India is one of the biggest producers of fruits and vegetables of all kinds of variety. It ranks second in fruits and vegetable production in the world, after China.
However, India has been unable to use this massive production to its advantage through exports. The country remains a marginal player in the global fruit and vegetable market and its share is just 1 per cent. For instance, India produces half of the world’s mangoes, but Thailand and Mexico dominate the export market. Similarly, India is the largest producer of bananas but it is not even among the top 10 exporters.
International trade of fresh fruit and vegetables represents only around 7–8 per cent of total global production, but it still ranks among the most valuable crop and livestock commodity groups. In 2018, the global export value of fresh fruit and vegetables was $138 billion, only behind meat in agricultural commodities.
According to the Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), India exported fresh fruits and vegetables worth Rs 11,412 crore in FY22. The processed fruits and vegetables (including pulses) exports, meanwhile stood at Rs 12,858 crore. In April-June of this year, India exported fresh fruits and vegetables worth Rs 5,506 crore, up 8.6 per cent over last year.
Grapes, pomegranates, mangoes, bananas and oranges account for the larger portion of fruits exported from the country while onions, mixed vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes, and green chilly contribute largely to the vegetable export basket. Major destinations for the Indian fresh fruits and vegetables are Bangladesh, UAE, Nepal, Netherlands, UK among others. This shows that India’s fresh fruits and vegetables exports have largely been to neighbouring countries or those that are nearby.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, global fruit and vegetable trade has more than doubled between 2000 and 2018, but India didn’t capitalise.
Fruits and vegetables trade depends on the quality and freshness. For fruits and vegetables to be processed and exported, world class logistics and infra ecosystem along with pre-harvest and post-harvest measures need to be in place. India lags in developing a robust and vast network of cold chains, cold storages, refrigerated transport systems. According to a study in 2017, stringent quality norms in importing countries have hampered India’s exports. Other studies have documented India’s woes with post-harvest losses due to the poor storage and infra systems. According to a reply to Parliament in 2019, India’s post-harvest losses of fruits and vegetables is anywhere between 4.58 per cent to 15.88 per cent every year.
Gokul Patnaik, Chairman, Global AgriSystem and former Chairman, APEDA, believes we are biggest consumer of our own products. Most countries have stringent import regulations.Most Indian farmers don’t adhere to international standards of pesticides. Transportation and storage infra is very troublesome
Pawanexh Kohli, former CEO of National Cold Chain Development Authority (NCCD), told Business Standard as fruits and vegetables don't have big saleable life, there is a need to reduce the time taken from farm to fork, which can only be done through pack houses near fields, reefer vans for quick and efficient transportation etc.
A study by NCCD conducted in 2015 found that India is woefully short of modern storage infrastructure required for transporting perishable items.
Experts say if India has to improve its share in the international market and become a sizable player, we need to improve phytosanitary practices and improve the quality of cold-storage transport systems.
 "Why is India a laggard in global fruit and vegetable market?")
