The Indian Government is likely to set the foodgrains production target at over 340 million tonnes (mt), including 136 mt of rice and 115 mt of wheat during the 2024-25 crop year (July-June). The targeted production of maize may be set at nearly 39 mt.

An Indian delegation visited three ports in the United Arab Emirates this week, including the Port of Fujairah in the Indian Ocean Region, and held discussions with the customs authorities on kickstarting the India-UAE leg of the proposed India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), said people with knowledge of the matter.

India is planning to export 14,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice to Mauritius, and 7,500 tonnes of onions to Qatar through National Cooperative Exports Ltd. (NCEL), after the ministry of external affairs (MEA) requested for some relaxation in the export ban, a senior official said.

India’s poultry exports touched a record $184.58 million (Rs.1,530 crore) during the 2023-24 financial year on demand for products such as eggs and egg powder from countries such as Oman and Sri Lanka. During 2022-23, India’s poultry exports stood at $134.04 million (Rs.1,081 crore).

Directorate of Horticulture has entered into a collaboration with Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) to revamp market linkage of farmer producer organisations (FPOs) in Odisha and tap global markets.

With pan-India sugar production reaching 31.49 million tonnes (mt) so far this season since October 1, against 31.7 mt estimated for the whole season (October-September), the government is hopeful of meeting the target as crushing in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the second period may help tide over the deficit.

India will soon start negotiations for concluding a free trade agreement (FTA) with Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) that will give the country a smooth access to markets of five resource-rich post-Soviet states.