India’s agricultural and processed food products have seen a significant rise in the first nine months of the financial year 2022-23. According to data from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), the export of these products increased by 13% compared to the corresponding period of the previous financial year 2021-22.
The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has fixed a target of $23.6 billion for the export of these products for the 2022-23 financial year. So far, an export of $19.7 billion has already been achieved in the first nine months of the current financial year, which is a significant increase from the $17.5 billion achieved over the same period in the previous financial year.
Processed fruits and vegetables have shown the largest growth, with a 30.36% increase in the first nine months of 2022. Fresh fruits and vegetables have also recorded a growth of 4% compared to the same period in the previous year. Processed food products such as cereal preparations and miscellaneous processed items have also shown a growth of 24.35% compared to the first nine months of the previous financial year.
Fresh fruit exports increased from $1,078 million in April-December 2021 to $1,121 million in the same period of the current financial year. Meanwhile, exports of processed fruits and vegetables have jumped from $1,129 million in April-December 2021 to $1,472 million in the first nine months of the current financial year.
Pulses have also seen a significant increase, with exports up 80.38% in the first nine months of the current financial year compared to the same period in the previous year.
Basmati rice exports have increased by 40.26% in the first nine months of the current financial year, from $2,379 million in April-December 2021 to $3,337 million in the same period of 2022. Non-basmati rice exports have also recorded a growth of 4% in the first nine months of the current financial year.
Lastly, wheat exports have increased by 4% in the first nine months of the current financial year, rising from $1,452 million in April-December 2021 to $1,508 million in the same period of 2022.
According to DGCI&S data, the country’s agricultural product exports grew by 19.92% in 2021-22 to reach $50 billion. This growth is significant, as it is on top of the 17.66% growth achieved in 2020-21, which saw exports reach $41.87 billion.