D. Suganthi of RBI in this new paper studies export competitiveness in agri exports from India:
Domestic and global commodity price cycles influence India’s export competitiveness of agricultural commodities. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the relative export competitiveness (REC) of eight agricultural commodities (rice, wheat, maize, gram, groundnut, onion, bovine meat and shrimp) from 1990 to 2020.
The major findings of the paper are:
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- India’s rice exports were most competitive during the study period, followed by groundnut, shrimp, gram, onion and bovine meat.
- Higher competitiveness, elevated global prices relative to domestic prices and a stable export policy contribute to improved agricultural export performance.
- India needs to expand its trading partners by shaping alliances through bilateral and free trade agreements. There is a need to increase the value addition and product differentiation through promotion of processed and organic commodity exports. In addition to forming agri-clusters through the scheme ‘One District One Product’, there is also a need to develop organic or pesticide-free clusters through farmer producer organisations to boost the export of organic products to high-income countries.