India’s Exports of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Witness an Increase of More than 13 Per Cent

The export of products under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) ambit grew from US$ 11,671 million between April-November 2020-21 to US$ 13,261 million between April-November 2021-22. Under AEPDA basket products, the target for exports has been fixed at US$ 23,713 million between 2021-22.

Despite COVID-19 related logistical challenges, India’s exports of agricultural and processed food products exceeded 13% in US$ terms during the first eight months of the current fiscal (April-November, 2021-22) compared to the same period of the previous year.

Top product exported was rice with foreign earnings at US$ 5,937 million growing at 11% YoY between April-November, 2021-22. This was followed by Meat, Dairy and Poultry Products as well as fruits and vegetables among others. The break-up of agricultural and processed exports between April-November, 2021-22 vs 2020-21 is in the table below:

The government’s commitment to increase farmer’s income through giving thrust on boosting exports of agricultural and processed food products of the country resulted in significant rise in agri-exports.

According to Dr. M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA, “We continue to focus on creating infrastructure for boosting exports by focusing on clusters in collaboration with state governments while taking into consideration objective of Agriculture Export Policy, 2018.” APEDA has also worked with State Governments for the Agriculture Export Policy implementation. State Specific Action Plan has been finalized by Maharashtra, U.P., Kerala, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Manipur, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, M.P., Mizoram and Meghalaya. Other states are at various stages of finalization.

APEDA has taken many initiatives to promote geographical indications (GI) registered agricultural and processed food products in India. This was done by organizing virtual Buyer Seller Meets on agricultural and food products with the major importing countries worldwide. APEDA has also recognized 220 labs across India to boost testing in order to ensure seamless quality certification of products to be exported.