India has exported 5.62 lakh tonnes of sugar so far in the current 2022-23 marketing year that began in October, trade body AISTA said on Tuesday.

 

In November, the government allowed the export of 60 lakh tonnes of sugar in the current (2022-23) marketing year (October-September). According to the All India Sugar Trade Association (AISTA), the dispatches for exports from sugar mills were at 12.19 lakh tonnes, out of which physical shipment completed stood at 5.62 lakh tonnes till December 9 of the current marketing year.

 

A maximum of sugar has been exported to the UAE, followed by Bangladesh, Indonesia, Somalia and others in the said period, it said in a statement.

 

About 5.22 lakh tonnes of sugar is under loading or waiting for loading, it added.

 

India exported a record 111 lakh tonnes of sugar in the 2021-22 marketing year.

The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has become the world's number one crop insurance scheme in terms of farmer applications enrolled, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar informed Parliament on Tuesday. The PMFBY is also the world's third-largest crop insurance scheme in terms of gross premium, Tomar said in his written reply to the Lok Sabha.

 

Launched in 2016, the PMFBY provides for comprehensive risk insurance against crop damage due to non-preventable natural risks from pre-sowing to post-harvest for the crops/areas notified by the concerned state government.

 

'The scheme has already become the number one crop insurance scheme in the world in terms of farmer applications enrolled. In terms of gross premium, the scheme is the 3rd largest in the world,' Tomar said.

 

The minister said 832.24 lakh farmers enrolled under the PMFBY during 2021-22 fiscal. The premium paid by farmers stood at Rs 3,77,026 crore while claims paid were Rs 13,728.63 crore during 2021-22.

 

As per the provisions of the scheme, the actuarial/bid premium rate is charged by the insurance companies. But the farmer has to pay only a maximum premium of 1.5 per cent and 2 per cent for Rabi and Kharif food and oilseed crops, respectively and 5 per cent for commercial/horticultural crops.

 

The remaining part of the actuarial/bidded premium is shared on 50:50 basis by the central and concerned state government except in North Eastern States where it is shared in the ratio of 90:10.

 

The PMFBY is mainly implemented on an 'Area Approach' basis. Admissible claims are worked out and paid directly to the insured farmer's account by the insurance companies based on the season-end yield data, furnished to the concerned insurance company by the concerned state government and claim calculation formula envisaged in the Operational Guidelines of the scheme.

 

However, losses due to localized risks of hailstorm, landslide, inundation, cloud burst and natural fire and post-harvest losses due to cyclone, cyclonic/unseasonal rains and hailstorms are calculated on individual insured farm basis. These claims are assessed by a joint committee comprising representatives of state government and concerned insurance company, the minister added.

The Centre on Tuesday informed Parliament that it has achieved integration of 1,260 wholesale mandis, located in 22 states and three union territories, with the electronic-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM). Right now, farmers auction their agricultural produce at 6,900-odd APMC (Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees) mandis spread across the nation. Some of them are also using online bidding through e-NAM platform.

 

In his written reply to the Lok Sabha, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said: 'As on November 30, 2022, 1,260 mandis of 22 States and 3 UTs have been integrated with e-NAM platform.'

 

These states include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Puducherry, he said.

 

Further, based on the proposals/Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) received from states/ UTs, the central government is integrating mandis with e-NAM platform, Tomar added.

 

e-NAM, which was launched in April 2016, is being implemented by Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC), a central government agency, with the support of state governments.

 

Since inception, the minister said about Rs 649.87 crore has been released for the integration of mandis with the eNAM platform.

 

Presently, e-NAM platform is integrating existing physical wholesale mandis/markets of different states and UTs to facilitate online trading of agricultural commodities through transparent price discovery method to enable farmers to realize better remunerative prices for their produce, he said.

 

The purpose of e-NAM is to create a network of existing mandis on a common online market platform as 'One Nation, One Market' for agricultural commodities in India.

No target is set for the food processing sector for creating employment opportunities and increasing its contribution in GDP. However, the food processing sector contributes 12.2% of employment in the registered manufacturing sector. Various schemes and policy initiatives being implemented by the Ministry results in increased contribution of the sector to India’s GVA. The Ministry of Food Processing Industries implements the Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY) which inter–alia aims at creation of modern post-harvest infrastructure, boosting value addition, providing better returns to farmers, creation of employment opportunities etc. In addition, the Ministry is also implementing the PM-Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme for providing financial, technical and business support for setting up/upgradation of two lakh micro food processing enterprises across the country. A new Production Linked Incentive scheme (PLIS) for Food Processing Sector is being implemented to support creation of global food manufacturing champions. This scheme will also create more employment opportunities and higher exports for the sector.

 

This information was given by the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal along with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and other IPEF partner countries, participated in virtual Ministerial Meeting on Economic Benefits for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). 

 

Shri Goyal complimented partner countries for taking the initiative in right earnest. He expressed his belief that IPEF will promote inclusive development through enhancement of trade and investment in the region.

 

Minister Goyal extended invitation to all partners countries for the next special negotiation round for Pillars 2-4 of IPEF to be hosted by India on 8-11 February, 2023.

 

He urged members to focus energy on early harvest of deliverables which can benefit all the members. He was happy to note that there seemed to be a consensus among members on setting up of an investment forum consisting of private and public sector stakeholders to encourage investment in clean energy sector, during recent round at Brisbane, Australia.

 

The Minister shared his views on some of the common tangible benefits like capacity building; technical assistance, including sharing of expertise and best practices; investments, innovative projects, etc, expected out of this initiative. 

 

Shri Goyal also shared with IPEF partners some of India’s specific expectations under IPEF. He said that India can contribute towards supply chain resilience in sectors like pharmaceuticals and invited support from members in semiconductors, critical minerals and clean technologies including on innovative projects which can be promoted beyond IPEF in other developing countries. He further talked about the non-paper submitted by India on some of the ideas like mobilization of financial resources for climate action at reasonable costs. He also drew attention of partner countries on need for measures to counter terror financing.

 

Further, the Minister expressed his full support to the negotiations schedule agreed at the Brisbane meeting held recently. 

 

Secretary Raimondo welcomed India's offer to host the special negotiation round for Pillars 2-4 of IPEF and assured that the US IPEF team would work closely with India in this regard.

A major initiative was taken by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to promote millets in the country and the world by organizing 'Special Millets Lunch' for MPs in the Parliament Courtyard today. With a view to prepare for the International Year of Nutritious Cereals in the year 2023, Vice President and Chairman of Rajya Sabha Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Shri Om Birla, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Shri. Harivansh, former Prime Minister Shri H.D. Deve Gowda, BJP National President Shri J.P. Nadda, Congress National President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Shri Adhiranjan Chowdhary, Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha and Union Minister Shri Piyush Goyal and Union Ministers and MPs of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha participated in the 'Special Millets Lunch' and tasted nutritious dishes made from jowar, bajra, ragi etc and praised the initiative Mwith open heart and welcomed the Millets Year. Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar and Ministers of State Shri Kailash Chaudhary and Ms. Shobha Karandlaje warmly welcomed everyone on this occasion.

 

On the initiative of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the proposal of the Government of India, the United Nations has declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets, which will be celebrated with enthusiasm across the country as well as globally. Its preparations are going on in full swing at the national-international level. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is taking several steps in collaboration with all concerned to spread awareness about millets with the objective of increasing the demand and acceptance of millets.

 

Shri Tomar said that Prime Minister Shri Modi wants our ancient nutritive grain to get a respectable place in the food plate again. Also, this initiative will ensure remunerative returns to the farmers cultivating millets in the long run, he added.

 

In view of the pre-preparation to celebrate this festive year, a banquet was organized in the Parliament premises with delicious dishes made of millets, in which leaders of various parties in both the Houses, including Ministers and MPs, in the special presence of the Vice President and the Prime Minister, tasted millets. The lunch featured a curated millets-based buffet featuring a variety of scrumptious dishes made from Indian nutri-cereals.

 

The Courtyard at Parliament was beautifully decorated with millet based rangolis and primary millet crops from across the country were put on display, which was observed by Vice President Shri Dhankhar and Prime Minister Shri Modi. A picture collage of various promotional events for International Year of Millets organized by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and other associated stakeholders was also displayed at the venue.  

 

The luncheon served an elaborate curated millet buffet to highlight the diversity of Indian Millets & variety of Millet cuisines. A group of chefs from Karnataka and Rajasthan prepared various millet delicacies for the Members of Parliament. Alongside the millet culinary experience, Millet based products were also exhibited at the event venue to showcase various food products that included several ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook millet items.

 

The launch ceremony of the International Year of Nutri-cereals was recently organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome (Italy). Indian delegation participated in this program.

 

Millets are important crops of ancient and dry lands. These short grained highly nutritious cereal-food crops are grown on marginal soils/less fertile soils with less rainfall and less amount of inputs like fertilizers and pesticides. Millets, native to India, have gained popularity as nutra-cereals, as they provide essential nutrients for normal functioning. Millets were the first crops to be cultivated in Asia and Africa, later spreading as an important food source for advanced civilizations around the world.

During the last three years and the current year Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)/ National Agricultural Research System (NARS) has taken initiatives  for innovation/ development of new technologies in the farm sector across the country like Genetic enhancement of plants/ animals/ fish for higher productivity under increased intensity of biotic and abiotic stresses, productivity enhancement through sustainable intensification, productivity enhancement through mechanization of agriculture and food system, enhancing value, safety and income through food processing, development of energy efficient technologies, farming practices, and promoting technology transfer to the farmers and stake holders. During the last nine years (2014-2022), a total of 2122 varieties have been released of food crops, oil seeds, pulses, commercial crops, horticultural crops, potential crops and fodder crops which has not only stabilized the production but also increased the productivity and production of food grains in India besides other production and protection technologies.

 

NARS coordinated at the apex level by the ICAR/ Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), comprises of 98 Agricultural Research Institutes, 5 Deemed Universities and 3 Central Agricultural Universities besides 63 State Agricultural Universities, 4 Universities with Agriculture Faculties mandated for developing, testing and refining new technologies in agriculture sector. To provide information about these developed technologies to the farmers, Government has established a network of 731 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) at district level which are coordinated by 11 Agricultural Technology Application and Research Institute (ATARI). The KVKs are mandated to provide information about new technologies developed in agriculture sector to the farmers. The major activities undertaken by the KVKs include on-farm testing of location-specificity of technologies under various farming systems; frontline demonstrations to establish the production potential of improved agricultural technologies on the farmers’ field; capacity development of farmers for knowledge and skill upgradation; providing farm advisories on varied subjects of interest to farmers using ICT and other tools; production and distribution of quality seeds, planting materials and other technological inputs to farmers. Besides, Government is also implementing a centrally sponsored scheme namely Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) which aims at making available the latest agricultural technologies in different thematic areas to increase agricultural production through extension activities viz. Farmers Training, Demonstrations, Exposure Visits, Kisan Mela, Mobilization of Farmers Groups and Setting up of Farm Schools. During the last three years and the current year training of 62.99 lakhs farmers, 1.49 lakhs On-farm trials and 10.29 lakhs field level demonstrations were conducted by the KVKs and ICAR Institutes.

 

A dedicated portal of PM-KISAN was launched on 06.02.2019 and has been hosted as www.pmkisan.gov.in. The PM-KISAN Portal provide verified and single source of truth on farmers’ details; Timely assistance to the farmers in farm operation; A unified e-platform for transferring of cash benefits into farmer’s bank account through PFMS integration; Location wise availability of benefited farmers list; and Ease of monitoring across the country on fund transaction details and many other facilities are available in the portal.  The total farmers benefited by this portal is more than 12.0 crores. Another portal i.e. mKishan has unique features like database to shift farmers down to Block level & to select specific agricultural commodities/ animal/ poultry/ fish, rating/ correction of messages by the supervisory officers, searchable database of previous advisories.  Since inception, total 5,13,76,458 farmers were benefitted.

 

The available technologies are disseminated through training programmes, Front Line Demonstrations (FLD), On-field Demonstrations (OFD), skill development programs, supplying literatures and handouts to the farmers and farm women, rural youth and in-service extension personnel.  These activities are carried out by different agencies and schemes of the Government like Krishi Vigyan Kendra, ATMA (Agricultural Technology Management Agency), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Rastriya Krishi VikasYojna (RKVY), Sub-Mission of Seeds and Planting Material (SMSP), Seed Hubs (Pulses, Oilseeds, Millets), Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) and are implemented by State Governments, ICAR Institutes and Central/State Agricultural Universities.  The KVKs and the ICAR Institutes in last three years trained more than 62.99 lakhs farmers.

 

This information was given by the Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

The food authority has decided to set standards for food colours’ preparations and mixtures in the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011.

 

The FSSAI has issued a draft for the proposed regulations prescribing the colour preparation and listed diluents or filler material permitted to be used in colour preparations conforming to the prescribed standards.

 

These include potable water, edible common salt, sugar,  dextrose monohydrate,  liquid glucose, sodium sulphate, tartaric acid, glycerine, propylene glycol, acetic acid (dilute), sorbitol, citric acid, sodium carbonate and sodium hydrogen carbonate, lactose, ammonium, sodium and potassium alginates, dextrins, ethyl acetate, starches, diethyl ether, ethanol, glycerol mono, di and tri acetate, edible oils and fats, isopropyl alcohol, bees wax, sodium and ammonium hydroxide,  lactic acid, carrageenan and gum arabic, gelatin and pectin.

 

According to the draft, Colour Preparation means a Preparation containing one or more of the permitted food colours conforming to the prescribed standard along with diluents and/or filler materials and meant to be used for imparting colour to food. It may contain permitted preservatives and stabilisers. The colour preparation would be either in the form of a liquid or powder. Powder preparations shall be reasonably free from lumps and any visible extraneous/foreign matter and liquid preparations shall be free from sediments.

 

Further the General Requirements under the draft lay down that the total dye content, percent by mass (m/v) in the colour preparation or in the mixture shall be declared on the label of the container.

 

'In powder preparations the declared value shall be on moisture-free basis and in case of liquid preparations on as in basis. The total dye content, shall be within the tolerance limits given on the declared value, shall be: (a) Liquid preparation ±15 per cent (b) Solid preparations ±7.5 per cent and it may contain permitted preservatives and stabilisers,' reads the draft.

The Christmas/New Year season is seen bringing no cheer for the floriculture sector as a levy of 18% GST, a hike in freight rates amid the withdrawal of freight subsidy has squeezed the margins, exporters said.

 

'The levy of 18 per cent GST in the recent months is the biggest drawback for a floriculture exporter,' said Shrikanth Bolla, President, the Growers Flower Council of India. The Government has discontinued the 18% GST exemption on air freight from October 1, 2022.

 

Bolla said the international freight rates are up by about 200 per cent from the Covid times and now there’s a GST levy. Also, the input subsidy of 40 per cent offered by APEDA on air freight has been withdrawn. With no increase in the consumer price of flowers, farmers’ margins have been taken away by higher freight and the GST, said Bolla, who is also the director of South India Floriculture Association (SIFA).

 

Very few shipments

For the events-driven floriculture sector, Christmas/New Year is one of the seasons for exports, while the shipments are at a peak during the Valentine’s Day.

 

'If the international buyers enhance the purchase price then the farmers might do some exports Otherwise the floriculture exports may be difficult. There are very few exports are happening now. If you compare with the earlier years’ Christmas/New Year season, this year the shipments are very few,' Bolla said, adding that the prevailing global recession has not had much impact, while rise in transportation costs has hit margins.

 

Some exporters, who are able to get a better price, are shipping the flowers but volumes are not there, he said. As a result, the growers are looking at more of the domestic market. 'The wedding season is on while clarity on the orders for Valentine’s Day will be known by mid-January,' he said.

 

Exports down 8% in value

As per APEDA data, the exports of floriculture including dry flowers and cut flowers during April-October 2022-23 were down by 8 per cent at $55 million from $60 million a year ago. In rupee terms, exports stood at Rs 433 crore for the period, down two per cent from Rs 443 crore last year. However, in volume terms, shipments were up 1 per cent at 13426 tonnes during April-Oct 2022-23 as compared with 13,253 tonnes in the same period last year.

 

Further, the cut flower growers are faced with an increase in input costs amidst challenges such as freak weather patterns. 'Costs of all inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides, polythene sheet and greenhouses have gone up by 30-40 per cent over the previous year, adding to the burden of the grower. Also due to the excess rains, there have been a lot of damages while pest management has been a problem to growers this year,' Bolla said.

 

The United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates are among the major destinations for Indian floriculture exports.