New Delhi, Dec 30 (KNN) The exports of agricultural and processed food products grew by 16 per cent in the first eight months (April-November) of the current Financial Year 2022-23 in comparison to the corresponding period of FY 2021-22.

According to the provisional data by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), the overall export of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) products increased by 16 per cent growth in terms of USD during April-November 2022 to USD 17.43 billion from USD 15.07 billion over the same period of the last fiscal.

The initiatives taken by the APEDA have helped the country in achieving 74 per cent of its total export target for the year 2022-23 in eight months of the current fiscal, said the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

For the year 2022-23, an export target of USD 23.56 billion has been fixed for the agricultural and processed food products basket and an export of USD 17.435 billion has already been achieved in eight months of the current fiscal.

As per the DGCI&S provisional data, processed fruits and vegetables recorded a growth of 32.60 percent (April-November 2022), while fresh fruits registered four percent growth in compare to corresponding months of the previous year.

Also, processed food products like cereals and miscellaneous processed items reported a growth of 28.29 percent in compare to the first eight months of the previous year.

In April-November, 2021, fresh fruits were exported to the tune of USD 954 million that increased to USD 991 million in the corresponding months of the current fiscal.

Exports of processed F&V jumped to USD 1310 million in eight months of the current fiscal from USD 988 million in the corresponding months of the previous year.

The export of pulses has witnessed an increase of 90.49 percent in eight months of the current fiscal in compare to the same months of the last fiscal as the export of lentils increased from USD 206 million (April-November 2021-22) to USD 392 million (April-November 2022-23).

On the achievement, M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA, said, “We have been working with all the stakeholders such as farmers, exporters, processors to ensure that quality agricultural and processed food products are exported from the country.”

The rise in the export of agricultural and processed food products is the outcome of various initiatives taken for the export promotion of agricultural and processed food products such as organising B2B exhibitions in different countries, exploring new potential markets through product-specific and general marketing campaigns by the active involvement of Indian Embassies.

Several initiatives were also taken to promote products having registered geographical indications (GI) in India by organising virtual Buyer Seller Meets on agricultural and food products with the United Arab Emirates and on GI products, including handicrafts with the USA.  (KNN Bureau)