$6,193 mn loss, agriculture export ban hurting farmers

According to farmers, traders, food policy experts and other stakeholders, it is the ban on non-basmati rice, sugar and wheat that has led to 6.36 per cent decline in the country’s agricultural exports, bringing it to $25,016.05 million in 2023-24 from $26,717.72 million in 2022-23.

Over the past three years, the export ban has resulted in a cumulative loss of $4,880 million, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The ban has resulted in the financial loss of $6,193 million to all stakeholders in the last fiscal alone.

Non-basmati rice exports fell sharply from $6,356 million to $4,573 million, while sugar exports decreased from $5,770 million to $2,824 million. Wheat exports, which faces a complete ban, plummeted from $1,520 million to just $56 million. Experts and traders stress a pro-farmer export policy is essential to address the issue of declining agricultural income. Although major political parties have promised to boost farmers’ earnings, none has emphasised the critical need to overhaul the export policy to effectively tackle the issue.