NEW DELHI, October 20 — The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, confirmed on Monday that India’s agricultural and processed food exports touched a record $26.8 Billion during the first half of the current fiscal year.
Official trade data revealed an 11.4% year-on-year surge, led by premium shipments of Basmati rice, fresh horticultural produce (bananas, mangoes, table grapes), processed fruit pulps, and certified organic cereals. Outbound shipments of Geographical Indication (GI) tagged agricultural commodities to Middle Eastern (GCC) markets, the European Union, and North America expanded by over 28%, benefiting from streamlined sea-freight protocols.
The Ministry highlighted that targeted interventions under the Agriculture Export Policy (AEP), direct farm-gate sourcing through Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), and automated digital sanitary/phytosanitary certification have dramatically enhanced export realization directly for smallholder farmers.
Statutory functions of APEDA under the APEDA Act 1985, core objectives of the Agriculture Export Policy, the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act 1999, and WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) subsidy classification boxes are vital study themes for UPSC GS-III and NABARD exams.