Parliament Question: APEDA

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4124 ANSWERED ON 17/03/2026 APEDA 4124. SHRI DAGGUMALLA PRASADA RAO: Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्री) be pleased to state: (a) the details regarding the measures undertaken by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) to strengthen market linkages for Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), including export facilitation, buyer–seller meets, capacity building and branding support; (b) the details regarding the number of FPOs supported by APEDA during the last five years, State-wise, with specific details for Andhra Pradesh; (c) the details regarding the collaborations and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) entered into by APEDA with domestic buyers, international importers, e- commerce platforms and logistics providers to improve market access for FPOs; (d) the details regarding the export volume and value generated by APEDA- supported FPOs, State and year-wise; and (e) the measures taken by the Government to scale up successful market linkage models for FPOs, particularly in Andhra Pradesh? ANSWER वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्रालय में राज्यमंत्री (श्री णिणिन प्रसाद) THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA) (a) to (e) The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), supports it’s member exporters, including Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO’s), in the export promotion of its Scheduled products, produced by them, under its Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS). The scheme has three components viz., Development of Export Infrastructure, Quality Development and Market Development. The scheme guidelines are available at APEDA’s website www.apeda.gov.in under the “Scheme” tab. APEDA has undertaken the following measures specifically for strengthening the market linkages for Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) including export facilitation, buyer seller meets, capacity building and branding support: i. APEDA facilitated the participation of FPOs in leading international agricultural and food fairs held in India and abroad at concessional rates. 12 Organic FPOs from 6 States participated in BIOFACH 2026, Germany, the World’s largest Organic trade fair. 1ii. APEDA facilitated exposure visit of FPO members of key foreign markets to acquaint them of product and quality requirements in international markets, observe best practices etc. iii. Under APEDA’s BHARATI initiative for Agri export Startup acceleration, 4 FPOs have been selected. One of the selected FPO was facilitated to participate in Gulfood 2026, UAE. iv. FPOs are encouraged to participate in the Buyer Seller Meets organized by APEDA at key international food fairs held in India such as World Food India, Biofach India, INDUS Food, AAHAR and at regional agri-export conclaves. For training and capacity building, FPOs are being prioritized under programmes aimed at facilitating agricultural exports. As per available data, there has been a steady expansion in the number of such programmes conducted by APEDA, with 139 programmes organized in 2023–24, increasing to 599 programmes in 2024–25, and further to 764 programmes in 2025–26 (till date), reflecting enhanced efforts to strengthen the export readiness and capabilities of FPOs. APEDA has supported 07 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) in obtaining Global G.A.P certification with financial assistance, thereby enhancing the marketability of their produce in developed country markets. In addition, APEDA has facilitated first- time exports from FPOs, either directly or through third-party exporters, to new international markets. As per available data for the last two financial years, 9 export flag-offs were facilitated in 2024–25 from FPOs across 7 States to 7 countries, while 7 export flag-offs have been facilitated in 2025–26 (till date) from FPOs of 7 States to 4 countries. Further, APEDA has undertaken collaborative initiatives to improve market access for FPOs, including signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Lulu Retail Group for sending FPO produce samples for market discovery, facilitating exposure visits of FPOs dealing in conventional and organic products to their hypermarkets in the Gulf region, and showcasing Ready-to-Eat and Ready-to-Serve organic products in these outlets. APEDA has also collaborated with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to onboard FPOs onto its export platform. With respect to the State of Andhra Pradesh, as per available data, a total of 37 FPOs have been onboarded with APEDA during the past four years. Export data for FPOs is not readily available.To scale up market linkages for FPOs in the State, APEDA has undertaken several promotional measures. In the current and previous year, a total of 31 district-level capacity building and export sensitization programmes on agricultural exports and export opportunities for farmers/FPOs have been organized across 25 districts of the State. In addition, during the same period, 04 Buyer–Seller Meets have been organized for FPOs in four districts of Andhra Pradesh. ***** 2