India’s exports of agricultural products, including marine and plantation products, reached a record high of $50 billion for 2021-22. In FY22 it had increased by 20 per cent. Wheat exports almost quadrupled from $568 million in 2020-21 to $2.12 billion in 2021-22.
According to provisional data released by DGCIS on Wednesday, the export growth has been mostly achieved on account of an increase in shipments of rice, marine products, sugar, buffalo meat, raw cotton and wheat.
“This growth in agricultural products exports has been achieved in spite of unprecedented logistical challenges in the form of high freight rates, container shortages etc,” according to a statement by the ministry of commerce. It added that increased agri-exports would go a long way in realizing the Prime Minister’s vision of improving farmers’ income.
Top Products with the highest exports
The highest ever exports have been achieved for commodities such as rice ($9.65 billion), wheat ($2.19 billion), sugar ($4.6 billion) and other cereals ($1.08 billion). Wheat shipments increased by more than 273 per cent to $2.1 billion in 2021-22 over the previous year.
Top states with the highest exports
The commerce ministry statement said that farmers of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra etc. have been benefitted from the increase in agri-exports of these products.
Export of Spices and marine products
“India has captured nearly 50 per cent of the world market for rice,” it stated.
Farmers in the coastal states of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat have benefited from exports of marine products worth $7.71 billion in the last fiscal. Spices exports reached $4 billion for the second year in a row. Despite facing tremendous supply-side issues, coffee exports have crossed $1 billion for the first time, improving realizations for coffee growers in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the statement said.
Initiatives are taken by the Govt
According to an official statement, the growth in agricultural exports has been achieved due to the continuous efforts of the Department of Commerce and its various export promotion agencies like APEDA, MPEDA and various commodity boards.
“The Department has made special efforts to engage state governments and district administrations in promoting agriculture exports,” it stated. The agricultural products have been exported from clusters like Varanasi (fresh vegetables, mangoes), Theni (banana), Solapur (pomegranate), Ananthpur (banana), Nagpur (orange), Lucknow (mango), Krishna & Chittoor (mango) etc.
Initiatives like the ‘Happy Banana’ train, a special train with reefer containers for transportation of bananas from Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh to JNPT, Mumbai have been taken to promote exports from unconventional areas.
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