New Delhi [India], August 6 : India's agricultural and processed food products exports rose by 31 per cent to USD 7,408 million in the first three months of the current financial year, as per the official data released on Saturday.
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 $7,408 million in April-June 2022 from $5,663 million over the same period of the last fiscal. The export target for April-June 2022-23 was fixed at $5,890 million.
The initiatives taken by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) which works under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry have helped the country in achieving 31 per cent of the total export target in the first quarter of the current fiscal.
For the year 2022-23, an export target of $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 per cent growth, while processed fruits and vegetables recorded a significant growth of 59.71 per cent (April-June 2022) in comparison to the corresponding months of the previous year.
Also, processed food products like cereals and miscellaneous processed items reported a growth of 37.66 per cent in comparison to the first quarter of the previous year.
In April-June, 2021, fresh fruits and vegetables were exported to the tune of $394 million which increased to $409 million in the corresponding months of the current fiscal. Exports of processed F&V jumped to $490 million in Q1 of the current fiscal from $307 million in the corresponding months of the previous year.
Basmati Rice exports witnessed a growth of 25.54 per cent in the first three months of FY 2022-23 as its export increased from $922 million (April-June 2021) to $1157 million (April-June 2022), while the export of non-Basmati rice registered a growth of 5 per cent in Q1 of current fiscal. Non-basmati rice export increased to $1566 million in the first three months of the current fiscal from $1491 million in the corresponding months of the previous year.
The export of meat, dairy & poultry products increased by 9.5 per cent and the export of other cereals recorded a growth of 29 per cent in Q1 of the current fiscal. The dairy products alone recorded a growth of 67.15 per cent as its export rose to $191 million in the first three months of the current fiscal from $114 million in the corresponding months of the previous year.
Other cereals' export increased from $237 million in April-June 2021 to $306 million in April-June 2022 and the export of livestock products increased from $1022 million in April-June 2021 to $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," M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA, said in a statement.
As per the DGCI&S data, the country's agricultural products exports had grown by 19.92 per cent during 2021-22 to touch $50.21 billion. The growth rate is significant as it is over and above the growth of 17.66 per cent at $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 $25.6 billion in 2021-22, which was around 51 per cent of India's total agricultural goods exports of more than $50 billion, according to an official statement released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
"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," Angamuthu said.
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.