The exports of buffalo meat from the country have reached an all-time high and surpassed the Basmati rice shipments in the last fiscal, as per provisional commerce ministry data.The buffalo meat exports grew by more than 10% to R29,282 crore in 2014-15, against the Basmati rice shipments of R27, 598 crore, which declined more than 5% from the previous year.
Overall agricultural commodities exports from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports Development Authority (Apeda) basket declined marginally by 4% to R1,30,458 crore during the last fiscal.
However, the exports of non-Basmati rice has seen a sharp increase of more than 14% to R20,336 crore in last fiscal against the shipment of Rs 17,795 crore achieved in 2013-14. This has pushed the rice shipment from the country to R47,934 crore in 2014-15 from R47,086 crore achieved in the previous year.
Sources told FE that decline in Basmati exports, mainly attributed to Iran imposing ban on rice import from India, has been largely compensated by sharp rise in Buffalo meat shipment.
However, there has been a sharp fall in realisation from guargum shipments to the US in the last fiscal. The guargum shipment, mostly used by the US-based oil exploration company, has declined sharply by close to 20% to R9,479 crore in 2014 – 15 against R11,735 crore shipment achieved in the previous year.
Officials said that concerted efforts to eliminate diseases such as rinderpest and foot and mouth disease among buffalo population have borne fruit with a sharp increase in exports of meat products from India in the last couple of years.
Countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Egypt, Thailand and Saudi Arabia are the key export destinations for the buffalo meat products.
The shipments of fresh fruits and vegetables have seen a decline of more than 14% to R7,759 crore in 2014-15 from R9,030 crore reported in the previous year. The exports of other commodities which witnessed increase include poultry products, groundnuts and cocoa products. The commodities like wheat, pulses and dairy products saw a sharp fall in the last fiscal.
Apeda monitors shipment of 22 commodities such as rice, wheat, buffalo meat, fruits and vegetables, pulses and other meat products.
The authority has identified 20- odd clusters located across the country for sustaining growth in the country’s food products’ exports in the future.
These clusters include Basmati rice (Haryana & Punjab), buffalo meat (western Uttar Pradesh), grape and grape wine (Nasik region, Maharashtra), pomegranate (Satara and Pune regions of Maharashtra), dehydrated onions and garlic (Gujarat), poultry or egg (Namakkal) and mango pulp (Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra).