Changing the agri exports basket

India has the potential to become a global leader in the food processing sector

The Indian government has been encouraging agricultural exports to meet an ambitious target of $60bn by 2022. The Ministry of Food Processing Industries shows that the contribution of agricultural and processed food products in India’s total exports is 11%. Primary processed agricultural commodities form the majority share. India’s export earnings will increase by focusing more on value-added processed food products rather than primary processed agricultural commodities (Siraj Hussain, 2021). From 2015-16 to 2019-20, the value of agricultural and processed food increased significantly from $17.8bn to $20.65bn. The Indian agricultural economy is shifting from primary to secondary agriculture where the focus is more on developing various processed foods. The Indian food processing industry promises high economic growth and makes good profits.

India’s agricultural export basket is changing from traditional commodities to non-traditional processed foods. Traditionally, Basmati rice is one of the top export commodities. However, now there is an unusual spike in the export of non-basmati rice. In 2020-21, India exported 13.09 million tonnes of non-basmati rice ($4.8bn), up from an average 6.9 million tonnes ($2.7bn) in the previous five years.