Diversified agri-business firm Godrej Agrovet on Tuesday said it has inked MoUs with Assam, Manipur and Tripura governments for development and promotion of oil palm cultivation under a central scheme. Godrej Agrovet NSE 0.22 % is the largest oil palm processor in India and works directly with farmers for the entire crop cycle.

 

As part of the memorandums of understanding (MoUs), Godrej Agrovet said it will be allotted land across the three states for promotion and development of sustainable palm oil plantations in the region.

 

The collaboration will bring new opportunities and growth in building oil palm plantation in these three state and would help provide the required support to the farmers, it said.

 

'Currently, we have around 65,000 hectare under palm oil cultivation across the country, which we plan to increase to 1 lakh hectare in the next few years,' company's Managing Director Balram Singh Yadav said.

 

The company is confident that the National Mission on Edible Oils - Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) along with active participation of responsible organisations such as Godrej Agrovet will lead to bridging the gap in India's oil mission, he said.

 

In August 2021, the Centre had launched NMEO-OP with a planned outlay of Rs 11,040 crore for raising oil palm area to 10 lakh hectare by 2025-26 and 16.7 lakh hectare by 2029-30 with special focus on North-East and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

 

Godrej Agrovet CEO (oil palm) Sougata Niyogi said, 'With our processing plant in Mizoram, we are prepared to sustainably serve the demand of the North-East markets. ...With active support of the state governments we can develop 15,000 hectare in four northeastern states in the next five years. '

 

India, a net importer of palm oil, follows a sustainable model of palm oil plantation which is based on intercropping and scientific farming processes. Most of the palm oil cultivation in the country is done by converting paddy fields which have been contributing towards surplus produce.

 

Godrej Agrovet's palm oil-focussed work is present in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Goa, Maharashtra, and Mizoram.

 

Its range of products, including crude palm oil, crude palm kernel oil and palm kernel cake, are produced at its six oil palm mills spread across the country.

Months ahead of assembly elections in Gujarat, a key segment of the ambitious Surat-Chennai economic corridor has hit a serious green hurdle.

 

The near Rs 14,000 crore project has run into trouble with the Union Environment ministry's Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for Infrastructure projects, over its proposed 290 km long greenfield Surat-Nashik-Ahmednagar section which falls in pristine and untouched areas of the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats.

 

The EAC has, in a July 21-22 meeting, said that the stakeholder ministry/department should upgrade on the existing National Highway alignment instead of running into 'virgin and ecologically sensitive new parts of Western Ghat areas'.

 

Given the significance of the corridor, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MORTH) and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) are preparing to 'appeal' with the Environment ministry to reconsider its view and allow leeway for the national connectivity project which will ultimately link up Delhi to Chennai through an access-controlled corridor, ET has learnt.

 

The project has also been a major political and economic talking point for the infrastructure boost it will bring to the region.

 

'We will appeal with the EAC. Packages for so many segments linking up to this corridor have already been awarded. This was to be an access-controlled expressway- a key link off the Golden Quadrilateral for national connectivity. We are very mindful of environmental concerns and have always prioritised them and the new alignment will in fact reduce affected area and use modern technology to minimise environmental damage. However, there is no other alternative alignment possible and upgrading the existing one defeats the very purpose of the corridor', a senior official told ET.

 

The EAC has also noted in its July 21 meeting that the total travel length of the existing road (NH-848)- Surat-Mumbai- is 136 Kms while the proposed greenfield is 107 Kms. The likely travel time after improvement on existing road is 3 hours but a greenfield corridor would bring it down to 1 hr 10 min.

 

However, the EAC has opined that this 'marginal reduction' of travel length and time in the new proposed alignment, is expected to 'overweigh the cost of environmental damages to the Western Ghat in the existing alignment'.

 

It has further observed that developmental activities in virgin and ecologically sensitive new parts of Western Ghat areas around the proposed alignment will overweigh the damages caused by the option of retrofitting/improving/upgrading the existing road/alignment.

 

It has, accordingly, advised that the NHAI instead work on and finalize the existing alignment in all respect instead of pursuing the greenfield alignment through the Western Ghats.

 

The issue has been coming back and forth to the EAC since November 2021.

 

The EAC had then noted that the 70 meter Right of Way planned for the corridor would have a 'high impact' to the environment as it would pass through 428 hectares of forest land and directly affect over 265 ha area, cross rivers like Ambika, Kaveri, Kharera, Sasu, Man, Par, Godavari, Mula and Dev Nandi and impact over 14,000 trees. Tunnels planned would impact the water drain age in the region and any new alignment in the Western Ghats would have a 'negative impact' on the environment.

 

It had constituted a sub committee as well for a site visit which was conducted on April 20-21.

 

The NHAI had then submitted that the affected forest area and water bodies as well as structures would be far lesser on the new alignment vis a vis upgradation of the existing NH 848 in the Western Ghats region.

 

The subcommittee, however, felt that there were 'few marginal advantages' on the proposed greenfield alignment across all aspects.

 

It had also said that while affected forest area is more on the existing alignment, developmental activity has been ongoing there and upgrading it will at least 'spare the pristine area of the proposed alignment'.

 

Officials from MORTH and NHAI, on the other hand, point out that upgrading the exiting NH 848 will defeat the very purpose as the greenfield Surat-Ahmednagar economic corridor is part of the larger access controlled connectivity plan between Delhi and Chennai and is crucial to ease the heavy traffic off the Surat-Maharashtra border on the existing highway.

 

They also point out that environmental impact and damage will be more in upgrading the NH 848 in the western ghat terrain vis a vis the tunnel and viaduct approach planned for the new alignment.

The high-powered panel constituted by the government on minimum support price (MSP) following the repeal of the farm laws, in its first meeting on Monday, formed four sub-groups to take up various issues and discussed matters even as thousands of farmers once again gathered in Delhi to press for their demand for legalising the MSP.

 

The first sub-group will take up the Himalayan states, cropping patterns, crop diversification, and how to ensure MSP support there.

 

The second group is on micro-irrigation and will be headed by Sukhpal Singh, who is from IIM Ahmedabad.

 

The third, to be led by a representative of the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), will study 'zero budget-based farming', including organic and natural farming methods.

 

The fourth will be led by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and will take up crop diversification and cropping patterns across the country.

 

The MSP committee, headed by former agriculture secretary Sanjay Agrawal, discussed ways to promote 'zero budget-based farming', and make MSP 'effective and transparent'.

 

'A presentation was given on three topics which the committee is required to examine and recommend. What and how it needs to be done, which state governments have done better so far and the successful models and learning -- were discussed,' committee member Binod Anand told PTI.

 

NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand was not present in the meeting.

 

'The next meeting is expected to be held in Hyderabad, the dates for which will be finalised soon,' a member of the panel said.

 

There are 26 members including the chairman of the committee and three membership slots have been kept aside for representatives of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM).

 

While announcing the repeal of the farm laws in November last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to set up a committee to look into MSP issues.

 

Other members who attended the meeting include agricultural economists CSC Shekhar from the Indian Institute of Economic Development, Sukhpal Singh, and Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) senior member Naveen P Singh.

 

Meanwhile, the original SKM, which had spearheaded the year-long agitation in Delhi, surprisingly stayed away from the protests.

 

Yogendra Yadav, a prominent voice during the farmers’ protests, tweeted that the kisan mahapanchayat being organised in Delhi had nothing to do with the SKM.

 

The protestors called themselves SKM-apolitical.

 

This has once again brought out the rift in the conglomeration of farmers, which at one time boasted of being a grouping of more than 300 outfits from all over the country.

 

Commuters in Delhi had a harrowing time, something that brought back memories of difficulties they faced while the agitation was on.

 

There were massive traffic jams at the Delhi border, including Ghazipur and Singhu, with some of the commuters getting stuck for more than an hour due to extensive checking and curbs by the police to prevent a situation similar to 2020.

 

'The mahapanchayat is a one-day-long peaceful event where we will reiterate our demands such as legal guarantees for MSP and cancelling the Electricity Amendment Bill, 2022,' said Abhimanyu Singh Kohar, an SKM (non-political) member and organiser of the 'mahapanchayat'.

 

The SKM has rejected this committee and decided not to nominate its representatives.

Godrej Agrovettoday announced that it has signed threeMemorandum of Understand with Assam, Manipur and Tripura state governmentsfor development and promotion of oil palm cultivation in the region under the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) scheme.

 

In August 2021, Government of India had launched the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEOOP) with planned outlay of ? 11,040 Crore. Under this mission, Government has envisaged to raise area under cultivation of oil palm to 10 Lakh hectares by 2025-26 and 16.7 Lakh hectares by 2029-30 with special focus on the North East region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

 

As partof the MoU signed, Godrej Agrovet NSE 2.52 % will be allotted land across the three states for promotion and development of sustainable palm oil plantations in the region.d support to the farmers.

 

Balram Singh Yadav, Managing Director, Godrej Agrovetsaid , “With more than thirty years of experience in oil palm business, Godrej Agrovet has been working and educating farmers from North East on sustainable palm oil plantation processes. Currently, we have around 65,000 hectares under palm oil cultivation across the country, which weplan to increase to 1 lakh hectares in the next few years. '

 

Sougata Niyogi, CEO – Oil Palm, Godrej Agrovet Limited, added, “We have been invested in promoting and developing north east as a growth market for palm oil cultivation for over a decade. According to industry estimates,these states have utilised less than 1% of its potential. These states promise huge opportunity for growth and improving income of the farming household. With our processing plant in Mizoram, we are prepared to sustainably serve the demand of the north east markets. With the signing of these MoUs (with Assam, Tripuraand Manipur) we are confident that these states will play a key role in positively contributing towards the nation’s need for sustainable palm oil growth. With active support of the state governments we can develop 15000 hectares in four

North Eastern NSE -1.26 % states in the next five years. '

 

Godrej Agrovet’s palm oil is currently present in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Goa, Maharashtra, and Mizoram. Its range of products, including crude palm oil, crude palm kernel oil and palm kernel cake, are produced at its six oil palm mills spread across the country.

Britain recorded its biggest fall in output in more than 300 years in 2020 when it faced the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a larger decline than any other major economy, updated official figures showed on Monday.

 

Gross domestic product fell by 11.0% in 2020, the Office for National Statistics said. This was a bigger drop than any of the ONS's previous estimates and the largest fall since 1709, according to historical data hosted by the Bank of England.

 

British statisticians regularly update GDP estimates as more data becomes available.

 

The ONS's initial estimates had already suggested that in 2020 Britain suffered its biggest fall in output since the 'Great Frost' of 1709. But more recently the ONS had revised down the scale of the fall to 9.3%, the largest since just after World War One.

 

Even before the latest revisions Britain's economic slump was the largest in the Group of Seven, and the latest downward revision makes it greater than Spain's, which recorded a 10.8% fall in output.

 

However the ONS cautioned against direct comparisons with other countries as most - with the exception of the United States - had not yet undertaken the same type of in-depth revisions as Britain had.

 

The downward revision in GDP reflected lower contributions from healthcare and retailers than previously thought.

 

'The health service faced higher costs than we initially estimated, meaning its overall contribution to the economy was lower,' ONS statistician Craig McLaren said.

 

The ONS had already factored in a fall in routine care provided by Britain's National Health Service as it focused on treating COVID-19 patients and limiting the spread of the disease in hospitals.

 

A closer look at the increased costs faced by individual retailers also led to a downward revision of the sector's contribution, while factory output was revised up to take account of lower raw material costs.

 

Britain's economy bounced back sharply last year and recovered its pre-pandemic size in November 2021. But fast-rising inflation means the Bank of England expects the economy will slip back into recession later this year.

 

The ONS will publish updated growth figures for 2021 and the first half of 2022 on Sept. 30.

Wheat prices have jumped 4% in the last one week and festival season demand expected to kick in from mid-September, they are expected to rise further, despite the government claiming that the country has sufficient stocks.

 

Denying some reports claiming that India was going to import wheat, the Department of Food and Public Distribution of the central government issued a statement on Sunday saying the country has enough stock of wheat to take care of its domestic requirement and for the public distribution system.

 

Mill grade wheat prices increased by Rs 1/kg last week to range between Rs 24kg to Rs 25.50/kg in north India. 'Heavy rainfall in the region reduces movement of wheat and the unwillingness of the stockists, who expect higher prices, resulted in prices going upward,' said Navneet Chitlangia, vice president, the Roller Flour Mills Federation of India. (RFMFI).

 

'Presently, the demand for flour is sluggish. However, as the festival season purchases of bulk consumers are likely to begin from September 10, prices are expected to increase further,' said Chitlangia.

 

In its fourth advance estimate issued this month, the government has pegged 2021-22 wheat production at 106.84 million tonnes. However, a big section of the trade does not trust this figure.

 

'The crop figure that the government is telling us seems to be too high. It doesn't match. If the government numbers are correct, then why is the wheat trading at this price in the market? It should be much lower,' said a top executive of a global commodity trading house, requesting not to be identified.

 

In the absence of any other mechanism to know correct production figures, the trade and industry believe that India's 2021-22 wheat crop could be between 90 million tonnes to 94 million tonnes.

 

Rajesh Jain Paharia, an exporter of wheat said, 'Wheat prices in India are rising because there is a mismatch between demand and supply.'

 

As the adverse impact of the heat wave on wheat production became apparent, India banned wheat export in May followed by restrictions on export of wheat products like atta and maida, which brought the prices down temporarily.

 

Now the industry thinks the government may gradually use other tools of price control like voluntary disclosure of stocks and removal of import duty.

 

Traders say that making import duty on wheat zero will not be useful in near future as domestic prices are much higher than the landed price of imported wheat.

 

Globally, wheat prices have started cooling, which makes the trade believe that there could be some import parity post-Diwali if the duty is removed.

 

As talks over the development of Chabahar Port gain momentum, India and Iran on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) mutually recognising certificates of competency in unlimited voyages of seafarers from both the nations.

 

The signing of the MoU is aimed at smoothening the movement of seafarers from both the countries, India's ministry of ports, shipping, and waterways said.

 

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is on a four-day visit to Iran to review the progress on the development of the Shahid Behesti terminal of Chabahar Port, a crucial cog in the potentially game-changing International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC).

 

The seafarer agreement, along with the handover of six mobile harbour cranes to the port authority, is the first tangible development after years of dormancy owing to the unfulfilled potential of the port and Covid-related restrictions.

 

So far, Sonowal has met Iran’s Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber, and minister of roads and urban development Rostam Ghasemi, with steady talks between the latter and Sonowal on a long-term agreement for development of Chabahar Port.

 

Iranian media reported that Ghasemi expects these negotiations to bring fruit within the next two months, after all legal and technical processes have been completed.

 

Business Standard reported last week that these talks were in the minister’s agenda, along with an Iranian proposal to extend the lease for the port by 18 months.

 

Chabahar Port is slated to be India’s gateway for trade with central Asian and European nations, along with increased engagement with Russia, once its potential is leveraged by linking it to INSTC. It was developed with Indian assistance and is currently operated by state-owned India Ports Global.

Marathwada Vidarbha Turmeric Trade Association has written a letter to the Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Choudhary, demanding a ban on trading in turmeric futures market on the NCDEX and BSE.

 

The association alleged that some traders and corporates are making a profit. The prices are being decided according to the convenience in the futures price, it said, and the farmers of Maharashtra are facing a lot of loss.

 

'Some handful of traders and companies store around 2/3 of total turmeric produced in India in the forward market warehouse and then they determine the rate of 97% of production,' the industry body, one of the largest associations of turmeric traders, said in the letter.

 

Around 60% of the production comes to the market after March, and the trading for April begins in the November of the previous year. However, very few farmers determine the rate at the time, said the letter.

 

The letter also alleged that the agricultural commodity exchanges have 'no farmers' registered for purchasing or selling. However, NCDEX chief business officer Kapil Dev said, 'Futures contracts traded on the exchange platform in turmeric have attracted wide and active participation from all sections of the value chain participants.'

 

He said the contracts traded on the NCDEX facilitate efficient price discovery and provide a transparent market for all the value chain participants to hedge price risk.

 

The BSE did not respond to queries emailed by ET.

 

India recorded production of about 467,000 tonnes of turmeric for 2022, up 9.64% year-on-year.

Senior officials of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) are visiting India this week to advance talks for the bilateral Trade Policy Forum (TPF).

 

Assistant USTR for Central and South Asian Affairs Christopher Wilson and Assistant USTR for Agricultural Affairs Julie Callahan will be in New Delhi this week. The 12th India-US TPF ministerial meeting was held in November 2021 post which Washington resumed mango imports from India after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The two sides also finalised work on market access facilitation for pomegranates and pomegranate arils from India.

 

'A USTR working level delegation is visiting India this week to advance the US -India Trade Policy Forum,' said a US embassy spokesperson. The next TPF is likely in November and the two sides are expected to explore the possibility of enhanced market access for additional identified agricultural products, and engage on Washington's concerns regarding regulatory approvals for the Distillers' Dried Grains with Solubles, an animal feed ingredient.

 

Sources said that the TPF working groups on trade in goods, agriculture, services, intellectual property and investment are working on plans of action and trade outcomes on outstanding bilateral trade issues. India's exports to the US in April-June FY23 were $21.67 billion while imports were $13.43 billion.

New Delhi, The committee on Minimum Support Price (MSP) had a broad discussion on the mandated topics including making 'MSP more effective and transparent' in its first meeting on Monday but Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) remained absent.

 

The committee, headed by former agriculture secretary Sanjay Agrawal, discussed on ways to 'promote zero budget based farming', to 'change' crop patterns keeping in mind the changing needs of the country, and to make MSP more 'effective and transparent'.

 

There are 26 members including the chairman of the committee and three membership slots kept aside for representatives of SKM.

 

'A presentation was given on three topics which the committee is required to examine and recommend. What and how it needs to be done, which state government has done better so far and the successful models and learning -- were discussed,' the committee member Binod Anand told PTI.

 

Anand, who is holding the charge of general secretary at farmers' group CNRI, said SKM representatives however were not present in the day-long meeting. Niti Aayog member Ramesh was also not present due to other engagements.

 

SKM, which necessitated setting up of this committee on July 18 after leading the farmers' protest against three farm laws and forcing the government to repeal them, has already rejected this committee and decided not to nominate its representatives.

 

While announcing the repeal of three farm laws in November last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to set up a committee to look into farmers' MSP issues.

 

Other members who attended the meeting include: agri-economists CSC Shekhar from Indian Institute of Economic Development and Sukhpal Singh from IIM-Ahmedabad and Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) senior member Naveen P Singh.

 

Among farmer representatives who attended the meeting were National award-winning farmer Bharat Bhushan Tyagi as well as Gunwant Patil, Krishnaveer Choudhary, Pramod Kumar Choudhary, Guni Prakash and Sayyed Pasha Patel. IFFCO chairman Dilip Sanghani was present.

 

Senior members of agricultural universities, central government secretaries and chief secretaries of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha were also present in the meeting.