Government Initiatives for Agri Exports in India
- Agricultural Export Policy 2018: To encourage the export of agricultural goods, the Indian government has established the comprehensive Agriculture Export Policy (AEP). The main goals of the AEP are to increase high-value-added agricultural exports, diversify export sources and destinations, encourage exports of indigenous, organic, traditional, and non-traditional agriproducts, provide an institutional framework for pursuing market access, and make it possible for farmers to take advantage of export opportunities in foreign markets.
- Financial Assistance Scheme: FAS is the Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority’s program for promoting exports (APEDA). It is a component of the Finance Commission Cycle for 2021–2022–2025–2026. This program’s main objective is to help companies develop their export markets, quality, and infrastructure. The amount of financial help provided under the plan will be between Rs. 5 lakh and Rs. 5 crores.
- Ministry of Commerce and Industry: The Ministry of Commerce & Industry’s Department of Commerce has also started a number of export promotion programs, such as the Market Access Initiatives (MAI) Scheme and the Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES). The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), the Tobacco Board, the Tea Board, the Coffee Board, the Rubber Board, and the Spices Board all offer help to exporters of agricultural goods. India has also made NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) testing necessary for honey sold to the USA in an effort to increase exports.
- One District One Product: The Ministry of Food Processing Industries started it to assist districts in realizing their full potential, promoting socioeconomic and cultural development, and generating employment opportunities, particularly in rural areas. By recognizing, promoting, and branding a product from one district, it seeks to achieve this. Through the promotion of the product in which the district specializes, the One District One Product initiative seeks to transform every district in India into an export hub. In order to realize the vision of “Atmanirbhar Bharat,” the program intends to do this by expanding manufacturing, assisting small local firms, identifying prospective overseas clients, and other means. The framework for value chain development and support infrastructure alignment will be provided by ODOP for the plan.
Agri Exports in India
In India, the main industry providing employment is agriculture. The nation ranks among the world’s top producers of agricultural and food goods. According to estimates, India’s agriculture sector will increase at a 3.9% annual pace in 2021–2022 as opposed to 3.6% in the previous year. The greatest agricultural export from India is rice, which accounted for more than 19% of all agricultural exports in the years 2021–2022. The top three agricultural exports in 2021–22 are sugar, spices, and buffalo meat, which account for 9%, 8%, and 7% of total exports, respectively. The nation cultivates a wide variety of food crops and grains, including rice, wheat, pulses, oilseeds, coffee, jute, sugarcane, tea, tobacco, groundnuts, dairy products, fruits, and more. India ranks among the top countries in the world for volume production of goods like rice, wheat, cotton, sugar, horticulture, and dairy. 20.2 percent of the nation’s GDP is made up of the agricultural industry and sectors that are associated to it, such forestry and fisheries. USA, Bangladesh, China, UAE, Indonesia, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Nepal, and Malaysia are India’s top exporters of agricultural goods. As a result, the agriculture industry is crucial to Indian politics, economy, and society. In 1985, the Indian government created the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). Export promotion and development are responsibilities assigned to APEDA.