New Delhi, March 19 : India's exports of agricultural and processed food products have recorded a robust 13 per cent increase to $22.67 billion during April-February in the current financial year compared with the same period of the previous year, reflecting the strong performance of the farm sector.

According to data compiled by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, rice exports, including basmati and non-basmati varieties, jumped by 21 per cent during the 11-month period to over $11 billion from $9.32 billion in the same period last year.

The government started easing restrictions on rice exports in September 2024 on prospects of bumper crops, around a year after they were imposed to check food inflation in the domestic market fuelled by local shortages in a poor monsoon year. These restrictions have been removed. This had led to a decline in exports during 2023-24.

Rice exports increased by 13.21 per cent to $1.19 billion in February this year from $1.05 billion in February last year, the latest figures show.

Meanwhile, India's tea exports touched a 10-year high at 255 million kg in 2024 despite the uncertainties in the global market triggered by geopolitical tensions, data compiled by the Tea Board of India shows.

The country's exports shot up by a robust 10 per cent during the year from the corresponding figure of 231.69 million kgs recorded in 2023, according to the figures.

The average price of Indian tea in the export market also went up by 10 per cent, bringing welcome relief to the tea industry which had been hit by inclement weather in 2023.

There was a sharp increase in shipments to Iraq, accounting for 20 per cent of tea exports, and merchants are expecting to send 40-50 million kg to the West Asian country this fiscal, he said.

Indian exporters, who entered several markets of West Asia when the Sri Lankan crop was low, managed to retain the shipment volumes there, he said.

India exports tea to more than 25 countries with UAE, Iraq, Iran, Russia, the US and the UK as the major markets.

India is among the top five tea exporters in the world accounting for about 10 per cent of total world exports. India's Assam, Darjeeling, and Nilgiri tea are considered one of the finest in the world. Most of the tea exported out of India is black tea which makes up about 96 per cent of total exports. The other varieties include regular tea, green tea, herbal tea, masala tea and lemon tea.

/IANS