Agri exports jump driven mainly by rice, maize

Exports of agricultural products have gained momentum, according to data. Export data as sourced from Apeda (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed a sharp growth in many agri commodities.

India’s basmati rice exports jumped 71 per cent to 3.52 lakh tonnes in September 2020 from 2.05 lakh tonnes in the same period last year. However, non-basmati rice exports jumped manifolds from 3.69 lakh tonnes in September 2019 to 11.19 lakh tonnes in September 2020. Exporters attributed the sharp surge in exports of rice to the competitive prices of Indian rice.

The Commerce Ministry data showed a sharp jump in maize exports too, which rose from 15,649 tonnes in September 2019 to 2.47 lakh tonnes in September 2020. Similarly, for the period April to September 2020, maize exports under the HS Code of 1005 showed a jump of 450 per cent to 9.22 lakh tonnes as against 1.67 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period last year. A sharp jump in maize exports is seen to Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Groundnut exports have jumped by nearly double during September 2020 over same month last year from 12,587 tonnes to about 24,000 tonnes.

As per the Ministry data, Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines emerged as the top three export destinations for groundnut exports. While exports for the month of September showed over 100 per cent rise in all these nations, the exports during April-September, 2020, which was under Covid-19 impact, saw exports growing for Indonesia by about 90 per cent to 84,273 tonnes as against 44,275 tonnes in the same period last year.

Ajit Shah, President, Horticulture Produce Exporters’ Association, told BusinessLine that the demand for overall agriculture produce has increased as most of the countries are experiencing shortage situation due to the pandemic. But logistics and execution challenges are causing a delay in shipments.

Additional burden

“There are some challenges in the execution of export orders. Labour issues, transportation disruptions and less container availability has added to the problems already faced by the exporters. The schedules of shipments are getting disturbed,” said Shah, explaining that the demand for overall commodities have seen a revival in recent months with conventional export destinations showing the most of the growth.