Day 44 – Q 3.Why do agri-exports from India performing well below potential? Examine. Also discuss the role of various technology missions that can make Indian agri-exports more competitive globally.
3. Why do agri-exports from India performing well below potential? Examine. Also discuss the role of various technology missions that can make Indian agri-exports more competitive globally.
भारत से कृषि निर्यात अपनी क्षमता से कम प्रदर्शन क्यों कर रहे हैं? जांच करें। विभिन्न तकनीकी मिशनों की भूमिका पर भी चर्चा करें जो भारतीय कृषि निर्यात को विश्व स्तर पर अधिक प्रतिस्पर्धी बना सकते हैं।
Synopsis:
The government’s resolve to increase the value of the country’s agricultural exports to $100 billion by 2022-23. Dalwai Committee report on doubling farmer’s income and Draft Agricultural Policy both highlight the importance of boosting agricultural exports for improving the economic condition of farmers and earning more focus.
Present scenario of agro-products exports:
India’s agricultural trade surplus recorded a more than ten-fold increase between 1991-92 and 2013-14. Three years later, the picture is vastly different. Between 2013-14 and 2016-17, agricultural exports fell by 22% while imports increased by 62%. As a result, the trade surplus has fallen by 70%.
Raising agricultural exports requires the government to unburden policy of consumer bias. A balance should be struck between meeting the needs of food-insecure consumers and income-insecure farmers.
Role of various technologies to improve agro-products export:
- The government must develop efficient global value chains and liberalise land lease markets across all states. It should encourage contract farming on a medium- to long-term basis.
- Exporters and processors must be encouraged to buy directly from farmer-producer organizations (FPOs), bypassing the inefficient APMCs.
- Major investments are needed at the back-end to create infrastructure for global and domestic value chains, ranging from produce aggregation to its sorting and grading, packaging, storing and linking the hinterlands to ports for export markets.
- Krishi Sampada yojana-Post harvest Technologies in refrigeration, Food Processing, values addition, disease resistance, Certification, grading & dehydration.
- Paramparagat krishi/organic farming & certification
- National mission on agri-extension technologies-skills
- Food parks scheme
- Subsidies for Mechanisation in farming, Horticulture & marine fishing technologies, cold chains & storage.
- APEDA initiatives on awareness creation on quality improvement, phytosanitary standards & market intelligence.
- Gokul mission on breeding & increasing productivity.
- Pulses research, climate smart agriculture, Arid crop research
- A well-developed food processing industry will lead to an increase in farm gate prices.
- Improvement in warehousing infrastructure would also counter inflation concerns due to seasonal factors such as poor monsoon rains.
Conclusion:
A sustained export market requires a reliable supplier. If we have an accurate agriculture forecasting technique and better estimate of a buffer stock, we can definitely make a medium-term policy for agri exports. Thus, we require a reliable policy, based on scientific estimate of crop production, buffer stock, future projection and domestic demand. If the future projection goes wrong, an option for import should be kept open vice versa for the development of the agro-products exports in long-run.
Best Answer: GOG
