India sets an ambitious agri-export target
Published on: September 1, 2021.
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India has set an ambitious export target for its agri-cultural sector of 30 per cent.
Currently, only 7.5 per cent of its farm produce is sold elsewhere despite it being a food-surplus economy of many years standing.
India’s farmers, despite their ability to produce way beyond the nation’s needs, are struggling to make ends met due to the lack of a decent export turnover.
India’s agricultural policy was focused in the past on food security and price stabilisation.
However, with food grain production now touching a record 305.43 million tonnes in the 2020-21 crop year, the Indian government is spending huge money on procuring and maintaining food stocks in excess of the strategic requirements.
As a result, its warehouses are overflowing for want of foreign buyers.
Given its huge available growing acreage, India has the potential to rival China – the fourth biggest exporter after the EU, US and Brazil.
In 2019, India entered the top 10 exporters in the world, displacing New Zealand. It is also the top exporter of rice and the third largest in the cotton market.
The largest markets for India’s agricultural products are the US, China, Bangladesh, the UAE, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Nepal, Iran, and Malaysia.
Hindering India’s export ambitions is its difficulties at times to meet international food safety standards.
Source/Credit: https://farmweek.com/india-sets-an-ambitious-agri-export-target/
