Horticulture Minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra today met a high-level delegation from Israel to explore opportunities for collaboration in modern agricultural technologies.

 

During the meeting with Hadas Bakst, Political Domestic Advisor, Embassy of Israel, Jauramajra said rapid depletion of underground water needed urgent attention. He asked the delegation to provide high-yielding varieties requiring less water.

West Bengal is working towards co-ordinating with researchers and experts from foreign countries, including the US, Iran, Nepal and Bhutan, to tackle the problem of drastic fall in production of the famous Darjeeling oranges due to the Dieback disease.

 

Darjeeling mandarin oranges are grown only in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts of West Bengal. Dieback disease has continuously been causing a decrease in the production of this variety of oranges every year.

 

'We are organising a workshop in Kalimpong on February 3 and 4 on mandarin oranges. In the workshops researchers and experts from foreign countries will join. While experts from Nepal and Bhutan will join physically, two top experts from Florida, USA, will participate in the workshop virtually. One expert from Iran is also joining the event virtually,' Directorate of Cinchona and other Medicinal Plant’s director Samuel Rai told businessline.

 

Learning the tricks

The Directorate of Cinchona and other Medicinal Plant, situated in Mangpoo, is under West Bengal’s Department of Food Processing Industries and Horticulture.

 

'Same kind of mandarin oranges are grown in Darjeeling, Sikkim, Nepal and Bhutan. And we all have the severe problem of Dieback disease. But we don’t have any co-ordination with any of the institutes. So, we don’t know how they are managing it. The idea of having this workshop is to learn how others are managing it. If their management techniques are good and work for us, then we would like to take their technologies to our farmers,' Rai said.

 

Around 10,000 farmers are engaged in the cultivation of mandarin oranges in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts.

 

Over the years, the total area under cultivation of Darjeeling mandarin oranges has declined in the State due to the Dieback disease. Production of this variety of oranges has been witnessing a fall also due to pest attacks, shortage of quality saplings and reduction in fertility of the soil, among others.

 

The State Government has said it would be taking necessary measures to arrest the fall in production of the famous Darjeeling oranges.

 

In order to address the issue, Directorate of Cinchona and other Medicinal Plant is planning to produce quality disease-free planting materials. Government officials are talking to the farmers for rejuvenation of existing orange orchards.

To break the impasse on public stockholding (PSH) for food security at the WTO–a top issue on India’s agenda for the 13th Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi next month– India could give an undertaking that it will not export from its public stock in return for a permanent solution that gives it flexibility on its MSP programmes, research body Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has suggested.

 

'They (the US and some others) argue that India has become the largest rice exporter on account of its high price support through MSP. India may undertake not to export rice commercially from its PSH stock. India should get a clean, permanent solution to the public stockholding issue (in return),' per a GTRI brief on `breaking the impasse at the WTO on the PSH programme’. 

 

As rice production is water-intensive and cost of production is high, India will not suffer economically if its rice export declines, the paper argued.

 

India, which has on several occasions laid down that it did not export from its PSH stock, is unlikely to have any problem in adhering to an undertaking on the same, in exchange for a permanent solution.

 

Several developing countries, including members of  the G33 group, of which India is a part, the ACP group and the African Group, have called for a permanent solution to the problem of public stock holding as the Agreement on Agriculture does not allow them to provide food security subsidies, for programmes such as the MSP, beyond 10 per cent of production value.

 

Permanent solution

The Bali Ministerial decision of 2013 allowed developing countries a peace clause invoking which they can breach the subsidy limit without attracting legal action from other members. But India and the others want a permanent solution to the issue. This would ensure that the provision gets enshrined in the WTO rules and the need for onerous notifications and limiting the MSP coverage to only some crops can be relaxed.

 

'Reaching an agreement on PSH is difficult as developed countries led by the US are not in favour even though it is not a trade but livelihood issue,' the note pointed out indicating that India needed to play its cards well. 

 

It further suggested that India could consider adjusting its farm policy to categorise its support programmes under the ‘blue box’ subsidies (subsidies that come with the provision of limiting production). Blue box subsidies come with no limits on spending. 'This would involve setting higher production targets for specific crops and restricting support to 75 per cent of the output. While capping production could be politically sensitive, setting ambitious targets could overcome any resistance,' the note suggested.

The Philippines is poised to maintain its status as the top global rice importer in 2024, according to the latest insights from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

 

The US agency’s projections indicate a record increase in rice procurement, with the country expected to import 3.8 million metric tons this year.

 

The USDA’s Economic Research Service highlights the Philippines outpacing major importers like China, Indonesia, the European Union, Nigeria, and Iraq.

 

Despite a marginal decline in global rice trade to 52.2 million metric tons from the previous year’s 52.4 million metric tons, the Philippines is likely to boost its rice imports, said the USDA. Its report attributes this trend to export bans imposed by India between 2022 and 2023.

 

The USDA publication also pointed out that since 2008, the Philippines bought larger volumes of rice as price escalated, and this year, it is waiting for prices to decrease.

 

Contributing to the global decline in rice imports in 2024 are Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, North Korea, Singapore, Tanzania, Togo, and Vietnam.

 

Conversely, Asian countries—including China, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines—are anticipated to increase their rice purchases, said the USDA report.

 

Other nations expected to intensify their rice procurement include Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Ethiopia, Iran, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Mexico, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Yemen.

 

Contradicting the USDA report, Agriculture Undersecretary Roger V. Navarro affirms that the Philippines is poised to maintain an ample rice supply until the impending harvest season in March, attributing this assurance to the influx of incoming rice imports and the bountiful yields from recent farmers’ harvests.

 

In 2021, the Philippines witnessed a 5.9 percent decrease in rice imports, totaling 3.6 million metric tons compared to the previous year’s 3.8 million metric tons, as reported by the Bureau of Plant Industry. Vietnam emerged as the primary source, contributing 3 million metric tons, while Thailand and Myanmar added 344,514.10 metric tons and 151,183.00 metric tons, respectively.

 

As of January 11, 2024, the Philippines has already imported 56,090.63 metric tons, primarily from Vietnam, its primary rice supplier in recent years. Responding to the dry spell caused by the El Niño phenomenon, the Department of Agriculture (DA) has plans to import nearly 500,000 metric tons of rice by February to bolster local inventory.

 

Taiwan has already shipped 20,000 bags of rice (equivalent to 1,000 metric tons) before Christmas, and India is set to provide 75,000 metric tons despite its export ban on non-basmati white rice.

 

All rice imports in the Philippines are subject to a 35-percent tariff rate until the end of 2024, in accordance with Executive Order No. 50 signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last month.

Amidst the congregation of eminent horticulturists from India, US and Australia, a two-day Indo-US Workshop on ‘Horticultural Crops’ kicked off at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today.

 

Delegates from across India and abroad attended the inaugural ceremony, which was organised as a part of a cooperative venture between PAU and California State University (CSU), Fresno, US.

 

Dr Sabir Singh Gosal, vice-chancellor, highlighted the pivotal role played by PAU in boosting horticulture in Punjab. 'With horticultural crops touching 28.04 million hectares of area in 2021-22, Punjab has seen a massive jump in the area under fruit, vegetable and flower crops in three decades,' he stated.

 

Dr Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, president, CSU, said that California produces 25 per cent of the US’s food, and has carved a niche in production of grapes, besides being successful in farm mechanisation. The keynote address was delivered by Dr Gurreet Brar.

African nations are among those countries that import Indian products in large quantities, especially from Punjab. In order to strengthen these ties and to streamline all processes, Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU) plans to establish an Africa desk here.

 

CICU president Upkar Singh said a meeting to discuss this was held with an African delegation that consisted Monyadiwa Masilo (Botswana), Rabiatou Arzika Mamadou (Niger), Dr Fetchima Daddy Goah (Niger), Boureima Amadou Wankoye, vice president, Chamber De Commerce ET D’Industrie DU (Niger), Deborah Asabe Ashigye, deputy director, Raw Materials Research and Development Council (Nigeria), Chinenye Anthonia Eneh (Nigeria) and Dr Kemji Benaiah Ajoku (Nigeria).

 

It was agreed that efforts must be made to double India’s exports to Africa over the next three years. African markets are now also looking to import fruit from Punjab, he said. 'Up to 800 20-foot containers of various products are sent to Africa from Punjab,' added Ahuja. 

 

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s two-day visit to Iran, last week, was a crucially timed diplomatic engagement. The visit besides discussing the regional security situation was also aimed at further strengthening the political, economic and cultural aspects of the bilateral relations.

 

As the crisis in the Red Sea spurred by the Israel-Hamas war escalates, India has begun a diplomatic outreach to crucial regional players to secure the country's trade and strategic interests.

 

The outreach treads a line of neutrality in the conflict between the Western powers and the Islamic world wherein India has not joined the US-led multinational naval coalition in the Red Sea while it remains critical of the Houthis' violence.

 

In this backdrop, Jaishankar's recent visit to Tehran was aimed to express India's concerns on the increasing attacks by the allegedly

 

Iran-backed Houthis in the Red Sea, which he shared with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.

 

MEA spokesperson said the issue of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the violence and destabilisation there, were among the things that were discussed, as India is 'deeply concerned about the whole situation'.

 

In the last weeks, both the US and the UK have launched air strikes targeting the Houthi positions in Yemen. On its part, India has been closely monitoring the unfolding situation in the Red Sea.

 

The issue also figured in a phone conversation between Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on 11 January.

 

Countries like India are concerned that the conflict may impact most of Asian trade with Europe. This may lead to a supply chain restructuring, with neighbouring countries at higher costs.

 

Iran supposedly has close links with the Houthi militia in Yemen which have launched a series of attacks on shipping vessels plying the Red Sea route since mid-November.

 

A key motivation for Jaishankar's visit was the recent attacks on

 

several India-linked shipping vessels.

 

Terming the attacks on ships in the vicinity of India as a matter of 'grave concern' to the international community, Jaishankar said in Tehran that such threats have a direct bearing on India's energy and economic interest as he underlined that this 'fraught situation' is not to the benefit of any party.

 

'There has also recently been a perceptible increase in threats to the safety of maritime commercial traffic in this important part of the Indian Ocean,' he said in a joint press statement after wide-ranging talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian.

 

He stressed that it's important that this issue be 'speedily addressed', in an apparent reference to the targeting of merchant vessels in the Red Sea - one of the busiest trade routes - by Iranian-backed Yemen's Houthi rebels amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

 

Economic Aspects

 

Jaishankar also met Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash and held a detailed and productive discussion on establishing a long-term cooperation framework on the strategically vital Chabahar Port.

 

During the visit, on 15 January, India and Iran signed an agreement on the further development of the Chabahar Port.

 

Located in Sistan-Balochistan province on Iran's southern coast, the Chabahar Port is being developed jointly by India and Iran to boost connectivity and trade ties.

 

India has been pushing for the port project to boost regional trade,

 

especially for its connectivity to Afghanistan.

 

Earlier, Jaishankar had projected the Chabahar Port as a 'key regional transit hub' at a connectivity conference in Tashkent in 2021.

 

The port is also seen as a key hub for the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) project.

 

The INSTC project is a 7,200-km-long multimode transport project for moving freight between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.

 

Cultural Links

 

In a significant move to deepen cultural ties, Jaishankar announced that the government of India has decided to include Farsi (Persian) as one of the nine classical languages in India under the New Education Policy.

 

'The government of India has decided to include Farsi as one of the nine classical languages of India in our New Education Policy,' said Jaishankar, highlighting the cultural, literary, and linguistic connections between Iran and India.

 

Jaishankar, made the above remarks during a joint press joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart, H Amirabdollahian on January 15.

 

Indian Outreach

 

Indian foreign minister's recent visit to Iran was part of the diplomatic efforts that have been stepped up to secure India's interests regionally.

 

Though, the Shiite population in India is quite small compared to the Sunni Muslims, yet the Indian government has always been able to build and balance its relationship with Iran and Saudi Arabia, both seen as the leaders of the Shia and Sunni communities globally.

 

This diplomatic balancing has always worked to India's advantage, besides giving it a regional clout.

 

At a regional level India has always accorded a significant priority to its ties with Iran.

 

As the country apart from offering it a gateway to the central Asian

 

republics and also Afghanistan, has also been a reliable oil supplier to India, and that too on a favourable rupee payment basis.

 

Therefore, the issues discussed during the foreign minister's visit also encompassed all aspects of the sustained relationship between India and Iran, as they covered regional security, trade and development and cultural ties.

 

The announcement related to Farsi, was also timed right and was aimed at targeting the Muslim minority in the country.

 

Over the years, Indo-Iran ties have moved ahead, in spite of meddling by other countries and the current diplomatic policy led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, in this regard has not only carried on the old relationship, but the manner in which trade, economic and cultural tries between the two countries have progressed, shows their commitment to build a long-lasting relationship.

The Indian economy is poised to touch USD 5 trillion next financial year - 2024-25 - and capitalise to double to USD 10 trillion by the end of this decade, said Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri.

 

At present, the Indian economy is estimated to be about USD 3.7 trillion.

 

'Lord Ram is blessing us. We are the fifth-largest economy and the fourth-largest stock market... I think that in the next 1-2 years, we will not only be the fourth-largest economy but we will go further ahead,' Puri told on Tuesday.

 

'I was somewhere told that we would be a USD 5 trillion economy by 2028. I told him that there is no need to wait until 2028; it will happen by 2024-25. We will then be a 10 trillion dollar economy by 2030,' Puri, who is also Urban and Housing Affairs Minister, said.

 

Global interest in India, he added, is increasing by the day, be it in digital infrastructure, the automobile market, energy or biofuels.

 

'So, it (the Indian economy) is looking very good,' the minister said.

 

The Indian economy is expected to grow 7.3 per cent in the current financial year 2023-24, remaining the fastest-growing major economy, the National Statistics Office said on January 5. India's economy grew 7.2 per cent in 2022-23 and 8.7 per cent in 2021-22.

 

Lately, India pipped Hong Kong to become the fourth-highest equity market globally, Bloomberg reported. The combined value of shares listed on Indian exchanges reached USD 4.33 trillion as of Monday's close, versus USD 4.29 trillion for Hong Kong, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

 

Firm GDP growth forecasts, inflation at manageable levels, political stability at the central government level and signs that the central bank is done tightening its monetary policy have all contributed to painting a bright picture for the Indian stock market.

 

India's stock market capitalization crossed USD 4 trillion for the first time on December 5, 2023, with about half of that reportedly coming in the past four years. The top three stock markets are those of US, China, and Japan.

 

Cumulatively, the past 12 months have been stellar for investors who parked their money in Indian stocks. Though there has been some turbulence, the calendar year 2023 gave handsome monetary dividends to stock market investors. In 2023 itself, Sensex and Nifty gained 17-18 per cent, on a cumulative basis. They gained a mere three to four per cent each in 2022.

 

Notably, foreign portfolio investors have again trained their sight towards India, becoming net buyers in the country's stock market. In the process, it helped Indian benchmark stock indices taste their all-time highs recently. 

Hailing the trade ties between India and Nigeria, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the relationship between the two nations today is of about USD 13-15 billion worth of trade annually.

 

He added that in this trade partnership, India has committed USD 27-30 billion of investment, making Nigeria a premier economic partner in Africa.

 

Addressing the Nigeria-India Business Council (NIBC) in Abuja, Jaishankar said, 'There are different ways of describing this relationship. But to a business audience and to a policy audience, it is the relationship today of about 13 to 15 billion dollars worth of trade annually, where India has committed somewhere between 27 to 30 billion dollars of investment, where Nigeria is our premier economic partner in Africa.'

 

Speaking on the flourishing trade between the countries, the EAM underlined that India, today provides the basis for a more serious interaction.

 

'I was reminding some folks yesterday, that India’s exports in the year that has just been completed was 766 billion dollars. And I’d surely like, and I’m sure you would surely like, a larger part of that share to come to Nigeria. Because today we are a 4 trillion dollar economy, an economy with a range of capabilities and technologies and experiences and practices, which we perhaps did not have in earlier years, and which really today provide the basis for a more serious interaction,' the EAM went on to say.

 

He also underlined that Banking, insurance, credit guarantees, flight connections, trade settlements, are some of the challenges that should be put on the table, and approached honestly.

 

'I think our primary responsibility is to improve the enabling environment, to look at the kind of problems that I’ve been hearing about in the last two days. Banking, insurance, credit guarantees, flight connections, trade settlements. I think these are challenges today that we should put on the table, approach it very honestly, and look to find constructive, practical solutions,' Jaishankar said.

 

'I’m also very pleased today to see my ministerial colleagues from the Nigerian government, because yesterday I had the honour to meet the Minister for the Blue Economy. And I mention this because, in many ways, if we are to give this relationship more weight, substance and practicality, we should get beyond the world of protocol and diplomacy. Not to look at it in a very narrow sense, but really to get down to business and look at different parts of our economy and of our government and of our policy making and see, where is it that we can build the connect,' he said.

 

'So, even though I’m a Foreign Minister, I urge all of you to really look beyond the foreign policy establishment to build the linkages that will really take our relationship to a new level,' the EAM added.

 

EAM Jaishankar, who was on a visit to Nigeria from January 21-23, concluded his diplomatic trip today.

 

'Concluded my Nigeria visit with an address to the Nigeria-India Business Council (NIBC) today. Investment and trade are at the heart of our partnership,' he wrote on X, as he addressed the NIBC Council in Abuja.

 

'Recognise contribution of those driving it and seeking to take our ties to a higher level. Appreciate the presence of the Ministers of Trade, Budget & Economic Planning, Blue Economy and Steel Development of Nigeria and the Governor of Nasarawa,' he said.

 

Notably, India and Nigeria have traditionally enjoyed close and friendly relations.

 

This was EAM’s first visit to Nigeria, which will further consolidate bilateral relations between the two countries.

 

He also visited the Indian High Commission in Abuja on Monday. There, he unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi and planted a sapling on the premises of the High Commission.

 

Prior to this, he also led the Indian delegation at the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), to be held in Kampala, Uganda. He also met several foreign leaders and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the summit. 

Negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and the four-nation EFTA bloc are at an advanced stage as both sides have reached a shared understanding on key issues, a senior official has said. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

 

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

 

'Following extensive negotiations, a shared understanding has been achieved on key issues during the ministerial meeting. Ongoing efforts are now focused on shaping the convergence that has emerged,' the official said.

 

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

 

Parmelin, in a social media post on X, has said that officials are working around 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 has said.

 

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

 

Negotiations are held on various chapters, including trade in gods, 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.