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29 Aug, 2022 News Image Shri Narendra Singh Tomar says Agri-Business students will play an essential role in developing an AatmaNirbhar Bharat.
National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad – an autonomous organisation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India organized its 6th Convocation 2022 ceremony to award degrees and medals to successful students of Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Agri-Business Management) - PGDM (ABM) in Hyderabad today.
 
The Chief Guest for the Convocation was Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, and Shri Manoj Ahuja, Secretary (A&FW), GoI was the Guest of Honour.
 
202 students from three PGDM (ABM) batches from the academic years 2018–22 received their diplomas. 9 Students from three consecutive batches of PGDM (ABM) received gold, silver and bronze medals. Also, 3 exceptional Alumni of PGDM (ABM) who have been contributing immensely to the farming community through their Agri-Ventures received awards on the occasion. In addition, 6 students from PGDAEM and 3 students from PGDAWM programs also received medals.
 
Addressing the students, Shri Tomar said there is a need to change the concept of agriculture. In the era of climate change, there is a need to rework the strategy including studying changes in the cropping pattern.
 
'The government under the leadership of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi aims at enriching Agriculture through various schemes including the incorporation of technology. Continuous initiatives are being undertaken to raise the income of farmers. In this endeavour of bringing prosperity to agriculture and farmers, students can also contribute significantly towards the country by devoting time to farming while discharging their responsibilities,' he said.
 
Shri Tomar said that the students of MANAGE will feel pride in serving the farming community and contribute significantly in making AatmaNirbhar Bharat, a self-reliant India.
 
'India is an agricultural predominant country. We have not only accepted the primacy and priority of agriculture, but also proved its resilience in adversity and the most unfavourable conditions. The irony is that agriculture is still dependent on climate. Even if the farmer toils, government supports with subsidy, provides fertilizer, power and irrigation resulting in a blossoming crop, but if the wrath of nature strikes, then the crop may get diseased, there may be hail or frost, flood damage may occur. However, under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, the loss to farmers is compensated, but today there is a need to change the situation. How technology can be increased in the field of agriculture, how to save farmers from loss, how their incomes can be increased, how to attract the new generation towards agriculture, - the government is working on all these issues. Many schemes including Digital Agriculture Mission have been launched, Agri Startups will also be promoted further,' he said.
 
The Union Minister said that the work of managing the training of farmers is successful and of high quality. 'There are institutes that provide education with quality and proficiency. Students here make a bright career, they should express gratitude to their institutions,' he said.
 
Shri Tomar said that today a multi-functional facility has also been inaugurated in MANAGE, named after Acharya Chanakya. 'Realising the importance of agribusiness education, it has been decided that the seats in PGDM course of MANAGE (ABM) are being raised from 60 to 100. MANAGE students should feel proud while serving the farming community and about your role in developing an AatmaNirbhar Bharat is essential. Along with your regular jobs, you must give time to serve the wellbeing of the farmers of our country," he said.
 
In his address, Dr. P. Chandra Shekara, Director General of MANAGE, said, "Apart from ongoing training, research consultancy, policy support and various GoI schemes like AC&ABC, DAESI, STRY and RAFTAAR, we also take up many other activities which put India on the path of being a global leader in agriculture. We also look forward to our students becoming agricultural attaches in Indian Embassies across the world to expand Indian Agriculture beyond borders. And in the future MANAGE will strive to improve the quality and standards of agribusiness education in more than 200 organizations in India."
 
On the occasion, Shri Manoj Ahuja also presented awards to the meritorious students.  The Convocation 2022 was attended by MANAGE Faculties, staff and parents of the students who received awards and medals on the occasion.

 Source:  pib.gov.in
29 Aug, 2022 News Image Reduce production of sugar and diversify agriculture towards energy and power sectors: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.
Over-production of sugar is a problem for the economy; we spend Rs. 15 lakh crores / year for import of petroleum products, hence we need to diversify the agriculture sector towards energy and power sectors, said Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari while addressing the felicitation programme of National Cogeneration Awards 2022 in Mumbai today, August 27, 2022.
 
The Minister exhorted the industry of the crucial need to focus on alternative fuels with the help of futuristic technologies. 'While 65% - 70% of our population depends on agriculture, our agricultural growth rate is 12%-13% only; the sugarcane industry and farmers are a growth engine for our industry. And the next move should be cogeneration to increase revenue from sugar. The industry should produce less sugar and produce more byproducts, embracing the vision for futuristic technologies and using the power of leadership to convert knowledge into wealth.' This will enable the farmers to become not only food growers, but energy producers as well, he said.
 
The Minister said that while our requirement was 280 lakh tonnes of sugar this year, the production was more than 360 lakh tonnes; this could be utilised due to the situation in Brazil.  However, we need to divert production towards ethanol as the ethanol requirement is very high, the Minister pointed out. 'Last year's capacity was 400 crore litres of ethanol; we have taken a lot of initiatives to increase ethanol production. Now is the time for the industry to plan demand for ethanol, using technologies such as power generators run by bioethanol.'
 
The Minister told the industry that the Government has decided to launch flex engines in India. 'Bajaj, Hero and TVS are already making flex engines, many car manufacturers too have promised to launch their models on flex engines.'
 
The Minister informed how a crucial problem on the calorific value of ethanol has been addressed in discussion with researchers from Russia. 'Calorific value of ethanol was less, 1 litre of petrol equalled 1.3 litre of ethanol, but using Russian technology, we have found a way to make the calorific value of ethanol the same as that of petrol.'
 
The Minister informed that even auto-rickshaws can be run on bioethanol; in the construction equipment industry too, alternative fuels can be used, similarly, Germany has proven technology to run trains on bio-ethanol. A highly purified version of ethanol can also be used in the aviation industry; the aeronautical sector is doing research on how this can be done, he added. 'Bio-CNG is way cheaper than CNG and can be made from rice straw and even from organic municipal waste, making it economically attractive.'
 
The Minister reminded the industry that there is scope of using harvesting technologies for cutting of sugarcane. 'Harvesting machines can use ethanol as a fuel, making the circular economy possible.'
 
The Minister said that the sugar industry faces many problems and that we need rationalisation of power purchase rates; some states are not giving rates as per Central government policy, this is one reason why the sugarcane industry is not economically viable, the Minister said, asking the industry to raise the matter at appropriate forums.

 Source:  pib.gov.in
29 Aug, 2022 News Image Significant rise in potato production in Assam: Agriculture minister.
Assam Agriculture Minister Atul Bora said that production of potato has increased from seven Metric tonnes per hectares to 17 Metric tonnes per hectare.
 
Bora while speaking on Potato Conclave and Business Launch Event stated state must be self-reliant in Agriculture and Veterinary sector and not dependent upon the other States of the country.
 
The Potato Conclave is organized by the Department of Horticulture & Food Processing, Assam in collaboration with the Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART) and International Potato Center (CIP) specifically for the development of the Potato Value Chain in the State of Assam.
 
Bora stated with the use of scientific technologies of International Potato Centre under the initiatives of APART. The aim of the Agriculture Department is to make Assam self-sufficient in production of the certified seed potato production – Bora added.
 
The minister also said that the world is undergoing the effects of climate change and Assam has also been witnessing the drastic change of climate. It will be the challenge for the agricultural scientists to overcome such hurdles and help the farmers using latest technologies to increase their income in a sustainable way. The new generation of the State are interested in the agri-Horticultural sectors for their self-employment and are coming forward to further explore this sector especially in Horticulture.

 Source:  economictimes.indiatimes.com
26 Aug, 2022 News Image WTO goods trade indicator stable as growth stagnates
The World Trade Organization said on Tuesday that its global goods barometer was stable, pointing to stagnant global trade growth following a COVID-19 triggered slowdown.
 
The Geneva-based body said its goods trade barometer was steady at 100 points, as the drag of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is offset by the relaxation of pandemic controls in China.
 
It said that global trade growth slowed to 3.2 % in Q1 from 5.7 % in the previous quarter, broadly in line with expectations. Future uncertainty has increased due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, rising inflationary pressures and further interest rate rises expected in wealthier countries, the WTO said.

 Source:  economictimes.indiatimes.com
26 Aug, 2022 News Image Cabinet approves amendment to export policy for Wheat or Meslin Flour

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved the the proposal for amendment of policy of exemption for Wheat or Meslin Flour (HS Code 1101) from export restrictions/ ban.

 

Impact:

The approval will now allow to put a restriction on the export of Wheat Flour which will ensure a curb on rising prices of wheat flour and ensure food security of the most vulnerable sections of the society.

         

Implementation:

Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) shall issue a notification to this effect.

 

Background: 

Russia & Ukraine are the major exporters of wheat accounting for around 1/4th of the global wheat trade. The conflict between them led to the global wheat supply chain disruptions increasing demand of Indian wheat. As a result, the price of wheat in domestic market showed an increase. In order to ensure food security of 1.4 billion people of the country, the decision was taken to put a prohibition on export of wheat in May 2022.

However, due to prohibition on export of wheat (which was done to put a check on increasing prices in domestic market and to ensure food security in the country), the demand for wheat flour has increased in foreign markets and it’ s exports from India have registered a growth of 200% during April-July 2022 compared to the corresponding period in 2021. 

The increased demand for wheat flour in international market led to significant price rise of wheat flour in the domestic market.

Earlier, there was a policy not to prohibit or put any restrictions on the export of Wheat flour. Therefore, a partial modification of the policy was required by withdrawing the exemption from ban/ restrictions on export for Wheat Flour in order to ensure food security and put a check on mounting prices of Wheat flour in the country.


 Source:  pib.gov.in
26 Aug, 2022 News Image Need to promote organic farming method
Indiscriminate use of chemicals in agriculture had led to deterioration of soil and human health with the increase of non-communicable diseases, said P Duraisingam, chairman, CREATE - Save Our Rice campaign here on Thursday.
 
Speaking at a paddy festival held at Mohamed Sathak Engineering College, Keelakarai, he said that there was a need to create awareness and popularise the organic method of farming. It would be a success with the support from the government and officials.
 
He said that agriculture has been contributing in a big way for the food security as well as for the Indian economy. To ensure the welfare of farmers and consumers and healthy environment and safe ecosystem, there is an urgent need to go back to our original roots of recognizing and respecting our tradition, culture and wisdom. He demanded a state organic policy along with a clear road map and time plan in achieving it.
 
Explaining the complexity of issues in agriculture marketing, he called for the legal provision for the implementation of Minimum Support Price. While expressing his concern on the ever increasing higher and unregulated price for the organic product, the lack of genuineness in organic claims, he called for a regulatory system to guarantee the organic products for the benefit of both consumers and farmers.
 
Disapproving the State move on supplying fortified rice in the PDS, he commented that it is an unhealthy idea which could be dropped. Instead, the State should design a decentralized procurement policy for traditional paddy varieties and make it available for the public through PDS and inclusion of traditional rice-based recipes in noon meal schemes for the benefit of our children. Such a design of combining cultivation, conservation, consumption will further strengthen the 'Save Our Rice Campaign,' he added.
 
S. Kannaiya, Joint Director of Agriculture (in-charge), supported the initiative and recalled how agriculture department and Tamil Nadu Agriculture University are focusing the promotion of both organic agriculture and revival of traditional paddy varieties. While describing the merits of traditional paddy varieties, he referred how they are adaptive to different soil conditions/soil specific, ability to withstand drought, flood and its richness in medicinal properties.
 
He distributed 6 traditional paddy varieties namely Thanga Samba, Athur Kitchadi Samba, Black Kouni, Thuyamallai, Karunguruvai and Seera Samba to around 200 farmers. The paddy festival was presided over by P.R.L. Hamed Ibrahim, Administrative Director, Mohamed Sathak Trust. Syed Ibrahim welcomed the gatherings and Suresh Kanna gave vote of thanks.
 
The event was jointly organised by CREATE Trust in association with Department of Agriculture Engineering, Ramanathapuram and Mohamed Sathak Engineering College, Keelakarai. More than 250 participants including farmers, representatives of consumer associations, students from Nammalvar agriculture college participated.

 Source:  thehindu.com
26 Aug, 2022 News Image APEDA aids aijung , joha rice export to Dubai
In a bid to provide market linkage to the farmers cultivating high-value crops, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) facilitated exports of Geographical Indication (GI)-tagged aromatic joha and aijung rice from Assam to Dubai.
 
A 10 metric tonne-consignment of 'joha' and 'aijung' was dispatched from Chennai port on Wednesday, giving key linkage to farmers in lower Assam with Dubai markets. The 'joha' rice consignment was sourced from the farmers of Nalbari and Kamrup districts in lower Assam, while 'aijung' variety was sourced from Kamrup district.
 
Apeda chairman M Angamuthu flagged off the export consignment in the presence of officials from state government and representative ABM Agri Industry and Research Pvt, which handled the shipment.
 
'Assam and the other states of northeast (NE) region have a favourable climate condition and the soil type for growing almost all agricultural and horticultural crops. As most of NE states’ boundaries are shared with nations like Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and China, there are possibilities of enhancing exports from the region,' said Angamuthu.
 
'Joha' is a premium variety and has GI tag from Assam. 'Joha' variety is known for its aroma and taste and its grain characteristic, though it is distinct from other aromatic rice like 'Basmati' in biochemical and other quality attributes. Apeda officials said it has huge demand abroad.
 
Apeda promoted exports of GI products from NE, which includes 'bhoot jolokia' (Naga king chilli) and Assam lemon, which drew the attention of PM Narendra Modi who had mentioned it during his 'Maan Ki Baat' programme. Assam lemon is now exported regularly to UK and Middle East. As of now, more than 50 MT of Assam lemon has been exported. Several consignments of litchi and pumpkin have also been exported by Apeda from Assam.
 
Government data says the NE has witnessed an 85.34% growth in export of agricultural products in the last six years.

 Source:  timesofindia.indiatimes.com
26 Aug, 2022 News Image Assam government to set up 1,000 mini rice mills
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma held a meeting with the officials of Agriculture Department and Chief Minister’s Samagra Gramya Unnayan Yojana (CMSGUY) and discussed several key initiatives aimed at supporting the needs of farmers at the grass root level.
 
Sarma reviewed the measures proposed by the Agriculture department for setting up Rice Mills, providing Combine Harvesters and Mini Trucks to Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs), which are groups of small and marginal farmers during the meeting. He stressed to scale up support to farmers and building an ecosystem that facilitates enhanced paddy procurement and promotes export of farm products. He also gave several directions to make the proposed initiatives more useful and affordable to farmers.
 
The Chief Minister said that the state government would extend support to set up 50 rice mills with 200 MT milling capacity in the state. This scheme will be promoted in convergence with CMSGUY and Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) with subsidy ranging from 10 lakhs to 40 lakh depending on the capacity of the mill.
 
The state government would also sponsor setting up 1000 mini rice mills under AIF For such mills subsidy upto 1.17 Lakh per mill will be provided. On the otherhand, as proposed by the Agriculture Department Combine Harvesters will be provided to FPCs for which subsidy up to 90% will be provided.
 
The Chief Minister also asked the Department to carry out the scheme for providing Mini Trucks to FPCs to use the same for agricultural purpose with subsidy to the tune of 30% or Rs. 1.5 lakh whichever is less.
 
Earlier, the Chief Minister also held a meeting with officials of Finance Department for identification of projects under NIDA (NABARD Infrastructure Development Assistance), RIDF (Rural Infrastructure Development Fund) and RIAS (Rural Infrastructure Assistance to State Governments).

 Source:  economictimes.indiatimes.com
26 Aug, 2022 News Image India's strong economy means RBI can hike rates once again
India's strong economic growth offers room for the Reserve Bank of India to raise rates by another 60 basis points as the central bank seeks to stamp out high inflation, DBS Group Research said in a note on Thursday.
 
India's gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of current fiscal year likely surged 16% year-on-year based on most leading indicators, the research house estimated. Favourable base effect after the onset of Delta coronavirus variant last year will additionally lift the year-on-year GDP numbers, Radhika Rao, senior economist at DBS Group Research, wrote in the note.
 
It expects India's first quarter (April-June) growth to be at 16 per cent. The official GDP is expected to be issued on August 31. It maintains an overall FY23 growth forecast at 7 per cent, which will see India emerge as the fastest-growing economy in Asia this year.
 
Broad-based improvement in vaccination rates and relaxation of lockdowns benefited urban consumption, while unemployment rates returned to pre-pandemic levels, Rao said. On the investment side, 'lead indicators have been encouraging.'
 
India's retail inflation rate has remained above RBI's upper tolerance limit for seven straight months.
 
'Public capex is likely to be a bigger support in this cycle as private sector participation might be in the slow lane, due to rising input prices and renewed uncertainty over the global growth outlook,' Rao wrote.
 
For the record, the monetary policy committee of the RBI in its latest meeting raised the repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.40 per cent in order to contain the persistently high inflation. The latest hike took the repo rate above pre-pandemic levels of 5.15 per cent.
 
Raising interest rate typically suppresses demand in the economy, thereby helping inflation to decline. India's retail inflation has been over the RBI's upper tolerance band of 6 per cent for the seventh consecutive month in a row now.
 
In line with the global trend of monetary policy tightening to cool off inflation, the RBI has so far hiked the key repo rate -- the rate at which the central bank of a country lends money to commercial banks -- by 140 basis points in three instances.
 
'With 140 basis points worth tightening behind us, we look for 60 basis points more hikes in the repo rate within FY23. Our call is for 35 basis points hike in September followed by another 25 basis points in December to take the repo rate to 6.0 per cent, before settling into an extended pause,' the report added.

 Source:  economictimes.indiatimes.com
26 Aug, 2022 News Image India restricts export of wheat flour
The government on Thursday decided to put restrictions on the export of wheat flour to curb rising prices of the commodity.
 
The decision of the Cabinet 'will now allow to put a restriction on the export of Wheat Flour which will ensure a curb on rising prices of wheat flour and ensure food security of the most vulnerable sections of the society,' an official statement by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said.
 
Russia and Ukraine are the major exporters of wheat, accounting for around one-fourth of the global wheat trade. The war between the two countries has led to global wheat supply chain disruptions, thus increasing the demand for Indian wheat. As a result, the price of wheat in the domestic market has increased.
 
Wheat flour exports from India have grown 200% during April-July 2022 compared to the corresponding period in 2021. The increased demand for wheat flour in the international market led to significant price rise of the commodity in the domestic market.
 
In order to ensure food security of the country, the government put a prohibition on export of wheat in May. However, this caused a jump in overseas demand for wheat flour.
 
'Earlier, there was a policy not to prohibit or put any restrictions on the export of Wheat flour. Therefore, a partial modification of the policy was required by withdrawing the exemption from ban/ restrictions on export for wheat flour in order to ensure food security and put a check on mounting prices of wheat flour in the country,' the statement added.
 
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
 
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) will issue a notification to this effect.
 

 Source:  economictimes.indiatimes.com