Following the previous year’s trend, exports of agricultural and processed food products increased by 31 percent in the first three months of the current financial year 2022-23 (April-June) compared to the corresponding period of the fiscal year 2021-22. According to preliminary data released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), total exports of APEDA products increased to USD 7,408 million in April-June 2022 from USD 5,663 million in the same period last fiscal. The export target for April-June 2022-23 has been set at USD 5890 million.
Initiatives taken by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), which comes under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, have helped the country achieve 31 percent of its total export target in the first quarter of the current fiscal.For 2022-23, APEDA has set an export target of USD 23.56 billion for the basket of agricultural and processed food products. According to DGCI&S preliminary data, fresh fruits and vegetables registered a four percent increase, while processed fruits and vegetables registered a significant growth of 59.71 percent (April-June 2022) compared to the corresponding months of the previous year.
Also, processed food products such as cereals and various processed items showed a growth of 37.66 percent compared to the first quarter of the previous year. Fresh fruits and vegetables were exported at USD 394 million in April-June 2021, which increased to USD 409 million in the corresponding months of the current fiscal. Exports of processed fruits and vegetables jumped to $490 million in the first quarter of the current fiscal from $307 million in the corresponding months of the previous year.
Basmati rice exports registered a growth of 25.54 percent in the first three months of FY 2022-2023 as its exports rose from USD 922 million (April-June 2021) to USD 1,157 million (April-June 2022), while exports of non-Rice Basmati recorded a growth of 5 percent in the 1st quarter of the current fiscal. Non-basmati rice exports rose to $1,566 million in the first three months of the current fiscal from $1,491 million in the corresponding months of the previous year. Exports of meat, dairy and poultry products increased by 9.5 percent and exports of other cereals registered a growth of 29 percent in the 1st quarter of the current fiscal period. Dairy products alone registered a growth of 67.15 percent as their exports rose to $191 million in the first three months of the current fiscal from $114 million in the corresponding months of the previous year.
Exports of other cereals increased from USD 237 million in April-June 2021 to USD 306 million in April-June 2022 and exports 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 commodity value chains to promote the export of unique products from the country,” said Dr. Said M. Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA. According to DGCI&S data, the country’s agricultural exports grew by 19.92 percent to reach $50.21 billion in 2021-22. The growth rate is significant as it exceeds the 17.66 percent growth of US$ 41.87 billion achieved in 2020-21 and has been achieved despite unprecedented logistical challenges of high freight rates and shortage of containers etc.
APEDA made a new history by exporting agricultural and processed food products worth USD 25.6 billion in 2021-22, which was around 51 percent of India’s total agricultural exports of over USD 50 billion. “By creating the necessary export ecosystem along with working with key stakeholders in the agri-export value chains, we aim to sustain the growth of India’s agricultural and processed food exports in the current fiscal as well,” Angamuthu said. The increase in exports of agricultural and processed food products is the result of various initiatives undertaken by APEDA to promote the export of agricultural and processed food products such as holding B2B exhibitions in various countries, exploring new potential markets through product and general marketing campaigns. active involvement of Indian embassies.
APEDA has also undertaken several initiatives to promote Geographical Indication (GI) products in India by holding virtual buyer-seller meetings on agricultural and food products with the UAE and on GI products including handicrafts with the US. In an effort to promote Indian wine exports, APEDA has enabled 10 wine exporters to participate in the London Wine Fair held between June 7-9, 2022. APEDA recently organized a conference on increasing the export potential of natural, organic and GI-agro products from North Eastern states in Guwahati, Assam. The objective of the conference is to promote the export of natural, organic and GI agricultural products grown in Assam and neighboring states by creating international market linkages.
In collaboration with the Union Territory of Ladakh, APEDA recently organized an international buyer-seller meeting aimed at promoting the export of apricots and other agricultural products from Ladakh. Eighteen entrepreneurs from UTs in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir exhibited a variety of apricots and other agricultural products. Twenty buyers from India, USA, Bangladesh, Oman and Dubai participated in this event. APEDA launched an eight-day mango festival in the Kingdom of Bahrain on June 13. At the exhibition, 34 varieties of mangoes from eastern states including West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha were on display at Al Jazira Group’s supermarket in Bahrain.
The Mango Show in Bahrain is part of APEDA’s new initiatives to explore international markets for Indian mangoes as part of the ‘Mango Festival 2022’. It is as a result of APEDA’s commitment to provide a global platform for Indian mangoes that 34 varieties of mangoes from eastern states have been exhibited in Bahrain so far. On earlier occasions, mango varieties from southern states like Alphonso, Kesar, Banganpalli etc. were showcased in most of the world exhibitions.
