Millets Giveaway is a special marketing campaign being undertaken by Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium, a Society promoted by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India. Under the campaign SFAC aims to promote buying directly from FPO (Farmer Producer Organisation) farmers with the aim of supporting small & marginal farmers of the country.

 

Dr Maninder Kaur Dwivedi, Managing Director, Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium, Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said that citizens are being encouraged to buy directly from FPOs selling millets via ONDC’s My Store, the Connected marketplace built in India for Indian sellers. The Giveaway campaign supports three main areas –

 

Motivates general public to buy directly from FPO farmers. The buyers get pure and authentic produce and with their purchase they support livelihoods of the small & marginal farmers.

Buyers get to experience how easy it is to use the ONDC’s My Store platform

Millets being the focus for the year with #IYM2023, this campaign motivates more people to adopt #Shree Ann

Speaking about Hulsoor Mahila Kisan Millets Producer Company Limited, founded on March 2, 2021, Dr Kaur said, it is involved in crop cultivation, horticulture, providing support & services to farmers. The FPO resulted in a long-term change in the lifestyle of the farmers of Karnataka's Hulsoor block.

 

Before joining the FPO, farmers used to cultivate traditional varieties of various crops using conventional farming methods. It added millet to these farmers' crop portfolios as a new crop. FPO recently established its own input shop, where members can purchase high-quality seeds, fertiliser, and other inputs at reduced prices.

 

The FPO also has a custom hiring centre where farmers can rent farm machinery. As a result of demonstrated crop cultivation techniques and Good Agricultural Practices to FPO farmers, average crop productivity increased by 30-50%.

Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar has said that the interest of farmers is paramount for the Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. In this direction, to ensure the availability of good quality seeds to our farmers, the Modi Government will soon launch the Seed Traceability System. This will curb the pilferage in the seed trade sector. Union Minister Shri Tomar said this as the chief guest during the two-day Indian Seed Congress organized by the National Seed Association of India in New Delhi today.

 

Shri Tomar said that suggestions have been taken from the concerned parties on the Seed Traceability System. Farmers will benefit with its launch, as well as all it will help the people doing good work in the seeds sector and ensure that the seed sector works properly. Whatever obstacles come in the way of smooth functioning of the seeds sector, the government is very serious in this regard. He said that this is the first ever government which has abolished the obsolete laws which had become irrelevant in the 75 years of India’s Independence. Taking this issue very seriously, Prime Minister Shri Modi has given strict instructions and abolished about 1,500 such laws, so that they cannot be misused against any institution or individual. It is necessary that the trade & industry sector in the country should be able to function properly, without any fear, and the Modi government has shown it by doing so. For the first time, the Modi government has complimented the taxpayers of the country, as well as by carrying out legal reforms in the interest of all sections, the Government has enabled an atmosphere of trust among all sections of the country. This shows the vision of the government. If we want to make our country a developed nation in the coming time, then this environment of mutual trust will not only have to be improved, but we will also have to strengthen it. Government will appreciate the sentiments of the Industry and the Industry gives its seal of approval that Government has faith in the Industry, then surely we too will not do any wrong thing.

 

Shri Tomar said that our Agriculture sector is prosperous and it is the backbone of the economy. India is in the leading position in Agriculture, yet in some areas like oilseeds and cotton we are yet to be self-sufficient, stakeholders of the seeds sector should also contribute to make the country AatmaNirbhar by reducing imports. In this direction, the seeds Industry needs to prepare a roadmap and implement it. Shri Tomar said that coming times are a very lucky mascot for India. Everyone has seen the political scenario of the world, India's credibility and our importance is visible today on the political forums of the world as indelible as never before. Today, a large part of the world expects India to fulfill their needs. Due to the efficient and strong leadership of Prime Minister Shri Modi and everyone's contribution in the progress of the country, this position of strength has manifested.

 

The Union Minister said that India has taken rapid steps through 'Make in India', while the PM Gati Shakti program is going to strengthen the foundation of a developed India in the coming times. It is the responsibility of all of us who are working in the field of agriculture to be ready to meet the expected needs of the country and the world, keeping in mind the increasing population by the year 2050, as well as facing the challenges of climate change and bringing the country to the leading position while solving problems, this should also be included in our roadmap. Appreciating the contribution of the seed sector in the continuous progress of the agriculture sector, Shri Tomar said that the Seed is the Nature, the development of the Seed leads to the development of the Nature. Irrespective of the field, the seed is important, the quality of the seed is definitely of utmost importance for any field. In the field of agriculture, the quality of seeds, its development, increasing numerically; its use by the farmers and human consumption is a long journey, the people who are participants in this journey are doing their business but at the same time, their responsibility towards mankind is also very important, which should be assumed seriously by all. Shri Tomar also appreciated the contribution of scientists of all the institutes affiliated to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in developing climate friendly and biofortified varieties as well as other superior varieties of seeds. On this occasion, Shri Tomar unveiled the ‘Seeds for Global Unity’ Wall. The office bearers of the association, - Shri M. Prabhakar Rao, Shri Dinesh Patel, Shri Vaibhav Kashikar, Dr. B.B. Patnaik & Shri R.K. Trivedi were also present.

Demand for apples from Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh has shot up 30% as the earthquake in Turkey has halted shipments of the fruit to India, said traders. Prices of apples have risen about 25%, providing some relief to domestic growers who have been facing stiff competition from Turkish apples, they said.

 

'The severe earthquake that rocked Turkey last month has impacted exports of apples from the country to India. The domestic demand is now being met by the apples produced in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir,' said Tarun Arora, director of IG International, a fruit importing firm.

 

The supply of Iranian apples has also been hit due to the ongoing protest in the country, he said, adding, 'The economy in Iran is also in a mess which too is a reason for a drop in exports from the nation.'

 

J&K and Himachal Pradesh are the two major apple producers in the country.

 

'Indian apples are more in demand in the domestic market, unlike last year. A box of around 24 kg of apples was selling at ?2,000 last year. This year prices have gone up to ?2,500 per kg,' said Ravinder Chauhan, president, Apple Growers Association of India. 'This is good for the apple producers in the country as it will give them a fillip to increase production and improve the quality of apples.'

 

J&K produces about 140 million boxes of apples annually, while Himachal Pradesh produces about 30 million boxes. Nearly 1.6 million apple growers in these two regions depend on their production to earn their living.

 

'This year we are expecting that 85-90% of our produce will be consumed within the country and there will be no glut,' said Chauhan.

 

The earthquake in Turkey has also benefited India's tea exporters.

 

'Turkey has been buying tea from Sri Lanka and India. Trade relations between India and Turkey have further improved following India's help to Turkey in this hour of crisis,' said Anshuman Kanoria, chairman, Indian Tea Exporters' Association. 'Last year, Indian tea was able to increase its share in a few countries such as Turkey, which is traditionally a buyer of Sri Lankan tea. We are expecting that Indian tea exports will further increase to the country as it is the cheapest beverage. In this hour of crisis, people need a drink for comfort and tea fills the gap.'

The FSSAI has issued a notice with respect to the implementation of Traceability Application under Repurpose Used Cooking Oil (RUCO) Initiative and stated that The Traceability Application will be made live from March 15, 2023.

 

According to FSSAI, in order to streamline the RUCO initiative and to promote ease of doing business, it has developed the RUCO Traceability Application.

 

'The application is designed to track the whole RUCO ecosystem, generate UCO disposal requests, enroll NFP (Non Food Product) units, recognise aggregators requested by NFP units, monitor transactions and generate data and reports on real-time basis,' reads FSSAI statement.

 

The Traceability Application is available on RUCO website and it provides log in facility for FBOs, UCO aggregators and NFP Units.

 

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has notified the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) First Amendment Regulations, 2017, regarding the quality of vegetable oil for repeated frying which prescribes the limit for Total Polar Compounds (TPC) to be maximum 25% beyond which the vegetable oil is not suitable for use.

 

Subsequently, guidelines for collection of Used Cooking Oil (UCO) by Biodiesel Manufacturers from Food Business Operators (FBOs) through authorised collection agencies were issued in May, 2019 which mandated FBOs whose consumption of edible oil for frying is more than 50 litre per day would maintain the usage record and would dispose UCO to agencies authorised by FSSAI or Commissioner of Food Safety of States/UTs from time to time.

 

Also under RUCO, FSSAI has been enrolling the NFP (Non Food Production) units and recognising the UCO aggregators on request of the recognised NFP units.

A two-day Millet Mahotsav was organised by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries at Agra, Uttar Pradesh, from 3-4 March, 2023. The event was inaugurated by Minister of State for Law & Justice, Prof. SP Singh Baghel. Several dignitaries, including Additional Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Shri Minhaj Alam, were also present on the occasion.

 

During his inaugural address, Prof. SP Singh Baghel applauded Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s decision to set the Minimum Support Price for Millets higher than Wheat as it would encourage farmers to adopt millet cultivation, especially in the regions where there is a shortage of water. Shri Baghel stated that the consistent efforts of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi led to the United Nations declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets and has put India to be at the forefront of championing this initiative and built a strong name for Millets at the global level.

 

Shri Baghel referred to the International Year of Millets as the time for Krishi Antyodaya (Upliftment of Farmers). He said that Millets is often perceived to be associated with a poverty-based lifestyle, and there is a need to create awareness to change this perception. The Minister, who is also Member of Parliament from Agra, expressed his gratitude towards the Ministry of Food Processing Industries for the initiative of Millet Mahotsav and for selecting Agra as one of the districts to conduct the event. Uttar Pradesh is the largest producer of food grains in India and accounted for about 18.89% share (58.32 million MT) in the country’s total food grain output in 2020-21. In the year 2019-20, the state of Uttar Pradesh produced 21,71,836.00 MT millet. The different varieties of millets mainly produced in Uttar Pradesh include Sorghum, Pearl Millet, Kodo and Barnyard Millet. In the Agra district, the millet varieties produced mainly include Sorghum and Pearl Millet. In the year 2019-20, Agra produced 99 MT of Sorghum and 2,93,964 MT of Pearl Millet.

 

Speaking about the cultural impact of Millets, Shri Baghel said that Millet Based Khareed Kendras have been set up in the country for the first time post-independence and steps like these will contribute greatly towards the initiative of IYoM. He also talked about the nutritional benefits of Millet and how it has helped to control health problems like diabetes.

 

Shri Minhaj Alam, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries informed the gathering that the government is organizing Millet Mahotsav in 20 States and 30 Districts across the country and these districts represent key regions engaged in the processing of Millets. He enlightened the participants about the aim and salient features of Millet Mahotsav and the importance of a holistic approach to Millet processing. He emphasized on the various qualities of Millets like minimal water requirement and adaptability according to the terrain, that makes Millets a suitable alternative to commercially grown crops. The States hosting the events include Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Punjab, Kerala, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, West Bengal, and Jharkhand.

 

Touching upon the importance of millets and the immense market potential for millet-based value-added products, Shri Alam talked about the opportunities in millet processing in Uttar Pradesh. He also informed the stakeholders about the various initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries to support the food processing sector and cited the role of the PMFME Scheme in empowering micro food processing enterprises by providing financial, technical and business support across the value chain.

 

The two-day event was aimed at bringing all the stakeholders of the food processing sector with special focus on millets, on a common platform and encompassed a wide range of activities like exhibition and sale of various millet-based products, live kitchen, millet recipe demonstration, cooking competition, painting competition, sharing of success stories, informative sessions on millet processing, interactive sessions between industry experts and micro food processing enterprises, SHGs, FPOs engaged in food processing followed by cultural programs.  

 

In addition to the Millets Mahotsav, a mega-food event World Food India 2023 is also being organized by the Ministry from 3rd to 5th Nov 2023 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi to provide a unique platform to all stakeholders i.e. producers, food processors, equipment manufacturers, logistics players, cold chain players, technology providers, academia, start-up & innovators, food retailers, etc. to interact and have a dialogue. The event is slated to be the biggest-ever congregation of dignitaries, global investors and business leaders of major global and domestic food companies which would put India firmly on the global food landscape.

India’s fresh grape exports for the financial year 2022-23 are seen higher both in volumes and value on good demand from Europe, the largest buyer and ample supplies.

 

This is despite a delayed start to the export season and adverse factors such as a hike in import duty by one of the large buyers Bangladesh and slower shipments to Russia due to the war situation, exporters said.

 

'The demand is good from Europe. We are expecting this year’s exports to touch the peak levels of 2019,' said Vilas Shinde, Chairman and Managing Director, Sahyadri Farmers Producer Company Ltd (Sahyadri Farms), a large exporter of fresh grapes.

 

All-time high

India’s grape exports had touched an all-time high of $335 million in 2018-19 but had declined in subsequent years to factors such as Covid-related lockdown and soaring freight rates triggered by global logistics challenges and a decline in output due to the inclement weather conditions.

 

Though the export season was delayed by a fortnight this year and started in January’s third week due to the impact of unfavourable weather, the shipments have picked up and gained pace.

 

'The climate is clear now and is seen helping the production and productivity, unlike in the past three years when output suffered due to the bad weather. The only issue is shipments are not happening to Russia due to the war situation. Also, Bangladesh has increased the import duty to Rs.53 a kg from Rs.32, which is a bit of concern and may result in a decline in shipments of around 10-15 per cent to that country,' Shinde said.

 

Of the close to 2.4 lakh tonnes of fresh grapes exported from India, Europe accounts for over 1 lakh tonnes, followed by Bangladesh at around 60,000 tonnes. Other geographies including West Asia and Russia account for the rest.

 

As per the latest data from APEDA, India has shipped out grapes worth $69.65 million in the April-November period of the current financial year, an increase of 23 per cent over the same period last year. Being a short seasonal fruit, the bulk of the fresh grape shipments take place during the January-March period.

 

Positive growth expectations

Currently, India is the 11th largest exporter of grapes in the world and shipments have grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 12.6 per cent in the last decade.

 

'This year will be good and positive for the grapes exports. We will do very well,' said M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA. 'Because of our strong traceability system, upgraded with blockchain technology, we have managed to tap the high-value European market, which has given a boost to grape exports. APEDA is making efforts to penetrate new markets and intends to improve product diversification and value addition too,' Angamuthu added.

 

'Grapes exports are relatively okay compared to the last year. So far, the season has been good and we are expecting to ship out over 100 plus containers, around 1,500 tonnes,' said Pankaj Khandelwal, Chairman and Managing Director, INI Farms, which was acquired by agri-tech firm AgroStar. INI Farms exports around 100 containers of grapes annually, mainly to Europe.

 

Sahyadri’s Shinde said considering good demand and production this year, his organisation is expecting to clock a growth of 10-15 per cent in fresh grape shipments this year. Last year, Sahyadri shipped out around 1,100 containers, each carrying about 14 tonnes.

 

What the stats say

India’s grape exports during 2021-22 stood at $305.7 million, a 2.6 per cent decline over the previous year’s $314 million.

The top ten export destinations of grapes during 2021-22 were the Netherlands, Bangladesh, Russia, the UK, UAE, Germany, Nepal, Saudi Arab, Malaysia, and Thailand.

As per the third advance estimate for 2021-22, grape production is seen higher at 3.47 million tonnes over 2020-21’s final estimates of 3.358 million tonnes.

The three-day (02-04th March, 2023) long Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela with the theme of ‘Nutritional, Food and Environmental security through Millets (Shree Anna)’, organized at the sprawling campus of ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, concluded today. Shri Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister was the chief guest at the Valedictory Ceremony.

 

Dr Ashok Kumar Singh, Director, ICAR-IARI welcomed the chief guest and other dignitaries. Six Fellow farmers and 42 Innovative farmers with ‘IARI Innovative Farmer Award', including women farmers, were felicitated during the function.

 

In his address, Shri Kailash Choudhary India’s farm output jumped from 265 Million Tonnes in 2013-14 to 315 MT last year and is set to touch 324 MT this Financial Year. He said the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has aimed for four stages of farmers welfare, namely Superior Quality Seeds, Reduce Working Costs, Improve Storage & Transportation, and enable Markets, - provide remunerative prices for farmers’ produce.

 

Shri Choudhary said the Agriculture Ministry has asked ICAR to ensure at least 25% of farming on Agricultural land is held on Organic and Natural Farming techniques. He emphasized on the need to work for the development of varieties of millets for nutritional security. He reiterated the central role of new and innovative farm technologies food and environmental security. He said modern technologies and crop varieties must reach to the farmers without any time lag and must be demonstrated on farmers’ fields for winning the confidence of farmers.

 

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Himanshu Pathak, Secretary, DARE & Director General, ICAR announced that each ICAR Institute will conduct a training programme annually for the benefit of farmers. Pragati (Progress) and Prakriti (Nature) have to go together, - hand in hand, he said. Dr Pathak said Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who visited ICAR-IARI recently spending about two hours at the Pusa Campus, has tweeted that India’s agricultural research center is the No.1 in the world.

 

Large number of farmers from across the country visited the Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela-2023 and benefited from live demonstration of climate resilient varieties of wheat, mustard, lentil, chickpea, vegetables, flowers and fruit crops and also gained useful and advance knowledge of integrated farming system model. Dr Rabindra Nath Padaria, Joint Director (Extension), Dr JPS Dabaas, In-charge, CATAT, ICAR-IARI and other dignitaries were also present during valedictory ceremony.

 

The mega event was organized by ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute. Several institutes of ICAR across the country participated and special exhibitions on Millets (Shree Anna), farmer friendly technologies, innovations and products were displayed during the three-day mega farmers’ fair.

The European Union proposes to raise the maximum residue level (MRL) for tricyclazole in rice to 0.09 mg per kg from 0.01 mg/kg after finding that the raised level is unlikely to cause any risk for consumers.

 

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has proposed the hike in the level of tricyclazole in rice after concerns over allowing the higher limit had been sufficiently addressed. 

 

The proposal is now expected to be ratified by the European Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health in May. 

 

India’s demand

The decision should encourage Indian rice exporters as the fungicide residue’s presence has been a concern for shipments to the EU. However, India has been seeking an MRL of 1 mg/kg for the chemical. 

 

Tricyclazole is a fungicide that is used to control the blast disease in rice. Tests carried out by Japanese scientists on mice are reported to have led to decreased body weight gain and increased organ weight and others in the rodent’s liver. 

 

EFSA said Corteva Agriscience had submitted an application to  Italy’s competent national authority, which is the rapporteur Member State (RMS) of the EU, to set an import tolerance for the active substance tricyclazole in rice. 

 

According to trade experts, Italy is one of the EU members who has been unhappy with the EFSA regulations since it is a significant producer of rice. 

 

Evaluation resubmitted

The RMS drafted an evaluation report in accordance with the EU regulations. It was submitted to the European Commission and forwarded to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on April 26, 2018. 

 

'The RMS proposed to establish MRL for rice imported from Brazil at the level of 0.09 mg/kg,' it said.

 

In turn, the EFSA identified the gaps in the evaluation and the RMS submitted a revised evaluation report on October 7, 2022. 

 

'Based on the risk assessment results, EFSA concluded that the short-term and long-term intake of residues resulting from the use of tricyclazole according to the reported agricultural practice is unlikely to present a risk to consumer health,' the authority said.

 

Hydrolysis studies conducted to investigate the effect of processing on the nature of tricyclazole demonstrated that tricyclazole 'is stable'. 'As the proposed use of tricyclazole is on imported crops, investigations of residues in rotational crops are not required,' EFSA said.

 

Impact on feed

As by-products from (husked) rice, rice bran may be used for feed purposes, a potential carry-over into the food of animal origin was assessed. The calculated livestock dietary burden did not exceed the trigger value of 0.1 mg/kg dry matter (DM) for all relevant animal species. 

 

'The relative contribution of tricyclazole residues from rice hulls to the total livestock exposure was insignificant, and therefore, animal commodities were not further considered in this application,' EFSA said.

 

The EFSA concluded that 'the proposed use of tricyclazole on rice will not result in a consumer exposure exceeding the toxicological reference values and therefore is unlikely to pose a risk to consumers’ health'.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal said that the export figure for last year had already been crossed in February and expressed confidence that merchandise and services exports would touch USD 750 billion this year. He was addressing the 8th edition of the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi today.

 

Responding to a question on India achieving the highest export figure in the past year, the Minister said that it was the result of a deep-dive analysis and extensive planning where India’s capabilities were thoroughly assessed, new markets were sought out, districts, especially remote ones were empowered to become export hubs and all Indian Missions abroad were effectively leveraged to promote trade, technology and tourism. The Minister noted that last year, merchandise and service trade had crossed USD 650 billion.

 

Shri Goyal opined that the transformational initiatives undertaken by the government over the last decade, such as the Swachh Bharat Mission, electrification of around 35 million homes in rural India, creation of a robust power grid, housing for all, free healthcare for over 500 million people had held India in good stead to overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic. He lauded the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi’s decisive leadership and said that all through the pandemic PM Modi constantly sought ideas not only to overcome the pandemic but to transform the challenges it posed into opportunities.

 

Responding to a query on global uncertainty caused due to conflict, Shri Goyal said that these turbulent times had given India an opportunity to showcase its resilience. He explained that food security had emerged as a serious challenge before the world and said that PM Modi had the foresight to plan ahead to fortify India’s food security by ensuring an adequate supply of fertilizers.

 

Speaking of the time when fertiliser prices hit the roof, Shri Goyal said that PM Modi had ensured that farmers, especially small and marginal farmers did not take a hit by taking the burden of the increased prices on the central government. ‘India is self-sufficient on food security, and we will continue to produce at greater levels than last year so that we can support some of our neighbours and other friendly nations’, he said.

 

The Minister stressed that the government had been creating an enabling environment to attract investment into India. He highlighted that India was a nation of 1.4 billion people who are both youthful and aspirational with excellent skills, including managerial skills. He observed that the government had been successful in meeting the basic requirement of life of the people, liberating them from he struggle to secure the basic amenities of life, thereby empowering them to aspire for better things in life.

 

These enhanced aspiration levels, the Minister said, presented a huge market opportunity to investors, in addition to sharpening India’s competitive edge in the world market due to the willingness people have to work harder and contribute more to India’s growth story. ‘Government has focused on greater Ease of Doing Business, reducing compliance burden, decriminalising laws, implementing PLI scheme in critical sectors, digitising the economy promoting Startups. The world will not get a better friend and trusted partner like India’, he noted.

 

The Minister responded to a query on semiconductors and said that many companies were already in dialogue for investing in India in the semi-conductor chain because of the India’s stability and investor-friendly business ecosystem. Demystifying the reasons behind India’s trade deficit and import reliance, the Minister stressed that with the high levels of investments coming into manufacturing in India, India had been succeeding in producing high quality goods and services at competitive prices, rapidly reducing reliance on imports.

 

He underscored that the government was focusing extensively on bringing in quality consciousness through various initiatives such as Quality Control Orders (QCOs). The Minister also mentioned that the number of QCOs had grown by over four times and stands at about 440 products now and in the next two years, it would grow upto 2000 helping achieve India’s aspiration of achieving ‘Zero Defect, Zero Affect’. The Minister spoke of India’s sustainability thrust and said that since time immemorial, respect for nature was deep rooted in India’s civilizational ethos. ‘Sustainability and quality are the two factors that will hold India in good stead in the times to come’, he added.

 

Shri Goyal said that India would soon touch the mark of being a USD 5 trillion economy and said that it would emerge as the third largest economy in the world by 2027-28. By 2047, India will be a developed economy with a USD 32 trillion economy, a prosperous economy where every last citizen would have access to a good quality life, he said and added that if the nation came together as one, India could even dream of building a USD 40 trillion economy by 2047. 

Exports of agricultural and processed food products rose by 10% to $ 21.79 billion during the first ten months of the current fiscal (2022-23) compared to the same period last year, driven by a spike in shipment of rice, fruits and vegetables, livestock and dairy products.

 

This comes at a time when India’s merchandise exports shrank by 6.59% to $32.91 billion on year in January, 2023 because of the slump in global trade and a moderation in domestic investment, and consumption demands. Cumulatively, however, during April-January 2022-23, the country’s merchandise exports rose 8.51% to $ 369.25 billion.

 

According to the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, the value of Basmati rice exports during April-January (2022-23) rose by more than 41% on year to $ 3.8 billion from $ 2.7 billion in the previous year.

 

The shipment of non-Basmati rice registered a moderate growth of 3.3% to $ 5.1 billion during the same period.

 

Because of robust demand and lower shipment from Pakistan due to floods impacting the crop last year, realisation from the Basmati rice rose by 19% to $ 1044/tonne in April-January (2022-23) against $877/tonne realised a year ago.

 

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in its February, 2023 crop outlook has stated 'India remains the most competitively-priced source for Asian rice,'. India’s broken-kernel rice was quoted at $ 435/tonne last month.

 

'Strong global demand and competitive pricing have ensured surge in rice exports in the current fiscal and adherence to quality parameters has resulted in significant demand for Indian rice with the grain being shipped to more than 75 countries,' M Angamuthu, Chairman, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Development Authority (APEDA) told FE.

 

The export of meat, dairy and poultry products declined marginally compared to last year at $ 3.3 billion during the April-January period of the current fiscal compared to previous year. The dairy products alone registered a growth of 10% to $ 512 million during the same period.

 

Processed fruits and vegetables reported export growth of 29% to $ 1.6 billion in April-January, 2022-23 on year.

 

For the current fiscal, an export target of $ 23.5 billion has been set by APEDA. Other key agricultural products exported from the country include marine products, spices, tea, coffee and tobacco

 

Exports of products under APEDA basket was $ 25.6 billion in 2021-22, which was around 51% of the country’s total agricultural goods exports of more than $ 50 billion.

 

Commerce ministry officials attribute the rise in the export of agricultural and processed food products because of the centre’s initiatives such as organising B2B exhibitions in various countries, tie ups with global hypermarket chains, exploring new potential markets through product-specific marketing campaigns by the active involvement of Indian missions.