Farm exports: Gear up to remain relevant in global market

SS Chahal

DESPITE the constraints which make farm productivity and returns complex phenomena, there has been a consistent increase in foodgrain production, touching 308 million tonnes (MT), a rise of 3.74 per cent, in 2020-21 over last year’s figures, with better output of rice, wheat and pulses in India. Similarly, up by about 3 per cent over the previous year, there is the highest ever horticultural production of about 331 MT during the same period. However, a lot is needed to be done to expand storage infrastructure to meet the pace of this increase.

At present, there is agri-warehousing capacity of around 91 MT to store foodgrains. In 2012, the Planning Commission had indicated storage requirement of 61 MT, whereas the present capacity is estimated at about 32 MT, showing a huge gap between required and existing facilities. NABARD has estimated the storage gap to be about 35 MT. As much as 62,000 tonnes of foodgrains were lost between 2011 and 2017, as per records of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. Paucity of scientific storage is yet another factor which lets precious agricultural produce go down the drain. Limitations of modern cold storage and cold chain facilities at various levels of marketing result in enormous post-harvest losses of fruits and vegetables. The ICAR-CIPHET’s estimate of about 16 per cent wastage of fruits and vegetables at various stages of the supply chain is colossal for a country with an agri-centric economy. Under such a situation, it is obvious to explore avenues for export rather than allowing the produce to go waste.

Our export of agriculture and allied products is not consistent in its growth. It remained stagnant during 2017-18 and 2018-19, declined in 2019-20 by $3.58 billion and has shown growth of 17.34 per cent in 2020-21, touching $41.25 billion. More than 45 per cent increase is required to meet the target of $60 billion in 2021-22, as has been envisaged under the National Agriculture Export Policy-2018. To promote exports, it is imperative to improve quality to meet international standards of the produce as well as accelerate the process of minimising regulatory compliances under Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures of the World Trade Organisation.

Big export markets for India’s agricultural produce are US, China, EU, Bangladesh, UAE, Vietnam, Nepal, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Indonesia, while major agricultural produce being exported are cereals, including wheat and rice, millets, fresh vegetables, banana, mangoes, grapes, oranges and spices. The export of organic produce has come up, showing 51 per cent growth in 2020-21. However, the rejection of export consignments due to certain SPS issues still are the major barriers to the promotion of export from India. The problem becomes more severe when certain countries, particularly EU, set higher food safety standards than even those set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), an international organisation, mandated to fix such norms and maximum residue limit (MRL) for chemicals in various products. India faced as many as 42 rejection-related notifications on the export of basmati rice alone for not meeting EU food safety standards between 2000 and 2016, with the trend continuing.

Basmati rice is an important commodity for export from India. However, its export has suffered because of pesticide residue exceeding the MRL set by the importing countries, particularly belonging to the EU. The presence of residue of tricyclazole in Indian rice was also raised by the US, but it was a more serious cause for concern for drastic reduction in exports to EU, which reduced its MRL from the norms set by the CAC. The EU lowers the MRL for different chemicals frequently and many Middle East countries are also now adopting EU-like norms. Restrictions on the acceptance of organic basmati rice consignments by the EU due to the presence of carbendazim need serious attention by the Export Inspection Agency (EIA) to maintain reliability of organic export from the country.

Over the past few years, the export of fresh mangoes from India has faced rejection by the EU due to fruit fly infestation and that for pulp due to excessive sugar content. India is one of the largest producers of mangoes and mango pulp. Varieties like Alphonso and Kesar have a large export market. But in 2014, the EU banned the import of fresh mangoes from India due to the presence of fruit flies in incoming consignments. Now, with gamma irradiation and hot-water treatment, export is allowed by the US and EU, respectively. The exporters, however, are facing difficulties since varieties with thinner skin are prone to skin damage during hot-water treatment. This underlines the need for more research to devise alternative methods to address the concerns related to fruit flies for uninterrupted export of mangoes. There are similar SPS issues due to the presence of pests like thrips, silver leaf white fly, fruit and shoot borer and moth in the export of eggplant and aflatoxin in peanuts which need attention to maintain high quality in the produce meant for export.

For resolving SPS issues, it is vital to ensure conformity to the standards of importing countries. Following good agricultural practices such as reducing the use of pesticides, particularly those banned in importing countries, global best practices necessary to maintain food hygiene, refining testing procedures and undertaking corrective measures regularly are important to remain relevant in the competitive global market. Establishing a reliable product traceability system supported by proactive measures with an adequate forecasting system for expected problems and undertaking corrective measures is the most successful way to resolve a number of SPS issues. There is also an urgent need for improving export infrastructure, including mechanisation and mechanising the methods for various processes, appropriate packing as well as storage and shipping conditions to maintain good quality of export material. Finally, handholding by the government to provide enabling market linkages and post-harvest value chain, strengthening institutional structures, supporting value addition of produce and building export capacity of farmers will greatly help in getting better returns from agricultural produce.

The author is former VC, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture & Technology, Udaipur

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