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08 Aug, 2022 News Image

Basmati rice exports up 26 pc in Q1 to USD 1.15 bn.

Exports of basmati rice increased by 25.54 per cent in April-June 2022-23 to USD 1.15 billion, the commerce ministry said on Saturday. The exports stood at USD 922 million in the year-ago period.

Non-basmati rice exports too increased by 5 per cent in June quarter to USD 1.56 billion, it said.

Exports of agricultural and processed food products rose by 31 per cent in the quarter to USD 7.4 billion.

For financial year 2022-23, an export target of USD 23.56 billion has been fixed by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) for the agricultural and processed food products basket, it said.

Among these products, sectors which recorded growth during the period under review include fresh fruits and vegetables, and cereals.

'The export of meat, dairy and poultry products increased by 9.5 per cent...dairy products alone recorded a growth of 67.15 per cent as its export rose to USD 191 million in the first three months of the current fiscal,' the ministry said.

M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA, said by creating a necessary ecosystem of exports along with collaboration with key stakeholders in the agri-exports value chains, 'we are aiming to sustain the growth in India's agricultural and processed food exports in the current fiscal as well'.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

08 Aug, 2022 News Image

Food Processing sector's contricution in GDP.

The contribution of the food processing sector has increased continuously with Gross Value Added (GVA) in food processing sector from Rs.1.34 lakh crore in 2014-15 to Rs. 2.37 lakh crore in 2020-21 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.97%.

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries(MoFPI) implements various schemes with an objective of overall growth and development of the food processing sector, creation of off-farm employment and entrepreneurial opportunities whose details are as under:

(i)MoFPI implements the Pradhan MantriKisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY) which, inter–alia, aims at creation of modern post-harvest infrastructure, value addition, providing better returns to farmers, creation of off-farm employment opportunities etc.

(ii) In addition, the Ministry is also implementing the PM- Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme for providing financial, technical and business support for setting up/upgradation of two lakh existing micro food processing enterprises across the country on One District One Product (ODOP) approach.

(iii) A new Production Linked Incentive scheme (PLIS) for Food Processing Sector is being implemented to support creation of global food manufacturing champions. The scheme incentivizes investment and will promote exports and employment in the sector.

To attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the food processing sector, the Government has put in place an investor-friendly policy wherein 100% FDI is allowed for food products’ manufacturing under the automatic route, and 100% FDI under Government approval route is allowed for retail trading, including through e-commerce, in respect of food products manufactured and/or produced in India. Also, to facilitate all investment interests, MoFPI has set up a dedicated NiveshBandhu Portal as well as an Investment Facilitation Cell with Invest India. The total FDI inflow in the food processing sector during last 5 years ending 2021-22 is USD 3.54 billion.

As per the latest Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) 2018-19, released by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 40579 food processing units are in the registered sector. The ASI do not give segregated data/details of Multi-National Companies (MNCs). However, State-wise number of units as per ASI 2018-19are as under;

Number of Food processing units in registered sector

S. No.	State	No. of Units
1	A & N Islands	4
2	Andhra Pradesh	5653
3	Arunachal Pradesh	27
4	Assam	1569
5	Bihar	884
6	Chandigarh	17
7	Chhattisgarh	1630
8	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	9
9	Daman & Diu	33
10	Delhi	169
11	Goa	106
12	Gujarat	2245
13	Haryana	1045
14	Himachal Pradesh	157
15	Jammu and Kashmir	176
16	Jharkhand	240
17	Karnataka	2343
18	Kerala	1708
19	Madhya Pradesh	927
20	Maharashtra	2791
21	Manipur	30
22	Meghalaya	30
23	Nagaland	20
24	Odisha	1188
25	Puducherry	66
26	Punjab	3114
27	Rajasthan	898
28	Sikkim	20
29	Tamil Nadu	4982
30	Telangana	3900
31	Tripura	105
32	Uttar Pradesh	2105
33	Uttarakhand	362
34	West Bengal	2026
	Total	40,579

This information was given by the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

Source: pib.gov.in

08 Aug, 2022 News Image

Piyush Goyal asks industry to study FTAs, identify areas of competitive edge.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Friday asked industry to study India's free trade agreements (FTA), identify the areas that have competitive advantage and be ready to take on global competition at a meeting with export promotion councils.

Exporters raised the issue of losing out the benefit of Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for export of plastics, leather, stones and machinery to the EU from January 1, 2023, along with high inventory in developed markets and low offtake by buyers that could lead to further slowdown in export especially November onwards.

'The minister stated that the ball is in our court and we have to be ready to take on global competition. He said that government is doing its best through various measures to support Indian exporters to compete globally,' the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement quoting Goyal.

The government is also negotiating more FTAs with important trade partners and this will have a direct impact in providing a level playing field in international markets, Goyal added.

'He emphasized that everybody would have to work hard to achieve true potential of India in terms of global trade,' the ministry said.

As per a government official who attended the meeting, the minister asked industry to become competitive and not depend on subsidies.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

08 Aug, 2022 News Image

India s agricultural and processed food products exports up by 31 percent to USD 7408 Million in first three months of current fiscal (2022-23) compared to the same period last year.

New Delhi: Continuing with the trend from the previous year, the exports of agricultural and processed food products rose by 31 percent in the first three months of the current Financial Year 2022-23 (April-June) in compare to the corresponding period of FY 2021-22.

According to the provisional data released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), the overall export of APEDA products increased to USD 7408 million in April-June 2022 from USD 5663 million over the same period of the last fiscal. The export target for April-June 2022-23 was fixed at USD 5890 million.

The initiatives taken by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) that works under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry have helped the country in achieving 31 percent of the total export target in the first quarter of the current fiscal.

For the year 2022-23, an export target of USD 23.56 billion has been fixed by APEDA for the agricultural and processed food products basket.

As per the DGCI&S provisional data, fresh fruits & vegetables registered four percent growth, while processed fruits and vegetables recorded a significant growth of 59.71 percent (April-June 2022) in compare to corresponding months of the previous year.

Also, processed food products like cereals and miscellaneous processed items reported a growth of 37.66 percent in compare to the first quarter of the previous year.

In April-June, 2021, fresh fruits and vegetables were exported to the tune of USD 394 million that increased to USD 409 million in the corresponding months of the current fiscal. Exports of processed F&V jumped to USD 490 million in Q1 of the current fiscal from USD 307 million in the corresponding months of the previous year.

Basmati Rice exports witnessed a growth of 25.54 percent in the first three months of FY 2022-23 as its export increased from USD 922 million (April-June 2021) to USD 1157 million (April-June 2022), while the export of non-Basmati rice registered a growth of 5 percent in Q1 of current fiscal. Non-basmati rice export increased to USD 1566 million in the first three months of the current fiscal from USD 1491 million in the corresponding months of the previous year.

The export of meat, dairy & poultry products increased by 9.5 percent and the export of other cereals recorded a growth of 29 percent in Q1 of the current fiscal. The dairy products alone recorded a growth of 67.15 percent as its export rose to USD 191 million in the first three months of the current fiscal from USD 114 million in corresponding months of the previous year.

Other cereals’ export increased from USD 237 million in April-June 2021to USD 306 million in April-June 2022 and the export of livestock products increased from USD 1022 million in April-June 2021 to USD 1120 million in April-June 2022.

'We continue to provide technical and financial assistance to various stakeholders in the agricultural goods value chains for boosting exports of unique products from the country,'Dr. M. Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA, said.

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.

APEDA had scripted a new history by exporting agricultural and processed food products to the tune of USD 25.6 billion in 2021-22, which was around 51 per cent of India's total agricultural goods exports of more than USD 50 billion.

'Through creating a necessary eco-system of exports along with collaboration with key stakeholders in the agri-exports value chains, we are aiming to sustain the growth in India’s agricultural and processed food exports in the current fiscal as well,' Angamuthu, said.

The rise in the export of agricultural and processed food products is the outcome of APEDA’s 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.

The APEDA has also taken several initiatives to promote products having reigstered geographical indications (GI) in India by organising 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.

APEDA recently organized a conference on the boosting export potential of natural, organic and GI-agro Products from the north-eastern states in Guwahati, Assam. The objective of the conference is to promote the export of natural, organic and GI agro-products grown in Assam and neighbouring states by creating international market linkages.

In collaboration with the Union Territory of Ladakh, APEDA 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.

APEDA launched an eight-day-long Mango Festival 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.

The mango show in Bahrain is part of APEDA’s new initiatives to explore international markets for Indian mangoes under the ‘Mango Festival 2022’. It’s the outcome of APEDA’s commitment to provide a global platform for Indian mangoes that for the time 34 varieties of mangoes from eastern states have been showcased in Bahrain. On earlier occasions, mango varieties from Southern states like Alphonso, Kesar, Banganpalli, etc were showcased in most of the global shows.

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

Ends

India’s Export Comparative Statement: APEDA Products
Product Head	April-June,2021	April-June,2022	% Change (April-June,2022)
Product Head	USD Million		% Change (April-June,2022)
Fruits & Vegetables	394	409	3.74
Cereal preparations & Miscellaneous processed items	830	1143	37.6
Meat, dairy & poultry products	1022	1120	9.5
Basmati Rice	922	1157	25.5
Non Basmati Rice	1491	1566	5
Miscellaneous products	1004	2013	50
Total	5663	7408	30.81

India’s Export Comparative Statement: APEDA Products

Product Head

pib.gov.in

08 Aug, 2022 News Image

Shri Piyush Goyal interacts with Export Promotion Councils and representatives of Industry associations, stresses on a Whole of Govt approach to boost exports.

Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textile Shri Piyush Goyal reviewed the Export scenario in his interaction with Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) and representatives of Industry associations at New Delhi today.

Shri Goyal emphasized on a ‘Whole of Govt’ approach to boost exports. The Minister said this would require exporters, EPCs, Govt Agencies & Indian Missions abroad to work together.

Recognizing the crucial role played by EPCs and Industry, Shri Goyal remarked that EPCs & Industry Associations are key to realise 'Local goes Global: India makes for the World'.

Speaking to EPCs and Industry representatives, Minister stated that the ball is in our court and we have to be ready to take on global competition. He said that Government is doing its best through various measures to support Indian exporters to compete globally. Enumerating initiatives taken, he highlighted that with Gati Shakti, government is improving connectivity and logistics. Government is also negotiating to sign more FTAs with important trade partners. This will have a direct impact in providing a level playing field in international markets, he added. He emphasized that everybody will have to work hard to achieve true potential of India in terms of global trade.

Expressing confidence that we are on track to meet expectations of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Shri Goyal said that the country touched highest ever merchandise exports of $ 422 billion and all-time total exports of $ 667 billion - an increase of 34.5% over FY 21. By July’22, exports have reached $156 bn (19% higher) – Engineering goods exports $38 bn (8% higher); Readymade garment (22% higher). Agri exports grew by almost 20% till July’22, driven by rice, marine products & sugar.

Stating that the Government has been increasing its international engagement, the Minister underlined the importance of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). In this context, he urged the industry representatives to study FTAs and identify the areas which have competitive advantage. He hoped for an agreement on a multidimensional partnership with UK this year. Minister also appealed to representatives from the industry to take advantage of PM Gati Shakti, PLI, NSWS, EoDB reforms to improve export competitiveness wrt to other manufacturing powerhouses.

Har Ghar Tiranga campaign-

Commerce and Industry Minister urged all the stakeholders in the export ecosystem to take the message of Har Ghar Tiranga to every nook and corner of the country. He urged industry to unite and work together to keep our flag flying high and make this campaign a grand success. Textile Secretary Shri U P Singh informed that the Ministry is working with a select group of private companies to supply 6 crore flags to state governments and Department of Post by 12th August. He said 5.12 crore flags have already been produced.

One District One Product (ODOP)

During the interaction today, Minister launched the ODOP catalogue of over 300 products. He appealed to the people to use ODOP portal and buy products from there. This will directly help Indian artisans and families and also help revive dying arts of India. He mentioned that PM has repeatedly asked the nations to use these ODOP products as festival gifts and cooperate gifts, and PM himself uses these products for gifting purposes.

Master Database of all Associations/EPCs- Shri Goyal asked all stakeholders to prepare a database of the industry associations/EPCs over the country along with their members, employees & other basic details.

Presentation was made on National Single window system. This scheme is being run by Ministry of Commerce and Industry to facilitate ease of doing business. Since its inception last year, 10k approvals have already been given under it.

In his initial presentation Commerce Secretary Shri B V R Subramanyam said that all stakeholders in the export ecosystem worked really hard last year and achieved the target 9 days ahead of scheduled end of the year. He said that everyone will have to contribute to keep the momentum going.

Source: pib.gov.in

08 Aug, 2022 News Image

Policy measures to support Food Processing Sector

The Government has taken various policy measures and reforms to support food processing sector as indicated below:

Inclusion of food & agro-based processing units and cold chain as agricultural activity under Priority Sector Lending (PSL) norms in April 2015.

As a measure towards of ease of doing business, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) through notifications in 2016 has shifted from product-by-product approval to an ingredient and additive based approval process.

A Special Food Processing Fund of Rs. 2000 crore was set up with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to provide affordable credit for investments in setting up Mega Food Parks (MFP) as well as processing units in the MFPs. In 2019, the coverage of the fund was extended to setting up of Agro Processing Clusters and individual manufacturing units within them.

100 percent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) approval under automatic route has been permitted for the food processing sector.

The Government has put in place a liberal and transparent policy for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), wherein most of the sectors are open to FDI under the automatic route. The intent is to make the FDI policy more investor friendly and remove the policy bottlenecks that have been hindering the investment inflows into the country. 100% FDI is permitted under the automatic route in the food processing sector and 100% FDI under Government approval route is allowed for retail trading, including through e-commerce, in respect of food products manufactured and/or produced in India. Allowing 100% FDI through automatic route helps to attract more FDI as under the automatic route, the investment does not require the prior approval. The details of year-wise FDI inflow from April 2016 to March 2022 is as under;

Statement on financial year wise FDI equity inflow (From APRIL 2016 to March 2022)

Sl No	Year (April to March)	FDI (in USD million)
1	2016-17	727.22
2	2017-18	904.90
3	2018-19	628.24
4	2019-20	904.70
5	2020-21	393.41
6	2021-22	709.71
	Grand Total	4,268.19

A special fund of Rs.2000 crore has been set up in National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to provide credit at affordable rates to boost food processing sector. Under this fund, loan is extended to individual entrepreneurs, cooperatives, farmers producer organizations, corporates, joint ventures, SPVs and entities promoted by the Government for setting up, modernization, expansion of food processing units and development of infrastructure in designated food parks. The Ministry has notified the Designated Food Parks (DFPs) in different states for the purpose of availing affordable credit from special fund with NABARD. NABARD has sanctioned a term loan of Rs 776.82 Crore as on 30.06.2022. The details of term loan sanctioned and disbursement are as under;

S.No.	Category	No. of Projects	Term Loan Sanctioned	Term Loan Disbursed
1	Mega Food Park Projects	14	549.35	380.26
2	Agro Processing Cluster	8	82.09	57.78
3	Individual processing units in DFPs	12	145.38	95.85
	Total	34	776.82	533.89

This information was given by the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

Source: pib.gov.in

08 Aug, 2022 News Image

Financial assistance to develop Regional Agricultural Produces.

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has been incentivizing setting of food processing industries through Central sector umbrella scheme ‘Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY), Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry (PLISFPI) and centrally sponsored scheme ‘PM Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme across all the country. Under scheme of creation of infrastructure for agro processing clusters, a component scheme of PMKSY, the scheme is aimed at development of modern infrastructure and common facilities to encourage entrepreneurs to set up food processing units based on cluster approach and also to create modern infrastructure for food processing closer to production areas and to provide integrated and complete preservation infrastructure facilitates from the farm gate to the consumer.

For One District One Product (ODOP), the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) under Centrally Sponsored Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PM FME Scheme), in partnership with the States, provides financial, technical and business support for upgradation of existing micro food processing enterprises. The scheme adopts ODOP approach to reap the benefit of scale in terms of procurement of inputs, availing common services and marketing of products. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has advised states for convergence of resources towards ODOP from ongoing centrally sponsored schemes such as Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) etc. Similar approach has been suggested to Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying for convergence of their schemes towards ODOP.

In addition, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare under Horticulture Cluster Development Programme (HCDP) had identified 55 clusters of selected high value horticulture crops and 12 clusters have already been launched in first phase.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

Source: pib.gov.in

08 Aug, 2022 News Image

'Grand Onion Challenge' thrown open to young professionals.

The Department of Consumer Affairs conducted a Video Conference regarding 'Grand Onion Challenge' today with Heads of Educational Institutions, Vice Chancellors, Professors, Deans of eminent institutions, Senior Academicians, executives of the startups, scientists from BARC, officers of the Department of Atomic Energy, Ministry of Education, DPIIT and professionals working in the field of Agriculture, Horticulture and Food Processing.

This challenge seeks ideas from young professionals, professors, scientists in product designs and prototypes for improving pre-harvesting techniques, primary processing, storage, and transportation of post harvested onions in the country. The challenge also seeks ideas for modernization of technology in dehydration, valorization of onions and onion food processing domain.

The Grand Onion Challenge instituted by Department of Consumer Affairs has been thrown open from 20.7.2022-15.10.2022 seeking ideas in all the above domains from the best brains in the country. More information on the challenge is available on the Department website doca.gov.in/goi

The grand onion challenge registration webpage has received 122 registrations so far and some of the participants have submitted their ideas. The Department will select 40 good ideas in the four verticals wherein improvements and technology innovations are sought and therefore, departments and organizations concerned in the country are urged to submit ideas so that cost effective solutions in saving losses in pre-harvesting, primary processing, storage and transportation of onions can be developed and Atma Nirbhar Bharat programme is supported in the process.

During the VC, Shri Shri Yogesh Patil, IAS, Assistant Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs made a brief presentation on current challenges faced by the country in storage, processing and transportation of onions. It is expected that post the challenge, the losses in onion storage can be reduced by 5-10% due to innovative ideas.

Dr. Abhay Jere, Chief Innovation Officer, Innovation Cell, Ministry of Education explained in detail the three stages of participation in the challenge and urged everyone to participate in the said challenge.

Dr. S. Gautam, Scientist, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Department of Atomic Energy explained the effect of irradiation in increasing the shelf life of stored onions based on studies undertaken, which brought to light the benefits of technology in reducing losses drastically.

Scientists and professors from various organizations/universities presented many unique ideas to reduce the losses occurring during storage and transportation of onions.

More than 282 participants from different institutions, universities, research organizations and private sector startups participated in the virtual meeting from across the country.

The Secretary, DoCA, Shri Rohit Kumar Singh urged everyone to participate in the challenge so that low cost and easily replicable technology solutions to reduce post harvested onion losses could be developed for farmers and sustainably used in the country.

Source: pib.gov.in

08 Aug, 2022 News Image

Overall food production up from 265.05 MT in 2013-14 to 314.51MT in 2021-22; production of pulses increased from 19.26 MT to 27.75 MT and horticultural production from 280.70 MT to 341.63 MT during the same interval.

India has one of the largest National Agricultural Research System (NARS) in the world, comprising 102 Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Institutes, 11 Agricultural Technology Application Research Institutes, 82 All India Coordinated Projects/ Networks, 4 deemed to be Universities, 3 Central Agricultural Universities and 63 State Agricultural/ Veterinary/ Horticultural/ Fishery Universities located in different States. Besides this, ICAR has a network of 731 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) established across the country which are engaged in refining the technologies developed and undertake frontline demonstrations of these technologies in farmers’ fields. The requisite infrastructure and expertise available with ICAR Institutions, State Agricultural Universities and KVKs cater to various technological interventions in various fields of agriculture and allied sectors to meet the demand of agricultural sector.

The research activities carried out by ICAR during last three years include (i) Release of 946 field crop varieties comprising of 379 of cereals, 146 of Oilseeds, 168 of Pulses, 55 of Forage Crops, 158 of Fibre Crops, 26 of Sugarcane and 14 of other crops (potential/ minor crops) and 171 varieties of horticultural crops; (ii) Development of 25 vaccines and 40 diagnostics for diagnosis and their containment; (iii) Development of breeding and seed production technologies for 161 food and ornamental fishes, 48 indigenous fish feed and 70 improved aquaculture systems; (iv) Development of 90 resource specific gears & fuel-efficient fishing vessels for efficient fishing; and (v) Development of approximately 168 technologies/ machines. These improved varieties/ technologies/ machines/ vaccines etc. are aimed at augmenting the production and productivity in Agriculture in the country.

The above technological developments coupled with Government policies and programmes have resulted in significant increase in food production in the recent years. Agriculture and the allied sector registered a growth of 3.6 per cent in 2020-21 and 3.9 per cent in 2021-22. The overall food production has increased from 265.05 million tonnes (MT) in 2013-14 to 314.51MT in 2021-22. The production of pulses increased from 19.26 MT in 2013-14 to 27.75 MT in 2021-22 and the horticultural production from 280.70 MT in 2013-14 to 341.63 MT in 2021-22.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

Source: pib.gov.in

05 Aug, 2022 News Image

Assam CM Sarma holds meeting with Agriculture Commission.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today held a meeting with Assam Agriculture Commission and asked it to make an extensive visit to agriculture clusters across the state, hold discussions with the progressive farmers, try to understand their issues, and recommend steps to address them for enhancing gross production of agricultural commodities.

Holding the meeting in the conference room of his office in Janata Bhawan, Chief Minister Sarma also asked the Commission members that besides field visits, they should also hold meetings for at least six months to review the implementation of the Commission’s suggestions and observations for the qualitative and quantitative development of agriculture sector.

He also asked the Commission to lend capacity building to the state farmers in organic and natural farming and increase the export potential of their produce.

With regard to the seeds, Chief Minister Sarma also asked the Commission to suggest appropriate scientific methods and approaches for increasing productivity, profitability, stability and sustainability of farming practices.

Source: thestatesman.com