India’s non-basmati rice exports rise 109% in 8 years to $6.11 billion: Govt
India’s non-basmati rice exports witnessed a growth of 109% from $2.92 billion in FY 2013-14 to $6.11 billion in FY 2021-22, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced on Wednesday (April 20).
As per Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS) data, India exported rice to over 150 countries across the globe in 2021-22. India exported more than $1 million to 76 countries out of the 150 countries reported in 2021-22. It indicates the diversification of India’s rice export over the years, the ministry said.
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India is the world’s second-largest rice producer after China.
According to the DGCIS data, India had exported non-basmati rice worth $2 billion in 2019-20, which rose to $4.79 billion in 2020-21 and $6.11 billion in 2021-22.
Major importers
Registering a growth of 27% in 2021-22, the export of non-basmati rice was the top forex earner among all agri-commodities, at $6.11 billion.
“In collaboration with our foreign missions, we have coordinated development of logistics as well as focus on the production of quality produce, which has boosted India’s rice exports prospects,” Dr M. Angamuthu, Chairman, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), said.
अन्नपूर्णा भारत.
India’s rice exports takes an astounding growth of 109%.
Modi Govt. policies help farmers get access to the global market and also ensure food security. pic.twitter.com/EKawuRddrV
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) April 17, 2022
West African country Benin is one of the major importers of non-basmati rice from India. Other destinations are Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Cote D’ Ivoire, Togo, Senegal, Guinea, Vietnam, Djibouti, Madagascar, Cameroon Somalia, Malaysia, Liberia, and UAE.
In 2020-21, India shipped non-basmati rice to nine countries – Timor-Leste, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Eswatini, Myanmar and Nicaragua, where exports were carried out for the first time or earlier the shipment was smaller in volume.
Reasons for huge spike
According to the ministry, India’s thrust on expanding port handling infrastructure, development of value chain involving key stakeholders along with efforts to explore new opportunities in countries or markets for rice exports in the last couple of years have led to a huge spike in rice exports.
Notwithstanding logistical challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic, India continues to expand its rice exports footprint in the African, Asian, and European Union markets, thus having the largest share in the global rice trade. The robust global demand also helped India’s growth in rice exports, it said.
The major rice-producing states are West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Assam, and Haryana.
As per Second Advance Estimates for 2021-22, the total production of rice during 2021-22 is estimated at a record 127.93 million tonnes, which is higher by 11.49 million tonnes than the last five years’ average production of 116.44 million tonnes.
However, as per the second Advance Estimates for 2021-22, total foodgrains production in the country is estimated at a record 316.06 million tonnes which is higher by 5.32 million tonnes than the production of foodgrains during 2020-21. Further, the production during 2021-22 is higher by 25.35 million tonnes than the previous five years’ (2016-17 to 2020-21) average production of foodgrains.
