The 4th Global Conference of The World Banana Forum (WBF), hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), opened at FAO headquarters to discuss an array of challenges faced by banana producers, including the impacts of the climate crisis, high energy and fertiliser costs, and the spread of the destructive Fusarium wilt Tropical Race 4 (TR4) disease.

The construction of Balla land port infrastructure has been completed in the Kedara court area near the Bangladesh-India border in Chunarughat of Habiganj at a cost of about Tk 490 million. But across the border in Paharmura area of India’s Tripura state, there is no customs station. The whole area there is deserted with even no roads, according to a news released in local newspaper of Bangladesh.

A loss in the farm-to-plate journey negatively impacts farmer incomes by precluding price discovery. Further, post-harvest loss in India has laid bare the weak post-harvest chain. In this light, Prime Minister Modi’s recent announcement of the world’s largest grain storage plan in the cooperative sector is potentially a game-changer, with positive ramifications for the domestic economy at large. Nevertheless, like all schemes, implementation will be crucial, especially in overcoming the existing challenges in the sector. Overall, it brings into focus the silent theft of post-harvest production in Indian agriculture with hopes of eliminating it one day.

India and the Dominican Republic have signed a protocol for setting up a Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) between both the nations. The joint committee will provide a platform for information exchange between various authorities and their counterparts, and a meeting of the committee is expected soon.

Padumpathar Agro Organic FPC, an FPO in Assam’s Golaghat district, exported 10 tonnes of organic ginger to Dubai on March 12, with another 10 tonnes possibly shipping next week. Facilitated by the Directorate of Horticulture of Assam government under the Mission Organic Value Chain Development for Northeast Region (MOVCDNER), a central sector scheme, farmers in the districts are said to have realized a very good price for the premium ginger for the first time.