Lok Sabha Question No. 1328 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-02-11
Subject: Agricultural Export Sector
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT, DHARMENDRA YADAV, Shrirang Appa Barne, PRITAM GOPINATH MUNDE, SHIVAJI ADHALRAO PATIL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1328 TO BE ANSWERED ON  11 th  FEBRUARY, 2019

## AGRICULTURAL EXPORT SECTOR

## 1328.   SHRI VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT:

SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV:

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE:

DR. PRITAM GOPINATH MUNDE:

SHRI ADHALRAO PATIL SHIVAJIRAO:

Will  the  Minister  of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वा ͨ णÏय  एवं  उɮयोग  मंğी ) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  there  is  a  huge  potential  for  agriculture  exports  to  boost  the  agriculture, horticulture, plantation, fisheries and dairy sectors and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government is contemplating to identify districts possessing potential for particular industries and items for developing them as clusters for development of that sector;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  the  UAE,  Saudi  Arabia  and  some  other  countries  have  evinced  interest  in investing in India's agriculture sector;
- (e) if so, the details thereof along with the extent to which it will be helpful to fetch good price for agricultural produce; and
- (f) the other measures taken by the Government to increase the income of farmers and the success achieved in this regard so far?

## ANSWER

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THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)

- (a) India,  with  a  large  and  diverse  agriculture,  is  among  the  world's  leading  producer  of cereals,  milk,  sugar , fruits  and  vegetables,  spices,  eggs  and  seafood  products.  Recent growth  rates  show  that  agri-food  production  is  rising  faster  than  growth  in  domestic demand, and volume of surplus for export is witnessing accelerated growth. This offers scope  and  opportunity  for  capturing  overseas  markets  to  earn  foreign  exchange  and enable producers to earn higher prices for farm produce.
- (b & c) Under the recently introduced Agriculture Export Policy, several unique product-district clusters  are  identified  for  a  more  focused  pre  and  post-harvest  management  of  the production as well as in upgrading the supply chain to attain much higher levels of export from these clusters. These clusters have been identified based on the existing production contributing  to  exports,  exporters  operations,  scalability  of  operations,  size  of  export market / India's share, awareness about SPS requirements, and potential for increase in export in short term. The list of such clusters is at Annexure-I.
- (d & e) Yes. Sir. Some companies from UAE and Saudi Arabia have evinced interest in investing in India's agriculture sector.
- (f) The Government is taking a number of measures to increase the income of farmers. In the Minimum  Support  Price  (MSP)  policy  announced  in  2018-19  season,  the  farmers  are assured of a minimum of 50 percent as margin of profit.

Government  has  been  implementing/reorienting  various  schemes  for  betterment  of agriculture sector with four key elements: reducing input costs; ensuring fair price for the produce; reducing wastage; and creating alternate sources of income. Some of the major initiatives  of  the  Government  towards  welfare  of  the  farmers  are  Soil  Health  Cards (SHC),  production  and  availability  of  quality  seeds,  Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), e- National Agriculture Market (e-NAM), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) and National Mission for Sustainable  Agriculture  (NMSA).  Moreover,  Government  is  also  promoting  allied activities  like  dairying,  poultry,  beekeeping  and  fisheries,  which  will  mitigate  risks associated with dependence on agricultural crops through income supplementation.

The Government is promoting group farming amongst the farmers. Small and marginal farmers are mobilized to form Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) / Farmer Interest Group for aggregation and economies of scale. FPOs are eligible for financial assistance inter  alia  under  Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture and National Food Security Mission.

The Government has also approved a new Umbrella Scheme 'Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan' (PM-AASHA). The Scheme is aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce as announced in the Union Budget for 2018, which envisages scaling up procurement significantly from the current Kharif marketing season.

In  the  Interim  Budget  2019-20,  a  new  programme  named  'Pradhan  Mantri  Kisan Samman  Nidhi  (PM-KISAN)'has  been  announced.  Under  this  programme,  vulnerable landholding  farmer  families,  having  cultivable  land  upto  2  hectares,  will  be  provided direct income support at the rate of Rs. 6,000 per year.

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| Product         | Region     | State          | District                                             |
|-----------------|------------|----------------|------------------------------------------------------|
| Banana          | South      | Kerala         | Thrissur, Wayanad, Thiruvananthapuram                |
| Banana          | South      | Andhra Pradesh | Kadapa, Anantapur                                    |
| Banana          | South      | Tamil Nadu     | Trichy, Theni, Pollachi                              |
| Banana          | West       | Maharashtra    | Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Solapur                           |
| Banana          | South      | Gujarat        | Bharuch, Narmada, Surat                              |
| Pomegranate     | South West | Andhra Pradesh | Anantapur, Kurnool                                   |
| Pomegranate     | South West | Karnataka      | Belgaum, Mysore                                      |
| Pomegranate     | South West | Maharashtra    | Solapur, Ahmednagar, Pune                            |
| Pomegranate     | Central    | Madhya Pradesh | Khargone, Khandwa, Burhanpur                         |
| Mango           | West North | Maharashtra    | Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg                                |
| Mango           | West North | Gujarat        | Junagarh, Valsad, Kutch, Navsari                     |
| Mango           | West North | Uttar Pradesh  | Saharanpur, Meerut, Lucknow                          |
| Mango           | South      | Telangana      | Rangareddy, Mehboobnagar, Warangal                   |
| Mango           | South      | Andhra Pradesh | Krishna, Chittoor, Kurnool                           |
| Grapes          | West       | Maharashtra    | Pune, Nasik, Sangli                                  |
| Rose Onion      | South      | Karnataka      | Bangalore Rural, Chikkaballapura                     |
| Onion           | West       | Maharashtra    | Nasik                                                |
| Onion           | Central    | Madhya Pradesh | Indore, Sagar, Damoh                                 |
| Potato          | North      | Uttar Pradesh  | Agra, Farukkabad                                     |
| Potato          | North      | Punjab         | Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Navashehar        |
| Potato          | West       | Gujarat        | Banaskantha, SabarKantha                             |
| Potato          | North      | Madhya Pradesh | Indore, Gwalior                                      |
|                 | Central    | Assam          |                                                      |
| Tea             | East       |                | Tinsukia, Sibsagar, Dibrugarh                        |
| Marine products | South      | Andhra Pradesh | East Godavari, Vishakapatnam, West Godavari, Nellore |
| Marine products | East       | Odisha         | Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak, Balasore                     |
| Marine products | West       | Gujarat        | Kutch, Veraval, Navasari, Valsad                     |
| Chilli          | South      | Telangana      | Khammam, Warangal                                    |
| Chilli          | South      | Andhra Pradesh | Guntur                                               |
| Turmeric        | South      | Telangana      | Nizamabad, Karimnagar                                |
| Turmeric        | South      | Kerala         | Wayanad, Alleppy                                     |
|                 | East       | Meghalaya      | West Jaintia Hills                                   |
|                 | East       | Odisha         | Kandhamal                                            |
|                 | East       | Gujarat        | Banaskantha, Mehsana                                 |
| Cumin           | West North |                | Pali                                                 |
| Cumin           | West North | Rajasthan      | Jalore, Jodhpur, Barmer, Nagaur,                     |
| Pepper          | South      | Kerala         | Wayanad                                              |
| Pepper          | South      | Karnataka      | Chikmagalur                                          |
| Cardamom        | South      | Kerala         | Idukki                                               |
| Isabgol         | North      | Rajasthan      | Jodhpur, Nagaur, Barmer, Jaisalmer                   |
| Castor          | West       | Gujarat        | Banaskantha, Kutch, Patan, Sabarkantha, Mehsana      |
| Orange          | West       | Maharashtra    | Nagpur, Amravati, Wardha                             |

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