India’s agriculture exports touch record high of $50 billion

India has achieved the highest-ever exports of agricultural products (including marine and plantation products) for the year 2021-22 as they surpassed the $50 billion-mark, the most for agriculture exports. India, which is among the top wheat producing countries, recorded an unprecedented growth of more than 273 per cent in wheat exports. It jumped nearly four-fold from $568 million in 2020-21 to touch close to $2119 million in 2021-22.The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has disrupted the supply of wheat in the International market as those two countries account for 29 per cent of global wheat exports. Export of marine products, at USD 7.71 billion, is also the highest ever, benefitting farmers in the coastal states of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Spices exports has touched USD 4 billion for second year in a row. Despite facing tremendous supply side issues, coffee exports have crossed USD 1 billion for the first time, which has improved realisations for coffee growers in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

This achievement is the result of sustained efforts on the part of the Department of Commerce and its various export promotion agencies like APEDA, MPEDA and various commodity boards. The Department has made special efforts to engage State Governments and district administrations in promoting agriculture exports. In order to ensure that the farmers benefit from exports, Department of Commerce has made special efforts to provide export market linkage directly to farmers and FPOs. A Farmer Connect Portal has been set up for providing a platform for farmers, FPOs/FPCs, cooperatives to interact with exporters. This approach has resulted in agriculture exports taking place from hitherto unexplored areas. Exports have taken place from clusters like Varanasi (fresh vegetables, mangoes), Ananthpur (banana), Nagpur (orange), Lucknow (mango), Theni (banana), Solapur (pomegranate), Krishna & Chittoor (mango) etc. Initiatives like ‘Happy Banana’ train, an exclusive train with reefer containers to transport bananas from Anantapur to JNPT, Mumbai have been taken to boost exports from unconventional areas.