APEDA Accounts for 49 Percent of Total Farm Product Shipments

As Indian agricultural product exports begin to make inroads into the global market, particularly as a leader in non-basmati rice exports, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) is playing an important role, accounting for 49% of total shipments of these products.

APEDA was established on February 13, 1986, with agricultural exports totaling $0.6 billion. Last fiscal year, its agricultural product shipments totaled $20.67 billion, and it expanded its footprint to 205 countries.

It was established by an Act of Parliament by the Government under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry after the government recognized the importance of agricultural and processed food product exports.

APEDA's progress in agricultural exports has not been easy. "Despite several logistical challenges in global commodity trade, India's agricultural and processed food exports have grown steadily over the last decade," says M Angamuthu, Chairman of APEDA.

Export Basket Break-up

Today, the authority is a cornerstone of the government's success in promoting agricultural exports. Cereals and fresh horticulture items account for 59% of APEDA's share of agricultural product exports, cereal preparations and miscellaneous processed items account for 23%, and animal products account for 18%.

APEDA was given an export target of $23.7 billion for the current fiscal year, and by the end of January, it had met more than 70% of it, at $17.2 billion. According to the APEDA Chairman, the remainder of the target will be met within the time frame specified.

APEDA has promoted IT-enabled activities for ease of doing business in the promotion and development of exports from India in order to further the cause of agricultural exports. To make governance more efficient and effective, it has implemented initiatives such as paperless office (re-engineering, digital signatures, and electronic payment facility), APEDA mobile app, phase-wise delivery of online services, monitoring and evaluation, uniform access, and virtual trade fair.

GI-Tagged, Ethnic Products

To meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for "vocal for local" and "Atmanirbhar Bharat," the authority has been focusing on the promotion of exports of locally-sourced Geographical Indication (GI) products as well as indigenous, ethnic agricultural products.

According to APEDA, new products and export destinations have been identified, and trial shipments have been facilitated accordingly. Over 100 registered APEDA scheduled agricultural products are among the 150 GI-tagged agricultural products that have been registered so far (cereals, fresh fruits and vegetables, processed products, etc).

Dragon fruit, patented village rice, jackfruit, jamun, Burmese grapes, dehydrated mahua flowers, and puffed rice were among the ethnic and GI tagged products shipped out of the country last fiscal year and this fiscal year. GI varieties of mango, GI tagged Shahi litchi, Bhalia wheat, Madurai malli, Mihidana, Sitabhog, Dahanu Gholvad Sapota, Jalgaon banana, Vazhakulam pineapple and Marayoor jaggery are among these, says Angamuthu.

Strategy Reports

In order to boost exports even further, country-specific agri-export strategy reports for 60 countries have been prepared. APEDA has established a Market Intelligence Cell and has begun releasing E-market intelligence reports that include detailed market analysis.

Mango, basmati rice, non-basmati rice, groundnut, grapes, gherkins, dehydrated onion, pomegranate, banana, potato, buffalo meat, swine meat, fresh-cut flowers, wine, egg, dairy products (SMP & cheese), biscuits, jaggery, millets, fruits and vegetable seeds, moringa, fox nut, fruit juices, mango pulp, potato flakes, and cereal preparations are among the 27 reports prepared so far.

APEDA has established a farmer connect portal on its website to provide a platform for farmer producer organizations (FPOs) or farmer producer companies (FPCs), Cooperatives to interact with exporters. According to him, approximately 3,295 FPO/FPCs and 3,315 exporters have registered in the portal so far.

APEDA has also included a Blockchain solution in its GrapeNet traceability platform, which is a web-based certification and traceability software system for tracking fresh grapes exports to the European Union. The Blockchain solution, known as APEDA Trust Chain, assists in tracking all aspects of the export consignment, right down to the vineyard location.

According to data from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, exports of agricultural and processed food products under the APEDA basket increased over the last decade to 1,53,049 crore in 2020-21, up from 42,437 crore in 2010-11.

Non-Basmati Rice Contribution

APEDA exported agricultural and processed food products worth $17,465 million (1,29,782 crore) from April to December of the current fiscal year.

Non-basmati rice, India's top export item in the APEDA basket of agricultural and processed food product exports, contributed nearly one-fourth of total exports in 2020-21. Non-basmati rice (23.22 percent), basmati rice (19.44 percent), and buffalo meat were the top three products in the APEDA export basket in 2020-21. Together, these products account for 58% of total shipments.

Other Initiatives

According to Angamuthu, APEDA pioneered its first traceability system for grape exports to EU countries in 2005-06. It has now been expanded to include peanut (Peanut.net), organic (Tracenet), and meat products (Meat.net). Traceability systems for additional products are being developed, according to the APEDA chairman.

APEDA organised a number of activities, including a virtual buyer-seller meet, showcasing the strength of Indian agri-exports on the Virtual trade fair platform, synergy with ministries, and convergence of various schemes run by line ministries and concerned organisations. "APEDA's visionary approach, aggressive and consistent efforts have enabled India to position itself as a consistent and quality supplier of agricultural products," Angamuthu said.