From an economy struggling with short supply to turn into a net exporter of agri-products, occupying seventh position globally, India has come a long way. It is one of the top producers of cereals (wheat & rice), pulses, fruits, vegetables, milk, meat and marine fish. However, there are areas needing a lot of work for the nutritional security for harvesting the demographic dividend of the country. The country faces deficit of pulses & oilseeds. Though the availability of fruits & vegetables and milk & meat & fish has increased,but affordability is still a work in progress. No denial that a sea change has been witnessed in this domain and a look at working of key initiatives is must to understand the happenings and outlook.
PM-KISAN provides income support to small and marginal farmers, Krishi Bhagya Scheme empowers farmers to use modern technologies to yield more crops per drop of water, NMSA caters to key dimensions of ‘Water use efficiency’, ‘Nutrient Management’ and ‘Livelihood diversification’ through solutions of sustainable development, whereas PM Fasal Bima Yojana provides financial support to the farmers who suffer crop loss or damage. National Agriculture Market (eNAM) portal has been a huge success. The portal is a unified national market for agricultural commodities, a network of the existing APMC mandis. It makes better price discovery available now through transparent auction process based on quality of produce along with timely online payment.
“New India will be more prosperous if the farmers in the country are further empowered. I am happy that Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi and other schemes related to agriculture are giving new strength to crores of farmers of the country,” said PM Modi while sharing details of the benefits of different schemes of the Central government for the farmers.
The government has launched many schemes in Agriculture sector that have been producing exceptional results. These include PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), launch of E-NAM, National Mission For Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), Gramin Bhandaran Yojana, Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana, Mrida Swastha Yojana, Livestock insurance Scheme, Scheme on Fisheries Training and Extension, etc.
These schemes have resulted in an unprecedented increase in Agricultural exports and production figures. India’s agri exports crossed USD 50 billion for the year 2021-22, notwithstanding logistical challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic in the form of high freight rates, container shortages, etc. According to the DGCI&S data, exports of many agri items registered record growth including exports of rice, pulses, wheat, other cereals, dairy products, poultry products, sheep/goat meat, Fruits and vegetables, Floriculture, etc. Various initiatives taken by Centre through APEDA such as organizing B2B exhibitions in different countries, exploring new potential markets through product specific and general marketing campaigns by active involvement of Indian Embassies have helped as well. Major export destinations as per 2021-22 data are Bangladesh, UAE, Vietnam, USA, Nepal, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Iran and Egypt.
More than 300 outreach programmes in collaboration with state governments have been organised in the country, products matrix for 50 agricultural products which have good scope for expanding exports portfolios have also been created by the government and concerned authorities. Centre has also taken othe initiatives like promotion of geographical indications (GI), recognition of 220 labs across India to provide services of testing to a wide range of products to exporters, facilitating participation of exporters in the International Trade Fairs, organising national events like AAHAR, Organic World Congress, BioFach India etc. Government, through the aegis of APEDA also initiates registration of pack-houses for horticulture products for meeting the quality requirements of the international market. APEDA has adopted multiple world class technology and software in IT division such as Blockchain technology implemented in hortinet traceability, Farmer Connect Portal, Geographical Indications (GI) Promotion Portal, Mobile App, iTrack System, TraceNet, Organic Promotional Portal, Agriexchange App, and Cloud Migration etc.
This significant rise in agri-exports is seen as a testimony of the government’s commitment to enhance farmers’ income through giving thrust on boosting exports of agricultural and processed food products.
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