Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports Up by 30% to USD 9598 mn in First Four Months of Current Fiscal (2022-23)

· Fruits & Vegetables, Cereals, Livestock and Processed Foods Witnessed a Spike in Exports this Fiscal

· Export of Processed Fruits & Vegetables Up by 51% to USD 665 million in April-July 2022 compared to corresponding period previous year

· 40 % of Export Target for Agricultural and Processed Food Products for 2022-23 already Achieved in First Four Months

According to the provisional data released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), the overall export of agricultural and processed food products increased to USD 9598 million in April-July 2022 from USD 7397 million over the same period of the last fiscal. The exports of agricultural and processed food products rose by 30 percent in the first four months of the current Financial Year 2022-23 (April-July) in comparison to the corresponding period of FY 2021-22.

For the year 2022-23, an export target of USD 23.56 billion has been fixed for the agricultural and processed food products basket and an export of USD 9.59 billion has already been achieved in the first four months of the current fiscal.

The initiatives taken by the Government have helped in achieving 40 percent of the total export target for the year 2022-23 in the first four months of the current fiscal.

As per the DGCI&S provisional data, fresh fruits & vegetables registered four percent growth, while processed fruits and vegetables recorded a significant growth of 51 percent (April-July, 2022) in comparison to corresponding months of the previous year. In April-July, 2021, fresh fruits and vegetables were exported to the tune of USD 498 million that increased to USD 517 million in the corresponding months of the current fiscal. Exports of processed F&V jumped to USD 665 million in four months of the current fiscal from USD 441million in the corresponding months of the previous year.

Also, processed food products like cereals and miscellaneous processed items reported a growth of 37.75 per cent and 35.26 percent respectively in comparison to the first four months of the previous year.

Basmati Rice exports witnessed a growth of 29.13 percent in the first four months of FY 2022-23 as its export increased from USD 1214 million (April-July 2021) to USD 1567 million (April-July 2022), while the export of non-Basmati rice registered a growth of 9.24percent in first four months of current fiscal. Non-basmati rice export increased to USD 2086 million in the first four months of the current fiscal from USD 1910 million in the corresponding months of the previous year.

The export of meat, dairy & poultry products increased by 11.69 percent and the export of other cereals recorded a growth of 22.26 percent in four months of the current fiscal. The dairy products alone recorded a growth of 61.91 percent as its export rose to USD 247 million in the first four months of the current fiscal from USD 153 million in corresponding months of the previous year.

Other cereals’ export increased from USD334 million in April-July 2021to USD 408 million in April-July 2022 and the export of livestock products increased from USD 1279 million in April-July 2021 to USD 1428 million in April-July 2022.

As per the DGCI&S data, the country’s agricultural products exports had grown by 19.92 per cent during 2021-22 to touch USD 50.21 billion. The growth rate is significant as it is over and above the growth of 17.66 per cent at USD 41.87 billion achieved in 2020-21 and has been achieved in spite of unprecedented logistical challenges in the form of high freight rates and container shortages, etc.

In 2021-22, agricultural and processed food products were exported to the tune of USD 25.6 billion, which was around 51 per cent of India's total agricultural goods exports of more than USD 50 billion.

The rise in the export of agricultural and processed food products is the outcome of various initiatives taken for the export promotion of agricultural and processed food products such as organising B2B exhibitions in different countries, exploring new potential markets through product-specific and general marketing campaigns by the active involvement of Indian Embassies.

Several initiatives have also been taken to promote products having registered geographical indications (GI) in India by organizing virtual Buyer Seller Meets on agricultural and food products with the United Arab Emirates and on GI products, including handicrafts with the USA.

In a bid to give a boost to the export of Indian wine, the APEDA facilitated participation of 10 wine exporters in the London Wine Fair held between June 7- 9, 2022. A conference was organized recently on the boosting export potential of natural, organic and GI-agro Products from the north-eastern states in Guwahati, Assam.

In collaboration with the Union Territory of Ladakh, APEDA under Ministry of Commerce and Industry recently organized an International Buyer Seller Meet, which aimed at boosting exports of Apricots and other agri-products from Ladakh. Eighteen entrepreneurs from UTs of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir displayed a range of Apricots and other Agri Products. Twenty buyers from India, USA, Bangladesh, Oman, Dubai participated in this event.

To explore international markets for Indian mangoes, an eight-day-long Mango Festival was organised in the Kingdom of Bahrain on June 13. At the show, 34 varieties of mangoes from eastern states, including West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha, were displayed at Bahrain's Al Jazira group supermarket.

In order to ensure seamless quality certification of products to be exported, Government through APEDA has recognised 220 labs across India to provide services of testing to a wide range of products and exporters.