Fruits and vegetables import value into India FY 2011-2023
Mouths to feed
With the population expected to cross the 1.4 billion mark in 2024, the demand for food can only be expected to go up. Not just for its own residents, but there is a high demand worldwide for products from a country where agriculture was still the main source of income for almost 70 percent of the population. The export value of fresh and processed vegetables was more than one billion U.S. dollars in 2016, with palm and soybean being the most exported vegetable oils.
Saying no to health
With attractive advertisements combined with cheap deals from fast food chains, the younger generation seems to be the least interested in munching on fruits and vegetables. The fruit and vegetable consumption in the country as part of a meal was estimated to decline to less than five percent in the fiscal year 2021. Despite the blow dealt from the introduction of GST and demonetization, India’s fast food stations and quick service restaurants are back on track and are shaping the demographics of the future of the agricultural sector.