As per the food and consumer affairs minister, agriculture export has an important role in doubling farmers’ income and stressed the need for boosting India’s outward shipments to be among the top five nations in farm exports.
The government provide states with the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund so that the benefits can percolate to be small and marginal farmers who lack warehousing and cold storage facilities at the farm gate.
The Union Cabinet recently approved the national edible oil mission (NMEO-OP) for palm oil, focusing on the northeast region and Andaman Nicobar Islands.
Through this scheme, the production of edible oils will be accelerated, thereby reducing the import of edible oils.
This mission will immensely benefit the palm oil farmers, increase capital investment, generate employment, reduce dependence on imports, and increase farmers’ income.
The central government is working in close alignment with the state government to transform the future of farmers.
As per the government data, India’s export of agriculture and allied product in 2020-21 grew by 17.34 per cent to USD 41.25 billion.
The government also started a new project, Atmanirbhar Agriculture, that will transform farmers into entrepreneurs with higher income and better quality of life, make India the food basket of the world, and make agriculture the go-to investment opportunity.
To achieve self-sufficiency, 10,000 farmer-producer organisations(FPOs), export-oriented clusters, organic oriented clusters and digital agriculture would be set up.
The government of Karnataka gave a presentation on the Crop Survey Project, and APEDA gave a presentation on agriculture exports.