Question

Which of the following agricultural products, farmers can not export directly?

• A. Food grains
• B. Vegetables
• C. Flowers
• D. Fruits

Answer 1

The correct option is A Food grains

Food grains.

For exporting any commodity out of India, you need to go through many procedures that an ordinary farmer cannot handle by himself or herself.

First, being scattered individuals, farmers in general cannot produce a product at a scale needed for export, and cannot cope up with the elaborate and complex export procedures.

Second, most Indian farmers are smallholders with an average farm size of 1–2 hectares per family. In such cases, they have to produce crops every season to meet their own needs and to sell the small surplus in local markets immediately after harvest. They don’t have large surpluses needed for export.

Third, most foods are perishable in the short (vegetables, fruits) or medium term (grains) and as such they have to be sold to consumers before they rot. There are not adequate storage (cold storage) and refrigerated transport facilities to handle perishable goods in long transit.

Fourth, farmers are not organized into effective producer groups with a professional guidance and required infrastructure for export of commodities they produce. Only well-organized producer groups can bulk the products, process them well, add value wherever possible, organize all the permits and papers needed for export, and manage the prices for their raw and or processed products.