New Delhi: The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), scripted a new history by exporting agricultural and processed food products to the tune of USD 25.6 billion, which is 51 per cent of India’s total agriculture exports of USD 50 billion for the year 2021-22.
Besides, the APEDA has also surpassed its own export target of USD 23.7 billion for the financial year 2021-22 by registering shipments of USD 25.6 billion.
As per the provisional figures released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), the agricultural exports have grown by 19.92 per cent during 2021-22 to touch USD 50.21 billion. The growth rate is over and above the growth of 17.66 per cent at USD 41.87 billion achieved in 2020-21 and has been achieved in spite of unprecedented logistical challenges in the form of high freight rates, and container shortages, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, stated today.
Compared to total agricultural export, APEDA’s exports registered 16 per cent growth when they touched USD 25.6 billion in 2021-22 from USD 22.03 billion in 2020-21. The highest growth rate was recorded by APEDA products (more than 30 per cent) in 2021-22 in comparison with the previous year (See the Graph below).
According to the DGCI&S data, the export of rice was the top forex earner at USD 9654 million during 2021-22, growing 9.35 per cent from the previous year when it touched USD 8829 million.
The export of wheat touched an all-time high at USD 2118 million in 2021-22, growing 273 per cent from 2020-21 when it touched USD 567 million, while other cereals registered a growth of 53 per cent by fetching USD 1083 million in 2021-22 in comparison to the previous financial year when it touched USD 705 million.
Export of pulses reported a growth of 34 per cent touching USD 358 million in 2021-22 from USD 265 million in 2020-21.
Dairy products grew over by 96 per cent standing at USD 634 million in 2021-22 from USD 323 million in 2020-21, while buffalo meat registered a growth of just 4 per cent as export of bovine meat increased from USD 3171 million in 2020-21 to USD 3303 million in 2021 22.
Export of poultry products rose to USD 71 million in 2021-22 from USD 58 million in the previous year and sheep/goat meat export is up by 34 per cent to USD 60 million in 2021-22 from USD 44 million in the previous year.
Fruits and vegetables exports were up by 12 per cent to touch USD 1676 million in 2021-22 against USD 1492 million in 2020-21, while processed fruits and vegetable exports were up by 7 per cent to reach USD 1202 million in 2021-22 against USD 1120 million in the previous year.
Exports of other processed food items grew by 34 per cent during 2021-22 to touch USD 1164 million against USD 866 million in 2020-21. The cashew exports also grew by 7 per cent to USD 452 million in 2021-22 from USD 420 million in the previous year. Floriculture products reported a rise of 33 per cent when it touched USD 103 million in 2021-22 from USD 77 million in 2020-21.
APEDA’s major exporting destinations as per 2021-22 data are Bangladesh, UAE, Vietnam, USA, Nepal, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Iran and Egypt.
Table: Agricultural and processed food products exports comparison
-global bihari bureau
