A 21-day winter school on 'Commercial apiculture for livelihood security of farmers and unemployed rural youth' kicked off at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today under the aegis of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

 

In all, 30 participants from 12 states are attending the programme, which is being organised by the Department of Entomology, PAU.

 

Dr Balraj Singh, project coordinator, ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) honey bees and pollinators, in his remarks said, 'Sixty per cent of honey is being exported. This helps in earning Rs760 crore through foreign exchange.'

 

Expressing concern over adulteration in honey, he stressed upon finding solutions to this problem. Dr Singh also informed that several projects were being sanctioned by the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission. Therefore, participants could avail this opportunity, he added.

 

Dr Sandeep Bains, nodal officer, winter school and Dean, postgraduate studies, PAU, who was the guest of honour on the occasion, revealed that the annual apiary production in Punjab was 17,000 metric tonnes.

 

'Punjab has emerged as a hub of beekeeping and PAU is a pioneer in apiculture diversification,' she added. Dr Bains further said that PAU was imparting trainings in beekeeping to supplement the income of farmers as well as unemployed youths.

 

Dr PPS Pannu, Additional Director, Research (Natural resources and plant health management), PAU, said, 'Honey is not only a sweetener, but an immunity booster and energy product as well.' Stating that the aim was to enhance its demand, he suggested that sweet shop owners and bakery item manufacturers should prefer honey over sugar. 'Rural youths can start commercial production of honey for good returns,' he advised. 

The AP government is all set to showcase its business-friendly policies to global investors at Dubai Expo beginning on Friday. A delegation led by industries minister Mekapati Gautham Reddy has reached Dubai to monitor AP's stall in the expo.

 

The state government will present excellent infrastructure and growth opportunities available in the state for the investors.

 

Mekapati will inaugurate the AP floor at India Pavilion in the presence of UAE minister of state for foreign trade, Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE ambassador to India, Dr Ahmed Albanna, India ambassador to UAE, Sunjay Sudhir and advisor to government of Andhra Pradesh and special representative to government for Middle East & Far East Countries, Zulfi Ravdjee.

Bilateral meets to strengthen trade

 

The delegation led by Mekapati will attend various business meetings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to discuss potential collaborations with top corporations in UAE and present opportunities, in various sectors, in the state. The delegation will also meet various industry associations and conduct bilateral meetings to strengthen trade ties with the UAE.

 

'We have readied a blueprint to showcase the rapid strides being made by Andhra Pradesh in attracting investments in manufacturing, development of ports, multi-modal logistic parks, industrial corridors, industrial parks, fishing harbours along with developing education, medical, tourism sectors amongst others. We want to see that more people invest in AP,' Mekapati told the media before leaving for Dubai on Thursday. He said that they were hopeful of striking good deals in manufacturing sector.

 

He said that the state government has launched a single-window system where all the permissions for the industries would be granted through a single channel. He said that the state government would handhold investors till their industrial units commenced production.

Exports of non-Basmati rice are poised to cross 17 million tonne (mt) for the current financial year. Exports have already crossed 12.53 mt for the current season against 13 mt for the entire 2020-21 season, BV Rao, president, Rice Exporters Association (REA), told FE. According to data released by the association, non-Basmati rice exports have recorded a 51.8% rise between April and December last year, over the previous year’s corresponding period, due to high purchases made by China and Bangladesh.

 

Non-basmati rice shipments crossed 12.53 mt over April-December 2021, compared to 8.25 mt in the same period last year. In value terms, the non-basmati rice shipments were up by 46% at $4.48 billion compared to $3.07 billion same time last year. In the April to December 2021 period, Bangladesh imported 1.58 mt in the current year, as against 13,811 tonne for the same period the previous year. In value terms, this translates to $596 million for the April-December 2021 period as against $13.47 million for the April to December 2020 period.

 

Rao said that although Bangladesh has been the largest purchaser of non-Basmati rice from India in the 2021 period, the country has not been buying from India for the last four months since their purchases are largely determined by government decisions.

 

China has imported 0.9 mt from India in the April to December 2021 period valued at $275 million, while the imports from the April to December 2020 period were 33,705 tonne and the shipments were worth $ 10,29 million for this period. Rao stated that China may continue to purchase rice from India and the shipments from India are likely to cross 1.5 mt for the entire year.

 

Other major buyers of Indian rice include Nepal, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Senegal, Somalia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Togo, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Russia, among others. Recently, the agriculture ministry said that the country’s exports of Basmati and non-Basmati rice are likely to touch 21-22 mt for the current fiscal.

As India loses over Rs 1 lakh crore annually due to post harvest losses, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has suggested creation of separate directorate of agriculture engineering at least at block level in every State as it could help substantially reduce the losses and boost farmers’ income.

 

'Agriculture engineers are not available even at district levels in most of the States. Even if they are available their services have been utilised in other areas like seeds distribution in those States where there is no separate directorate,' said S N Jha, Deputy Director General (engineering) at ICAR. He has suggested the agriculture ministry to impress upon States to create separate directorate of agriculture engineering.

 

He said every State should appoint an agriculture engineer at block level and if that is not possible at least at district level to help farmers running the agriculture machinery at farm level smoothly, not only at production even for processing and value-addition of crops.

 

Expressing concern that the talent of agriculture engineers are not tapped to their potential, Jha said there will be triple benefits - employment generation, reduction in post-harvest losses and increase in farmers’ income.

 

Post-harvest losses

 

The range of average post-harvest losses for foodgrains, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables have been estimated at 4.65-15.88 per cent valued at ?92,651 crore at 2014 prices, according to a study by Ludhiana-based Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering & Technology (CIPHET).

 

It had found that overall losses have gone down by two per cent between 2005-06 and 2013-14 mainly due to improvement in infrastructure and transport facilities.

 

Paddy, wheat, chana, soyabean, tomato, onion, potato, banana, mango, coconut, sugarcane, fish, poultry meat and milk together have 78 per cent share in the total post-harvest losses, the study found. Out of this, horticulture produce has highest 34 per cent share due to perishable nature of these crops.

 

Citing the examples of Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, where separate directorate of agriculture engineering has been created, Jha said such step will aid in the growth of agriculture sector.

 

As mechanisation is the way forward in farming, he said it is an agriculture engineer who understands both engineering and agriculture can do justice even in case of application of pesticides through drone.

 

He has urged the Karnataka government, which is the first State in the country to set up a separate directorate of secondary agriculture, to include agricultural engineering also within the new set up.

FSSAI has issued a direction regarding the operationalisation of the draft related to the use of recycled plastics for the purpose of packaging by the food industry.

 

These regulations say that ‘products made of recycled plastics including carry bags may be used for packaging, storing, carrying or dispensing of food products as and when standards and guidelines are framed by the food authority. Such packaging materials shall also comply with any other national standards/regulations as applicable’.

 

This proviso will replace the sub clause (e) related to plastic materials intended to come in contact with food products, under clause 4 related to specific requirements for primary food packaging, in the packaging regulations.

 

Earlier under clause (e), the use of recycled plastics material was prohibited for food contact material.

 

As the food authority is in process of notifying the regulations related to the use of recycled plastics as food contact material, and according to the FSSAI, it was taking some more time for the final notification, the food authority has decided to operationlise these regulations.

 

Called the FSS (Packaging) Amendment Regulations 2022 permitting the use of recycled plastics as food contact material, these regulations were based on the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2021 notified in September’21 and recommendations of the FSSAI Scientific Panel on packaging material.

 

FSSAI has stated that it has been decided to operationalise the provision of these regulations from January 18, 2022, to allow the FBOs to make use of recycled plastics as food contact material.

 

'Accordingly, the approved guidelines for recycling of post consumer PET for food contact applications and acceptance criteria for recycled PET resin for food contact applications is also made effective for implementation,' read FSSAI’s statement in this regard.

 

The guidelines pertain to the recycling process/operation of transforming post consumer PET bottles used for food packaging into food grade recycled PET resins suitable for making bottles and packaging material for bottling or packaging and its testing. The guidelines also cover the acceptance criteria for using food grade recycled PET resin material in bottling or packaging operations.

 

However, these guidelines do not apply to industrial rejected PET bottles along with production of resins for non-food grade consumer applications.

India is in discussion with the 10-nation bloc ASEAN for initiating the review of the free-trade agreement in goods between the two regions to seek more market access for domestic products, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel said the market access issues and trade barriers being faced in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries and China are being regularly taken up with individual countries through bilateral engagements.

 

'The Government of India is in discussion with ASEAN countries for initiating the review of ASEAN-India trade in goods agreement to seek more market access for Indian products,' she said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

 

In a separate reply, she said that to increase exports including apparel exports, India is actively negotiating regional trade agreements (RTAs)/ FTAs with a number of countries including the UAE, Australia, Canada, Israel and the UK.

 

'Ongoing FTA negotiations will also provide more favourable market access to products exported from India,' she said.

 

The minister said that textile and apparel export growth has been facing adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and higher import tariffs in key markets such as the European Union and the United Kingdom as compared to zero duty access in these countries to competing countries like Bangladesh and Cambodia.

 

Replying to a question on export dues, she said the government has released Rs 56,027 crore in order to clear pending export incentive dues to exporters. This is for various schemes - Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (Rs 33,010 crore, Service Exports from India Scheme ( Rs 10,002 crore), Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies ( Rs 5,286 crore), Rebate of State Levies (Rs 330 crore), and Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (Rs 2,568 crore) and other legacy schemes like Target Plus Scheme, Focus Product Scheme.

 

'It is estimated that such benefits would be disbursed to more than 45,000 exporters, out of which the majority would be in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) category,' Patel said.

 

Clearance of dues under these schemes is dependent on meeting the eligibility criteria by the applicant exporter, whose applications are scrutinised for any deficiency.

Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan is visiting India to advance negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) aimed at promoting economic ties between the countries, according to an official statement released by Canberra on Wednesday. Tehan will hold a meeting with his Indian counterpart Piyush Goyal to further the ongoing negotiations on the India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), it said.

 

'Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan will travel to India today to advance negotiations on a free trade agreement and promote Australia as a premium destination for students and tourists,' the statement said.

 

The two sides have agreed to conclude a long-pending FTA, officially dubbed as CECA, by the end of 2022.

 

'Goyal and I have been in regular contact over the Christmas/New Year period because we are both committed to concluding an interim free trade agreement,' Tehan was quoted in the statement.

 

 

The statement said that the trade pact is a 'potential game-changer' in opening opportunities for both Australia and India and also an important piece of post-Covid economic recovery.

 

A free trade agreement with India would be a boon for Australian businesses, farmers and workers, creating new jobs and opportunities with one of the world's largest and fastest developing economies, Tehan said.

 

Tehan will also sign a memorandum of understanding on behalf of the Australian government with the Indian government to promote further travel and tourism between the countries.

 

The bilateral trade between the nations stood at $ 12.3 billion in 2020-21 as against $12.63 billion in 2019-20. Trade gap is in the favour of Australia.

 

India's main exports to Australia are refined petroleum, medicaments, railway vehicles including hover-trains, pearls and gems, jewellery, made up textile articles, while major imports are coal, copper ores and concentrates, gold, vegetables, wool and other animal hair, fruits and nuts, lentils and education related services.

 

The Government has notified an order on 3rd February, 2022 specifying the stock limit quantities on edible oils and oilseeds upto 30th June, 2022 with a view to provide impetus to the various steps taken by the Government to cool the prices of edible oil in the country.

 

The Stock Limit Order empowers the Union Government and all States/UTs to regulate storage and distribution of edible oils and oilseeds. This would also help the Government in checking hoarding of edible oils and oilseeds in the country. A Meeting was held by the Department of Food & Public Distribution on 08.02.2022 with all States/UTs for discussing the implementation plan of the above order dated 3rd February, 2022. During the meeting it was emphasized that States/UTs authorities may enforce Stock Limit Quantities Order without causing any disruption in the supply chain and also any undue hardship to bonafide trade.

 

For edible oils, the stock limit specified is 30 quintals for retailers, 500 quintals for wholesalers, 30 quintals for retail outlets of bulk consumers i.e. big chain retailers and shops and 1000 quintals for its depots. Processors of edible oils would be able to stock 90 days of their storage capacities.

 

For edible oilseeds, the stock limit is 100 quintals for retailers, 2000 quintals for wholesalers. Processors of edible oilseeds would be able to stock 90 days production of edible oils as per daily input production capacity. Exporters and importers have been kept outside the purview of this Order with some caveats.

 

It was informed in the meeting that in case the stocks held by respective legal entities are higher than the prescribed limits then it has to be declared on the portal (https://evegoils.nic.in/eosp/login) of Department of Food & Public Distribution and bring it to the prescribed stock limits in this Control Order within 30 days of the issue of this notification.  States/UTs have also been provided the access to this portal for monitoring the disclosed stocks by the entities. Further, the States/UTs were advised that the States may regularly monitor the stock limits through the portal.

 

The above measure is expected to curtail any unfair practices like hoarding, black marketing etc. in the market which may lead to any increase in the prices of edible oils.  The States/UTs were also briefed about the current international price scenario and how the Indian market is affected by it.

February 10 is the World Pulses Day declared by the United Nations. Pulses or dal have been an integral part of India’s food basket for centuries or even millennia. and is an essential staple in our daily food plate. We eat d al-roti (d al with wheat bread) or d al-chawal (dal with rice), a well-entrenched food habit. 

 

India is the world’s largest producer, processor, importer and consumer of pulses is well recognised. No wonder, India holds a dominant position in the global pulses market and every move here is closely watched.

 

India’s Green Revolution of the 1960s changed the face of agriculture with remarkable rise in production of fine cereals - rice and wheat. Now, it’s time to focus on pulses and oilseeds as they were bypassed earlier.

 

Pulses deserve policy, research and investment support that fine cereals have attracted over the past. In recent years, with the government paying greater attention to enhance pulses production, the results are encouraging. India’s output has touched a new high of 25 million tonne (mt) from about 15-16 mt five years ago. 

 

Again, from a peak of 6.6 mt four years ago, India’s pulses import has declined to around 2.5 mt a year now.

 

Poor yields

 

Yet, there are challenges ahead as well as opportunities. In pulses, our yields are among the lowest globally. There is greater scope to raise our yields by a quarter by adopting appropriate production technologies. If we enhance our yield to 1,000 kilograms (one tonne) per hectare, our total production can top 30 mt.

 

As a eco-friendly crop, pulses fix nitrogen in the soil and should be encouraged for crop rotation in high input geographies. It will help improve soil health and consume less water.

 

The processing industry with several thousand dal mills across the country, mostly small and without scale economies, deserve special attention for modernisation. A government-supported Dal Mill Modernisation Fund will help upgrade and infuse more efficiency. A modernised processing sector will have the potential to attract foreign direct investment (FDI).

 

Focus on consumption

 

While our policy focus has been more on pulses output, it is time to pay greater attention to its consumption. Despite being the world’s largest producer, our per capita availability is low even as per nutritional standards recommended by health experts.

 

As pervasive protein deficiency hurts our economy in terms of higher healthcare costs and low labour productivity, we can address them by boosting pulses consumption, especially among the vulnerable sections of the society. Like rice and wheat, pulses should be distributed under welfare programs,such as NFSA and TPDS.

 

Importantly, pulses are the most economical vegetable protein. Pulses provide a perfect mix of biological value when used with cereals. So, there is a strong case not only to increase production, but also to boost consumption.

India’s milk production increased by 35.04 per cent, during the period between 2015-16 and 2020-21 to top 200 million tonnes (mt).

 

This information was provided in the Lok Sabha by Parshottam Rupala, Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. In a separate response, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the US has agreed to resume Indian mango imports from this year.

 

Karnataka led the 55-mt rise (from 155 to 210 mt) in six years , while Uttar Pradesh is the top producer in terms of total production.

 

According to the provisional figures provided in the Lok Sabha, India’s milk production increased to 210 mt in 2020-21. The production was 155 mt in 2015-16

 

Karnataka’s milk production has seen an increase of 72.39 per cent (4.59 mt) during the period between 2015-16 and 2020-21. The State’s milk production went up from 6.3 mt in 2015-16 to 10.9 mt in 2020-21.

 

Top producer

 

Though Uttar Pradesh remained the top producer of milk in the country with 31.36 mt in 2020-21, the production declined by 1.58 per cent over 2019-20. However, the production was up by 18.84 per cent (4.97 mt) during the period between 2015-16 and 2020-21.

 

Barring 2017-18, milk production was in a declining trend in Kerala in all other years between 2015-16 and 2020-21. The overall reduction in milk production was around 1.15 lakh tonnes during the six-year period.

 

There was decline in production in states such as Andhra Pradesh (3.60 per cent), Haryana (3.84 per cent), Uttarakhand (2.56 per cent), Arunachal Pradesh (27.61 per cent), Manipur (20.74 per cent), and Sikkim (12.01 per cent) in 2020-21 when compared to 2019-20.

 

To a query in Lok Sabha on the steps taken by the Government to increase milk production in the country, Rupala said the Government has been implementing some major Central sector and Centrally-sponsored schemes to enhance milk production.

 

The Government has been implementing Rashtriya Gokul mission since 2014 for the development and conservation of indigenous breeds, genetic upgradation of bovine population and enhancement of milk production and productivity of bovines, thereby making milk production more remunerative to farmers engaged in dairying.

 

He said the national programme for dairy development aims to enhance the quality of milk and milk products and increase share of organized milk procurement.

 

Mango exports

 

To a query on India’s mango exports to US, Tomar said the US has agreed to resumption of export of mangoes from India from the season 2022.

 

He said a phyto-sanitary framework agreement has been signed between the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) - Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service - on resuming export of mangoes from India.

 

Further, a framework agreement has been signed between the Department of Plant Protection, Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and the USDA for agriculture market access.

 

He said the resumption of export of mangoes will result in increased income for farmers.

 

Garlic production

 

Tomar said the states such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and Assam are leading in garlic production in the country.

 

As per the third advanced estimates for 2020-21, garlic production in the country went up to 3.18 mt from 1.61 mt in 2017-18, an increase of 97.51 per cent.

 

A major part of garlic production came from Madhya Pradesh. In 2017-18, Madhya Pradesh’s garlic production was at 4.05 lakh tonnes from an area of 92,500 hectares. The third advanced estimates for 2020-21 showed the state’s garlic production at 1.95 mt from an area of 1.90 lakh hectares.

 

Banana output

 

In another reply, Tomar said the total acreage of banana production in the country stood at 9.23 lakh hectares (third advanced estimates) in 2020-21 as against 8.83 lakh hectares in 2017-18.

 

Banana production in the country has been increased to 33.3 mt in 2020-21 (third advanced estimates) from 30.8 mt in 20217-18.

 

Although India accounts for 15.5 per cent area of global banana production, the country’s contribution to the global production is 25.58 per cent.

 

He said the Centre has developed value-added products and also developed an export protocol for shipping via sea to reduce the cost of transport for ‘Nendran’, ‘Red banana’ and ‘Grand Nain banana’ to Middle East and European countries. This resulted in area expansion and increased productivity, Tomar said said.