India may be a largely agrarian economy; but the country remains a marginal player in world agricultural trade, says the latest annual report from the ministry of agriculture.
India is an agrarian economy where the agricultural sector provides employment to approximately 60 per cent of the population and contributes 25 per cent to the GDP of the country.
But the report says currently, India has a share of less than 1 per cent of the world trade in agricultural products including coffee, tea and fisheries. The total agriculture exports from was around 10.95 per cent in the year 2005-06.
There has been decline in agricultural imports. The agricultural imports decreased from Rs 22057.49 crore (Rs 220.57 billion) in 2004-05 to Rs 21025.54 crore (Rs 210.26 billion) in 2005-06. The share of agricultural imports to the country has remained steady around 3.33 per cent.
Imports have registered a relative decline during April-September 2006, when it was only 2.88 per cent of the country's total import. The import of vegetables oils, fixed (edible), pulses, cashewnuts, cotton (raw and waste) and wood products dominate our agricultural imports, report added.
Agriculture exports, on the other hand, have shown an increasing trend. India's agricultural exports have increased from Rs 39863.31 crores (Rs 398.63 billion) in 2004-05, to Rs 49802.92 crore (Rs 498.03 billion) in 2005-06, the report said.
However, during the current year (April-September 2006), the value of agricultural exports was worth Rs 28157.52 crore (Rs 281.58 billion) compared to Rs 21673.25 crore (Rs 216.73 billion) for the corresponding period of last year, registering a growth of 29.91 per cent.
Export of marine products, oil meals, rice, wheat, tea, cashew and sugar dominates India's agricultural exports.
There has been a surplus in agricultural trade over the years.
The trade surpluses in terms of value have been Rs 17805.82 crore (Rs 178.06 billion) in 2004-05, and Rs 28777.38 crore (Rs 287.77 billion) in 2004-06 respectively. The surplus is continuing during the current year and is worth Rs 17025.74 crore (Rs 170.26 billion).