India’s exports of major 37 agriculture and processed products, promoted by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda), jumped 18% to $10 billion during the first half of the current fiscal from the year-ago period as wheat, maize, meat, dairy and poultry products registered impressive growth. The overall export of Apeda products was $8.51 billion in April-September 2020.
“It would be a challenge to sustain the momentum in the second half for Apeda to achieve targeted 10-15% growth this year as September had witnessed only about 4% increase in shipments,” said experts. Exports of Apeda products basket had registered 23.8% growth at $19.97 billion (`1,47,814 crore) during 2020-21 as against $16.13 billion in FY20.
Export of rice, both basmati and non-basmati, recorded 12.3% growth to $4.59 billion in April-September 2021. But there was a 110% jump in other cereals like maize and wheat at $448 million during H1 FY22.
The export of meat, dairy and poultry products increased 20.7% to $1.9 billion during H1 FY22. Similarly, cashew export witnessed an impressive 31.6% growth at $222 million.
As per the Quick Estimates, the exports of fresh fruits and vegetables registered an 8.5% growth at $1.3 billion while shipment of processed food products like cereals preparations and miscellaneous processed items increased 34.2% at $1.07 billion.
“The significant spike in agri-exports is seen as a testimony of the government’s commitment to increase farmers’ income through giving thrust on boosting exports of agricultural and processed food products of the country,” said M Angamuthu, chairman of Apeda.
The initiatives taken by Apeda helped the country achieve this milestone at a time when most of the business activities suffered a huge setback due to the restrictions imposed after the outbreak of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Angamuthu said.
Source:financialexpress.com