The dairy sector continues to grapple with the hit it took during COVID-19 and more recently the Lumpy Skin Disease (which caused the death of 1.9 lakh cattle) and fodder inflation at 30%. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu

 

Aimed at curbing adulteration of milk and milk products, in both organised and unorganised sectors in all the districts of the States/Union Territories, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will conduct nationwide surveillance on milk and other products (such as milk khoa, chenna, paneer, ghee, butter, curd, and ice cream).

 

The announcement on Thursday comes in the backdrop of the country facing an alleged milk shortage with cooperatives reporting an increase in production of only 1-2 % this year and organised and unorganised sector points registering stagnation. The sector also continues to grapple with the hit it took during Covid-19 and more recently the Lumpy Skin Disease (which caused the death of 1.9 lakh cattle) and fodder inflation at 30%.

According to the Geographical Indications Journal of the government, the Kari Ishad is accepted as one of the finest quality mangoes due to its unique aroma, luscious taste, high amount of pulp, shape, and size

 

The Kari Ishad mango prominently grown in Ankola taluk of Uttara Kannada has bagged the Geographical Indication (GI) tag from the Geographical Indications Registry under the Union Government. 

 

The GI certificate issued to Matha Totagars Farmer Producer Company Limited, Ankola is valid till March 1, 2032 from March 31, 2023. 

 

According to the Geographical Indications Journal of the government, the Kari Ishad is accepted as one of the finest quality mangoes due to its unique aroma, luscious taste, high amount of pulp, shape, and size. 

 

In addition to Ankola, the mango is grown in Karwar and to a certain extent in Kumta of Uttara Kannada. The trees are prominently spread over Belse, Shetgeri, Belambara, Mogata, Vandige villages of Ankola. Vandige village produced the highest amount of about 600 tonnes of fruits a season. Belse village houses 1,500 plants. The fruit is famous because of its sweet taste and pulp. Hichkad Group Vividhoddeshagala Sahakari Sangha Niyamita, Ankola, which runs the Oriental Canneries and Industries produces about 12,000 tons of pulp every year. 

 

According to the Registry, the fruits are large and oblique to oval shape. Each panicle usually bears one fruit. A well grown tree produces/bears up to 2,000 fruits in a season. The fruit has a short shelf life of about five days. 

 

Its trading is limited to Ankola, Karwar and Hubballi markets. 

 

One of the Directors of Matha Totagars Farmer Producer Company Limited, Mahadev Indra Gouda, told The Hindu that a Kari Ishad mango mela (fair) will be held at Ankola on June 6, 2023. 

 

“Many trees lost fruits when heavy winds swept Ankola earlier this week. It resulted in huge loss of fruits,” he added. 

 

Mr. Gouda, who was the applicant for the GI certificate, said that the FPO has yet to adopt a business model for the better marketing of the product. 

 

He said that the exact extent of area under Kari Ishad is yet to be found out scientifically. 

 

Extraction and marketing of Ishad mango pulp has an interesting background, Shivananda Kalave, a Sirsi-based environmentalist, writer and green activist, told The Hindu. Oriental Canneries and Industries set up a unit in Ankola in 1908 to extract pulp from Ishad for making value-added products. The then Bombay Government supported it by supplying wood. The pulp, which was also being exported, was being marketed by the then Bombay-based Veerachand Panachand Company.  

 

An old marketing brochure printed at Basel Mission, Mangaluru, says that the pulp was used for making juice, syrup, salad and ice cream.  

 

According to the brochure, the pulp can be used for making 48 recipes. It was being used in the United States, Australia and Sri Lanka. According to the brochure, the Hichkad Group purchased the processing unit in 1970 for `95, Mr. Kalave said.  

 

The Ishad mango has two variants — Kari Ishad, which has thin skin, more pulp and is sweeter, and Bili Ishad, which has thick skin and has less pulp and sweetness.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged states to take financially prudent decisions so as to become fiscally strong and capable of delivering programmes that meet the dreams of citizens.

 

Addressing the 8th governing council meeting of NITI Aayog, PM Modi stated that when states grow, India grows, emphasizing on the need to evolve a common vision to achieve a Vikasit Bharat by 2047.

 

The council, which is the apex body of NITI Aayog, includes all chief ministers, lieutenant governors of union territories and several union ministers. The PM is the chairman of NITI Aayog.

 

Some of the top ministers of Modi's cabinet who attended the meeting included finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, home minister Amit Shah, education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and commerce minister Piyush Goyal among others.

 

Deliberating on the skills development agenda, the Aayog said India is one of the youngest nations in the world with 20% of the global youth population. 'This gives India an opportunity to become the skill capital of the world,' it said in a tweet. 'By 2030, India's gig and platform economy is estimated to expand to 23.5 million workers,' it said.

 

Further, deliberating on the GatiShakti initiative of the government for area development and social infrastructure, the Aayog said PM GatiShakti NMP uses a ‘whole of government’ approach for infrastructure planning & implementation based on six pillars, namely comprehensiveness, prioritization, optimization, synchronization, analytics and dynamism

 

'GatiShakti with nearly 1,600 layers of data ensures evidence-based policy making in the infrastructure sector,' it said, adding it also ensures effective socio-economic planning and adoption of an area-development approach.

 

The 8th governing council meeting of the Aayog aimed at charting out a roadmap for a Vikasit Bharat by 2047 where the centre and states collaborate as Team India. 'This will play a key role in the global context as India's socio-economic growth and transformation have the power to produce a positive multiplier effect.

 

Some of the chief ministers who have boycotted the governing council meeting on Saturday included Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejariwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.

The exports have increased by an impressive 19% from 18.89 billion dollars in 2021-22, exceeding the 6.86% increase of India’s global exports.

 

India’s exports to Latin America reached a record high of 22.41 billion dollars in 2022-23 (April-March), according to the Commerce Ministry of India. The exports have increased by an impressive 19% from 18.89 billion dollars in 2021-22, exceeding the 6.86% increase of India’s global exports.

India has widened the door for wheat exports allowing Nepal to obtain a 300,000-tonne shipment it had requested in April to plug a gap in domestic output.

 

According to Indian media reports, India has permitted exports of around 1.05 million tonnes of food grains to Nepal, Indonesia, Senegal and Gambia as part of its economic diplomacy, waiving curbs on exports.

 

Nepali government officials say they are yet to receive official notification of the export restriction being removed.

 

'We had made a request to the Indian side. We have not received official notification from them,' said Radhika Aryal, joint secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.

 

Nepal had sent a request to the Indian government through the Foreign Ministry to provide wheat as local flour mills were struggling to get raw materials.

 

Mill owners had been pleading with the government that they needed at least 600,000 tonnes of wheat to get them through the upcoming fiscal year beginning mid-July.

 

'The wheat quota set by India may be insufficient as domestic production has declined,' said Radheshyam Agrawal, general secretary of the Nepal Flour Mills Association.

 

'We have to make further requests to import wheat or else the flour industry will have to shut down again,' he said.

 

 

The Economic Survey unveiled by the government shows that Nepal’s wheat production is estimated to drop by 2.14 percent to 2.09 million tonnes this fiscal year.

 

'We do not have authentic data, but demand for flour is rising by more than 10 percent annually as bakery manufacturers have large needs,' said Agrawal who owns Kamdhenu Agro Mill in Chitwan.

 

Kathmandu consumes 2,100 tonnes of flour daily, 80 percent of which is refined flour and 20 percent wheat flour, the association said.

 

Government officials say demand for wheat has been increasing dramatically.

 

Ram Krishna Regmi, chief statistician at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said that wheat imports barely amounted to 100,000 tonnes before Covid.

 

 

'Now, traders and manufacturers are saying that 600,000 tonnes of wheat need to be imported to fulfil their requirement. It is surprising how demand has increased sixfold in a few short years.'

 

According to the Department of Customs, Nepal imported 170,517 tonnes of wheat in the last fiscal year 2021-22.

 

In the fiscal year 2020-21, imports reached 386,789 tonnes worth Rs11.92 billion.

 

Flour mills supply refined flour to makers of biscuits, noodles, bread and other bakery products.

 

Domestic flour mills say they have started procuring wheat locally with the onset of the harvest season. 'But domestic production is enough to keep the mills running for only around six months,' Agrawal said.

 

Nepal suffered a severe shortage when India imposed a ban on wheat exports last May after unseasonably hot weather hit harvests there. The embargo caused 80-85 percent of Nepali flour mills to shut down. It was eventually lifted in December.

 

India instituted a quota system for its neighbours in December last year and allocated 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Nepal.

 

'We were buying wheat at Rs4,000 to Rs4,500 per quintal, but the price jumped to Rs5,500 per quintal as soon as India imposed the ban,' Agrawal said.

 

Amid pressure from the flour industry and fears of a wheat shortage due to rising prices, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies sent a letter to the Indian government in April requesting a consignment of 300,000 tonnes of wheat.

 

According to Indian media reports, the Indian Department of Food and Public Distribution has allowed exports of 300,000 tonnes of wheat to Nepal at the behest of the Ministry of External Affairs.

 

India has set a quota despite low domestic wheat stocks, the report said.

 

The Department of Food and Public Distribution of India, according to reports, deals with the import and export of only wheat and non-basmati rice from central pool stocks available with Food Corporation of India.

 

'World Trade Organisation norms restrict the export of food grains from public stocks procured for domestic consumption through welfare schemes,' the report said. 

Kolkata, May 28 (PTI) Mango exports from West Bengal are expected to begin from early June with shipments to Middle East countries, an official said on Sunday.

 

There have also been inquiries for export orders from Europe, which are currently being finalised, the official said.

 

“Exports are expected to commence from early June, as we are finalising the last shipments from some orchards. Orders have already been received from the Middle East,” said Ujjal Saha, president of the Malda Mango Association, in an interview with PTI.

 

To incentivise millet cultivation in Gujarat, the state government is in the process of drafting a scheme to provide assistance to farmers for purchasing seeds, fertilisers and crop protection chemicals, Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel said in Rajkot

on Friday. He added that procurement of millets from farmers by the government has already begun.

 

The announcement comes in the backdrop of farmers largely remaining indifferent to government operations for procuring millets at minimum support price (MSP) during the ongoing Rabi marketing season.

 

Underlining that the state Budget for 2023-24 has allotted Rs 30 crore to the Gujarat State Civil Supplies Corporation to procure millets from farmers, Patel said that farmers need encouragement in form of assistance in purchasing inputs also to persuade them to sow millet in more area.

 

Speaking to The Indian Express on the sidelines of a media event, Patel, also the minister in charge of Rajkot, said: 'The government wants to give assistance to farmers in purchasing inputs like seeds, fertilisers and pesticides for cultivation of millets. We are drafting a scheme and tentatively, we will provide assistance to each farmer with an upper limit of two hectare of cultivation area for millets.'

 

At the request of India, the United Nations is celebrating 2023 as the ‘International Year of Millets’ (IYM). Millets require very less irrigation, are resistant to changes in climate and can be cultivated in arid land also.

 

India, the largest millets producer of the world, had celebrated 2018 as the year of millets. In 2020, India’s production of pearl millet (bajra) and sorghum (jowar) was 124.88 million tonne (mt) and 34.75 mt, respectively. They respectively accounted for 40.51 per cent and 7.58 per cent of the global production. Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat account for more than 83 per cent of total millet production.

 

Gujarat is a major producer of pearl millet and sorghum. As per state government data, farmers sowed bajra in 1.85 lakh hectare (lh) in 2022 Kharif season and 2.79 lh in 2023 summer season, with cumulative production pegged at 1.14 mt. To celebrate IYM, the state had for the first time decided in March to procure bajra, jowar (hybrid), jowar (maldandi), ragi (finer millet) and maize from farmers at MSP and then distribute the same among the poor through the pubic distribution system.

 

The government had originally decided to procure these grains at the Union government-fixed per quintal MSP of Rs 2,350 for bajra, Rs 2,970 for jowar (hybrid), Rs 2,990 for jowar (maldandi), Rs 3,578 for finger millet and Rs 1,962 for maize.

 

The government had opened the window of registration for farmers between March 1 and 31. 'But the response from farmers was lukewarm, as market prices are either at par or higher than the MSP. This forced the government to declare Rs 300 bonus for bajra, jowar and finger millet over and above their respective MSP on May 9 and keep the registration window open till date,' a government source said.

 

The state food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department has set a target of procuring 45,000 metric tonne (MT) of bajra, 4,000 MT of jowar, 1,000 MT of finger millet and 10,000 MT of maize during Rabi marketing season of 2022-23. The Rs 300 bonus per quintal (10 quintals make one MT) took the effective procurement price of bajra, jowar and ragi to Rs 2,650, Rs 3,270 and Rs 3,878, respectively. The government opened procurement centres on April 1. They are scheduled to remain open till June 15.

 

Nonetheless, farmers seem to have shown little enthusiasm to sell their harvest to the government. Official data shows that as of May 26, only 7,432 farmers had registered for selling bajra, 178 for jowar, 526 for maize and only two for selling ragi.

 

In around two-month-long operations, only 44 of the 7,432 farmers have turned up at government procurement centres with their 168 quintal of bajra. Jowar and ragi procurement is nil, as no farmer has responded to SMS alerts of the government to cart their produce to procurement centre. Only 17 farmers, all from Mahisagar district, have sold 99 quintal of maize to the government.

Patel agreed that farmers are not queuing up to sell their harvest to the government. 'The process of procurement is on but even after our announcement of bonus, farmers are not making a beeline as yet. This indicates that market prices are high,' he said.

 

According to official data, cultivation area of pearl millet – the widely cultivated millet variety in Gujarat – fell from 10.86 lh in 1995-96 to 9.15 lh in 2005-06. It plummeted to 3.9 lh by 2015-16. In 2022-23, the cumulative bajra acreage is 4.63 lh. However, the data shows that production has remained stable at an average of 1 mt.

'It is a fact that the acreage and production of millets has fallen in Gujarat. This calls for a two-pronged strategy. We need to incentivise farmers by providing them inputs so that they bring more area under millets cultivation and then try to ensure that they get good price of their harvest,' Patel told mediapersons, for whom he hosted a luncheon where various preparations of millets were served.

Third advance estimates of production of major crops for the agricultural year 2022-23 have been released by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Total foodgrain production in the country is estimated at a record 330.5 million tonnes which is higher by about 15 million tonnes as compared to the previous year 2021-22.

 

The assessment of the production of different crops is based on the feedback received from States and validated with information available from other sources. This assessment shall undergo further revision over successive estimates based on feedback and inputs.

 

As per Third Advance Estimates, here is the estimated production of major crops for 2022-23:

 

 

Among the foodgrains, record rice (135.5 million tonnes), wheat (112.7 million tonnes), and maize (35.9 million tonnes) are estimated to be produced.

 

The total production of Rice during 2022-23 is estimated at a record 135.5 million tonnes. It is higher by 6.7 million tonnes as compared to the previous year.

 

Oilseeds are also expected to be recorded at 41 million tonnes. Cropwise, groundnut, soybean, rapeseed and mustard are seen at 10.2 million tonnes, 14.9 million tonnes, and 12.4 million tonnes, respectively.

 

Sugarcane production too is expected to be recorded at 494.2 million tonnes.

Members of the 14-nation bloc IPEF have 'substantially' concluded the negotiations on the supply chains agreement, including improving logistics and connectivity; promoting investments in critical sectors and cooperation for mitigation of disruptions to ensure business continuity, the commerce ministry said on Sunday. The IPEF was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23 in Tokyo. The framework is structured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy and fair economy (issues like tax and anti-corruption). India has joined all the pillars except the trade one.

 

The talks on supply chains, clean economy and fair economy were held on May 27 in Detroit, US. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal virtually participated in the ministerial meeting.

 

'At this meeting, negotiations under the Supply Chains (Pillar-II) were substantially concluded; while good progress was reported under the other IPEF Pillars,' the ministry said.

 

The proposed agreement on supply chains aims to increase the resilience, efficiency, productivity, sustainability, transparency, diversification, security, fairness and inclusivity of their supply chains through collaborative activities and individual actions taken by each IPEF partner.

 

IPEF partners will undertake the necessary steps, including further domestic consultations and a legal review, to prepare a final text of the proposed IPEF supply chain agreement.

 

Once finalised, the proposed agreement will be subject to IPEF partners' domestic processes for signature, followed by ratification, acceptance or approval.

 

Under this pact, the partners also seek to improve crisis coordination and response to supply chain disruptions and work together to support the timely delivery of affected goods during a crisis.

 

A press statement issued after the meeting by IPEF members said that the proposed supply chain pact contemplates the establishment of three new IPEF Supply Chain bodies to facilitate cooperation among the partners.

 

The three bodies will be - the supply chain council; the supply chain crisis response network, and IPEF Labor Rights Advisory Board.

 

'The proposed agreement would establish a new advisory board, consisting of government, worker and employer representatives, as well as a subcommittee composed of government representatives, to support the IPEF partners' promotion of labour rights in their supply chains, promotion of sustainable trade and investment, and facilitation of opportunities for investment in businesses that respect labour rights,' the statement added.

 

Under the supply chain agreement, IPEF partner countries are seeking to make supply chains more resilient, robust and well-integrated through crisis response measures; cooperation for mitigation of disruptions to better ensure business continuity and improve logistics and connectivity; promoting investments, particularly in critical sectors and production of key goods and worker role enhancement through requisite upskilling and reskilling.

 

During his intervention under this pillar, Goyal urged for expeditious implementation of all the action-oriented cooperative and collaborative elements identified as part of this agreement.

 

As part of the clean economy pillar, the member countries are aiming to advance cooperation on research, development, commercialisation, availability, accessibility, and deployment of clean energy and climate-friendly technologies.

 

Besides, they are talking to facilitate investment towards climate-related projects in the region.

 

Further, interested IPEF partners are introducing a regional hydrogen initiative to encourage the widespread deployment of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen and its derivatives in the region.

 

Goyal said that India would like the pillar focus to be centred on action-oriented elements, such as the mobilisation of low-cost long-tenure climate finance and enhanced access to clean energy technologies.

 

Under the fair economy pillar, IPEF partners are working towards the development of the text of an agreement that will strengthen the implementation of effective anti-corruption and tax measures to boost commerce, trade and investment among IPEF economies.

 

IPEF partners represent 40 per cent of global GDP and 28 per cent of global goods and services trade.

 

The 14 countries include the US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, India, Fiji, and seven ASEAN countries (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam).

Allaying fears over indifferent weather in February and March affecting rabi crops, the Indian government on Thursday raised its estimates for foodgrain production by another 2.1 per cent from the projections made in February.  

 

In a new development, the Centre has come out with projections of the 'Zaid' crop — sown between the rabi and kharif crops — separately unlike earlier years when they were treated as part of rabi crops. 

 

In its third advance estimate of agricultural crops for the current crop year (July 2022-June 2023), the Ministry of Agriculture pegged foodgrains output at a record high of 330.53 million tonnes (mt). This is against 323.55 mt projected in the second advance estimate and 315.61 mt last crop year. 

 

Contentious forecast 

In what could turn out to be contentious in the following months, the Ministry projected wheat output at a new high of 112.74 mt (112.18 mt second advance estimate/107.74 mt last year).

 

The estimate comes amidst other agencies such as the Roller Flour Mills Federation of India pegging the production lower than 105 mt. Traders, too, say wheat production is lower, pointing to the procurement for the Central Pool stocks by the Food Corporation of India this year. 

 

According to official sources, wheat procurement as of May 24 is 26.17 mt against a target of 34.51 mt. 

 

Comfortable situation

With the Centre raising the kharif rice production by 2 mt to 110 mt (108mt/111 mt), overall output for the year has been pegged at a new peak of 135.54 mt with rabi projected at 15.89 and the 'Zaid' crop at 9.61 mt.

 

The comfortable rice production this season is seen as one reason why the Government has permitted exports of fully broken rice, banned since September 8, 2022, under certain conditions such as meeting food emergencies of neighbouring and African countries. 

 

The maize crop seems to have gained from the March rains with its production being raised to 35.91 mt (34.61 mt/33.73 mt). Overall, cereals production has been pegged higher at 303.03 mt (295.74 mr/288.31 mt).

 

Inflation concern 

Coarse cereals production has been raised to 54.74 mt (52.72 mt/51.10 mt) with other gains forming from bajra and Shri Anna (nutri-cereals). Output of the rest such as jowar, small millets and barley is seen lower.

 

In what could be a concern for the Centre to control inflation, pulses production has been lowered to 27.5 mt (27.8 mt/27.30 mt). The output of tur has been cut to 3.43 mt (3.66 mt/4.22 mt) that of gram to 13.54 mt (13.62 mt/13.54 mt) and urad to 2.61 mt (2.68 mt/2.77 mt). 

 

The production of nine oilseeds has been projected higher at 40.99 mt (40.01 mt/37.96 mt) with the output of rapeseed/mustard lowered to 12.49 mt (12.81 mt/11.96 mt). The production will still be a record high.

 

On the other hand, soyabean production has been pegged higher at 14.97 mt (13.97 mt/12.98 mt) which should cause concern for farmers in a market where edible oil prices are falling. 

 

Catching the eye 

Another estimate catching the eye is the increase in cotton production to 343.47 lakh bales from the earlier estimate of 337.23 lakh bales. This comes amidst confusion in the trade over the exact production of cotton. 

 

While the Cotton Association of India lowered production estimate to lower than 300 lakh bales this month, cotton arrivals have zoomed to a nine-year high in May as farmers have begun releasing stocks they had held so far hoping to fetch higher prices.

 

Some traders are estimating the production between 340 lakh bales and 360 lakh bales.