Market Survey

(70 per cent) and Malaysia (82 per cent). The national policy aims to increase the percentage of food be-ing processed in the country to 10 per cent by 2010 and 25 per cent by 2025.

India’s exports of dried and pre-served vegetables in 2006-07 regis-tered a negative growth of 6.93 per cent over the previous year when the same plummeted to a level of Rs 1906.75 crore as against Rs 2048.72 crore. The major importers of In-dian preserved and dried vegetables are the USA, Bangladesh, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the UK, France and Kuwait.

According to the Food and Agri-culture Organisation (FAO), proc-essed foods can be of three types: primary, secondary and tertiary. Primary processed foods involve ba-sic cleaning, grading and packaging. Secondary processing means modifi-cation of the basic product to a stage just before the final preparation at the consumer’s kitchen, like tomato puree. Tertiary processing leads to high-value-added, ready-to-eat prod-ucts like sauces.

Indian food processing activity is still largely based on primary processing, which accounts for 80 per cent of the value addition. In-dia presently produces a very wide

India is the second largest producer of vegetables in the world next only to China and accounts for about 15 per of the world production of vege-

tables. It is estimated that 20-25 per cent of the total vegetables produced in the country are lost due to poor

harvesting practices. Presently, a mere 2 per cent

of fruits and vegetables are proc-essed, even as the county ranks second in the world in terms of production. This is comparatively low when compared to other coun-tries like Brazil (30 per cent), USA

By: G.P. Gandhi

EXPORT PROSPECTS OF PROCESSED VEGETABLES India enjoys a host of favourable factors for growing a variety of vegetables, such as conducive agro-climatic conditions, huge domestic market and availability of cheap labour. So there is a tremendous potential to increase overall production of vegetables and create a sufficient export surplus.

Market Survey

range of processed vegetables, i.e., dried/preserved and dehydrated vegetables such as vegetable sauc-es and juices, preserved onions, cucumbers and gherkins, mush-rooms and truffles, green pepper in brine, dehydrated garlic powder and flakes, dried garlic, chutneys and pickles.

The government of India has set up a separate full-fledged ministry named ‘Ministry of Food Processing Industries’ for the development and promotion of food processing indus-tries. To boost vegetable processing, the Ministry is extending financial support for setting up new units, modernisation and upgradation of existing units.

Besides, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export De-velopment Authority (APEDA) since its inception in 1986 has been play-ing a major role in the export effort of processed vegetables by providing various services to the trade and in-dustry such as identifying new mar-kets, regular participation both in national and international trade fairs and also launch of promotional cam-paigns. Another government body named Central Food and Technologi-cal Research Institute (CFTRI)—the fore-runner in food technology with an independent fruit and vegetable technology department—has devel-oped minimal process and modified atmosphere technologies for 30 vege-tables to reduce the bulk, curtail the spoilage and preserve the commod-ity in ready-to-cook form for long periods.

Global scenarioImports. World imports of

‘vegetables prepared or preserved’ in 2006, as may be seen from Ta-ble I, registered a growth of 11.47 per cent over the previous year when the same reached a level of $55,129.8 million as against $49,456.8 million. Further, the category ‘vegetables, fresh, frozen, chilled, simply preserved, roots’ continued to dominate global im-

Table I

Categorywise World imports of Vegetables(US$ million)

Category 2004 2005 2006 Percentgrowthin 2006over2005

Vegetables, fresh, frozen, chilled, 31,169,7 34,069.5 38,258.8 12.30 simply preserved, roots (68,22) (68.89) (69.40)

Vegetables, roots, and tubers, prepared 14,518,3 15,387.3 16,871.0 9.64 or preserved, not exactly specified (31.78) (31.11) (30.60)

Worldtotal 45,688.0 49,456.8 55,129.8 11.47 (100.00) (100.00) (100.00)

Note: Figures within brackets indicate percentage shares of the total Source: UN, Yearbook of International Trade Statistics, 2006, New York

Table II

Categorywise World imports of Vegetables by Major Countries during 2004 to 2006

(US$ million)

Category/country 2004 2005 2006 Percentgrowthin 2006over2005

Vegetables,fresh,frozen,chilled,simplypreserved,roots USA 4,385.3 4,639.1 5,127.7 10.53 Germany 3,730.9 4,282.1 4,761.4 11.19 UK 3,105.8 3,487.1 3,624.1 3.93 France 2,176.7 2,277.3 2,360.2 3.64 Canada 1,368.7 1,555.2 1,728.4 11.14 Japan 1,736.4 1,731.3 1,713.1 (–) 1.05 Netherlands 1,440.3 1,413.6 1,628.5 15.20 Belgium 1,164.1 1,137.9 1,348.6 18.52 Italy 1,242.2 1,196.4 1,219.6 1.94 Spain 1,061.2 1,059.0 1,128.2 6.53 India 436.1 641.4 1,011.5 57.70 Total(incl.others) 31,169.7 34,069.5 38,258.8 12.30Vegetables, roots, and tubers, prepared or preserved, not exactly specified USA 1,940.8 1,997.2 2,135.9 6.94 Germany 1,573.8 1,675.3 1,768.0 5.53 Japan 1,513.7 1,577.5 1,644.5 4.25 France 1,245.0 1,253.0 1,389.7 10.91 IK 1,207.9 1,190.0 1,263.2 6.15 Italy 678.0 644.6 673.8 4.53 Russian Federation 291.8 388.2 490.5 26.35 Netherlands 495.9 472.2 487.0 3.13 Canada 411.1 426.4 465.1 9.08 Spain 408.0 439.8 463.1 5.30 Belgium 411.6 460.4 462.4 0.43 Total(incl.others) 14,518.3 15,387.3 16.871.0 9.64Worldtotal 45,688.8 49,456.8 55,129.8 11.47

Source: Compiled from the data of UN, “Yearbook of International Trade Statistics, 2006, New York

Market Survey

ports. In 2006, this category ac-counted for 69.40 per cent of the global imports. The other category ‘vegetables, roots and tubers, pre-pared or preserved, not exactly specified’ registered an increase of 9.64 per cent.

Categorywise world imports of vegetables by major countries are shown in Table II.

Exports. World exports of ‘veg-etables prepared or preserved’ in 2006, as may be seen from Table III, registered a growth of 12.25 per cent over the previous year when the same reached a level of $54,581.6 million as against $48,626.1 million. Further, the category ‘vegetables, fresh, frozen, chilled, simply preserved, roots’ continued to dominate global ex-ports. In 2006, this category ac-counted for a share of 67.28 per cent of the global exports. The other category ‘vegetables, roots and tubers, prepared or preserved, not exactly specified’ registered an increase of 10.78 per cent.

Categorywise world exports of vegetables by major countries are shown in Table IV.

India’s exports Varietywise. India’s exports

of processed vegetables in 2006-07, as may be seen from Table V, regis-tered a negative growth of 6.93 per cent over the previous year when the same plummeted to a level of Rs 1906.75 crore as against Rs 2048.72 crore.

‘Dried leguminous veg shelled/skinned/split’ continued to be the major item of exports. In 2006-07, this variety registered a steep de-cline of 29.76 per cent when the same dropped to Rs 789.99 crore as against Rs 336.38 crore. The other varieties registering a nega-tive growth included tomatoes prepared/preserved not by vinegar/acetic acid (23.47 per cent), vegeta-ble fruits, nuts, fruit peel and other parts of plants preserved by sugar (12.97 per cent) and vegetables

Table III

Categorywise World Expoprts of Vegetables(US$ million)

Category 2004 2005 2006 Percentgrowthin 2006over2005

Vegetables, fresh, frozen, chilled, 29,897.3 32,505.4 36,722.7 12.97 simply preserved, roots (66.43) (66.85) (67.28)

Vegetables, roots, and tubers, prepared 15,106.8 16,120,7 17,858,9 10.78 or preserved, not exactly specified (33.57) (33.15) (32.72)

Worldtotal 45,004.1 48,626.1 54,581.6 12.25 (100.00) (100.00) (100.00)

Note: Figures within brackets indicate percentage shares of the total Source: UN, Yearbook of International Trade Statistics, 2006, New York

Table IV

Categorywise World Exports of Vegetables by Major Countries during 2004 to 2006

(US$ million)

Category/country 2004 2005 2006 Percentgrowthin 2006over2005

Vegetables,fresh,frozen,chilled,simplypreserved,roots Netherlands 4,295.1 4,247.6 5,053.4 18.97 Spain 4,171.1 4,301.0 4,401.9 2.35 Mexico 2,992.0 3,117.3 3,473.8 11.43 China 2,129.8 2,557.8 3,091.2 20.85 USA 2,045.2 2,311.7 2,574.4 11.64 Belgium 1,710.3 1,783.0 1,959.9 9.92 France 1,689.1 1,765.7 1,929.5 9.28 Canada 1,467.7 1,711.8 1,908.5 11.49 Italy 966.3 990.0 1,088.9 9.99 Germany 625.9 769.7 895.5 16.34 India 341.2 530.7 576.8 8.69 Total(incl.others) 29,897.3 32,505.4 36,722.7 12.97Vegetables, roots, and tubers, prepared or preserved, not exactly specified China 1,829.02 2,177.1 2,636.2 21.09 Netherlands 1,775.6 1,707.8 1,854.4 8.58 Italy 1,514.8 1,472.6 1,555.2 5,.61 USA 1,211.1 1,273.4 1,361.8 6.94 Spain 1,220.6 1,230.0 1,323.4 7.59 Belgium 1,035.5 1,042.0 1,210.8 16.20 France 881.6 879.1 991.5 12.79 Germany 660.6 776.2 913.2 17.65 Canada 858.1 822.7 864.7 5.11 Turkey 452.9 494.3 575.4 16.41 India 91.1 150.8 192.3 27.62 Total(incl.others) 15,106.8 16,120.7 17,858.9 10.78

Worldtotal 45,004.1 48,626.1 54,581.6 12.25

Source: Compiled from the data of UN, “Yearbook of International Trade Statistics, 2006, New York

Market Survey

Table V

Varietywise india’s Exports of Major Processed Vegetables during 2002-03 to 2006-07(Rs crore)

Variety 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 Percentchangein 2006-07over2005-06

Dried leguminous veg shelled/skinned/split 352.91 336.38 566.16 1,124.66 789.99 (–) 29.76

Vegetable fruits, nuts and other edible parts of plants prepared/preserved by vinegar/acetic acid 154.16 180.42 179.51 336.62 409.71 21.71

Vegetables provisionally preserved but unsuitable for instant consumption 121.28 104.53 128.24 232.27 221.96 (–) 4.44

Dried vegetables, whole cut, sliced, broken or in powder 88.70 54.23 90.38 179.26 210.44 17.39

Mushrooms and truffles prepared/preserved 30.76 66.34 82.74 53.22 107.71 102.39

Other vegetables prepared/preserved otherwise than by vinegar/acetic acid not frozen 2.81 10.21 13.57 40.19 77.86 93.73

Vegetables cooked or not by steaming/boiling, frozen 56.74 58.98 64.67 54.95 59.07 7.50

Other vegetables prepared/preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid and frozen 16.77 24.79 24.10 24.18 27.18 12.41

Vegetable fruits, nuts, fruit peel and other parts of plants preserved by sugar (drained glace/crystallised) 0.01 5.19 3.83 2.39 2.08 (–) 12.97

Tomatoes prepared/preserved not by vinegar/acetic acid 1.53 0.23 0.73 0.98 0.75 (–) 23.47

Total(allIndia) 825.67 841.30 1,153.27 2,048.72 1,906.75 (–)6.93

Source: Compiled from the data of DGCI&S, Monthly Statistics of Foreign Trade of India, Volume I- Exports including Re-exports, Part-II, March 2003 to 2007 Issues, Calcutta

provisionally preserved but unsuit-able for instant consumption (4.44 per cent).

On the contrary, the varie-ties showing a quantum jump in exports included mushrooms and truffles prepared/preserved (102.39 per cent), other vegeta-bles prepared/preserved otherwise than by vinegar/acetic acid and not frozen (93.73 per cent), vegetable fruits, nuts and other edible parts of plants prepared/preserved by vinegar/acetic acid (21.71 per cent) and dried vegetables, whole cut, sliced, broken or in powder (17.39 per cent).

Detailed data on India’s exports of major processed vegetables dur-

ing the period 2003-04 to 2006-07 is shown in Table VI.

Countrywise. Countrywise analysis of exports during the period 2002-03 to 2006-07, as may be seen from Table VII, reveals that in the year 2006-07, USA emerged as the topmost market for Indian processed vegetables, placing Bangladesh in the second rank, which otherwise happened to be the largest market for Indian processed vegetables in the year 2005-06.

The countries showing a whop-ping growth comprised Algeria (134.64 per cent), the UAE (111.87 per cent), Belgium (57.28 per cent), Germany (42.55 per cent), the UK (26.55 per cent) and Saudi Arabia

(22.14 per cent).On the other hand, the coun-

tries witnessing steep decline in-cluded Pakistan (51.31 per cent), Sri Lanka (50.25 per cent), Bangla-desh (41.22 per cent), Nepal (36.15 per cent) and Russia (22.42 per cent).

India’s exports of select vari-eties of processed vegetables to major markets in the years 2003-04 to 2004-6-07 and also In-dia’s exports of major processed vegetables to select markets in the years 2005-06 and 2006-07 are shown in Tables VIII and IX, re-spectively.

Recent developmentsGovernment policy for veg-

etable processing. Though no industrial licence is required for setting up food and vegetable processing industries, setting up of 100 per cent EoUs requires specific government approvals. The sector is

In the year 2006-07, USA emerged as the topmost market for Indian processed vegetables, placing Bangladesh in the second rank.

Market Survey

Table VI

Varietywise india’s Exports of Processed Vegetables during 2003-04 to 2006-07(Rs crore)

Variety 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 Percentchangein 2006-07over2005-06

Lentils (mosur) dried and shelled 174.51 297.69 651.06 321.87 (–) 50.56Cucumbers/gherkins prepared/preserved by acetic acid 119.75 120.58 260.98 293.59 12.50Chickpeas dried and shelled 5.40 35.91 150.70 217.31 44.20Cucumbers and gherkins provisionally preserved 68.65 82.68 175.73 209.04 18.95Onions dried 54.23 51.43 105.65 157.35 48.94Other dried leguminous shelled vegetables other than split 100.26 159.60 198.75 122.30 (–) 38.47Other edible parts of plants prepared or preserved by vinegars/acetic acid 60.67 58.94 75.64 116.12 53.52Mushrooms prepared/preserved 66.19 82.24 46.95 107.68 129.35Tur 28.50 45.93 66.32 86.64 30.64Mushrooms of genus aggrieves, dried, whole, cut, sliced, broken 18.56 20.63 30.98 33.61 8.49Mixtures of vegetables frozen 45.48 47.13 34.19 32.47 (–) 5.03Other vegetables and mixtures of vegetables prepared/preserved, frozen 23.80 21.39 22.17 23.03 3.88Other dried and shelled leguminous vegetables split 10.81 17.15 29.60 19.35 (–) 34.63Other vegetables, dried 8.24 12.55 15,84 16.39 —Other vegetables and its mixtures prepared/preserved, not frozen 8.19 12.62 34.83 6.39 (–) 81.65Green pepper in brine 3.92 2.52 3.83 5.07 32.38Dehydrated garlic powder 8.43 0.90 5.91 4.37 (–) 26.06Assorted canned vegetables 4.77 4.86 2.83 3.84 35.59Peas dried and shelled 4.55 3.57 11.83 3.58 (–) 69.74Peas shelled or unshelled frozen 1.16 8.03 5.10 2.87 (–) 43.73Other vegetables provisionally preserved 21.40 37.87 17.72 2.23 (–) 87.42Dehydrated garlic flakes 2.69 2.17 2.33 1.09 (–) 53.22Total(allIndia) 841.30 1,153.27 2,048.72 1,906.75 (–)6.93

Source: Compiled from the data of DGCI&S, “Monthly Statistics of Foreign Trade of India: Exports including Re-exports, March 2004 and 2005, Kolkata

regulated by Fruit Products Order, 1955 (FPO), issued under the Es-sential Commodities Act. The Min-istry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India, administers this order.

The order lays down product specifications and quality control requirements on production—hy-giene, re-labeling and marketing of processed fruits and vegetables. Further, all processing units are re-quired to obtain a licence under the order. In addition, consignments of fruits and vegetables intended to ex-port are subject to pre-shipment in-spection under the FPO. Some items like pickles and chutneys, tapioca sago and tapioca flour are reserved for exclusive manufacture in the

small-scale sector.A number of food and process-

ing industries are eligible for automatic approval of foreign technology agreement and up to 51 per cent foreign equity partici-pation. These industries include tomatoes, mushrooms and other frozen vegetables and vegetable juices. Five-year tax holiday for new food processing units in fruits and vegetables processing along with other benefits in the budget has bolstered the government’s resolution of encouraging growth in this sector.

New Foreign Trade Policy (FTP). Under the new FTP (2004-09) announced by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government

of India, a host of incentives have been given to boost agri-exports. These inter alia include duty-free import of capital goods under the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme, duty credit scrip equivalent to 5 per cent of the f.o.b. value of exports, and extending the perspective of the present ‘Vishesh Krishi Upaj Yojana’ as ‘Vishesh Kri-shi Upaj and Gram Udyog Yojana’ as announced in the new Foreign Trade Policy on April 7, 2006 aiming at promoting agri-exports, viz, veg-etables, fruits, flowers, minor forest produce, etc.

Additional sops for boost-ing vegetable exports. For in-creasing the country’s small share of dried and preserved vegetables

Market Survey

Table VII

india’s Exports of dried and Preserved Vegetables to Major Countries during 2002-03 to 2006-07

(Rs crore)

Country 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 Percentchangein 2006-07over2005-06

USA 74.70 57.06 65.02 292.65 334.32 14.23UAE 29.77 28.52 50.30 87.89 189.21 111.87Bangladesh 133.66 130.22 163.10 308.92 181.57 (–) 41.22Russia 2.43 4.75 11.27 191.55 148.60 (–) 22.42UK 32.04 31.01 37.61 77.56 98.15 26.55France 21.15 22.92 20.52 70.53 80.61 14.29Sri Lanka 20.74 14.23 85.25 142.78 71.04 (–) 50.25Saudi Arabia 14.23 17.76 26.60 52.53 64.16 22.14Belgium 14.48 11.69 17.17 34.50 54.26 57.28Spain 16.08 7.72 17.38 46.26 53.88 16.47Germany 28.46 27.47 29.40 36.50 52.03 42.55Pakistan 0.06 0.93 18.93 86.90 42.31 (–) 51.31Kuwait 16.83 11.50 20.98 33.98 37.22 9.54Nepal 6.52 33.58 36.37 54.94 35.08 (–) 36.15Algeria 1.02 — 16.44 13.05 30.62 134.64Total(allIndia) 825.67 841.30 1,153.27 2,048.72 1,906.75 (–)6.93

Source: Compiled from the data of DGCI&S, Monthly Statistics of Foreign Trade of India, Volume I- Exports including Re-exports, Part-II, March 2003 to 2007 Issues, Kolkata

in the global exports, the Ministry of Commerce, Government of In-dia, recently announced additional duty scrip of 2.5 per cent under the Vishesh Krishi and Gram Udyog Yojana (VKGUY) for the exporters. The VKGUY was introduced under the Foreign Trade Policy 2004-09 for encouraging exports of agricultural produce and their value-added prod-ucts such as minor forest products, forest-based products and products from the village.

Currently, exporters are already getting duty-free scrip of 5 per cent for partially compensating the cost of transportation. The additional duty of 2.5 per cent is over and above the existing benefits under VKGUY.

Exim study. A recent study car-ried out by Export Import Bank of India reveals that India has a negli-gible share in global exports of fruits and vegetables, though it is the sec-ond largest producer of these items

in the world. Export potential of the vegetables, it says, has not been tapped considering the size and di-versity of this sector. The study sug-gests the need for gaining deeper understanding of different kinds of technologies as being essential in the pre-harvest and post-harvest phase to ensure retention of the quality of the produce. Further, it says that research institutions could obtain details about the latest technologies on various agricultural products and develop appropriate storage proto-cols to suit Indian fruits and vegeta-bles.

International conference on vegetables. An international conference on ‘vegetables for sus-

tainable food and national security in the new millen-nium’ was held during Nov. 11-14, 2004 at Bangalore. It was organised by Dr Prem-nath Agricultural Science Foundation, Bangalore, Indi-an Society of Vegetables Sci-ence, New Delhi, and Indian Institute of Horticulture Re-search, Bangalore. The con-ference addressed various is-sues relating to the vegetable sector. These included crop improvement, utilisation of biotechnology, production technology, organic farming, post-harvest management of vegetables, nutrition and utilisation of under-utilised vegetables. It also deliber-ated on various policies and programmes relating to veg-etables of the 37 participat-ing countries and fostering of technical cooperation agree-ments among them.

CII study. According to a recent study carried out by the Confederation of Indian Indus-

try, an astounding 73 per cent of the food-processing SMEs are not even aware of quantitative restrictions imposed by various countries. Weik-field Products Co (India) has faced restrictions on the export of canned mushrooms in terms of quantity from Europe. Further, the study says that the company faced 35 per cent anti-dumping duty on f.o.b. value of processed mushrooms.

Vision document. The Gov-ernment of India on April 6, 2005 unveiled a 10-year draft vision doc-ument for the food processing sec-tor, envisaging investment in infra-structure, processing capacity and market development to the tune of Rs 99,700 crore. Implementation

India has a negligible share in global exports of fruits and vegetables, though it is the second largest producer of these items in the world.

Market Survey

Table VIIIindia’s Exports of Select Varieties of Processed Vegetables

to Major Markets during 2003-04 to 2006-07(Rs crore)

Variety 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 Percentchangein 2006-07over2005-06Lentils(mosur),driedandshelled Bangladesh 120.37 153.64 296.35 176.97 (–) 40.28 Sri Lanka 4.61 6.07 106.24 34.87 (–) 87.18 UAE 5.52 9.12 20.42 30.20 47.89 Sudan 4.28 7.89 46.54 25.91 (–) 44.33 Nepal 9.58 4.18 18.55 13.21 (–) 28.79 Kuwait 3.54 7.50 12.27 8.77 (–) 28.52 Saudi Arabia 6.10 4.90 10.92 7.55 (–) 30.86 USA 5.33 6.93 6.51 4.78 (–) 26.57 UK 5.41 3.42 5.80 2.49 (–) 57.09 Yemen Rep. 0.56 1.80 1.13 0.18 (–) 84.07 Egypt 0.05 6.33 25.55 — — Total(incl.others) 174.51 297.69 651.06 321.87 (–)50.56Cucumbersandgherkinsprepared/preservedbyaceticacid Russia 22.27 46.17 134.91 111.07 (–) 17.67 USA 19.81 18.92 32.07 51.44 60.40 Belgium 11.17 8.98 16.76 27.26 62.65 Spain 13.26 7.85 8.84 16.89 91.06 France 17.80 12.96 14.21 14.12 (–) 0.63 Estonia 3.11 5.05 5.45 14.09 158.53 Netherlands 7.93 5.35 15.23 10.63 (–) 30.20 Canada 2.98 0.47 5.96 9.47 58.89 Australia 9.83 4.50 6.44 8.29 28.73 Germany 3.15 2.68 3.44 4.96 44.19 New Zealand 1.27 1.56 2.31 2.25 (–) 2.60 Italy 1.98 0.44 0.36 0.83 130.56 Total(incl.others) 119.75 120.58 260.98 293.59 12.50Chickpeasdriedandshelled UAE 9,14 2.71 12.22 35.87 193.54 Pakisatan 0.04 0.90 8.72 32.22 269.50 Algeria — 11.60 36.33 29.66 (–) 18.36 Saudi Arabia 0.07 1.96 13.81 16.99 23.03 Sri Lanka 1.56 2.65 10.24 16.61 62.21 Tunisia — 0.01 — 10.39 — Kuwait 0.38 1.21 2.47 7.01 183.81 USA 0.51 1.02 1.31 3.84 193.13 Bangladesh 0.42 0.95 0.11 2.94 2,572.73 Total(incl.others) 5.40 35.91 150.70 217.31 44.20Cucumbersandgherkinsprovisionallypreserved France 15.83 15.53 33.56 46.41 38.29 USA 6.87 19.74 27.48 45.69 68.27 Spain 6.24 8.85 20.86 31.41 50.58 Belgium 10.29 14.70 16.79 23.21 38.24 Russia 3.66 9.38 48.39 20.04 (–) 58.59 Estonia 1.56 2.08 5.81 6.85 17.90 Australia 2.82 2.08 3.50 6.12 74.86 Canada 2.22 2.30 3.37 4.93 48.29 Netherlands 4.75 1.63 1.76 3.44 96.45 Germany 1.20 0.39 0.96 2.10 (–) 118.75 UK 1.39 0.87 1.24 1.40 12.90 Total(incl.others) 68.65 82.68 175.73 209.04 18.95

Total(allIndia) 841.30 1,153.27 2,048.72 1,906.75 (–)6.93Source: Compiled from the data of DGCI&S, “Monthly Statistics of Foreign Trade of India: Exports including Re-exports, March 2004 to 2007 issues, Kolkata

of the vision, piloted by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, could mean the sector growing by about 200 per cent from Rs 4.60 lakh crore at present to Rs 13.50 lakh crore by 2014-15.

Launch of the food processing project. The FICCI has launched a unique project for impart-ing competitiveness to the country’s agro-food process-ing through technical and managerial training and ca-pacity building. The project is being conducted by the Government of India, UN-IDO and FICCI. Under the project, a technology centre for business partnership will be set up at FICCI. The project will be implemented in two phases. In the first phase, the selected industri-al clusters will be set up at Jalgaon (Maharashtra) for banana and Simla (Himach-al Pradesh) for apples. In the second phase, the identified clusters to be set up include Kolar (Karnataka) for fruits and vegetables, Arunachal Pradesh and other North Eastern states for pineap-ples, and Maharashtra for pomegranates.

Government support. Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India, provides grant-in-aid to Indian food processing units for implementation of food safety and quality sys-tems such as total quality management including hard analysis critical control point (HACCP), ISO 9000, 14000, etc. Financial assist-ance is available up to 33 per cent of the total project cost subject to a maximum of Rs 10 lakh for general areas and 50 per cent to a maximum of Rs 15 lakh for difficult areas.

Market Survey

Table IX india’s Exports of Major Processed Vegetables to Select Markets

during 2005-06 and 2006-07(Rs crore)

Item 2005-06 2006-07 Percentchangein 2006-07over2005-06

USA Mushrooms prepared/preserved 34.65 74.85 116.02 Cucumbers/gherkins prepared/preserved by acetic acid 32.07 51.44 60.40 Cucumbers and gherkins provisionally preserved 27.48 45.69 66.27 Onions dried 10.66 31.54 195.87 Other vegetables and its mixtures prepared/preserved, not frozen 13.60 29.95 120.22 Other dried leguminous shelled vegetables other than split 22.60 27.34 20.97 Tur 18.11 23.60 30.31 Other edible parts of plants prepared or preserved by vinegars/acetic acid 12.34 13.82 11.99 Homogenised vegetables, prepared/preserved not frozen 33.71 8.70 (–) 74.19 Other frozen vegetables 1.89 5.80 206.88 Lentils (mosur) dried and shelled 6.51 4.78 (–) 26.57 Other dried and shelled leguminous‘ vegetables split 7.66 1.16 (–) 84.86 Total(incl.others) 292.65 334.32 14.24Bangladesh Lentils (mosur) dried and shelled 296.35 176.97 (–) 40.28 Cucumbers/gherkins prepared/preserved by acetic acid — 62.01 — Chickpeas dried and shelled 0.11 2.94 2,572.73 Peas dried and shelled 1.17 1.38 17.95 Total(incl.others) 308.92 243.57 (–)21.15UAE Other vegetables and its mixtures prepared/preserved, not frozen 2.90 35.94 1,139.31 Chickpeas dried and shelled 12.22 35.87 193.94 Lentils (mosur) dried and shelled 20.42 30.22 (–) 47.99 Tur 11.54 25.22 118.54 Other dried leguminous shelled vegetables other than split 19.25 24.33 26.39 Other edible parts of plants prepared or preserved by vinegars/acetic acid 5.97 13.09 119.26 Other dried and shelled leguminous vegetables split 5.96 12.52 110.07 Total(incl.others) 87.89 189.21 115.28Russia Cucumbers/gherkins prepared/preserved by acetic acid 134.91 111.07 (–) 17.67 Cucumbers/gherkins prepared/preserved by acetic acid 48.39 20.04 (–) 58.59 Onions dried 4.63 14.58 214.90 Mushrooms prepared/preserved — 2.05 — Total(incl.others) 191.55 148.60 (–)22.42France Cucumbers/gherkins prepared/preserved by acetic acid 33.55 46.41 38.33 Cucumbers/gherkins prepared/preserved by acetic acid 14.21 14.12 (–) 0.63 Mushrooms of genus aggrieves, dried, whole, cut, sliced, broken 11.23 12.58 12.02 Chickpeas dried and shelled 2.20 1.92 (–) 12.73 Onions dried 0.97 1.73 78.35 Other vegetables, e.g. truffles, etc, dried 2.60 1.30 (–) 50.00 Total(incl.others) 70.53 80.61 14.29Total(allIndia) 2,048.72 1,906.75 (–)6.93Source: Compiled from the data of DGCI&S, “Monthly Statistics of India’s Foreign Trade”, Exports & Re-Exports, March 2006 and 2007 issues, Kolkata

Export prospectsIndia enjoys a

host of favourable factors for growing a variety of veg-etables. These inter alia include agro-climatic conditions, huge domestic mar-ket and availabil-ity of cheap labour. Against this back-drop, the country offers a tremen-dous potential to increase overall production of veg-etables and create a sufficient export surplus.

For making a quantum jump in exports, there is a need to formulate a suitable export strategy. Some of the points which merit attention of the policy makers in this respect include strengthening of our infrastructural base, efficient han-dling of post-har-vest crops, better and improved pack-aging, exploring new markets, im-proving cold storage and transportation capacity, campaign-ing abroad about quality of our veg-etables, and devel-oping an efficient export marketing network to optimise the production and exports.

The author was for-merly a research officer at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi