"GI-tagged Mithila Makhana Exported by Sea Route to Australia for First Time"
APEDA
statutory body under Ministry of Commerce promoting export of scheduled agricultural and processed food products.
GI Tag
legal certification that a product originates from a specific region with qualities attributable to that geography.
The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), established under the APEDA Act, 1985, functions under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and is the nodal agency for promoting India's agricultural and processed food exports. One of its key mandates is implementing the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP), for which APEDA serves as the Secretariat. Beyond organic certification, APEDA drives market development, capacity building, and export facilitation for a wide range of scheduled products — from fresh fruits and vegetables to processed foods and cereals.
Geographical Indications (GI) tags under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 protect products with a specific geographical origin and qualities attributable to that origin. For agricultural commodities, GI status is a powerful trade instrument: it signals authenticity, commands premium pricing in international markets, and provides legal protection against imitation. Mithila Makhana — fox nuts (Euryale ferox) cultivated in the wetlands of the Mithila region of Bihar — received its GI tag, formally recognising the region's unique agro-climatic conditions and the traditional processing skills of the Phori community as integral to the product's identity.
Bihar accounts for nearly 85 per cent of India's Makhana production, making it the dominant producing state for a crop that has seen rising global demand as a health snack. To further institutionalise the sector, a separate Harmonised System (HS) Code for Makhana came into effect from July 2025 under the Finance Bill, 2025 — a critical step that enables precise trade data tracking, targeted policy support, and smoother customs clearance in destination markets.
Export-led value chains for agricultural commodities work through a layered architecture: primary producers (farmers) supply raw material, which moves through aggregation (often via Farmer Producer Organisations/FPOs or Farmer Producer Companies/FPCs), processing, quality certification, packaging, and finally logistics to the export point. Each layer, if well-designed, adds value and transfers a share of that value back to the farmer. The critical failure point in Indian agri-exports has historically been the disconnect between farm-gate prices and export realisations — middlemen capture the margin, leaving farmers with little incentive to invest in quality.
APEDA's facilitation model attempts to close this gap through direct market linkages. In the Makhana case, the consignment was sourced directly from farmers of Darbhanga district and packed at the BIADA Industrial Area, Bihta, Bihar — bypassing multiple intermediary layers. …
With reference to organic farming in India, consider the following statements :
1.'The National Programme for Organic Production' (NPOP) is operated under the guidelines and directions of the Union Ministry of Rural Development.
2.'The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority' (APEDA) functions as the Secretariat for the implementation of NPOP.
3.Sikkim has become India's first fully organic State.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Which one of the following countries has been the largest exporter of rice in the world in the last five years?
With reference to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), consider the following statements:
1.APEDA was established under the APEDA Act, 1985.
2.APEDA functions under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare.
3.APEDA serves as the Secretariat for the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP).
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Which of the following statements about Mithila Makhana is/are correct?
1.Bihar accounts for nearly 85 per cent of India's Makhana production.
2.A separate Harmonised System (HS) Code for Makhana came into effect under the Finance Bill, 2025.
3.Mithila Makhana has received a Geographical Indication (GI) tag under the GI Act, 1999.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Consider the following pairs:
Agri-export programme / Administering body
1.BHARATI (Bharat's Hub for Agritech, Resilience, Advancement, and Incubation for Export Innovation) — APEDA
2.National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) — Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare
3.Geographical Indications Registry — Ministry of Commerce and Industry
How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?
The significance of a dedicated Harmonised System (HS) Code for an agricultural commodity like Makhana lies primarily in which of the following?
1.It enables precise tracking of export volumes for policy design.
2.It allows negotiation of product-specific tariff concessions in trade agreements.
3.It automatically confers a Geographical Indication (GI) tag on the commodity.
4.It facilitates smoother customs clearance in destination markets.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Assertion (A): The shift from air freight to sea freight for bulk agri-commodity exports can significantly improve commercial viability for exporters.
Reason (R): Sea freight costs substantially less per kilogram than air freight, making it economically sustainable for large-volume consignments.
Which of the following is correct?
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