While the Indian government is emphasising the need for increasing agriculture exports, there is a threat of the $2.6-billion Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) markets lowering imports from India due to the contravention of quality standards.
Both countries contribute $1.3 billion each to India's $40-billion annual agri exports; out of which, products registered with the Agricultural and Produce Exports Development Authority (Apeda) account for a 50 per cent share.
The governments of Saudi Arabia and UAE have informed the Indian government about the interception of higher than permissible levels of pesticide residues in agri commodities, particularly in vegetables such as okra and green chillies, among others. Cancellation of imports by these Middle East countries, as threatened, would result in a cascading effect in other countries, including the quality conscious European Union. According to business-standard.com¸ this might dent the government's aim to boost exports.
