The food authority has issued a direction for re-operationalisation of Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Business) Amendment Regulations, 2021.

 

These regulations contain amendments in respect of the Licensing and Registration of E-Commerce food business operator, documents to be enclosed for new application for licence to State/Central Licensing Authority for restaurant, conditions of licence for restaurant, Part-II of Schedule 4 relating to general requirements on hygienic and sanitary practices to be followed by all food business operators applying for licence, Part IV of Schedule 4 relating to establishing a small slaughterhouse, and Part V of Schedule 4 relating to good hygienic and manufacturing practices to be followed by licensed food business operators engaged in catering or food service operations.

 

According to FSSAI, these regulations were operationalised first with effect from Feb 15, 2018, and subsequently re-operationalised with effect from Aug 16, 2018, Feb 28, 2019, Aug 28, 2019, Feb 16, 2020, Aug 16, 2020, March 19, 2021, Nov 12, 2021, and June 24, 2022.

 

FSSAI in a statement has said that the said draft amendment regulations were notified on Nov 17, 2020, inviting comments from the stakeholders and are now under the process of finalisation.

 

'Since, notification of the final amendment regulations is likely to take some time, it has been decided to re-operationalise the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Business) Amendment Regulations, 2021 with effect from Nov 11, 2022, to ensure food safety and fair practices in food business operations', reads the statement by FSSAI.

 

The FSSAI statement added that the food business operators shall follow these regulations and the enforcement of these regulations shall commence only after the final regulations are notified in the Gazette of India, except for the amendment in sub-regulations 2.1.9 (related to Modifications, Expansion or Changes in premise(s) after grant of licence or registration) which has already come into effect from March 27, 2020.

 

Also, the statement added that as far as schedule 4 requirements were concerned, if required, improvement Notice under Section 32 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, may be issued to Food Business Operators and accordingly action may be taken for compliance of these requirements.

Indian missions abroad would be roped in for branding, promotion and identification of global potential buyers such as departmental stores for domestic millets, the commerce ministry said on Sunday. This exercise is part of the government's robust strategy to promote Indian millets.

 

The ministry is also organising a 'Millets Smart Nutritive Conclave' on Monday wherein stakeholders of the supply chain such as Farmer Producer Organisations, startups, exporters, producers of millet-based value-added products are participating, it said in a statement.

 

'Indian missions abroad would be roped in for branding and publicity of Indian millets, identification of international chefs as well as potential buyers such as departmental stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets for organizing B2B (business to business) meetings and direct tie-ups,' it added.

 

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will inaugurate the conclave here on Monday with a view to promoting exports of the grain.

 

The conclave will to be a pre-launch event of the 'International Year of Millets - 2023.

 

At the meet, an e-catalogue on 30 potential importing countries and 21 millet producing states will be released.

 

Ambassadors of foreign missions in India of the targeted countries and potential importers have also been invited to showcase various millet-based products, including ready-to- eat millet products and facilitate B2B meetings.

 

The Centre has also planned to organize millet promotional activities in South Africa, Dubai, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Sydney, Belgium, Germany, the UK, US by facilitating participation of different stakeholders from India in some of the significant food shows, buyer-seller meets and road shows.

 

As part of the promotion of Indian millets, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has planned to showcase millets and its value-added product at various global platforms such as Gulfood 2023, Foodex, Seoul Food & Hotel Show, Saudi Agro Food and Fine Food Show in Sydney.

 

India is one of the leading producers of millets in the world with an estimated share of around 41 per cent in the global production.

 

As per FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), world production of millets in 2020 was 30.464 million metric tonnes (MMT) and India's share was 12.49 MMT, which is 41 per cent of the total millet production.

 

India recorded 27 per cent growth in millet production in 2021-22 as compared to millet production of 15.92 MMT in previous year.

 

India's top five millet producing states are Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Share of export of millets is nearly 1 per cent in the total millet production.

 

Exports of millets from India include mainly whole grain and the export of value-added products of millets from India is negligible.

 

'However, it is estimated that the millets market is set to grow from its current market value of more than USD 9 billion to over USD 12 billion by 2025,' it added.

 

The Centre has created the Nutri Cereals Export Promotion Forum to give impetus to the export of potential products, including millets, and to remove the bottlenecks in the supply chain of nutri cereals.

 

Millets have superior nutritional values in comparison to highly consumed cereals such as rice and wheat. Millets are rich in calcium, iron, and fiber that help in fortifying essential nutrients for healthy growth in children.

 

As per the ministry's data, India registered a growth of 8.02 per cent in export of millets in 2021-22 as the export was 159,332.16 MMT as against 147,501.08 MMT in the previous year.

 

India's major millet exporting countries are the UAE, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Oman, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, the UK and the US.

 

Varieties of millets exported by India include bajra, ragi, canary, jawar, and buckwheat. The major millet importing countries in the world are Indonesia, Belgium, Japan, Germany, Mexico, Italy, the US, UK, Brazil and the Netherlands.

 

There are 16 major varieties of millet, which are produced and exported, including sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra), finger millet (ragi) minor millets (kangani), proso millet (cheena), and kodo millet.

The government will include natural farming in the curriculum of agri education, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Saturday. Tomar was speaking at the National Workshop on Natural Farming in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, according to an official statement.

 

Tomar noted that natural farming is the need of the hour, in which the cost is less and the produce fetches more price.

 

Natural farming will now be part of the agricultural education, he said.

 

The government is making efforts to include soon the natural farming methods in agricultural education curriculum, the minister added.

 

Tomar recalled the period when there was a shortage of food grains compared to India's population.

 

He said chemical fertilisers were used to increase foodgrains production and meet domestic demand.

 

'...today we grow food grains in surplus,' he added.

 

Tomar said the need is to follow the principles of healthy mind, healthy food, healthy agriculture and healthy human being.

 

For this, he said one should move towards natural farming. He said the natural farming is the farming of perfection.

 

'Livestock has an important contribution in this. The dung and cow urine of a native cow is sufficient for a common farmer to work in natural farming.

 

'If the country adopts natural farming, then cows will not be seen on the roads, but they will be used properly,' Tomar observed.

 

The union minister informed that 100 per cent natural farming is being done in Dang district of Gujarat. In Himachal too, farmers are fast moving in this direction. Madhya Pradesh has planned it in 5,000 villages.

 

Tomar said that agriculture has an important place in our country.

 

He pointed out that the fertility of the soil is weakening due to chemical farming.

 

Friendly bacteria are being killed.

 

'It is our responsibility to save the country from the crisis that it is going to face after 25 years,' he said.

 

Therefore, Tomar said the Prime Minister has re-launched the natural farming method and it is being given the form of a mass movement.

 

The Union Minister said the Centre is making efforts to increase the income of the farmers.

 

The MSP has been increased, while crores of farmers are being given Rs 6,000 every year through the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).

 

So far, more than Rs 2.16 lakh crore has been deposited directly into the bank accounts of the farmers. Under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Rs 1.24 lakh crore has been given to the farmers in lieu of crop loss.

From the juicy jackfruits of Tripura to Meghalaya's Khasi Mandarins, king chilli of Nagaland and Assam's leteku (Burmese grapes), the fruits organically grown on the hills of Northeast are gradually making their way to markets in London, Dubai and many others supermarkets abroad.

 

In their efforts to project the Northeast region as the country's organic food bowl, Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA), an agency under the Union Ministry of Commerce, has started exporting organically grown fruits and vegetables to markets not only in neighbouring countries but also to markets in London and Dubai. 

 

'In the past few years, products from the Northeast have been exported to Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Middle East, the UK and Europe. But the products got very good price and response in London and Dubai, where the buyers are very sensitive about quality parameters and conscious about what they eat,' an official in APEDA told DH. 

 

The APEDA recently organised a workshop-cum-buyer-seller meet at Mizoram University at Aizawl, following which a consignment of hatkora (a local variety of citrus) sourced from farmers of Mamit district of Mizoram was exported to London and another consignment to Bangladesh. Seventeen exporters and 58 Farmers Producers Organization (FPO) took part in the meet. 

 

Khasi Mandarin grown on the hills of Meghalaya having GI (Geograophic Indication) tag was on Friday exported to Dubai by APEDA with the help of the Department of horticulture, Meghalaya. Six metric tons of Dambuk oranges from Arunachal Pradesh were also exported to Lulu Group of Dubai recently. Litchi, beetle leaves, pumpkin and jackfruits from Assam have also been exported to buyers in London. 

 

The APEDA official said the potential crops for the export from Mizoram are pineapple, hatkora (citrus), dragon fruit, oranges, passion fruit, squash, anthurium flower, Mizo Ginger, Mizo chilli and grape wine.

 

To provide potential market linkages, APEDA organised field visits of importers for first-hand information about the qualitative cultivation practices being followed by farmers by inviting the importers from the neighbouring countries, the Middle East, far Eastern countries, European nations and Australia and a few others to all eight states of the Northeast. 

 

'Besides, APEDA organized an international buyer-seller meet in Guwahati, Assam on March 10, wherein exhibitors from across the state displayed a wide range of agri-horti products, including GI products such as fresh fruits, vegetables, processed food products, black rice, red rice, joha rice, spices, tea, coffee, honey, processed meat, spices and organic products.

 

Importers from Sri Lanka, Dubai, Bangladesh, Oman, Netherlands, Singapore and Greece participated along with exporters from the country,' APEDA said in a statement recently.

 

According to government data, the Northeastern region witnessed an 85.34 per cent growth in export of agricultural products since 2016--from $2.52 million in 2016-17 to $17.2 million in 2021-22. The products are being exported as part of the Centre's initiative to project the Northeastern region as the country's organic bowl and thereby create employment in the region, which has remained affected due to long problems of insurgency and connectivity bottlenecks. 

 

APEDA also extended its support to NER to undertake branding and promotion of products such as Kiwi wine, processed foods, carrying out a wet sampling of Joha rice pulao, and black rice kheer. 

 

As a part of capacity building, APEDA organised skill development programmes for manufacturers, exporters and entrepreneurs to utilise the local produce for value addition and export.

 

Training programmes are being held in different states of the Northeast in association with the Central Food Technology Research Institute, Mysore and the Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology. 

 

India's sugar production has increased marginally to 47.9 lakh tonnes in the October-November period , according to industry body ISMA. Sugar marketing year runs from October to September.

 

In a statement, Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said that production of sweetener till 30th November in the current 2022-23 marketing year is 47.9 lakh tonnes as against 47.2 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period of the last year.

 

Number of operating factories are also higher at 434 against 416 which operated last year on the corresponding date, it added.

 

As per the ISMA data, sugar production in Maharashtra stood at 20 lakh tonnes during the first two months of 2022-23 as against 20.3 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period. 11.2

 

In Uttar Pradesh, sugar output rose to 11.2 lakh tonnes from 10.4 lakh tonnes.

 

Sugar production in Karnataka fell to 12.1 lakh tonnes from 12.8 lakh tonnes.

 

On the ethanol front, ISMA said that the OMCs (oil marketing companies) have so far allocated around 460 crore litre for supply in ESY (ethanol supply year) 2022-23 in the first two EOI's (express of interest) floated by them. Ethanol supply year runs from December to November.

 

The OMCs have floated a third EOI for requirement of additional 139 crore litres, for which the last date of submission was 30th November 2022. The OMC's are currently examining the bids and are expected to do the allocations shortly, the association said.

 

India is working on developing the 'world’s largest grain storage' programme by merging various schemes of the Union ministries of agriculture and farmers welfare; consumer affairs, food and public distribution; and food processing, two people aware of the development said.

 

The proposal, which has been circulated among the Union ministries and departments for consultations, comes amid rising global food prices in the wake of disruptions caused by the war in Europe and the covid-19 pandemic.

 

Nations are increasingly worried about their food security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted the world’s foodgrain supply, sending prices to record levels.

 

The two nations are among the world’s top grain exporters, especially wheat and barley. While India was less affected by the disruption in grain supplies, prices of edible oil and many other foods shot up sharply because of disruptions in production and shipping.

 

Though India has the world’s highest arable land, the country suffers from low agricultural productivity. The country can play a larger role in global food markets by raising the productivity of Indian farms.

 

Adequate grain supplies have, however, allowed India to provide subsidized food to the poor following the pandemic despite the Ukraine war.

 

India extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana to provide free foodgrain to the poor by an additional three months till 31 December, taking the scheme’s total expenditure to Rs.3.91 trillion.

 

Queries emailed to a spokesperson of the Union ministry of cooperation on 30 November and spokespeople for the ministries of agriculture and farmers welfare; consumer affairs, food and public distribution; food processing on 29 November remained unanswered till press time.

 

India’s centrally held cereal stocks, which supply subsidized grains to nearly 800 million people, slipped to a five-year low this year, Food Corporation of India (FCI) data showed.

 

FCI, a statutory body under the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, is responsible for the storage of grains to help meet the requirements of the public distribution system and other welfare schemes undertaken by the government of India, such as the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.

 

The storage capacity for central pool stocks in the past five years varied from 75 million tonnes (mt) to 85 mt, according to FCI.

 

'We have been lagging behind in terms of stored grains and storage capacity. So now, the government is trying to ramp up. The most important thing in the storage plan will be to see if it’s going to be modern storage or if the old system will be followed, where each man carries a sack and builds a storage pyramid. A mechanized system is far more transparent and much more modern. We don’t even have 2 million tonnes of storage in silos. The storage plan has been in the works for a long time, and it’s only now the government is trying to implement it,' said Ashok Gulati, agricultural economist and former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.

 

To meet any contingency situation such as drought, a strategic reserve of 2 mt of rice and 3 mt of wheat is maintained at the national level at different FCI godowns, out of the foodgrain procured at the minimum support price, the ministry had said in a written reply to a parliamentary question in September 2020.

 

While India has made gains over the past decade, it is still ranked 68th in a food security index of 113 nations published by the Economist Impact and Corteva Inc.

 

On 1 October, India’s wheat stocks stood at 22.7 mt and rice stocks were at 20.47 mt, FCI data showed.

 

'It is a good idea to merge the schemes under which a grant is provided by the government of India for the creation of storage capacity through traditional warehouses, silos and cold storages. However, it must be noted that the state governments also contribute to most of the centrally sponsored schemes to the extent of 40%. The real benefit of such storage will come only if there is compulsory registration of warehouses with the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority,' said Siraj Hussain, a former agriculture secretary.

 

According to a World Bank report, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is expected to deepen poverty further and worsen food insecurity in low-income countries. Food consumption in these countries accounts for over 45% of total household expenditure, and diets remain heavily based on staple foods, including wheat, the report said.

 

'All low-income countries are food-deficit and reliant on imported foods with imports of wheat from Russia and Ukraine. Disruptions to wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine, along with surging global food prices are, therefore, expected to exert a strong drag on low-income countries’ growth and stall progress in poverty reduction, particularly in those economies where large shares of the population are already experiencing food insecurity (such as Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Sudan),' the report added.

 

At the Group of 20 Summit in Bali, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cautioned that the current shortage of fertilizers could lead to a huge crisis and that today’s fertilizer shortage is tomorrow’s food crisis, for which the world will not have a solution.

 

'We should build mutual agreement to maintain the supply chain of both manure and foodgrain stable and assured. In India, for sustainable food security, we are promoting natural farming and re-popularizing nutritious and traditional foodgrain like millets,' Modi said.

 

On the day India assumed G20 Presidency, Modi, in a blog post, also wrote about depoliticizing the global supply of food, fertilizers and medical products.

 

'For promoting harmony within the human family, we will seek to depoliticize the global supply of food, fertilizers and medical products so that geopolitical tensions do not lead to humanitarian crises. As in our own families, those whose needs are the greatest must always be our first concern,' Modi said in the 1 December post.

Farmers have sown rabi crops in over 70 per cent of the 633.80 lakh hectares (lh) of the normal area so far, some 6 per cent higher from the year-ago period. Higher acreage and potentially conducive weather throughout the season may help the country to have another year of bumper harvest.

 

The total rabi acreage is 450.61 lh as of December 2 against 423.52 lh in the corresponding period a year ago, the Agriculture Ministry said in its weekly update. Wheat, the key winter-grown cereal, has been planted on 211.62 lh against 200.85 lh, up 5.4 per cent.

 

The absolute increase in area under wheat from the year-ago level has narrowed down for the first time after rising almost every week since the beginning of the sowing season. Until October 28, the increase in wheat area was 20,000 hectares from the year-ago level, but it surged to 14.53 lh as of November 25, whereas it now stands at 10.77 lh.

 

Warm winter forecast

'The early sowing of wheat helped maintain the lead over the previous year. It looks the acreage will be either at par or marginally higher from last year when the season ends as both the major influencing factors favour wheat,” said SK Singh, an agriculture scientist. Both weather is good and prices are robust, he said.

 

Many parts of north-west India, the key producing region of wheat, mustard and chana (gram), may see a warmer winter season primarily due to likely subdued activity of western disturbances, the India Meteorological Department said on December 1. Though there could be variations in the temperature on a day-to-day basis, 'normal to above normal minimum temperatures” are most likely over many parts of the region, IMD said in its forecast for the main winter season (December-February).

 

Pulses acreage has increased to 112.67 lh as of December 2 from 108.57 lh a year ago. The main winter-grown chana acreage was 79.82 lh against 75.80 lh. The area under oilseeds, too, has increased to 83.07 lh from 75.55 lh as mustard acreage increased to 76.69 lh from 69.32 lh, the data showed.

 

The area under winter paddy has increased to 10.62 lh from 9.53 lh while coarse cereals acreage is up at 32.63 lh from 29.02 lh.

India’s northeast region has witnessed more than 85% growth in the export of agricultural products over the last six years, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said on Friday.

 

'Export has reached to $17.2 million in 2021-22 from $2.52 million in 2016-17. The major destinations of export has been Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Middle East, the UK, and Europe,' it added.

 

There has been a significant increase in export of agricultural produce from northeastern states of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Meghalaya.

 

To provide potential market linkages, the Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) has been organising field visits of importers to provide them with first hand information on qualitative cultivation practices followed by farmers by inviting importers from neighbouring countries, the Middle East, far east countries, European nations and Australia, etc. The field visits were carried out in all eight states in the region.

 

'APEDA has also planned to undertake several other projects like capacity building of 80 budding entrepreneurs and exporters from the region, the Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) and the state govt. officials, organize skill development and training in food processing, value addition on horticultural produce, etc,' the ministry said.

 

APEDA has extended its support to undertake branding and promotion of northeast products such as kiwi wine, processed foods, carrying out a wet sampling of Joha Rice Pulao, Black Rice kheer, etc.

 

As part of capacity building, APEDA organised skill development programmes for manufacturers, exporters and entrepreneurs to utilise the local produce for value addition and export.

 

Training programmes are being held in different states of the Northeast in association with the Central Food Technology Research Institute, Mysore (CFTRI) and Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT), for five days, it said.

 

APEDA under its Agricultural Export Policy has been encouraging states to harness the potential of farm produce exports. It aims to create a platform for buyers to secure products directly from producer groups and processors.

Indonesian government food distribution company Bulog has approached rice exporting nations, barring India, to buy the cereal to meet its domestic demand, triggering a surprise among Indian shippers.

 

However, Bulog wants broken rice from India since the variety is unavailable elsewhere, trading sources said. The Indonesian agency entered the market this week to buy at least 0.5 million tonnes (mt). 

 

Jakarta’s food distribution company’s move has caused pain among Indian exporters, who have now taken up the issue with the Indonesian ambassador in New Delhi. A delegation of The Rice Exporters Association (TREA) will meet the ambassador on December 5 to express their concern over Bulog ignoring Indian rice.

 

Competitively priced

'We are the world’s top exporter of rice. In this context, it is surprising that Bulog is ignoring us. We should have been at the top of their list,' said TREA President BV Krishna Rao.

 

Bulog has sought broken rice from India, which has banned its exports to curb shipments and ensure ample supply in the domestic market. 'The Indonesian agency has sought broken rice which we will not be able to supply. On the other hand, we can supply other varieties of rice at a competitive price,' said an exporter without wishing to identify.  Bulog seems to be looking at earlier problems in buying Indian rice. 'They are non-existent now,' he said.

 

Data from the Thai Rice Exporters Association show that Indian rice is far more competitive than the cereal offered by countries around Indonesia such as Thailand and Vietnam.

 

India’s 5 per cent broken white rice is currently quoted at $393-397 a tonne compared with $456 quoted by Thailand, $438-442 by Vietnam and $416-420 by Pakistan. 

 

Similarly, India’s 25 per cent broken rice is offered at $378-382 against Thailand’s $445. Vietnam is offering it at $418-422 and Pakistan at $400-404. 

 

The Thai connection

Indian white rice prices are competitive despite the Centre imposing a 20 per cent export duty. The exporter said Bulog could buy up to 2 mt of rice annually from India if the issue is handled 'properly'. 

 

A trade expert said Bulog usually prefers to buy rice from Thailand through some 'underhand dealings', since Bangkok buys an unlimited quantity of paddy at a rate higher than the market price from its farmers to help them get better prices. There are allegedly some irregularities in this procurement, which officials there take advantage of. 

 

India announced curbs on rice shipments from September 9 by imposing a 20 per cent export duty on non-basmati white rice. It banned exports of fully broken rice while exempting parboiled and Basmati rice from the restrictions. 

 

H1 exports up

The Centre imposed curbs on rice exports to manage a tight food situation with the cereal’s stocks dropping to their lowest since 2018 at 16.6 mt besides 19.65 mt of milled paddy (13.5 mt of rice) as of November 1 and kharif rice production estimated lower.

 

According to the Agriculture Ministry’s first advance estimates, rice production is pegged at 104.99 million tonnes (mt) against 111.76 mt last year. This year, kharif paddy cultivation was affected by deficient rains in eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.

 

India exported a record 17.26 mt of non-basmati rice in 2021-22, while shipments in the first half of the fiscal are 8.8 per cent higher at 8.95 mt against 8.23 mt in the same period a year ago. 

 

Indonesia is not a regular buyer of Indian rice. It imported 3.26 lakh tonnes (lt) in 2018-19 before reducing it to 105 tonnes the following year and below 50,000 tonnes in 2020-21. It bought 2.1 lt last fiscal and in the first half of this fiscal, the imports were 1.22 lt. 

 

Trade experts say the government could impress Indonesia to buy rice from India more regularly than when its neighbouring countries face problems, pointing out its palm oil purchases from Jakarta.

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal will be the Chief Guest at the ‘Millets-Smart Nutritive Food’ Conclave to be held in New Delhi tomorrow (05 December 2022, Monday). The Conclave is being organized by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry through its apex agricultural export promotion body, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) with the objective of promoting the export of millets. The Conclave is to be a pre-launch event of the ‘International Year of Millets – 2023’ (IYoM-2023).

 

 At the Millets Smart Nutritive Conclave, stakeholders of the supply chain such as Farmer Producer Organisations, Start-ups, exporters, producers of millet-based value-added products are key participants. At the Conclave, exhibition and B2B meeting will also be organized to showcase Indian millets and millet-based products.

 

 Minister of State for Commerce & Industry Smt. Anupriya Patel will be the Guest of Honour at the Millets Conclave. Senior government officials who will be present on the occasion include Union Commerce Secretary, Shri Sunil Barthwal, Agriculture Secretary, Shri Manoj Ahuja, APEDA Chairman Dr. M. Angamuthu and Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, Dr M. Balaji.

 

 The millets export promotion programme also comes at the backdrop of the proposal of India that was supported by 72 countries which lead to the United Nations’ General Assembly (UNGA) declaring 2023 as International Year of Millets (IYoM) on March 5, 2021.The government is currently organising IYoM-2023 at domestic and international level to popularize Indian millets as well as its value-added products across the world and make it a peoples’ movement.

 

 At the first-of-its-kind Millets Conclave, the government will release e-catalogue on 30 potential importing countries and 21 millet producing states of India. Also, a knowledge book on Millets prepared in association with Knowledge partner ‘Yes Bank’ will be released on the occasion.For exports of Indian millets’ promotion, the government has planned to facilitate participation of exporters, farmers and traders in 16 international trade expos and Buyer Seller Meets (BSMs).

 

 As per the government’s robust strategy to promote millets, Indian missions abroad would be roped in branding and publicity of Indian millets, identification of international chefs as well as potential buyers such as departmental stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets for organizing B2B meetings and direct tie-ups.

 

 In addition, Ambassadors of Foreign missions in India of the targeted countries and potential importers have been invited to showcase various millet-based products, including Ready to Eat millet products and facilitate B2B meetings.

 

 Centre has also planned to organize millet promotional activities in South Africa, Dubai, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Sydney, Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom and United States of America by facilitating participation of different stakeholders from India in some of the significant food shows, Buyer Seller Meets and Road Shows.

 

 As part of the promotion of Indian millets, APEDA has planned to showcase millets and its value-added product at various global platforms such as Gulfood 2023, Foodex, Seoul Food & Hotel Show, Saudi Agro Food, Fine Food Show in Sydney (Australia), Belgium’s Food & Beverages Show, Germany’s BioFach and Anuga Food Fair, San Francisco’s Winter Fancy Food Show, etc.

 

 India is one of the leading producers of millets in the world with an estimated share of around 41 percent in the global production. As per FAO, world production of millets in the year 2020 was 30.464 million metric tonnes (MMT) and India’s share was 12.49 MMT, which accounts to 41 percent of the total millet production. India recorded 27 percent growth in millet production in 2021-22 as compared to millet production in the previous year was 15.92 MMT.

 

 India’s top five millet producing states are Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Share of export of millets is nearly 1% of the total millet production. Exports of millets from India include mainly whole grain and the export of value-added products of millets from India is negligible.

 

 However, it is estimated that the millets market is set to grow from its current market value of more than USD 9 billion to over USD 12 billion by 2025. APEDA would also organise food sampling and tasting at the retail level and in key local bazaars of targeted countries where individual, household consumers can gain familiarity with millet products.

 

 Centre has created the Nutri Cereals Export Promotion Forum to give impetus to the export of potential products, including millets, and to remove the bottlenecks in the supply chain of Nutri cereals.

 

 Millets have superior nutritional values in comparison to highly consumed cereals such as rice and wheat. Millets are rich in calcium, iron, and fibers that help in fortifying essential nutrients for the healthy growth in children. Also, the usage of millets in infant food and nutrition products is increasing.

 

 As per the DGCIS data, India registered a growth of 8.02% in the export of millets in the financial year 2021-22 as the export of millets was 159,332.16 metric tonne against 147,501.08 metric tonne during the same period last year.India’s major millet exporting countries are U.A.E, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Oman, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, U.K and U.S.A. The varieties of millets exported by India include Bajra, Ragi, Canary, Jawar, and Buckwheat.The major millet importing countries in the world are Indonesia, Belgium, Japan, Germany, Mexico, Italy, the U.S.A, United Kingdom, Brazil and Netherlands.

 

There are 16 major varieties of millet, which are produced and exported, including Sorghum (Jowar), Pearl Millet (Bajra), Finger Millet (Ragi) Minor Millets (Kangani), Proso Millet (Cheena), Kodo Millet (Kodo), Barnyard Millet (Sawa/Sanwa/Jhangora), Little Millet (Kutki), Two Pseudo Millets (BuckWheat/Kuttu), Ameranthus (Chaulai) and Brown Top Millet.