Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar has said that today educated youth are getting attracted towards Agriculture sector and the government is continuously encouraging them through various schemes and programmes to join the Agriculture sector. Shri Tomar said this as the chief guest at the 2nd Sustainable Agriculture Summit & Awards organized by FICCI in New Delhi today.

 

Emphasizing on adopting a holistic approach in the Indian agriculture sector, Shri Tomar said that there is a need to have a balanced-holistic approach in the agriculture sector, which will lead to more rapid development of agriculture. Shri Tomar said that in the agriculture sector, instead of focusing on only a few crops, we should have a diversified vision for all crops, including increasing production and productivity. Shri Tomar said that agriculture has always been the priority of our country and we Indians have expertise in it. Agriculture is necessary for food security, but in the present political scenario, neighbouring, friendly and needy countries also need our help, for which our agriculture sector is also important.

 

Explaining the importance of millets (nutritious cereals) in the Indian tradition, Shri Tomar said that the demand and consumption of millets is increasing globally. On the initiative of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the United Nations has declared 2023 as the 'International Year of Millets', for which preparations are being made by the government. Prime Minister Shri Modi wants that nutri-cereals get respect again in the food platter, as it used to get earlier.

 

Shri Tomar said that after Shri Modi became the Prime Minister, an era of enthusiasm has been created in the agriculture sector of the country. He said that there are about 86 percent small farmers in the country, to promote whom the central government has taken several concrete steps, including a scheme to set up 10,000 new FPOs with an expenditure of Rs 6,865 crore. The central government is providing short-term loans to small farmers at concessional interest, increasing the limit to Rs 18 lakh crore. The central government has also focused on filling the gaps in agriculture infrastructure across the country. For this, the government has given one lakh crore rupees. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund has been set up, while many concrete measures have been taken for improvement in the areas related to agriculture including animal husbandry and fisheries. Explaining the importance of technology in the agriculture sector, he said that the government has allowed the use of drones in agriculture, while the scope of micro-irrigation along with emphasis on natural and organic farming to reduce the impact of climate change in the agriculture sector is also being expanded.

 

On this occasion, Joint Secretary of Agriculture Ministry, Shri Praveen Samuel along with many officials and entrepreneurs of FICCI and Yes Bank were present.

Visakhapatnam is contributing about 26% of AP’s total exports, said Unnikrishnan K, joint director-general, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).

 

The FIEO and the Union ministry of commerce jointly conducted an awareness session on ‘promoting Visakhapatnam as an export hub’ on Tuesday. The session was attended by about 150 exporters and entrepreneurs who have been given exposure to various emerging opportunities in exports from the district.

 

Unnikrishnan said that Vizag is the largest contributing district for AP’s exports. 'Focusing on port-led development can further enhance the industrial and export growth from Vizag. AP is currently ranked sixth among all states in terms of exports with a 4.6% share of total India’s exports. The state has the potential to reach the third position within the next five years by contributing 10% of India’s total exports,' said the FIEO joint director-general.

 

Vizag GST commissioner MRR Reddy highlighted various initiatives taken by the department for facilitating trade and ease of doing business. 'GST has made the entire value chain of operations efficient,' said Reddy.

Indian rice continues to be competitive in the global market despite the Centre curbing shipments and imposing 20 per cent export duty on non-basmati white rice. The Indian cereal’s competitiveness is despite prices rising by over $30 a tonne over the past two months. 

 

'Indian rice continues to be highly competitive in the global market. We are facing small hurdles in getting it cleared by Customs authorities,' said VR Vidya Sagar, Director, Bulk Logix. 

 

Shipment offers 

According to Thailand Rice Exporters Association data, India’s 5 per cent broken white rice is quoted at $397 against $365 on September 17 — a week after India imposed curbs and the duty — while Thailand is offering it at $440 ($444 three months ago), Pakistan at $437 ($413) and Vietnam at $442 ($403). 

 

'We are currently offering 5 per cent broken rice at $375-380 a tonne free-on-board (f.o.b), and 25 per cent broken at $375,' said Sagar. 

 

The Thai Rice Exporters Association said India was offering 25 per cent broken at $382 ($358), Thailand at $433 ($433), Vietnam at $422 ($383) and Pakistan at $417 ($383).

 

Issues with Customs 

'We are quoting parboiled rice at $380 a tonne f.o.b,' he said, adding that exporters faced documentation problems with Customs Department which was seeking one or the other document. 

 

Export of parboiled rice, which is allowed duty-free, is quoted at $377 ($378), while Thailand is offering the rice at $453 ($462) and Pakistan at $452 ($398). Vietnam does not produce parboiled rice. 

 

'Though the Centre has curbed exports, availability is not a problem,' Sagar said. 

 

'India is still the cheapest source of rice in the global market, especially the parboiled variety. The only problem is there is no clarity over the kharif crop,' said an official of a Delhi-based export-import firm.

 

Tight supply

'Supply is tight and the situation is not comfortable either in South-East Asia or Pakistan. Besides, rice from countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia are being smuggled into China, whose crop has been hit by a prolonged dry period,' said S Chandrasekaran, a trade analyst.

 

The kharif rice crop might be lower than the Ministry of Agriculture’s first advance estimates. According to the estimate, 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.

 

H1 exports 

Chandrasekaran said a clear picture of kharif rice production will be available by December-end. The export-import firm official said it will be January to get clarity on the situation. 'The crop may not be as low as feared,' he said.

 

'We are not getting any significant enquiry or orders, particularly to South-East Asia,' said M Madan Prakash, President, Agriculture Commodity Exporters Association. 

 

However, demand for Indian rice in West Asia and African countries continues, particularly for parboiled rice. The export-import firm official said the Centre could review the duty on white rice exports after January once the production scenario becomes clear. 

 

According to Agricultural and Processed Food Exports Development Authority (APEDA), non-basmati rice exports in the first half increased to 8.96 mt against 8.23 mt a year ago with the shipments fetching $3.03 billion against 2.97 billion.

 

4-year low stocks 

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.  

 

Last fiscal, India shipped out a record 17.26 mt of non-basmati rice fetching Rs.45,649.74 crore against 13.08 mt earning Rs.35,448.34 crore in 2020-21.

 

Over the last couple of years, India’s rice exports have been driven by record production. Last crop year (July 2021-June 2022), India produced a record 130.29 mt of rice.  

 

World’s No.1 Food Innovation Network, SIAL India powered by MoFPI (Ministry of Food Processing Industries) to be co-located with Vinexpo India, an event by Vinexposium, the leading global wine and spirits trade event organiser. The event is scheduled to take place in New Delhi from December 1-3,2022. The show, which is one of the first of its kind in India in the B2B space, is jointly organised by InterAds Exhibitions, Comexposium and Vinexposium.

 

The two leading shows have been brought together to amplify the perfect synergy between wine, beverages, and food. The last edition of SIAL India, co-located with Vinexpo India witnessed 200+ exhibitors from 22 countries with 8,000+ trade visitors, making it the ideal networking & business platform for the food & beverage industry.

 

After the great success of the SIAL 2019 & 2021 editions, SIAL 2022 is ready to bring 300+ exhibitors with 40+ countries participating and 10,000 visitors under one roof, making it a much more extensive and successful exhibition. The exposition has a great lineup of conferences, live cooking by renowned chefs and masterclasses among the activities. 'This is an incredible achievement to see this trade show grow in size and importance over the years. The 2022 edition will be vibrant, carrying all the promises of the Sial Network: Inspiration and business.', says Nicolas Trentesaux, SIAL Network CEO.

 

'Vinexpo India is returning to New Delhi with a greater international focus in 2023. A new trend in the geopolitics of wine marketing confirms the enhanced appeal of the Indian continent', comments Vinexposium CEO, Rodolphe Lameyse.

 

Rajan Sharma, MD, Inter Ads Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd., says, 'After two successful editions of Vinexpo India in one year, we are happy to be back with the third edition. We have strategically co-located SIAL and Vinexpo, giving the customers a complete end-to-end industry outlook by having food and alco-beverage under one roof.'

CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysuru - a constituent laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), under Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, is organizing a hybrid workshop on 'Egg-based value-added products – Processing, Packaging and Preservation' under CSIR Integrated Skill Initiative on Friday, December 9, 2022. Last date for registration is 04-12-2022.

 

Chicken egg is one of the leading livestock productions in India. India ranks third in the world hen eggs production and produced 5.7 MT of eggs in 2019. Even though India is the leading producer of hen eggs in the world, the annual consumption is about 86 eggs per person against a global average of about 161 eggs per person as on 2018-19.

 

Most eggs are served as fresh table eggs and any processed/ready-to-eat products of eggs are truly uncommon in India. Eggs are highly perishable and have limited shelf-life which need to be marketed immediately or processed into value-added products.

 

This hybrid workshop will be focused to create awareness for the value addition of egg-based products that would enhance the value and use of eggs to supplement human nutrition which will improve the sustainability and socio-economic development of the egg industry, poultry farmers and stakeholders.

 

The key topics of the workshop will be Eggs composition, nutrition, consumption and human health; Value added egg products; Egg based beverage and health food products; Chill food technology for egg-based snacks; Start-up opportunities in egg-based value products; Food Safety standards and regulation in egg processing.

 

The commerce ministry has floated a Cabinet note on a new scheme to develop select districts across the country as export hubs, official sources told FE. Under the scheme, the Centre could extend a total assistance of Rs 3,000-5,000 crore to not just states but also eligible private players for creating export infrastructure in select districts, they said.

 

The move comes at a time when India’s merchandise exports are faltering due to a demand slowdown in top markets like the US and the EU. Goods exports contracted 16.7% on year in October, the first drop in 20 months and the worst since May 2020. So, any support to boost exports of goods and services, which account for over a fifth of the country’s GDP, assumes significance at this juncture.

 

'The new scheme could have the characteristics of a centrally-sponsored scheme (where state governments will also pitch in with their funds) but it would include interested private players as well,' said one of the sources. The Cabinet could take up the proposal for approval before the next Budget, he added. 'Also, it would definitely be a part of the next foreign trade policy (which will be adopted from April 2023),' he added.

 

The assistance could be in the form of grants. Usually in a centrally-sponsored scheme (CSS), the Centre extends about 60% of the funds and 40% is borne by the states. Sources had earlier told FE that the commerce ministry could initially run pilot projects in about 50 districts across the country and gradually widen the initiative to cover more districts. Of course, a precise estimate of the assistance under the scheme would be firmed up after the concurrence of the finance ministry.

 

The move follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for developing each district into an export hub. Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has held several rounds of deliberations with stakeholders for this purpose, said the sources.

 

At present, while states are encouraged to develop key districts into export hubs, there is no specific central government support for this purpose. The new scheme is expected to encourage states to pitch in to further boost their exports as well.

Despite being the largest producer of bananas in the world, India is ranked 20th in exports and has a meagre 0.6 per cent share in the global banana trade. If India adopts an export-oriented strategy to upgrade the value chain, the country can increase its exports by four-fold and grab a spot among the top ten exporters.

 

India’s exports of bananas in FY22 was $160.52 million against global exports of $14.5 billion—a share of 0.6 per cent. Even, the world’s fifth largest producer Ecuador has a 24 per cent share.

 

According to K. Unnikrishnan, Joint Director General of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, or FIEO, India can reach at least $500 million exports within five years to grab a 3 per cent share in global trade and be one of the top 10 exporters if it improves production, post-harvest handling and phytosanitary standards.

 

'Our research institutions and other stakeholders should come forward to provide solutions to increase shelf-life, reduce skin damages and improve technology and infrastructure for pre- and post-harvest processes,' he said.

 

The government should encourage major retailers and department stores in India to invest in post-harvest channels to procure banana and sell through stores with specified standards, branding and packaging.

 

'We need branding of bananas and the state governments should come forward to create state-specific brands and promote them in major markets. State governments should also provide support for creating procurement, sorting, packing and processing centres,' he said.

 

Globally, bananas are exported entirely by sea-freight. However, in India, more than 60 per cent is exported through air. This costlier mode restricts marketability of Indian bananas. There is a need for closer association with major shipping lines.

 

The UAE, Iran and Saudi Arabia together contributed 80 per cent of India’s banana exports during 2021-22.

India is expected to harvest a bumper wheat crop in 2023 as high domestic prices and replenished soil moisture help farmers surpass last year's planting, while an intense heat-wave cut output this year.

 

Higher wheat output could encourage India, the world's second biggest producer of the grain, to consider lifting a May ban on exports of the staple and help ease concerns over persistently high retail inflation.

 

Although the wheat area has almost reached a plateau in India's traditional grain belts in the northern states such as Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, growers are planting the crop on some fallow land in the country's west where farmers have traditionally grown pulse and oilseeds.

 

'Wheat prices are very attractive,' Nitin Gupta, vice president at Olam Agro India, told Reuters. 'We can see a big jump in states like Gujarat and Rajasthan, where farmers could bring barren land under wheat.'

 

Domestic wheat prices have jumped 33% so far in 2022 to a record 29,000 rupees ($355.19) per tonne, far above the government-fixed buying price of 21,250 rupees.

 

The surge in wheat prices is despite the ban on exports of the grain, indicating a far bigger drop in this year's output.

 

India, also the world's second biggest consumer of wheat, banned exports of the staple after a sharp, sudden rise in temperatures clipped output even as exports picked up to meet the global shortfall triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

 

India grows only one wheat crop in a year, with planting in October and November, and harvests from March.

 

Farmers have planted wheat on 15.3 million hectares since Oct. 1, when the current sowing season began, up nearly 11% from a year earlier, according to provisional data released by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare.

 

In Punjab and Haryana, India's bread basket states, a lot of farmers decided to bring forward their planting, believing the early-sown varieties would be ready for harvests before temperatures tend to go up in late March and early April, said Ramandeep Singh Mann, a farmer.

 

Higher temperatures shrivel the wheat crop.

 

'In Punjab, farmers have already planted wheat on 2.9 to 3.0 million hectares of its normal area of around 3.5 million hectares,' Mann said.

 

To cash in on higher prices, farmers are also opting for superior wheat varieties such as Lokwan and Sharbati, the premium grades that fetch higher returns.

 

'Wheat area has gone up, but the crop will require lower temperatures in the weeks to come, and then the weather needs to remain favourable in March and April when the crop ripens,' said Rajesh Paharia Jain, a New Delhi-based trader.

The government's paddy procurement for the central pool rose over nine per cent to 306.06 lakh tonnes so far in the ongoing 2022-23 kharif marketing season, according to the food ministry data. Higher quantities of paddy were purchased from Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.

 

Normally, paddy procurement begins immediately after the withdrawal of the Southwest monsoon from October onwards. However in southern states, especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, it begins from September.

 

The government aims to procure 775.72 lakh tonnes of paddy in the 2022-23 kharif marketing season (October-September). The actual procurement stood at record 759.32 lakh tonnes in the previous kharif marketing season.

 

According to the official data, the total paddy purchase has increased to 306.06 lakh tonnes till November 27 of the 2022-23 kharif marketing season from 280.51 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period.

 

While the paddy procurement in Punjab showed a decline of 2.76 per cent to 181.62 lakh tonnes so far this marketing year from 186.79 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period, the buying of the grain in neighbouring Haryana remained higher by 8.18 per cent at 58.96 lakh tonnes as against 54.50 lakh tonnes during the comparable period.

 

In Chhattisgarh, the paddy procurement has already reached 16.88 lakh tonnes so far this year, while it had not started in the same period corresponding year, the data showed.

 

In Telangana, the paddy procurement remained higher at 16.18 lakh tonnes so far this year as against 10.94 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period. Similarly in Uttar Pradesh, procurement rose to 10.28 lakh tonnes paddy from 9.20 lakh tonnes in the said period.

 

The paddy procurement is undertaken by both state-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) and private agencies. The paddy is procured at the minimum support price directly from the farmers and is utilised for meeting the demand under several welfare schemes.

 

Paddy is grown in both kharif (summer) and rabi (winter) seasons. But 80 per cent of the country's total paddy production comes from the kharif season.

 

According to the first estimate of the agriculture ministry, the country's paddy production is estimated to decline 6 per cent to 104.99 million tonnes in the 2022-23 kharif season due to decrease in paddy acreage in the wake of poor rains in key producing states, especially in Jharkhand.

India and Israel will collaborate to establish 16 centres of excellence (CoE) in agriculture under the ongoing Indo-Israel Agricultural Project. On completion, the total number of CoEs operating in India will increase to 45, and cover 21 states, an Israel Embassy official said.

 

The focus area for each centre will depend upon the local requirement and will be finalised by respective state governments. Israel’s contribution to the project comes in the form of technical assistance, resource persons and training programmes offered in India and Israel.

 

In a media interaction during a visit to the CoE for Vegetables in Gharaunda, Karnal, Haryana, Sudhir Kumar Yadav, Deputy Director (Horticulture), Haryana said the CoE Gharaunda has been established to demonstrate the protected cultivation technology of high-value vegetables. Since the start of the India-Israel project, the area under protected cultivation has increased from 61 acres to over 3,000 acres, he said.

 

The CoE demonstrates the technology of micro-irrigation with different types of micro-irrigation systems and offers demonstration classes for farmers on how to produce high-quality diseases free, healthy seedlings in the soil in addition to providing the technical know-how and training to farmers. The demand for seedlings from CoEs in Haryana alone has gone up from 20 lakh in 2011 to over 2 crores this year, Yadav said.

 

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), 29 CoEs’ are fully active in twelve states (Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal). The objective is to have at least one CoE in each state.

 

Each CoE specializes in some sub-segments like vegetables, citrus, pomegranates, mangoes etc.

 

One of the recently set up CoEs for vegetables in Chandauli (Uttar Pradesh) plans seedling production of tomato, pepper, brinjal, chilli, cucumber, tomato, pepper, brinjal, chilli and exotic vegetables in the hi-tech climate-controlled greenhouse. This centre will demonstrate farming with fertigation and chemigation systems. Demonstrations of the installation of seepage, sprinkler irrigation and other plastic culture applications are also planned.

 

India and Israel signed a comprehensive work plan for cooperation in agriculture on May 10, 2006. The bilateral projects are implemented through MASHAV (Center for International Cooperation of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and CINADCO (Centre for International Agricultural Development Cooperation of Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development).

 

Agricultural cooperation between the two sides is formalized through three-year action plans. The two sides are currently implementing the fifth phase of the joint action plan (2021-23), MEA notes.