The government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on June 8 signed a $130-million loan agreement to increase agricultural productivity, improve access to irrigation and promote horticulture agribusinesses to raise farmers’ income in Himachal Pradesh.

The signatories to the Himachal Pradesh Subtropical Horticulture, Irrigation, and Value Addition Project were Rajat Kumar Mishra, additional secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, for the government, and Takeo Konishi, country director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, for ADB.

 

Mishra said that improving subtropical horticulture in the southern areas of Himachal Pradesh will help in crop diversification, climate adaptation, and equal economic and social development across the rural areas in the state.

He added that supporting horticulture value chains will boost the subsector’s contribution to food security in the country.

 

'The project builds upon a pilot financed by ADB’s project readiness facility which demonstrated the subtropical horticulture production over 200 hectares and prepared the Draft Water User Association (WUA) Act and the draft state horticulture development strategy,' said Konishi.

The project will help increase the income of at least 15,000 farm households across seven districts of the state namely Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Mandi, Sirmour, Solan, and Una. These households have stopped farming or have reduced their farming areas because of lack of irrigation facilities and crop damage by animals.

 

The project will include new irrigation schemes that will improve on-farm irrigation and water management in 6,000 hectares of farmland. It will also help farmers to enhance their access to markets of subtropical horticulture. The farmers will be organised into cluster-wide community horticulture production and marketing associations (CHPMAs) and district-wide CHPMA cooperative societies.

The CHPMA apex institution, a farmer-producer company (FPC), will lead state-wide agribusiness development to ensure profitability and access to markets of subtropical horticulture.

 

The FPC will handle business plan development, and agribusiness promotion, and it will assist CHPMAs in managing these facilities.

The project will modernise public and private subtropical horticulture nursery facilities for improved plant health, and boost digital agri-technology systems for real-time farm advisories. 

The G20 Agriculture Ministers’ meeting to be held in Hyderabad from June 15-17 will be attended by Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).  According to IFAD, Lario will share IFAD’s vision for development with G20 leaders and make the case for investing in rural communities as the most cost-effective way to improve global food security and support global stability. 

 

While in India, he will also meet Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar. India is an important partner for IFAD, and IFAD has worked in and with India for more than 40 years.

Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar today inaugurated the Parvatiya Krishak Mahasangam organised by CSK Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University here.

 

He said that the university was playing an important role in the promotion of agriculture and animal husbandry in the hilly regions of the country. He added that the adoption of floriculture and fish farming could significantly improve the income of farmers.

 

The minister said, 'The university should work to transfer new research work from laboratories to farmers’ fields. Farmers should be guided to grow other crops in addition to grains and slowly shift to organic farming.' He asked scientists to adopt new agricultural practices and technologies to improve production. Kishori Lal, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, also appreciated the efforts of the university.

 

Vice-Chancellor HK Chaudhary said that the agricultural fair was organised after 10 years.

The Minister of State for Foreign Trade of UAE, Thani Al Zeyoudi on Monday said that the trade ties between New Delhi and Abu Dhabi have proliferated following the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

 

'Trade ties with India have grown very rapidly following CEPA. There are several areas where we are looking to provide a further fillip to our robust trading ties,' said Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade at a joint press conference in Delhi today. Highlighting the central goals of India-UAE CEPA at the press conference today, the UAE minister said that one of them was to increase the flow of goods and services between the two countries.

 

'One of the central goals of the UAE-India CEPA was to increase the flow of goods and services between the UAE and India - and, by doing so, stimulate key export sectors, drive industrial output and kick-start an exciting new era of progress,' the UAE Minister said.

 

It is over a year since the implementation of the UAE-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

 

The India-UAE CEPA is a landmark free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries. It covers trade in goods, services, investment, and other areas of economic cooperation.

 

The CEPA entered into force on May 1, 2022, and is expected to increase the total value of bilateral trade in goods to over USD 100 billion and trade in services to over USD 15 billion within five years.

 

The CEPA is the first deep and full-fledged FTA signed by India with any country in the past decade.

 

Speaking further, Al Zeyoudi added that it's a chance to reflect on the two nations' remarkable journey together.

 

'Our initial figures suggest that, in the first 12 months of the CEPA, bilateral non-oil trade reached 50.5 billion dollars. That is a 5.8 per cent increase on the corresponding period a year earlier. For context, these figures came amid a sharp decline in global trade in Q3 and Q4 in 2022 - proving that we have created a real nexus of growth,' he underlined during the presser in Delhi.

 

The new partnerships created, the new customers attained, and the new friendships forged will guarantee that this prosperous alliance continues to benefit the citizens of both nations, he added, saying he looks forward to the next steps.

 

Earlier today Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that the Reserve Bank of India and Central Bank of the UAE are in active dialogue for a Rupee-Dirham trade mechanism.

 

'Talks for in Rupee-dirham are progressing at a fast pace and the Finance Ministry of India is very supportive of it,' Goyal said, addressing the joint meeting of the joint committee of the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

 

'If we recall in March 2022 when we got talking about how we can make business more attractive between the two countries and how we can help our business persons reduce operating costs and transaction costs. Dialogue of the Rupee-Dirham trade was actually sown in that meeting. It's just about a year since then, but both countries have made significant progress.'

 

He, however, did not mention any timeline for the finalization of the Rupee-Dirham-based trade mechanism. 

The crucial G20 Agriculture Ministers' Meeting would be held in Hyderabad from June 15 to 17, Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Monday.

 

Talking to reporters here, he said three meetings of the agriculture working group were held earlier in Indore, Chandigarh and Varanasi. The final meeting is in Hyderabad. Besides India, 29 other countries will participate in the three-day event. G20 countries including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Canada, South Africa, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom would attend. The ministers of nine guest countries, including Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Oman, Nigeria, Spain and Vietnam would also participate.

 

'The agriculture ministers of 29 countries and high-level officers are going to participate in this meeting with Hyderabad as the venue. It will be held from 15th to 17th,' he said.

 

Besides the 29 countries, key persons from 10 international organisations would also participate in the meetings. The main agenda of the meeting includes food security, sustainable agriculture for nutritional food, agriculture development under the leadership of women, agriculture and biodiversity, and changes needed in agriculture sector to face climate change. The Union tourism minister said the G20 meeting of ministers on tourism would be held in Goa on June 19, 20, 21 and 22. He said that the third G20 tourism working group meeting was successfully held recently in Srinagar despite the threat of terror groups and objections raised by Pakistan and others. A declaration on tourism, named 'Goa roadmap' would be adopted at the G20 ministers' meeting, the minister said. Reddy, also minister for culture, said the final meeting of ministers on culture would be organised in Varanasi from July 24-26.

 

In a significant development, the food regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has created a category of 'Ready to Drink' or low-alcohol beverages, having an alcohol content of 0.5-8 per cent.

 

It has also laid down the standards, composition, and definition of such beverages as well as the safety parameters to be adopted.

 

Sources in the regulator said since 2018, the food safety standards for alcoholic beverages had existed but recently standards for low alcoholic and ready to drink products, including their definition and safety parameters, had been specified additionally.

 

'The said standard is an amendment in regulation and is not changing other existing definitions,' the FSSAI notification said.

 

The gazette notification, issued a few days ago, said such low alcoholic beverages would be made from spirits, a mixture of spirits, or any alcoholic beverage other than wine and beer as base. They can have natural, nature-identical or artificial flavours, and/or food additives permitted under the regulations concerned. Mixing can be with fruit or vegetable juice with or without added sugar/salt and with or without carbonation.

 

Welcoming the move, industry players said categorising low-alcohol beverages and ready-to-drink products made things clear for everyone in the value chain.

 

It helps to get the category of ready-to-drink products identified and treated separately.

 

It could also give a fillip to the market and facilitate over-the-counter sales sometime in future.

 

That apart, the FSSAI in the same notification has laid down what should constitute 'country liquor' or 'Indian liquor' and the constituents that should go into its making.

 

The notification defined country liquor or Indian liquor as alcoholic beverages obtained from distilling fermentable carbohydrates of agricultural origin.

 

It further said the criterion for being designated 'plain country liquor' or 'plain Indian liquor' was that it should be made from alcoholic distillate obtained from fermented molasses, jiggery (gur), a mash of cereals, potatoes, cassava, fruits, juice or sap of coconut and palm trees, mahua flowers or any other carbohydrates of agricultural origin.

 

Blended country liquor or blended Indian liquor is a mixture of an alcoholic distillate, rectified spirit, or neutral spirit.

 

'Country liquor has always existed. The FSSAI notification gives some sort of definition to it,' an industry player said.

Bilateral trade between India and Myanmar could rise significantly from current level of $1.76 billion once rupee trade settlement mechanism is established, said P K Shah, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Trade Policy & WTO and Past Chairman, EEPC India at an interactive session with U Aung Naing Oo, Union Minister, Ministry of Commerce, The Republic of the Union of Myanmar and his Ministerial Delegation in Kolkata today.

 

'EEPC India has taken up the issue with the Government of India and we are of the opinion that once this rupee trade arrangement is established, competitiveness of both India and Myanmar would be enhanced and bilateral trade and investments will boost to a significant level as this process will be less complicated in absence of any foreign currency,' said Shah.

 

The RBI has already allowed payments to be received in Indian Rupees and the Myanmar government intends to initiate the currency convertibility for the Indian rupee for trade. Under this settlement mechanism, Myanmar will accept payment for all its exports to India in Indian rupees and the same export earnings can be used to make payments for goods and services imported from India.

 

RBI has appointed and authorised Punjab National Bank of India to open a special Rupee Vostro Account (SRVA) for foreign trade with Myanmar. PNB has already approached CB bank and UAB bank of Myanmar to open a SRVA account for trade arrangement in Indian Rupee and MM Kyats under the special arrangement.

 

Once Indian Rupee Trade arrangement is established, it will boost large value trade from India and Myanmar as this will not involve any foreign currency. All the transactions will be settled with both the local currencies of respective countries.

 

U Aung Naing Oo & Thant Sin Lwin, Director General of Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, appreciated the decision of Government of India and Reserve Bank of India for introducing the system of International Trade Settlement in Indian Rupees.

 

India is the 11th largest foreign investor in Myanmar with a total investment of $1.736 billion between April 2000 and March 2023. Total merchandise trade between India and Myanmar has reached $1.76 billion in 2022-23 on the back of rising imports from Myanmar. India’s exports to Myanmar however witnessed a decline in both merchandise as well as engineering in the last few years.

 

Engineering trade more than halved in 2022-23 in comparison to 2019-20 due to drop in exports of Iron and Steel, Auto components/Parts, Industrial Machinery, and Electric Machinery and Equipment among others.

 

EEPC India appealed to U Aung Naing Oo to expedite the trade settlement in local currencies.

The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes have led to a significant increase in production, employment generation, economic  growth and exports in the country. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi today, Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary, DPIIT said that due to PLI Schemes, there was a significant increase of 76% in FDI in the Manufacturing sector in FY 2021-22 (USD 21.34 billion) compared to previous FY 2020-21 (USD 12.09 billion).

 

The PLI schemes as envisioned by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi with the objective of making India 'AatmaNirbhar' is built on the foundation of 14 sectors with an incentive outlay of Rs. 1.97 lakh crore (about US$ 26 billion) to strengthen their production capabilities and help create global champions.

 

Sectors for which PLI schemes exist and have seen an increase in FDI inflows from FY 2021-22 to FY 2022-23 are Drugs and Pharmaceuticals (+46%), Food Processing Industries (+26%) and Medical Appliances (+91%). PLI Schemes have transformed India’s exports basket from traditional commodities to high value- added products such as electronics & telecommunication goods, processed food products etc.

 

As on date, 733 applications have been approved in 14 Sectors with expected investment of Rs.3.65 Lakh Crore. 176 MSMEs are among the PLI beneficiaries in sectors such as Bulk Drugs, Medical  Devices, Pharma, Telecom, White Goods, Food Processing, Textiles & Drones.

 

Actual investment of Rs. 62,500 Crore has been realized till March 2023 which has resulted in incremental production/ sales over Rs. 6.75 Lakh Crore and employment generation of around 3,25,000. Exports boosted by Rs 2.56 Lakh Crore till FY 2022-23.

 

Incentive amount of around Rs. 2,900 Crore disbursed in FY 2022-23 under PLI Schemes for 8 Sectors viz. Large-Scale Electronics Manufacturing (LSEM), IT Hardware, Bulk Drugs, Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals, Telecom & Networking Products, Food Processing and Drones & Drone Components.

 

PLI Scheme has led to major smartphone companies shifting its suppliers to India, e.g., Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron. As a result, top high-end phones are being manufactured in India. It has also resulted in a 20-fold increase in women employment and localization in IT Hardware such as Battery & Laptops. Secretary, DPIIT said that the value addition in mobile manufacturing in India is to the tune of 20%. 'We have been able to increase the value addition in mobile manufacturing to 20% within a period of 3 years whereas countries like Vietnam achieved 18% value addition over 15 years and China achieved 49% value addition in over 25 years. Seen in this perspective, it is a big achievement', Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh added.

 

PLI Scheme for LSEM along with existing Phased Manufacturing Program (PMP) has led to increased value addition in the electronics sector and in smartphone manufacturing, 23% and 20% respectively, from negligible in 2014-15. Of the USD 101 Billion total electronics production in FY 2022-23, smartphones constitute USD 44 Billion including USD 11.1 Billion as exports.

 

Import substitution of 60% has been achieved in the Telecom sector and India has become almost self–reliant in Antennae, GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) & CPE (Customer Premises Equipment). Drones sector has seen a 7 times jump in turnover due to the PLI Scheme which consists of all MSME Startups.

 

Under the PLI Scheme for Food Processing, sourcing of raw materials from India has seen significant increase which has positively impacted income of Indian farmers and MSMEs.

 

Due to the PLI Scheme, there has been a significant reduction in imports of raw materials in the Pharma sector. Unique intermediate materials and bulk drugs are being manufactured in India including Penicillin-G, and transfer of technology has happened in manufacturing of Medical Devices such as (CT scan, MRI etc.).

The central government has imposed stock limits on wheat till March 31 next year to arrest the rising prices of the grain, said food secretary Sanjeev Chopra on Monday. This comes despite the government predicting — in the Third Advance Estimate — record wheat production of 112.74 mt. The last time a stock limit was imposed on wheat was in 2008. The price of the cereal has risen 8.13% at the mandi level in the last one month, according to the food department, which may reflect in the domestic wholesale and retail price in the coming days.

 

The government will also release 1.5 million tonnes (mt) of wheat from its stocks at the reserve price of Rs 2,150 per quintal to cool down the prices. It will also provide rice to bulk buyers under the open market. sale scheme, but the quantity will be decided in due course. However, there are no plans to tweak the import policy of wheat in the near future, Chopra said. Also, the export of sugar will not be permitted as of now.

 

Wheat wholesalers and traders will be allowed to stock 3,000 mt of the commodity. The stock limit is 10 mt for retailers at each outlet. For big-chain retailers, it is 10 mt for each outlet and 3,000 mt at their depots. Processors can stock 75% of the annual installed capacity or the equivalent to monthly installed capacity multiplied by the remaining months of 2023-24 — whichever is lesser.

 

Industry watchers said the move spells bad news for the wheat milling industry. 'Most of the flour mills from South India purchased wheat at higher prices,' said Pramod Kumar S, president, the Roller Flour Millers’ Association of India.

CSIR-CFTRI, in an effort to ensure total food safety, demonstrated the detection of adulterants in edible oils, spice products, sweets, milk, honey and so on. This was through use of analytical instruments used by food safety laboratories such as EA-IRMS, LC-MS/MS, GC, HPLC, GC-MS/MS, ICP-AES.

 

The institute also houses the Food Safety and Protection department. Its dual focus is on food protection and infestation control. The other is on food safety and analytical quality control lab.

 

At a recently-concluded World Food Safety Day 2023 function, observed annually on June 7, this year’s theme was Food Standards Save Lives. In view of this, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru, a constituent laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, celebrated the event on its campus for the benefit of students.

Here CSIR-CFTRI went on to create awareness among people on food safety,  food-borne diseases such as diarrhoea to cancers and fatality due to unsafe food.

 

It was the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO), which worked together to declare June 7 as the food safety day. This was in a bid to highlight that food safety is a critical global concern as unsafe food can lead to food-borne illnesses, which can have severe health consequences. Each year, World Food Safety Day focuses on a specific theme to address different aspects of food safety.

 

Demonstration on food hygiene and microbial safety was also arranged. Also, posters on food regulation, food labelling and nutritional labelling, food addition & contaminants were also exhibited.  More than 150 students from various colleges participated in the programme which included the students from St. Philomena’s college, JSS College, Jnanodaya PU College and so on from Mysore.

 

Dr. Navin Kumar Rastogi, Chief Scientist & Director-in Charge, CSIR-CFTRI, formally inaugurated the event and addressed the gathering on the importance and awareness on World Food Safety Day 2023, its significance and its benefits to the society.

 

Arrangements were made in the Department of Food Safety & Analytical Quality Control Laboratory of CSIR-CFTRI to celebrate the World Food Safety Day on June 7, 2023. Scientists, Technologists, Scholars and Research Students organised the demonstration on detection of adulterants in edible oils, spice products, sweets, milk, honey and so on.