APEDA chairman was speaking at FICCI-YES Bank Report ‘Enhancing Competitiveness of Indian Agri Exports’
APEDA has identified several countries that have the potential of being excellent markets for the promotion of Indian agri-products. This information was provided by Dr Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India during the virtual release ceremony of the ‘FICCI-YES Bank Knowledge Report on Enhancing Competitiveness of Indian Agri Exports.
Dr Angamuthu opined that the actionable points and challenges mentioned in the FICCI-YES Bank Knowledge Report on Enhancing Competitiveness of Indian Agri Exports will aid in a better understanding and working with all stakeholders of the agricultural ecosystem. “APEDA will facilitate and promote several capacity building programmes in association with FICCI and YES Bank so that the report is percolated at all levels,” he said.
Dr Ashok Dalwai, CEO, NRAA, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt of India, said that to increase the income of the farmers, we need to connect our farm-gates with distant markets including the global markets. Hence, agri exports must be facilitated through an ecosystem approach.
Dr Sudhanshu, Secretary, APEDA, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Govt of India highlighted various initiatives of APEDA. He mentioned that such initiatives will certainly play a vital role in enhancing the competitiveness of Indian Agri exports and help Indian farmers get the benefit of several export opportunities in agriculture.
Sanjay Sacheti, Co-Chair, FICCI National Agriculture Committee Country Head & Executive Director, Olam Agro India said, “India needs to very aggressively grow its agri-exports, not only in quantitative terms but also qualitative aspects. We have historically been a commodity exporter but there is a huge opportunity to move up the value chain, enrich the profile of our exports and hence capture value at the higher end of goods and services that we are capable of exporting from here.”
Vivek Chandra, CEO-Global Branded Business, LT Foods highlighted the importance of branding the products and ensuring quality at every step of the Agri value chain to propel our country’s agricultural exports.
Sivakumar, COO, ITC said that the post-Covid world offers a similar inflection point to the agri sector to step up exports of value-added products aligned with the preference of global consumers for food that’s healthy and natural.
Elaborating on the report, YES Bank representative said that commodity focussed value chain transformation approach is essential to enhance export competitiveness.
TR Kesavan, Chairman, FICCI National Agriculture Committee & Group President, TAFE said that we need to create knowledge sharing at the ground level to prepare our farmers well and enable them to get the benefit of several export opportunities in agriculture. He also mentioned the importance of traceability and blockchain solutions to enhance the value proposition of Indian agri produce.
