Rice and Buffalo meat contribute to 58 % of India’s total export in the Agriculture and Processed Food sector, claimed the Agriculture Ministry while claiming that India’s export has increased by more than 83% during the past 10 years.

The Ministry said the top three products in the APEDA (The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) export basket in 2020-21 were Non-Basmati Rice (23.22% share), Basmati Rice (19.44%), and Buffalo Meat (15.34%) and these products together account for 58 percent of total shipments.

In the International market, Non-Basmati Rice has emerged as India’s top export item among the many agricultural and processed food product exports under the APEDA basket, contributing close to one-fourth of the total exports in 2020-21, the Ministry said

While India’s Non-Basmati rice exports were valued at USD 4799.91 million (Rs 35,477 crore) in 2020-21, the Basmati Rice exports were at USD 4018.71 million (Rs 29,850 crore), followed by Buffalo Meat exports at USD 3171.19 million (Rs23,460 crore), said a senior officer of the Agriculture Ministry

He said the export of agricultural and processed food has grown at a steady pace in the last decade notwithstanding several logistical challenges faced in the global trade of the commodities.

The Exports of agricultural and processed food products under the APEDA basket rose to USD 20,674 million (Rs 15,30,50 crore) during 2020-21, from USD 17,321 million (Rs 83,484 crore) in 2011-12, as per the data released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S).

While Benin, Nepal, Bangladesh, Senegal, and Togo were the top importers of Non-Basmati Rice from India in 2020-21, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates were the top exporters of Basmati rice.

As regards Buffalo Meat exports, the top importing nations include Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Egypt, and Indonesia, the Ministry said. “We continue to focus on creating infrastructure for boosting exports by focusing on clusters in collaboration with state governments while taking into consideration the aim of Agriculture Export Policy, 2018,” he said.

According to World Trade Organization (WTO) data, India’s agricultural exports touched USD 37,371 million in 2019 against USD 23,106 million in 2010, recording a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.49 percent during the last ten years against the 3.11 % increase in CAGR of the world’s agricultural exports 2010 to 2019.

India’s share in world agricultural exports has also increased from 1.71 (2010) in 2010 to 2.1 % (2019). However, India’s rank in worldwide agricultural exports slipped to 16 in 2019 from 17 in 2010 as per the data released by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Among the top ten products exports under the APEDA basket were Non-Basmati Rice (23.22%), Basmati Rice (19.44%), Buffalo Meat (15.34%), Miscellaneous Preparations (3.84%), Groundnuts (3.52%), Cereal Preparations (3.08%), Maize (3.07%), Wheat (2.66%), Processed Vegetables (2.43%), Processed Fruits, Juices & Nuts (2.07%) and Cashew Kernels (2.03%), the Ministry said.