To celebrate the International Year of Millets, Ministry of Agriculture and Famers Welfare, Government of India and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Government of Kenya will be co-hosting the ‘India-Africa International Millet Conference’ in Kenya with support of International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). The international conference scheduled for 30-31 August 2023, will witness participation from government leaders, researchers, farmers, entrepreneurs and industry associations etc, from around the globe.

 

The official curtain raiser for ‘India-Africa International Millet Conference’ was held at Nairobi, Kenya on Thursday, giving the audience a glimpse of what to expect.

 

The event was graced by the High Commissioner of India to Kenya, Joint Secretary (Crops), Government of India, Principal Secretary, Government of Kenya and Director General, ICRISAT. Officials from the agricultural sector of Kenya, members of the diplomatic community, international agricultural research leaders, farmers and representatives from the private sector also attended.

 

Through the international conference, the Government of India and Kenya aim to raise public awareness about millets as the ‘world’s emerging smart food. Additionally, the global event would also help highlight the South-South exchange and collaboration opportunities within the realm of millets.

 

With high levels of minerals such as iron, calcium, zinc and other vital nutrients, Millets are a treasure trove of health benefits. Additionally, they are also drought-resistant, pest-resilient, climate-friendly crops that can boost income opportunities and livelihoods of smallholder farmers, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

 

The Curtain Raiser event commenced with Dr. Jacqueline Hughes, DG ICRISAT, briefing the audience about the agenda of the event. While enumerating the multiple benefits of millets, she spoke about the growing discourse around mechanization, seed systems, digital agriculture and value addition in millets. 'We need to strengthen the value chains of millets to ensure consumer demand which will then assure farmers of profitable markets', Dr. Hughes noted.

 

In her inaugural address, Ms. Shubha Thakur, JS (Crops), Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, noted how the conference would help highlight actionable strategies by leaders, investors, institutions and individuals, while serving as a medium for joint ventures, collaborations, and tech transfer among key stakeholders.'The Government of India, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Millets Research, has been addressing concerns related to millet farming since 2018, when India celebrated its National Year of Millets. Acting on India’s proposal, the United Nations General Assembly declared the year 2023 as the ‘International Year of Millets’, giving these ancient grains a global platform. Our focus has been on ensuring sustainable agricultural practices and enhancing the commercial viability of millet cultivation. 'Ms. Shubha Thakur added.

 

In her welcome address, HE Namgya Khampa, the High Commissioner of India to Kenya, highlighted the importance of millets in addressing the issues of malnutrition and global hunger. Speaking about the significance of South-South cooperation in agriculture, HE Namgya Khampa also stated, 'We believe that collaboration between the global South in agriculture is crucial for maintaining food sufficiency in our countries.'

 

Following his remarks, Mr. Phillip Kello Harsama, Principal Secretary for Agriculture, Government of Kenya, further emphasized the significance of millets in the economic advancement of smallholder farmers. Since millets require minimal inputs and can be grown in relatively shorter duration, Kenyan farmers can benefit immensely from these wonder grains and add to their income, he noted.

 

One of the key highlights of the Curtain Raiser event was the unveiling of the logo and website of the India-Africa International Millet Conference. The website will enable participants to register for the conference and learn more about the global event and Millets in general.

 

The unveiling was followed by an insightful panel discussion on ‘Promoting Millets in Africa and India’ moderated by Dr. Rebbie Harawa, Regional Director & Country Representative, Kenya at ICRISAT. Distinguished panelists included the Director General of Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), the President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and representatives from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) and private sector.

 

The event concluded with a round of interaction with the media, and remarks by the Deputy High Commissioner, Kenya.

With regard to the upcoming World Food India-2023, an investor roundtable interaction was co-chaired by the Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), and the Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries with agri-food processing companies in New Delhi, yesterday. The roundtable witnessed participation from the leading global and Indian food processing companies. During the interaction, the future plans of the participating companies and their prospects of partnerships with MoFPI for the WFI-2023, being organized from 3-5 November, 2023 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, were discussed.

 

In his special address, Secretary, DPIIT emphasized on the importance of manufacturing sector in the growing Indian GDP. He also mentioned the favourable agro-climatic zones in India which are not just suitable for production of a wide variety of agri-commodities like cereals, pulses, fruits, vegetables etc., but also to process them in large quantities.

 

In her keynote address, Secretary, MoFPI mentioned about the growth and vast opportunities present in the food-processing sector. She added that the ministry is organizing the 2nd edition of the highly anticipated World Food India event, envisioning an even larger scale compared to the previous 2017 edition. The Secretary extended a heartfelt invitation to all companies to participate in the event with great enthusiasm.

 

During the roundtable, the participating companies expressed their optimistic outlook on the Indian market and lauded the various initiatives taken by the Government of India to improve the business environment, including the favourable policies such as the Production Linked Incentive Scheme and the flagship Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana initiated by MoFPI. The companies also expressed their interest in participating in World Food India-2023 and affirmed their willingness to sponsor the event and showcase their products and technologies through dedicated stall spaces. Many companies also showed keen interest on partnering with MoFPI for the sessions that are being planned as part of the event.

 

In his closing remarks, Additional Secretary, MoFPI mentioned that the Investment Facilitation Cell (Invest India) and event partner FICCI will stay in touch with the companies to firm up the participation details. EY is roped in as the knowledge partner for the event.

The Indian economy has carried the momentum from the past year into the current fiscal year and there has been no evidence by far that suggests a slowdown in the current financial year 2023-24, said the Department of Economic Affairs under Ministry of Finance in its monthly review report.

 

According to the provisional estimates released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) recently, real GDP growth for 2022-23 stood at 7.2 per cent, higher than the 7 per cent as was projected earlier. An upward revision in the 2022-23 GDP numbers is expected going forward.

 

For 2023-24, the central government sees growth at about 6.5 per cent.

 

'A strong final quarter performance pushed the GDP growth for the full year to 7.2 per cent, higher than the 7 per cent estimated in February. This upside to the growth estimate takes the growth momentum deep into the current year,' said the finance ministry report.

 

Several forecasting agencies also share optimism as they have upwardly revised their growth estimates for India for 2023-24.

 

'The latest evidence also does not indicate any slowing of activity in the first two months of the current year. India is the fastest-growing major economy, is now no longer only a statistical fact,' it added.

 

The finance ministry stated that what has been clearly working for India's economy is the strength of its domestic demand.

 

'High-frequency indicators paint a healthy picture of the state of the economy. Urban demand conditions remain resilient, with higher growth in auto sales, fuel consumption and UPI transactions. Rural demand is also on its path to recovery, with robust growth in two and three wheelers sales.'

 

Goods and Services tax collection, Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the manufacturing and services sector continues to expand, it noted.

 

Further, for the agricultural sector, it said the forecast of a normal monsoon despite the prevalence of El Nino, adequate availability of seeds and fertilisers and sufficient water in key reservoirs augur well for a healthy kharif season.

 

India has three cropping seasons -- summer, kharif, and rabi.

 

Crops sown during June-July and harvested in October-November are kharif. Crops that are sown during October-November and the produce harvested from January-March depending on maturity is Rabi. Crops produced after rabi but ahead of kharif are summer crops.

 

Farmers have meanwhile started sowing their Kharif crops. Paddy, moong, bajra, maize, groundnut, soybean, and cotton are some of the major Kharif crops.

Food Corporation of India (FCI) has sold only 170 tonnes or 0.04 per cent of 3.86 lakh tonnes of rice offered in the first auction under the open market sale scheme (OMSS). On the other hand, 32 per cent offtake has been reported in the case of wheat in the second round, up from 21 per cent in the first round.

 

The average selling price of wheat in the auction was Rs.2,137.33 per quintal, against a reserve price of Rs.2,125/ quintal for the URS variety and Rs.2,150/quintal for the FAQ variety. There were 1,337 successful bidders, sources said. The pan-India average selling price was Rs.2,136/quintal in the first round.

 

Rice was sold at an average Rs.3,175.35/ quintal, higher than its reserve price of Rs.3,100/quintal.

 

Karnataka’s Shri Gouri Shankar Trading Company purchased 40 tonnes of rice at Rs.3,183/quintal, whereas four other buyers got it at Rs.3,173/quintal. Gujarat’s Shree Padmavati Rice Pulse and Oil Mills and Maharashtra’s Akshay Agro Sales Corporation have bought 50 tonnes each.

 

Sadguru Trading Company, also from Maharashtra, has bought 20 tonnes and Meghalaya’s Bothra Trading Company 10 tonnes, the sources said.

 

'The rice that FCI has offered under OMSS is available at around Rs.2,600/ quintal, which is much below the reserve price. The recycled rice from the public distribution system is sold at lower rates compared to 'normal' varieties,' a rice miller in Punjab said. Asked why there were no takers in Punjab for FCI rice, as a maximum of 1.5 lt was offered in the state, he said there was no demand in Punjab as it could not be sold elsewhere.

 

On wheat offtake, a miller in Madhya Pradesh said most buyers are re-selling their grain to big buyers at marginally lower than market rates since the FCI’s offer is the cheapest. Most buyers are bidding around the reserve price, as they know there is no competition due to the government’s cap of 100 tonnes.

 

'If the government wants prices to cool down, the maximum quantity should be raised to 500 tonnes from one depot, and one entity should be allowed to buy from at least five-six places. It will create competition, as well as higher lifting, that will result in increased availability,' said the roller flour miller from MP.

 

A comprehensive strategy to increase the procurement of coarse grains was discussed and formulated at the conference of State Food Ministers on Wednesday, the Union Food Ministry said in a statement. Accordingly, it is estimated that a total of 26.14 lakh tonnes (lt) of coarse grains would be procured in the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2023-2024 starting October 1. The expected distribution is 22.31 lt.

 

'This strategic focus on coarse grains/millets reflects a broader objective to strengthen the nutritional security of the beneficiaries’' it said.

 

Minister of Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal appreciated the efforts of the State governments for procuring and distribution of foodgrains and said all the States should work together with the Centre in the spirit of co-operative federalism.

 

Pending claims

He urged all States to submit their pending claims on dues with the Union government expeditiously so that they can be settled at the earliest.

 

The scale of reforms in procurement process of foodgrains is key to providing food security and stability to domestic prices of foodgrains.

 

Goyal also launched a new sugar-ethanol portal, where mills will be made to file returns on production, sales data regularly.

 

A demonstration of the Automated Multi-Commodity Grain Dispensing Machine 'Annapurti' developed by the UN World Food Programme (UN-WFP) and Automatic Grain Analyzers developed for automated quality checking of grains was made at the conference.

 

Among other topics, grading of procurement centres to ensure uniformity and quality, effective implementation of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), implementation of the SMART–PDS scheme for end-to-end computerisation of procurement and distribution of foodgrains, and transformation of Fair Price Shops (FPS) were discussed.

 

An action plan for the implementation of Route Optimisation study to bring down the distance involved in intra-State distribution, diversification of food basket through distribution of coarse grains/millets was also deliberated.

Government of India has always been supporting the idea of strengthening Agricultural Produce Markey Committees (APMCs) and making them more transparent and competitive with the advent of new edge digital technologies through improving infrastructure and services offering to the farmers.

 

e-NAM (National Agriculture Market) has come a long way since its launched in April 2016. So far, 1361 Mandis of 23 States and 04 UTs have been integrated to e-NAM platform. As on 03rd July 2023, more than 1.75 Crore Farmers & 2.45 Lakh traders have been registered on e-NAM portal. Total volume of 7.97 Crore MT & 25.82 Crore numbers (bamboo, betel leaves, coconut, lemon & sweet corn) collectively worth approximately Rs. 2.79 lakh crore of trade has been recorded on e-NAM platform.  

 

Achievement of e-NAM has been path breaking in Agri-marketing sector. Though 1361 regulated markets have become a part of the e-NAM platform, a need has been felt that for obtaining a competitive price especially for surplus farmer produce inter-mandi and more importantly, inter-State trade is crucial and it is essential that a more concerted intervention is needed for creating a larger reach for the farmer’s surplus produce through an efficient and seamless marketing system across India by promoting quality based trading with a transparent price discovery mechanism for inter-mandi and inter-State trade.

 

Taking a stride of policy reforms to the next level and with a vision to enhance the share of the producers in the end consumer price, Government of India had constituted a high-level Expert Committee on 21st April, 2023, to promote inter-mandi & inter-State trade through conceptualization and implementation of Market Yard of National Importance (MNI). The said expert committee was chaired by Dr. Manoj Rajan, Special Secretary (Agriculture), Government of Karnataka with the members from State Agri Marketing Boards of Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Telangana, Odisha & Bihar. Apart from State representative, Director (Agriculture Marketing), DA&FW, GoI, Deputy AMA, DMI, representative from SFAC and Strategic Partner for e-NAM were also the members of the said committee. The Committee has been assigned the task of recommending the framework for implementation of MNI.

 

On 4th July, 2023, Chairperson of the Expert Committee has submitted a report of the Expert Committee on MNI platform. Aforesaid committee has recommended the implementation framework of MNI-P platform, legal framework & inter-state reciprocity of license and movement, dispute resolution mechanism, rollout strategy etc. This platform will provide an opportunity to farmers of the participating states to sell their surplus produce beyond its state boundaries. This platform would enable to create digital ecosystems that leverage the expertise of various segments of agriculture value chain.

Union Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar, on Monday said Russia is turning more towards Asia after the Ukraine conflict.

 

Addressing the students' dialogue at the National Institute of Technology, the EAM also highlighted the growth in the economic partnership between India and Russia and said Russia's trade with India was USD 40 billion last year, far ahead of the figure before the Ukraine conflict.

 

'Till last year, Russia's main economic partner was the Western countries. However, that route was closed after the Ukraine conflict. So, Russia is turning more towards Asia,' EAM Jaishankar said.

 

'Our trade with Russia before the Ukraine conflict was around 12-14 billion dollars, our trade last year was 40 billion dollars,' the EAM added.

 

At the event, Jaishankar also spoke about the growing participation of Asian economies in the world and said, 'China is the biggest Asian economy and it will show a path there. I think we should not be worried about what they are doing with other countries, we should keep our own relations going and see how the interest of Indian people is best served.'

 

Later, the minister also discussed the impact of foreign policies and said, 'The decisions we make on foreign policy affect our lives every day. How much the price of petrol you pay is decided whether we do a good foreign policy or not. If we had not done a good foreign policy, your petrol price would have been much higher...'

 

'Today, what we do with other foreign partners actually impacts your life,' he added.

 

Last year, a new S&P Global Market Intelligence report stated that India has emerged as a strong trade partner of Russia and is expected to remain so in 2023.

 

The report highlighted the anticipated shifts in trade due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict as well as a positive outlook for containerized trade in 2023 despite a mere 0.7 per cent year-on-year (y/y) growth in 2022 led by the estimated slowdown in the second half.

Kashmir saffron is now about five times costlier than silver.

 

A 10 gm packet of saffron costs as much as 47 gm of silver - about Rs.3,250. Saffron prices in the Kashmir valley have skyrocketed to Rs.3.25 lakh per kg, from Rs.2 lakh per kg last year, after the precious crop from the Valley got the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. A GI tag is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation due to that origin. The tag has helped the domestic spice fight off competition in global markets from Iranian saffron, as the Kashmiri crop is clearly seen as the genuine article.

 

The golden crop, which brings colour, flavour and aroma to biryani and many other dishes, is scripting a revival. Its per-hectare production has increased manifold, bringing cheer to growers who had been seeing a constant decline.

 

'Kashmir saffron is the only GI-tagged saffron in the world. Now buyers from the US, Canada and Europe have started picking up saffron from Kashmir,' said Choudhary Mohammad Iqbal, agriculture director, Kashmir. 'Farmers are getting good prices for their crop and traders too are making good money.'

 

Rehman Ahmed, owner of Dalijheel Saffron Co in Kashmir's saffron centre of Pampore, agrees. 'The GI tag has really helped saffron planters,' he said. 'Earlier, saffron farmers were getting Rs.1.30-1.5 lakh per kg. Now, that has shot up to Rs.1.8-2 lakh per kg.'

 

'Iranian saffron sold as Indian'

Farmers sometimes fail to take measures to rejuvenate their crop, which brings down productivity, said Irfan Kungwani, owner of Data Kesar. But Kashmir's farmers have been able to overcome the challenge from the Iranian product, especially that posing as the real thing. 'Saffron from Iran has been creating a lot of trouble in the global markets for Indian saffron,' said Kungwani. 'It was being sold as saffron from Kashmir. The GI tag, however, has been beneficial to stop the selling of Iranian saffron as Indian saffron.' Kashmir produces 18 tonnes of saffron annually. The agriculture director said the ultimate goal is to take saffron production to 25-27 tonnes in the years to come. 'After introduction of the National Saffron Mission to revive the crop, production started going up from 1.8 kg gradually, and has now reached close to 5 kg per hectare,' said Iqbal.

The United Kingdom is keen that free trade pact being negotiated with India is completed at the earliest as it re-focuses its attention of the growing markets of the Indo-Pacific, however the financial powerhouse is not setting any deadlines for the agreements which will include deals on service sector and investments.

 

UK's Minister for International Trade, Nigel Huddleston, in an exclusive interview to PTI said that half the chapters in the deal have already been concluded and work is on to complete the negotiations as soon as possible.

 

'We have made good progress on the FTA ... we have concluded negotiations on half the chapters in the pact. We want a comprehensive agreement on both goods and services. It (the pact with India) is going to be very important as part of our shift towards the Indo-Pacific,' the UK Minister said.

 

'We are particularly keen to get this FTA with India as we have strong historic ties,' he added.

 

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had earlier last week indicated that both countries were aiming for a 'truly ambitious trade deal.' The FTA which has been in the works for some years now is expected to be a comprehensive pact covering not only goods and services trade but also in investments.

 

Huddleston pointed out that 80 per cent of Great Britain's economy was dependant on services and the chapters on services are therefore an important part of the deal being negotiated for both the countries.

 

Britin which has an USD 3.1 trillion economy according to World bank data, has long been a service sector powerhouse. The city of London, which is one the world's biggest financial markets, has also long attracted Indian companies seeking to raise funds from the global market.

 

'It's a negotiation, so I really can't reveal our hand,' he said with a smile when asked about sticking points in the agreement.

 

The Minister also said the pact, which would include chapters on investments from both countries, would take care to see that not only big business but small and medium enterprises from both countries gained by the agreement.

 

Speaking on sub-deals on trade in whiskey, automobiles, etc., the Minister said, 'we would like to see tariffs come down ... (However) our pacts are not just about tariff but also a lot about non-tariff barriers.'

 

He pointed out that the way forward for promoting ease of doing trade would be to reduce 'paperwork and increase digital signatures.'

 

Nigel Huddleston who was appointed Minister for International Trade in February this year with charge of all global trade netotiations, has been an important Tory leader in the UK and has been Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury) before this.

 

Huddleston told PTI that temporary business visas and inter-company transfer of people 'was part of the conversation' to make it easier for businessmen and highly skilled professionals to travel between the two countries.

 

UK companies have invested about USD 33,87 billion in the Indian market while some 900 Indian firms operating in the UK are believed to generate USD 68 billion in turnover, according to Invest India.

Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Commerce & Industry and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal today appreciated the efforts of the State and UT governements for procuring and distribution of foodgrains and said that all the States/UTs should work together with the Government of India in the spirit of cooperative federalism. He said this while chairing the ‘National Conference of Food Ministers of States/UTs’ organized by the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD), in New Delhi today. The Minister requested all States/UTs to submit their pending claims on dues with the union government expeditiously so that they can be settled at the earliest.

 

The conference was graced by Union Ministers of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Ms. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, 17 Food Ministers and officials from 35 States/UTs and officials of the Department of Food and Public Distribution, Govt of India.

 

In the presentation, the Department highlighted the scale of, and reforms in, procurement process of foodgrains which is key to providing food security and stability to domestic prices of foodgrains.

 

During the conference, Shri Piyush Goyal also launched a new Sugar-Ethanol portal.

 

A demonstration of the Automated Multi-Commodity Grain Dispensing Machine - ‘Annapurti’ developed by the UN World Food Programme (UN-WFP) and Automatic Grain Analyzers developed for automated quality checking of grains was conducted as part of the Conference.  In addition, a millet exhibition showcasing various millet products was held on the side-lines of the Conference.

 

During the first half of the Conference, a comprehensive strategy to increase the procurement of coarse grains was discussed and formulated. This strategic focus on coarse grains/millets reflects a broader objective to strengthen the nutritional security of the beneficiaries. It is projected that a total of 26.14 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) of coarse grains would be procured in Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2023-2024, while the expected distribution would be 22.31 LMT.

 

Some of the other key topics that were discussed extensively during the conference included grading of procurement centres to ensure uniformity and quality, effective implementation of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), implementation of the SMART–PDS scheme for end-to-end computerization of procurement and distribution of foodgrains, transformation of Fair Price Shops (FPS), action plan for the implementation of Route Optimization study to bring down the distance involved in intra-State distribution, diversification of food basket through distribution of coarse grains/millets, among others.

 

Additionally, best practices of States/UTs were showcased to foster cross-learning on various topics including construction of Model FPS through MGNREGA funds by Uttar Pradesh, e-KYC & de-duplication of ration cards by Assam, Supply Chain Automation by Gujarat and quality assurance of Rice fortification by Andhra Pradesh.