India's mango exports to the US are registering healthy growth, and irradiation operations at a key mango treatment facility in Mumbai have been normalised after a brief disruption due to a data recording error earlier this month, an official said on Tuesday. The Mumbai-based irradiation facility, which handles the highest volume of mangoes destined for the US, faced an issue during the irradiation process conducted on May 8 and 9, 2025.
The government on Friday scrapped a minimum price threshold that it had set previously for exports of onion as it looked to pass on the benefit of international glut to Indian farmers. The government had previously fixed a $550 per tonne as the minimum export price (MEP), which essentially meant farmers could not sell their produce overseas at lower than this rate.
'The local support from our MP is nil. He never comes to see our farms.'
The export of more than 100 agricultural and processed food items have increased by 24.43 per cent to Rs 39,461 crore (Rs 394.61 billion) in 2008-09 from Rs 31,712 crore (Rs 317.12 billion) in the previous year due to substantial growth in fresh fruits and vegetables, meat products and processed foods, government's agri-export promotion body APEDA chairman Asit Tripathy said in New Delhi on Monday.
India is looking to tap its diplomatic missions abroad to enable grain exporters in the country to ship out wheat and corn as supplies from Russia and Ukraine are expected to remain disrupted for some time to come. Between the two items, pushing for wheat is easier because of a huge domestic surplus. "We are hand holding our exporters and support from various Indian missions abroad is also being channelised accordingly," a senior government official said. Global wheat prices have jumped since the Ukraine crisis started, with wheat futures in the US reaching their highest levels since 2008.
Experts call for consistency in government policies to enable Indian exporters to frame a long-term strategy.
India has secured approval of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the export of domestic mangoes to America in the new season, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday. The export of Indian mangoes has been restricted by the US since 2020 as the USDA inspectors were unable to visit India for inspection of irradiation facilities due to restrictions imposed on international travel because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On November 23, 2021, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and the USDA signed a framework agreement for implementing the "2 Vs 2" agri-market access issues.
Livestock auctions remained on hold for the majority of the lockdown as there was no clarity on the matter.
In order to help farmers, the government has increased minimum support price for the last several years. This has made Indian rice uncompetitive for exports.
While the mango season started with the Alphonso variety trading at Rs 18 a kg (model price), it jumped to Rs 30 a kg at the wholesale Vashi mandi.
India has lost almost the entire buffalo meat export market to Brazil, Australia and the US.
A decision to tap the 30 countries for exporting wheat was taken at a meeting of the commerce ministry on Thursday.
Testing labs will be established at ports to check illegal export of cow meat, the government announced today in the midst of a raging controversy over the Dadri killing of a man over rumours of eating beef.
Mangoes from India are popular in the Middle East, the Far East, the United States and European countries.
Experts believe the rising prices may encourage farmers to bring in additional areas for under onion cultivation during the rabi season, which may boost the precious bulb's output, reports Dilip Kumar Jha.
'Obviously, MSP hike raises chances of a reduction in exports. Even without an MSP hike, India's exports of a number of agri-commodities, like sugar, were unviable in the overseas markets.'
UP has 14 mango belts in Lucknow (Lucknow, Malihabad, Bakshi-ka-Talaab), Saharanpur and Sambhal-Amroha-Muzaffarnagar districts. Apart from Dussehri, the other major varieties in UP comprise Langda, Chausa, Amprapali and Mallika.
Talking tough, India on Friday threatened to drag the European Union to the World Trade Organization if the 28-nation bloc did not lift its ban on the import of Indian mangoes and vegetables.
But Down Under is a tough call due to shipment time and quality control issues.
Buffalo meat exporters faced supply problems due to the Centre's ban on animal sales
India's mango production is estimated to have been stable at 1.5 million tonnes for last few years.
It is Air India's only profitable subsidiary. In 2016-17, it clocked a profit of over Rs 33.4 crore, earning Rs 620 crore in revenues from its handling operations.
Saudi Arabia is the second largest importer of poultry products from India and exporters fear other importing countries might follow suit.
'Aquaponics can effectively cushion the impact of a calamity like COVID.'
On the occasion of Chinese president Xi Jinping's two-day visit, Indian exporters are looking for a big boost in export of agricultural commodities, especially the ones that have been impacted by the ongoing trade war between the United States and China.
Since 2013-14, buffalo meat had been the largest export item in the agri commodity basket for a few years. Since the coronavirus outbreak in January, Indian exporters have received no fresh orders from Southeast Asian and West Asian countries, which cumulatively contribute nearly 65 per cent of India's overall buffalo meat shipment.
Frequent bans on Indian food products by the EU have prompted the Indian government to invite the officials of the EU Food and Veterinary Office to let them assess the food safety standards followed by India.
According to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), the restrictions had been lifted with the condition that sesame seeds and groundnut exported should carry the quality and safety certification issued by the Delhi-based Sri Ram Institute for Industrial Research or any other agency as may be notified from time to time.
The country's agricultural products export was Rs 20,986 crore (Rs 209.86 billion) last year, according to an official of government's agri-trade promotion body Apeda. There has been a major rise in exports of coarse cereals like maize, jowar and barley.
Because of weak availability, buffalo meat exports have also declined over the last few weeks
The plucking of dussehri, which will hit the shelves next week at 50% premium, started late this season, because of poor crop and adverse weather conditions, including hailstorms, in the orchards of Malihabad.
The cost of production of onion is around 800-900 per quintal, while prices are hovering around 500 per quintal across major wholesale markets.
Ban on US-EU import of meat & poultry products could, if we get active, allow us to access a $128-billion market.
While the government has claimed significant increase in funds for farm credit, PMKSY and PKVY, facts show a different story.
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