Mangala Rai, former secretary Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Director General of Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) stressed the need for human resource development and technology development for boosting secondary agriculture.

 

He was speaking after inaugurating a five-day international conference on Vegetable Oils at PJTSAU University auditorium here on Tuesday. Welcoming the gathering, ADG (Oilseeds & Pulses), ICAR, Sanjeev Gupta recalled how technology mission on oilseeds has ushered yellow revolution in oilseeds and tripled the oilseed production in the country.

 

Member of Parliament and Chairman Karnataka Oilseeds Federation Annasaheb Shankar Jolle, Chairman of the NDDB Meenesh Shah, Vice Chancellor of Sri Konda Laxman Horticultural University Neeraja Prabhakar, Director of ICAR-Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research R.K. Mathur and managing director of Fare Labs Dwijendra Mathur participated in the programme.

 

Mr. Annasaheb Shankar Jolle called for development of short duration and high yielding oilseed varieties to make India Atma Nirbhar in oilseeds. Dr. Mathur pointed out that there is huge potential for micro edible oils from micro algae as a healthy alternative.

 

Mr. Meenesh Shah said production of quality oilseeds, effective extension, support from oil cooperatives and forward linkages in oilseeds are the major steps required for boosting the oilseed production. Ms. Neeraja Prabhakar reiterated that for a given area, oil palm yields more oil when compared to other oilseed crops. Research, trade and policy strategies will be deliberated and a road map will be prepared for increasing oilseed production in the country.

Apples from Moldova, an east European nation, will now be available in India taking on the likes from the US, New Zealand, Turkey, Iran, Chile, Italy and other such exporting nations. 

 

'We have brought 100 tonnes of Moldovan apples for the first time to India on a trial basis through Chennai and Mumbai ports. Once the government gives the go-ahead after these trial imports, we will be getting more from that country,' said Nishanth Yeddanapalli, Managing Director of Chennai-based Purecrop Agro Pvt Ltd. 

 

Trial shipments 

Purecrop Agro Pvt Ltd is an arm of the 85-year-old Vaduvammal Group that has diversified business ranging from steel to metal recycling to chemicals to agriculture.

 

Moldova, a part of the erstwhile Soviet Union, got permission to ship its apples to India in 2018 on a trial basis. It was given a five-year window to complete the trial shipments. 'Our first shipment failed in 2018 as we did not know how to meet Indian regulations. We are better prepared now with many agencies coming forward to help us,' said Ana Taban, ambassador-at-large for economic diplomacy, Moldovian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration.

 

Competitors

'Once we decided to bring apples from Moldova, it took less than 40 days to get them to India,' said Yeddanapalli, adding that the fruit will be competitively priced. 'Moldovan apples are sweet and will compete with those from Turkey, Italy and Poland,' he said.  

 

Currently, the wholesale price of imported apples is ?2,500-600 for an 18-kg box. In the domestic market, apples, grown in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, now cost between ?80 and ?100 a kg. 

 

Modern cultivation

Ion Tulei, Commercial Director, Moldova’s FarmProd Ltd, said his country produces nearly 5.5 lakh tonnes of apples and exported 2.45 lakh tonnes during the August 2021-July 22 marketing season. 

 

Andrei Cumpanici, food safety, quality and sustainability manager, said Moldovan producers implement good agricultural practices to meet global quality standards, particularly since they export to Europe. 

 

The agricultural practices meet the integrated farm assurance standard, the most widely used food safety certification for fresh produce across the world.  

 

Cumpanici said apples are cultivated using modern techniques and it helps orchards get a yield of 55-70 tonnes a hectare. 'We grow Gala, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Jonagold and Granny Smith varieties,' he said. 

 

Tulei said most of the varieties are of Italian origin but the erstwhile Soviet Union member’s better soil gives Moldova an advantage. 

 

Ukraine War impact

Taban said the Ukraine war has forced Moldova to look at other markets. 'Russia imports over 90 per cent of our apples. In August, it announced an embargo on our apples. It has been lifted but you never know. So, we are looking at other markets,' she said. 

 

The war has deprived apple growers of access to the nearby Odesa Port which is hardly 60 km from their orchards. 'We now take our produce to Romania’s Constanta Port which is 600 km away,' said Obrejanu.

 

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Moldova’s Foreign Ministry and its Agriculture Ministry came together to ensure the current shipments. 'We have never had any diplomatic relations till now. But we will use trade to build our relations. The first step is to export apples. We would like to import pharmaceuticals from India,' the ambassador-at-large said.

 

The Centre’s decision to impose a 75 per cent Customs duty on apples from the US as part of its measure to retaliate against Washington’s move to impose a higher duty on Indian steel will likely give Moldovian apples an edge. For apples from other countries, the import duty is 50 per cent.

 

Moldova is trying to become a member of the European Union. 'We have to meet at least nine norms. The EU will see if we have met these norms at the end of this year. Then, the process to make an EU member will begin,' Taban said.

On January 11, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the setting up of a national-level cooperative society for organic products under the Multi State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002, with support from relevant ministries following the principle of 'Whole of the Government Approach'. To capitalize on their comparative advantage, the government believes cooperatives must think globally and act locally.

 

'We have market, we have demand from consumers in terms of its health benefits. Cooperatives are critical if you want benefits to reach farmers directly,' he said on Monday at a meeting with various stakeholders. He went on to say that the difference in prices between organic and regular wheat is about Rs 20-25, and that this is where cooperatives come in to help farmers get more value for their produce.

 

The cooperative society will manage various activities related to the organic farming sector, such as providing certified and authentic organic products, unlocking the demand and consumption potential of such products in India and abroad, branding and marketing through facilitation, testing, and certification at a low cost, and other related aspects.

 

The cooperative is named National Cooperative Organics Limited and has five promoters — Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (which sells its products under brand Amul), National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), National Consumers Federation of India (NCCF), National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), the secretary said. The primary promoter is NDDB.

 

The cooperative society will have an authorised capital of Rs 500 crore, but it will begin with Rs 100 crore (Rs 20 crore by each promoter). Its registered office will initially be at NDDB's head office in Anand, Gujarat. The global organic produce market is estimated to be worth Rs 10 lakh crore, with India accounting for Rs 27,000 crore.

 

Organic product demand is increasing all over the world, and India has everything it needs to expand exponentially. The United States, Canada, Germany, and China are among the top consumers. It is estimated that this sector has the potential to grow at a 15% annual rate globally. It is approximately 20-25% in India.

 

Australia has the most area under organic cultivation, followed by Argentina and India. The largest single source of pollution, according to the World Health Organization, is sewage. On what the government intends to do to increase the area and productivity of organic crops in India, the secretary stated that he believes the entire ecosystem will evolve as proper marketing improves.

All meat and its products to be exported as 'halal certified' only if it is produced, processed and packed under a valid certificate issued by a certification body accredited by a board of the Quality Council of India, according to the commerce ministry's draft guidelines on the subject. With the aim of streamlining the halal certification process for export of meat and meat products from India, the draft guidelines on halal certification for export of meat and its products are proposed by the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT).

 

The guidelines said that the certification bodies would follow the procedure laid down as per the Indian conformity assessment scheme (i-CAS) - halal.

 

It added that the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) would be designated as the overall monitoring agency for this purpose.

 

'All meat and meat products to be exported as 'halal certified' only if it is produced, processed and packed under a valid certificate issued by a certification body duly accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB), Quality Council of India,' the draft guidelines said.

 

These draft guidelines are being circulated for the public/industry comments and feedback. The views can be sent by February 17 for compilation and to prepare the final guidelines.

 

With an objective to streamline the certification of meat and meat products as halal from the country, a scheme titled 'India Conformity Assessment Scheme (i-CAS)' has been developed.

 

There is no mandatory halal certification system in India regulated by the government as India does not have a national regulation for the certification. However, certification is undertaken in India through private organisations which have been accredited/recognised by the importing countries.

 

'As the monitoring body for halal meat and meat products, APEDA shall have the mechanism to ensure that the certification and export of halal products has followed the i-CAS requirements,' it said.

 

The global halal food market reached a value of USD 1978 billion in 2021. Looking forward, the market is projected to reach USD 3,907.7 billion by 2027.

 

It said that India's large Muslim population represents huge opportunities for halal-based entrepreneurs.

 

However, in India, the country's halal industry is still in its infancy. There are no specific labelling requirements for halal food products imported into India.

 

In India, FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) certification can be seen on almost all the processed foods but the government neither mandates halal certification nor does it provide a unifying regulatory law hence it is important to have halal regulations in place in India.

 

Halal certification is given by many private companies in India which marks the food or products permissible. The major halal certifying organisations in India include Halal India Pvt Ltd and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust.

 

The International Halal Accreditation Forum (IHAF) is an international network of accreditation bodies mandated to enforce halal standards in their economies.

 

It added that all the major importer countries for halal products have their own regulations for importing halal products.

 

Countries across the globe including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, UAE, Pakistan and others have their own halal standards; however, so far there has been no global halal standards.

 

The rapid growth of halal industry has not only led to the halal technologies and innovations but also the halal related laws and regulations which is still not harmonised globally, it said.

 

'In India certification bodies who are certifying the halal trade being impanelled in the country of export but halal monitoring is still a subject of discussion in absence of authority, regulation and monitoring of products under halal certification,' it added.

 

Due to changed consumer perception, the halal market not only attracts muslim population but also non-muslim consumers, it said.

 

'The issues and challenges in halal trade in India are lack of authoritative control, regulation, regular monitoring, enforcement, awareness of the industries, changed consumer perception, cost, market competitiveness, and supply chain management,' it added.

 

By outlining these problems, it is hoped that this guideline will give thought to discuss suggestions and identify solutions for the problems that have been raised so that food business operators in India have solid platforms to implement the halal concept in their businesses, it said.

Indian farmers need to shift from rice to millet cultivation to reduce high water consumption, India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant on Wednesday said, adding that only millets should be given in the Centre's flagship Poshan Abhiyan. Addressing an event organised by industry body CII, Kant said millets are nutritious and rich in micronutrients, particularly protein, and the challenge is to push the consumption of millets to a higher level in India.

 

'India needs to move away more and more from rice and wheat cultivation, and produce and export more and more millets.

 

'Cultivation of millets will also help save water,' he said.

 

Kant noted that the private sector needs to play a key role in making millet the superfood of India.

 

'All Poshan Abhiyan schemes should only give millets,' former Niti Aayog CEO said.

 

In 2018, the Centre launched its flagship programme, the Poshan (Prime Minister's Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) Abhiyaan to draw national attention to and take action against malnutrition in a mission mode.

 

Also, speaking at the event, Manoj Ahuja, Secretary, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, said that millets are the traditional food of India and can be grown in very difficult regions also.

 

'We are also looking at an international audience to sell our millet-based products. Recently, 5-6 Indian companies exhibited their millet-based products in an exhibition in Brussels,' he said.

 

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) CEO G Kamala Vardhana Rao said that the ministry of health has written to states, saying millets should be served in jails also.

 

Rao said millets melas will be organised in 100 cities.

 

'We have planned to start health clubs in schools also,' he added.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday stressed the need to increase productivity, production and processing of millets and said an adequate quantity of millets should be consumed for meeting nutritional requirements. The minister was addressing industry chamber CII's National Conference on Millets: Ensuring Climate Adaptation, Nutrition and Food Security.

 

The United Nations has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millet (IYM) on the proposal of the Indian government.

 

'Millets is an Indian grain and it is full of nutritional value,' Tomar said.

 

However, he said, wheat and rice have occupied more space in our food plate.

 

Now, Tomar said, the time has come that there is adequate availability of millet in the food plate as this would help in meeting the nutritional requirement of people.

 

The IYM 2023 has provided a great opportunity to create awareness about the benefits of millets, he said, adding that the Centre has been taking steps in this direction for the last few years.

 

Tomar stressed that people should also eat millet frequently so that the challenge of nutritional deficiency could be addressed.

 

The minister highlighted that the government is focusing on increasing farmers' income.

 

He also said that the Centre in the last eight years has launched various programmes, such as PM-KISAN and the crop insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, to boost farmers' income.

 

The government has also set an agriculture credit target of Rs 18 lakh crore for this fiscal year and it is also promoting the use of technology and cluster farming.

 

The UN declaration has been instrumental for the government to be at the forefront of celebrating the International Year of Millet. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also shared his vision to make IYM 2023 a 'People's Movement' alongside positioning India as the 'Global Hub for Millets'.

 

In India, millets are primarily a kharif crop, requiring less water and agricultural inputs than other similar staples. Millets are important as it has the potential to generate livelihoods, increase farmers' income and ensure food & nutritional security all over the world.

The newly-elected President of the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce, Anat Bernstein-Reich, who has worked to promote Indo-Israel bilateral trade for more than two decades, has said the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Israel and India will act as a catalyst in fulfilling the huge trade potential.

 

The first woman to be elected President of the prestigious body since its establishment in 1984, Bernstein-Reich would be replacing Matan Vilnai, who in the past has served as the Ambassador of Israel in China, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, and a Minister in the Israeli government.

 

Vilnai served as the President of the Chambers for the past six years and will now serve as its honorary President.

 

'India and Israel trade relations have reached new heights but have still not fulfilled their potential. The long-awaited Free Trade Agreement will be a catalyst for the same', Bernstein-Reich told PTI.

 

'I call upon the two sides to break the current deadlock in discussions over FTA. I was recently in India and during my meetings with officials there have also requested to look into ways to move the process forward to boost bilateral trade', she said.

 

Bernstein-Reich was elected the new President of the prestigious commercial body last week by the Chamber's General Assembly that opened for 2023 recently.

 

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Israeli ministries and economic organisations.

 

Among those that participated in the General Assembly included Jonatan Zadka, former Consul General of Israel in Bangalore, and Shai Mozes, former Economic Attach in Bangalore and today Head of the Asia Pacific Desk at the Ministry of Economy.

 

Bernstein-Reich, who also holds the position of Chairperson of the Israel-India and Sri Lanka Chambers within the Israel-Asia Chamber, will continue in that role.

 

An investment banker and lawyer, Bernstein-Reich has been operating in India for the past 24 years and has been involved in dozens of transactions on the Israel-India axis, including the establishment of the Agribator, the centre for Israeli agricultural technologies in New Delhi.

 

In 2018, she managed the Israel-India Bridge for Innovation Program for the Israeli Innovation Authority. The Bridge was a joint initiative of Prime Ministers Benjamin Netanyahu and Narendra Modi that assisted Israeli and Indian start-ups to access each other's markets.

 

She received the 'Friend of India Award' from WeSchool for her contribution to the advancement of the Indian economy in 2020 and in 2022 received an honorary doctorate from Jharkhand Rai University.

 

Dubbed by several local business persons as the 'Maharani of India', Bernstein-Reich, emphasised that the current figure of over 7 billion US Dollars in bilateral trade, not including defence, doesn't 'really present the right picture'.

 

'Indo-Israel bilateral trade has diversified so much over the past decades and continues to add new sectors into it. Recent collaborations in health tech, energy, water management etc. continues to provide new impetus to growing bilateral trade ties. The potential is huge and all efforts need to be made to close the Free Trade Agreement that will give a further boost to it', she stressed.

 

'Our chamber has signed MOUs for collaboration with the leading Indian chambers of commerce including FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM, and SICCI (SOUTH INDIA)', she noted.

 

In a new initiative, Bernstein-Reich pointed out that together with FICCI Ladies League, her organisation has also formed the IIBWF- Israel-India Business Women Forum to promote women-led businesses collaborations.

 

Bernstein-Reich received the Woman of the Decade award as part of the Women Economic Forum (WEF) that convened in New Delhi in December 2022.

 

A graduate of the Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University and an MBA in Finance from the University of San Francisco, she also holds a teaching position in Haifa University's Asian Studies department.

 

The Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce is a multinational chamber of commerce that promotes trade between Israel and 15 countries in Asia, including countries with which there are no diplomatic relations such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

 

India and China are the most prominent countries in the activities of the commercial body.

 

The chamber is part of 48 bi-national chambers of commerce that operate in Israel.

 

The Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce was established in 1984 by the Israeli government and the economic organizations to promote trade with Asia which was, at that time, in its nascent stage.

 

Following the establishment of full-fledged diplomatic relations with India and China in 1992, Israel's trade with Asia has grown tens fold in the past 30 years.

 

The role of the President of the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce has been held by prominent public figures since its inception.

 

Ambassador Amir Hayek, the Israeli ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, also served as its President between 2005 and 2010.

 

Vilnai, in his farewell speech, was quoted in a press release as saying that 'today Asia accounts for 60 per cent of the world's population and includes the largest economies, creating a global power shift towards the East with India and China being major players in the world arena'.

 

Bernstein-Reich also serves as CEO of the Israel-India Investment Banking Company in the BDO Group Israel.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has notified the amended rules for calculation of Composition Fee for extending Export Obligation under Advance Authorization Scheme by amending Para 4.42 of  Handbook of Procedures (2015-20) vide Public Notice No.52/2015-20 dated 18th January,  2023.

 

The simplification of calculations for Composition Fee helps in automation and faster service delivery by making the process more efficient and easier to understand. The previous formula for Composition Fee was convoluted and difficult to understand, which made the process more tedious and strenuous for exporters. However, the revised Composition Fee formula, which is based on a specific rate for different levels of the 'CIF value of Authorisation', is more straightforward and easier to calculate. 

 

This will help automate the entire Export Obligation extension process with minimal human intervention, further eliminating the risk of errors and misconceptions. 

 

Automation of the process will reduce the need for manual calculations and paperwork, which will ultimately lead to faster service delivery. This will be beneficial to exporters as it will reduce the time and effort required to complete the Export Obligation extension process. 

 

Additionally, automation will also reduce the risk of errors and misconceptions, which will further improve the efficiency of the process. The process of automation is being taken up under the IT-revamp project of DGFT and shall be notified separately. Simplification of calculations also helps in the 'Ease of Doing Business' objective by reducing the complexity and making the process more straightforward for exporters.

 

By simplifying the calculations for Composition Fee, the DGFT is working towards this objective by making the process more efficient and easier to understand for exporters. This will ultimately lead to trade facilitation and ease of doing business. 

Karnataka’s  Department of Agriculture, which is hosting the fourth edition of the ‘Millets and Organics-International Trade Fair’ between January 20 and 22, 2023,  at the Tripura Vasini Palace Grounds is expected to see a slew of novel ready-to-eat and -serve products. This is in an effort to accelerate the pace of cultivation and consumption of millets in the daily diet of people as part of the International Year of Millets.

 

Millets are the most common organically cultivated grain. Most organic products are millet based. The fair will feature an exhibition of around 300 stalls of more than 110 companies and an international pavilion with organisations from various countries. There will also be farmer workshops, conferences and food courts featuring millets and organic food.

 

There will be free stalls provided for start-ups and a 50% discount offered for women entrepreneurs. The international pavilion will include participants from South Korea, Germany, Uganda, the UK, Malaysia and the Netherlands. Additionally, there will be stalls featuring produce from Kerala, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh.

India has contracted to export about 5.6 million tonnes of sugar since the government said late last year that mills could ship up to 6.1 million tonnes of the sweetener by May, government, trade and industry sources said.

 

Dealers have already shipped about 2.5 million tonnes of the total contracted quantity, said the sources, who asked not to be named because they are not authorised to talk to the media.

 

Indian mills have exported almost an equal amount of raw and white sugar, with the raw variety sold between $480 and $510 a tonne free on board (FOB) and white sugar at $485-$540 a tonne FOB, they said.

 

India, the world's biggest producer of sugar and the second biggest exporter, sells the sweetener to countries across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

 

After record exports of more than 11 million tonnes in the previous season to Sept. 30, 2022, the government allowed mills to export only 6.1 million tonnes of the sweetener in the current season.

 

Authorities said they could take a view on the second tranche of sugar exports after getting a clearer idea about local production.

 

The government will assess production next month, the sources said.

 

The Indian Sugar Mills Association said that mills have produced nearly 4% more sugar since the current season started on Oct. 1.

 

Production this season is likely to fall 7% after erratic weather conditions cut cane yields, farmers, millers and traders told Reuters last month.

 

Lower output could curb further exports, potentially pushing up global prices and allowing rivals Brazil and Thailand to increase shipments.

 

Mills are earning at least 20% more by shipping out rather than selling in the domestic market, but lower output could make it difficult for the government to allow additional exports, said one Mumbai-based dealer with a global trade house.

 

'India was in a sweet spot due to attractive global prices, and that's the reason we have nearly hit the 6 million tonne ceiling for sugar exports,' said Rahil Shaikh, managing director of exporter MEIR Commodities India.