresponding months of the previous year.

Other cereals’ export increased from USD 237 million in April-June 2021to USD 306 million in April-June 2022 and the export of livestock products increased from USD 1022 million in April-June 2021 to USD 1120 million in April-June 2022.“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,”Dr. M. Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA, has said.

As per the DGCI&S data, the country’s agricultural products exports had grown by 19.92 per cent during 2021-22 to touch USD 50.21 billion. The growth rate is significant as it is over and above the growth of 17.66 per cent at USD 41.87 billion achieved in 2020-21 and has been achieved in spite of unprecedented logistical challenges in the form of high freight rates and container shortages, etc.

APEDA had scripted a new history by exporting agricultural and processed food products to the tune of USD 25.6 billion in 2021-22, which was around 51 per cent of India’s total agricultural goods exports of more than USD 50 billion.

“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,” according to Angamuthu.

The rise in the export of agricultural and processed food products is the outcome of APEDA’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 APEDA 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 a bid to give a boost to the export of Indian wine, the APEDA facilitated participation of 10 wine exporters in the London Wine Fair held between June 7- 9, 2022.

APEDA recently organized a conference on the boosting export potential of natural, organic and GI-agro Products from the north-eastern states in Guwahati, Assam. The objective of the conference was to promote the export of natural, organic and GI agro-products grown in Assam and neighbouring states by creating international market linkages.

In collaboration with the Union Territory of Ladakh, APEDA recently organized an International Buyer Seller Meet, which aimed at boosting exports of Apricots and other agri-products from Ladakh. Eighteen entrepreneurs from UTs of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir displayed a range of Apricots and other Agri Products. Twenty buyers from India, USA, Bangladesh, Oman, Dubai participated in this event.

APEDA launched an eight-day-long Mango Festival in the Kingdom of Bahrain on June 13. At the show, 34 varieties of mangoes from eastern states, including West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha, were displayed at Bahrain’s Al Jazira group supermarket.

The mango show in Bahrain is part of APEDA’s new initiatives to explore international markets for Indian mangoes under the ‘Mango Festival 2022’. It’s the outcome of APEDA’s commitment to provide a global platform for Indian mangoes that for the time 34 varieties of mangoes from eastern states have been showcased in Bahrain. On earlier occasions, mango varieties from Southern states like Alphonso, Kesar, Banganpalli, etc were showcased in most of the global shows.

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