Kai Chutney of Mayurbhanj, is aiming to make a big leap from the remote tribal villages to the global food tables as the dish has applied for a Geographical Identification (GI) registration.

 

Red weaver ants, scientifically called Oecophylla smaragdina, are abundantly found in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha throughout the year and are also sold in the local bazaars wrapped in leaves of saal tree. These ants live in trees and have a unique nest weaving behaviour using the leaves of host trees. People often keep a safe distance from red weaver ants as their sting inflicts sharp pain and reddish bumps on the skin but in Mayurbhanj, which has a huge number of Adivasi population these ants are quite a delicacy. Eaten raw or in the form of a chutney, these ants are an important part of the tribal culinary habit.

 

'Larval and adult stages of the ants are preferred for the chutney which is ground with green chillies (dhanua lanka) and salt on a sila pua, a flat stone and a cylindrical grinding stone,' said Nayadhar Padhial, a PWD engineer from Baripada who is promoting kai chutney as a ‘super food’ for a long time. Padhial belongs to the Bathudi tribe. A popular tribe of the region who are known to eat the chutney for centuries if not more.

 

Touted as ‘superfood’ the weaver ant is known to boost immunity due to its high protein and vitamin content.

 

'For generations many indigenous people of the district have been eating kai chutney as a remedial cure for cold and fever. It is also eaten for its ability to improve eyesight,' said Jagannath Patra, a scientist from Mayurbhanj Krishi Vigyan Kendra.

 

Patra added that the paperwork and research for the GI was initiated early on but due to the pandemic it had to wait for more than two years.

 

Benefits of Entomophagy

 

Entomophagy refers to the human consumption of insects or bugs.

 

For centuries, humans have harvested the eggs, larvae, pupae and adults of certain insect species from forests or other suitable habitats, for the purpose of eating them. The farming of edible insects has traditionally occurred in Asian countries but in recent years, is becoming more common in other parts of the world.

 

Considering the world’s growing population and the increasing demand for the production of ‘traditional’ meat, edible insects may be considered a more common source of animal protein in the future. Breeding insects could also offer environmental advantages because of low greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution and land use impacts.

 

Bugs are a rich source of fibre and protein and as per the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), they are great for human and planetary health.

 

Entomophagy is not new for Asian and African cultures but the line between taboo and ‘disgust factor’ of eating creepy crawlers to the Western world is slowly getting blurred. According to media reports, the European Union is investing more than $4 million to research entomophagy as a human protein source.

 

Internationally, entomophagy has evolved from the ‘eww factor’ and few food entrepreneurs have taken it to the next level of the gourmet food category. For instance, Protein pasta which is made with cricket flour and cricket chips are getting a space in the food markets of the Western world.

 

Besides the tribals of Mayurbhanj, the red ant chutney is famous among the indigenous people of Bastar in Chhattisgarh as ‘Caprah’, and it becomes ‘demta,’ a tribal delicacy in the Chaibasa area of Jharkhand.

 

Bug eating is also popular in the northeastern part of India, Nyishi and Galo tribes of Arunachal Pradesh are known to eat dragonflies while in Manipur, in some years, when the bamboo blooms heavily and is attacked by large swarms of Udonga montana, these bugs are fried and eaten by few communities.

 

Meanwhile, Padmashri Dr Rajni Kant who has been working on Intellectual Property Rights and GI for decades feels, 'There may be issues in future with the registration process as Kai Chutney is also popular in other tribal belts of the country. It would be crucial on how the facilitating body of the dish represents the product to the officials in Chennai, where the dish would be evaluated on several aspects like sustainability and historical evidences.'

 

According to the GI Registry official website, they have asked the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, the body which has registered the application to fulfil few deficiencies in the application of Kai Chutney.

 

Another indigenous product from Odisha-Koraput’s aromatic Kala jeera rice is also in queue for a GI push with the help of NABARD and the state government.

The government will soon announce export quota of sugar for next marketing year starting October, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said on Monday. He however did not disclose the quantity of sugar that will be allowed for export in 2022-23 marketing year.

 

'We will soon announce the sugar export policy for next season,' Pandey told reporters here on the sidelines of 82th AGM of Roller Flour Millers Federation of India (RFMFI).

 

In May, the government had allowed exports of 100 lakh tonne of sugar, but later allowed another 12 lakh tonne. This took the total export quota for 2021-22 marketing year to 112 lakh tonne.

 

India's sugar exports stood at 70 lakh tonne in 2020-21 marketing year, 59 lakh tonne in 2019-20 and 38 lakh tonne in 2018-19.

 

Earlier this month, sugar industry body ISMA had demanded that the government allow exports of 80 lakh tonne of sugar for 2022-23 marketing year in view of surplus production.

 

Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) president Aditya Jhunjhunwala had written a letter to Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal in this regard.

 

'We would like to request the government to allow 80 lakh tonne of exports for 2022-23 SS (Sugar Season),' the ISMA president had said in the letter.

 

As per preliminary estimate, Jhunjhunwala said the net sugar production, without considering the diversion of sugar for production of ethanol, is expected to increase to about 400 lakh tonne in 2022-23 from 394 lakh tonne in current marketing year.

 

However, he said 45 lakh tonne of sugar are expected to get diverted for ethanol in 2022-23 as against 34 lakh tonne in current marketing year.

 

This means that actual sugar production in 2022-23 would be 355 lakh tonne, the ISMA president said.

 

'Therefore, after considering domestic sugar consumption of 275 lakh tonne in the next season (2022-23), it becomes imperative to export at least 80 lakh tonne of surplus sugar out of the country in order to maintain optimum sugar balance in the country,' Jhunjhunwala said.

 

Exports of surplus sugar would also help in maintaining domestic sugar prices, which in turn will boost liquidity position of mills, enabling them to pay sugarcane farmers on time.

 

The ISMA president mentioned that the sugarcane crushing operations in 2022-23 is expected to start from October first week itself because of huge cane availability.

 

Jhunjhunwala urged the government to announce the export policy for 2022-23 at the earliest so that mills can enter into future contracts and also plan their production in advance.

India’s minimum support price (MSP) programme for foodgrain is facing increased scrutiny at the WTO with a group of nine countries, including the US, Australia, Canada, Brazil and Thailand, shooting off a fresh letter asking New Delhi for joint consultation to examine if it is adhering to all conditions stipulated by the multilateral body.

 

The countries, at a recent meeting of the WTO, expressed concerns about India not providing full information in its notifications related to its public stockholding programmes and dodging questions. The group of nine also includes Japan, New Zealand, Paraguay and Uruguay.

 

‘Peace clause’

'New Delhi has maintained that it has been meeting all notification requirements and agreed to meet members bilaterally but it stressed that it will not be forced into a group meeting facing bombardment of all nine members,' the source tracking the matter told BusinessLine. The MSP programme for rice is especially under the spotlight as India is the first country to invoke the Bali `peace clause’ to justify exceeding the 10 per cent ceiling (of the total value of rice production) for rice support.

 

While the `peace clause’ allows developing countries to breach the 10 per cent ceiling without invoking legal action by members, it is subject to onerous notification requirements and numerous conditions such as not distorting global trade and not affecting food security of other members. The conditions also specify that a developing member benefiting from the `peace clause’ shall upon request hold consultations with other members on the operation of its public stockholding programmes.

 

The US has been criticising India for habitually not including full information in its notifications, the source said. Paraguay had earlier observed that in its understanding, it was mandatory to report all public stockholding programmes and challenged India for lacking a monitoring mechanism to ensure no stocks are exported. 

 

Value of production

'In its defence, India had said it provided data on value of production (VoP) on several crops and pointed out that it was not mandatory to report the provisional VoP in notifications. It also said that as it did not breach limits for any other crop except rice, it did not have any obligation to notify on all other public stockholding programmes,' the source said.

 

It now has to be decided whether consultations between India and the nine countries will be held plurilaterally or in a bilateral format. 'Since the Bali decision does not specify the consultation format, the countries will need to decide amongst themselves,' the source added.

The side event on IYOM-2023 focussed on celebrating Millets’ farmers. Ms. Shubha Thakur, Joint Secretary (Crops), Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare gave a brief presentation showcasing India’s preparedness for IYOM 2023 and how India is gearing up to work closely with farmers and the entire value chain to put Millets on every plate. The presentation also touched upon the concerted efforts of 19 Ministries to run awareness drives and G2B, B2B and B2C conversations across India and the global community at large for IYOM-2023. She laid special emphasis on millets at the centre of food security and crop diversity as a solution for farmers’ betterment, as a run-up to the IYOM 2023.

 

The panel discussion, chaired by Ms Shubha Thakur, had participation from Millets’ experts, including Dr Dayakar Rao B., Principal Scientist, ICAR-IIMR; Ms Manisha Bhasin, Corporate Chef, ITC Hotels; Dr Arvind Kumar, Deputy Director General (Research), ICRISAT; Mr. Rohit Chaudhary, Director Development, Akshaya Patra Foundation; Shri P. C. Chaudhary, Director of Agriculture and Food Production, Odisha; Shri Vijay Patil, representative from Karnataka Millets Mission; Ms. Vishala Reddy, Founder, Millet Bank (start-up);  Ms. Sharmila Oswal, Founder, Basillia Organics (start-up); Mr Konda Chavva, OIC, FAO India; and Mr Jainendra Singh, Assistant Director (Programme), All India Radio who moderated the session.

 

The session laid out India’s plan for celebrating IYOM 2023 across the world to work towards putting Millets on every plate.

 

The event also had a provision of stalls which were set-up by various millet start-ups and FPOs to showcase their products. The session was followed by a specially curated millet lunch for all the attendees.

Five states - Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka - have expressed their intention to procure chana from the central government at the discounted rate of Rs 8 per kg for various welfare schemes.

 

'These states will send indents to us after working out their requirement,' said an official aware of the matter.

 

The measure is a part of the market intervention scheme to prevent farmers from resorting to the distress sales of chana. It will also help in improving market sentiment and rationalising the price of the pulses and adding required protein to the beneficiaries of the welfare schemes, he added.

 

The Union cabinet recently approved the disposal of 15 lakh tonne of chana to states at a discounted rate of Rs 8 per kg to be utilised for various welfare schemes. At present, the Union government has a stock of 30 lakh tonnes of chana. By liquidating half the stock, it will be creating space for the new harvest due in April. The buffer norm for chana is 6 lakh tonnes. Under this scheme, the governments of states and Union Territories are offered 15 lakh tonnes of chana at the discount of Rs 8 per kg on a first-come-first-serve basis.

 

The chana is from the stock procured under the price support scheme at the Minimum Support Price and price stabilization fund, which is the buffer stock maintained to avert sharp hikes in rates.

 

These stocks can be utilised by state governments for schemes such as the Mid-Day Meal, Public Distribution System and the Integrated Child Development Programmes (ICDP) among others.

 

This discount will be a one-time window for a period of 12 months or till the complete disposal of 15 lakh tonne stock, whichever is earlier. The government will spend Rs 1,200 crore for the implementation of this scheme.

The Food Authority has asked food laboratories to use newly-approved methods for testing fortificants including iron, folic acid, and vitamin B12 in fortified rice.

 

The FSSAI has issued an order in this regard, stating, ‘the food testing laboratories are hereby requested to use the methods with immediate effect’.

 

For iron in fortified rice, the Method was applicable for Quantification of Iron at 10 ppm LOQ Level (with respect to the Sample) by using ICP-MS method with Limit of Detection at 4 mg/kg and Limit of Quantification 10 mg/kg respective to the Sample.

 

For determination of Folic Acid (Vitamin B9) in Fortified Rice, the Method was applicable for Quantification of Folic Acid (Vitamin B9) at 10 ppb LOQ Level (with respect to the Sample) by using LC-MS/MS method in Fortified Rice wherein Limit of Detection is 5 ppb  and Limit of Quantification is 10 ppb respective to the Sample.

 

For determination of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) in Fortified Rice, the method includes for Quantification of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) at 0.5 ppb LOQ Level (with respect to the Sample) by using LC-MS/MS method with a Limit of Detection at 0.25 µg/kg and Limit of Quantification at 0.5 µg/kg with respect to the Sample.

 

The FSSAI order also details the preparation of test samples while the labs were asked to use freshly prepared standard solutions for the analysis.

India will soon launch trade in rupees with Russia, the head of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) said this week. This comes after the State Bank of India agreed to simplify a new payment mechanism.

 

Russia is expected to name the bank for mutual settlements in rupees within two weeks.

 

'The State Bank of India has come forward for facilitating trade in rupees with Russia and some other banks have also shown interest,' A. Shaktivel told reporters, adding that India already has 'a good rupee payment mechanism in Iran, so the same thing will happen [with Russia].'

 

In July, the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank, issued a circular urging national lenders to introduce additional arrangements for import and export transactions in rupees. The move designed to reduce the rupees’ dependence on the dollar, is also seen as an incentive to boost trade with Moscow.

 

India’s exports to Russia slumped by about a third in April-July due to sweeping Western sanctions imposed on Moscow.

 

Shaktivel said, 'The trade in rupees could boost Indian exports to Russia to about $5 billion in the current financial year.'

 

Indian companies are already switching to Asian currencies in transactions with Russia.

 

Meanwhile, the Moscow stock exchange is working on a plan to launch trade in the Indian currency in an effort to move away from the US dollar and euro.

 

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal, will be on a 2 day visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 18-19 September 2022 to co-chair the inaugural Ministerial Meeting of the Economic and Investments Committee with the Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia, HRH Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Salman.

 

This Ministerial Committee is one of the two Ministerial verticals established under the framework of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council, which is headed at the highest level by the Prime Minister of India and the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

 

The two Ministers are expected to discuss the progress made under the various Joint Working Groups of the Economic and Investment committee. Both sides are expected to formulate plan of action for further strengthening bilateral cooperation in an array of priority areas and projects, including the West Coast Refinery Project, Trans-ocean grid connectivity, Green Hydrogen, Food security, energy security and pharmaceuticals; and accelerate progress on the announcement made by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, during his visit to India in February 2019, of investments worth USD 100 Billion in India.

 

During the visit, the Minister is also scheduled to meet Minister of Commerce of Saudi Arabia H.E Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Alkassabi and is expected to hold wide-ranging discussions on the gamut of economic ties between the two countries.

 

India and Saudi Arabia relations are defined by a forward-looking strategic partnership that encompasses all major areas of cooperation. Economic ties are a pivotal pillar of this partnership. India is the second largest trade partner of Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth largest trade partner.

 

The visit to Saudi Arabia, one of the strategic partners of India, will add further impetus to this dynamic and ever growing strategic partnership, and pave the way for new areas of cooperation that will further strengthen commercial and trade ties between the two countries.

Sri Lanka is keen to upgrade the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement into a comprehensive economic and technological partnership, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Friday, asserting that the work which started in 2018 and 2019 has not found much progress.

 

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Sri Lanka was the first-ever bilateral trade agreement for both countries, signed in 1998 and enforced in 2000. The pact is aimed at further boosting the economic ties between the two countries by liberalising trade norms.

 

'Sri Lanka and India gradually have to wean themselves out of the barriers to investment and the non-tariff barriers to trade especially in relation to Sri Lanka Indo economic relations,' Wickremesinghe said while addressing a gathering of the Sri Lanka-India Society to mark the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence.

 

He said the future relations of India with its neighbours will be determined by trade integration.

 

'Trade integration gives an economic base. The common economic base is a prerequisite for better national security and better political relations,' he said.

 

The first such step would be to revive and upgrade the FTA into a comprehensive economic and technological partnership. The FTA-related work which started in 2018 and 2019 has not found much progress, he said.

 

Wickremesinghe said the second step was to look at all the projects which India and Sri Lanka had agreed to, but got delayed at the Sri Lankan end.

 

Two key such projects are the power grid connection between India and Sri Lanka, offshore wind energy, a solar power plant at Sampur in the eastern province and renewable energy projects on three islands of Jaffna in the north, he said.

 

'We have a tremendous scope of potential renewable energy, and India has stepped in first. There'll be others. But from Puttlam to Mullativu, if we exploit renewable energy and go in for green hydrogen and also provide power to India, you will see the upliftment of the Northern economy, which had not happened earlier.

 

'The big impact on the northern economy and the implementation. Then we come to promoting Indian higher education institutes to come into Sri Lanka, especially Jaffna is one area we have identified, again another development,' he said.

 

Wickremesinghe referred to the Trincomalee oil storage tank farm development with India.

 

'We are developing logistics because of the fact that we are one of the main ports for India and Bangladesh. So together with India, Adani Group has already taken over part of the West terminal of the south port,' he said.

 

Adani Group sealed a deal with Sri Lanka to develop and run the strategic Colombo Port's Western Container Terminal in September last year.

The government has amended the Foreign Trade Policy to allow international trade invoicing, payment and settlement in the Indian rupee, activating the mechanism announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to facilitate trade in the domestic currency.

 

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry notified the changes to the policy.

 

The central bank allowed authorised banks in India to open special rupee Vostro accounts of correspondent banks of any partner trading country to facilitate trade in the Indian currency.

 

Under the arrangement, Indian importers will make payment in rupees into the special Vostro account of the partner country bank against the invoices for the supply of goods or services from the overseas seller or supplier, the trade policy said.

 

'Indian exporters undertaking exports of goods and services through this mechanism shall be paid the export proceeds in Indian Rupees from the balances in the designated special Vostro account of the correspondent bank of the partner country,' it added.

 

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had last week held a meeting to review the proposed trade in rupee and asked banks to speed up the process of opening special rupee Vostro accounts.

 

The department of commerce has also been asked to reach out to traders to encourage them to adopt this route.