The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) is an apex-Export Trade Promotion government body, which serves as a vital interface between farmers and other stakeholders involved in product export into the international market.

 

In order to boost the export of horticulture products grown across northeastern states, the centre formulating a robust strategy to promote its locally-grown agricultural products into the international markets.

 

According to the APEDA Chairman – M. Angamuthu, the NE region is geopolitically important, as it shares international boundaries with China, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Bangladesh making it the potential hub for the export of agricultural produce to neighbouring countries as well as other foreign destinations.

 

'This strategic location of NER makes it the potential hub for export of horticultural produce to neighboring countries. Horticultural crops in the NE region cover 857 thousand ha, constituting 2.34% of the total horticulture area in the country,' – he stated.

 

'From the production point of view, NE region produces about 7815 thousand MT of horticulture produce and contributes 6.79% to the total production basket of the country. The NE region witnessed more than 200 percent growth in the export of agricultural products as it increased from USD 14.16 million in 2020-21 to USD 50.84 million in 2021-22,' – he added.

 

Major horticultural crops grown in the NE region include – citrus, pineapple, kiwi, mango, guava, litchi, banana etc. among fruits, potato, onion, tomato, cauliflower, cabbage, brinjal, beans etc. among vegetables, chrysanthemum, anthurium, rose, orchids etc. in flowers, ginger, turmeric large cardamom, coriander, cumin among spices and cashew nut, arecanut and tea etc. among plantation crops.

 

He further mentioned that a series of outreach programs, International Buyer seller meets, Exposure visits have been organized in collaboration with the state governments of northeast to boost the exports of fresh produce from the region.

 

Due to the unwavering efforts, several products sourced from the region were exported to new destinations. These includes – Export consignment of Jackfruit from Tripura-UK & Tripura-Germany; Shipment of Burmese Grapes, Tender Jackfruit and Green Chilli from Assam-UAE; Tezpur Litch (GI) from Assam-UK; Assam lemon (GI) from Assam’s Baksha district to UK; Export of Iron rich Red Rice from Assam-USA; King Chilly (Raja Mircha) from Nagaland to London; Assam Lemon (Kaji Nemu) to UK & UAE; Export of Flat Beans (Lab-Lab Beans) to UK& UAE; Natural Honey from Assam to USA; Trial Shipment of fresh organic pineapples from Manipur-Dubai.

 

Responding to a query on export market for pineapples from the northeast, the APEDA Chairman asserted that 'he total import value of Pineapple was USD 2430.50 million in 2020 and India’s total export was USD 3.07 million.'

 

'We are in the process of launching several efforts to encourage the export of pineapples. Pineapples from the North Eastern Region were recently promoted by APEDA in Lulu Hyper Mart, a prominent retail chain store in Dubai. Buyers gave positive feedback, regarding their satisfaction with the flavour and quality of pineapple from the northeastern regions,' – he added.

 

The APEDA Chairman further noted that 'In order to promote agri exports, APEDA has provided a sufficient budget for regional development initiatives in the north eastern region. But other line ministries also have a budget allocation clause for the development of the North Eastern Region, which includes exports and agricultural output. For utilizing resources in a coordinated way, APEDA is working to create a synergy with all line Ministries and relevant groups.'

 

APEDA was established by the Government of India under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act passed by the Parliament in December, 1985. This Act came into effect from February 13, 1986 by a notification issued in the Gazette of India : Extraordinary : Part-II [Sec. 3(ii): 13.2.1986].

 

It is mandated with the responsibility of export promotion and development of scheduled products such as – Fruits & Vegetables; Meat and Meat Products; Poultry and Poultry Products; Dairy Products; Confectionery, Biscuits and Bakery Products; Honey, Jaggery and Sugar Products; Cocoa and its products, chocolates of all kinds; Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Beverages; Cereal and Cereal Products; Groundnuts, Peanuts and Walnuts; Pickles, Papads and Chutneys; Guar Gum; Floriculture and Floriculture Products; Herbal and Medicinal Plants.

 

APEDA also functions as the Secretariat to the National Accreditation Board (NAB) for implementation of accreditation of the Certification Bodies under National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) for organic exports.

 

Since 1986, India’s agricultural & processed food product exports have witnessed exponential growth. APEDA in collaboration with farmers, exporters, processors & state governments are significantly contributing to achieve Prime Minister – Narendra Modi’s target of achieving $400 billion mercantile exports during the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021-22.

 

Its worth noting that on August 2021, PM Modi launched a national effort to achieve the aforementioned target in order to boost economic growth at a time when other factors such as private consumption and investment have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

India displaced Vietnam as the top supplier of rice to China between January and August this year before the Narendra Modi government curbed rice exports from September 9. 

 

According to China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC), the Communist nation’s rice imports increased by 42.5 per cent during the January-August period this year to 4.56 million tonnes (mt) with the value declining by 11.5 per cent.

 

Used as feed

During the same period a year ago, Beijing imported 3.2 mt of rice, which was 1.5 times more than in 2020. Since 2020, China has increased its rice imports, particularly broken rice which is used for making noodles and as animal feed.  

 

Chinese media said rice was used as feed grain and hence its imports were higher. Lower global prices encouraged more purchases, they claimed quoting experts. 

 

However, trade analysts said the moot point was that Chinese rice imports had increased by 34.8 per cent in August and over 70 per cent in July. They said China probably upped its imports after it realised the impact of the 75-day heatwave that the Communist nation experienced since June.

India is the largest producer of fruits and second largest producer of vegetables in the world. In spite of that per capita availability of fruits and vegetables is quite low because of post harvest losses which account for about 25% to 30% of production. Besides, quality of a sizable quantity of produce also deteriorates by the time it reaches the consumer. Most of the problems relating to the marketing of fruits and vegetables can be traced to their perishability.

 

Perishability is responsible for high marketing costs, market gluts, price fluctuations and other similar problems. At low temperature, perishability is considerably reduced and the shelf life is increased and thus the importance of cold storage or refrigeration. The first cold store in India was reported to have been established in Calcutta in 1892. However significant progress in the expansion of the cold storage industry in the country has been made only after independence.

 

With a view to ensuring the observance of proper conditions in the cold stores and to providing for development of the industry in a scientific manner, Government of India and the ministry of agriculture promulgated an order known as 'Cold Storage Order, 1964' under Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act,1955. The Agricultural Marketing Advisor to Government of India is the Licencing Officer. A cold storage facility accessible to them will go a long way in removing the risk of distress sale to ensure better returns.

 

The estimated annual production of fruits and vegetables in the country is about 130 million tonnes. This accounts for 18% of our agricultural output. Due to diverse agro climatic conditions and better availability of package of practices, the production is gradually rising. Although, there is a enormous scope for increasing the production, the lack of cold storage and cold chain facilities are becoming major concerns in tapping the potential. The cold storage facilities now available are mostly for a single commodity like potato, orange, apple, grapes, pomegranates, flowers, which results in poor capacity utilisation.

 

Foods and many other commodities can be preserved by storage at low temperature, which retards the activities of micro organisms. Micro organisms spoils the food  and consist of bacteria, yeasts and molds. Low temperature does not destroy micro-organisms as does high temperature, but gradually reduces their activities, providing a practical way of preserving perishable foods in their natural state which otherwise is not possible through heating. The low temperature necessary for preservation depends on the storage time required often referred to as short or long term shortage and the type of product.

 

In general, there are three groups of products:

Foods that are alive at the time of storage, distribution and sale e.g. fruits and vegetables, Foods that are no longer alive and have been processed in some form e.g. meat and fish products, and Commodities that benefit from storage at controlled temperature e.g. beer, tobacco, khandsari.

 

Living foods such as fruits and vegetables have some natural protection against the activities of micro organism. The best method of preserving these items is to keep the product alive and at the same time retard the natural enzyme activity which will retard the rate of ripening or maturity.

 

Preservation of non-living foods is more difficult since they are susceptible to spoilage. The problem is to preserve dead tissues from decay and putrefaction. Long term storage of meat and fish product can only be achieved by freezing and then by storing it at temperature below -15°C. Only certain fruits and vegetables can benefit from freezing.

 

However, for fruits and vegetables one should be very careful about the recommended storage temperature and humidity a deviation from which will have adverse effect on the stored product leading to even loss of the entire commodity.

 

Products such as apples, tomatoes, oranges, etc. cannot be frozen and close control of temperature is necessary for long term storage. Some product can also be benefited by storing under controlled atmosphere and modified atmosphere conditions.

 

Dairy products are produced from animal fats and therefore non living foodstuffs. They suffer from the oxidation and breakdown of their fats, causing rancidity. Packaging to exclude air and hence Oxygen can extend storage life of such foodstuffs.

 

Technology

A cold storage unit incorporates a refrigeration system to maintain the desired room environment for the commodities to be stored.

 

A refrigeration system works on two principles: Vapour absorption system (VAS), and Vapour compression system (VCS)

 

VAS, although comparatively costlier, is quite economical in operation and adequately compensates the higher initial investment. Wherever possible such a system should be selected to conserve on energy and operational cost. However, it has its own limitations when temperature requirement is below 100C and many of the fruits and vegetables except seeds, mango, etc. require lower than 100C for long storage.

 

VCS is comparatively cheaper than VAS. There are three types of VCS systems available depending upon the cooling arrangements in the storage rooms i.e., diffuser type, bunker type and fin coil type. Diffuser type is comparatively costlier and is selected only when the storage room heights are low. The operational cost of such units is also higher.

 

Bunker type is the cheapest and is preferred when storage room heights normally exceeds 11.5 m. Its operational cost is also low. Fin coil type, although about 5% costlier than the bunker type, is very energy efficient with low operational cost and higher space availability for storage of produce. Such system is used for units with room heights of 5.4m onwards.

 

In a refrigeration system, refrigerants are used to pick up heat by evaporation at a lower temperature and pressure from the storage space and give up the heat by condensation at a higher temperature and pressure in a condenser. Freon used to be a common refrigerant but as it causes environmental degradation, its use is going to be banned by the year 2008. Therefore, Ammonia is being increasingly used and preferred for horticultural and plantation produce in cold storage units.

As business gathers steam after over two-year COVID-19 lull, an event to be held here next month will shift the focus back on improving the trade relations between South Africa and India, especially in the small and medium business enterprise sectors.

 

Organised jointly by the Consulate General of India, Johannesburg in association with leading South African bank Nedbank and networking company Yobuning, the event, to be held on October 14 and titled India-South Africa: Growing Together', will bring together representatives of many companies in South Africa and local entrepreneurs.

 

Announcing the event here on Thursday, India's Consul General in Johannesburg Anju Ranjan said the focus would be not only on doing more business with India but also on the Indian companies to help their South African counterparts grow, which would then benefit both countries.

 

The event is aimed at business-to-business networking and to discuss opportunities and challenges in the key sectors of the two countries to enhance the strong bilateral relations, as well as to develop closer strategic, commercial and economic ties to strengthen the entrusted partnership of the India-South Africa business connect,' she said.

 

Although the Consulate does not usually get involved with networking events per se, we felt that this one after the COVID-19 lull would help reaffirm relationships between partners in both countries. It will also help in establishing new relationships as businesses in both countries start moving back towards the pre-Covid situation and better it, Ranjan said.

 

India and South Africa share an excellent business relationship. The bilateral trade between the two countries reached USD 17 billion in the last financial year.

 

The business sectors of India interact regularly with the businesses of South Africa, especially in the sectors of IT, mining, infrastructure, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and heavy machinery, among others, Ranjan said.

 

The initiative is aimed at creating long-term value for Brand India' and the 'Make in India' initiative of the Government of India, under the aegis of Atma Nirbhar Bharat and Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', she said.

 

Unlike some similar events where those participating were required to pay a fee, this event will be free of charge.

In retaliation to Britain's decision to impose restrictions on steel products, India has proposed additional customs duties of 15 per cent on the import of 22 products, including whiskey, cheese and diesel engine parts, from the UK.

 

In a communication to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), India said it is estimated that the safeguard measures taken by the UK on steel products have resulted in the decline of exports to the tune of 2,19,000 tonnes on which the duty collection would be USD 247.7 million.

 

Accordingly, India's proposed suspension of concessions would result in an equivalent amount of duty collected from products originating in the UK, it said.

 

'India hereby notifies the (WTO's) Council for Trade in Goods of its decision to suspend concessions or other obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 and the Agreement on Safeguards that are substantially equivalent to the amount of trade affected by the measures of the UK,' it added.

 

The other products include processed cheese, scotch, blended whiskey, gin, animal feed, liquified propane, some essential oils, beauty preparations, cosmetic and toilet preparations, unsorted diamonds, silver, platinum, semi-diesel engine parts, unwrought gold, turbo jets, and certain electric conductors.

 

India's average imports of semi-manufactured silver from the UK stood at USD 412.68 million. The figure stood at USD 275.22 million for certain silver goods and USD 51.03 million for blended whiskey.

 

The communication also said that the proposed suspension of concessions would be in the form of an increase in duty on the selected products originating in the UK.

 

'The suspension of concessions and other obligations will continue to apply until the safeguard measures of the UK are lifted,' it said, adding 'India wishes to clarify that suspension of concessions will be equivalent to the amount of trade affected by the UKs' measures'.

 

The measures imposed by the UK consist of tariff-rate quotas imposed on 15 steel product categories with an out-of-quota duty of 25 per cent.

 

Both the countries held consultations on August 5 virtually to discuss the extensions of the safeguard by the UK on certain steel products, originally applied by the European Union.

 

On September 1, India proposed to impose retaliatory customs duties under the WTO norms on about USD 250 million worth of goods imported from the UK if no agreement is reached on compensation in a case concerning the imposition of restrictions by Britain on steel products.

 

India has raised concerns at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the UK's move.

 

New Delhi has stated that it has substantial trade interest in the sector.

 

According to an earlier communication of the WTO, India had submitted its concerns to the UK regarding the manner in which safeguard measures have been extended, which is violative of the global trade provisions and the WTO's Agreement on Safeguards.

 

India had requested compensation under the agreement.

 

Last year, New Delhi has also proposed similar measures against the European Union (EU) under the aegis of the WTO against a move of the 28-nation bloc to impose safeguard duties on certain steel products.

 

In 2018, India imposed retaliatory customs duties on certain American goods against their move to impose high customs duties on certain steel and aluminium products.

 

The WTO is a Geneva-based, 164-member global body which frames rules and norms for exports and imports and adjudicates trade disputes among member countries.

 

India is negotiating a free trade agreement with the UK, talks for which are expected to conclude anytime soon.

 

The bilateral trade has increased to USD 17.5 billion in 2021-22 compared to USD 13.2 billion in 2020-21. India's exports stood at USD 10.5 billion in 2021-22, while imports were USD 7 billion.

The ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi celebrated its 32nd Foundation Day on Wednesday.

 

Former vice-chancellor of JNKVV, Jabalpur (MP) and former DDG (Crop Sciences & Horticulture Sciences) Prof. Gautam Kalloo chaired the function. He appreciated the work done by ICAR-IIVR on the application of modern technologies such as genome editing, drone, artificial intelligence and geo-tagging of vegetables.

 

Speaking on the occasion, DDG (Horticulture Sciences), ICAR, New Delhi, AK Singh emphasized the natural and organic farming through science and technological interventions in trait-specific manner. Further, he talked about the promotion of export-oriented and quality rich vegetable varieties to increase foreign exchange reserves and to ensure human health, food, nutrition.

 

Dr. Major Singh, member, Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB), New Delhi focused on the promotion of farmers producer organisations (FPOs) in vegetable crops in these areas based on the FPOs and market system of Maharashtra state.

 

IIVR director, TK Behera briefed about the research and development work at the institute including the extension activities undergoing at the institute. He spoke about the vegetable seed production through the ‘seed-village’ concept by farmers.

India’s garlic exports surged by over 90 percent in the first quarter of this financial year. The main cause of this move are the renewed lockdowns and rising fuel costs in China.

 

India exported 12,693 tons of garlic in April-June, which was a 92 percent increase in volumes and a 72 percent jump in value from a year earlier. Garlic registered the biggest increase among the 19 varieties of spices exported from India.

 

The rise in India’s garlic exports comes as the spread of the Coronavirus in China has led to widespread lockdowns in several cities. Escalating fuel costs have also prompted China to enforce curbs on its usage for drying. As a result, China’s garlic exports have eased.

 

Farmers in Telangana have brought a record 54.40 lakh hectares (lh) of land under cultivation during the current kharif season, up 36 per cent over the total cropped kharif area of 40 lh in 2014. Paddy takes the lion share of 25.82 lh against last year’s 24.8 lh, which is the highest for the crop in the State.

 

With the area going up significantly, the State expects a pro rata growth in the production of paddy and cotton.

 

But what is surprising is the area under cotton, which stopped short at 20 lh. Though it reached the last year’s level and the normal acreage, the area was way below than the Government’s expectations.

 

As farmers received the highest prices last year, the State Government was looking at an area of 28 lh for the fibre crop.

 

“But consistent rains in the last three months inundated the fields, damaging the early crop. Farmers couldn’t recoup the last area because of the submergence of the crop,” S Malla Reddy, a senior leader of Telangana Rythu Sangham, has said.

 

Copious rains

Traditionally a rainfed State, Telangana received 1,076 mm of rainfall during the monsoon, which is 51 per cent more than the average rainfall of 720 mm.

 

Water from new irrigation projects too has contributed to the increase in the area under cultivation.

 

However, the area under maize and redgram has come down.

 

Crop Current average area Previous average area

Maize 2.48 lakh hectares 3.27 lakh hectares

Redgram 2.25 lakh hectares 3.28 lakh hectares

Millets (ragi and bajra) 2.63 lakh hectares 3.67 lakh hectares

Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar today interacted with Indian Diaspora at Bali, Indonesia, under the banner of Balinese & Indian Friendship Association (BIFA). Ms Neeta Malhotra of BIFA greeted the Minister and expressed gratitude for meeting with them in spite of her very busy schedule. Shri Tomar headed Indian delegation to participate in G-20 Agriculture Minister Meeting held on 28-29 at Bali, Indonesia.

 

Shri Tomar in his address to the fellow Indians stated that the ecosystems for business and welfare has witnessed a sea change under the leadership of Prime Minster Shri Narendra Modi. The last mile delivery and connectivity for the welfare of the poorest of the poor and the empowerment of the economically weaker sections of the society with affordable housing, electricity connection, water and sanitation and LPGs are bringing pride to the common Indians. The use of technology has helped transparency and direct benefit transfers to the needy and eliminated the leakages and the middlemen.

 

The Minister narrated the successes in the agriculture sector and the programmes like PM Kisan, crop insurance, organic farming, natural farming, value chain integration, farmers producer organizations, Ayushman Bharat, etc that has transformed the life and the living of the people in rural India. Agriculture proved its role as saviour to Indian economy and helped providing over 800 million people free food during Covid-19 and post Covid under PM Garib Kalyan Yojna, he stated.

 

Shri Tomar said, Government is committed to all round modernization of rails, roads, waterways, airports and ports for better connectivity and enhanced business, he observed.  He stated that globally, India is setting the agenda on all important forum due to its bold and decisive leadership under Prime Minister Modi. He appreciated the contribution of the Indians as an active partner in the development of Indonesia and bringing recognition to India and assured all support of the Government of India.

 

On the occasion, the representatives of BIFA thanked the Shri Tomar for his visit and meeting. They appreciated the intensity and scale of development that is being done in India which has earned place of pride for the Indians located at Bali and Indonesia and the favourable response they started receiving from all quarters in Indonesia due to changed image of Indian leadership globally. They also sought facilitation by starting direct flight to Bali from Delhi and technical support for agriculture especially for fresh food on the concept of farm to table. Consul General of India in Bali, Shri Prakash Chand and his colleague Sri Lawlesh Kumar and others were also present on this occasion.

The National Logistics Policy (NLP), notified by the government on Thursday, has proposed to develop a national trade facilitation action plan to look at issues pertaining to export and import logistics, and facilitation of development of logistics parks.

 

The other key action areas include integrated digital logistics systems; standardisation of physical assets and benchmarking service quality standards; logistics human resources development and capacity building; and state engagement, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said while notifying the policy which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month.

 

Infrastructure ministries including rail, highways, ports and steel, will have to prepare sector-specific plans to increase logistics efficiency in consultation with various stakeholders within six months.

 

The policy has also called for integration of all logistics-related digital portals and IT solutions of key infrastructure ministries and revenue department, and the soft launch of the initiative called Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) to be facilitated within six months.

 

As per the policy, the relevant line ministries will workd on financial and fiscal incentives to achieve these goals.

 

This would be done through the review of Goods and Services Tax rates, and regulatory interventions to promote multimodal transportation, optimal modal mix, energy efficiency through adoption of technologies.