New Delhi, India is in final talks to start wheat export to Egypt while discussions are going on with countries like China, Turkey, China and Iran to begin the outbound shipments of the commodity, the commerce ministry said on Saturday. It said that India's wheat exports increased to USD 1.74 billion during April-January 2021-22 as against USD 340.17 million in the same period last year.

 

In 2019-20, wheat exports were worth USD 61.84 million, which rose to USD 549.67 million in 2020-21, it said.

 

It also said that the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has recently organized a meeting of key stakeholders in the value chain for promoting exports to those countries which have a huge shipment potential in the wake of global supply chain disruptions due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

 

'At the meeting, the Railways assured to make available sufficient rakes to meet any immediate demand for additional wheat transport. Port authorities have also been asked to augment dedicated terminals along with dedicated containers for wheat apart at ports, ' it added.

 

India's wheat exports are mainly to neighbouring countries with Bangladesh having the largest share of more than 54 per cent in both volume and value terms in 2020-21. It has entered new wheat markets such as Yemen, Afghanistan, Qatar and Indonesia.

 

The top ten importing countries for Indian wheat in 2020-21 were Bangladesh, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Afghanistan, Qatar, Indonesia, Oman and Malaysia.

'We are giving thrust on building infrastructure in the value chain for giving boosts to cereal exports in collaboration with the state governments and other stakeholders such as exporters, farmer producer organizations, transporters etc, ' said M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA.

 

India accounts for even less than 1 per cent in world wheat export. However, its share has increased from 0.14 per cent in 2016 to 0.54 per cent in 2020. India is the second largest producer of wheat with a share of around 14.14 per cent of world total production in 2020.

 

India produces around 107.59 million tonnes of wheat annually while a major chunk of it goes towards domestic consumption.

 

Major wheat growing states in India are Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Gujarat.

'The unit price of wheat plays an important role in international trade. While the unit export price of wheat has increased for all countries in the last five years, India's unit export price is slightly higher than that of other countries. This is one of the factors adversely impacting wheat exports from India, ' it said.

 

In order to ensure seamless quality certification of products to be exported, APEDA has recognized 220 labs across India to provide testing services for a wide range of products and exporters.

The export of maize has touched USD 816.31 million in the first ten months of current fiscal 2021-22 (April-January), already exceeding the USD 634.85 million achieved during the last financial year.

 

From an exports realization of USD 142.8 million in 2019-20, the export of maize increased nearly six fold, taking the total value of shipment to USD 1593.73 million in the last three years despite logistical challenges posed by the COVID19 pandemic outbreak.

 

Neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal are the major importers of maize from India. Bangladesh has imported maize worth USD 345.5 million in the current fiscal (April-January), while Nepal has imported maize worth USD 132.16 million during this period.

 

With initiatives of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry to explore and diversify new markets, Vietnam has emerged as a major destination for export of maize. India exported maize worth USD 244.24 million to Vietnam in the first ten months of current fiscal (April-January 2021-22). Other prominent importing countries are Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Taiwan, Oman, etc.

 

Maize, which is globally known as the queen of cereals, has emerged as one of the significant foreign exchange earners under the commodities covered under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) ambit.

 

'The significant rise in agri-exports is seen as a testimony of the government’s commitment to increase farmers’ income through creating requisite infrastructure and improving value chains on boosting exports of agricultural and processed food products, ' Dr. M. Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA said.

 

Maize is the third most important cereal crop in India after rice and wheat. The cereal crop is primarily cultivated in the states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

 

Having highest genetic yield potential among the cereals, maize is one of the most versatile emerging crops having wider adaptability under varied agro-climatic conditions.

 

In India, maize is grown throughout the year and it is predominantly a kharif crop with 85 percent of the area under cultivation in the season.

 

In addition to staple food for human beings and quality feed for animals, maize serves as a basic raw material/ingredient to many of industrial products that includes starch, oil, protein, alcoholic beverages, food sweeteners, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, film, textile, gum, package and paper industries etc.

 

The rise in export of agricultural and processed food products has been largely due to the various initiatives taken by 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.

 

APEDA has also taken several initiatives to promote Geographical Indications (GI) registered agricultural and processed food products in India by organizing virtual Buyer-Seller Meets on agricultural and food products with the major importing countries across the world.

 

In order to ensure seamless quality certification of products to be exported, APEDA has recognized 220 labs across India to provide services of testing to a wide range of products and exporters.

 

APEDA organizes participation of exporters in the International Trade Fairs, which provides a platform to the exporters to market their food products in the global marketplace. APEDA also organizes national events like AAHAR, Organic World Congress, BioFach India etc. to promote agri-exports.

Amidst a record surge in wheat exports in the current fiscal, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) recently organized a meeting of key stakeholders in the value chain for promoting exports to those countries which have a huge shipment potential.

 

The meeting, held on March 17, 2022, followed directions from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry to scale up shipments in order to alleviate any global supply chain disruptions in view of the geopolitical situation.

 

Thursday’s meeting was chaired by APEDA chairman Dr. M. Angamuthu and had participation of key stakeholders such as traders, exporters, port officials, policy influencers from the Ministries of Food & Consumer Affairs, Railways and officials from various State Governments.

 

At the meeting, the Railways assured to make available sufficient rakes to meet any immediate demand for additional wheat transport. Port authorities have also been asked to augment dedicated terminals along with dedicated containers for wheat.

 

Given the bumper wheat production estimation, the APEDA has asked all stakeholders to strengthen its infrastructure for facilitating hassle free wheat export.

 

The export of wheat recorded a huge surge at USD 1742 million during April-January 2021-22, growing 387 per cent over the corresponding period in 2020-21 when it touched USD 340.17 million.

 

India has reported a wheat export worth of USD 2352.22 million in the last three years, including the first ten months of current fiscal 2021-22. In 2019-20, the wheat export was worth USD 61.84 million which rose to USD 549.67 million in 2020-21.

 

Though India is not among the top ten wheat exporters in the global trade, its rate of growth in exports have surpassed that of other countries, indicating the rapid strides it is taking in reaching new markets worldwide.

 

India is in final talks to start wheat export to Egypt, while discussions are going on with countries like Turkey, China, Bosnia, Sudan, Nigeria, Iran, etc to start wheat export.

 

India’s wheat exports are mainly to neighbouring countries with Bangladesh having the largest share of more than 54 per cent in both volume and value terms in 2020-21. In 2020-21, India entered new wheat markets such as Yemen, Afghanistan, Qatar and Indonesia.

 

According to data by Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), the top ten importing countries for Indian wheat in 2020-21 were Bangladesh, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Afghanistan, Qatar, Indonesia, Oman and Malaysia. Top ten countries accounted for more than 99 per cent share in India’s wheat exports in 2020-21 in both volume and value terms.

 

The rise in wheat exports has been achieved because of the APEDA taking up various initiatives such as organizing B2B exhibitions in different countries, exploring new potential markets and initiating marketing campaigns with active involvement of Indian Embassies.

 

 'We are giving thrust on building infrastructure in the value chain for giving boosts to cereal exports in collaboration with the state governments and other stakeholders such as exporters, farmer producer organizations, transporters etc, ' said Dr. M. Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA.

 

India accounts for even less than one per cent in world wheat export. However, its share has increased from 0.14 per cent in 2016 to 0.54 per cent in 2020. India is the second largest producer of wheat with a share of around 14.14 per cent of world total production in 2020.

 

India produces around 107.59 Million MT of wheat annually while a major chunk of it goes towards domestic consumption. Major wheat growing states in India are Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Gujarat.

 

The unit price of wheat plays an important role in international trade. While the unit export price of wheat has increased for all countries in the last five years, India’s unit export price is slightly higher than that of other countries. This is one of the factors adversely impacting wheat exports from India.

 

APEDA has been focusing on facilitating shipments by Indian exporters and helping them make inroads into new markets. In order to ensure seamless quality certification of products to be exported, APEDA has recognized 220 labs across India to provide testing services for a wide range of products and exporters.

 

APEDA also assists in upgradation and strengthening of recognized laboratories for export testing and residue monitoring plans. APEDA also provides assistance under the financial assistance schemes of infrastructure development, quality improvement and market development for boosting export of agricultural products.

It looks like there has been significant increase in the production of eggs and milk in the post-pandemic period, if the provisional data provided in Lok Sabha is any indication. Egg and milk production in India went up by 6.7 per cent and 5.81 per cent, respectively, during 2020-21.

 

In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Prashottam Rupala, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, said livestock sector has huge potential in terms of its contribution to economy, employment generation and world trade.

 

Quoting the production data of Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT), the Minister said, India ranks first in milk production, third in egg output and second in fish production globally.

 

Egg

 

ccording to the provisional data provided in the Lok Sabha reply, India produced 122.04 billion eggs in 2020-21 against 114.38 billion eggs in 2019-20, recording a growth of 6.70 per cent. The country had produced 103.80 billion eggs in 2018-19.

 

India’s contribution to the total egg production globally was at 7 per cent, he said in the reply.

 

Milk

 

The provisional data furnished in the Lok Sabha estimated the milk production in the country at 209.96 million tonnes (mt) during 2020-21 against 198.44 mt in 2019-20, recording a growth of 5.81 per cent. India’s milk output was at 187.74 mt during 2018-19.

 

The Minister said India has immense share in world production accounting for 21 per cent of the output.

 

Stating that livestock is one of the fastest growing agricultural sub-sectors, he said it has been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.93 per cent (at constant prices) from 2014-15 to 2020-21.

 

The percentage share of livestock sector has increased from 24.38 per cent in 2014-15 to 30.87 per cent in 2020-21 in Gross Value Added (GVA) of agriculture and allied sector, he said.

 

According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted during July 2019 to June 2020, the percentage of people engaged in animal production and mixed farming are 2.85 and 1.58, respectively, he said.

 

Highlighting the fact that India has a notable share in world trade in livestock products, Rupala said the average value of livestock product exports was ?449 billion, comprising 2.1 per cent of the total export earnings, during 2020-21.

 

Fisheries

 

Stating that fisheries sector has been recognized as a ‘sunrise’ sector, he said it has demonstrated a double-digit average annual growth of 10.87 per cent since 2014-15.

 

The provisional data furnished in the Lok Sabha estimated the fish production in the country at 14.72 mt during 2020-21 against 14.16 mt in 2019-20, recording a growth of 4 per cent. India’s fish production was at 13.57 mt during 2018-19.

 

He said India is the second largest fish producing country globally accounting for 7.56 per cent of worldwide production and contributing about 1.24 per cent to the country’s GVA and over 7.28 per cent to the agricultural GVA.

 

Export earnings from the fisheries sector has been ?467 billion during 2019-20. Fisheries sector is instrumental in sustaining the livelihoods of over 28 million people in India, especially for marginalised and vulnerable communities, and has contributed towards encourage socio-economic development, he said.

The Government has taken the following steps to increase India’s exports:

 

The mid-term review (2017) of the Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20) was carried out and corrective measures were undertaken.

 

Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20) extended by one year i.e. upto 31-3-2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

 

Assistance provided through several schemes to promote exports, namely, Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) and Market Access Initiatives (MAI) Scheme. 

 

A Central Sector Scheme, ‘Transport and Marketing Assistance for Specified Agriculture Products’  was launched for providing assistance for the international component of freight to mitigate the freight disadvantage for the export of agriculture products.

 

Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme and Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) Scheme have been implemented with effect from 01.01.2021.

 

Common Digital Platform for Certificate of Origin has been launched to facilitate trade and increase Free Trade Agreement (FTA) utilization by exporters.

 

12 Champion Services Sectors have been identified for promoting and diversifying services exports by pursuing specific action plans.

 

Districts as Export Hubs has been launched by identifying products with export potential in each district, addressing bottlenecks for exporting these products and supporting local exporters/manufacturers to generate employment in the district.

 

Active role of Indian missions abroad towards promoting India’s trade, tourism, technology and investment goals has been enhanced.

 

Package announced in light of the COVID pandemic to support domestic industry through various banking and financial sector relief measures, especially for MSMEs, which constitute a major share in exports.

 

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Smt. Anupriya Patel, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

While all eyes are on India’s wheat exports following spectacular growth – more than an eight-fold increase in five years– the success story of maize is not less attractive. It has increased six times between 2016-17 and 2020-21 and this fiscal shipments possibly may increase by 25 per cent from year-ago.

 

According to official data, the country had exported 5.66 lakh tonnes (lt) worth Rs 1,030.13 crore during 2016-17 which touched 28.79 lt valued at Rs4,675.78 crore in 2020-21. In the current fiscal, shipments have touched 30.3 lt worth Rs6,071 crore during April-January. Bangladesh, Vietnam and Nepal are the top three buyers of India’s maize.

 

Industry sources said total shipments of maize could be around 36 lt this year and could have been more, if not for a dry period in domestic supply now. The next supply will come when rabi-grown maize crops come from Telangana and Bihar, an industry official said.

 

Increase in production

 

The country’s maize production is estimated to have increased by a quarter to 324.2 lt in 2021-22 crop year (July-June) from 259 lt in 2016-17. 'Earlier whenever maize prices were going up, the government used to ban export under pressure from the poultry industry. Fortunately, that has not happened this time and India is seen as a dependable destination for maize. The government needs to maintain a fine balance between domestic feed prices and export opportunities without getting into knee-jerk reaction,' said a former official of poultry industry.

 

According to the Agmarknet portal, the average mandi price of maize in Karnataka has increased 44 per cent to Rs2,130/quintal during the first fortnight of this month from the year-ago period. The average price in the State was Rs1,723 in January and Rs 1,945 in February.

 

The government said in Parliament that exports of 11 major kharif crops-- rice, bajra, maize, ragi, tur, urad, moong, castor, sesame, niger, soyabean – more than doubled to 211.59 lt (worth Rs74,390 crore) during 2020-21 from 103.56 lt (Rs51,071 crore) the previous year. Similarly, exports of seven rabi-grown crops-- wheat, barley, gram, mustard, masur, linseed and safflower –increased to 24.05 lt (Rs5,718 crore) from 4.21 lt (Rs1,545 crore) during this period.

 

Meanwhile, the government has said the promotion of exports of agricultural products is a continuous process. The government has taken several steps at State/district levels to promote agricultural exports, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in the Lok Sabha on March 15. State-specific action plans have been prepared by some States and State Level Monitoring Committees (SLMCs), nodal agencies for agricultural exports and cluster-level committees have been formed in a number of States, he said.

 

Country and product-specific action plans have also been formulated to promote exports. Besides, institutional framework has been created under the ‘District as Export Hub’ plan, Tomar said.

The export of fresh fruits from India has increased from USD 516.26 million in 2014-15 to USD 768.54 million in 2020-21.

 

Promotion of exports of agriculture products, including dairy products like curd and cheese, is a continuous process. To promote the export of dairy products, an Export Promotion Forum (EPF) has been constituted under the aegis of Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). The EPF has representation from trade/industry, line Ministries/Departments, regulatory agencies, research institutes, state governments etc. Meetings of the EPF are held regularly to discuss the various issues affecting exports, such as SPS/ TBT issues, market access issues, plans for export promotion and capacity building programmes etc. Recommendations made by the EPFs are passed on to the relevant authorities for appropriate action.

 

Mathura and Banaskantha districts in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat respectively have been identified as clusters for export of dairy products. APEDA has organized awareness cum capacity-building programmes for farmers/Farmer-Producer Organisations (FPOs) in these clusters. APEDA also provides assistance to exporters of dairy products under various components of its export promotion scheme.

 

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Smt. Anupriya Patel, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

Iranian state agency the Government Trading Corporation (GTC) has issued another international tender to purchase about 60,000 tonnes of milling wheat, European traders said on Wednesday.

 

The deadline for submission of price offers in the tender is also believed to be Wednesday, March 16.

The bilateral trade in goods is projected to increase from the current USD 60 billion to USD 100 billion annually within five years of the implementation of the India-UAE free trade agreement, parliament was informed on Wednesday. India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on the sidelines of the India-UAE Virtual Summit held on February 18.

 

The India-UAE CEPA is a comprehensive and balanced partnership agreement that will give enhanced market access for India in both goods and services, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

 

She said that the UAE has offered immediate market access at zero duty from Day 1 of the entry into force of the agreement to products accounting for around 90 per cent of India's exports to the UAE in value terms.

 

As regards trade in services, the UAE has offered market access to India in around 111 sub-sectors from the 11 broad service sectors.

 

'Bilateral trade in goods is projected to increase from the current USD 60 billion to USD 100 billion annually within five years of implementation of the India-UAE CEPA,' she said.

 

In another reply, she said there is no shortage of coal supply from sources of Coal India Limited (CIL) to tea gardens in the northeastern region.

 

'CIL has provided coal supplies to the tune of 618.70 million tonnes (MT) during the current fiscal (upto March 9, 2022) in comparison to 531.4 MT supplied during the same period last year, thereby achieving a growth of about 16.4 per cent,' she added.

The following is a snapshot of global export markets for grains, oilseeds and edible oils as reported by government and private sources, as of the close of business on Tuesday:

 

CORN SALE: South Korea’s Feed Leaders Committee (FLC) purchased about 65,000 tonnes of animal feed corn to be sourced from optional origins in a private deal on Tuesday without an international tender being issued, European traders said.

 

CORN SALE: South Korea’s Major Feedmill Group (MFG) has purchased an estimated 201,000 tonnes of animal feed corn in an international tender which closed on Tuesday, European traders said.

 

FEED WHEAT SALE: South Korea’s Feed Leaders Committee (FLC) on Tuesday purchased about 55,000 tonnes of animal feed wheat to be sourced from worldwide optional origins in a private deal without issuing an international tender, European traders said.

 

WHEAT TENDER: Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) is seeking to buy a total of 104,483 tonnes of food-quality wheat from the United States, Canada and Australia in regular tenders that will close on Thursday.

 

BARLEY TENDER: A buyer in Qatar has issued a tender to buy an estimated 105,000 tonnes of animal feed barley, traders said. The tender deadline is believed to be March 27.

FAILED BARLEY TENDER: Jordan’s state grain buyer is believed to have made no purchase in an international tender for 120,000 tonnes of animal feed barley which closed on Tuesday, European traders said.

 

FEED GRAIN TENDER: Iranian state-owned animal feed importer SLAL issued an international tender to purchase up to 60,000 tonnes of animal feed barley, 60,000 tonnes of feed corn and 60,000 tonnes of soymeal, European traders said. The deadline for submission of price offers was believed to be March 9, they said.

 

WHEAT TENDER: Bangladesh’s state grains buyer issued an international tender to purchase 50,000 tonnes of milling wheat, traders said. The deadline for submission of price offers is March 16.

 

FEED WHEAT, BARLEY TENDER: Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) said it would seek 80,000 tonnes of feed wheat and 100,000 tonnes of feed barley to be loaded by June 30 and to arrive in Japan by Aug. 25. It said it would seek the grain via a simultaneous buy and sell (SBS) auction that will be held on March 16.

 

WHEAT TENDER: Jordan’s state grain buyer issued an international tender to buy 120,000 tonnes of milling wheat which can be sourced from optional origins, European traders said on Thursday. The deadline for submission of price offers is March 16.

 

BARLEY TENDER: Algeria’s state grains agency OAIC has issued an international tender to buy a nominal 50,000 tonnes of animal feed barley to be sourced from optional origins, European traders said. The deadline for submission of price offers is March 16, with offers having to remain valid until March 17.

 

WHEAT TENDER: Turkey’s state grain board, TMO, has issued an international tender to purchase and import about 270,000 tonnes of milling wheat, European traders said. The deadline for submission of price offers for the wheat tender is March 17.