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15 Dec, 2022
Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel addresses a press conference regarding several steps taken by the Modi Government in the interest of farmers of the country.
Minister of State for M/o Food Processing Industries Shri Prahlad Singh Patel said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has empowered the farmers by giving them modern digital technology. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi today about the several steps taken by the Narendra Modi government in the interest of the farmers, Shri Patel said that through digital technology, the farmers have been saved from many troubles and loot along with getting rid of problems of corruption and middlemen.
Shri Prahlad Singh Patel said that through digital techniques, the assistance given by the government to the farmers has now started reaching the farmers directly, due to which new opportunities have been provided to them to do business and they are able to take advantage of these opportunities. He said that keeping in mind the interests of the farmers, the Modi government has created a new concept from seed to market, in which the Digital Agriculture Mission has proved to be a miracle. The Union Minister said that this mission has played an important role in bringing changes in the conditions and standard of living of the farmers.
Shri Prahlad Singh Patel said that through e-NAM Mandi, more than 1.74 crore farmers have been linked across the country and 2.36 lakh businesses have been registered through e-NAM, through which business worth 2.22 lakh crore rupees has taken place. The Union Minister said that 11.37 crore farmers of the country have benefited from the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana and through this scheme, 2.16 lakh crore rupees have been directly deposited in the accounts of these farmers. He said that after the digital revolution, farmers have also got a lot of benefits in the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. He told that the crops of the farmers were monitored through satellite. Shri Patel said that in the year 2021-22, 16,000 crore rupees were allocated for this scheme and from 2016 to 2022, 38 crore farmers were registered in this scheme and claims worth more than 1,28,522 rupees were paid, while 25,185 crore rupees was given by the farmers as insurance premium. Shri Patel said that more than 3,855 FPOs were registered under Farmers Producers Union, 22.71 crore Soil Health Cards were made and 11,531 testing laboratories were approved across the country. Shri Prahlad Singh Patel said that during the time of the previous government, the allocation of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana was Rs 6,057 crore, while the Modi government has increased this by about 136 percent to Rs 15,511 crore. He said that under the Micro Irrigation Fund, projects worth Rs 4710.96 crore have been approved covering an area of 17.09 lakh hectares. Apart from this, a micro irrigation fund has been created in NABARD with an initial amount of Rs 5,000 crore and a corpus fund of Rs 10,000 crore has been kept. Shri Patel also told that during the time of the previous government, the agricultural credit flow was Rs 7.3 lakh crore, the Narendra Modi government has increased it to Rs 18.5 lakh crore in 2022-23. Apart from this, there were 6.46 crore farmers under the Kisan Credit Card Scheme during the time of the previous government, but today 9.28 crore farmers are getting its benefits.
Shri Prahlad Singh Patel said that during the previous government, fertilizer subsidy was Rs. 41,853 crore, which has been increased by the Modi government to Rs. 62,151 crore (cumulative) on urea and Rs. 40,073 crore (cumulative) on non-urea. Shri Patel said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi started the concept of Kisan Rail, under which 2359 trains plied on 167 routes across the country and more than 7.88 lakh tonnes of agricultural produce was transported. He informed that more than 12 agricultural products were transported from 33 cargo terminals under Kisan Udaan. Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Shri Patel said that after the digital revolution, farmers do not have to visit banks and now farmers have got rid of the trouble of getting NOC from every bank. Shri Patel said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, India is exporting food grains and India is making new records in exports in coarse grains, rice, sugar, milk etc. He said that Agri start-ups are creating a new history under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Shri Patel informed that earlier there were only 100 start-ups working in the agriculture sector but in the last 7-8 years this number has increased to more than 4,000. He said that earlier there were only two Mega Food Parks but now their number has increased to 23. Shri Patel said that India has achieved the 10% ethanol blending target by 2021-22, much ahead of the deadline, resulting in timely payment of over Rs 40,600 crore to farmers
Shri Prahlad Singh Patel said that reports released by various institutions clearly show that the total inflation-adjusted income of farmers has doubled, or almost doubled in many states. He said that today India ranks first or second in terms of production of maximum agricultural produce in the world and a record export of agricultural produce worth Rs 3.75 lakh crore has been done. Shri Patel said that 23 lakh farmers across the country have benefited from the Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana, while an allocation of Rs one lakh crore has been made from the Agriculture Infra Fund. He said that our farmers would be benefited by the SOP issued by the Modi government in drone technology.
Source:
pib.gov.in
15 Dec, 2022
African countries requested for supply of non-basmati rice, admits Centre.
Amid the rising demand for supply of rice by foreign nations, the union government on Wednesday admitted that a few African countries have requested India for supply of non-basmati rice including broken and parboiled rice. However, it did not share any specific action plan to facilitate the supply of rice from Indian States like Punjab and Telangana which were having record level rice production, to other countries witnessing demand for non-basmati rice.
In response to a question raised by the BRS MPs in the Lok Sabha, union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel said the total non-basmati rice exported during April-October 2022 was 10.21 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT). However, she stated that export of non-basmati rice has registered a decline after prohibition on broken rice and imposition of export duty of 20 per cent on other non-basmati rice except parboiled rice on September 8 of 2022.
India has recorded rice exports of about 35.49 MMT of non-basmati rice including 16.73 MMT of parboiled rice which is worth 12.97 billion US dollars between 2019-20 and 2021-22. Currently, India has a total stock of 23.92 lakh tonnes of parboiled rice.
It may be recalled that the BJP-led union government has been refusing to procure parboiled rice from Telangana for three consecutive seasons since Yasangi (Rabi) of 2020. Though the State government informed the Centre about the demand for rice in the international market and explore export options considering the rising rice stocks in Telangana, union Food Minister Piyush Goyal suggested the Ministers to accustomise people of Telangana to eat broken rice which created an uproar.
Anupriya Patel, in her reply, did not give any categorical assurance to facilitate rice exports, but stated that an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) constituted by the Centre will consider various factors like domestic prices, production, available stocks, production estimates, forecast etc., of essential agricultural commodities, before taking measures for export of prohibited items including rice to support the needs of neighbouring and vulnerable countries for their food security.
Source:
telanganatoday.com
14 Dec, 2022
Millets should find a respectable place in the food plate - Union Agriculture Minister Shri Tomar.
The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar has said that along with wheat and rice, millets should also find a respectable place again in the food plate. With the aim of promoting nutri-cereals in the country and the world, under the leadership of India, the International Year of Millets, announced by the United Nations, will be celebrated in the year 2023, for which Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi took the initiative and 72 countries have supported this proposal of India.
Shri Tomar said this as the chief guest at the Agriculture Leadership and Global Nutrition Conclave in New Delhi today. Shri Tomar said that the Covid pandemic has made all of us realize the importance of health and nutritional security. It is very important to include nutrition in our diet. Celebrating the International Year of Millets will increase domestic and global consumption of millets, which will also increase employment and strengthen the economy. He said that whatever has been given to us by Indian tradition, culture and practice, the natural products and nature’s bounty are surely perfect to keep any human being healthy, but many times time passes and in the name of modernity, due to our hectic lifestyles, many times we forget the good things gradually and in the name of progress we adopt many other things in our life. Progress is necessary, but if progress is in harmony with nature, then it is better for all of us, for humanity and for the country. Today we find many things and buy them at expensive prices, among them there are many such whose seeds are not kept by anyone or farmers do not even sow them, but even today they are produced naturally, according to the season. Those who have come to know their quality, they use them. God has also taken care of the balance.
Shri Tomar said that millets are not a new commodity in our country. Earlier obviously facilities were less, but the fabric of our agricultural sector, village and society was such that even small farmers used to do farming as per their requirement and used to take the surplus food grains to the market. Gradually, there was competition for more profits while farming, due to which the cultivation of commodities changed and dependence on wheat and paddy increased. Our farmers are able to provide enough food to the country, while we are also supplying to the world, but gradually the place of Millets in our food plates decreased, in the competition of prestige Millets disappeared from the plate but now when our country is leading in the production of most of the food grains and horticulture, attention is drawn towards the nutritious grains. Today there is a need for nutrition, research is also being done very deeply, it is being analyzed closely. Lectures are being held at various places, scholars are pondering and it is being said that millets are necessary for good health. In this regard, Prime Minister Shri Modi had said that we should work for millets and on his initiative, millets are being promoted in the country and the world like yoga, production and consumption of millets are increasing on the call of the Prime Minister.
Several dignitaries including Mr. William Dar, former Agriculture Minister of Philippines were present on the occasion.
Source:
pib.gov.in
14 Dec, 2022
FSSAI issues draft norms on standards for Indian namkeens.
The FSSAI has issued a draft on standards for Indian namkeens under the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Amendment Regulations, 2022, applicable to Indian namkeens, savouries and snacks, for direct human consumption both pre-packaged and packaged product sold over the counter.
The draft describes ‘namkeens’ as ‘salty savoury products that are traditional and/or innovative based on Indian heritage and culture. They may be prepared by one or combination of raw materials and permitted ingredients as listed under Section 2 of this regulation as per their relevant category.
'They may be processed by steam cooking, boiling, baking, frying, extrusion, puffing, roasting or similar processes and/or any combination of processes thereof. The final product may be prepared in any suitable shape, and style,' reads the draft.
Section 2 of these regulations defines the essential composition or raw material of the namkeens including millets/cereals or pulses and/ or their processed products or their combination for grain-based namkeens, fruits and/or vegetables and /or their processed products fruit and vegetable-based, dry fruits, nuts, seeds, and/or their processed products for dry fruits, seeds- based namkeens, and composite namkeens for which any combination of the raw materials can be used.
Under the quality factors, the draft lays down that the raw materials used in the production process shall meet their respective standards. The product shall have characteristic organoleptic properties like appearance, texture, flavour and taste. It shall be free from any rancid taste or smell or off-taste. It shall be free from insects, insect fragments, visible moulds and objectionable extraneous matter.
Also, the free fatty acids as oleic acid equivalent maximum was prescribed at 0.5% for all kinds of namkeen with a maximum acid value of 1.
The labelling requirement lays down that each package shall be labelled in such a manner that it would carry the name of the product along with relevant categories for example ?Name of the product ?(Category)- Aloo Bhujia (Fruit- and Vegetable-Based Namkeen).
Source:
fnbnews.com
14 Dec, 2022
Financial assistance provided for natural farming to get a sizeable boost.
To expand the area under natural farming, the government will soon announce a substantial increase in the financial assistance provided for promotion of traditional indigenous practices which do not recommend use of chemical fertilisers. Sources told FE that there will be a sizeable increase in financial allocation provided under the Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Padhati (BPKP), a sub-scheme under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) being implemented by the agriculture ministry.
'A cabinet note is being prepared for increasing financial allocation for promotion of natural farming practices,' an agriculture ministry official said.
The government introduced BPKP in 2020-21 where financial assistance of Rs 12,200 per hectare for three years is provided for cluster formation, capacity building and hand-holding by trained personnel, certification and residue analysis. A sum of Rs 56 crore has been provided under the scheme so far.
Officials said that since BPKP was initially launched for three years which would end by the end of current fiscal, there is also a need to enhance incentives for the farmers to shift to natural farming from conventional farming where chemical fertilisers are used to boost soil nutrients. The farming method is expected to reduce dependency on purchased inputs such as fertiliser and pesticides by the farmers without impacting productivity.
BPKP focuses on exclusion of all synthetic chemical inputs and promotes on-farm biomass recycling with major stress on biomass mulching, use of cow dung-urine formulations and other plant-based preparations.
According to the agriculture ministry, 0.5 million hectare (MH) is covered under natural farming mostly in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh has 0.1 MH under natural farming. More than 0.73 million farmers have already initiated natural farming methods.
Other states which have initiated natural farming include Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Gujarat, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech for 2022-23 had stated that the government would focus on promoting natural farming on the lands in five km wide corridors along river Ganga. Sitharaman had also said that the states will be encouraged to revise the syllabus of agricultural universities so as to meet the needs of natural, zero-budget and organic farming, modern-day agriculture, value addition and management.
The Economic Survey (2021-22) had noted ‘in order to sustain agricultural production through eco-friendly processes in tune with nature and ensure chemical free produce and preserve soil productivity, the government is also encouraging farmers to adopt natural farming techniques.’.
Last month, the agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar chaired the first steering committee meeting of the national natural farming mission. Meanwhile, the multi-member committee set up by the agriculture ministry in August is currently deliberating on the issues associated with minimum support prices, crop diversification and promotion of natural farming.
Source:
financialexpress.com
14 Dec, 2022
Value Addition to Oilseeds for Higher Production and Exports.
Oilseeds are a prized commodity since civilizations began. The early settlers understood their importance as food, fodder, fertilizer, and even medicine for humans and animals. Though they were never served as a staple food, they had their prime importance as taste enhancers and nutritious snack food. Their importance as fodder to milch animals to obtain more milk was recognized a long time back. Apart from identifying the products, namely, oilseeds, oil, and deoiled cake, the value of the other plant parts like leaves, stems, roots, and flowers, etc. have also been evaluated and utilized.
Utility of oleaginous material:
India has a wide variety of oilseeds. It has presently nine cultivated oilseeds. They are grown in different seasons both as rainfed and irrigated crops. Sesame is the oldest oilseed crop of India known to us since the Vedic ages. The word taila meaning the oil has been derived from the Sanskrit name of sesame, Til. The other traditional crops of India are mustard/rapeseed, niger, castor, linseed, and safflower. Crops like groundnut, soybean, and sunflower have been introduced to India over the past four or five centuries. Except for the oils derived from castor and linseed, the other seven oilseeds give us edible oils.
Sesame and groundnut have wide-ranging applications. They are edible in their raw state. Simple processing like boiling and roasting makes them more palatable. A lot of edible products are made from these two oilseeds as chikkis (a combination of jaggery/sugar either singly or in combination with other dry nuts), chutneys, snacks, and fried foods. Niger and dehulled sunflower kernels also have similar applications. Rapeseed also is a compulsory part of many Indian savory preparations to enhance the taste. Rapeseed/mustard flour is an essential ingredient of pickles. Linseed is also edible, especially as a source of omega-3 fatty acids, and hence is considered a nutraceutical. Edible-grade oil cakes are highly protein rich (protein content ranging from 30-50%) and hence have utility in energy-rich foods biscuits etc. Protein isolates and protein concentrates can be prepared from edible-grade oil cakes. Non-edible cakes can serve as either animal feed or as organic manure.
India also has some tree oil sources like coconut, olive, and palm. Many forest-based trees to name, like neem, karanj, jatropha, mahua, kokum, Melia, sal, kokum, Simarouba, etc have a lot of potentials to supply not only edible oil but also industrial as well as medicinal oil and biodiesel. Collection and utilization of forest-based tree oilseeds should be carried out to obtain suitable benefits from them. Neem and karanj oils have wide-ranging applications in agriculture as pest control agents and soil fertility builders apart from their utility in medicine. Karanj and jatropha oils have good potential as biodiesel sources.
Import of edible oils:
In spite of a wide variety of vegetable oil sources, India is deficient with respect to the production of edible oils and their supply. The domestic consumption of edible oils is around 250 lakh tonnes, while the domestic production is only 111.6 lakh tonnes. The gap between the demand and supply of edible oils is about 56 percent and is met through imports. The country's edible oils import bill stands at Rs 83,005 crore during 2021 against Rs 59,543 crore a year ago. It is imperative that the country should reduce imports of large quantities of oils especially, palm oil, a saturated oil (unfriendly to a healthy heart). Simultaneously, increased indigenous production of oilseeds should be a major priority.
The simplest way to encourage indigenous production of oilseeds is to immediately reduce imports of palm oil. This will give a boost to oilseed production in the country. Reduced imports will naturally increase the prices of oils in the country, which will not be palatable to the consumers and the policymakers in the Government. The other alternative is to add value to the indigenous oilseeds. Value-added products can fetch us 5-10 times higher prices. This will make the oilseeds more remunerative and more competitive in Indian and global markets.
Export value of oilseeds and their products:
The positive strength of the oilseeds in India is that we export a large number of oilseeds, oils, oil meals, and various oil-fried and preserved foods. India exports oilseeds worth Rs.9600 crores. We export 36.8 lakh tonnes of oil meal worth Rs. 8015 crores. Castor oil, its products, and other oil exports earn us around Rs.14,710 crores. The earnings from other value-added oil and oilseed products are around 206 crores. All these total up to Rs. 32,531 crores. Value addition naturally will increase the value with higher export earnings. Hence manufacture of value-added oilseed products need thorough encouragement.
Further, India has a lot of earnings from products like ready-to-eat food products, pickles, potato chips, etc. Edible oil is an essential component in the preparation of these items. The oil content of these products may range anywhere from 30-50% and even above. Thus, indirectly also oils are earning us huge amounts of foreign exchange. India exports oil-fried ready-to-eat food products worth Rs.16,800 crores. Pickles export earn us Rs.248 crores while potato chips earn us Rs. 24 crores. These exports total up to around Rs. 17100 crores. Edible-grade oil cakes also form part of some oil-fried snack foods. All these items thus can positively influence oilseed cultivation.
At present, we are exporting direct products like seed, oil, or oil cakes. Value-added products like aviation lubricants (HCO, DCO, etc.), 12 HAS, and Nylon-11 manufactured from castor oil will fetch us value worth 100 times or even more. Products like cosmetics, paints, varnishes, and nutraceuticals (omega-3 fatty acid sources) also can fetch us values worth 5 to 20 times, etc. Sesame, groundnut, niger, rapeseed, sunflower kernels, linseed, soybean, and their edible products have very high potential in earning us higher levels of foreign exchange. However, proper labeling and a specific highlight of the nutritional value like lack of allergies, high protein, lower glycemic index, etc. will help us fetch higher prices.
Oil cakes - profitable utilization:
Oil cakes are richer in protein and hence play an important role in relieving malnutrition. Sesame, groundnut, and soybean cakes are richer in protein ranging from 40-60%. Hygienically processed flours can be used for edible purposes. Their use in the preparation of multipurpose flours and biscuits etc will enhance their value. Other cakes from rapeseed, sunflower, safflower, niger, and linseed, being richer in fiber content, can go as poultry, cattle, and fish feed. Castor cake and other non-edible (unhygienic) cakes can serve as organic manure and will help us in increasing the yields of crop plants.
Keeping these aspects in view, concerted efforts should be made to increase the export of value-added products of oilseeds and reduce the imports of oil selectively. Value addition to oilseeds will certainly spur oilseed cultivation/production in the country. Awareness to reduce the consumption of saturated oils to improve the health of our population will simultaneously reduce the requirement for oil and thus imports. Value addition to oilseeds needs thorough encouragement to enhance oilseed production and earn larger foreign exchange.
Source:
krishijagran.com
14 Dec, 2022
Tropical vineyards put India on the wine map.
In India, innovative producers have adopted a range of approaches, from flipping the grape-growing season, to using kiwi fruit instead of grapes, to packaging wine in cans.
'When we started in 1997 no one knew what wine was,' remembers Rajeev Samant, the founder of India's Sula Vineyards.
'All liquor shops in India were called wine shops, so people thought wine meant liquor,' he says.
It wasn't just a branding problem. Hurdle after hurdle had to be cleared to get Sula up and running.
It took Mr Samant two years just to get a government licence to make wine from grapes.
Then he had to get the attention of consumers, who weren't much interested in wine.
'India is not traditionally a wine-drinking country - due to an earlier period of prohibition and higher prices, compared to spirits like whisky and brandy manufactured in the country.'
And then there is the weather. Sula's base is Nashik, Maharashtra, where the climate is tropical. In March, April and May the temperature can easily top 40C.
'Climate is a challenge and always will be,' says Mr Samant.
Sula solved this by doing the opposite to the rest of the wine-growing world - it grows its grapes during the winter and then harvests them at winter's end.
The latest technology has also helped. Sula was the first Indian vineyard to use refrigerated stainless steel to store its wine.
'I realised to make good tropical wines it needs to be refrigerated. It is expensive, but for us it brings the quality,' says Mr Samant.
But persistence has bought success. Sula now has 1,000 staff and annual sales of about 5bn rupees (£55m; $62m).
It has just launched its first share sale - raising almost 10bn rupees (£98m; $121m).
In addition, hundreds of thousands of people visit its vineyard in Nashik every year.
Later this year, Sula plans to sell shares on the stock market for the first time. It will be an opportunity to gauge what investors make of the prospects for the Indian wine market.
At the moment there are about 110 wineries in India, making wine and fruit wines.
The Indian government is keen to boost that number. It has a high tariff on imported wine and overseas companies are encouraged to invest in India.
India's third-biggest winemaker is the result of an international collaboration.
In 2006, the Secci brothers (Alessio and Andrea) from Italy joined forces with the Mohite Patil brothers (Arjun and Ranjit) from Maharashtra, and the Sekhri brothers from Delhi (Kapil and Gaurav).
Together they formed Fratelli Wines.
'Wineries in India don't stick to rules or traditions as strictly as older wine-making countries do. Instead, India follows the New World wine-making style, which is more experimental and technologically oriented,' says Jayanth Bharathi, from Fratelli Wines.
Its latest offering, wine in a can, would definitely make a traditional vintner shudder. Mr Bharathi says it will appeal to younger drinkers and make Fratelli's wines 'approachable and casual'.
He is confident such innovation will pay off.
'With an increasingly urban population, wine consumption is becoming a part of the cultural zeitgeist and with good quality Indian wines on the offering, there is very good chance for India to make a mark on the world wine map.'
Given that India's climate is generally not kind to grapes, some entrepreneurs are betting on fruit wines.
Arunachal Pradesh is a state in the far north-east of India. The lower-altitude parts of the region have a subtropical climate and kiwis, pears, peaches and plums grow well there.
But poor marketing, transport and storage mean that a lot of that fruit goes to waste.
In 2017, Tage Rita decided to do something about that. She started making wine from kiwi fruit, an important crop in her valley.
Called Naara Aaba, it has a 13% alcohol content and became India's first-ever organic wine made from kiwi fruit.
'I wanted to revive the local farming community by sourcing its harvest, making wines from them and also preserving the healthy values of the exotic fruits,' says Ms Aaba.
She is also proud of the boost the winery has given her local economy.
'The farmers of the valley have immensely benefited by selling their produce. It has provided income opportunities for farmers and jobs for unemployed youths,' she says.
Kiwi wine is produced in much the same way as wine from grapes. Ripe fruit is juiced and fermented, taking three to four months to produce a batch of wine. Some products are aged for an extra four or five months before bottling.
Naara Aaba makes about 50,000 bottles of wine a year, including also wine from peaches, plums and pears.
'The advantage with fruit wines is that they require much less time to mature. Fruit wines are also lighter and fruitier, compared to grape wines, which are easier for new wine drinkers,' says Ms Aaba.
'The social and cultural taboo around alcoholic beverages is slowly dissipating,' says Subhash Arora, founder of the Indian Wine Academy, which promotes the industry.
While challenges remain, the outlook is bright, he says.
'It's difficult for us to become a global player, as we lack good weather and soils to grow the right kind of fruits to produce excellent wines, but we are reaching a milestone, where Indians are liking Indian-made wines.'
Source:
bbc.com
14 Dec, 2022
Making FPOs financially sustainable.
Moving up the value chain to offer high-value products is vital for FPOs’ success
According to John F Kennedy, the farmer is the only person in the economy who pays higher cost for his inputs and receives lower price for his output, thereby losing on both counts. This statement mirrors the current state of Indian agriculture.
Besides, the Indian farmer takes higher risk compared to any other entrepreneur, given escalating water stress, natural disasters, uncertainty in yields, etc.
To address these issues, the concept of Farmers Producer Organization (FPO) was introduced in 2003 as a magic bullet in the Indian agricultural landscape. The main objectives of the FPO are to reduce cost of cultivation by procuring inputs in bulk and enhance collective bargaining power and income of farmers by leveraging the entire agricultural value chain.
FPOs: The challenges
Low capital base: According to a report from Azim Premji University (2022), less than 4 per cent of the FPOs have paid up capital of more than Rs.10 lakh. Further, many FPOs are unable to access required financial support from banks/financial institutions for want of collateral security and credit history. Credit guarantee cover from Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC) in respect of collateral free-lending is available only to the FPOs with a minimum membership of 500 and above. Therefore, very few FPOs have adequate equity capital base to obtain matching grant of Rs.15 lakh from the government.
Poor human resources: Majority of the FPOs struggle to comply with statutory norms viz., audited financials and filing Goods and Services Tax returns due to lack of skilled manpower, expertise and other resources. Most of the FPOs are not in a position to hire talent from the market for this purpose, for which they depend on Cluster Based Business Organisations (CBBOs)/Promoting organisations.
Lack of commercial viability: Commercial viability refers to procurement of inputs at reasonable rates and marketing of output at remunerative prices. As Indian farmers’ share is not more than 25 per cent of consumers’ Rupee of expenditure, as against 70 per cent in case of the US and Europe, commercial viability of FPOs is less than satisfactory.
Absence of market linkages: According to a recent study conducted by NIRDPR, most of the FPOs depend on local market without exploring the export market. Apni Saheli, an FPO based in Dholpur, Rajasthan is a case in point; it is working with NCDEX in commodity derivatives/futures market (wheat and bajra) for better price realisation for its members.
Infrequent patronage of members: Field survey indicates that a significant portion of members of FPOs are largely unaware of operations of the collectives, their responsibilities, and exhibit insignificant levels of ownership. While seasonal crops will have infrequent cash flows as well as interaction with the group members, dairy, small ruminants, and vegetables will have regular cash flows which enable the members’ continuous patronage and the group’s solidarity.
Obsolete technology: As most of the FPOs are unable to mobilise requisite funds for mechanisation of farming, good agricultural practices, through advanced technologies (drones and nano technology), are yet to be replicated.
Negligible value addition to agri-produce: It is observed from the field survey that less than or equivalent to 40 per cent of the farmer members in five sample States avail themselves of agricultural value chain activities from FPOs. Besides, majority of the FPOs sell their produce without value addition due to inadequate working capital, information asymmetry on demand-supply gaps, and lack of post-harvest infrastructure facilities.
Possible policy options
Agriculture in India has been focusing on production without giving due weightage to business strategy. So FPOs may be linked to agri-export zones/e-commerce (Big Basket and Sabziwala) to supply sanitary and phyto sanitary-compliant agri-products.
FPOs have to diversify their cropping pattern (power shift to high value crops like kiwi, and roses) and adopt integrated farming along with dairy, poultry, and fisheries, without compromising on food security.
Promoting agencies should nurture and build FPOs in order to educate them on enhancement of product quality, reduction of wastage, aspects of (business) management with a laser focus on value addition. Free access to institutional finance for FPOs should be made available to enable them to invest in agri-value chains from ‘farm to fork’.
In sum, FPOs suffer from lack of commercial viability and financial sustainability. Since agriculture is the key to fulfil half of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), strengthening FPOs is the key to achieve SDGs.
Srikanth is Associate Professor, Registrar, and Director (Finance), DDU-GKY, NIRDPR, Hyderabad; and Syamala Rao is Research Officer, NIRDPR, Hyderabad
Source:
thehindubusinessline.com
14 Dec, 2022
1752 climate resilient crop varieties released in India since 2014.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research has developed resilient varieties in different crops tolerant to climatic stresses to improve food grain production in the face of changing climate, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
Tomar said since 2014, as many as 2122 varieties have been released, out of which 1752 are climate resilient varieties, which include 400 abiotic stress tolerant varieties and 1352 are biotic stress tolerant.
'Although climate change is understood to have its negative impact on food crops, through the help of technology the negative impacts have been dealt with effectively. With the government interventions, the foodgrain production has continuously increased in the country during the last 5 years despite the impact of climate change,' Tomar said in response to a question by YSR Congress leader N. Reddeppa on steps taken by the government on enhancing foodgrain yield through sustainable methods and other related questions regarding challenges of sustaining domestic food production in the face of changing climate.
Enlisting various measures taken by the Centre, Tomar said the ICAR has launched a flagship network project, namely National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA), to study the impact of climate change on agriculture, including crops, livestock, horticulture and fisheries and develop and promote climate resilient technologies in agriculture which will address vulnerable areas—regions prone to extreme weather conditions like droughts, floods, frost, heat waves, etc.
Apart from climate resilient food varieties, 68 location-specific climate-resilient technologies have been developed, agricultural contingency plans for 650 districts prepared.
'Based on vulnerability assessment, climate-resilient technologies are being demonstrated on farmers’ fields in 151 clusters covering 446 village,' he said, adding that in the past decade, 16,958 capacity building programmes were conducted throughout the country under NICRA project to educate stakeholders on various aspects of climate change and resilient technologies, covering 514816 different stakeholders including farmers to enable wider adoption of climate resilient technologies.
Source:
tribuneindia.com
14 Dec, 2022
Employment in FPIS.
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation releases data on various aspects including employment of registered manufacturing sectors including food processing sector through the Annual Survey of Industries(ASI). As per the latest Annual Survey of Industries 2019-20, food processing sector contributed 12.22% of total persons engaged in the registered manufacturing sector. The details of employment in food processing sector for last five years, as per Annual Survey of Industries, are as under:
Year
Employment (In lakhs)
2015-16
17.65
2016-17
18.53
2017-18
19.33
2018-19
20.05
2019-20
20.32
Source: Annual Survey of Industries 2015-16,2016-17, 2017-18,2018-19 & 2019-20
(The Ministry of Food Processing Industries is implementing the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) for augmenting processing/preservation capacity, creating off-farm employment, leveraging domestic investment and increasing value addition to the economy. The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme has been launched for creating global food champions through incentivizing investment in the food processing sector and for creating employment. The Pradhan Mantri-Formalisation of Micro Enterprises (PM-FME) scheme is also being implemented since 2020-21 which aims at upgrading/ formalising 2 lakh micro informal units. The government has also permitted 100% foreign direct investment(FDI) under the automatic route.
The total FDI received in the food processing sector since April 2014 till March 2022 was US$ 5.29 billion. Also 679 completed projects under various component schemes of PMKSY has leveraged Rs. 9511.9 crore of investment as on 30.11.2022.
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.
Source:
pib.gov.in
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