Govt formulates strategy to promote northeast as agri export hub

• The government has formulated a strategy to promote exports of locally-produced agricultural products from the northeastern region of the country.

• The region is geopolitically important as it shares international boundaries with China, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Bangladesh and that makes it a potential hub for export of agricultural produce to the neighbouring countries as well as other foreign destinations.

• The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) would create a platform in Assam for the exporters to get the products directly from producers and processors.

• The platform will link the producers and processors of Assam and exporters from other parts of the country that would expand the base of the export pockets in the northeastern states, it added.

• Agri exports from the northeast region rose by 85.34 per cent to $17.72 million in 2021-22 from $2.52 million in 2016-17.

• The major destinations of exports have been Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Middle East, the UK and Europe.

• To provide potential market linkages, APEDA has also organised field visits of importers to have first-hand information about the cultivation practices being followed by farmers.

• In the last three years, APEDA organised 136 capacity building programmes on export awareness across the different parts of the northeast region. Apart from capacity building initiatives, APEDA facilitated 22 international buyer-seller meets as well as trade fairs in the region in last three years. 

• APEDA has planned to undertake other projects like capacity building of 80 budding entrepreneurs and exporters from the region, organise skill development and training in food processing, and value addition on horticultural produce. 

What is APEDA?

• The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) was established by the government under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act passed by Parliament in December 1985. The Act came into effect on February 13, 1986.

• APEDA, which replaced the Processed Food Export Promotion Council (PFEPC), has its headquarters in New Delhi.

• In order to reach out to exporters in different parts of the country, APEDA has set up five regional offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Guwahati and 13 virtual offices in Thiruvananthapuram, Bhubaneshwar, Srinagar, Chandigarh, Imphal, Agartala, Kohima, Chennai, Raipur,  Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Lucknow and Panaji.

• APEDA has been entrusted with the responsibility of export promotion and development of 14 agricultural and processed food product groups listed in the Schedule to the APEDA Act. In addition to this, APEDA has been entrusted with the responsibility to monitor the import of sugar as well.

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