The Union ministry of commerce and industry plans to shut down all the Directorate General of Foreign Trade offices and convert them into trade and investment offices under the Invest India platform, said Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal here on Friday.

 

The move comes nearly five years after the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) closed its office in Goa.

 

'I have already instructed them to close all DGFT offices in the country,' said Goyal while interacting with industry leaders. 'I am converting DGFT and moving those officers to Invest India and now they will facilitate trade and investment promotion. All the DGFT offices will be made into trade and investment offices.'

 

He said that these officials will promote exports by handholding the industry but will also provide support for domestic and foreign investments. 'Don’t ask me to start the DGFT office (in Goa) again because I have moved everything online,' said Goyal.

He said that the DGFT officers have been asked to hold a virtual meeting with the industry every morning to address concerns and regulatory glitches.

 

The Union minister also expressed readiness to promote Goa’s tourism and pharmaceutical sectors.

 

'We will be inviting 20-30 of the top pharma companies, and in that, I will look at four or five hubs, including Goa, where we can try and expand the pharmaceutical industry,' said Goyal. He named Gujarat, Goa, Hyderabad and Himachal Pradesh as likely hubs for expansion of India’s pharmaceutical manufacturing and exports.

 

He also urged major pharmaceutical firms to come together, create a corpus, and collectively form a Centre of Excellence instead of waiting for the government to create such a facility.

 

Addressing the tourism sector, Goyal indicated that the Centre could create a joint working group with representatives of various departments and the Goa government to see how Goa’s tourism sector could be promoted. Citing the example of the Maldives, Goyal said that Goa should pursue a high-value tourism model.

 

Meanwhile, chief minister Pramod Sawant, who was also present for the interaction, informed the pharmaceutical sector that Manohar International Airport at Mopa will soon commence cargo operations. Transport minister Mauvin Godinho said that while the airport at Mopa continues to add more flights to new destinations, Goa International Airport at Dabolim has also witnessed an increase in flights.

Prices of rice exported from top hub India edged higher this week from a near six-month trough as weaker rates attracted buyers from other Asian countries, while comparatively higher rates in Vietnam posed risks to demand in the near term.

 

India's 5% broken parboiled variety was quoted at $375-$380 per tonne, up from the last week's $374-$378.

 

'Buying from Asian countries has improved a bit because of lower prices, although the majority of buyers are still on the sidelines,' said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

 

Neighbouring Bangladesh, which often requires imports to cope with shortages caused by natural calamities such as floods, doesn't need to import rice this year, its food minister said.

 

'There is a good harvest in the country, so there is no need to import rice,' Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder told reporters.

 

Vietnam's 5% broken rice was offered at $490-$495 per tonne, unchanged from a week ago, which was the highest level since late April.

 

'Trading activity is quiet as some buyers are slowing their purchases due to high prices,' a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said.

 

Vietnam's rice exports in the first five months of this year are estimated to have risen about 40.8% from a year earlier to 3.9 million tonnes, government data showed on Monday. Rice shipments from the country in May were estimated at 1 million tonnes.

 

Thailand's 5% broken rice prices stood at $495 per tonne, little changed from $495-$500 quoted last week, amid subdued demand and a weaker baht.

 

'We have to wait for additional supply to be released,' said a Bangkok-based trader

Horticulture is a success story of Indian agriculture. The production of horticulture crops has increased from 169.8 million tonnes in 2004-05 to 342.32 mt in 2021-22. This transformation was initiated in 2005-06 when the National Horticulture Mission was launched by the Union government. The Centre’s share in the scheme was 85 per cent and the states were required to provide only 15 per cent. The Centre also provided 100 per cent of funds under Horticulture Mission for North East & Himalayan States.

 

The objective of NHM was to provide an integrated development by ensuring that forward and backward linkages were provided. Clusters were identified in 384 districts. The emphasis was on the supply of high-quality planting material. For this nurseries and tissue culture units were supported. Within five years, from 2005-06 to 2010-11, an additional area of 18.92 lakh hectares was brought under horticulture crops and 2,239 nurseries were established for the production of planting materials.

 

In 2014-15, NHM and HMNEH were subsumed in Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) and the Centre’s share in funding for Northeastern and Himalayan states was fixed at 90 per cent. For other states, it was reduced from 90 per cent to 60 per cent. 

 

Banana is one of the success stories of NHM. Due to the efforts of successive governments, bananas are affordable, and they are available around the year across India. Its price has stayed around Rs 50 to 60 per dozen for several years. 

 

In 2004-05, 5.3 lakh ha area was under banana cultivation. By 2021-22 the area had increased to 9.6 lakh ha. In this period, the production of bananas increased from 16.2 mt to 35 mt. The productivity increased from 30.6 mt per ha to 36.5 mt per ha. 

 

In 2021-22, India’s export of bananas reached 0.38 mt at a value of $159.09 million. But India’s share is minuscule. In 2019, global trade in bananas was valued at $13.5 billion by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.

 

In 2020, then director of ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana said India is targeting 10-15 per cent of international trade with $2-3 billion of exports over the next seven to 10 years. 

 

More than 90 per cent of banana exports are from Central and South America and the Philippines. Chiquita, Dole and Del Monte brands dominate the global markets.

 

India is the largest producer of bananas in the world. It produced about 35 million metric tonnes in 2021-22 which was about a quarter of global production. The highest banana-producing states are Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu. In the last few years, farmers of nontraditional states have also taken to banana cultivation. Uttar Pradesh had a 10.45 per cent share in India’s production in 2021-22.

 

Growth story

The success of banana production is also attributed to Jain Irrigation Systems Limited which set up a tissue culture laboratory in 1995. 

 

Under tissue culture, a part of the plant or even a single cell or group of cells is cultured under highly controlled and hygienic conditions. Jain Irrigation propagates genetically pure, high-yielding and disease-free planting material. 

 

Before that, they were prone to several diseases such as Panama wilt, bacterial soft rot and viral diseases. This resulted in decreased yield and lower quality. 

 

Tissue culture plants are true to the type of mother plant and are free of disease and pests. They grow uniformly and give higher yields. Tissue culture plants enable round-the-year planting as the seedlings can be procured by farmers throughout the year. Two successive ratoons are possible in a short duration which minimises the cost of cultivation. Tissue culture enables the introduction of new varieties as multiplication is possible in a short duration.

 

Banana is a water-intensive crop and its water requirement is about 1,500-2,000 mm per annum. Therefore, micro-irrigation is strongly recommended in banana cultivation. It is claimed that drip irrigation and mulching can save 56 per cent of water. It also results in an increase in yield by 23-32 per cent. Precision farming can give better yields to farmers. 

 

A 2015 Indian Council of Agricultural Research-CIPHET study on food losses found that losses in bananas were 6 per cent at the farm level and 1.7 per cent in the supply chain (up to retailers). A 2022 study by Nabcons has found that the losses were 5.2 per cent at the farm level and 2.4 per cent in the market supply chain. 

 

Better farm practices, and improved storage, ripening and transportation by reefer vans can reduce losses and enhance the quality of Indian bananas in the international market. Going forward, high-density planting techniques developed by ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirappalli can improve banana yields. 

 

For an edge in the global market, investment in the post-harvest infrastructure of sorting, grading and packaging is needed. Even if horticulture is not covered by Agricultural Produce & Livestock Market Committee regulations in most states, the investment in such infrastructure can only be made by them.  Additionally, phytosanitary standards need to be enforced. 

 

As a healthy and affordable fruit, bananas will continue to remain important for Indian diets.

President Droupadi Murmu on Monday held delegation level talks with her Surinamese counterpart Chandrikapersad Santokhi.

 

'Both the presidents discussed ways to deepen India-Suriname relations and held wide ranging discussions on multiple areas including defence, agriculture, IT and capacity building,' Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a series of tweets.

 

'India and Suriname exchanged four MoUs in various fields including health and agriculture,' official sources said.

 

President Murmu had arrived in Paramaribo on Sunday on her first state visit as President. She will there till June 6.

 

'In a special gesture, President @CSantokhi of Suriname received the President at the airport with full state honours,' Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a tweet.

 

The famous sweet delicacy of Varanasi - Launglata - is heading towards getting the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. The crisp envelope-shaped dessert coated with sugar syrup and a clove embedded on it is a must if you visit Varanasi. Even, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had praised the sweet during his visit to Varanasi on March 24.

 

Shopkeeper Dinesh Yadav said that the sweet is available in many districts of Uttar Pradesh but, the taste of Varanasi Launglata is unique as the technique involved in preparing this sweet is special. 'The dessert is cooked on low flame for a long time. After which, it is left in the sugar syrup for five minutes. The syrup has to be hot and slowly, the sweets turn red. It contains cloves and cardamom and with a wrapping of flour,' Yadav said.

 

Apart from Launglata, many more sweets are lining up for the coveted GI tag. GI expert Dr. Rajinikanth said three more traditional Varanasi desserts have been finalised for the tag. These are namely Lal Peda, Tirangi Barfi and Jaunpur's Imrati. He said that Jaunpur is considered to be a part of Kashi that makes Imrati a traditional delicacy of Varanasi.

 

This apart, sweets like Malai Gilauri, Palangtod, Ras Madhuri, Rabri and Launglata are also being considered for GI tag, he said. The famous Varanasi's tomato chaat, red chilli and potato papad that have always been in high demand among people are also being filed for GI tag.

 

This comes in the wake of Modi's efforts to promote Varanasi's products at the global level. Rajnikanth said that efforts are on to bring several items ranging from vegetables to wooden artefacts under the tag.

 

The GI tag is given to products that have a specific relation with geographical locations and is a certification that the product is produced as per traditional methods and carry a particular importance due to its geographical origin.

The Indian food regulator has issued a draft related to provisions for ‘country liqour or spirits’ and asked the stakeholders to comment.

 

According to the draft, country liquors/Indian liquors or spirits are alcoholic beverages obtained from distillation of fermentable carbohydrates of agricultural origin.

 

Country liquors/Indian Made Liquors may include plain country liquors/plain Indian liquors made from alcoholic distillate obtained from fermented molasses, jaggery (gur), mash of cereals, potato, cassava, fruits, juice or sap of coconut and palm trees, mahua flowers or any other carbohydrates of agricultural origin and ‘Blended country liquors /Blended Indian liquors’, which is a blend of an alcoholic distillate, rectified spirit or neutral spirit.

 

The food authority has listed 28 country liquor or India distilled liquor and 3 undistilled liquor. Apart from this, the draft also lists 51 low alcoholic Indian liquors.

 

The Indian distilled liquor includes Acham made of Rice, Ark orara made of barley, apple, wild apricot, ArakorHor-Alank made of Rice, Aara made of Cereals, Basi made of Rice, BattaSarai, which is clear distilled alcoholic drink, Daru made of Cereal, Handia made of Rice, Haria made of Rice, Juharo made of Rice, Kiad made of rice, Maddafeni made of cashew fruit, Madhu made of rice, MaduaApong made of fingermillet, Mahua made of dried corollas of Madhucalongifolia and NavaSagara made of jaggery, molasses amongst other.  

 

Similarly the three undistilled liquor include Angoori or Kinnauri made from Grapes, Chulli made of Apricot and Ghanti made of apple and apricot.

 

Owing to the abundant mango harvest in Dhenkanal this year, the district has bagged the top spot in the state with the production of 50,000 metric tonne mangoes. While this seasonal fruit usually has high demand in India’s metro cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, and Delhi, this year, a direct consignment of 2.5-tonne Amrapalli mangoes was exported to Dubai from Dhenkanal for the first time ever.

 

The Agricultural and Processed Food Product Export Development Authority(APEDA) under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry played the mediator for this trade. Mango farmer Subrata Kumar Das at his ‘Nature Eco Farm’ along Kalapani-Banasingh road under Dhenkanal Sadar cultivates mango and cashew on a 30-acre land.

 

On the 30-acre land, Amrapalli, Mallika, Daseri, and Keshar varieties of mangoes are being cultivated in 6 acre area. Fruits are cultivated here through organic methods and supplied to different states in India as well as foreign countries every year. But each time there was a mediator who coordinated the trade. This year, however, mango export was done through an agency under the Government of India. The officers of APEDA, the district Horticulture department, Paaf global private limited who purchased these mangoes from Subrat first visited 'Nature Eco Farm' and examined the quality of the Amrapalli mangoes ahead of export. The mango consignment will be transported from Dhenkanal to Kolkata in an air-conditioned truck.

 

From there Paaf global private limited will send the consignment of mangoes to Dubai on a flight. The market price of Amrapalli mango is Rs 90 per kg, while in foreign countries; it will be sold approximately at Rs 200 per kg. Packets of these mangoes to be exported have been labeled with stickers mentioning ‘Nature Farm Dhenkanal’. 'Dhenkanal mangoes will surely get a special identity in Dubai,' said Subrat Kumar Dash, owner of the farm.

 

District Collector Saroj Kumar Sethi flagged off the consignment for export in the presence of district Horticulture department assistant director Geetashree Padhi, eastern zonal head of APEDA Sitakanta Mandal, all India member and eastern region board member Sukanta Kumar Panigrahi, Paaf global private limited managing director Subrat Ghosh, and mango farmer Subrat Das were present. Mayurbhanj district has the record in mango cultivation in terms of land area but Dhenkanal district is on top in terms of mango production, said Padhi.

 

Around 200 farmers are cultivating over the 10,000-hectare area in the Dhenkanal district. Various workshops on mango farming will be organised for creating awareness among the farmers for mango cultivation in the coming days. 'It is a matter of great pride for us to export Dhenkanal mango directly to foreign countries. Our farmers will get training about mango production and packaging on their own to get more benefits in the future,' said Collector Sethi.

Some 71 trucks carrying Indian onion entered Bangladesh through four land ports of the country on Monday (June 5).

 

The onion-laden trucks entered the country through Benapole, Bhomra, Hili and Sonamsjid land ports from the noon to 8:00pm on Monday. It was understood that the onions are being imported at USD 220-250 per ton.

 

According to the reports sent by risingbd district correspondents, some 57 trucks of onion entered the country through Sonamsjid land port in Chapainawabganj on Monday. The amount of imported onion was estimated around 1,097 metric tons. Earlier, the last onion came through this port on March 15.

 

Apart from this, eight trucks of onion were imported through Bhomra land port in Satkhira. Officials of Bhomra customs station said that 10 more onion-laden truck are likely to reach the port tonight.

 

On the other hand, a company named N Alam Traders started importing onion from India through Hili land port in Dinajpur after about two months. On Monday, three trucks of onion entered the Hili Port.

 

N Alam Traders representative Sukumar Sarkar confirmed the information.

 

He said, 'Around 6:00 pm on Monday, onions were imported through Hili Land Port by trucks. A total of 110 metric tons of onion were supposed to be imported by five trucks. Of which, three trucks with onion arrived at the port on Monday. The rest two trucks are expected to reach the port on Tuesday (June 6).'

 

Meanwhile, three onion-laden trucks entered the country through Jashore’s Benapole Land Port around 8:00 pm on the day. Though the onion was imported at USD 150 per metric ton, but tariffed at USD 320. Traders have to pay 10% duty on the customs value to get clearance.

 

Rafiqul Islam, the owner of C&F Royal Enterprise, said, 'Some 75 metric tons (three trucks) of onion of the importer entered Benapole port. After customs and port formalities, these onions will be sent to Dhaka. With imported at USD 320 per metric ton, this onion costs Tk39 per kg after paying government duties and taxes. after port charges, truck fare and other expenses, the onion will cost Tk 45 per kg.

 

Hemant Kumar Sarkar, the officer of plant pest control center of Benapole port, said instructions to import onions have arrived. Royal Enterprises, a C&F agent, applied to the Plant Protection Center for the importation of 75 metric tons of onion on behalf of their importer. The clearance has been granted.

 

Meanwhile, due to the news of onion import from India, wholesale traders started selling onions at low prices in different markets of Hili and Birampur in Dinajpur. They said, if the sale of imported onion starts, the price of onion in the market may decrease by Tk 20 to Tk 30 per kg. So, the onions remaining stock in the godowns are being sold at a loss of Tk 9 to 10 per kg.

 

Mentionable, the government imposed a ban on importing of Indian onions from March 15 to ensure fair price of domestic onions. Then due to the unusual increase in the prices, the Ministry of Agriculture announced to allow the import of onions from Monday (June 5).

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said India's exports have gone from $500 billion to $776 billion, a 55% increase, in only two years and that the additional exports have added to jobs.

 

At the Times Network India Economic Conclave 2023, he also said the government is looking at pro-incumbency after 10 years of being in power.

 

'Our exports have gone from $500 billion, which was about Rs.38 lakh crore, to $776 billion, close to Rs.62 lakh crore... a 55% increase. That's the growth... this 24 lakh additional exports adds to jobs and I can't say that this work is over,' Goyal said, adding that by 2030, India will see $2 trillion of exports. He said the country is going to go from $3.5 trillion today to at least $35 trillion by 2047.

 

The minister said India's economy could achieve a 7.2% growth in FY23 because of 'nine years of the pursuit of a strong foundation of the Indian economy', which has strengthened the country's foreign exchange reserves.

 

'We have strengthened the story on interest rates. We brought down interest rates significantly... inflation also has now come down to below 5%,' he said.

Karnataka may see an increase in the acreage under cereals such as rice and ragi and pulses like tur in the ongoing kharif 2023 season. The total area under kharif crops is targeted to be higher at 82.35 lakh hectares (80.40 lakh hectares).

 

The Karnataka Agriculture Department has targeted an increase in the area under cereals and pulses. The State is eyeing an increase in area under paddy at 10.59 lakh hectares in kharif 2023 against 10.31 lakh hectares last kharif season.

 

Other cereals

Similarly, other cereals under which the State is targetting higher acreage include jowar 0.87 lakh hectares (0.62 lakh hectares in the previous season), ragi at 7.39 lakh hectares (6.42 lakh hectares), bajra at 1.94 lakh hectares (1.36 lakh hectares) and minor millets at 0.37 lakh hectares (0.31 lakh hectares).

 

The area under maize is targeted marginally lower at 14.20 lakh hectares (14.65 lakh hectares). Considering the decline in maize prices, the State may see a section of farmers shifting to other crops. Total area under kharif cereals is targetted at 35.36 lakh hectares (33.96 lakh hectares).

 

Regarding pulses, the State is eyeing an increase in acreage under tur at 15.79 lakh hectres against previous season’s sown area of 14.15 lakh hectraes. Karnataka is the largest producer of tur crop, which is planted during kharif season and harvested during mid-rabi season. The prevailing uptrend in tur prices may attract more growers this season. Similarly, the targetted area under green gram is 3.99 lakh hectares (4.14 lakh hectares). Total pulses acreages this kharif are likely to be higher at 22.13 lakh hectares against the previous season’s sown area of 20.38 lakh hectares.

 

Rainfall

The State has seen actual rainfall of 86.30 mm against normal of 73.70 mm during the month of May 2023.

 

Regarding oilseeds, the groundnut acreage is seen higher at 4.04 lakh hectares (3.72 lakh hectares), sunflower at 1.30 lakh hectares (1.72 lakh hectares) and soyabean at 4.10 lakh hectares(4.41 lakh hectares). Considering the prevailing bearish trend in oilseeds, the total area is expected to be lower at 9.84 lakh hectares (10.10 lakh hectares).

 

The acreage under cash crops such as cotton is seen lower at 8 lakh hectares (8.25 lakh hectares), sugarcane at 6.20 lakh hectares (7.18 lakh hectares) and tobacco at 0.81 lakh hectares (0.77 lakh hectares).