India’s Agriculture Exports Touch Historic High Of $50 Billion In FY22: Govt

The exports of agricultural products (including marine and plantation products) from India for the year 2021-22 have crossed $50 billion, highest level ever achieved for agriculture exports, an official release said on Wednesday (6 April).

As per the provisional figures released by Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), the agricultural exports from India have grown by 19.92 per cent during 2021-22 to touch $50.21 billion, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a release.

According to the ministry's statement, the growth in agricultural exports is up by 17.66 per cent compared to $41.87 billion exports achieved in 2020-21.

It should be noted that the the rise in exports has been achieved in spite of unprecedented logistical challenges in the form of high freight rates, container shortages etc.

The ministry said that highest ever exports have been achieved for staples like rice ($9.65 billion), wheat ($2.19 billion), sugar ($4.6 billion) and other cereals ($1.08 billion).

Wheat has recorded an unprecedented growth of more than 273 per cent, jumping nearly four-fold from $568 million in 2020-21 to touch close to $2,119 million in 2021-22.

Increase in exports of these products has benefitted farmers in states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra etc, it said.

India has captured nearly 50 per cent of the world market for rice, according to the ministry.

Export of marine products, at $7.71 billion, is also the highest ever, benefitting farmers in the coastal states of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Meanwhile, spices exports has touched $4 billion for second year in a row.

Further, despite facing tremendous supply side issues, coffee exports have crossed $1 billion for the first time, which has improved realisations for coffee growers in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

According to the ministry, the exports have taken place from clusters like Varanasi (fresh vegetables, mangoes), Ananthpur (banana), Nagpur (orange), Lucknow (mango), Theni (banana), Solapur (pomegranate), Krishna and Chittoor (mango) etc.