Identifying the Factors of Export Competitiveness for Agricultural Products

Abstract

Recently, agriculture exports have been receiving a lot of attention from academicians, researchers, governments, and policymakers. However, India’s agri-products competitiveness is generally low, and the economic significance of agriculture has been declining over the years. This compels undertaking studies on the export competitiveness of agri-products. The purpose of this study is to explore the critical factors of India’s agri-product export competitiveness. The competitiveness research has put less than adequate attention on the agriculture sector as compared to other constituents of the economy, such as industries and services. Overall, the present study has successfully identified the key factors that affect India’s agri-products export competitiveness in the global market. Indian agriculture has a huge export potential in the world market, and this can be fully exploited if competitiveness issues are addressed properly. Therefore, by identifying the abovementioned influencing factors, this study may offer very useful insight to farmers, exporters, and the government on how to strengthen India’s agricultural exports in the global market. Further, the framework of the study also lays the foundation for undertaking econometric-aided empirical research on export competitiveness of selected agri-products or the entire agriculture sector.