Context: India’s agricultural exports grew by 6.5%, from $35.2 billion in April-December 2023 to $37.5 billion in April-December 2024.
- This growth outpaced the country’s overall merchandise export increase of 1.9% for the same period.
Agricultural Imports Surge
- India’s total goods imports increased by 7.4%, agricultural imports saw a sharper rise of 18.7%, growing from $24.6 billion to $29.3 billion.
- India’s agricultural trade surplus decreased from $10.6 billion to $8.2 billion during the same period.
Declining Agricultural Trade Surplus
- India remains a net exporter of agricultural commodities, but the trade surplus has been narrowing.
- It peaked at $27.7 billion in 2013-14 and decreased to $16 billion in 2023-24.
Factors Affecting the Surplus
- The surplus fluctuation is mainly due to exports. Between 2013-14 and 2019-20, agricultural exports fell from $43.3 billion to $35.6 billion due to a drop in international commodity prices.
Export Trends
- Marine Products: India’s top agricultural export, marine products, dropped from $7.8 billion in 2021-22 to $7.4 billion in 2023-24.
- Sugar and Wheat: Exports of sugar halved from $5.8 billion in 2022-23 to $2.8 billion in 2023-24 due to government restrictions on exports. Wheat exports also suffered due to domestic availability concerns.
- Rice: Non-basmati rice exports have remained strong despite government restrictions. Exports of basmati rice, spices, coffee, and tobacco are expected to set new records in 2024-25.
Import Trends
India’s agricultural imports are mainly driven by edible oils and pulses.
- Pulses: Imports of pulses rose significantly due to poor domestic crops in 2023-24. The country may import over $5 billion of pulses in the current fiscal year.
- Edible Oils: Imports of edible oils are expected to be the highest since 2021-22, largely due to global price hikes linked to the war in Ukraine.
- Spices: India became a net importer of traditional plantation spices like pepper and cardamom, despite being a leading exporter of non-traditional spices like chilli.
Cotton Trade Shift
- A major cotton exporter, is now a net importer.
- Dropped from $4.3 billion in 2011-12 to just $1.1 billion in 2023-24.
- During April-December 2024, India’s cotton exports decreased by 8.1% compared to 2023, while imports surged by 84.2%, making India a net importer of cotton for the first time.