Agribusiness 2025 Comparisons

The most appropriate indicator to measure overall performance of a country’s sector is considered to be the growth rate in gross value added (GVA). Agriculture and allied activities (namely, crops, livestock, forestry and fishing) is ranked as the second largest sector of Indian economy, at current prices, and constitutes for 19.73% of India’s GVA. The acceleration in growth rate of India’s GVA in the agriculture sector during the period between 2015-2016 to 2024-2025 is estimated at 4.45% - historically the highest growth rate among major agricultural countries such as China, USA, Indonesia and Brazil. Moreover, agriculture has long been the backbone of the Indian economy and plays a vital role in:

(i)       national income - contributing approximately 17.8% of India’s Gross Domestic Product for Financial Year (FY) 2025;

(ii)       employment - supporting 46% of India’s total workforce and 64% of female workforce who engage in agriculture as their main economic activity, thus, being the main source of livelihood for nearly half of India’s population;

(iii)       production – total foodgrain production in India in FY 2024-25 was a record 357.73 million tonnes, and horticulture production output has expanded from 280.7 million tonnes (in FY 2013-14) to around 350 million tonnes in FY 2024-25, resulting in: (a) strengthened national food availability; (b) better maintenance of buffer stocks and minimum reserves; (c) lower likelihood of shortage of supply, especially for seasonal crops; and (d) reduced need for costly imports in deficit years and can enable export surpluses in others, improving the trade balance given the critical role played by grains’ in the global food trade; and

(iv)       trade and exports - agri-food exports were about USD 46.4 billion in FY 2023–24, comprising roughly 11.7% of total exports, fisheries output has doubled over a decade.

The Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, records 28 major agricultural crops grown in India. These major crops of India include rice, wheat, maize, millets (for e.g. jowar, bajra, and ragi), barley, gram, tur, pulses, groundnut, soybean, rapeseed & mustard, oilseeds, sugarcane, cotton, and jute & mesta.

India’s agribusiness supply chain links millions of small-scale framers to consumers through a hybrid public–private system that varies basis the crop, perishability, and end market. At the farm level, producers source seeds, fertilizers, credit and insurance through public schemes and private distributors. This “inputs-to-harvest” stage sets the baseline for quality and traceability that later determines grading, pricing and market access. Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO/s) increasingly aggregate produce and negotiate services, improving scale for logistics and finance. Most crops in India are harvested in phases (for example, multiple pickings in horticulture and staggered arrivals in cereals/pulses), which results in small lots, uneven quality, and reliance on local aggregators or FPOs to achieve scale. Primary aggregation and price discovery of crops occur mainly in state regulated Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC/s), where licensed traders and commission agents transact via auction or negotiated sale. In parallel, direct procurement has expanded through contract farming and private procurement centres permitted under state frameworks. The Electronic National Agriculture Market (e NAM) digitally links ‘mandis’ (i.e., local marketplaces) across states, enabling inter state bidding, greater transparency and, in some states, trade in warehouse backed receipts (i.e., buying and selling rights to items stored in a warehouse, evidenced by a note issued by the warehouse operator. For rice and wheat, a distinct government channel operates: the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies procure at Minimum Support Prices (MSP), build central pool stocks, and supply to the Targeted Public Distribution System.

Post harvest storage and collateralization are anchored in the Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007 (W(D&R) Act). Warehouses registered with the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) issue electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (e NWRs) through licensed repositories. e NWRs allow farmers, FPOs, traders and processors to pledge stored produce for bank credit, reducing distress sales and smoothing cash flows. For perishables, cold chain infrastructure—pre cooling, packhouses, ripening rooms, controlled atmosphere or cold stores, and reefer transport—underpins horticulture, dairy, meat and fisheries, with capacity additions supported by central schemes.

Horticulture (fruits and vegetables) follows a different pattern, smaller average farm sizes, perishability and multiple pickings reduce reliance on classic local marketplace auctions. Producers commonly use pre harvest contractors, local aggregators, and FPO, where prices are set by pre agreed rates or on arrival negotiations at collection points rather than field level auctions. Many states carve out direct marketing or farmer to retail/consumer provisions for fruits and vegetables to minimize handling time and losses; when semi perishables are warehoused, WDRA standards and e NWRs can apply. The governing legal and regulatory instruments across these stages are state APMC Acts and rules (including direct marketing and, where adopted, contract farming provisions), e NAM operational guidelines for state integration, and the WDRA/e NWR regime for scientific warehousing and collateralized finance.

India ranks among the largest global agri-exporters in the world and is considered a consistent net agro-food exporter, with agriculture and agricultural food exports representing 10-11% of its total exports. India’s agriculture sector primarily exports agricultural & allied products, marine products, planation and textile and its allied products. Agribusiness in India underpins a diversified export profile shaped by multiple climatic zones:

(i)       In southern India, climate is primarily humid, tropical and sub-tropical, with high rainfall and warm temperatures, which forms the ideal habitat required for the growth of plantation crops and majority of the spices require. For instance, Karnataka alone produces 70% of India’s coffee and the extensive coffee plantations integrate crops like black pepper and cardamom. Due to these and other factors, southern India is an export hub for spices, coffee, coconut and floriculture, reflecting comparative advantage in humid tropics and plantation crops. The regions that India primarily exports south Indian plantation crops and spices to are USA, EU, UK, Middle East and Japan. The export from the south Indian states (i.e., Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu) accounts for roughly 23-25% of India’s total agribusiness related exports.

(ii)       Northern Indian states are characterized by irrigated plains and temperate climate due to hills and elevated belts. The Indo-Gangetic belt (i.e., the plains) of Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh are critical for basmati rice, while the western Himalayan region (i.e., Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand) support temperate horticultural/orchard crops like apples and stone fruits, and nice crops such as saffron (especially in Jammu and Kashmir), due to its cool winters and moderate summers. The regions that India primarily exports north Indian crops to are USA, EU, UK, Middle East, North Africa and other countries in the Indian subcontinent. The export from the north Indian states account for roughly 30-35% of India’s total agribusiness related exports.

(iii)       Central and central-west India is a hub for export of cereals and pulses exports. Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan anchor wheat, millets and pulse surpluses, while soybean clusters in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat feed large shipments of de oiled oilseed cake for animal feed. Central India generally has semi-arid climate with monsoon-dependent rainfall, cool and dry winters and extensive black soil cover, which favours: (a) wheat and pulses in winter; (b) millets in summer; and (c) soyabean in monsoon The regions that India primarily exports central Indian crops to are South-East Asia, Middle East, West Africa and other countries in the Indian subcontinent. The export from the central Indian states accounts for roughly 25-28% of India’s total agribusiness related exports.

(iv)       India has a long coastline, which naturally supports both capture fisheries and coastal aquaculture at scale. Accordingly, coastal states, including Gujarat, Odisha, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala form the core of India’s largest agri related export segment by value — marine exports. While frozen shrimp is the most popular marine export (contributing roughly 40% of the marine export volume), with other frozen fish/seafood and fish feed making up the rest of the volume. The regions that India primarily exports marine products to are USA, the EU and China. Marine exports account for roughly 14-15% of India’s total agribusiness related exports.

India’s agribusiness exports account for approximately 2-2.5% of the agricultural trade in the world, placing it within the top 10 players globally, sheerly in terms of value. Further, while 2-2.5% may seem limited in value, India is systematically important and plays a critical role in global trade. India is the world’s largest exporter of rice and one of the most notable player in the export of spices and marine products. Textiles such as jute and cotton also include minor percentage of India’s exports to the world.