India’s farm exports face growing scrutiny as global markets tighten quality checks

A series of setbacks in key overseas markets is putting fresh pressure on India’s agricultural export system, with mangoes, rice and spices facing restrictions or heightened scrutiny over food safety, certification and traceability.

Japan suspended imports of Indian mangoes this year after quarantine inspectors raised concerns about fumigation, disinfection and certification procedures at a vapour heat treatment facility in Lucknow. The disruption affected six approved varieties — Alphonso, Kesar, Langra, Banganapalli, Chausa and Mallika — during the main export season from April to June.

Japanese authorities said shipments carrying inspection certificates issued from March 25 would not be accepted until inspectors were satisfied that operational standards had improved. It was the first major disruption in India-Japan mango trade in nearly two decades, according to Al Jazeera.

The impact has extended beyond the immediate loss of sales. Japan is a premium market where approval is seen as an important quality signal for Indian exporters. The country imported around $1.54 million worth of fresh and processed mango products from India between 2025 and 2026.

Vikram Shah, a Mumbai-based mango exporter, told Al Jazeera that Japan had played an important role in establishing credibility for Indian produce in international markets.

“Japan was never our biggest market in terms of quantity, but it was the one that gave us credibility,” Shah told Al Jazeera. “We spent six years building trust with buyers there. I travelled to Osaka twice, sat with importers, visited their cold storage facilities and learned exactly what they expected from us. Relationships like that take years to build and can disappear in a single season.”

For farmers, the consequences have been particularly significant because the Japanese market offered higher returns than domestic sales. Rajesh Patil, an Alphonso grower from Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district, told Al Jazeera that he had invested in equipment and training to meet Japanese standards.

“We upgraded the orchard because Japan rewarded quality,” Patil said. “I spent nearly ₹80,000 [$840] on grading and handling equipment, attended pest-management training sessions, and changed the way we harvest and pack fruit,” he told Al Jazeera.

“The Japanese market paid almost twice what I could earn locally. When you make those investments, you expect the system supporting exports to be as reliable as the fruit you grow.”

India has faced another challenge in China, which on April 17 revoked the import licences of three Indian rice exporters after rejecting consignments over alleged traces of genetically modified organisms. The exporters disputed the findings, saying their shipments had received GMO-free certification before leaving India. The Indian government has also maintained that domestic paddy and rice fields are free of genetic modification.

The episode has highlighted shortcomings in India's testing infrastructure. Agricultural scientist SK Singh told Al Jazeera that Indian laboratories had developed expertise in pesticide residue and aflatoxin testing, but GMO verification required additional capacity.

“Our labs built expertise in pesticide residue and aflatoxin testing because that’s what most markets wanted,” he said. “China’s demand for GMO verification calls for a different scale of capacity.”

Only a limited number of facilities, concentrated in Delhi and Hyderabad, currently conduct the required protein analysis, forcing exporters in northern states such as Punjab and Haryana to send samples long distances.

Spices have also come under increased scrutiny. Hong Kong suspended several Indian spice products over pesticide residue concerns, while testing found quality deviations in nearly 12 per cent of samples. The European Union raised its inspection frequency for Indian cumin to 30 per cent in January 2025 after recording 312 spice alerts in 2024.

Food safety scientist Ananya Bose told Al Jazeera that India's fragmented supply chain made it difficult to establish where problems originated.

“A farmer sells to an aggregator, who sells to a trader, who supplies a processor. Somewhere in that chain, the record of what was sprayed disappears,” she said. “The trail is detailed until the first sale, then it effectively ends.”

The challenges are compounded by limited export infrastructure. India has 207 registered pack houses, with 72 per cent concentrated in Maharashtra. Limited cold storage and logistics costs account for roughly 15 per cent of export value, while more than 86 per cent of India's cultivators operate holdings smaller than two hectares, making standardisation across the supply chain difficult.

Agricultural economist Anil Gupta told Al Jazeera that India's export strategy had traditionally focused on production rather than demonstrating quality throughout the supply chain.

“India built its strategy around producing more, while premium markets reward proving quality along the way,” Gupta told Al Jazeera.

There have been improvements. The number of recognised laboratories has increased from 22 to 89 over the past decade, while approved export certificates have risen from around 61,000 to more than 170,000.

“The progress is measurable, but so is the scale of the challenge,” Gupta said. “These improvements mark a beginning, well short of the finish line.”

The government says it is strengthening testing, inspection and traceability systems. Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh, a senior official in the Department of Commerce, said funds had been allocated to upgrade laboratories and outlined measures aimed at improving food-safety compliance.

“The government is strengthening the system from testing to inspection and traceability. We are tightening controls on antibiotic and pesticide residues and aflatoxins, expanding laboratory capacity, introducing risk-based inspections and using digital systems and rapid screening to identify problems faster. The objective is to help exporters meet stricter global food-safety standards while protecting India’s access to international markets,” Ghosh said.

India remains the world's second-largest agricultural producer but accounts for only 2.4 per cent of global agricultural exports. Processed products make up about 17 per cent of its agricultural exports, compared with 25 per cent in the US and 50 per cent in China.

The recent restrictions have already affected producers. Gujarat's Kesar mango growers lost a major Japanese buyer, while a basmati rice farmer in Haryana reported an 8 per cent decline in local prices. A turmeric processor in Kerala said residue testing had cost Rs 15,000 in the previous quarter.

Gupta told Al Jazeera that the issue went beyond individual rejected shipments.

“This is about far more than a few rejected shipments,” Gupta said. “The countries that succeed will consistently meet the standards global buyers demand.”

The setbacks point to a wider challenge for India's agricultural export ambitions: increasing production alone may not be enough as international buyers demand stronger food-safety controls, end-to-end traceability, reliable certification and better cold-chain infrastructure. Competitors including Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil and Chile have invested heavily in these areas.