Global Rice News

India’s exports of agricultural items and processed foods rose 23% year on year to $19,709 million during April-January 2021-22, indicating continued robustness of the segment in the country’s exports basket.

According to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), rice exports during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year rose 12% to $7696 million compared to previous year. Rice contributes nearly 40% of India’s agri-export basket.

The value of the shipment of wheat, on the other hand, witnessed a surge by more than 387% to $1,742 million during the April-January 2021-22 period compared to the previous year. Volume-wise wheat exports rose to a record 6 MT from 1.3 MT of shipment in April-January 2020-21. Though India is not among the top 10 wheat exporters in the global trade, the growth rate of the country’s exports of this item is higher than that of Russia, Ukraine, and the US. Increased demand for wheat from South Asian countries, particularly Banglagesh, and its bumper domestic output led to the jump.

The exports target for products under the APEDA basket is set at $ 23,713 million for 2021-22. In 2020-21, exports of agricultural and processed food products were valued at $ 20,673 million.

India is likely to continue holding a major share of global rice trade in the current fiscal year, with an estimated shipment of 21 million tonne (MT), an increase of more than 24% from the previous financial year. The country’s rice exports in the current financial year is likely more than the combined exports of the next three largest exporters — Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan

Meat, dairy and poultry products exports rose by more than 13% to $ 3,408 million in April-January 2021-22 compared to $ 3,005 million in the corresponding 10-month period of 2020-21.

Fruits and vegetables exports were up 16% to $ 1,207 million during April-January 2021-22 compared to the same period previous year.

The processed fruits and vegetables exports were up 11% to reach $ 1,269 million during the first 10 months of 2021-22 against $ 1,143 million in the corresponding period of the previous year.

“Our thrust has been on promoting exports of Geographical Indication (GI)-tagged products and products sourced from hilly states, while we continue to scout for new markets for exports,” M Angamuthu, chairman, APEDA, told FE. He said spike in exports has been achieved notwithstanding logistical challenges caused by the pandemic.

APEDA basket of products exclude marine products, tobacco, coffee and spices. It has taken several initiatives to promote GI-registered agricultural and processed food products in India by organising virtual buyer-seller meets with the major importing countries across the world. In order to ensure seamless quality certification of products to be exported, the export promotion body has recognised 220 labs across India to provide services of testing a wide range of products and exporters.

Angamuthu said APEDA has initiated registration of pack-houses for horticulture products to meet the quality requirements of the international market. Registration of export units for peanut shelling and grading and processing units, for instance, is to ensure quality adherence for the European Union and non-EU countries.

Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/farm-exports-rise-23-in-april-january/2451523/