The India-Africa Dialogue on Farm Mechanization, held in January at the Ludhiana Exhibition Hall in India, brought together a diverse group of experts, practitioners, researchers, machinery manufacturers, financial institutions, and policymakers from both India and various African nations to foster South-South learning on farm mechanization.

 

The event was jointly organized and represented a collaborative initiative by institutions including the International Crops Research Institute for the Arid and Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the All India Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Association, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare of the Government of India, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), CGIAR- Excellence in Agronomy (EiA), and Udan Media and Communications in Ludhiana.

 

The dialogue aimed to address the challenges and opportunities related to agricultural mechanization in Africa and focused on developing, refining, adapting, and targeting scale-appropriate mechanization solutions.

 

The participants discussed the need for context-specific, value-chain mechanization solutions to enhance food security, increase productivity, and reduce environmental footprints.

 

 

Director General of ICRISAT, Dr Jacqueline Hughes said that the India-Africa Dialogue on Farm Mechanization highlights the transformative impact of sustainable agricultural mechanization on dryland farming communities.

 

'Mechanization contributes to positive outcomes, including increased productivity, reduced costs, and minimised post-harvest losses as but some examples.

 

 

'Events like these are crucial to promote cooperation among nations in the Global South, to enhance technology transfer, food security, productivity, and environmental sustainability,' said Dr Hughes.

 

Dr ML Jat, Global Research Program Director for Resilient Farm and Food Systems at ICRISAT highlighted the commonalities between India and Africa in terms of agriculture, emphasizing the potential for co-learning.

 

 

'One of the key areas of that learning is related to increased agricultural mechanization at farm level and in the agrifood value chain that are economically, environmentally and socially sustainable.

 

'In this context, use of agricultural mechanization within a sustainability framework can bring a wide range of benefits through time efficiency speeding up operations in the food production process, increase yields, reduce production costs, increase cropping intensity, increase efficiency of production inputs, reduce post-harvest losses and reduce drudgery of farm workers' said Dr Jat.

 

During panel discussions, participants emphasized the importance of sustainable mechanization, which takes into account economic, environmental, and social aspects. They also highlighted the advantages of mechanization, such as saving time, boosting yields, cutting production costs, increasing cropping frequency, and enhancing the use of production resources.

 

The chair of the panel, VN Kale, who serves as the Commissioner of Mechanisation in the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, emphasized that dialogues offer significant opportunities for Africa.

 

He encouraged participants to apply the lessons learned immediately for implementation. Furthermore, he stressed that bilateral partnerships would be crucial for promoting scale-appropriate farm mechanization in Africa.

 

'India through its partners will play a key role in supporting Africa in mechanization, strengthening the process of visiting experts to African countries and arranging seminars/workshops for dealers and manufacturers in Africa.

 

'South-south cooperation is a key framework for knowledge exchange and India is ready to support and strengthen mechanization in Africa' said' VN Kale.

 

African representatives, including Saidi Mkomwa from the Africa Conservation Tillage Network, highlighted the significance of mechanization in addressing food security challenges, especially in the face of increased population and climate change.

 

'Africa is facing challenges like increased population and climate change. What we have learned here is critical in agricultural transformation.

 

'The African Congress on Sustainable Mechanization will be organized shortly in Africa. We request India to support this cause and use this opportunity to showcase the state-of-the-art scale appropriate Machinery suitable to Africa as a part of south-south collaboration.' said Mr. Saidi.

 

Patrick Ketiem, Director, Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization, emphasized the need for technology and knowledge beyond tractors and he challenged ICRISAT and its partners to upscale collaboration with the government on scale-appropriate mechanization primarily for inter-cultivation, processing, and post-harvest operations in the country.

 

Dalisto Varegeyi, Provincial Mechanization Director from Zimbabwe in his remarks noted that the Government of Zimbabwe is promoting mechanization suitable for large-scale farmers but he underscored the importance of focusing on smallholder farmers.

 

'The requirement for African countries is basically for seeding, harvesting, and aftercare as the latter accounts for almost 30-40 percent losses of food grain production every year.

 

'Gender-inclusive mechanization is required at the value chain level. Small-scale farmers do not need small machines but they need smart machines' said Mr Varegeyi.

 

Sekou Sala Guindo, Head of Mechanization in Mali, pointed out the low mechanization rate in Mali, where all field operations, including ploughing, seeding, and harvesting, are done manually. He highlighted the potential for significant farm mechanization in Mali due to its youthful agricultural workforce.

 

He expressed gratitude to ICRISAT and partners for their support in introducing appropriate tools and machinery to the country.

 

HS Sidhu, Principal Agricultural Engineer from Punjab Agricultural University, India, and HS Jat, Director of ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research, highlighted the advancements in mechanization in India that could benefit African farmers. Mr. Sarabjit Singh, the Secretary of the All India Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Association, India, expressed readiness to introduce suitable machinery and engage in knowledge sharing in response to the panel’s discussion on the state of mechanization and challenges in Africa.

 

The dialogue concluded by discussing the mechanization status in India and Africa, finding cost-effective mechanization solutions for African farmers, and promoting partnerships between Indian and African stakeholders.

 

A key takeaway from the event was the commitment to enhance farm mechanization through collaboration between countries in the Global South.

The 'threat' posed by China offers an opportunity for the US and India to make strong agreements, including a genuine Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to ensure that the two countries will look at each other as first partners, according to Darrell Issa, an influential American lawmaker. Issa, a Republican Congressman from California, said this during a conversation with Aparna Pande, Research Fellow, India, and South Asia with the think tank Hudson Institute here on Monday.

 

Agreeing that the India-US relationship today does seem to be based in no small part on the China threat, he said, 'Having said that, I view this China threat as an opportunity to do with that we did not do.'

 

The items produced in China could be produced in India, at substantially similar costs (and) would more than allow for India to substantially replace its dirty fuel with clean fuel, Issa said.

'But that requires that the two countries really make strong agreements, including a genuine Free Trade Agreement (FTA), one that ensures that the two will look at each other as first partners. I think we're a long way down the road toward doing it,' he said at the event, 'A Conversation with Rep. Darrell Issa on US-South Asia Relations.'

 

'Who are the people running some of our largest and most successful companies in the United States? Who are the innovators in the United States? Who dominates our universities? Answers quite frankly -- Indian exchange students, who want to remain here and Chinese students, who China wants to take back to China! We can harness those together. We already have,' he said.

 

Pointing out that he is someone who's been working on immigration reform for 20 years, and has seen that the number one challenge for Indian H-1B and other temporary visa programmes (for people) who want to become permanent residents and citizens, the Congressman acknowledged that the backlog is huge.

 

'The fact is that the amount of Indian investors who would like to expand their L visas like to bring greater amounts over is massive. These are people who, yes, they want to have a nexus to the country of India. But they also want to have a real foothold in the United States,' he said.

 

Advocating the FTA, Issa said, 'India and the US cannot be partners only against something and expect it to last. Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and for that matter, the NATO alliance ... all have common sides. But they also have ever-growing free trade agreements, ever-growing mutual agreements to share technology. They also have companies which are headquartered in one and substantially doing business in the other.'

 

'The same has to be done for India. Are we equal partners? No, we're not. We have more money. You have more people. We have more people who want to be lawyers. You have more people who want to be engineers,' he said.

 

The Congressman observed how the Indian and the US societies 'share many of the same values, but approach the work ethic and the education ethic in a substantially different way' in which the shortages in the US are disproportionately able to be filled in partnership with India.

 

'I don't believe in one world. I believe that the world is made up of partnerships. And a partner of one to another is bilateral. But when a partner of one has five other partners and invites them into that relationship, then you build a multilateral relationship,' he said.

 

Responding to a question on the upcoming elections in Pakistan, Issa said the country does not have a free and fair election.

 

'Pakistan does not have free and fair elections. Pakistan, at best, has elections in which somebody can win in spite of the incumbent system pushing against them. But that means the only time there's a change in power in Pakistan is when it gets really bad when the people are so adamantly opposed, that in spite of all that, there is a change.

 

'When there is it usually doesn't end up being because you still have the corruption that is endemic in there the absence of rule of law and foremost, you have the military, and no government can long remain independent when at the end of the day, your ability to be independent is kept in the hands of the military,' he said.

 

'If you displease them, one way or the other, you'll be gone,' he said, adding that he continues to believe that there are small differences. In democracies, local elections sometimes can give you honesty and improvement, national elections are usually the last ones to give you that. The same is true in India,' he said.

An orientation session was held for about 500 farmers and prospective agri entrepreneurs from Tiruchi, Pudukottai, and Perambalur districts about the opportunities available for exporting agriculture produce at a seminar-cum-exhibition hosted by the Department of Agricultural Marketing and Agri Business and Agricultural Marketing Board here on Tuesday.

 

Exporters, agri entrepreneurs and officials handled the sessions on various topics to apprise farmers, farmers producers organisation members, and prospective agri entrepreneurs of the export opportunities, value addition, procedure for obtaining licences, government support and other issues.

 

Key aspects such as export regulations, international standard certification, smart export packing techniques, labelling prerequisites and food processing machinery and importance of value addition to meet international market requirements were discussed. Participants were given an overview on starting a firm, selecting markets, sending samples, and determining the appropriate price for their products.

 

Officials said the event was aimed at educating farmers about exporting their produce directly without intermediaries. The diverse range of agricultural products exported from Tamil Nadu was showcased.

 

M. Sakthivel, Joint Director of Agriculture, and G. Saravanan, Deputy Director, Agricultural Marketing and Agri Business, spoke.

 

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Australian High Commissioner to India Philip Green on Tuesday discussed opportunities to expand ecotourism and deploy advanced technology in agriculture.

 

Mr. Philip Green called on Mr. Revanth at the Secretariat, where the two discussed the educational development programmes in Telangana and hoped that direct connectivity between Hyderabad and Australia would improve soon. Minister for Industries and IT D. Sridhar Babu, Minister for Forest Konda Surekha and others were present.

 

Thousands of farmers' collectives across various states are now benefitting from the opportunity to sell a diverse range of agricultural products on the government's e-commerce platform, the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). Since the inclusion of farmers' producer organisations (FPOs) on the ONDC platform in April 2023, approximately 4,000 such bodies have successfully marketed 3,100 varieties of value-added agricultural products.

 

How Does ONDC Help?

The ONDC plays a crucial role in supporting and training FPOs, offering free registration and assistance in developing and digitising product catalogues. Additionally, the platform aids in generating shipping labels, identifying delivery partners, and facilitating digital payments. This comprehensive support empowers FPOs to leverage the digital marketplace efficiently for marketing their products.

 

The collaboration between ONDC and the Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC), an entity under the agriculture ministry, aims to address challenges faced by FPOs in accessing markets nationwide.

 

What is ONDC?

Launched in April 2022 as a section 8 company by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, ONDC has emerged as a pivotal platform for agricultural commerce. The recent partnership with Meta underscores the platform's commitment to upskilling small businesses, including FPOs, highlighting the convergence of technology and agriculture.

 

For FPOs, the digital network provided by ONDC offers direct access to digital marketing, online payment systems, and facilitates both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions. This not only enhances the market reach for FPOs but also encourages local value addition, contributing to the growth of logistics in rural areas.

India is expected to become the third-largest economy in the world with a GDP of $5 trillion in the next three years and touch $7 trillion by 2030 on the back of continued reforms, the Finance Ministry said on January 29.

 

Ten years ago, India was the 10th largest economy in the world, with a GDP of $1.9 trillion at current market prices.

 

Today, it is the 5th largest with a GDP of $3.7 trillion (estimate FY24), despite the pandemic and despite inheriting an economy with macro imbalances and a broken financial sector, said the ministry's January 2024 review of the economy.

 

'This ten-year journey is marked by several reforms, both substantive and incremental, which have significantly contributed to the country's economic progress,' it said.

 

These reforms, it added, have also delivered an economic resilience that the country will need to deal with unanticipated global shocks in the future.

 

The ministry said that in the next three years, India is expected to become the third-largest economy in the world, with a GDP of $5 trillion.

 

'The government has, however, set a higher goal of becoming a 'developed country' by 2047. With the journey of reforms continuing, this goal is achievable,' it said.

 

The Nirmala Sitharaman-headed ministry stressed that the reforms will be more purposeful and fruitful with full participation of state governments.

 

The participation of states will be fuller when reforms encompass changes in governance at the district, block, and village levels, making them citizen-friendly and small business-friendly and in areas such as health, education, land and labour, in which states have a big role to play, it said.

 

'The strength of the domestic demand has driven the economy to a 7% plus growth rate in the last three years...in FY25, real GDP growth will likely be closer to 7%,' said the review report, and added there is, however, considerable scope for the growth rate to rise well above 7% by 2030.

 

The review observed that it is eminently possible for the Indian economy to grow in the coming years at a rate above 7% on the strength of the financial sector and other recent and future structural reforms. Only the elevated risk of geopolitical conflicts is an area of concern.

 

'Furthermore, under a reasonable set of assumptions with respect to the inflation differentials and the exchange rate, India can aspire to become a $7 trillion economy in the next six to seven years (by 2030),' it said.

 

In the preface of the review report, Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran said the Union government has built infrastructure at a historically unprecedented rate, and it has taken the overall public sector capital investment from Rs.5.6 lakh crore in FY15 to Rs.18.6 lakh crore in FY24, as per budget estimates.

 

He noted that the global economy is struggling to maintain its recovery post-Covid because successive shocks have buffeted it. Some of them, such as supply chain disruptions, have returned in 2024.

 

If they persist, they will impact trade flows, transportation costs, economic output and inflation worldwide, he said.

India has sought investment commitments from Switzerland under the proposed free trade agreement with the four-nation EFTA bloc, a top government official said on Tuesday. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

 

The official also said negotiations for the pact are at an advanced stage and both sides are trying to conclude it fast.

 

The investment commitment would help India balance Switzerland's decision to remove customs duties on most of its goods.

 

When asked if this move would have an implication on the agreement, the official said that it can be bargained against many other things.

 

'We have told them that we will be requiring commitments on investments so that this zero duty on goods can balance more investments and more manufacturing in the country,' the official told PTI.

 

The Indian negotiators are also trying to see how the Swiss companies can come and manufacture in India so that it gives a boost to Make in India programme and also helps in raising the domestic manufacturing power.

 

When asked about the demand for duty cut in gold by some EFTA members, the official said 'that is part of it, but our major focus is on non-gold issues'.

 

Switzerland is the largest source of gold imports, with about 41 per cent share during April-October this fiscal, followed by the UAE (about 13 per cent) and South Africa (about 10 per cent). The precious metal accounts for over 5 per cent of the country's total imports.

 

Switzerland has large historical accumulations of gold and it primarily refines imported gold.

 

In 2022-23, India's imports from Switzerland stood at USD 15.79 billion, in stark contrast to its exports of USD 1.34 billion, leading to a substantial trade deficit of USD 14.45 billion.

 

India received about USD 10 billion foreign direct investments from Switzerland during April 2000 and September 2023.

 

India and EFTA have been negotiating the pact, officially dubbed as Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), since January 2008 to boost economic ties.

 

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal recently held a meeting with Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin in Mumbai.

 

Parmelin, in a social media post on X, had said that officials are working round the clock to settle last details so that it can be signed as soon as possible.

 

'At the last-minute invitation of my Indian counterpart @PiyushGoyal, I travelled directly from the WEF in Davos to Mumbai/India. After 16 years of negotiations, we found balanced solutions to the main open issues of the EFTA-India trade agreement,' Parmelin had said.

 

The last round of talks between the countries concluded on January 13 here.

 

Negotiations are held on various chapters, including trade in goods, rules of origin, intellectual property rights (IPRs), trade in services, investment promotion and cooperation, trade and sustainable development, and trade facilitation.

 

EFTA has 29 free trade agreements (FTAs) with 40 partner countries, including Canada, Chile, China, Mexico, and Korea.

 

Under free trade pacts, two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them, besides easing norms to promote trade in services and investments.

 

EFTA countries are not part of the European Union (EU). It is an inter-governmental organisation for the promotion and intensification of free trade. It was founded as an alternative for states that did not wish to join the European community.

 

India's exports to EFTA countries during 2022-23 stood at USD 1.92 billion against USD 1.74 billion in 2021-22. Imports aggregated at USD 16.74 billion during the last fiscal compared to USD 25.5 billion in 2021-22.

 

The trade gap is in favour of the EFTA group, according to the data of the commerce ministry.

The Centre is confident of achieving an export target of $2 trillion by 2030, said union commerce secretary, Sunil Barthwal, while speaking at a seminar hosted jointly by Bharat Chamber of Commerce (BCC) and Indian Council of Arbitration on foreign trade policy (FTP).

At present Indi’as exports of goods and services stand at $750 billion. Barthwal said that $1trillion will be forthcoming from merchandise exports and another $1 trillion from services.

 

He said that post pandemic, space in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) was lying vacant with work from home in vogue, so the Centre was working on reforms in the SEZ policy to carry on the movement of goods between domestic tariff area (DTA) and SEZ space smoothly without affecting the competitiveness of goods in export markets.

He added that reforms in the SEZ are in the offing and there is demarcation of SEZs into SEZ and DTA spaces. 'We need to integrate with the global value chain for our advantage,' he said. Barthwal feels India should concentrate on the production of value-added products like processed food and marine products, instead of exporting them raw.

'The new FTP aims at widening our participation in those value chains and improving our manufacturing competitiveness,' he said.

 

4 SEZs to come up off YXP near Agra

YEIDA plans to establish SEZs near Agra, anticipating economic development from Noida International Airport. SEZs will have green spaces, non-polluting industries, and a focus on tourism. YEIDA also approves aviation hub and semiconductor park, allocates land, and revises dues of developers.

Microsoft hits $3 trillion market value

Microsoft's stock market value crosses $3 trillion milestone for the first time, vying with Apple for the top spot on Wall Street. Microsoft shares hit a record high of $404.72, briefly breaching the $3 trillion market capitalization. As megacap US technology-related companies begin reporting results, Wall Street's run-up to record highs will be put to the test.

India can aspire to be $7 trillion economy by 2030: Review

The Indian economy is projected to achieve a 7% growth rate in fiscal year 2025, marking the fourth year of post-pandemic growth. The economy has been driven by resilient domestic demand, and India can aspire to become a $7 trillion economy by 2030.

Domestic demand resilience will help India carry forward the growth momentum in FY25 as the world prepares for a soft landing, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday, noting that the Indian economy will grow 6.5% compared with the 6.3% projected earlier.

 

The Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) has made plans for creation of cold storages, food processing plants, dry warehousing on vacant land and godown compartments across the country on public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

 

According to a report, CWC has identified various locations as potential sites to set up these projects as these locations already have CWC facilities which can be converted, partially or fully, into cold storages for the perishable commodities.

 

The aim was to reduce the time period of commissioning of a project, which was a tedious process.

 

The report further reveals that the private entity will be asked to design, renovate, finance, construct (new or retrofitting), operate and maintain cold storage, processing plants and so on.

 

And, the facility will be transferred by CWC after the concession period.