Government of India

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

Department of Commerce

Reforms to Promote Agri Exports [Type here] [Type here]

The Government of India’s consistent and concerted endeavours to usher into reforms for
boosting agricultural exports have been highly fruitful. Despite the unprecedented global
pandemic, India has been able to step in to meet the increased global demand, emerging as
a significant global supplier of food and other essential agricultural products. Indian exports
of essential agricultural products have registered an increase of 38.00%, during the period
Apr 2020 – Jan 2021.

Department of Commerce took various steps to Export of Essential

facilitate agricultural exports during the COVID- Agriculture Products
19 period. The validity of various certifications/
accreditations was extended beyond their dates (Values in USD Million)
of expiry; control rooms were set up to resolve
problems faced by the exporters; EIC/NPPO and
12606.89
other related boards & authorities extended
their support by issuing online certificates for 9135.36
exports; state governments and district
administrations were contacted to resolve
specific bottlenecks faced by the exporters;
steps were taken to facilitate opening of testing
laboratories etc. 2019-20 (APR-JAN) 2020-21 (APR-JAN)

Export of Essential Agriculture Export Policy (AEP)

Agriculture Products (Best
The Agriculture Export Policy was
Performers) announced by Government of India in
Values in USD Millions 2018 with a focus on agriculture export-
4000.00 oriented production, export promotion,
better farmer realization and
3000.00 synchronization with the policies and
2000.00
programmes of Govt. of India. The AEP
lays emphasis on farmer-centric
1000.00 approach. During the course of
implementation of AEP, considerable
0.00
Rice -Non Sugar - Soya meal Wheat Groundnut progress has been made in giving
Basmati Refined Oil - Crude Farmer-Produce Organizations (FPOs)
2019-20 (Apr-Jan) 2020-21 (Apr-Jan)
and farmers a stake in the export of
their produce. Direct linkage of
FPOs/farmers with the export market
has not only improved farmers’ incomes but has also resulted in better farming practices due
to requirements of catering to the international markets.

Participation and involvement of State Government

The active participation of respective States is crucial in implementation of State specific

agricultural export policy. Regular interaction was carried out with the States to propel them
to include agricultural exports in their respective State Export Policy. The Agricultural &

Reforms to Promote Agri Exports 1|Page

Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), facilitated the State
Governments’ to finalize State specific Action Plans.

Sixteen States viz. Maharashtra, U.P., Kerala, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Punjab,
Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Manipur, Sikkim
& Uttarakhand and 1 Union Territory viz. Ladakh have finalized the State/UT specific Action
Plan. The State Level Monitoring committee (SLMC) has been formed in 20 States and 1 UT.
26 States & 4 UTs have nominated respective Nodal agencies for implementation of AEP.

Institutional mechanism for promoting agricultural exports has been set up in the States for
the first time.

Focus on clusters

In order to provide direct export market linkage to farmers/FPOs and to encourage export-
oriented production, AEP advocates a cluster-based approach for promoting agriculture
exports. As part of the Agriculture Export “For the first time we are
Policy, 47 unique product-district clusters moving towards agriculture
have been notified for export promotion. The export policy so that our
States have further identified around 100 farmers can also face
more product-district clusters, which global competition with
would be evaluated and notified in due confidence.”
course.

9 clusters (21 districts) have been activated by forming cluster-level committees, forming
FPOs, connecting exporters to the FPOs, and sorting out the issues of transportation/
logistics/ pack houses etc. These clusters have been made operative with none or minimal
additional investments by pooling the existing resources.

For the first time, the Department of Commerce has

reached out directly at cluster and farm levels to give
farmers a stake in export of their produce. The FPOs/
farmers have been sensitized about requirements of
export-oriented production. The following clusters
have shown good results and value realizations for
farmers have increased in these clusters:

 Varanasi cluster including Ghazipur, Jaunpur,

Mirzapur, Chandauli and Sant Ravidas Nagar districts
The first air shipment of vegetables (1MT) directly from
Varanasi to Sharjah by AirIndia Express in January, 2021.
(fresh fruits & vegetables): Fresh Vegetables and Fruits
Flagged off at LBSI airport, Varanasi by Chairman APEDA Exporters Association (VAFA), Mumbai signed an MOU
and Divisional Commissioner, Varanasi. with FPOs for sourcing of fresh vegetables and fruits for
export to international market. The FPOs in the region
were encouraged for exports and the existing value chain was strengthened with the
cooperation of stakeholders towards the initiative to develop “Varanasi as an Export
Hub”. As an outcome, a series of export consignments of fresh fruits, vegetables have
been shipped by air, sea and multimodal route to Middle East, UK etc. including three

Reforms to Promote Agri Exports 2|Page

 air shipments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Black rice from Chandauli district and
Mango varieties like Banarasi Langra, Ramkheda, Chausa, Dasheri etc. were
exported for the first time.

 Lucknow cluster (Mango): The

“The agriculture sector has a very important role to
first sea consignment of 26.25
play in making India a five trillion dollar economy.
MT of mangoes (Dasheri and
For this, our government is focusing on formulating
Langra varieties) from Lucknow
a cash crop and export centric farming system,”
cluster to Oman was dispatched
in June, 2020 from -PM Narendra Modi
Rehmankheda packhouse to
JNPT Mumbai for further shipping. Subsequently multiple consignments of fresh
mango were exported from Lucknow to Dubai via JNPT Mumbai.
 Nagpur cluster (Orange): BSM and field visit were organized for cluster development
activity in the cluster. The first container of 15 MT of Nagpur Oranges was exported
to Dubai from VHT packhouse, Vashi in February, 2020. Oranges were directly
procured from Nagpur cluster farmers for export. Till date, more than 100MT of
oranges have been exported to UAE.
 Ananthpur Cluster (Banana): The first
train shipment of banana was dispatched from
Tadipatri, Ananthpur (Banana Cluster) to JNPT
Mumbai in January, 2020. During last year, 9790
MT of banana from the cluster have been
exported through 11 reefer rail movements for
export to Middle East, thereby covering 600 Ha
of cultivation land and benefiting around 15,000
farmers and many FPOs in the cluster region. The
Fresh banana from Anantapur cluster district dispatched average price of Banana received by
through reefer rail for export via JNPT (January, 2021) FPOs/farmers has more than doubled from Rs
5/kg to Rs 11/kg.
 Theni cluster (Banana): During the last one year, more than 80 containers of G9 and
Nendran banana have been exported to Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Maldives from Theni and
Pollachi districts after sourcing the fresh produce from the local farmer producer group.
 Kolhapur, Solapur & Jalgaon cluster (Banana): Till date, 3278, 275 & 77 containers of
Banana has been exported from Solapur, Jalgaon and Kohlapur respectively.
 Surat, Narmada & Bharuch cluster (Banana): Till date, 8735 MT of fresh banana
exported to Middle East countries viz. Bahrain, Dubai, Georgia, Iran, Oman, Saudi
Arabia, Turkey, UAE, Iraq etc. from the cluster.
 Sangli, Nasik & Pune cluster (Grapes): Supply chain of grapes export was further
strengthened which enabled increase in exports. Grapes in large quantities are being
exported from the cluster.
 Bangalore Rural & Chikkaballapura cluster (Rose Onion): 7167.618 MT of Rose onions
were exported from the cluster area to Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Bangladesh and
Sri Lanka during October 2020 to December 2020.

Reforms to Promote Agri Exports 3|Page

In addition to the clusters identified under AEP, 54 districts are covered under One District
One Product (ODOP) scheme for export promotion of spices. Spices Board has initiated steps
to implement Entrepreneurship Development Program for increasing export in ODOP
districts. Export of 5 products under 26 districts have been promoted. The details are as
under:
 Saffron - Kharewa, Pulwama,
EXPORT OF SPICES Budgam, Kishtwar and Srinagar
VALUES IN USD MILLION districts of Jammu & Kashmir:
Apr-Dec 2019 (R) Apr-Dec 2020 (A)  For the first time, Kashmiri
437.68

saffron is being exported to UAE

Kashmiri Saffron export has
380.92

increased by 101.37% during Apr-

Dec 2020 as compared to the
previous period.

283.05  Ginger – Bidar (Karnataka), South

District (Sikkim), Dima Hasao, West
Karbi Anglong & Karbi
202.36

Anglong (Assam),
Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh),
Koraput (Orissa) and Pherzawl
(Manipur)
68.19

 Ginger export has increased by

48.84
41.27

37.47

81.98% during Apr-Dec 2020 as

compared to the previous period.
1.47
0.73

 Turmeric – Chamraajnagar
CORIANDER CUMIN GINGER SAFFRON TURMERIC (Karnataka), Erode (Tamil Nadu),
Bilaspur (Himachal Pradesh) Guntur
& Prakasam (Andhra Pradesh), Bongaigoan (Assam) Kandhmal (Orissa), Lalitpur
(Uttar Pradesh, Kangpokpi (Manipur)
 Turmeric export has increased manifold i.e. Dry Turmeric by 33.95%, Other
Turmeric by 58.14% & Turmeric Oleoresins by 78.7% during Apr-Dec 2020 as
compared to the previous period.
 Coriander - Kota (Rajasthan)
 Coriander export has increased by 18.34% during Apr-Dec 2020 as compared to
the previous period.
 Cumin – Patan & Surendranagar (Gujarat) and Jodhpur (Rajasthan)
 Cumin export has increased by 14.90% during Apr-Dec 2020 as compared to the
previous period.

Reforms to Promote Agri Exports 4|Page

Direct involvement of farmers in exports

 Farmer Connect Portal - A Farmer

Connect Portal has been set up on
APEDA’s website for providing a
platform for FPOs/FPCs, cooperatives
to interact with exporters. Around
2360 FPO/FPCs and 2324 exporters
have been registered in the portal so
far.
 Traceability Systems – In order to
ensure quality of exports and
establishing India as a reliable supplier of quality produce, traceability to the farm
level is vital. A number of digital platforms for traceability have been developed for
enabling smooth flow of business and ensuring transparency in the system.
 HortiNet-Mango: 38000+ Farmer and 66000+ Farms have been registered.
 HortiNet-Vegetables: The system covers 43 vegetables. Till date, over 10,000
farmers as well as 10k farms have been registered.
 HortiNet-Citrus Fruit: This system was implemented in July 2018. So far,
significant numbers of farmers and farms have been registered.
 Basmati.Net: This traceability system is running effectively since June, 2019.
More than 1.10 lacs farmers and 75,000+ farms are registered. Basmati.NET has
integrated all stakeholders involved in the supply chain of Basmati rice, i.e
trader, mandi, rice millers. exporters, State Governments and APEDA.
 TraceNet: To monitor the export of organic products from India, a certification
process was initiated that complies with the standards of NPOP or NOP. The
systems enables maintaining forward and backward traces, quality assurance for
operators or producer groups as well as certification bodies within the organic
supply chain in India. More than 13 Lac farmers are registered and 31
certification bodies have been recognized for certification process for all organic
products.
 Farm Registration Mobile App: A mobile app has been introduced for farmers
that registers farms and farmers with the State Government and enables Lab
Sampling by authorized Laboratories.
 Peanut.Net: It is a service offered to the stakeholders for facilitating testing and
certification of Peanut for export from India. The system collects, stores and
reports forward and backward traces and quality assurance data entered by the
stakeholders, ie., exporters, laboratories and authorities within the Peanut
supply chain in India.
 Meat.Net: The system enables registration of meat processing establishments
and online applications for issuance of Health Certificate. As of now, 100+ Meat
units have been registered.

Reforms to Promote Agri Exports 5|Page

  Blockchain - Grapenet Integration: To bring in enhanced trust and transparency,
blockchain technology had been initiated that covers all the stakeholders
involved in the process of export of Grapes.
 Formation of new Farmer-Producer Organisations (FPOs) through NABARD, SFAC
and NCDC has been initiated. NABARD has provided a list of around 80 FPOs in the
clusters identified under AEP. Capacity building of FPOs in each cluster is being
initiated.
 Capacity building and training of Farmers/FPOs on GAP/IPM have been organized
in the clusters of Varanasi (fresh vegetables/fruits), Anantpur (banana), Nagpur
(orange) and Jodhpur (isabgol).
 Fourteen BSM cum Workshops (between Exporter & FPOs) have been organised in
the notified/identified clusters of eleven States, in association with the respective
state nodal agencies.
 Four FPOs in the Varanasi region have been activated for export and Exporter
registration certificates (RCMC), through APEDA, have been issued to them.

Addressing Transport and Logistics

Issues “We are self-reliant in agriculture and export
 The Indian Railways have commodities to whoever needs it. This is an
example of Atmanirbhar. We have brought laws to
introduced ‘KISAN RAIL’ free the agriculture sector.”
service, under which trains
with multi commodities (all - PM Narendra Modi
perishables and agro-
products and seeds), multi
consignors, and multi
consignees are run, primarily to enable farmers and producers to move their
agricultural produce from rural areas to major towns and cities. So far, the Indian
Railways have operated 157 Kisan Rail services on 18 routes for transportation of
fruits, vegetables and other perishables.
 Under ‘Operation Greens – TOP to Total’ scheme of the Ministry of Food Processing
Industries, a subsidy of 50% is being granted on the transportation of fruits and
vegetables via Kisan Rail.
 The Ministry of Road, Transport & Highways is implementing Bharatmala Pariyojana,
which envisages the development of 34,800 km of National Highways under Phase I
of the program to improve the efficiency of logistics and freight movement in the
Nation by improving connectivity to major urban centres.
 The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare, Govt. of India
has launched the Kisan Rath Mobile Application. The App facilitates the Farmers,
FPOs and Traders to post their load requests for transportation of agriculture and
horticulture produce, which are sent to transport aggregators and individual
transporters, who can revert to them with service details. So far 99,756 tractor
trolleys and 9,85,232 trucks have been on-boarded for providing services.
 The scheme ‘Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) for Specified Agriculture

Reforms to Promote Agri Exports 6|Page

 Products’ is for providing assistance for the international component of freight to
mitigate the freight disadvantage for the export of agriculture products and
assistance for the marketing of agricultural produce. The assistance available under
the scheme has enabled exporters to export from hitherto unexplored land-locked
areas.
 The Ministry of Civil Aviation will launch the Krishi Udan scheme to assist farmers in
transporting agricultural products so that it improves their "value realisation",
especially in the north-east and tribal districts.
Market Development Efforts
 10 top products and 20 potential products from agriculture sector have been
identified for exports. APEDA has carried out a detailed analysis of SPS/TBT issues
affecting these products. The report has been shared with territorial divisions of the
Department of Commerce for taking up the matter bilaterally with various importing
countries.
 APEDA has also engaged with 60 Indian missions for preparing country-wise agri-
export strategy. APEDA interacted with the Indian Missions and other stakeholders
to identify the products, their potential and way forward for each country. The
opportunities thus analysed have been shared with trade bodies and exporters so
that they can avail the opportunity.
 Seventeen Virtual Buyer-Seller Meets (V-BSMs) involving Indian Missions in various
countries, importers, Indian exporters and Product associations from India have
been organised during the last seven months. V-BSMs have been organized with
Kuwait, Indonesia, Switzerland, Belgium, Iran. Similar programs have been organized
for Canada (Organic products), UAE & USA (GI products), Germany, South Africa,
Australia, Thailand, Oman, Bhutan, Azerbaijan and Qatar. The V-BSM platform has
enabled the exporters and importers to interact further for conducting business.
 A Market Intelligence Cell has been set up for dissemination of E-market intelligence
reports comprising detailed market analysis has commenced. 27 product-specific
reports have been prepared by the Cell. The reports have been shared with the
stakeholders for availing opportunities for exports.
Way Forward
Agricultural exports will play a pivotal role in realising Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of
doubling farmers’ income. In order to realise this vision, the efforts to implement the AEP will
continue. The scheme on Implementation of AEP has received budget allocation of Rs. 100
crore under BE 2021-22, which should provide a fillip to implementation of the Policy. The
Department of Commerce, in collaboration with the line Ministries/ Departments, State
Governments, Central and State Govt. agencies etc. will continue its efforts to take export
promotion activities to State, district/ cluster and farm levels.

*****

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 Agriculture Exports – Success Stories

Reforms to Promote Agri Exports 8|Page