India's Agriculture exports touch milestone of $50 bn in FY22

India's agricultural exports touched their highest-ever mark by crossing $50 billion in Financial Year 2022. The agricultural exports grew by 19.92 percent in the financial year to touch $ 50.21 billion, as per the provisional data provided by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S).

The current growth is phenomenal and the highest ever recorded in the agricultural sector, over and above the growth reported in the last fiscal. In the financial year 2020-21, agricultural exports had grown by 17.66 percent to touch a total of $41.87 billion. 

The milestone was achieved despite the major logistical challenges faced last year in the form of container shortages and high freight rates. This is in line with PM Narendra Modi's vision of improving farmers' income. 

The Commerce and Industry Ministry said in a statement on April 6, 2022 that the highest ever exports have been achieved for staples such as rice, wheat, sugar and other cereals, marine products and meat.

Following are the some of the products that achieved highest-ever exports in FY 2021-22:

• The wheat exports alone jumped almost four-fold from $568 million in FY 2020-21 to $2.12 billion in FY 2021-22.
• The rice exports also touched their highest ever mark of $9.65 billion in FY 2022, capturing almost 50 percent of the world market for rice.
• The sugar exports were reported to have crossed $4.6 billion in the last fiscal. 
• The cereal exports crossed $1.08 billion in the Financial Year 2022. 
• The marine product exports were also reported to the highest ever at $7.71 billion in Financial Year 2021-22. 
• The exports of spies touched $4 billion for the second year in a row.
• The coffee exports also crossed $1 billion for the first time in FY 22.

Significance

The increase in export of these products has majorly benefitted farmers in states such as Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and West Bengal. 

The increase in the export of marine products benefitted the farmers in the coastal states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Odisha, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. 

The jump in coffee exports benefitted the coffee growers in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. 

Besides this, there was an increase in exports of fruits as well from clusters like Varanasi (fresh vegetables, mangoes), Lucknow (mango), Theni (banana), Nagpur (orange), Ananthpur (banana), Solapur (pomegranate) and Krishna and Chittoor (mango).

The current Russia-Ukraine crisis has further increased the world's dependency on India for supplies of wheat and other food grains.

Read Also: RBI Monetary Policy Highlights: Repo rates remain unchanged at 4%, GDP growth projected at 7.2% for FY 23