Impact of agreement on agriculture on export performance of Indian oilseeds

This research examines export performance of oilseeds and its determinants in India using macroeconomic time series data from annual reports of WTO (World Trade Organisation) over the period 2005 to 2016. About 70 percent population of India lives in rural areas and their main source of income is agriculture. Agriculture accounts for 45 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs 85 percent of the labour force. Export of agricultural products constitutes 86 percent of the total foreign exchange earnings. The country has taken different measures to diversify and increase the contribution of the export sector to economic growth such as; export trade duty incentive scheme, export credit guarantee scheme and foreign exchange retention scheme to those wholly engaged in supplying their products to foreign markets. Analyses of oilseeds export performance through time divulges that the country has not yet diversified commodity composition and structure of its export, in that its export earnings depend on only few agriculture products. The findings of the study reveal that the country needs to break away from it's heavily depends on traditional export commodities for which it is a marginal exporter, thus a price taker. The results also show that the estimated coefficients of real output (Ry) and nominal exchange rate (e) are statistically significant. This discloses that real output and nominal exchange rate have positive brunt on the export performance of oilseeds in India. After over seven years of negotiations, the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations were concluded on December 15, 1993 and were formally ratified in April 1994 at Marrakesh, Morocco. The WTO Agreement on Agriculture was one of the many agreements which were negotiated during the Uruguay Round. The implementation of the Agreement on Agriculture started with effect from 1.1.1995. As per the provisions of the Agreement, developed countries would complete their reduction commitments within six years, i.e., by the year 2000, whereas the commitments of the developing countries would be completed within 10 years, i.e., by the year 2004. The least developed countries are not required to make any reductions.