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Agri export prospects bright on bullish commodity prices
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SME Times News Bureau | 01 Mar, 2021
Continued bullish trend in commodity prices has enhanced the prospects
of the exports of agricultural produces from India during Covid-19
pandemic season as global prices of grains like wheat, rice, maize are
ruling at multi-year high.
Prices of agri commodities in the
international markets rose sharply during post-Covid season due to
supply disruptions in the major producing countries which made a way for
India to increase its exports of agricultural produce.
Hence,
the pandemic brought an opportunity for Indian agriculture and allied
sector which grew 3.9 per cent in the third quarter of the current
financial year registering positive growth rates in past three quarters.
Wheat
prices have shot up over 48 per cent in the international market since
June 2020 while corn prices rose sharply over 91 per cent in the global
market which has raised the prospects of the exports of both commodities
from India to the international market, the US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) has projected that India's wheat export at 18 lakh
tonnes, highest in past six years.
Prices of rough rice have also increased over 110 per cent in the international market.
As
per the USDA's projection, the supply and demand of the wheat and rice
will sharply increase in India this year as the country is to hit a
fresh record for the fifth consecutive year.
Market experts said
that prices of the commodity have also surged due to increased liquidity
in the global market which finds its way into the agri-commodity
markets.
The exports of wheat, non-basmati rice, maize and other
grains rose sharply in the past three quarters of the current fiscal
year.
As per the Commerce Ministry' data, the export of wheat
rose by a considerably by 456.41 per cent to Rs 1,870 crore ($252
Million) against Rs 336 crore ($48 Million) reported during the first
nine months of previous year.
The export of non-basmati rice
surged 122.61 per cent to Rs 22,856 crore ($3.06 billion) against Rs
10,268 crore ($1.45 billion) last year. However, the export of Basmati
rice grew moderately by 5.31 per cent to Rs 22,038 crore ($2.94 billion)
against Rs 20,926 crore ($2.93 billion) in the said period.
Also, the exports of millets rose 189.09 per cent in rupee term in the current fiscal.
Wheat
prices are ruling nearly seven year high in the international market
while corn prices have surged the highest level in nearly past eight
years. Neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Srilanka and Nepal are
sourcing both grains from India, as per the sources.
India, the
world's largest rice exporter, has also attracted good demand for the
rice from the international market as supply chain remained
uninterrupted during pandemic in the country after the government
exempted farm activities from restrictions of the lockdown, said A K
Gupta, former Director of Basmati Export Development Foundation (BEDF)
under Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports Development
Authority (APEDA).
Some of the major producing countries were not
at position to supply their produce during Covid-19 pandemic, which
turned favourable for India which not only provided free food to the
poor and but also supplied its foodgrains to the other countries, he
said.
Gupta said this credit goes to the farmers who produced a record quantitiy of foodgrain at the unprecented time of Covid-19.
As
per the second advance estimates released by the Union Ministry of
Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, recently, India is to harvest 303.34
million tonnes of foodgrains 2020-21, hitting a fresh record for the
fifth consecutive year.
Certainly, this is the result of the hard
work of the farmers and contribution the of the agricultural scientists
of the country but this could not be possible if monsoon did not remain
favourable.
Monsoon has been favorable for past few years for
agriculture and the farmers of the country indeed got the benefit of the
good and favourable weather conditions, said Mrutyunjay Mohapatra
Director General, India Meteorological Department (IMD).
India
witnessed deficient rainfall in two consecutive years of 2014-15 and
2015-16 by 12 percent and 14 percent respectively but afterward, monsoon
remained favourable.
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Customs Exchange Rates |
Currency |
Import |
Export |
US Dollar
|
66.20
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64.50 |
UK Pound
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87.50
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84.65 |
Euro
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78.25
|
75.65 |
Japanese
Yen |
58.85 |
56.85 |
As on 13 Aug, 2022 |
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