In a generous move to support Afghan people in dealing with the locust menace, the Indian government has supplied 40,000 litres of Malathion, an environmentally friendly pesticide, through Iran's Chabahar port. The Taliban-controlled Ministry of Agriculture has expressed gratitude for this assistance, highlighting its significance in protecting crops and ensuring food security in Afghanistan.

 

Malathion, known for its efficacy in arid regions and minimal water usage, is considered a crucial tool in locust control. The aid not only addresses the immediate threat in Afghanistan but also serves to prevent the spread of locusts to neighbouring Central Asian countries. 

 

Mawlawi Ataullah Omari, the Taliban's Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation & Livestock conveyed his appreciation in a statement, stating, 'We are grateful to the Government of the Republic of India and its people for supplying 40,000 litres of chemical material (Malathion) in the agriculture sector to prevent the locust menace.' 

 

The assistance, officially handed over in 2 trucks on Monday, 22nd January, marks a significant step in bolstering agricultural resilience in a country. India doesn't recognise the Taliban regime in Kabul but has a technical office in the country to help with humanitarian support. In the past, New Delhi has helped the country with much-needed wheat and efforts to combat drug issues. 

Amidst the congregation of eminent horticulturists from India, US and Australia, a two-day Indo-US Workshop on ‘Horticultural Crops’ kicked off at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today.

 

Delegates from across India and abroad attended the inaugural ceremony, which was organised as a part of a cooperative venture between PAU and California State University (CSU), Fresno, US.

 

Dr Sabir Singh Gosal, vice-chancellor, highlighted the pivotal role played by PAU in boosting horticulture in Punjab. 'With horticultural crops touching 28.04 million hectares of area in 2021-22, Punjab has seen a massive jump in the area under fruit, vegetable and flower crops in three decades,' he stated.

 

Dr Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, president, CSU, said that California produces 25 per cent of the US’s food, and has carved a niche in production of grapes, besides being successful in farm mechanisation. The keynote address was delivered by Dr Gurreet Brar.

The Philippines is poised to maintain its status as the top global rice importer in 2024, according to the latest insights from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

 

The US agency’s projections indicate a record increase in rice procurement, with the country expected to import 3.8 million metric tons this year.

 

The USDA’s Economic Research Service highlights the Philippines outpacing major importers like China, Indonesia, the European Union, Nigeria, and Iraq.

 

Despite a marginal decline in global rice trade to 52.2 million metric tons from the previous year’s 52.4 million metric tons, the Philippines is likely to boost its rice imports, said the USDA. Its report attributes this trend to export bans imposed by India between 2022 and 2023.

 

The USDA publication also pointed out that since 2008, the Philippines bought larger volumes of rice as price escalated, and this year, it is waiting for prices to decrease.

 

Contributing to the global decline in rice imports in 2024 are Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, North Korea, Singapore, Tanzania, Togo, and Vietnam.

 

Conversely, Asian countries—including China, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines—are anticipated to increase their rice purchases, said the USDA report.

 

Other nations expected to intensify their rice procurement include Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Ethiopia, Iran, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Mexico, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Yemen.

 

Contradicting the USDA report, Agriculture Undersecretary Roger V. Navarro affirms that the Philippines is poised to maintain an ample rice supply until the impending harvest season in March, attributing this assurance to the influx of incoming rice imports and the bountiful yields from recent farmers’ harvests.

 

In 2021, the Philippines witnessed a 5.9 percent decrease in rice imports, totaling 3.6 million metric tons compared to the previous year’s 3.8 million metric tons, as reported by the Bureau of Plant Industry. Vietnam emerged as the primary source, contributing 3 million metric tons, while Thailand and Myanmar added 344,514.10 metric tons and 151,183.00 metric tons, respectively.

 

As of January 11, 2024, the Philippines has already imported 56,090.63 metric tons, primarily from Vietnam, its primary rice supplier in recent years. Responding to the dry spell caused by the El Niño phenomenon, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has plans to import nearly 500,000 metric tons of rice by February to bolster local inventory.

 

Taiwan has already shipped 20,000 bags of rice (equivalent to 1,000 metric tons) before Christmas, and India is set to provide 75,000 metric tons despite its export ban on non-basmati white rice.

 

All rice imports in the Philippines are subject to a 35-percent tariff rate until the end of 2024, in accordance with Executive Order No. 50 signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last month.

To break the impasse on public stockholding (PSH) for food security at the WTO–a top issue on India’s agenda for the 13th Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi next month– India could give an undertaking that it will not export from its public stock in return for a permanent solution that gives it flexibility on its MSP programmes, research body Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has suggested.

 

'They (the US and some others) argue that India has become the largest rice exporter on account of its high price support through MSP. India may undertake not to export rice commercially from its PSH stock. India should get a clean, permanent solution to the public stockholding issue (in return),' per a GTRI brief on `breaking the impasse at the WTO on the PSH programme’. 

 

As rice production is water-intensive and cost of production is high, India will not suffer economically if its rice export declines, the paper argued.

 

India, which has on several occasions laid down that it did not export from its PSH stock, is unlikely to have any problem in adhering to an undertaking on the same, in exchange for a permanent solution.

 

Several developing countries, including members of  the G33 group, of which India is a part, the ACP group and the African Group, have called for a permanent solution to the problem of public stock holding as the Agreement on Agriculture does not allow them to provide food security subsidies, for programmes such as the MSP, beyond 10 per cent of production value.

 

Permanent solution

The Bali Ministerial decision of 2013 allowed developing countries a peace clause invoking which they can breach the subsidy limit without attracting legal action from other members. But India and the others want a permanent solution to the issue. This would ensure that the provision gets enshrined in the WTO rules and the need for onerous notifications and limiting the MSP coverage to only some crops can be relaxed.

 

'Reaching an agreement on PSH is difficult as developed countries led by the US are not in favour even though it is not a trade but livelihood issue,' the note pointed out indicating that India needed to play its cards well. 

 

It further suggested that India could consider adjusting its farm policy to categorise its support programmes under the ‘blue box’ subsidies (subsidies that come with the provision of limiting production). Blue box subsidies come with no limits on spending. 'This would involve setting higher production targets for specific crops and restricting support to 75 per cent of the output. While capping production could be politically sensitive, setting ambitious targets could overcome any resistance,' the note suggested.

West Bengal is working towards co-ordinating with researchers and experts from foreign countries, including the US, Iran, Nepal and Bhutan, to tackle the problem of drastic fall in production of the famous Darjeeling oranges due to the Dieback disease.

 

Darjeeling mandarin oranges are grown only in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts of West Bengal. Dieback disease has continuously been causing a decrease in the production of this variety of oranges every year.

 

'We are organising a workshop in Kalimpong on February 3 and 4 on mandarin oranges. In the workshops researchers and experts from foreign countries will join. While experts from Nepal and Bhutan will join physically, two top experts from Florida, USA, will participate in the workshop virtually. One expert from Iran is also joining the event virtually,' Directorate of Cinchona and other Medicinal Plant’s director Samuel Rai told businessline.

 

Learning the tricks

The Directorate of Cinchona and other Medicinal Plant, situated in Mangpoo, is under West Bengal’s Department of Food Processing Industries and Horticulture.

 

'Same kind of mandarin oranges are grown in Darjeeling, Sikkim, Nepal and Bhutan. And we all have the severe problem of Dieback disease. But we don’t have any co-ordination with any of the institutes. So, we don’t know how they are managing it. The idea of having this workshop is to learn how others are managing it. If their management techniques are good and work for us, then we would like to take their technologies to our farmers,' Rai said.

 

Around 10,000 farmers are engaged in the cultivation of mandarin oranges in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts.

 

Over the years, the total area under cultivation of Darjeeling mandarin oranges has declined in the State due to the Dieback disease. Production of this variety of oranges has been witnessing a fall also due to pest attacks, shortage of quality saplings and reduction in fertility of the soil, among others.

 

The State Government has said it would be taking necessary measures to arrest the fall in production of the famous Darjeeling oranges.

 

In order to address the issue, Directorate of Cinchona and other Medicinal Plant is planning to produce quality disease-free planting materials. Government officials are talking to the farmers for rejuvenation of existing orange orchards.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s two-day visit to Iran, last week, was a crucially timed diplomatic engagement. The visit besides discussing the regional security situation was also aimed at further strengthening the political, economic and cultural aspects of the bilateral relations.

 

As the crisis in the Red Sea spurred by the Israel-Hamas war escalates, India has begun a diplomatic outreach to crucial regional players to secure the country's trade and strategic interests.

 

The outreach treads a line of neutrality in the conflict between the Western powers and the Islamic world wherein India has not joined the US-led multinational naval coalition in the Red Sea while it remains critical of the Houthis' violence.

 

In this backdrop, Jaishankar's recent visit to Tehran was aimed to express India's concerns on the increasing attacks by the allegedly

 

Iran-backed Houthis in the Red Sea, which he shared with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.

 

MEA spokesperson said the issue of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the violence and destabilisation there, were among the things that were discussed, as India is 'deeply concerned about the whole situation'.

 

In the last weeks, both the US and the UK have launched air strikes targeting the Houthi positions in Yemen. On its part, India has been closely monitoring the unfolding situation in the Red Sea.

 

The issue also figured in a phone conversation between Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on 11 January.

 

Countries like India are concerned that the conflict may impact most of Asian trade with Europe. This may lead to a supply chain restructuring, with neighbouring countries at higher costs.

 

Iran supposedly has close links with the Houthi militia in Yemen which have launched a series of attacks on shipping vessels plying the Red Sea route since mid-November.

 

A key motivation for Jaishankar's visit was the recent attacks on

 

several India-linked shipping vessels.

 

Terming the attacks on ships in the vicinity of India as a matter of 'grave concern' to the international community, Jaishankar said in Tehran that such threats have a direct bearing on India's energy and economic interest as he underlined that this 'fraught situation' is not to the benefit of any party.

 

"There has also recently been a perceptible increase in threats to the safety of maritime commercial traffic in this important part of the Indian Ocean," he said in a joint press statement after wide-ranging talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian.

 

He stressed that it's important that this issue be 'speedily addressed', in an apparent reference to the targeting of merchant vessels in the Red Sea - one of the busiest trade routes - by Iranian-backed Yemen's Houthi rebels amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

 

Economic Aspects

 

Jaishankar also met Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash and held a detailed and productive discussion on establishing a long-term cooperation framework on the strategically vital Chabahar Port.

 

During the visit, on 15 January, India and Iran signed an agreement on the further development of the Chabahar Port.

 

Located in Sistan-Balochistan province on Iran's southern coast, the Chabahar Port is being developed jointly by India and Iran to boost connectivity and trade ties.

 

India has been pushing for the port project to boost regional trade,

 

especially for its connectivity to Afghanistan.

 

Earlier, Jaishankar had projected the Chabahar Port as a 'key regional transit hub' at a connectivity conference in Tashkent in 2021.

 

The port is also seen as a key hub for the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) project.

 

The INSTC project is a 7,200-km-long multimode transport project for moving freight between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.

 

Cultural Links

 

In a significant move to deepen cultural ties, Jaishankar announced that the government of India has decided to include Farsi (Persian) as one of the nine classical languages in India under the New Education Policy.

 

"The government of India has decided to include Farsi as one of the nine classical languages of India in our New Education Policy," said Jaishankar, highlighting the cultural, literary, and linguistic connections between Iran and India.

 

Jaishankar, made the above remarks during a joint press joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart, H Amirabdollahian on January 15.

 

Indian Outreach

 

Indian foreign minister's recent visit to Iran was part of the diplomatic efforts that have been stepped up to secure India's interests regionally.

 

Though, the Shiite population in India is quite small compared to the Sunni Muslims, yet the Indian government has always been able to build and balance its relationship with Iran and Saudi Arabia, both seen as the leaders of the Shia and Sunni communities globally.

 

This diplomatic balancing has always worked to India's advantage, besides giving it a regional clout.

 

At a regional level India has always accorded a significant priority to its ties with Iran.

 

As the country apart from offering it a gateway to the central Asian

 

republics and also Afghanistan, has also been a reliable oil supplier to India, and that too on a favourable rupee payment basis.

 

Therefore, the issues discussed during the foreign minister's visit also encompassed all aspects of the sustained relationship between India and Iran, as they covered regional security, trade and development and cultural ties.

 

The announcement related to Farsi, was also timed right and was aimed at targeting the Muslim minority in the country.

 

Over the years, Indo-Iran ties have moved ahead, in spite of meddling by other countries and the current diplomatic policy led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, in this regard has not only carried on the old relationship, but the manner in which trade, economic and cultural tries between the two countries have progressed, shows their commitment to build a long-lasting relationship.

Exports from India have increased last year. Despite global crises, exports of goods and services are expected to increase by 0.4 percent to $765.6 billion in the year 2023. If seen on the basis of data, the highest exports were of electronics, pharma, cotton, fabrics, ceramic, meat, dairy, poultry, fruits, vegetables and IT services.

 

Decrease in goods export

According to Commerce Ministry data, goods exports have declined by 4.71 percent last year. In the year 2023, this figure will be 431.9 billion dollars. However, services exports increased by 7.88 percent to $333.8 billion. Apart from this, merchandise import declined by 7 percent to $667.73 billion. Maximum exports from India were made to America, UAE, Netherlands, Bangladesh, Britain and Germany. Exports have been adversely affected due to the Russia-Ukraine war and the ongoing crisis in the Red Sea near Yemen. 

 

Increase in services exports

According to the Commerce Ministry, goods exports have decreased last year. But, due to increase in services exports, total exports have increased. According to the report of Economic Times, the Reserve Bank had released data for the services sector in November, 2023. The Commerce Ministry has made estimates for the data of December 2023. Goods shipment has been adversely affected due to the wars raging across the world. Israel and Hamas have been at war for months. Also, Houthi rebels in Yemen are continuously targeting cargo ships. Due to this, cargo ships have to take a longer route and pass through South Africa. 

 

War will have a negative impact on global trade

According to international business experts, if crises like war continue, it will have a very bad impact on global trade. Economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that India's exports and imports together are expected to decline by 2.6 percent in 2023. It has come to 1609 billion dollars. This figure was 1651.9 billion dollars in 2022. The negative trade balance between exports and imports also reduced to $75.2 billion in 2023. This figure was 141.3 billion dollars in 2022. 

 

Trade deficit in three quarters was 188.02 billion dollars

According to the data of the current financial year, goods exports declined by 5.7 percent to $ 317.12 billion between April and December 2023. During the same period, imports also declined by 7.93 percent to $505.15 billion. The trade deficit in the first three quarters of the current financial year has been $188.02 billion. The trade deficit between April and December 2022 was $212.34 billion.

The country's wheat production is expected to be good this year amid higher coverage, according to Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda. The sowing of wheat, the main rabi (winter) crop, that began in October has been completed. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab are the top three states having the maximum area under wheat coverage.

 

'As per the sowing data, wheat has been covered in more area and we expect good production this year,' Munda told PTI.

 

As per the ministry's data, the total acreage under the wheat crop remained higher at 336.96 lakh hectares till the last week of the current rabi season of the 2023-24 crop year (July-June), as against 335.67 lakh hectares in the year-ago period.

 

On January 3, Food Corporation of India Chairman and Managing Director Ashok K Meena indicated that the country could achieve a new record in wheat production at 114 million tonnes in the ongoing 2023-24 crop year provided weather conditions remain normal.

 

Wheat production stood at a record 110.55 million tonnes in the 2022-23 crop year, compared to 107.7 million tonnes achieved in the preceding year.

 

Sharing about wheat crop prospects this year, a senior agriculture ministry official said the crop is in good condition and there are no reports of any damage to the crop till date.

 

'The current cold weather condition is good for the growth of wheat and other rabi crops,' he said.

 

Climate-resistant seeds have been sown in more than 70 per cent of the total wheat area covered in both Punjab and Haryana this year, he said.

 

The two states have sown wheat in a total area of around 59 lakh hectares this year, the data showed.

 

Meanwhile, the agriculture ministry has started issuing regular advisories to help farmers take care of the wheat crop after the completion of sowing.

 

As per the latest advisory for the period covering January 16-30, the ministry has asked farmers to complete the application of nitrogen fertilizer up to 40-45 days after sowing. Farmers have been asked to apply urea just before irrigation for better results.

 

In case of late sown, if farmers notice both narrow and broad leaf weeds in their wheat field, they have been advised to spray herbicide Sulfosulfuron 75WG of about 13.5 grams per acre or Sulfosulfuron plus Metsulfuron of 16 grams per acre in 120-150 litres of water before the first irrigation or 10-15 days after irrigation.

 

Keeping in view the favourable humid weather for yellow rust disease, farmers are advised to visit their crops regularly to observe 'stripe rust' (yellow rust) incidence.

 

To tackle lodging in early sown wheat crops, farmers have been asked to provide 'growth regulators' in high fertility irrigated conditions. For frost management, light irrigation should be applied to wheat crops taking due care of the Met Department forecast.

 

The Met Department has forecast rain in northeast and central areas of India during January 16-30 and the temperature is expected to drop below normal in the forthcoming week.

 

The government is taking proactive steps to help farmers prepare to save the wheat crop in the events of extreme weather conditions.

Negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and the four-nation EFTA bloc are at an advanced stage as both sides have reached a shared understanding on key issues, a senior official has said. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

 

India and the EFTA have been negotiating the pact, officially dubbed as Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), since January 2008 to boost economic ties.

 

'Following extensive negotiations, a shared understanding has been achieved on key issues during the ministerial meeting. Ongoing efforts are now focused on shaping the convergence that has emerged,' the official said.

 

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal held a meeting recently with Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin in Mumbai.

 

Parmelin, in a social media post on X, has said that officials are working around the clock to settle last details so that it can be signed as soon as possible.

 

'At the last-minute invitation of my Indian counterpart @PiyushGoyal, I travelled directly from the WEF in Davos to Mumbai/India. After 16 years of negotiations, we found balanced solutions to the main open issues of the EFTA-India trade agreement,' Parmelin has said.

 

The last round of talks between the countries concluded on January 13 here.

 

Negotiations are held on various chapters, including trade in gods, rules of origin, intellectual property rights (IPRs), trade in services, investment promotion and cooperation, trade and sustainable development, and trade facilitation.

 

EFTA has 29 free trade agreements (FTAs) with 40 partner countries, including Canada, Chile, China, Mexico, and Korea.

 

Under free trade pacts, two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them, besides easing norms to promote trade in services and investments.

 

EFTA countries are not part of the European Union (EU). It is an inter-governmental organisation for the promotion and intensification of free trade. It was founded as an alternative for states that did not wish to join the European community.

 

India's exports to EFTA countries during 2022-23 stood at USD 1.92 billion against USD 1.74 billion in 2021-22. Imports aggregated at USD 16.74 billion during the last fiscal compared to USD 25.5 billion in 2021-22.

 

The trade gap is in favour of the EFTA group, according to the data of the commerce ministry.

 

Led by higher acreage in wheat, coarse cereals and oilseeds, the area under all crops in the current rabi season almost touched last year’s acreage. If the weather remains conducive till March-end, India may again witness a harvest bumper of rabi crops. though there could be a drop in the yield of a few crops due to delayed plantings.

 

According to data released by the Agriculture Ministry, the area sown under all crops during the 2023-24 rabi season (October-March) was 687.18 lakh hectares (lh) until January 19, which is 0.3 per cent lower than 689.09 lh during the corresponding period of last year.

 

Offsetting lower coverage

Wheat acreage reached 340.08 lh as of Friday compared with 337.5 lh in the year-ago period. Uttar Pradesh reported the sowing area of the key winter cereal at 102.29 lh against 97.46 lh a year ago, up by 5 per cent, and Madhya Pradesh reported 87.1 lh against 83.3 lh, up by 4.6 per cent. These two States helped offset the lower coverage in Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Bihar, too, reported about 40,000 hectares more under wheat. The acreage in Punjab and Haryana is almost at par with the year-ago period.

 

But winter-grown pulses acreage dropped 4.6 per cent to 155.13 lh compared with 162.66 lh, as gram (chana) acreage declined by 6.2 per cent to 102.90 lh from 109.73 lh and urad by 13.6 per cent to 6.03 lh from 6.98 lh. But lentil acreage rose by 5.7 per cent at 19.51 lh from 18.46 lh.

 

The sowing area under all coarse cereals reached 53.83 lh, up by 6 per cent from 50.77 lh. Both jowar and maize acreage is up. Jowar coverage was 23.52 lh, up by 6.8 per cent from 22.02 lh and maize at 21.29 lh, up by 3.5 per cent from 20.57 lh. Barley sowing is also up by 9.8 per cent at 8.19 lh against 7.46 lh year-ago.

 

Mustard tops 100 lh

Mustard acreage crossed 100 lh, the first time to reach 100.15 lh as of January 19 - 2.3 per cent more than 97.88 lh in the corresponding period a year ago. However, the final area under mustard may see some pruning as seen in the past after verification with actual production and arrival of the crop.

 

All rabi oilseeds acreage has been reported to be at 109.88 lh, up from 108.82 lh year-ago, in which groundnut area is down by 11.6 per cent at 4.52 lh from 5.11 lh. Though groundnut is a kharif crop, it is also grown in about 7 lh during winter, mainly in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

 

Paddy acreage reached 28.25 lh against 29.33 lh year-ago and maximum area 11.60 lh has been reported from Tamil Nadu, followed by 9.46 lh in Telangana.