The Director Agriculture Kashmir, Chowdhary Mohammad Iqbal today visited saffron growing areas of Pampore and interacted with the saffron farmers of the area.

 

During the visit, the Director took stock of various steps taken during the recently held saffron field day.

 

Speaking on the occasion, the Director said that the Department is committed to the development of the saffron sector. A number of initiatives have already been taken by the Department and a number of other steps are in progress, he further said.

 

Iqbal said that for the economic development of saffron farmers, the department has endeavoured to ensure that our GI Tagged saffron reaches national and international markets. He assured the farmers of every possible support from the department for making saffron crop cultivation a successful venture.

 

Later, the Director visited Alowpora Farm Shopian and took stock of the maize crop and other agriculture activities.

At a time when the government asserts that the Geographical Indication (GI) tagging has built a 'global reputation' for Kashmiri Saffron, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Production Department, Atal Dulloo Saturday said that 12 more crops had been submitted for the approval of the specialised tagging.

 

Talking to Greater Kashmir, Dulloo said that the GI tag of Kashmiri Saffron had made it 'prominent' in the international market and built its reputation globally.

 

'GI tag is making saffron a success story,' he said. 'We are also working on promoting niche crops including Kala Zera, walnut, and apricot among others.'

 

Dulloo said that the government had prepared a list of 12 more new crops and submitted them for the GI tag approval.

 

He said that crop diversification was very vital to enhance the income of the farmers and the government was working hard to achieve desirable results.

 

Dulloo said that the GI tag would not only enhance the farmer’s incomes but also provide sustainable and secure income generation sources for them.

 

He said that the different areas of Jammu and Kashmir, with their unique weather conditions, were being studied and farmers were being guided to work out the economics of niche crops including, Basmati rice, pecan nut, Kala Zera, walnut, and saffron.

 

'Farmers are being guided to cultivate niche crops which will enhance their socio-economic setup. This will have a significant effect on diversification of farms growing niche crops,' Dulloo said. 'There is a need to introduce technical innovations in the production of niche crops.'

 

He said that the government aims to double the income of the farmers and for that, the government was working on different fronts.

 

Dulloo said that the losses in the agricultural sector had to be checked and the government was robustly working on marketing and promotion of the product with the GI tag.

 

He said that this had enhanced the secondary economic activities here, which in turn boosted the regional economic development.

 

Dulloo emphasised that the protection of Geographical Indications was creating a robust image and reputation of the product in the mind of the consumers and rewarding the producers with incentives and a means to exchange cultural values.

With the 'Mundu Chilli' variety being one of the most widely cultivated horticultural crops in the district, farmers here want the State government to take steps to accord it a Geographical Indication (GI) tag. According to the horticulture department, various varieties of chillies are grown in about 14,998 hectares of land in the district, and of them, the 'Mundu Chilli' (also known as Ramanathapuram Mundu) is the most famed. Speaking to TNIE, deputy director of horticulture department Nagaraja said 'Mundu Chilli' is a drought-resistant crop and requires less cultivation efforts.

 

Renowned for its strong spiciness and increased Scoville heat units, the 'Mundu Chilli' has decent demand in the local markets, and also in neighbouring states. 'Its supply to the market declined this year following the harvest season in August, but its price witnessed no change in the market. So, the government should take up measures to promote the crop and provide opportunities for chilli export. Though we have been repeatedly demanding the authorities to accord 'Mundu Chilli' the GI tag, no action has been taken yet,' the farmers said.

 

Bakkiyanathan, a farmer from Ramanathapuram district, said, 'Even as farmers are able to get a decent average profit of Rs 40,000 per acre, the product's price doesn't increase even when the supply is low. But, with a GI tag to its name, the chilli will get recognised even in international markets and the farmers will receive much higher profits.'

 

He also urged the State government to construct an exclusive cold storage facility in the district for the preservation of harvested chilli. 'Also, considering the welfare of the farmers here, the government could also procure this crop at decent prices,' Bakkiyanathan added.

 

In the run-up to the International Year of Millets 2023, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has organized a series of pre-launch events and initiatives on the MyGov platform to raise awareness and participation in the country around the ancient and forgotten golden grains. The MyGov platform has become a very important and successful medium for raising awareness through various competition organizations.

 

Participation on MyGov will play an important role in helping to make it a people's movement. A number of competitions have already been launched, some are still ongoing, and many more will be launched in the future on the MyGoV platform to capture the country's imagination and creative spirit. Details about the contests are available on the My Gov website https://www.mygov.in/.

 

On September 5, 2022, a contest for designing a comic story with the theme 'India's Wealth, Millets for Health' was launched, with the goal of raising public awareness about the health benefits of millets. The contest, which runs until November 5th, 2022, has received a positive response thus far.

 

On September 10, 2022, the Millet Startup Innovation Challenge was launched. This initiative encourages young minds to propose technological/commercial solutions to existing problems in the millet ecosystem. This Innovation Challenge will be open until January 31, 2023.

 

Mighty Millets Quiz

The Mighty Millets Quiz, which asked questions about millets and their benefits, was recently launched and received a large response. Millets and their benefits were the focus of the questions. The contest runs until October 20th, 2022, and has received 57,779 page views and 10,824 entries between August 20th and 30th, 2022.

 

A contest for an audio song and documentary film about the importance of millets will also be launched soon. The International Year of Millets 2023 logo and slogan competition has already concluded, and the winners will be announced shortly. The Indian government will soon release the logo and slogan to commemorate the historic occasion of the International Year of Millets 2023.

 

The International Year of Millets has been declared by the United Nations General Assembly for 2023. This was adopted by a United Nations Resolution, which India led and was supported by more than 70 countries. This will help to raise awareness about the importance of millets, their role in sustainable agriculture, and their benefits as a smart and superfood around the world.

 

With a production of more than 170 lakh tonnes and producing more than 80% of the millets produced in Asia, India is poised to become the global hub for millets. The earliest evidence for these grains was discovered in the Indus civilization, and they were among the first plants domesticated for food. It is grown in approximately 131 countries and is the traditional food for approximately 60 million people in Asia and Africa.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal today said that exports have been one of the most defining features of the government's efforts to make India a developed country by 2047, a vision articulated by PM Shri Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address to the nation this year. Shri Goyal said this in his opening remarks at the meeting of the reconstituted Board of Trade in New Delhi.

 

The Minister said that global confidence in India’s prospects for growth were truly immense and called on the domestic industry to overcome all weaknesses when it comes to grabbing the plethora of growth opportunities available to the nation. The world is already looking at India as a super power, he added.

 

Shri Goyal highlighted that in the last few years there has been an attempt for foundational transformation in India which has hastened India's march to be a developed nation. Calling for transparent, consistent, honest policies, the Minister said that government’s policies must be robust enough to deliver what was promised to the people.

 

Shri Goyal also spoke of the need to find ways to encourage people to comply and bring in transparency and ease of doing business. India should become an honest country, he added. Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Goyal announced that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will release the Logistics Policy on 17th September.

 

Stating that Trade is a strong pillar to achieve the five vows that Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of on 15th August, Shri Goyal expressed confidence that today's meeting reflects the collective belief of all of us in working towards achieving a developed India.

 

Shri Goyal stressed on the need to enter into more FTAs with developed nations. He urged participants of the Board of Trade meeting to focus on the possibilities each sector has in FTAs.

 

Concluding his address, Shri Goyal said all the issues raised by the participants will be addressed and the suggestions made by them in the Meeting today will be considered.   

 

The Board of Trade meeting focused on export target setting, the new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) (2022-27), and the strategies and measures to be taken in order to take forward domestic manufacturing and exports. Board of Trade (BOT) has been constituted by merging Council for Trade Development and Promotion with Board of Trade vide notification No. 11/2015-20 dt 17th July 2019.  The Board of Trade, inter alia, advises the Government on policy measures connected with the Foreign Trade Policy in order to achieve the objectives of boosting India’s trade.

 

It provides a platform to state governments and UTs for articulating state-oriented perspectives on Trade Policy. It also acts as a platform to Government of India for appraising State Governments and UTs about international developments affecting India’s trade. It is an important mechanism for deliberations on trade related issues with industry bodies, associations, export promotion councils, and state and UT governments.

 

There were 29 new non-official members who were also invited for the first time in this Board of Trade meeting.

 

During the Board of Trade meeting, presentations were made on a variety of subjects such as India’s Import/ Export Performance, restructuring of the Department of Commerce, FTAs and way forward, States export performance, District as Export Hubs, new proposed Foreign Trade Policy, trade remedial, trade facilitation measures undertaken by customs, Government e-Marketplace etc.

 

Ministers from states made interventions in the meeting, giving their state-specific suggestions, and also expressed their support to the central government initiatives in promoting the external trade.

 

The inaugural ceremony saw the participation of Ministers of State for Commerce and Industry, Shri Som Parkash and Ms. Anupriya Patel, Commerce Secretary, Shri BVR Subrahmanyam, Revenue Secretary, Shri Tarun Bajaj, Director General of Foreign Trade, Shri Santosh Sarangi, Secretary Dpt of Financial Services, Sanjay Malhotra, Member Customs, Rajiv Talwar and other senior officials and members of Indian industry.

 

The meeting was attended by Various State Ministers and other senior officials of key line ministries and States, all major trade and industry bodies, Export Promotion Councils and industry associations.

India's co-operative diary model can be the guiding force to prosperity for poor countries, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi while inaugurating the International Dairy Federation (IDF)'s World Dairy Summit 2022 at Greater Noida on Monday.

 

India's dairy sector is different from other developed countries and its real strength has been the small and marginal farmers, who contribute majorly to India's milk production, Modi said.

 

'Production by masses and not the mass production, has been the distinction of India's dairy sector. This is rarely found elsewhere in the world. In this World Dairy Summit, I specially refer to this because it can be a great business model for the farmers of numerous poor nations around the world,' Modi said adding that most of India's dairy producer farmers hold one, two or three animals.

 

India is hosting the summit after a gap of 48 years. During that period, India's milk output has grown from 23 million tonnes in 1974, to about 210 million tonnes now.

 

Co-operatives played a big role to make India self-reliant in dairy, and the country's dairy cooperative network has been unparalleled without a middleman. 'About 70-per cent of the money received from the consumers directly go to the farmers in their accounts and in case of Gujarat the entire money go to the women dairy farmers. There is no other country in the world, where you would find such high ratio (of revenue sharing),' Modi said.

 

Indigenous breeds

From the World Dairy Summit platform, Modi also showcased to the world Indian dairy sector's other uniqueness such as indigenous breeds that are 'climate comfortable and also equally adjusting' and women leadership, which form about 70 per cent workforce in dairy and about 1/3rd in cooperatives.

 

Modi also stated that women living in villages of India are the driving force for Rs 8.5-lakh crore Indian dairy industry. He appealed that the global leaders at World Dairy Summit need to recognize women's contribution in dairying and give them access to different global platforms.

 

Listing out the priorities in the coming times, Modi stated that the government now focuses on creating a balanced dairy ecosystem in the country. 'We will look after not just milk and milk products, but also trying to find solutions for other challenges (like creating) additional income for farmers, empowering the poor, cleanliness, chemical-free farming, clean energy and animal care. These are all inter-linked areas. We are planning to make dairy sector and animal husbandry as a big medium for green and sustainable growth in the villages,' he said pointing at the ongoing government schemes such as Rashtriya Gokul Mission, Govardhan Yojana, Digitisation of dairy sector, Universal vaccination of Animals are some of the efforts in this direction.

 

Notably, India's milk output is growing at six per cent, much higher than the global average of two per cent. India's per capita milk availability is the highest in the world.

In 2008, when I was the Agriculture Secretary to the government of West Bengal, I was invited to speak at a meeting of the International Co-operative Alliance and the Gulf Cooperation Council in Abu Dhabi on the role of cooperatives in addressing food security issues. It bears noting that 2008 was the year of unprecedented inflation in food prices, especially for rice and oilseeds. In the course of preparing for the presentation, I started looking at the strategies being adopted by different nations to secure their food supplies. One was struck by the position China took with regard to outsourcing its supplies of soya — a critical element of their cattle feed — as well as by Saudi Arabia’s deal with the Fauji Foundation of Pakistan to cultivate premium wheat in some of the most fertile tracts in that country.

 

In any case, as my brief was to speak on the role of cooperatives, I dwelt on some interesting global collaborations: Consumer cooperatives in the Gulf with producer cooperatives like the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) in India for a long-term strategic partnership. My interest in this subject had been sufficiently kindled.

 

Sporadic efforts didn’t go the long way

Two years later, I joined the Ministry of Agriculture as a Joint Secretary and was also holding the additional charge as the MD of NAFED. I felt that the NAFED, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO), Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutions, Export-Import (EXIM) Bank and our leading agribusiness organisations, including enterprising farmers, could join hands in taking up agriculture operations in countries of Central Asia, Latin America, and Africa where arable lands are aplenty.

 

While enterprising individuals did set up these operations, they were sporadic efforts and not connected to the food security concerns of India, especially with respect to pulses and oilseeds in which we were deficient and commodities like onions that witnessed wide price fluctuations. Moreover, if India could supplement the production of cereals and horticulture crops, it would help address issues of food security globally. Another concern was the need to replace the water-guzzling rice-wheat-rice cycle in Punjab and Haryana with high-value agriculture (HVA) and dairying without impacting the availability of food under the Public Distribution System (PDS). Somewhere along the line, there was also a feeling that unless we moved fast enough, China will take over the best possible options as they were moving quite aggressively on this front.

 

Then-Union Agriculture Secretary P.K. Basu asked me to prepare a presentation on this subject. When the ministry was convinced that it was indeed a step in the right direction, it decided to get a comprehensive view on the subject by engaging with the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) — a policy on this would require an assessment of trade practices, investment protocols, and an analysis of similar practices by other countries across the world. U.S. Bhatia, who had just relinquished his charge as India’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), was chosen to be the lead author for the study. In his report, he said, 'Given the increasing volatility in international prices of food crops in recent years, it is essential that we explore more stable international opportunities for meeting our food needs. Therefore, offshore agriculture investments emerge as a necessary concomitant to India’s policy framework for addressing food security. As only a small proportion of food production is internationally traded, a large country like India cannot depend on food imports to meet any shortages or deficits.'

 

'The Ministry of Agriculture will obviously need to play the nodal role in the initiative in coordination with relevant ministries/agencies like the MEA, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Reserve Bank of India, Exim Bank. Given the importance of the matter, the Ministry of Agriculture may consider establishing dedicated divisions for Africa and Latin America. These divisions will maintain data on land availability and their agro-climatic conditions and continuously monitor the developments in host country policies, particularly those relating to land acquisitions, seed laws, import of capital equipment, re-export policies etc. This would enable the ministry to develop a country-wise matrix with identified variables that would assess the opportunities, risks, and stability that would support potential Indian investors.'

 

India needs to step up

Contrary to the expectations of the Ministry of Agriculture, the report was frowned upon by the Ministry of Commerce, which felt that we were stepping into their domain of foreign trade and commercial relations. While the response from our ambassadors in these countries was positive, the MEA was quite reticent. Unlike the PMO of today, which takes a call when a policy document is submitted to it, the report met with ‘silence’ because the general feeling was that as the ministry was headed by Sharad Pawar, credit could not be shared with him. In an irony of sorts, the minister who opposed it most vehemently, Anand Sharma, has now parted ways with the Congress. In fact, after all the efforts, it did not cross the inter-ministerial consultations for discussions in the Union Cabinet.

 

One must, however, mention that then-deputy National Security Advisor Nehchal Sandhu saw merit in this study, and included me in one of the task forces, but that was it. After completing my tenure with the Centre, I reverted to West Bengal and could not follow up on this, except as an academic exercise at a few conferences.

 

Meanwhile, thanks to the push for the production of pulses under the 2007 National Food Security Mission, the competitive prices offered by the Commission on Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP) and the enhanced and assured procurement by NAFED, the country has been able to address the shortage of pulses substantially. We now produce 275 of the 300 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) per annum, and the deficit is marginal. However, with respect to oilseeds, we import 140 LMT tonnes to supplement our domestic production of 110 LMT – the total demand being 250 LMT.

 

As India assumes the presidency of the G20, it will also be expected to provide leadership to global food security and price stabilisation regime for staples. If we could leverage our strengths in agricultural research, our competencies in project management skills, and our global supply chain in fertilisers and technical inputs, many of our enterprising farmers and agribusiness firms would just need a little nudge to transform the agriculture production ecosystem in countries with surplus water and land. It could be a win-win situation for the host country, India, and the world.

 

Perhaps, the time has come to resurrect the proposal in the Amrit Kal of India’s Independence.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal will chair a meeting of the reconstituted board of trade on Tuesday to discuss ways to boost the country’s manufacturing and exports.

 

The meeting comes ahead of the government likely to announce the new Foreign Trade Policy later this month and the country’s merchandise exports shrinking 1.15% in August- the first drop since November 2020.

 

The board includes participants from states, union territories, and senior officials from public and private sectors and provides a platform to discuss ways on boosting manufacturing and exports.

 

'The meeting is aimed to seek inputs from members to help us shape policies for Aatmanirbhar Bharat and reach $1 trillion each of merchandise and services exports by 2030 and improve the export competitiveness of states,' said an official.

 

In July, the government nominated 29 non-official members including Tata Consultancy Services Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Rajesh Gopinathan, India Cellular and Electronics Association chairman Pankaj Mahindroo and Amul MD RS Sodhi. This is the first meeting of the reconstituted board.

 

Industry is likely to raise the issue of Goods and Service Tax refunds, reducing the compliance burden on small exporters and ways to fund MSMEs to increase exports. Developing districts as export hubs and discussion on ways to facilitate ecommerce exports through the foreign trade policy could also be taken up at Tuesday’s meeting, sources said.

According to the provisional data released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), the overall export of agricultural and processed food products increased to USD 9598 million in April-July 2022 from USD 7397 million over the same period of the last fiscal. The exports of agricultural and processed food products rose by 30 percent in the first four months of the current Financial Year 2022-23 (April-July) in comparison to the corresponding period of FY 2021-22.

 

For the year 2022-23, an export target of USD 23.56 billion has been fixed for the agricultural and processed food products basket and an export of USD 9.59 billion has already been achieved in the first four months of the current fiscal.

 

The initiatives taken by the Government have helped in achieving 40 percent of the total export target for the year 2022-23 in the first four months of the current fiscal.

 

As per the DGCI&S provisional data, fresh fruits & vegetables registered four percent growth, while processed fruits and vegetables recorded a significant growth of 51 percent (April-July, 2022) in comparison to corresponding months of the previous year. In April-July, 2021, fresh fruits and vegetables were exported to the tune of USD 498 million that increased to USD 517 million in the corresponding months of the current fiscal. Exports of processed F&V jumped to USD 665 million in four months of the current fiscal from USD 441million in the corresponding months of the previous year.

 

Also, processed food products like cereals and miscellaneous processed items reported a growth of 37.75 per cent and 35.26 percent respectively in comparison to the first four months of the previous year.

 

Basmati Rice exports witnessed a growth of 29.13 percent in the first four months of FY 2022-23 as its export increased from USD 1214 million (April-July 2021) to USD 1567 million (April-July 2022), while the export of non-Basmati rice registered a growth of 9.24percent in first four months of current fiscal. Non-basmati rice export increased to USD 2086 million in the first four months of the current fiscal from USD 1910 million in the corresponding months of the previous year.

 

The export of meat, dairy & poultry products increased by 11.69 percent and the export of other cereals recorded a growth of 22.26 percent in four months of the current fiscal. The dairy products alone recorded a growth of 61.91 percent as its export rose to USD 247 million in the first four months of the current fiscal from USD 153 million in corresponding months of the previous year.

 

Other cereals’ export increased from USD334 million in April-July 2021to USD 408 million in April-July 2022 and the export of livestock products increased from USD 1279 million in April-July 2021 to USD 1428 million in April-July 2022.

 

As per the DGCI&S data, the country’s agricultural products exports had grown by 19.92 per cent during 2021-22 to touch USD 50.21 billion. The growth rate is significant as it is over and above the growth of 17.66 per cent at USD 41.87 billion achieved in 2020-21 and has been achieved in spite of unprecedented logistical challenges in the form of high freight rates and container shortages, etc.

 

In 2021-22, agricultural and processed food products were exported to the tune of USD 25.6 billion, which was around 51 per cent of India's total agricultural goods exports of more than USD 50 billion.

 

The rise in the export of agricultural and processed food products is the outcome of various initiatives taken for the export promotion of agricultural and processed food products such as organising B2B exhibitions in different countries, exploring new potential markets through product-specific and general marketing campaigns by the active involvement of Indian Embassies.

 

Several initiatives have also been taken to promote products having registered geographical indications (GI) in India by organizing virtual Buyer Seller Meets on agricultural and food products with the United Arab Emirates and on GI products, including handicrafts with the USA.

 

In a bid to give a boost to the export of Indian wine, the APEDA facilitated participation of 10 wine exporters in the London Wine Fair held between June 7- 9, 2022. A conference was organized recently on the boosting export potential of natural, organic and GI-agro Products from the north-eastern states in Guwahati, Assam.

 

In collaboration with the Union Territory of Ladakh, APEDA under Ministry of Commerce and Industry recently organized an International Buyer Seller Meet, which aimed at boosting exports of Apricots and other agri-products from Ladakh. Eighteen entrepreneurs from UTs of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir displayed a range of Apricots and other Agri Products. Twenty buyers from India, USA, Bangladesh, Oman, Dubai participated in this event.

 

To explore international markets for Indian mangoes, an eight-day-long Mango Festival was organised in the Kingdom of Bahrain on June 13. At the show, 34 varieties of mangoes from eastern states, including West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha, were displayed at Bahrain's Al Jazira group supermarket.

 

In order to ensure seamless quality certification of products to be exported, Government through APEDA has recognised 220 labs across India to provide services of testing to a wide range of products and exporters.

In its endeavour to promote export of agricultural products inherent to India, government organized a Virtual Networking Meet for Agri and Food GI products in association with Embassy of India, Doha and IBPC Qatar. More than 80 participants including exports, importers, representatives from IBPC, officials of Indian Embassy and Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) participated.

 

On the occasion, Dr. Deepak Mittal, Ambassador, Embassy of India, Doha, Qatar, addressed the participants on the opportunities in enhancing the India Qatar bilateral trade. He stated that such trade meets will provide opportunity for B2B interaction to enhance exports.

 

Dr. M. Angamuthu, Chairman APEDA in his address emphasized on Government of India’s focus in promoting GI, organic and natural products. The attributes of Geographical Indication (GI) adds value to the products exported. 

 

These products are sourced directly from farmers and play a pivotal role in linking farmers with the export market. India can offer wide range of products and our exporters are keen to export to Qatar. 

 

This Meet provided a platform for interaction between the India exporters and importers of Qatar on the strength of India in export of agri and food products of Indian origin and distinct attributes.

 

During interaction, the exporters informed about the potential GI products for exports such as Basmati Rice, Mango, Pomegranates, products of NER and several processed products.

 

These events are expected to further strengthen the confidence of the Importers in Indian Products to facilitate exports.

 

Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) under Ministry of Commerce & Industry has contributed significantly in promoting export of agriculture and processed food products with a share of around 50% (USD 24.77 bn) in overall agri exports during 2021-22.

 

Besides being the leading producer of several agri commodities such as rice, fruits and vegetables, tea etc, India also has a distinct advantage of having registered geographical indication for several agricultural products. Presently, there are more than 400 registered Geographical Indications in India of which around 150 are agricultural and food products GI.  More than 100 registered GI products fall under the category of APEDA scheduled products (fresh fruits and vegetables, processed foods, animal products and cereals).

 

APEDA has also taken initiatives to promote new, innovative and GI products and export to new destinations.