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Agricultural Commodity Trade
U.S.-India Agricultural Trade
India's foreign trade has expanded rapidly following the
sweeping trade policy and exchange rate reforms during 1991-93. India's
total trade has expanded more than seven-fold from $46 billion
in 1990/91 (April-March fiscal year) to about $320 billion in 2006/07. During
this period, both exports and imports grew at about 13 percent
annually in U.S. dollar terms, with exports reaching $128 billion
in 2006/07 and imports reaching $191 billion. Despite this
expansion, India's share of world trade remains small, rising
from 0.5 percent in 1990 to 1.1 percent in 2005.
The growth of India's foreign trade since the reforms of
1991-93 has contributed to the strengthening of India's
balance of payments and foreign exchange reserve positions. In
1990, prior to the reforms, India's foreign exchange reserves
were $5.8 billion—the equivalent of just two and a half
months of imports. In 2007, reserves reached more than $270
billion—equivalent to one and a half years of imports—providing
Indian policymakers with significantly more flexibility in adjusting
domestic and trade policies.
India's agricultural trade has also expanded rapidly since the
early 1990s, with agricultural imports growing 12 percent annually
during 1990-2007 and exports rising 9 percent annually. Agricultural
imports grew from $1.1 billion in 1990 to $6.9 billion in 2007,
while exports grew from $3.1 billion to $14.4 billion in the same
period. Agricultural products account for about 11 percent
of India's total exports and 4 percent of total imports
in 2007.
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Agricultural Commodity Trade
Edible oils and pulses (includes chickpeas, pigeon peas, lentils,
dry peas, etc.), of which India emerged as one of the world's
largest importer during the 1990s, account for the bulk of India's
agricultural imports. Other major items imported on a regular
basis include raw cashew nuts (for processing), tree nuts (primarily
almonds), fruit (primarily apples), raw cotton, wool, and silk. India
remains a periodic importer of cereals—primarily wheat—to
replenish food security stocks, importing significant amounts
of wheat in 2006-07, 1997-99, and 1992-93.
India exports a broad variety of agricultural products. Major
traditional exports include tea, spices, coffee, basmati rice,
oilseed meals, edible nuts, and tropical fruit products, which
account for about half of total farm exports. Nontraditional
farm exports, including non-basmati rice, cotton, and meats (primarily
beef), have expanded rapidly since the mid-1990s and account for
about half of agricultural exports.
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U.S.-India Agricultural Trade
U.S.-India two-way agricultural trade has expanded about 9 percent
annually since 1990, reaching $1.7 billion in 2007. U.S. agricultural
exports to India grew 9.1 percent per year during 1990-2007,
while U.S. imports from India grew 8.6 percent annually. However,
India maintains a large positive agricultural trade balance with
the United States; U.S agricultural imports from India were $1.2
billion while U.S. agricultural exports to India totaled $475
million.
Major U.S. agricultural exports to India now include edible
tree nuts (primarily almonds), raw cotton, fresh fruit (primarily
apples), and pulses. Growth in U.S. exports to India has
accelerated to 12 percent annually since 2000, with faster growth
in many categories of agricultural trade, including fruit and
preparations, pulses, vegetables and preparations, and animals
and animal products. However, U.S. grain exports to India have
declined along with Indian cereal import demand, and U.S. exports
of edible oils have largely ended because of price competition
from other global suppliers.
The United States imports a wide variety of agricultural products
from India, with edible nuts (primarily cashews), coffee, tea,
and spices, vegetables and preparations, grains and feeds, and
sugar and preparations accounting for most U.S. imports. Since
2000, categories of U.S. imports from India showing the most growth
have included dairy products and sugar.
The FATUS database provides U.S. data on India's
agricultural exports to the United States and U.S.
imports from India.
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