Comparative statistics of Indian agriculture export. Primarily based on a Times of India article by Chidanand Rajghatta

1. State of the onion
PEELING AWAY DATA BEHIND AGRI-EXPORTS BRINGS TEARS TO THE EYES
Adapted from the Times of India article by Chidanand Rajghatta dated 7-10-2019, p.12 and other
sources
TD 602
Autumn 2019-20

2. The context
On 29 September 2019,
the centre banned,
"with immediate effect",
the export of onions
after prices jumped
to Rs. 4,500 per 100
kilograms, the highest
in nearly six years.
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3. How did the price spiked?
Some of the reasons:
 Drought in 2018 affected the onion production and stocks
 Rain and subsequent floods in major producing states in 2019 summer
monsoon hit the onion harvest
 Illegal hoarding in anticipation of the festive season sales
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4. India and Onion – Some Facts and Stats
 2nd largest producer @ 13 MT/Year [China @ 20 MT]
 South Asia loves to cook with Indian onion over Chinese or others due to
the former’s pungency!
 The top onion exporter - China, India, Netherlands @ $676 million in
2018, i.e. 20% of global trade [India @ $500 million]
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5. The Dutch way of doing agriculture [1/2]
Area of Netherlands ≈ Area of Kerala, but they are world’s top exporter of:
 Tomatoes @ $1.9 billion
 Pepper/Chillies @ $1.08 billion
 Cucumbers @ $565 million
 Pineapples @ $265 million
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6. The Dutch way of doing agriculture [2/2]
Dutch agriculture 101: They produce and export agri-horticulture products that
do not have a large domestic consumption base. For e.g.?
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Source: https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/plan-your-holiday/events/keukenhof.htm

7. Dutch vs. India Agri- Export Revenue 2018
 Dutch beer (@ $2 billion) > India tea and coffee (@ $1.3 billion)
 Dutch milk product (@ $8 billion) > India seafood (@ $7.08 billion) > India basmati
(@ $4.71 billion)
 Dutch potatoes (@ $807 million) > India ‘black gold’ pepper (@ $772 million)
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8. Production vs Income generation
 US, China and India – Top 3 Food and Agriculture produce generating nations
• US - Vast area, Efficient production, Smaller population
• China – Improved efficiency. Total output double that of India
 Per capita income generation from export
• India - ≈ $255 ($331 billion/ 1.3 billion)
• Netherlands - ≈ $42547 ($723.3 billion/ 1.7 million) >>> US or China
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9. Conclusions [1/2]
1. Food and agricultural produce – An icon of globalisation
 Barriers and sanctions are often directed at poorer, developing countries
2. A country don’t have to be big to make it big in export/growing!
 E.g. Netherlands, Belgium, Israel via high efficiency, green house-driven growth
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10. Conclusions [2/2]
3. India grows poorly, and consumes most of what it grows
4. Inefficient India sells itself cheap when it comes to many of its signature produce
5. Western efficiency* (emphasis added, not in original), expertise, and consequent
hegemony also enable it to beat India and the developing world on the head in
matters of food and agriculture trade
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* This penchant for efficiency is a baggage of ‘high modernistic agriculture’ paradigm whose ramifications are
now very well known.

11. References
• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/ruminations/state-of-the-onion-peeling-away-data-behind-agri-exports-
brings-tears-to-the-eyes/
• https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/why-onion-prices-are-rising-across-india-here-all-you-need-to-
know/story/381156.html
• https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/heres-why-onion-prices-are-on-the-rise-across-india-4470461.html
• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/indian-seafood-export-touches-new-high-at-7-08-
billion/articleshow/64825570.cms?from=mdr
• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/basmati-rice-exports-rise-to-usd-4-71-bn-in-2018-
19/articleshow/70057885.cms?from=mdr
All links accessed on 8-10-2019
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