Lok Sabha Question No. 382 (STARRED), answered on 2022-03-30
Subject: Export of Agricultural and Processed Food Products
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Ravindra Kushawaha, Ravi Kishan Shukla

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

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 382

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 30 th  MARCH, 2022

## EXPORT OF AGRICULTURAL AND PROCESSED FOOD PRODUCTS

## *382.  SHRI RAVINDRA KUSHWAHA:

SHRI RAVI KISHAN:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मं त्री ) be pleased to state:

- (a) the targets fixed by the Government for export of agricultural and processed food products during the current fiscal year and in the coming year;
- (b) whether India's exports of agricultural and processed food products rose to a substantial level during the current Financial Year and till date and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the targets fixed by the Government for the current fiscal year, 2021-22 has been achieved and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the impact of significant rise in agricultural exports on the farmers' income during the said period;
- (e) whether the Government has held any consultations with the various States for the implementation of Agriculture Export Policy; and
- (f) if  so,  the details of various initiatives taken and work done by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) in the country during the last three years for boosting the exports of agricultural and processed food products?

## ANSWER

okf.kT; ,oa m|ksx ea=h ( Jh ih;w'k xks;y )

THE MINISTER OF  COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) to (f):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a) to (f)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED    QUESTION    NO.  382        FOR    ANSWER        ON    30 th   MARCH,  2022 REGARDING 'EXPORT OF AGRICULTURAL AND PROCESSED FOOD PRODUCTS'.

(a) to (c): The targets have been fixed only for those agricultural commodities, which are monitored under the weekly Trade Alert system of the Department of Commerce. Some of the major agriculture products like Wheat, Sugar and Cotton are included in the 'Others' category and no individual targets were fixed for such products. The targets fixed by the Government for export of agricultural and processed food products, during the current financial year are in the table below. Targets for 2022-23 have not yet been fixed.

Values in USD millions

|   S. No. | Commodity                                             |   Target 2021-22 |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------------|------------------|
|        1 | Tea                                                   |             1043 |
|        2 | Coffee                                                |             1072 |
|        3 | Rice                                                  |             9468 |
|        4 | Other Cereals                                         |              924 |
|        5 | Tobacco                                               |             1146 |
|        6 | Spices                                                |             4814 |
|        7 | Cashew                                                |              775 |
|        8 | Oil Meals                                             |             2340 |
|        9 | Oil Seeds                                             |             1773 |
|       10 | Fruits and Vegetables                                 |             3325 |
|       11 | Cereal Preparations and Miscellaneous Processed Items |             2294 |
|       12 | Meat, Dairy and Poultry Products                      |             4587 |
|       13 | Marine Products                                       |             7809 |

During the period April 2021 to January 2022 of the current financial year, exports of agricultural products have amounted to USD 40.87 billion compared to USD 32.66 billion over the corresponding period of previous year, registering an increase of 25.14%.  Of the products for which targets were fixed, export of some  of  the  major  products  like  Rice;  Other  Cereals;  Coffee;  Cereal  Preparations  and  Miscellaneous Processed Items; Meat, Dairy & Poultry Products; and Marine Products would achieve or come very close to achieving the targets for 2021-22. Exports of some other major agriculture products like Wheat, Sugar and Cotton have registered a substantial increase during the current year.

(d): Rise in agricultural exports improves realisations for farmers and has a positive impact on their income. In order to ensure that the farmers benefit from exports, the Government has launched a Farmer Connect Portal  for  providing  a  platform  for  Farmer  Producer  Organisations/Companies  (FPOs/FPCs)  and cooperatives to directly interact with exporters.

(e): The  Government  is  in  constant  touch  with  State  Governments  regarding  the  implementation  of Agriculture  Export  Policy  (AEP).  21  States  and  2  UTs  (Ladakh,  A&N  Islands)  have  finalized  their respective State specific Action Plans to promote agriculture exports. 28 States & 4 UTs have nominated Nodal agencies to promote agriculture exports. It has been decided that the District as Export Hub (DEH) initiative would be utilized to achieve the objectives of Agriculture Export Policy. The State/UT level export monitoring committee has been set up in 26 States and 4UTs, chaired by the Chief Secretary and supported by the Regional Authorities of DGFT, autonomous bodies/EPCs under Department of Commerce, Customs, Plant/ animal Quarantine at the State level. At the Cluster level, the Cluster Facilitation cell/Committee is headed by District Collector/District Magistrate or Director-Agriculture/Horticulture and other stakeholders. 38 Cluster Level Committees have been formed in the cluster district(s) across several States so far.

(f): The Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) is constantly engaged  in  export  promotion  activities  for  agricultural  &  processed  food  products  and  has  played  an important role in implementation of AEP over the past three years. APEDA implements the 'Agriculture & Processed Food Products Export Promotion Scheme'. Various developmental activities are undertaken and assistance  to  exporters  is  provided  under  different  components  of  the  scheme  viz.  Infrastructure Development, Market Development and Quality Development etc.  APEDA has also been collaborating with the Indian Missions abroad for organising Virtual Trade Fairs, Virtual Buyer-Seller Meets and export promotion  of  GI  products.  APEDA  has  also  facilitated  trial  shipments  for  new  products  with  export potential and new destinations. To address the issue of stakeholders' participation in the decision-making process for export promotion activities, the Department of Commerce has established Export Promotion Forums (EPFs) for individual products under the aegis of the APEDA. The EPFs have representation from trade/industry, line ministries/departments, regulatory agencies, research institutes, state governments etc. In  all  9  EPFs  have  been  formed  for  rice,  banana,  grapes,  mango,  onion,  dairy  products,  nutri-cereals, pomegranate and floriculture respectively. APEDA has also played an important role in opening up of new markets for agricultural products in the recent past such as Canada, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Portugal, Indonesia, Iran etc. APEDA has been organising Capacity Building/training programs in the Agri-export Clusters' and States in association with the State departments, SAUs, KVKs for the FPOs/FPCs/SHGs/exporters in order to provide export-market linkage to the farmer groups and to facilitate entrepreneurs  in  becoming  prospective  exporters.  APEDA  has  also  signed  MoUs  with  a  number  of organisations such as NCUI, NCDC, NABARD, ASCI, QCI, IIT Delhi, ICFA, SFAC, TRIFED and AFC India  Ltd.  for  cooperation in  the field  of agriculture export. APEDA has also made efforts to establish synergy  with  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  &  Farmers  Welfare,  Ministry  of  Food  Processing  Industries, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying and DGFT to ensure optimum utilization of resources for development of agriculture exports.

*****