Apeda Estimates Agri Exports At R40,000 cr.

Apeda, the export promotion body for farm items, expects that total overseas shipments of agri products monitored by it would rise by about 14% to around R40,000 crore for 2010-11 fiscal.

India's agri-exports under Apeda stood at nearly R35,000 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

“It should be about R40,000 crore. It is the total agri exports that Apeda handles,” Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) chairman Asit Tripathy said.

India's agri exports that Apeda handles are about R40,000 crore and are growing at about 15-20 % annually. Farm exports comprise about 13% of the total merchandised exports, he added.

Apeda monitors exports of over 14 farm product categories that include floriculture, fruits and vegetables, meat and meat products, processed foods, cereals, cereal products, herbal and medicinal plants, guar gum, etc.

Commenting on the processed food industry in the country, Tripathy said that there is tremendous potential for the processed food to expand but it requires a good dose of investment.

“I expect the total processed food exports from the country in the 2011-12 fiscal to reach R20,000 crore,” he added.

On India's position in the global farm trade, he said that India exports 1.4% of the total global shipments and imports 1.2% of the total global imports.

The top farm trade players globally are European Union, the US, Brazil, Canada and China, he said.

Tripathy noted that India's total agri exports today are around R74,000 crore of which about R40,000 crore passes through Apeda.

“In fact India's total merchandise export touched nearly $23.6 billion in February this year and we are confidant that the total export from the country in 2010-11 fiscal would touch $250 billion, nearly $70 billion more from last year,” Tripathy noted.

During April-February period of last fiscal, the country's merchandise shipments grew by 31.4% to $208.2 billion, surpassing the export target of $200 billion for the entire 2010-11 fiscal.

Source : financialexpress.com