Indian Farm Exports Surge 23% To $19.7 Billion

India’s exports of agricultural and processed food products rose by over 23 per cent to $19.70 billion in the first ten months of the current fiscal (April-January, 2021-22) compared to the same period of the previous year, the government data showed on Monday.

The export of products under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) ambit increased from $15.97 billion in April-January 2020-21 to $19.70 billion during the first ten months of the current financial year.

The Ministry of Commerce & Industry has fixed the target for exports under APEDA basket products at $23.71 billion for the financial year 2021-22.

The export of rice was the top forex earner at $7.69 billion during April-January 2021-22, growing 13 per cent over the corresponding period in 2020-21 when it touched $6.79 billion, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The export of wheat recorded a huge surge at $1.74 billion during April-January 2021-22, growing 387 per cent over the corresponding period in 2020-21 when it touched $358 million, while other cereals registered a growth of 66 per cent by fetching $869 million during April-January 2021-22 over the corresponding period in 2020-21 when it touched $527 million.

Meat, dairy and poultry products exports grew over 13 per cent standing at $3408 million in April-January 2021-22 compared to $3005 million in the corresponding ten-month period of 2020-21.

Fruits and vegetables exports were up by 16 per cent to touch $1207 million during April-January 2021-22 against $1037 million in April-January 2020-21, while processed fruits and vegetables exports were up by 11 per cent to reach $1269 million during first ten months of 2021-22 against $1143 million in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Exports of cereal preparations and other processed food items grew by 14 per cent during April-January 2021-22 to touch $2,956 million against $2,599 million in April-January, 2020-21. The cashew exports also grew by 11 per cent to $383 million in the first ten months of the current fiscal compared to the same period of the previous year.

“We continue to focus on creating infrastructure for boosting exports by focusing on clusters in collaboration with state governments while taking into consideration objective of Agriculture Export Policy, 2018,” M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA, said in a statement.

“We are also promoting exports of Geographical Indication registered products along with those unique from the north-eastern and hilly states,” Angamuthu added. (ANI)