India exported Rs 2.32 lakh crore agricultural produce this year: Sharad Pawar

GANGTOK: Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the country exported agricultural produce worth Rs 2.32 lakh crore this year after addressing the consumption need of 1.2 billion population and stocking foodgrains much above the buffer norms.

Addressing a function at the College of Agriculture Engineering and Post Harvest Technology near Ranipool in Sikkim today, Pawar said India is today highest producer of milk, pulses, jute and second in the production of rice, wheat, sugarcane, groundnuts, vegetable foods and cotton in the world.

"It is also the leading producer of spices and plantation crops as well as livestock, fisheries and poultry. India is thus emerging as a major player in the international market," he said.

The credit for this goes to farming community, scientists, technologists and the state governments, he added.