A Niti Aayog study projects the demand for domestic food to grow by approximately 2.5 percent annually until 2047, while agricultural production could grow by 3-4 percent. This surplus must be absorbed by export, which is currently good for only 6-7 percent of the Agri-Output value.
The National Agricultural Research, Extension and Education System (Narees), led by Icar and State Agricultural Universities (sauce), has contributed to achieving self -supply in food grains and milk.
Nevertheless, trade remains a missing link in our agri research system. A scan of Icar and SAU projects reveals a focus on productivity characteristics – yield, resistance, drought tolerance – while market signals, export standards and consumer preferences receive little attention.
Complement gap
Despite our large research network, India is struggling with compliance with high -quality markets.
Unido data (HS Chapters 1–23) show that Australia, the EU and the US have rejected 3,553 Indian shipments from 2020-22-much more than Vietnam (789) and Thailand (702). Most rejections mentioned pesticide residues, antibiotics, fungal oxins and other SPS violations.
Good agricultural practices (gaps) must reflect both domestic needs and international standards. Absence can be expensive. Consider ChlorPyrifos – a pesticide forbidden in the EU, the UK, Canada and Argentina, but still approved for some crops in India.
At the beginning of 2025, the EU issued 18 reports about Indian cumin, coriander, fennel and mangos with chlorpyrifos -residues. Even rice where it is approved, warnings for extraordinary limits.
This reflects systemic malfunction. If chlorpyrifos is still in gaps, non-compliance is institutionalized. If not, the use of it reveals weak expansion and enforcement. What is ‘good’ in the interior may no longer be sufficient worldwide. Our research and extension systems can be adjusted slowly, so that farmers are not prepared for shifting standards.
Worldwide markets require more than food safety – consumers flavors, packaging and labeling is also important.
In the EU and the US, for example, low fiber mangos with brix levels below 16 percent prefer. Most Indian varieties are high-quality and high-brix (> 20 percent)-for domestic markets, but poorly suitable for export.
Variëntaal research must join the overseas demand for export.
The 730+ Chamber of Commerce of India mainly focus on local concerns – vermin, rainfall, sowing – no export advice about MRLs, certifications or traceability. Private exporters and companies fill in some gaps and train farmers in compliance.
But efforts are fragmentary. A public-private model is needed to expand and reach the scale.
The core of this decoupling is outdated education. Trade, value chains, non-tariff barriers and food safety standards hardly end up in Agri-Curricula. The only UG course on marketing and trade department that evolves global rules. Some PG programs in the Agribusiness offer exposure, but most disciplines remain independent of trade problems.
The result: students are not learned trade because the faculty has never been trained and researchers remain focused on production due to limited exposure to trade issues.
Compare this with land fair universities in the US or Wageningen in the Netherlands, where trade and sustainability are central to education and research. Ironically, the Sau’s from India were modeled on the American system, but they did not keep pace.
Some changes are underway – such as placing agricultural scientists in the Indian embassy to support the export policy, initiated under Icar leadership in the past. Current leadership is also aimed at tuning research on the demands of world trade, but deeper reforms in Narees are essential.
Three urgent steps
Rethink Research: launch export-oriented programs with exporters and trade organizations-over compliance, differentiation and value addition.
Upgrade extension: able to give Chamber of Commerce to give export advice -on MRLS, SPS standards, certifications and global trends.
Revised education: Add global trade, SPS/TBT standards and market information to curricula. Train faculty and promote global ties.
Export-guided agricultural growth is more than a booster of the agricultural income it is a strategic path to position India as a global food leader. If agriculture is going on the growth of India, the institutions must first be modernized. For a Viksit Bharat, restarting Narees is necessary.
The writer is an agricultural economist at Icar Agri Education Division. Expenses are pronounced personal
Published on June 14, 2025
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