Jammu and Kashmir Trade Promotion Organization (JKTPO), a Government of Jammu and Kashmir Undertaking, collaborated with Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to achieve the vision of Export promotion in UT of J&K with its registration drives for handholding the potential Exporters from J&K and facilitating them in getting new Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) which resulted in net increase of export registrations by 173%. IEC is a key business identification number that is mandatory for exports or imports. Further, number of issued IEC in Jammu and Kashmir has increased from 204 new registrations in 2020 to 557 in 2021.

 

 

As per data, a total of 2863 IEC registrations been done till date in Jammu and Kashmir. Also, the value of Exports in the UT from the last five years has increased from US$ 124.47 million to US$ 159.64 million.

 

This was one of the prioritized initiatives of JKTPO under the aegis of Department of Industries and Commerce for Export Promotion in the UT. As per the vision of ‘District as Export Hub’ of Government of India, JKTPO in collaboration with DGFT has organized various registration drives, training cum capacity building workshops for strengthening the Export scenario of J&K.

 

More than 40 ODOP items from all 20 districts of J&K have been selected and finalized by APEX Level Export Promotion Committee. A series of Buyer seller meets has been organized in association with different Consulates in order to promote various products from Agriculture & Handloom and Handicraft Sector and intends to do the same in near future also. JKTPO intends to create an international brand for all the identified local products and will give all the necessary support to interested exporters for promotion of their products and making connections with interested importers.

 

In a statement, Managing Director JKTPO, Ankita Kar said that, 'As per the vision of Prime Minister each district of our country has a diverse identity and potential for global market and we from the Department of Industries and Commerce have reached out to existing and potential Exporters. The UT of J&K under the active guidance of Lieutenant Governor, Jammu and Kashmir is now on a fast transition path for opening global markets for the UT’s products and services'.

 

Furthermore, Suvidh Shah, Joint Director General of Foreign Trade said, 'We are extremely happy to share that there is a big hike in registration of Importer-Exporter Code from UT of Jammu and Kashmir in this year as compared to previous year'.(KNS) 

India will play an increasing role in the revival and restoration of international economies, said Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution. In the post-Covid world we are going to see a new world order, Shri Goyal said in his Inaugural Address to the CII Manufacturing Conclave 2022 today.

 

'We do have international geopolitical uncertainties as we see today on the Ukraine-Russia crisis, but I am very confident that India will play an increasingly important role in the revival and restoration of international economies in the years ahead. In the post-Covid world we are going to see a new world order and India, though we may be a $3 trillion economy today, we should aspire for very, very bold and aggressive targets. Personally I think we can still aim for the $5 trillion economy by 2026 but it’s not possible unless all of you participate with full gusto in this very, very ambitious plan,' said Shri Goyal in his address through video conferencing.

 

Shri Goyal called upon the Industry champions to invest heavily in Labour-intensive sectors.

 

'You have the power to lift the millions out of poverty, you have the power to give a better quality of life to the underprivileged. Together we can create not lakhs but crores of jobs in the Textiles sector, Plastics, Footwear, Auto components, Sports Goods, Agri/Food Processing, there are so many sectors where Labour is an important element of cost, that’s our competitive or comparative advantage that we should leverage,' he said.

 

Shri Goyal exuded confidence India’s exports will cross $650 Billion this current Financial Year.

 

'Every month in this year, from April till now so far till January, hopefully the next two (months) also, we would have created a record in the history of India’s exports. Every month is a record exports. Collectively, of course, it will be a historical achievement to cross $400 Billion in Merchandise exports, but then Services are also growing extremely fast; I had estimated Services to cross 225, then I reset it to 240, I have now reset my Services expectation to $250 Bn; within a year the target has undergone two revisions, that’s the strength of Services,' he said.

 

Shri Goyal said, 'Looking at the growth on both sides, Services will catch up faster and by 2030 India should aspire for a Trillion dollars of Merchandise exports and a $1 Tn of Services exports.' He further added, 'Services rests on the Manufacturing sector and therefore you have the power to take the country to prosperity.'

 

Shri Goyal said India should aim for a $5 trillion economy by 2026. COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of Global Supply Chains and has put ‘Aatmanirbharta’ at the centerstage, he added.

 

'We have outstanding FDI inflows coming into the country, today we are the second largest manufacturer of mobile handsets in the world, we are a large Auto manufacturer, amongst the largest in the world, we now need to replicate these successes in other areas, newer areas and become global champions,' said Shri Goyal. 'Our startups are doing us proud, championing India's technology story. We have had 10 Unicorns within 53 days of 2022. They are not just 'Badams' but 'Badam ki barfi',' he added.

 

Shri Goyal said India needs to focus on our EDGE in Global Competition, - Economies of Scale, Demographic Dividend, Government and Industry focus on Quality & Efficiency. For ‘Brand India’ to emerge, we need a mindset change towards quality from Compliance to Consciousness, he said.

 

'However, in the post COVID-19 world, we acknowledge that we cannot be Masters of Everything! We need to identify focus areas following Michael Porter’s Theory of Competitive advantage & David Ricardo’s Theory of Comparative advantage,' said Shri Goyal.

 

The Minister encouraged the private sector to make use of the PM Gati Shakti NMP for multi-modal connectivity, with the aim of coordinated planning and execution of infrastructure projects to bring down logistics costs.

 

'Today we have a vibrant PM Gati Shakti with over 360 layers of data which speak to each other through APIs and, to my mind, it’s a revolutionary concept never attempted anywhere in the world todate,' he said.

 

Shri Goyal gave a 3-point Action Plan for all the Industry Associations:

 

Encourage big companies to integrate MSMEs & ensure timely payments

 

Support each other in domestic manufacturing

 

Train young minds to get into manufacturing

 

Quoting former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, - 'India has the sanction of her own past glory and future vision to become strong in every sense of the term', Shri Goyal said let us all come together to make India stronger in every sense, by taking bigger & bolder steps in this direction.

Jammu and Kashmir's economy predominantly depends on the agriculture sector. About 70% of its population is directly or indirectly involved in agriculture. Horticulture plays an important role in the economic development of the state.

 

Several horticultural activities revolve around Kashmir. It is the wealthiest region of the state. The Kashmir valley is known for its cold-water fisheries and sericulture activities, wood that comes from Kashmir is used in making high-quality cricket bats, known as Kashmir Willow. 

 

Jammu and Kashmir's agricultural export business is vast. It includes the export of apples, oranges, rice, peaches, pears, barley, cherries, maize, saffron, and various vegetables. Several manufactured goods are also exported, such as handicrafts, shawls, and rugs. Agriculture and horticulture export businesses are the largest sources of income of the state, with a turnover of over 300 crores annually. The Jammu and Kashmir government is working on a vision of providing farmers with a high return for their crops by providing sustainability and intervention of modern agricultural equipment.

 

The mechanization of farming sectors in recent years is slowly transforming the agricultural outlook of farmers. The government is setting up custom hiring sectors and farm machinery banks in the state. Around 150 custom centers and 120 farm machinery banks have been started. Recently, direct financial assistance has been provided to around 11lakh farmers. Kisan credit cards and incentives worth Rs.1706 have been distributed among millions of farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme.

 

Also, Paddy threshers are soon to be distributed among Panchayats. The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) has decided that it will provide farmers with the option of selling saffron at its outlets across the country.

 

As agriculture is the driving force of Jammu and Kashmir, the government reforms are contributing tremendously to yield encouraging results in the sector. 

Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Textiles and Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal said that with emphasis on Millets, India is going back to its roots like Yoga.

 

'Bringing back the glory of millets will make the country Aatmanirbhar in 3 areas-Food, Nutrition & Economy,' Shri Goyal said.

 

Following the Prime Minister’s address on the positive impact of Union Budget 2022 in the Agriculture sector, Shri Goyal addressed the webinar on ‘Smart Agriculture: Bringing Back Glory of Millets; Moving Towards Aatmanirbharta in Edible Oil’.

 

He gave four Mantras to make India a leading exporter of Millets. '1) States can duplicate the success of Karnataka’s Fruits Model for crop diversification with a focus on millets, 2) Collaboration with Agri Startups to provide the latest tech to ensure quality & aid in bio fortification of millets, 3) Launch Campaigns to create awareness regarding Health and Nutrition benefits of millets in families and 4) International Outreach to promote Brand India Millets,' he said during his address.

 

Stressing that India produces all 9 common millets, the Minister pointed out that India is the 2nd-largest producer and 2nd-largest exporter of millets in the world.

 

He added that the Government has taken reformative steps which have led to the highest procurement of food grains from farmers at MSP-KMS 2021-22 benefitted 64 Lakh farmers while RMS 2021-22 benefitted nearly 48 Lakh farmers.

 

Pressing on the Centre’s efforts, he said nearly 4 Lakh hectare area of rice fallow is to be used for oilseeds cultivation in 100 districts of 10 states. Also, 230 high-yielding districts of oilseeds have been identified. Nearly 20 lakh hectares area will also be brought under intercropping of oilseeds in next 5 years.

 

'Today, India is set on a path to become Aatmanirbhar. In this mission, the Government is working towards realizing the image of a self-reliant farmer with the best crops,' Shri Goyal said adding that Smart Agriculture is about using technology to leapfrog into a new era to build a resilient infrastructure for farmers.

 

Dr. T Mohapatra, Secretary Department of Agricultural Research & Education (DARE) and DG, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) during his presentation said that the Year 2023 has been announced as the International Year of Millets. He said that support will be provided for post-harvest value addition, enhancing domestic consumption & branding millets products nationally and internationally.

 

Vilas Tonapi, Director, Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR) talked about ‘Blueprint for International Year of Millets 2023’ followed by Dr. Hemlata, Director, National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) who spoke on ‘Nutritive Values of Millet Products’, Dr. Manjit Gill, President, Indian Federation of Culinary Association shared about ‘Millet Product Recipe Development & Popularization’, Dr C. Anantha Ramakrishnan , Director, NIFTEM talked on ‘Promoting Millet Value Added Products’,  Atul Chaturvedi, President SEA discussed ‘Case of Aatmanirbharata in edible Oil’, Davish Jain, Chairman, SOPA spoke about ‘Self Reliance in Soybean’ and Dr. Balram Singh Yadav, MD, Godrej Agrovet delivered his lecture on ‘Future of Oil Palm’.

Rice export prices in Thailand fell to an over 1-1/2 month low this week due to a weaker baht, while an uptick in overseas buying boosted rates in leading exporter India.

 

Thailand's 5% broken rice prices <RI-THBKN5-P1> were quoted at $400 per tonne this week, down from $410-$420 a week ago.

 

The baht weakened to 32.68 against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, or by nearly 1.6% from a week ago and 1.3% from Wednesday, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

 

"Prices eased in line with the baht weakening, which is an effect of Russia’s invasion," a Bangkok-based trader said, adding that domestic rice prices still remained stable.

 

India's 5% broken parboiled variety <RI-INBKN5-P1> was quoted at $370 to $376 per tonne this week, up from the last week's $368 to $374.

 

"Despite the depreciation in rupee, exports prices are moving higher. Demand is good from African and Asian buyers," said an exporter based at Kakinada in southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

 

Indian farmers are likely to harvest a record 127.93 million tonnes of rice against 124.37 million tonnes produced the year before.

 

In neighbouring Bangladesh, domestic rice prices stayed elevated despite good crops and reserves, officials said.

 

The country's rice stock at government warehouses surged to 1.7 million tonnes this month, according to the data from the food ministry.

 

Vietnam's 5% broken rice <RI-VNBKN5-P1> were offered at $395-$400 per tonne, compared with $400 per tonne a week ago.

 

"Importers are buying moderately, waiting for prices to fall when the winter-spring harvest peaks," said a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City.

 

"Exports will increase from next month, with the key markets being the Philippines and Africa,” the trader said.

 

Preliminary shipping data showed 219,000 tonnes of rice is to be loaded at Ho Chi Minh City port in February, with most of the rice heading to the Philippines.

 

(Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru, Patpicha Tanakasempipat in Bangkok, Khanh Vu in Hanoi, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai and Ruma Paul in Dhaka)

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed a webinar on positive impact of Union Budget 2022 in Agriculture sector. He discussed the ways in which the Budget will contribute to strengthening agriculture sector. The Webinar was focused on ‘Smart Agriculture’- Strategies for implementation. Concerned Union Ministers, representatives of state governments, representatives from industry and academia and farmers through various Krishi Vigyan Kendras were present on the occasion.

 

At the outset, the Prime Minister noted the third anniversary of the launch of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. 'This scheme has become a strong support for the small farmers of the country. Under the scheme, almost 1.75 lakh crore rupees have been given to 11 crore farmers', he said. The Prime Minister talked about many new systems spanning from seed to market and also about the reforms in the old systems in the agriculture sector. 'In just 6 years agriculture budget has been increased manifold. Agriculture loans for farmers were also increased by two and half times in the last 7 years', he added. He pointed out that during the difficult period of the pandemic, 3 crore farmers were given Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) as part of the special drive and the facility of KCC was extended to farmers engaged in Animal Husbandry and Fisheries. Micro irrigation network has also been strengthened to great benefit of the small farmers, he said.

 

Due to these efforts, he said, farmers are giving record production and new records have been created in MSP purchases too. Due to encouragement to organic farming, said the Prime Minister, market for organic products has reached 11000 crore, with export rising to more than 7000 crore rupees from 2000 crore rupees 6 years ago.

 

The Prime Minister elaborated on the seven ways in which the Budget proposes to make agriculture modern and smart. Firstly, The target is to undertake natural farming on mission mode within 5 kms on both the banks of the Ganges. Secondly, Modern technology in agriculture and horticulture will be made available to the farmers. Thirdly, Emphasis has been laid on strengthening Mission Oil Palm to reduce the import of edible oil. Fourthly, new logistics arrangements will be made through PM Gati-Shakti plan for the transportation of agricultural products. Fifth solution in the Budget is better organization of agri-waste management and increasing farmers’ income through waste to energy solutions. Sixthly, more than 1.5 lakh post offices will provide services like regular banking so that farmers are not troubled. Seventh, Agri research and education syllabus will be changed as per demands of modern times with regard to skill development and human resource development.

 

The Prime Minister noted year 2023 being recognized as International Year of Millets and called upon the corporate world to come forward in branding and promoting Indian millets. He also asked major Indian missions abroad to organize seminars and other promotional activities to popularize the quality and benefits of Indian millets. The Prime Minister also asked for leveraging increasing awareness for environmental friendly lifestyle and resulting market for natural and organic products. He exhorted the KVKs to create awareness for natural farming by adopting a village each for promotion of natural farming. .

 

Shri Modi emphasized the need for increased soil testing culture in India. Highlighting the government’s focus on the Soil Health Cards, he called upon the startups to come forwards to facilitate the practice of soil testing at regular interval.

 

Emphasizing innovations in the irrigation field, the Prime Minister underlined government’s focus on ‘per drop, more crop’. He said there are many possibilities for the corporate world in this too. He also mentioned the transformation that will be brought about by the Ken- Betwa link Pariyojana in Bundelkhand region. Shri Modi also reiterated the need to quickly complete the pending irrigation projects.

 

The Prime Minister stressed that Artificial intelligence is going to completely change the trend related to agriculture and farming in the 21st century. Increasing use of drones in farming is part of this change. 'Drone technology will be available on a scale only when we promote agri-startups. In the last 3-4 years, more than 700 Agri Startups have been created in the country', he added.

 

With regard to work in the sphere of post-harvest management, the Prime Minister said that the government has been trying to increase the scope of processed food and ensuring international standards of quality. 'In this regard, along with the Kisan Sampada Yojana, the PLI scheme is important. The value chain also plays a big role in this. Therefore, a special Agriculture Infrastructure Fund of Rs 1 lakh crore has been created', The Prime Minister pointed out.

 

The Prime Minister emphasized management of agri-residue (parali). 'For this, some new measures have been taken in this budget, due to which carbon emission will be reduced and farmers will also get income', he said. He also asked to explore ways of using agri-waste for packaging.

 

The Prime Minister also touched upon the potential in the field of ethanol where the government is moving ahead with a goal of 20 per cent blending. The blending has reached near 8 per cent compared to 1-2 per cent in 2014, he informed.

 

The Prime Minister dwelled on the role of the cooperative sector. He said 'India's cooperative sector is very vibrant. Be it sugar mills, fertilizer factories, dairies, loan arrangements, purchase of food grains, the participation of cooperative sector is huge. Our government has also created a new ministry related to it. Your goal should be how to turn cooperatives into a successful business enterprise.'

 

The webinar was attended by Union Minister for Agriculture and Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Textile, Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri Parshottam Rupala, Minister for Food Processing Industries, Shri Pashupati Kumar Paras, Minister of State for Agriculture, Shri Kailash Chaudhary, Minister of State for Cooperation Shri B.L. Verma, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Shri L. Murugan and other ministers, Vice Chairman of  NITI Aayog, Prof. Rajiv Kumar and Secretaries of concerned  Departments, KVKs, ICAR Institutes, ATMA and farmers of the country.

 

The webinar had an open discussion on five breakout sessions namely Natural Farming and its outreach, Emerging High-Tech and Digital Agri Ecosystem, Bringing Back Glory of Millets; Moving Towards Aatmanirbharta in Edible Oil, Sahkarita Se Samridhi, Financing Investment In Value Chain Infrastructure in Agriculture & Allied Sector with Stakeholders of   respective fields.

 

In his concluding remarks the Agriculture Minister suggested that the views given by all stakeholders will be uploaded on web portal of Ministry and more suggestions are welcome.

Over the past 36 years, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has made its mark in the promotion of India’s export of agricultural products, thereby realising the confidence the government entrusted in it. In its inception year (1986), APEDA started with $0.6 billion worth of exports. With active intervention, it took the export of agricultural products to a new height of $20.67 billion in 2020-21 and expanded the export basket to 205 countries. APEDA intends to achieve $23.7 billion in the current financial year (2021-22).

 

Going modern

 

APEDA has promoted IT enabled activities for ease of doing business in the promotion and development of exports from India. It has undertaken initiatives like paperless office (re-engineering, digital signatures, electronic payment facility), APEDA Mobile App, phase-wise delivery of online services, monitoring and evaluation, uniform access and virtual trade fairs to make governance more efficient and effective. Keeping in mind the call for ‘vocal for local’ and ‘Atmani rbhar Bharat ’ envisioned by the PM, it has been focusing on the promotion of exports of locally - sourced Geographical Indications (GI) tagged as well as indigenous, ethnic agricultural products. New products and new export destinations have been identified and accordingly, the trial shipments have been facilitated. The implementation of revamped Agri Export Policy is also in the final stage, as 21 states and two UTs have already finalised the state specific action plan.

 

Work in progress

 

Country-specific agri-export strategy reports have been prepared for 60 countries in consultation with the Indian embassies and High Commissions to tap the opportunities emerging during the pandemic. A Farmer Connect Portal has been set up on its website for providing a platform for Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) or Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) and cooperatives to interact with exporters. APEDA, an arm of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, in close collaboration with state governments and various ministeries under the Government of India, has taken a giant leap in making landlocked Purvanchal a new dest inat ion of agriculture ex p or t activities by developing the Varanasi Agri – Export Hub in record time. 'Notwithstanding several logistical challenges faced in the global trade of commodities, India’s agricultural and processed food exports have grown at a steady pace in the past decade. Also, the visionary approach, aggressive and consistent efforts of APEDA have enabled India to position itself as a consistent and quality supplier of agricultural products,' said Dr M Angamuthu, chairman, APEDA.

 

Jordan's state grain buyer has issued an international tender to buy 120,000 tonnes of milling wheat which can be sourced from optional origins, European traders said on Thursday.

 

The deadline for submission of price offers in the tender is March 2.

 

A new announcement had been expected after Jordan made no purchase in its previous tender for 120,000 tonnes of wheat on Wednesday.

The proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and UAE will come into effect in one month, an envoy of the Emirates said on Thursday. Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the UAE embassy in India, Ahmed Abdul Rahman Albana said at a session organised by Merchant Chamber of Commerce that the bilateral trade between the two countries which was USD 185 million in 1980 has grown to USD 45 billion in 2021.

 

'The CEPA between the two countries will come into effect in next one month', Albana said and invited Indian companies to his country to invest in areas of manufacturing, defence, food processing and healthcare.

 

He said the UAE government provides golden visa, green visa and entrepreneur visa to foreign citizens to live, work and study in the country.

 

Albana also identified leather, IT, artificial intelligence as the sectors in which UAE and West Bengal can work together.

The Russia-Ukraine crisis may give India an opportunity to export more wheat especially to Bangladesh, Egypt and Turkey, and eggs to the Middle East, sources said, even as exporters of engineering goods have put on hold their consignments to Russia amid banking sanctions being imposed on the country.

 

Russia is the world's largest exporter of wheat, accounting for more than 18% of international exports while India competes with Ukraine in the Middle East in eggs.

 

'We do expect some benefit in agricultural exports such as wheat and poultry if India's stance remains neutral,' said an official.

 

India's central pool of wheat at 24.2 million tonne is twice more than the buffer and strategic needs, as per sources.

 

Bilateral trade with Russia in 2020-21 was $8.1 billion. Indian exports were $2.6 billion while imports from Russia were $5.48 billion. With Ukraine, the bilateral trade was $2.59 billion in FY21.

 

Sources said that Russia and Ukraine cover more than 70% of Egypt's imported wheat demand. In the crop year of 2021-22, Turkey was the largest buyer of Russian wheat, purchasing 4.5 million metric tonnes as of December 30, 2021 while Egypt bought 3.2 million metric tonnes.

 

In 2019, Russia and Ukraine together exported more than a quarter of the world's wheat.

 

'The main import from Russia is petroleum. There are enough other substitute sources available to fill in that,' said another official.

 

While Ukraine exports edible oils, petroleum products and fertilisers, Indian exports cover a number of products, of which pharmaceuticals supplies alone have grown, in recent years, to $154 million.

 

India's biggest item of import from Ukraine is animal and vegetable fats and oils. 'The current situation will not adversely impact India's trade position as the share of this commodity out of India's total imports of this item from across the world stands at only 10%,' said a source.