Share of agricultural exports declines

New Delhi, Oct 2 (UNI) Though agriculture continues to occupy a pivotal place as a source of livelihood for majority of the population, its share in India's total exports has declined over the years from 19 per cent in 1995-96 to 10 per cent in 2005-06.

''This reflects the subdued growth in the exports of traditional items like tea, coffee, wheat, marine products and spieces,'' the Reserve Bank of India observed in its latest bulletin.

However, there has been a strong growth in the exports of non-traditional items like raw cotton, meat and meat preparations and fruits and vegetables.

The central bank also noted compositional shift in India's agricultural exports, broadly corresponding to the pattern observed in the world trade in agricultural products. This is reflected in the increase in the relative share of meat and meat preparations, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, beverages and tobacco and oilseeds in the country's overall agricultural products.

While decline in the share of agricultural exports in total exports is a feature of the world trade, the drop in the Indian context was sharper than that occurred in the share of agricultural products in the global merchandise trade.

World agricultural exports are dominated by developed countries which accounted for more than 70 per cent of total agricultural trade during 2004. Country-wise, the US was the largest exporter with a share of 10.6 per cent, followed by the Netherlands (7.9 per cent), France (7.7 per cent) and Germany (6.5 per cent) during 2004.

India with a share of 1.2 per cent in 2004 ranked 22nd among the agricultural exporters in the world.

Among the developing countries, India was the eighth largest exporter of agricultural products after Brazil, Argentina, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Mexico and Indonesia. India is the second largest exporter of rice, fourth largest exporter of tea, 12th largest exporter of coffee and 20th major exporter of fruits and vegetables in the world. The country's share in the world import of cereals has improved in recent years, while tea suffered sharp downslide.

UNI PC CS ND1144