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Government to send trade delegations to Morocco, Tunisia,
Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Algeria and Lebanon for exploring
possibilities of boosting wheat exports from India
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Department of Commerce to organize a series of meetings on
exports in major wheat growing states
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APEDA holds stakeholders’ meet for wheat export promotion
in Karnal, Haryana
The Centre will send trade delegations to Morocco, Tunisia,
Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Algeria and Lebanon for exploring
possibilities of boosting wheat exports from India. India has set a target of a
record 10 million tonnes of wheat in the 2022-23 amid
rising global demand for the grain globally. The Ministry of Commerce & Industry
has already set up a task force on wheat exports with representatives from various
ministries, including commerce, shipping and railways, and exporters under the aegis
of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).
The Department of Commerce has also planned to organise a series of such sensitization meetings on exports
in major wheat growing states such as Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh
and Rajasthan. The APEDA organised one such interactive
meeting with various stakeholders including farmers, traders and exporters in Karnal, Haryana for promotion of wheat export and ensuring shipment
of quality produce. The stakeholders meet was organised
in collaboration with ICAR-Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, Karnal, where experts discussed opportunities and challenges
in the sphere of wheat export.
There is a rise in the demand for Indian wheat in the global
market, farmers, traders and exporters have been advised to follow all the quality
norms of importing countries so that India emerges as a reliable supplier of wheat
globally. “We are extending our support to all the stakeholders in the wheat exports
value chain for boosting shipment from the country,” M Angamuthu,
Chairman, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports Development Authority
(APEDA), said. According to estimates by
the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, India has exported a record 7 million
tonne (MT) of wheat in 2021-22 which is valued at $ 2.05
billion. Out of the total shipment around 50% of wheat was exported to Bangladesh
in the last fiscal.
Recently, Egypt, which is one of the world’s biggest importers
of wheat, had agreed to source wheat from India. Egyptian authorities have put India
as one of the origins for this strategic commodity. Egypt imported 6.1 MT of wheat
in 2021 and India was not part of the list of accredited countries which can export
wheat to Egypt. More than 80% of Egypt’s wheat imports estimated to be close to
$ 2 billion in 2021 were from Russia and Ukraine. APEDA has already communicated
to exporters to register with Egypt’s public procurement agency – General Authority
of Supplies and Commodities, which manages wheat and sugar imports to the North
African country.