Export thrust. APEDA completes 37 years of operations; eyes $30 billion in exports this fiscal

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), which completed 37 year of operations, is set to achieve close to $30 billion in the current financial year.

APEDA which started with exports of mere $0.6 billion in 1987-88 shipped out agricultural products worth $24.77 billion in 2021-22. In the current financial year, out of the targetted $23.56 billion, exports of $19.69 billion have been achieved till December 2022, and the remaining target is expected to be completed within the stipulated time period, an official statement said.

Initiatives

Aiming to take export of agricultural products to a new level, APEDA has promoted IT-enabled activities for ease of doing business in the promotion and development of exports from India. APEDA has also undertaken initiatives like paperless office (re-engineering, digital signatures, electronic payment facility), APEDA mobile app, phase-wise delivery of online services, monitoring and evaluation, uniform access and virtual trade fair to make governance more efficient and effective, the statement said.

APEDA’s interventions have led to setting up and upgrading the country’s infrastructure for agri exports and augmenting quality of the shipments. According to WTO Trade data, India, which was ranked at the 25^th position in 1986 has emerged as the eighth largest exporter of agri products in 2021. The visionary approach, aggressive and consistent efforts of APEDA has enabled India to position itself as a consistent and quality supplier of agri products, the statement said.

Keeping in mind Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for ‘vocal for local’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, APEDA has been focusing on promotion of exports of locally sourced GI (Geographical Indications) tagged as well as indigenous, ethnic agricultural products. New products and new export destinations have been identified and accordingly the trial shipments have been facilitated.

As on date, there are 417 registered GI products and of them around 150 GI tagged products are agricultural and food related,out of which more than 100 registered GI products fall under the category of APEDA scheduled products (cereals, fresh fruits and vegetables, processed products, etc).

Some of the ethnic and GI-tagged products exported by India include dragon fruit, patented village rice, jackfruit, jamun, Burmese grapes, dehydrated mahua flowers and puffed rice. GI varieties of mango, GI-tagged Shahi litchi, Bhalia wheat, Madurai malli, king chilli, Mihidana, Sitabhog, Dahanu Gholvad Sapota, Jalgaon banana, Vazhakulam pineapple, Marayoor jaggery and Khasi Mandarin from Meghalaya, the statement said.

A market intelligence cell has been constituted in APEDA and the activity of dissemination of e-market intelligence reports comprising detailed market analysis has commenced. A farmer connect portal has also been set up by APEDA on its website for providing a platform for FPOs/FPCs, co-operatives to interact with exporters.

Working in tandem with the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, APEDA has taken a giant leap in making landlocked Purvanchal a new destination of agri export activities by developing Varanasi Agri – Export Hub (VAEH) in a record time. The Varanasi region, where almost nil export activities were happening due to lack of basic infrastructure, is now abuzz with agri export activities, APEDA said.

After the intervention of APEDA, the Varanasi region has recorded exemplary changes in the export scenario and registered many first-of-its-kind achievements in a very short span of time from Purvanchal region. The agri exports from the Himalayan belt, J&K to Ladakh was an achievement in development of region with regard to agri exports. The landlocked States such as North Eastern Region, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh spurred in agri exports when their products were sourced from farmers and displayed in the retail chains of importing countries.

Non-basmati Rice

Non-basmati Rice has emerged as India’s top export item among the many agricultural and processed food product exports under the APEDA basket. With the export of $4.663 billion in nine months of 2022-23, it is recorded a significant contribution in the current fiscal. Other top products in the APEDA export basket in 2022-23 include basmati rice, cereal preparations and miscellaneous processed items and meat, dairy & poultry products.

As a part of promoting Indian millets on the web, APEDA has designed, developed and launched the Millets Portal. It has also created a separate portal, Indian Millet Exchange, to promote millets.

Considering the importance of food safety and traceability required by the importing countries of developed economies, APEDA has taken a number of initiatives in the area of quality development such as preparation of standards, procedures for identified potential products, development of residue monitoring protocol, recognition of laboratories and implementation of traceability systems among others.