The rise in exports has been achieved notwithstanding COVID-19 restrictions
India has achieved a significant increase of 21.8 per cent in the export of agricultural and processed food products in the 2021-22 (April-August) in comparison to the corresponding period of 2020-21. 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 Export Development Authority (APEDA) products has witnessed 21.8 per cent growth in terms of US dollar during April-August 2021 over the same period of the previous year.
The overall export of APEDA products increased from $6485 million in April-August 2020 to USD 7902 million in April-August 2021. This rise in exports has been achieved notwithstanding COVID-19 restrictions. The significant spike in agri-exports is 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 huge jump in exports of agricultural and processed food products during the first five months of the current fiscal is in continuation of growth in exports witnessed in the financial year 2020-21. According to WTO’s trade map, with the total agri-exports of $37 billion in the year 2019, India is ranked at ninth position in the world ranking.
The export of rice, which recorded a positive growth of 13.7 per cent, increased from $3359 million in April-August 2020 to $3820 million in April-August 2021.
As per the Quick Estimates, the exports of fresh fruits and vegetables registered a 6.1 per cent growth in terms of US dollar, while shipment of processed food products like cereals preparations and miscellaneous processed items reported a growth of 41.9 per cent. In April-August 2020-21, fresh fruits and vegetables were exported to the tune of $1013 million which rose to $1075 million in April-August 2021-22.
India reported a significant 142.1 per cent jump in the export of other cereals while the export of meat, dairy and poultry products witnessed an increase 31.1 per cent in the first five months of the current fiscal (2021-22).
The export of other cereals increased from $157 million in April-August 2020 to $379 million in April-August 2021 and the export of meat, dairy and poultry products increased from $1185 million in April-August 2020 to $1554 million in April-August 2021. The cashew export witnessed a growth of 28.5 per cent in April-August 2021 as the export of cashew rose from $144 million in April-August 2020 to $ 185 million in April-August 2021.
The rise in export of agricultural and processed food 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 the active involvement of Indian embassies.
