India’s Farming Sector is being transformed. India is now ranked 9th in the world in agricultural produce exports.
India cracked into the top ten list of agricultural produce exporters in 2019 with a significant share within the export of rice, soya beans, cotton and meat, according to a World Trade Organisation (WTO) report on trends in world agricultural trade in recent 25 years.
In 2019, India ranked ninth with a share of 3.1% in global agricultural exports. Earlier, this place was New Zealand. Similarly, Mexico has ranked seventh with a share of 3.4% in global agricultural exports, which Malaysia previously followed. In 1995, the US was first in the list of top-10 countries with a share of 22.2%. In 2019, the European Union held the top spot with a share of 16.1%, whereas the US share declines to 13.8%. Brazil has retained its position as the third-largest exporter, with its share at 4.8% in 1995, which increased by 7.8% in 2019. In fourth place is China which has a share of 5.4%. In 1995, China was in sixth place with a share of 4 %.
The top rice exporters in 1995 included Thailand (38%), India (26%), and the US (19%). In 2019, India topped 33%, and Thailand’s share was 20%. On the other hand, with 12%, Vietnam has overtaken the US to secure third place. The share of the top-10 exporting countries in the total exports in both 1995 and 2019 reports is more than 96%.
With 7.6%, India was the third-largest cotton exporter and fourth-largest importer, with a sizeable share of 10% in 2019. In 1995, India was not included in the list of top-10 countries. India’s share in the largest traded agricultural product, soya bean, is meagre at 0.1% and ranks ninth globally.
In the category of meat, India ranks eighth in the world with a share of 4%, In 1995, India was the seventh-largest exporter of wheat and muslin, but in 2019, it did not enter the top-10 list even. Nevertheless, India has lagged as a value-added contributor to world agricultural exports. India’s share of international value-added content material in its agri-exports was also low at 3.8%, primarily due to excessive tariffs on agricultural imports to guard the home market.
Source: Republic World