Lok Sabha Question No. 178 (STARRED), answered on 2025-03-11
Subject: Agricultural Export Performance
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Smt. Supriya Sule, Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 178

## TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 11 TH  MARCH 2025

## AGRICULTURAL EXPORT PERFORMANCE

* 178. SMT. SUPRIYA SULE: PROF. VARSHA EKNATH GAIKWAD:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ͪष  और  ͩकसान  कãयाण मंğी be pleased to state:

(a) the details of India's agricultural export performance in the last five years highlighting the role of Maharashtra in this regard; (b) the details of percentage of India's total agricultural exports contributed by Maharashtra and the extent to which this percentage evolved during the last decade; (c)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  steps  to  promote  the  export  of  agricultural products from the country  particularly  Maharashtra for high  demand crops and  if so, the details there of; (d)  whether  the  Government  is  planning  to  provide  schemes  or  incentives  to  farmers particularly Maharashtra's farmers to encourage export-oriented farming and if so, the details thereof; (e) the details of current infrastructure such as cold storage and logistics support available in Maharashtra to support agricultural exports; and (f) whether the Government proposes to set up new export processing zones or agri-export clusters in the country particularly Maharashtra to facilitate agricultural exports and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ͪष और ͩकसान कãयाण मंğी (SHRI SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN)

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

STATEMENT  IN  RESPECT  OF  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION NO. 178 FOR 11 TH  MARCH, 2025 REGARDING 'AGRICULTURAL EXPORT PERFORMANCE'.

(a) & (b): The  Central  Government  maintains  validated  record  of  total  Agricultural exports  from  India.  India's  export  of  agricultural  products  in  last  decade  along  with Maharashtra share is as follows:

| Year    | India's Export of Agricultural Products (USD Million)   | Export of Agricultural Products from Maharashtra (USD Million)   | Maharashtra's Share (%)   |
|---------|---------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------|
| 2015-16 | 32,089.43                                               | 5,770.61                                                         | 17.98%                    |
| 2016-17 | 33,374.02                                               | 5,153.87                                                         | 15.44%                    |
| 2017-18 | 32,213.99                                               | 5,463.96                                                         | 14.29%                    |
| 2018-19 | 38,541.68                                               | 5,906.72                                                         | 15.32%                    |
| 2019-20 | 35,585.62                                               | 5,329.04                                                         | 14.97%                    |
| 2020-21 | 41,869.37                                               | 6,408.44                                                         | 15.31%                    |
| 2021-22 | 50,208.74                                               | 8,370.95                                                         | 16.67%                    |
| 2022-23 | 53,129.55                                               | 8,984.79                                                         | 16.91%                    |
| 2023-24 | 48,804.52                                               | 6,502.67                                                         | 13.32%                    |

Source: DGCIS

- (c) to (f): Agricultural  and  Processed  Food  Products  Exports  Development  Authority (APEDA), an export promotion body, was established by Government under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to undertake the development and promotion of export of various products  including  fruits,  vegetables  and  their  products.  The  Department  of  Commerce through APEDA provides financial assistance to member exporters of APEDA from across the country under Agriculture and Processed Foods Export Promotion Scheme of APEDA for the 15 th  Finance Commission Cycle (2021-22 to 2025-26) in the following three broad areas:
1.  Scheme for Quality Development
2.  Scheme for Market Promotion
3.  Scheme for infrastructure Development
1. Quality  Development: Assistance  is  provided  to  food  processing  units  to  adopt global standards, upgrade food testing labs and acquire higher precision equipment etc.
2. Market Promotion - The assistance covers participation of exporters in international trade fairs, organizing buyer seller meets, developing packaging standards for new products, and upgrading the existing standards.

Efforts are being made by APEDA to establish Maharashtra's major agricultural products, such  as  mangoes,  pomegranates,  grapes,  and  oranges,  in  international  markets.  Indian mangoes have gained a strong presence in the US, South Korea, and Japan, while exports of pomegranates and mangoes are expanding to Australia. Additionally, oranges are being exported to Muscat, and grapes to China.

3. Development of export infrastructure -  Support  is  provided  for  developing  and strengthening the cold chain network for perishable products, integrated packhouses compliant with global norms and advanced equipment/machinery at export facilities meeting the importing country requirements.

APEDA has funded various infrastructure projects in Maharashtra, including common packhouses for mangoes, pomegranates, bananas, and oranges in districts like Ratnagiri, Jalna,  and  Wardha.  Other  projects  include  cold  storage,  irradiation  facilities,  and  export centres  for  horticultural  products  in  Mumbai,  Navi  Mumbai,  Nashik,  and  Pune.  These initiatives aim to enhance the export capacity of fresh produce from the region.

APEDA is empowering farmers to promote export-oriented farming. In 2023-24, over 1,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) were registered as exporters, and APEDA has set up an online portal to connect FPOs with international buyers. APEDA conducted 270 training  programs  in  2023-24,  benefiting  over  23,000  individuals,  including  farmers  and exporters in Maharashtra. These programs focused on export certifications, organic farming, and best practices to improve export quality.

In addition to financial assistance provided by APEDA, the Government of India through Ministry  of  Food  Processing  &  Industries  (MoFPI)  also  provides  assistance/support  for infrastructure and cold storage under Scheme such as 'Operation Green' and 'Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure (Cold Chain)'. The details of Cold Storage set up under the schemes of Operation Green and Cold Chain in the state of Maharashtra are as under:

| Details of Nos. of Cold Storage under the scheme of Operation Green and Cold Chain Scheme in the state of MAHARASHTRA (as on 28.02.2025)   | Details of Nos. of Cold Storage under the scheme of Operation Green and Cold Chain Scheme in the state of MAHARASHTRA (as on 28.02.2025)   | Details of Nos. of Cold Storage under the scheme of Operation Green and Cold Chain Scheme in the state of MAHARASHTRA (as on 28.02.2025)   | Details of Nos. of Cold Storage under the scheme of Operation Green and Cold Chain Scheme in the state of MAHARASHTRA (as on 28.02.2025)   | Details of Nos. of Cold Storage under the scheme of Operation Green and Cold Chain Scheme in the state of MAHARASHTRA (as on 28.02.2025)   |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| SN                                                                                                                                         | Scheme                                                                                                                                     | Approved Projects                                                                                                                          | Capacity (Preservation & Processing) LMT                                                                                                   | No of Cold storages/ frozen storage/ Controlled Atmosphere (CA) / Modified Atmosphere (MA)                                                 |
| 1                                                                                                                                          | Operation Green                                                                                                                            | 7                                                                                                                                          | 0.75                                                                                                                                       | 5                                                                                                                                          |
| 2                                                                                                                                          | Cold Chain                                                                                                                                 | 77                                                                                                                                         | 51.13                                                                                                                                      | 79                                                                                                                                         |

Source: MoFPI

Additionally,  the  Department  of  Agriculture  and  Farmers  Welfare  (DA&FW)  is implementing the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) for the holistic development of the horticulture sector under which financial assistance is available to various horticulture activities like creation of cold storage facilities for reducing post-harvest losses and enhancing market access. Under this initiative, financial assistance has been provided for setting up of 665 cold storage facilities in Maharashtra with a total capacity of 12,19,851

metric tonnes. Further, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) is implementing Horticulture  Cluster  Development  Programme  for  selected  high  value  horticulture  crops through National Horticulture Board (NHB). This Programme is designed to leverage the geographical specialization of horticulture clusters and promote integrated and market led development of pre-production, production, post-harvest, logistics, branding, export oriented and marketing activities.  So far, 15 clusters have been identified on pilot basis. Under these clusters, Nashik District for Grapes, Solapur for Pomegranate and Jalgaon for Banana have been identified in Maharashtra.

The Government of India has implemented measures to safeguard the interests of soybean and onion farmers in the country including in Maharashtra, which is a significant producer of these two commodities. These include an increase in the import duty of 20% on crude and refined edible oils (such as soybean oil, palm oil, and sunflower oil). Additionally, the export duty on onions has been reduced from 40% to 20%, and the Minimum Export Price (MEP) on onions has been abolished.

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