Indian Agriculture assures FAO of consistency in export of farm products for steady global supply

With many countries suffering a disruption in agricultural output and supply, India has assured United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that it will export farm products without any disruption.

During the virtual meeting of FAO’s 35^th Asia-Pacific regional conference, SK Malhotra, Agriculture Commissioner said India had enough stocks to avoid any disruption. Malhotra said there would be no disruption in the global supply. “We are well prepared to step up farm exports as we have enough stocks,” he said.

During March-June this year, India’s agricultural export rose by 23.24 per cent to Rs 25,553 crore. Agricultural exports as a percentage of India’s agricultural GDP has increased from 9.4 per cent in 2017-18 to 9.9 per cent in 2018-19. While the agricultural imports as a percentage of India’s agricultural GDP have declined from 5.7 per cent to 4.9 per cent, indicating exportable surplus and decreased dependence on the import of agricultural products in India. And according to WTO data, India’s agricultural exports and imports in the world agriculture trade in 2017 was 2.27 per cent and 1.90 per cent.

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The Agriculture Commission pointed out that the government is focused on wellness food and nutraceuticals, which developing ‘Brand India’. Malhotra said this is in campaign mode to penetrate new foreign markets. Focus is also on, as per the government’s agriculture export policy 2018, export promotion of novel, indigenous, organic, ethnic, traditional and non-traditional agricultural products.

An official said there is a limited scope of export in food grains. He said while rice can and is being exported, Indian wheat is not competitive at the global market, and pulses are produced just enough for domestic consumption. “We have to focus on niche products with high value,” the official said.