Leading South Korean feedmaker Nonghyup Feed Inc. (NOFI) has issued an international tender to purchase up to 65,000 tonnes of animal feed wheat, European traders said on Tuesday.

 

The deadline for submission of price offers in the tender is also Tuesday, Nov. 1.

 

The wheat is sought for arrival in South Korea in one consignment in December 2022.

The free trade agreement that was signed by India and Australia earlier this year is expected to be implemented soon, an official statement released by the commerce and industry ministry said.

 

While both nations had signed an interim free trade deal—Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) in April, the ratification of the deal in the Australias Parliament remains pending amid the procedural delays caused by the formation of a new government in Australia.

 

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and Don Farrell, Minister of Trade and Tourism of Australia on Tuesday virtually discussed the trade pact–IndAus ECTA--that was signed seven months ago. The ministers noted that an early implementation of the trade pact is in the best interest of both the countries.

 

During the meeting, Farrell informed that the IndAus ECTA as well as the amendments to the domestic regulation of Australia for resolving the issues related to Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) had been introduced in the Australia Parliament.

 

The trade agreement is likely to be ratified ‘shortly’ after a joint standing committee on the treaty submits its report to the Australian Parliament. He also said that the processes related to the ratification of the agreement will be completed in the following weeks.

 

The Parliament session after the formation of the new government in Australia started in July. The deal can be ratified after they get an approval from the Parliamentary committee.

 

Both nations also agreed to hold the annual Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) meeting sometime early next year. In the meantime, experts from both sides will have their first round of discussions, which will lay a roadmap for the JMC meeting.

 

'Delegations noted that both nations share a special partnership based on mutual values of pluralistic parliamentary democracies, expanding economic strategic engagement and long-standing people to people ties. Meeting concluded with both the parties acknowledging the need to redefine their economic relations exploring the opportunities offered in trade and investment,' an official statement said.

 

Under the interim trade deal, Canberaa will provide duty-free access in its market for over 6,000 sectors of India and help in taking bilateral trade to $50 billion in next five years. The deal will also offer relief to Indian IT companies operating in Australia, as Canberra has agreed to amend its domestic laws to stop taxing offshore income of such companies, as part of ECTA.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday will address the inaugural function of Invest Karnataka, the Global Investors Meet via video conferencing. Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate the event at 10:30 am on 2 November

 

According to the Prime Ministers's office, the meet is aimed at attracting prospective investors and setting up development agenda for the next decade.

 

The three-day programme, being held from 2 to 4 November in Bengaluru, would witness more than 80 speaker sessions.

 

The speakers include some of the top industry leaders including Kumar Mangalam Birla, Sajjan Jindal, Vikram Kirloskar among others. Along with this, a number of business exhibitions with more than three hundred exhibitors, and country sessions would run parallelly.

 

The country sessions would each be hosted by the partner countries - France, Germany, Netherlands, South Korea, Japan, and Australia - which would be bringing in high-level ministerial and industrial delegations from their respective countries.

 

CM Basavaraj Bommai has called 'Invest Karnataka' an important meeting wherein all technocrats, young engineers, IT/BT experts, startups, educational institutions, and global and domestic investors are welcome.

 

'Invest Karnataka' is going to grab the attention of the whole world. Global investment is coming here as Karnataka has a rich atmosphere. This will put a strong foundation for the development of Karnataka in the next five years,' CM Bommai said.

 

The Karnataka CM said he is expecting over Rs.5 lakh crore investment and the State High level Committee has already given clearance for an investment of over Rs.2.8 lakh crore.

 

'The State of Karnataka is making a big leap in the industrial sector and it will be evident, ' he added.

 

Bommai said most of the investors have shown interest in investment beyond Bengaluru, and new industries are coming up in Ramanagar, Hubballi-Dharwad, Ballari, Kalaburagi, and Mysuru.

 

Today, industries are crossing the regional barrier. The dream of Beyond Bengaluru is becoming a reality. Last week, the FMCG Cluster to come up in Dharwad was inaugurated in Hubballi and expected an investment of Rs.10,000 crore. It is going to provide employment to over one lakh people. The textile park will come up in Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, and Raichur districts; Pharma Park in Yadgir; Electronic Park in Mysuru and Defense production unit in Tumkur. 'The situation is conducive in Karnataka and plays an important role in building New Karnataka. We aim to contribute One Trillion Dollar to the Prime Minister's five Trillion dollar economy of India. The ecosystem that exists in China is present in Karnataka. The state has made achievements in the manufacturing sector.

 

Besides, it is at the forefront in the fields of electrical, mechanical, energy, iron, and steel. Apart from this, a strong foundation has been laid for Electronic and Artificial Intelligence. We have been at the forefront of IT/BT in the last two decades, and Bengaluru is called Silicon Valley. The contribution of Karnataka in IT/BT export is 40 % and the maximum number of jobs in this field is created in IT/BT. The state is ahead in agriculture production, IT/BT, Startups and others. The industrial policy, Ease of Doing Business has helped attract investment here. The State has attracted 38% of Foreign Direct Investment in the last four quarters.

The Indian Food Safety Authority, FSSAI, has decided to extend the deadline for its order on requirement of ‘health certificate’ with imported food consignments. The date for implementation of the order is now set for January 1, 2023.

 

The FSSAI has stated that the decision was taken after considering the request from the WTO (World Trade Organization) members.

 

'Comments were sought from the WTO members. Considering the comments received from the trading partners in respect of implementation time, it has been decided that the date of implementation of said order shall be extended by two months and the order will be effective from 1st January 2023,' reads the order.

 

The food authority had issued an order in August 2022 and the subsequent clarification in September on the subject.

 

In the August order, the FSSAI has ordered that from November 1, 2022, the imported consignment of milk and milk products, pork & pork products and fish & fish products would be required to be accompanied by a health certificate issued by a competent authority of the exporting country.

 

The food authority has also prescribed the format of the health certificate to be accompanied with such imported food categories wherein attestations were required regarding sanitary and food safety related conditions and a general condition that the source animal shall not be fed with feed containing meat or bone meal including internal organs, blood meal and issues of bovine or porcine origin material except milk and milk products and has/have not been manufactured using animal rennet.

 

Further, the September clarification stated, 'It is clarified that an integrated/single certificate incorporating food safety related requirement/attestations is also accepted by FSSAI at the time of import clearance.'

 

The clarification added that it may be ensured that integrated certificates shall incorporate all the information as per format notified by the FSSAI in August 2022.

Days after helping Bhutan to transport a consignment of vehicles from Chennai, Indian Railways have started exploring logistic trade ties with the neighbouring country.

 

Officials of The Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) on Tuesday met a delegation comprising officials of Bhutan’s foreign ministry, trade bodies and chamber of commerce at Alipurduar junction in North Bengal.

 

'The meeting was held aiming towards trade collaborations between the NFR and government of Bhutan, supporting the logistics avenues for future linkages with Bhutan,' Chief Public Relations Officers of NFR, Sabyasachi De said in a statement. The NFR headquarters is stationed at Maligaon in Guwahati.

 

The meeting was held after NFR transported a consignment of 75 utility vehicles from Chennai to Hasimara railway station on October 28 by a new modified goods rake, a rake specially designed to transport light motor vehicles. This was the first consignment of goods to Bhutan. The consignment reached Alipurduar division on October 28. Further the consignment was taken to Bhutan by roadways.

 

'The delegation intends to visit Changrabandha station in the near future. Discussions related to movement of auto-mobiles, cement, stone commodities and augmenting people to people connection and tourism development were also held,' De said.

 

The delegations from Bhutan visited Hasimara railway station where infrastructure is being strategically developed by the N. F. Railway for enabling trade with Bhutan. A plan to build a siding along with a warehouse in collaboration with the Central Warehousing Corporation is underway to promote logistic trade with Bhutan.

 

'The Alipurduar division told the Bhutan delegation about the vision of railways as the prime eco-friendly mode of transportation for goods logistic and as a sustainable option for mass movement in the country and also in South-East Asia. Railway explained to the delegates of Bhutan government the cost competitiveness and strategic abilities to transport goods in bulk and expeditiously to markets across India and Bhutan. Indian Railways have already taken up new projects for cross-border linkages by laying a broad-gauge railway track from Kokrajhar in Assam to Gelephu in Bhutan,' De said.

The Indian Government has permitted duty-free exports of six lakh tonnes (lt) of paddy (rice in husk) to Nepal in a move that is seen as helping the Himalayan nation meet its food security.

 

In a notification issued on Monday night (October 31), the Ministry of Finance said the quantity permitted will be from the date of notification -October 31, 2022. 

 

A trade analyst said the move could be a political one as part of India’s efforts to get Nepal away from further strengthening its ties with China. 

 

Relief for exporters

The notification should come as a relief to exporters since shipments of rice, particularly steamed rice, got held up after India restricted the grain’s exports from September 9.

 

In a notification issued on September 8, the Centre banned exports of fully broken rice and imposed a 20 per cent export duty on non-basmati white (raw) rice. Basmati and parboiled (boiled) rice have been exempted from any shipment curbs. 

 

Nepal is a major consumer of steamed rice and it imports nearly 10 lt of the variety annually. Its shipments had got held up after Customs authorities treated it as white rice.

 

However, the Food Corporation of India clarified that steamed rice does not fall under the category of raw rice since it was being treated. 

 

In another significant development, the Finance Ministry has permitted duty-free exports of organic non-basmati rice. The analyst said this was a move to promote the export of organic products by the Centre. 

 

Removing ambiguities

The notification said such organic rice consignments should be accompanied by transactional, including provisional, certificates from an organisation authorised by the National Accreditation Body for Organic Products under the National Programme for Organic Production. 

 

The Finance Ministry notification has removed all ambiguities on permitting exports of rice, which are banned or attract export duty. It said broken rice shipments would be permitted if the exporter had obtained a letter of credit (LoC) before September 9. 

 

The notification said non-basmati white rice would be permitted for exports duty-free if the same LoC conditions were met. This comes on the heels of the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade issuing a notification permitting the export of 3.97 lt of fully broken rice for which LoCs had been opened before September 9. 

 

The Indian Government decided to curb rice shipments after the area under kharif rice dropped 5.5 per cent and central pool stocks with the FCI dropped to a three-year low. As of October 1, rice stocks with the FCI were 20.46 million tonnes (mt) and those of unmilled paddy 11.82 mt. 

 

However, The Rice Exporters Association (TREA) said the notification had missed a crucial issue by not adding 'or' in the notification that allowed duty-free permits of shipments for which LoCs had been opened before September 9. According to BV Krishna Rao, the notification should have said duty-free exports of white and fully broken rice would be allowed if the LoCs had been opened before September 9 'and/or the consignments had entered the container freight stations'.

 

The missing of 'or' could now pose problems for consignments that have valid LoCs but had not entered any CFS before September 9. Efforts are on to get the issue rectified.

 

India’s kharif rice, foodgrain production estimated lower than last year 

 

First advance estimate pegs foodgrain output 6.12 mt lower; record maize, sugarcane crop likely

 

The decision was made, particularly, after the area under paddy during the kharif season dropped by over 5 per cent in view of deficient rainfall in key growing regions in West Bengal, eastern Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Jharkhand.

 

Kharif rice output has been estimated lower at 104.99 mt than 111.76 mt a year ago. 

 

Export of rice (both basmati and non-basmati) increased by 19 per cent to $5.5 billion from $4.6 billion in the first half of the current fiscal. Non-basmati rice shipments during the period have been pegged at 8.95 mt, almost at par with the year-ago period. 

 

The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar has said that our farmers are venerable and adorable like the soldiers, guarding the borders of the country. He said, farmers do a lot of sacrifice to feed the countrymen and added that farming and securing the borders are equally important vocations, which enriches the soul of the country.

 

Shri Tomar said this at a programme on the ‘Expansion of Horticulture Value Chain in India’ in Pune today. This programme was organized by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, in which people related to horticulture field including farmers, FPOs, start-ups and bankers were present.

 

Shri Tomar in his address said that if the villages are prosperous and self-reliant, then the country itself will become prosperous and self-sufficient. Shri Tomar said that agriculture is our priority and the backbone of our economy. He said that there is a need to pioneer the agriculture sector because the traditional economy of agriculture and villages is the biggest strength of the country. No matter how adverse the situation, agriculture always proves helpful for our economy. He said that the merchant-entrepreneur should give the maximum price of agricultural produce to the farmer. This will not only make our farmers prosperous but also inspire the next generation to do farming.  

 

Shri Tomar said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promoted indigenous technology in agriculture in the last 8 years. Shri Modi always lay emphasis on local and traditional methods of farming in tune with modern changing techniques to remain relevant in global competition. The Minister said that Shri Modi has not only talked about increasing the income of farmers, but also took several measures by associating State governments and by directly involving farmers.

 

Shri Tonar said, that today youth, retired employees, and people associated with the corporate sector are also coming forward for farming. People's interest in organic and natural farming is also increasing. There has been a record export of agricultural products worth Rs. 4 lakh crore.

 

To promote farming and to raise the standard of living of farmers, schemes like Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan), Agriculture Infrastructure Fund of Rs 1 lakh crore, Digital Agriculture Mission, Drone Technology, e-NAM, PM irrigation are being implemented.

 

Shri Tomar said that today India is self-sufficient in food grains. India ranks first or second in the world in most agricultural products. Along with food crops, horticulture cultivation is also being promoted. For small farmers, the Central Government started the Horticulture Mission and scheme of FPOs. Efforts are being made that small farmers should do farming together so that they get maximum benefits. By uniting in the FPO and cluster system, the farmers will not have to go to the traders, but the traders will be forced to come to them to buy the produce. He said that along with the production of food grains, the horticulture sector, especially the cultivation of vegetables and flowers, plays an important role in increasing the income of the farmers. Shri Tomar said that it is necessary to pay attention to the cultivation of fruits, vegetables and millets because only food grains will not work for the nutrients.  

 

Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Mr. Abdul Sattar and State Horticulture Minister Mr. Sandipanrao Bhumre, Union Agriculture Secretary Mr. Manoj Ahuja, Additional Secretary Mr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Joint Secretary Mr. Priya Ranjan, Horticulture Commissioner Mr. Prabhat Kumar, Maharashtra Agriculture Secretary Mr. Eknath Navale were present on this occasion. Shri Tomar honored the farmers and inaugurated the Horticulture Exhibition.

While representing India at the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting on Tuesday, Union Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar underlined that the Chabahar port and International North-South Transport Corridor will help to improve connectivity and unlock the economic potential of the region. The 21st SCO meeting which was conducted in a virtual format focused mainly on the trade and economic agenda of the Organization.

 

'Represented India at the meeting of SCO Council of Heads of Government which has just concluded. Underlined that we need better connectivity in the SCO region built on centrality of interests of Central Asian states,' Jaishankar tweeted.

 

'Will unlock the economic potential of this region in which Chabahar port and the International North-South Transport Corridor could become enablers. Connectivity projects should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States and respect international law,' he added.

 

The minister also highlighted the Mission LiFE project launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which aspires to replace the 'use and dispose of' economy, with a circular economy.

 

'Our total trade with SCO Members is only USD 141 billion, which has the potential to increase manifold. Fair market access is to our mutual benefit and the only way to move forward,' the minister said in another tweet.

 

Several members of the Organization expressed their condolences on the Morbi bridge collapse in which 135 innocent people lost their lives.

 

Union Minister also affirmed that India looks forward to its ongoing chairmanship of the SCO and is actively engaged in all the activities and dialogue mechanisms of the organization. The leaders of the SCO met last month in Samarkand, during the annual meeting of the organization. 

 

On the sidelines of the SCO meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and reviewed the Chabahar Port with other developments, including the Taliban-takeover of Afghanistan.

 

The Chabahar Port was developed by India, Iran, and Afghanistan in the Sistan-Balochistan province to boost connectivity and trade ties. The project ran into several problems after the United States withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and re-imposed sanctions on Iran and the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.

India is finally able to export pomegranate arils to the United States again, says Kaushal Khakhar, CEO of Indian fresh produce exporter Kay Bee Exports: 'The restriction on export of pomegranate arils from India to the USA was declared in October 2018. Now, we have re-acquired market access after a gap of almost four years. This has been possible with the tireless efforts put in by India’s NPPO (National Plant Protection Organisation) as well as APEDA, the export promotion council in charge of fresh products.'

 

The pomegranate aril traders from India have their work cut out for them, as it’ll be challenging to regain the market share these arils once had in the United States, Khakhar explains. 'The USA have their own domestic production as well as import from other. However, only India can offer a year-round supply with consistent supply in terms of volume, quality and appearance. The Bhagwa variety of pomegranates is renowned for its soft and sweet arils apart from its deep red coloration. To achieve this requires the implementation of good agronomy practices along with a high level of farmers’ integration. Two aspects that Kay Bee Exports has good expertise in.

 

'Once a certain origin has been out of supply for several years, as it is the case here, it is challenging for this source of supply to gain back its market share rapidly. We are counting on the superiority of our pomegranates with their taste and quality to help us regain the market share. In regards to Indian pomegranates, the USA remains an emerging market when compared with the European market, where arils from India are already largely available and their benefits are well recognised. We expect to gradually acquire market share in the USA as the per capita consumption of arils is higher there than in the other developed markets,' Khakhar says.

 

Overall, India has all that it requires to send pomegranate arils all over the world, including long distance destinations, Khakhar states: 'Several cities in the USA are well connected to the main Indian’s airports thanks to European and Middle Eastern carriers. Moreover, Kay Bee Exports has an in-house IATA accredited freight-forwarding division. This is a significant and unique advantage which allows us not only to get more flexibility and economical flight solutions from the airlines but also a perfect understanding of the cold chain requirements of a product like the arils. Indeed, the temperature during transit is of the utmost importance to guarantee our customers to receive a product with the highest level of freshness and an uncompromised shelf-life.'

 

As their pomegranate arils have all the certifications that the US market requires, Khakhar has good hopes for the current season: 'Indian pomegranate arils will be banking on its quality for regaining market presence in USA. We are hopeful that in the times to come, we will be able to make our presence felt within this niche category. In order to provide the best quality of arils to its customers, we have integrated our production and source pomegranates from our own orchards. These are not only Global GAP certified but are also accredited to social and ethical standards. Moreover, the arils are extracted in a high-care unit which is BRC Grade AA+ approved. This is the highest grade possible to assess the level of food safety and good manufacturing processes in place,' he concludes.

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India is organizing an event Event -'Expansion of Horticulture Value Chain in India – Potential and Opportunities' on 1st November 2022 at VAMNICOM, Pune, Maharashtra. Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers will be the Chief Guest on this occasion.  He will inaugurate the Exhibition and felicitate farmers, FPOs, Agri Start-ups, entrepreneurs, bankers etc. for their contribution in the field of Horticulture. Also, he will also launch a Book, 'Organic Packaging of Practice for Horticultural Crops', a compilation of Success Stories of Horticulture Sector, a book on Mission Organic Value Chain. 

 

The event 'Expansion of Horticulture Value Chain in India – Potential and Opportunities' will address number of farmers, Agri Start-ups, Researchers, Policymakers, Bankers and other stakeholders. The event will bring relevant stakeholders such as farmers, FPOs, Centre of Excellence (CoE) in various crops, ICAR Crop Specific National Research Centres, Precision Farming Development Centres on same platform.

 

Details of the Technical Sessions by relevant stakeholders from public as well as private entities being proposed during the function are as follow:

 

Programs and opportunities in Exotic, Indigenous and high value horticultural crops:

This session shall talk about the overview of opportunities in Exotic, Indigenous and high value horticultural crops by the representative from Department of Agriculture & Farmer’s’ Welfare. Also, speakers will talk about learning on optimizing the Horti value chain in Organic farming with success story on exotic fruit by the farmer.

 

Programs and Opportunities in Flowers Cultivation

This session shall talk about the opportunities, challenges, and road/ way ahead in the Floriculture by the representative from ICAR-Directorate of Floricultural Research. Also, speakers will talk about the Growth and Success story on E-commerce of Floriculture and on Waste to Wealth start-up respectively.

 

GAP and Extension Innovations in Horticulture

This session shall talk about the role of Technology and Innovation in Horticulture in India by the representative from ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research. Also, speakers will talk about the roles of technology in fresh farm produce and successful FPOs for the horticulture

 

Post-Harvest Technologies, Infrastructure, Institutions and challenges

This session shall talk about the overview of Post-Harvest Technologies in Horticulture by the representative from National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM). Also, discussion about leading the Food Technology through Innovation in Horticulture and Role of Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) therein by their representative.

 

Marketing and Export of Horticultural Commodities and Agri/Horti Start ups

This session shall talk about the export opportunities for the Indian Horticulture by the representative by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). A panel discussion with market/ established players involved in Horticulture Value Chain activity shall be organized on Marketing and Export of Horticultural Commodities and Agri/Horti Start-ups.

 

Evolving innovation in Mechanization for horticulture

This session shall talk about the Mechanization in Horticulture and Overview and role of ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research therein. Also, speakers will also talk about the Innovative Problem driven solutions for Horticulture and Sustainable agriculture for rural India.

 

Pest Free Area: Systems approach for export of Horticulture Product

This session shall talk about the Overview of Pest Free Horticulture Produce by the representative from Directorate of Plant Protection Quarantine & Storage. Also, speakers will also talk about Opportunities for export of Horticulture produce and success story of women entrepreneur on Organic Horticulture Exports.