Lok Sabha Question No. 4124 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-17
Subject: APEDA
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Shri Daggumalla Prasada Rao

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4124 ANSWERED ON 17/03/2026

## APEDA

## 4124. SHRI DAGGUMALLA PRASADA RAO:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY ( वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्री ) be pleased to state:

- (a) the details regarding the measures undertaken by the Agricultural and Processed Food  Products  Export  Development  Authority  (APEDA)  to  strengthen  market linkages for Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), including export facilitation, buyer-seller meets, capacity building and branding support;
- (b) the details regarding the number of FPOs supported by APEDA during the last five years, State-wise, with specific details for Andhra Pradesh;
- (c) the  details  regarding  the  collaborations  and  Memoranda  of  Understanding (MoUs) entered into by APEDA with domestic buyers, international importers, ecommerce platforms and logistics providers to improve market access for FPOs;
- (d) the  details  regarding  the  export  volume  and  value  generated  by  APEDAsupported FPOs, State and year-wise; and
- (e) the measures taken by the Government to scale up successful market linkage models for FPOs, particularly in Andhra Pradesh?

## ANSWER

वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्रालय में राज्यमंत्री ( श्री णिणिन प्रसाद )

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA )

(a)  to  (e)  The  Agricultural  and  Processed  Food  Products  Export  Development Authority  (APEDA),  supports  it's  member  exporters,  including  Farmer  Producer Organisations (FPO's), in the export promotion of its Scheduled products, produced by  them,  under  its  Financial  Assistance  Scheme  (FAS).  The  scheme  has  three components  viz.,  Development  of  Export  Infrastructure,  Quality  Development  and Market  Development.  The  scheme  guidelines  are  available  at  APEDA's  website www.apeda.gov.in under the 'Scheme' tab.

APEDA  has  undertaken  the  following  measures  specifically  for  strengthening  the market linkages for Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) including export facilitation, buyer seller meets, capacity building and branding support:

- i. APEDA facilitated the participation of FPOs in leading international agricultural and food fairs held in India and abroad at concessional rates. 12 Organic FPOs from 6 States participated in BIOFACH 2026, Germany, the World's largest Organic trade fair.

- ii. APEDA facilitated exposure visit of FPO members of key foreign markets to acquaint  them  of  product  and  quality  requirements  in  international  markets, observe best practices etc.
- iii. Under APEDA's BHARATI initiative for Agri export Startup acceleration, 4 FPOs have been selected. One of the selected FPO was facilitated to participate in Gulfood 2026, UAE.
- iv. FPOs are encouraged to participate in the Buyer Seller Meets organized by APEDA at key international food fairs held in India such as World Food India, Biofach India, INDUS Food, AAHAR and at regional agri-export conclaves.

For  training  and  capacity  building,  FPOs  are  being  prioritized  under  programmes aimed at facilitating agricultural exports. As per available data, there has been a steady expansion  in  the  number  of  such  programmes  conducted  by  APEDA,  with  139 programmes organized in 2023-24, increasing to 599 programmes in 2024-25, and further  to  764  programmes  in  2025-26  (till  date),  reflecting  enhanced  efforts  to strengthen the export readiness and capabilities of FPOs.

APEDA has supported 07 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) in obtaining Global G.A.P certification with financial assistance, thereby enhancing the marketability of their produce in developed country markets. In addition, APEDA has facilitated firsttime  exports  from  FPOs,  either  directly  or  through  third-party  exporters,  to  new international markets. As per available data for the last two financial years, 9 export flag-offs were facilitated in 2024-25 from FPOs across 7 States to 7 countries, while 7 export flag-offs have been facilitated in 2025-26 (till date) from FPOs of 7 States to 4 countries.

Further, APEDA has undertaken collaborative initiatives to improve market access for FPOs, including signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Lulu Retail Group for sending  FPO  produce  samples for  market  discovery,  facilitating  exposure  visits  of FPOs dealing in conventional and organic products to their hypermarkets in the Gulf region, and showcasing Ready-to-Eat and Ready-to-Serve organic products in these outlets. APEDA has also collaborated with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to onboard FPOs onto its export platform.

With respect to the State of Andhra Pradesh, as per available data, a total of 37 FPOs have been onboarded with APEDA during the past four years. Export data for FPOs is not readily available.To scale up market linkages for FPOs in the State, APEDA has undertaken several promotional measures. In the current and previous year, a total of 31 district-level capacity building and export sensitization programmes on agricultural exports and export opportunities for farmers/FPOs have been organized across 25 districts of the State. In addition, during the same period, 04 Buyer-Seller Meets have been organized for FPOs in four districts of Andhra Pradesh.

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