New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS): India’s exports of agricultural and processed food products registered a robust 11 per cent growth to $17.77 billion during April-December of the current financial year compared to the same period of the previous year, according to official figures.

Data compiled by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS) shows that rice exports in the first nine months of FY25 saw a sharp increase of over 19 per cent to $8.72 billion compared to $6.44 billion in the same period last fiscal.

Rice exports jumped by as much as 64.03 per cent from $0.87 billion in December 2023 to $1.43 billion in December 2024. Exporters are optimistic that rice exports for 2024-25 will continue to grow at a rapid pace on the back of strong global demand.

In FY24, India shipped rice worth $10.41 billion, which was a decline of 6.5 per cent over the previous year, as restrictions had to be placed on exports to increase the availability of the cereal in the domestic market to control spiralling inflation which was proving to be straining on household budgets.

Exports of buffalo meat, dairy and poultry products rose by over 10 per cent on year to $3.64 billion during April-December compared to $3.3 billion in the same period of FY24.

The shipment of fresh fruits and vegetables in the first nine months of FY25 increased by over 5 per cent to $2.65 billion, and cereals preparation by more than 10 per cent to $2.03 billion.

India has also witnessed a tenfold rise in exports of bananas in the past decade and is now targeting $1 billion in banana exports in the next five years after successful trial shipments to the Netherlands via the sea route, according to the Centre’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).

With the sea route opening up Russia is expected to emerge as a major market for Indian banana exports.

In the fiscal year 2023-24, India exported bananas worth US$ 300 million, a significant increase from US$ 176 million in 2022-23. The country’s share in global banana exports has risen from just 0.21 per cent in 2013 to 1.74 per cent in 2023, highlighting its growing presence in the international market, according to figures compiled by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has set an export target of $26.56 billion for FY25. The other agricultural product exports include marine, tobacco, coffee, and tea.