Observing that India has become self-reliant in chickpeas and many other pulse crops, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda Thursday said 'consistent efforts' are being made to attain self-sufficiency in pulses by 2027.

 

Addressing the Pulses Convention-2024 organised by the Global Pulses Confederation (GPC) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), Munda said, 'The government is also consistently striving towards increasing domestic production of pulses to gradually reduce dependence on imports and move towards self-reliance in the pulse sector.'

 

'As a result of all the efforts made so far, the production of pulses has increased from the initial level of 16.32 million metric tonnes during the period 2015-16 to 26 million metric tonnes (now)…,' Munda said.

 

He said, 'India has become self-reliant in chickpeas and many other pulse crops, with only a slight deficiency remaining in pigeon peas and black gram. Consistent efforts are being made to attain self sufficiency in pulses by the year 2027.'

 

Munda said the Centre is working 'diligently' to improve agriculture production and to raise the living standards of farmers in the country.

 

Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal said that in a short span of time, 'Bharat Chana Dal' has captured 25% of India’s market for gram pulses. Goyal said the government has been successful in managing inflation.

 

'We have today seen 10 years of average inflation ranging between 5-5.5 per cent amongst the lowest decade of inflation that India has seen in its 75 years of Independence,' Goyal said.

 

Discussing the minimum support price (MSP) Goyal said, 'We also support our farmers through procurement of pulses at MSP, which is determined by an independent body called CACP and the MSP today in India is assured at a price 50% over the actual costs of production of our farmers, thereby giving them a reasonable and attractive rate of return for their farming activities.' Talking about Bharat brand pulses and wheat flour, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said that for the first time the government has intervened in the retail market. 'Many western economists will tell you that government should not be in the business of doing business. But I beg to differ, if it suits the interests of the citizen of the country and the consumers, the governments must intervene and we should not be left to the mercy of the markets,' Singh said. Singh warned foreign pulse traders not to take advantage of the situation in India.

 

'Sometime we see that some geographies, I can name Myanmar and some east African countries, where traders will like to take advantage of the situation in India… Please do not indulge in that… If you want to take undue advantage, we will go after you,' Singh said.

 

Sharing initiatives taken by the government for protecting the interests of farmers, NAFED Managing Director Ritesh Chauhan said, 'In life one may require services of a doctor, lawyer, a policeman, and a preacher. So, keep them close. But I would add that it is the humble farmer who provides us our three meals a day.'

To tap into the export potential of agricultural and processed food products from Eastern Uttar Pradesh, also known as Purvanchal, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) organized the 'Agri-Export: Capacity Building cum Buyer-Seller Meet' in Mirzapur yesterday. The event was graced by the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Smt. Anupriya Patel, as the Chief Guest. A host of other dignitaries led by Sh. Ram Shakal, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), senior Government officials, representatives from exporter associations, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), stakeholders and public representatives of the area graced the event. The event drew a very enthusiastic response from farmers with over 1500+ farmers attending the event.

 

In her keynote address, Smt. Anupriya Patel stressed the significance of increasing agricultural exports, highlighting their potential in not only contributing to the nation’s foreign exchange but also significantly raising incomes of the farmers, being the largest sector in terms of employment. She reiterated the commitment of the Government of India in raising farmers' income and well-being, citing various schemes of the Government of India and underscored the resolve of the Department of Commerce to facilitate their access to global markets. She also underscored the government's focus on infrastructure development across diverse agricultural sectors such as horticulture, spices, and marine products. She highlighted one such upcoming significant project, the 'Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Niryat Suvidha Kendra' coming up in Chunar, Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, which, when completed in the near term, will significantly boost agricultural exports from the region, making Poorvanchal an agri export Hub of the nation.

 

Chairman, APEDA, Shri Abhishek Dev expressed the government's commitment to enhancing export opportunities for FPOs and farmers by focusing on market linkages and augmenting export infrastructure. He informed that APEDA, which celebrated its 38th Foundation day on 13th February, 2024 is fully committed towards boosting incomes of all stakeholders in the agri export value chain, particularly the farmers, by providing them the requisite training and exposure to emerging market opportunities. He reiterated that APEDA will continue to organise such events in the near future, for the benefit of all the stakeholders.

 

The 'Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Niryat Suvidha Kendra' marks a significant milestone in advancing agricultural and allied sector exports. This newly developing infrastructure is envisioned to serve as a comprehensive single-window system catering to the needs of FPOs, farmers, exporters, and other stakeholders. The project spread in an area of 5 Acres in the Chunar sub-division of Mirzapur district boasts a modern packhouse with all the requisite facilities. Further, the project also boasts a training facility which will benefit all the farmers and FPO’s/FPC’s of the region. Finally, the project will also have offices of major export-oriented government bodies namely, MPEDA, Spices Board, IIP, EIC which will serve the agri-export ecosystem of the region.

 

With APEDA's intervention, the Purvanchal region now boasts crucial export facilities like cold rooms at Varanasi Airport, quarantine and custom clearance services, and the activation of the airport for agri air cargo, all of which were previously lacking in 2019. The Varanasi Airport's handling of 702 MT of perishable cargo until December 23, surpassing last year's figure of 561 MT, truly reflects a notable advancement in the region's agri-export capabilities. APEDA also facilitated in inviting leading buyers from across India, organizing Buyer Seller Meets with FPOs and farmers to directly connect them with international markets.

 

It may be emphasized that APEDA's initiatives have propelled Uttar Pradesh to become the third-largest exporting state in the financial year 2023-24 (April 23 to Nov 23), trailing only Gujarat and Maharashtra. APEDA's successful tapping of the Gangetic belt's potential has empowered FPOs and exporters to bolster agri-exports from the region. Approximately 50 FPOs have been promoted as exporters for agri exports, with over 20 actively engaged in both direct and deemed exports.

 

A diverse range of agricultural products, including fresh fruits and vegetables such as Green Chilies, Mangoes, Tomatoes, Okra, Potato, Water Chestnut, Cranberry, Banana, Jimikand, Ivy Gourd, Bottle Gourd, Pointed Gourd, Arvi, Ginger, fresh marigold, and rice, have been exported, underscoring the region's capacity to meet global demand.

Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday held talks with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai who is also its PM and defence minister, focusing on trade, investment, technology, space, education and people-to-people ties.

They expressed satisfaction at the rapidly growing economic and commercial ties between India and the Gulf nation, and acknowledged in particular the key role played by Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

 

They also welcomed signing of bilateral investment treaty, said Indian govt said.

'It is always a delight to meet @HHShkMohd. His vision for Dubai's growth is clearly visible to the entire world. Our discussions covered a wide range of subjects ranging from commerce to connectivity, and ways to boost people-to-people linkages,' Modi posted on X along with photos of the meeting.

 

The govt, in a statement, said, 'PM Modi thanked PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for his graciousness towards the Indian community living in Dubai. Both leaders acknowledged the contribution of the Indian diaspora in Dubai's evolution into a global hub for trade, services and tourism.'

A delegation led by H.E. Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary-General of ASEAN, called on Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Arjun Munda today at Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi.

 

Union Agriculture Minister extended a warm welcome to the delegation and affirmed that India values its relationship with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a key pillar of its foreign policy in line with India’s Act East Policy. Union Minister emphasized the need to deepen our existing ASEAN-India relations by focusing on cooperation in the field of Agriculture. It was noted that India regularly participates in the ASEAN-India Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting and reaffirmed the commitment that India and ASEAN shall continue to work on issues of mutual interests including food security. In this context recalling successful celebration of ASEAN-India Millets Festival, Union Minister underlined the need of collective efforts towards mainstreaming millets. Union Minister also announced training programmes for ASEAN Member States at various institutions of ICAR including on Post Harvest Agriculture.

 

H.E. Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, ASEAN Secretary General applauded India’s efforts on agriculture cooperation under ASEAN-India framework. He called upon the need to expand work on various sectors such as agriculture products, best practices, exchange programs, climate change, food security etc. He emphasized that India and ASEAN could jointly work towards sustainable Agriculture, promotion of digital technology in the agricultural sector and reduction of harmful agrochemicals to benefit the farming community in ASEAN Member States using India’s expertise and scientific knowledge in addressing these challenges.

 

Union Agriculture and Farmers Affairs Minister reiterated the commitment of India’s continuous support for strengthening and expanding the India-ASEAN partnership in general and cooperation on agriculture in specific.

The foundation stone of Bharat Mart, which will combine retail, warehousing and logistics facilities at Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone in Dubai, was laid during a virtual ceremony by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) vice president, Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, on Wednesday.

 

Bharat Mart is a joint initiative of DP World, a Dubai-based multinational that specialises in logistics, port terminal operations and maritime services, and India’s commerce ministry that is aimed at boosting exports by Indian small and medium-sized enterprises.

 

The facility, which has been compared to China’s Dragon Mart, will be built by DP World and is expected to be operational by 2025. The facility, set to cover more than 100,000 sq metres, will help cut the cost and time for shipping goods from India to Africa and Europe.

 

Modi and Mohamed bin Rashid, who is also the UAE prime minister and ruler of Dubai, expressed confidence that Bharat Mart will further enhance India-UAE trade by leveraging Jebel Ali Port’s strategic location and strength in logistics, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

 

Bharat Mart can potentially play a key role in promoting the exports of India’s micro, small and medium sectors by providing them with a platform to reach international buyers in the Gulf, West Asia, Africa and Eurasia, Modi said.

 

Modi also held a bilateral meeting with Mohamed bin Rashid and discussed bilateral cooperation in a range of areas, including trade, investment, technology, space, education and people-to-people ties.

 

They expressed satisfaction at the rapidly growing economic and commercial ties between India and the UAE.

 

In this context, they acknowledged the role of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement inked by the two countries in 2022 and welcomed the signing of the bilateral investment treaty on Tuesday.

 

Modi thanked Mohammed bin Rashid for his 'graciousness towards the Indian community living in Dubai'. Both leaders acknowledged the contributions of the Indian diaspora to Dubai’s evolution into a global hub for trade, services and tourism.

 

Modi conveyed his deep appreciation to Mohammed bin Rashid for granting land in Dubai for an Indian community hospital that will offer affordable healthcare facilities for Indian blue-collar workers. He also invited the ruler of Dubai to visit India.

 

Modi also met Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina on the margins of the World Governments Summit in Dubai. This was the first meeting between the two leaders, who acknowledged the long-standing friendly relations and ancient geographical ties between the two countries.

 

The leaders discussed ways to advance bilateral ties and appreciated their close cooperation in multilateral forums, including the UN. Modi said India is committed to strengthening the India-Madagascar partnership and to SAGAR or Security and Growth for All in the Region, the policy for Indian Ocean states.

 

Modi said that as a fellow developing country in the Indian Ocean region, India will remain a 'committed partner in the developmental journey of Madagascar'.

India, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia and South Africa have raised concerns at a latest World Trade Organization (WTO) draft on dispute settlement reform which proposes inclusion of mediators during consultations and the composition and powers of dispute settlement panels.

 

In a submission made Monday, they said that novel ideas like narrowing the possibility of appeal to 'exceptional circumstances' may lead to confusion and adversely impact the ability of developing countries to access the dispute resolution system.

 

The draft has proposed that the panel be given powers to categorise cases into standard, complex and extraordinarily complex cases, which many countries have opposed.

 

On the introduction of an element of mandatory alternate dispute resolution (ADR) and arbitration, the five nations said that it introduces 'numerous guidelines, requirements, and additional processes, which will curtail the flexibility that is a core characteristic of such processes, therefore disincentivizing developing countries including least developing countries from taking recourse to ADR'.

 

The impact of the introduction of such a multiplicity of provisions has to be examined in greater depth, they said.

 

The submission comes ahead of a key ministerial conference of WTO later this month where India, along with 100 countries, wants restoration of a fully functional and transparent appellate body which ensures a fair appeals process. New Delhi has also emphasised on retaining the member-driven, consensus-based decision making principles of the WTO.

 

The dispute settlement mechanism of WTO is defunct due to a non-functional appellate body since December 2019 as the US has been blocking the appointment of judges.

 

The five nations highlighted that there have been some informal discussions on the appellate review mechanism, which touch on issues of leave to appeal and standard of review.

 

'This discussion is being conducted in isolation from the issue of the restoration of the appellate body and the permanence of the underlying appellate structure,' they said.

 

As per the submission, the proposed addition of a 'conciliator or mediator assistance during consultations' complicates the litigative streams. 'The proposed inclusion of political consultation in ADR during the compliance stage will make the process more complex and unpredictable for the countries with smaller economies,' they said.

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto confirmed that the government had decided to import 1.6 million tons of rice to meet domestic needs due to a two-month delay in the harvest.

 

'There should be a big harvest in March-April, but it is postponed to April, May, and June, resulting in lower production, so the government decides to import,' Airlangga said in Jakarta on February 15.

 

In addition to importing, he stated that the government will be intensifying rice distribution under the Stabilization of Food Supply and Prices (SPHP) program from 150,000 tons to 250,000 tons to meet people's demand.

 

To facilitate the distribution process, he said that the basic commodity would be repackaged with adjusted weights.

 

'The rice is usually packed in 5 kilograms. For some regions, we distribute it in larger weights and each region can repack it in 50kg, 25kg, or 5kg packets,' said Airlangga, adding that the costs incurred during the repacking process would be reimbursed by the government. 

 

Airlangga further emphasized that these efforts are necessary given the current global economic situation, which shows no signs of improvement in the future. 'Global economic growth is still slowing down,' he said.

Farmers may be crying over the ban on export of fresh onions imposed by the government. But India’s onion dehydration hub, Mahuva, is all smiles these days.

The dehydration units in this coastal town of Bhavnagar have started functioning full throttle 40 days in advance due to the easy and cheap availability of fresh onions.

Mahuva processes 90% of fresh onions in the country and bulbs from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and other states are sent here.

 

Factory owners believe that they will process 20% more stock compared to last financial year and are hopeful of bagging good export orders.

 

Vitthal Koradiya, an exporter of dehydrated onions, said, 'Generally, the processing units start operation by the end of Feb or first week of Mar after the arrival of fresh stock. However, due to the export ban, there is a huge availability of stock, and around 40 to 50 big units that have a huge customer base abroad started operations from Jan 8.'

All 125 units are expected to start functioning fully in a fortnight. 'There is a 10% rise in the demand for processed onions from the Gulf countries,' Koradiya added.

 

The processing units are currently getting 50,000 to 70,000 bags (each of 50 kg) per day for dehydration while they require two lakh bags per day to start all 125 units.

India, one of the biggest exporters of onion in the world, imposed a ban on the export in December last year to control the skyrocketing prices in the local market. The price per kg in the local market crossed Rs 80 per kg before the ban but it has dropped to Rs 30 per kg.

Manoj Ram, president of All India Vegetables Dehydration Association said, 'The fresh onion prices in the wholesale market were between Rs 400 to Rs 450 per 20 kg before the ban. At present, we are getting fresh onions for around Rs 225 to Rs 260 and expect this to drop to Rs 200 by the end of Feb.'

We also published the following articles recently

Marginal rise in average wholesale onion prices at Lasalgaon

The average wholesale onion prices at the Lasalgaon Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) increased by 11% to Rs 1,230 per quintal. The minimum and maximum prices were recorded at Rs 700 and Rs 1,500 per quintal, respectively.

State starts process to pay 100-day workers by Feb 21

Following CM Mamata Banerjee's announcement, the panchayat department issues SOP and holds meetings with district magistrates (DMs) to ensure pending wages of 21 lakh NREGS workers are paid by Feb 21. BDOs verify beneficiaries through a house-to-house survey and finalise bank payment list by Feb 19.

United States bans AI-generated voices in robocalls

State attorneys general can take legal action against violators, and the FCC can fine companies using AI-generated voices in unwanted calls. The FCC can also block service providers carrying such calls. Recipients of unwanted robocalls have the right to take legal action and potentially recover damages.

India is today Bangladesh's largest export destination in Asia, the Indian High Commissioner here has said, highlighting the importance of multimodal connectivity in unlocking the true potential of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

 

High Commissioner Pranay Verma made these remarks on Monday after Shipping Minister Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury inaugurated the Sultanganj port, establishing naval connectivity between Bangladesh’s Rajshahi and India’s Murshidabad.

 

'The future of our partnership lies in efficient multimodal connectivity - encompassing road and rail, inland waterways, and coastal shipping,' he said.