India exported 6.38 lakh tonnes of groundnuts worth Rs 5,381 crore during 2020-21

With a consignment of groundnuts being exported to Nepal from West Bengal, India's eastern region is now eyeing new opportunities for the export of the crop.

Traditionally, Gujarat and Rajasthan have had a major share in India's groundnut exports. The groundnut exports from West Bengal would boost the export potential of the crop from the eastern region.

The consignment of 24 metric tonnes (MT) was sourced from farmers of West Midnapore district of West Bengal. It was exported by APEDA registered Laduram Promoters Pvt Ltd, Kolkata, said the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday.

According to official data, India exported 6.38 lakh tonnes of groundnuts worth Rs 5,381 crore during 2020-21. Most of the groundnut exports are to countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Russia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and Nepal.

Through initiatives such as peanut.NET, APEDA has streamlined the exports of groundnuts through a series of measures.

Outlining the measures, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said these include buyer registration, batch processing by APEDA registered peanut units, application for certificate of export and stuffing certificate by exporter, Aflatoxin analysis and issue of stuffing certificate by laboratories, issuance of certificate of exports by APEDA.

According to the third advance estimates of oilseeds production releases by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the groundnut production in 2020-21 is estimated at 101.19 lakh tonne.This is higher than the 99.52 lakh tonne of estimated production in 2019-20.

Gujarat is the largest producer of groundnuts in the country. It is followed by Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Rajasthan.

The crop is grown in both Kharif and Rabi seasons. The Kharif season has a share of more than 75% of the total production.