India’s Agriculture trade

In News

Despite the pandemic export of Agri and allied commodities during Apr, 2020 - Feb, 2021 shows an increase of 18.49%

About the News

• Trade balance: The export of Agri and allied commodities during April,2020 - Feb,2021 increased by 18.49%, which led to an increase of 41%  in India’s foreign trade balance in agriculture.
• Commodities: The commodities which posted significant positive growth in exports were wheat, Other Cereals, Rice (other than Basmati), Soya meal, Spices, Sugar, Raw Cotton, Fresh Vegetable, Processed Vegetables, and Alcoholic Beverages etc.
• Export under G2G basis: On specific demand from countries, NAFED has exported 50,000 MT wheat to Afghanistan and 40,000 MT wheat to Lebanon under government-to-government (G2G) arrangement.
• Factors: This increase in exports is on account of multiple factors, mainly being India capturing new markets namely, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Chile, and Puerto Rico.
• Trends: India has consistently maintained trade surplus in the agricultural products over the years.
• Imports: The imports of Agricultural and allied commodities during this period witnessed a slight increase of 2.93 per cent.

About Agri Sector

• India occupies a leading position in global trade of agricultural products. However, its total agricultural export basket accounts for a little over 5 percent of world agricultural trade. The major export destinations were USA, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
• The share of agriculture in GDP increased to 9 per cent in 2020-21 from 17.8 per cent in 2019-20. The last time the contribution of the agriculture sector in GDP was at 20 per cent was in 2003-04.
• During the pandemic period, agriculture has been the only sector to have clocked a positive growth of 3.4 per cent at constant prices in 2020-21, when other sectors slid.
• The Agriculture Export Policy (AEP), 2018, aims at achieving export target of $60 billion by 2022 and $100 billion within a few years, thereafter.