New Delhi: Despite Covid-19, India has achieved a significant increase of 44.3 percent in the export of agricultural and processed food products in the period between 2021-22 (April-June) in comparison to the corresponding period of 2020-21.

The agricultural and processed food products of India accorded the highest jump during the first three months of the current fiscal, and continue to grow in exports.

According to WTO’s trade map, with the total Agri exports of USD 37 billion in the year 2019, India is ranked at 9th position in the world ranking.

The initiatives taken by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) under the Ministry of Commerce have helped the country achieve this milestone at a time when the outbreak of pandemic was at its peak.

According to the Quick Estimates released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), the overall export of APEDA products has witnessed 44.3 percent growth in terms of USD during April-June 2021 over the same period of the previous year. The overall export of APEDA products increased from USD 3338.5 million in April-June 2020 to USD 4817.9 million in April-June 2021.

In terms of Indian agri-exports, the country has registered an increase of 25.02 percent in terms of dollar and 29.43 percent in terms of rupees in the FY 2020-21 (April-March) in comparison to the same period in the previous year. However, it has been estimated that the country’s agri-export will register positive growth of about 15 percent in the current year (2021-22) as well.

As per the Quick Estimates, the exports of fresh fruits & vegetables registered a 9.1 percent growth, while shipment of processed food products like cereals preparations and miscellaneous processed items reported a growth of 69.6 percent. In April-June, 2020-21, fresh fruits and vegetables were exported to the tune of USD 584.5 million which rose to USD 637.7 million in April-June 2021-22.

India reported a huge 415.5 percent jump in the export of other cereals while the export of meat, dairy & poultry products witnessed an increase of 111.5 percent in the first three months of the current fiscal (2021-22). The export of other cereals increased from USD 44.9 million in April-June 2020 to USD 231.4 million in April-June 2021 and the export of meat, dairy and poultry products increased from USD 483.5 million in April-June 2020 to USD 1022.5 million in April-June 2021.

The export of rice, which recorded a positive growth of 25.3 percent, increased from USD 1914.5 million in April-June 2020 to USD 2398.5 million in April-June 2021.

The rise in export of agricultural and processed food products is the outcome of APEDA’s various initiatives taken for the export promotion of agricultural and processed food products such as organizing B2B exhibitions in different countries, exploring new potential markets through product-specific and general marketing campaigns by the active involvement of Indian Embassies, products being geographical indicated (GI) by organizing virtual Buyer Seller Meets on agricultural and food products with UAE and on GI products, including handicrafts with the USA along with other potential importing Countries to popularize the GI products of major agricultural commodities exported.

APEDA organizes the participation of exporters in the International Trade Fairs, which provides a platform to the exporters to market their food products in the global marketplace. APEDA also organizes National events like AAHAR, Organic World Congress, BioFach India, etc. to promote agri-exports, followed by the registration of pack-houses for horticulture products, meat processing plants, and abattoirs for meeting the quality and safety requirements of the international market.

These are a few of the initiatives taken by APEDA to boost the nation’s exports.