APEDA AND UKAPMB BOOST AGRICULTURE OF UTTRAKHAND
The export of vegetables, including curry leaf, okra, pear, and bitter gourd, comes after a consignment of millets was exported to Denmark in May, 2021 from Uttarakhand. Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), in collaboration with Uttarakhand Agriculture Produce Marketing Board (UKAPMB) & Just Organik, an exporter, sourced and processed ragi (finger millet), and jhingora (barnyard millet) from farmers in Uttarakhand.
The state government has been supporting organic farming and UKAPMB, by their unique initiative, has been supporting thousands of farmers for organic certification. These farmers produce mainly millets such as ragi, barnyard millet, amaranthus etc.
APEDA has been doing promotional activities to bring Uttarakhand on the food industry and agricultural products to bring it on export map of India. APEDA is ready to provide financial assistance for granting up a packhouse in Uttarakhand which would fulfil the mandatory requirement or infrastructure for export of fresh fruits and vegetables to the international market.
“APEDA would continue to focus on the Uttarakhand region both in terms of capacity building, quality upgradation, and infrastructure development by linking buyers to farmers through strengthening the entire supply chain of agricultural produce,” a commerce ministry statement added
OFFICIAL DATA THAT HOW INDIA IS DOING
In 2020-21, India exported fruits and vegetables valued at ₹11,019 crore compared to ₹10,114 crore worth of exports in 2019-20, which is an increase of close to 9%. APEDA undertakes market promotion activities for export of food products, market intelligence for making informed decisions, international exposure, skill development, capacity building and high-quality packaging.
India came into the top 10 list of agricultural produce exporters in 2019 with a sizeable share in the export of rice, cotton, soya beans and meat, according to a World Trade Organization (WTO) report on the trends in world agricultural trade in the past 25 years. India replaced New Zealand as the 9th largest exporter of Agri-produce with a 3.1% share in global Agri-exports.
In 2019, Mexico and India, with 3.4% and 3.1% share in global Agri exports, respectively, replaced Malaysia (7th) and New Zealand (9th) as the largest exporters. The top rice exporters in 1995 included Thailand (38%), India (26%) and the US (19%). The top 10 exporters accounted for more than 96% of exports in both 1995 and 2019.
SECTORS OF INDIA
India is also the third-largest cotton exporter (7.6%), and the fourth-largest importer (10%) in 2019. It had not featured in the top 10 list in 1995. In the largest traded Agri product, soya beans, India (0.1%) has a meagre share, but was ranked ninth in the world.
In the “meat and edible meat offal” category, India was ranked eighth in the world with a 4% share in global trade. While India was the 7 largest wheat and meslin exporter in 1995, but it does not topped in the top 10 list in 2019.
However, India lagged as a value-added contributor to world Agricultural exports. India’s share of foreign value-added in its Agricultural exports was also low at 3.8% primarily due to high tariffs on Agricultural imports to protect the domestic market