AN ASSESSMENT OF INDIA’S APPLE CROP TRADE PERFORMANCE AND DYNAMICS IN GLOBAL MARKET

The major aim of the study was to examine the trends and dynamics of apple crop’s exports and imports in India. Trend analysis examined the growth and instability, whereas dynamics were studied to assess trade relations of India with major exporters and importers in terms of apple crop. The study was carried out particularly for India. All the exports and import values as well as quantities of crop were specifically taken for the country from various online sources. The study was conducted on secondary data collected from various online sources such as APEDA Agri-Exchange, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and FAO Statistics for a period from 2009-10 to 2023-24. The research study was carried out using different analytical tools such as Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), Coefficient of variation (CV) and Cuddy Della Valle Index (CDVI). The dynamics of apple trade with major exporting and importing partners of apple trade with India was carried out using Markov Chain analysis. The major import destinations of Apple for India were Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Italy and Poland, amongst which Iran exported highest quantity of Apple to India (28%). During the time period from 2014-15 to 2023-24, Turkey has shown the highest growth in apple exports to India in terms of quantity (97.30%) as well as value (96.70 %). The major export destinations of Apple crop for India were Bangladesh and Nepal. Nepal showed a higher growth in value (9.8%) as well as quantity (8.1%) of apple imports from India. The trade balance of Apple in India observed a continuous declining trend. Imports of apple in India were increasing at a high rate and exports were decreasing. The Nominal Protection coefficient (NPC) values indicated that during the peak harvest season, the market for exports of apple was more competitive for the Indian apple growers. Markov Chain Analysis showed that USA and China retained 67.06 per cent and 49.21 per cent of their exports to India from previous year, however they didn’t gain anything from the other countries. The remaining five countries gained a large share of exports of apple to India from other countries including USA and China. The major conclusion of the study was that India being a major producer of apple crop was found to be reliant on apple imports due to structural inefficiencies and lack of proper post-harvest technologies. Thus, indicating effective policy measures to make India self-reliant in consumption.