Buffalo meat exports down 5% at 6.18 lakh ton in H1

Buffalo meat exports fell by 5 per cent to 6.18 lakh tonnes during the first half of this fiscal, but increased by 8 per cent in value terms to Rs 12,980 crore, an official data showed.

According to agri-export promotion body APEDA, the country exported 6,18,559 tonnes of buffalo meat for Rs 12,980 crore during the first six months of 2018-19 fiscal.

Buffalo meat exports stood at 6,21,541 tonnes worth Rs 12,035 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal.

Vietnam, Malaysia and Egypt are the three major destinations for the country's buffalo meat shipments.

Total exports of agriculture and processed food products rose to Rs 61,789 crore from Rs 56,741 crore during the period under review.

Of the total exports, cereals contributed maximum at Rs 27,174 crore during the first six months of this fiscal as against Rs 25,813 crore in the year-ago period.

Among cereals, India exported 20,82,583 tonnes of basmati rice for Rs 15,331 crore as against 21,34,757 tonnes for Rs 13,706 crore. Non-basmati rice exports fell in both the volume and value terms at 37,23,828 tonnes worth Rs 10,426 crore from 42,86,605 tonnes worth Rs 11,236 crore during the period under review.

The exports of livestock products rose to Rs 15,272 crore during April-September 2018 from Rs 13,707 crore in the year-ago period.

Fruits and vegetables exports rose from Rs 4,230 crore to Rs 4,298 crore, while shipments of processed fruits and vegetables increased from Rs 3,547 crore to Rs 4,141 crore.

The exports of other processed food including Sorghum went up to Rs 10,080 crore from Rs 8,808 crore.