DOMESTIC AND EXPORT COMPETITIVENESS OF MAJOR AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES IN ANDHRA PRADESH – A CASE STUDY

Liberalization of world trade in agriculture has opened up new vistas of growth. This new economic regime, initiated since early nineties, has led to resetting of the goals of Indian agriculture towards global competitiveness and export orientation without compromising the basic premise of self-reliance. India enjoys competitive advantage in several commodities for agricultural exports because of near self-sufficiency of inputs, relatively low labour costs and diverse agro-climatic conditions. These factors have enabled export of several agricultural commodities over the years. In the basket of agricultural exports, commodities like raw paddy, cotton, chillies, turmeric and maize have emerged as an important commodity group in the recent past decade. In the next decade, India is likely to witness changes in the export pattern of these commodities due to both internal and external constraints. One of the major internal constraints is mounting cost of production. Similarly, one of the most important external constraints include excessive subsidization by importing countries makes Indian commodities less competitive in the internal market. In light of these impending changes, this paper examines both domestic and export competitiveness of major agricultural commodities of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh. The encouraging results of goal-oriented Green Revolution, White Revolution, Yellow Revolution etc. enthuse the agricultural fraternity of the country to set a new goal for ‘Agri-Export Revolution’ which is not only the need of the hour but also a compulsion to strengthen and revitalize the economy of the country. While India holds an important position in the export market for a set of traditional agricultural commodities, new areas and new commodities are likely to emerge such as live animals and animal products, fruits, vegetables, floriculture, medicinal plants and processed agricultural products.