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21 Dec, 2023 News Image AP government, Quality Council of India ink pact to transform agri sector.
The Quality Council of India (QCI) and the State government have entered into an MoU to transform the agriculture sector at the Andhra Pradesh Gunvatta Sankalp event held in Vijayawada on Tuesday.
 
As part of the collaboration, the QCI will provide extensive technical support to agriculture and allied sectors, fuelling AP’s journey towards Viksit Bharat being built on quality and sustainability.  
 
Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy, QCI Chairperson Jaxay Shah, Special Chief Secretary Gopal Krishna Dwivedi, and A Raj, CEO of the National Board for Quality Promotion, QCI, participated in the programme. On the occasion, Kakani launched the QCI IndGAP Portal and presented IndGAP certificates to selected farmers belonging to different districts of the State.
 
Under the strategic partnership, the QCI will lend its expertise in developing and designing a robust conformity assessment framework for the State’s agriculture sector. The framework will establish quality standards and ensure adherence to best practices throughout the value chain, from farm to fork.
 
It will provide crucial training programmes for stakeholders at all levels, empowering farmers, cooperatives, industry players, and government officials with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate the quality ecosystem effectively.
 
Kakani said, 'We are delighted to join hands with the QCI in the transformative initiative. Their expertise and support will be invaluable in our vision to make Andhra Pradesh a leader in quality agriculture. Together, we will build a quality ecosystem at the grassroots level for all the stakeholders associated with agriculture and its allied sectors, including farmers.'
 
Jaxay Shah asserted that the Quality Council of India will actively collaborate with the government institutions and agricultural universities in Andhra Pradesh to empower the youth and provide them with an opportunity to contribute in building a holistic quality ecosystem for Viksit Bharat in its Gaurav Kaal.

 Source:  newindianexpress.com
21 Dec, 2023 News Image Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal holds bilateral meeting with Minister for Trade of New Zealand Hon. Todd McClay.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal held a bilateral meeting yesterday at New Delhi with the esteemed Minister for Trade of New Zealand, Hon. Todd McClay. The meeting was aimed at strengthening the trade relations between India and New Zealand and exploring opportunities for mutual growth and cooperation.
 
Minister Goyal and Minister McClay recognized the importance of trade facilitation and discussed measures to streamline trade processes, reduce trade barriers, and promote a more conducive environment for businesses and investors from both nations. In this context, the Trade Minister of New Zealand appreciated the efforts made by India to sort out the issue related to export of wooden logs to India. He also commended India’s Presidency of G20 and the outcomes thereof, which are significant milestones as it seeks to find practical global solutions for the benefit of all.  
 
Both the Ministers acknowledged the longstanding friendly relations between the two countries built on the foundation of mutual trust and respect and expressed their commitment to further enhancing bilateral trade, investment, and economic cooperation. They highlighted the need to deepen engagement in sectors such as agriculture, forestry, pharma, connectivity, education and tourism.
 
Ministers acknowledged the strong step-up in engagement between businesses in the two countries, and the desirability of ensuring this provides impetus to the Government-to-Government dialogue. The importance of the annual meeting of the Joint Trade Committee (JTC), established under the 1986 India-New Zealand Trade Agreement, and regular engagement at a senior level was also acknowledged. Ministers agreed that both sides should meet on a regular basis, as convenient, for bilateral discussions on trade and investment issues and co-operative activities.
 
In committing to strengthen the trade and economic relationship, Ministers expressed the need to increase engagement between both the countries under a collaborative approach that engages officials from across relevant departments and the private sector, wherever appropriate. The broad and informal engagements by creating working groups on specific areas of mutual interest are aimed at fresh ideas for new, innovative and productive approaches for economic partnership between both the countries. They emphasized that new initiatives should also focus on encouraging, facilitating and coordinating collaboration of technology and expertise for genuine mutual benefit and that the opportunities in each other’s markets, which is of interest to businesses of both the countries should be explored.
 
Furthermore, the Ministers exchanged views on global trade dynamics and reaffirmed their support for a rules-based, transparent, and inclusive multilateral trading system. They also briefly discussed issues related to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC) and assured each other of co-operation and mutual understanding for a positive approach to reach a decision on the long standing issue of Public Stock Holding (PSH) during MC13.
 
Both Ministers expressed optimism about the potential for deeper cooperation and reiterated their commitment to continuing constructive dialogue to further strengthen the bilateral relationship. The meeting concluded on a positive note, with a mutual understanding to continue working closely towards expanding the economic partnership for the benefit of both countries.

 Source:  pib.gov.in
21 Dec, 2023 News Image India negotiating trade pact with EU, UK, Sri Lanka, Peru.
India is negotiating free trade agreements with the European Union (EU), the UK, Sri Lanka, and Peru, according to a year-end review statement of the commerce ministry. India-European Union (EU) free trade agreement negotiations were formally re-launched on June 17 2022.
 
'Negotiations cover 23 policy areas/chapters. Six rounds of negotiations have been held till October 2023,' the ministry said.
 
With the UK, 13 rounds of talks have been completed and the next round will take place in January 2024.
 
'India-Sri Lanka Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ECTA) negotiations are ongoing with the 12th round of negotiations conducted from 30th October to 1st November 2023 in Colombo,' it said.
 
It added that both sides also agreed to continue discussions on matters, including apparel quotas and pharmaceutical procurement.
 
With Peru, it said discussions on various chapters, including rules of origin, trade in goods, trade facilitation, sanitary, and phytosanitary measures were undertaken during this special round of talks.

 Source:  economictimes.indiatimes.com
21 Dec, 2023 News Image India s rabi harvest will be good, says Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda.
The Indian government is hopeful of a good harvest of rabi crops this season (July 2023- June 2024) and is in touch with States to reduce the deficit in sowing areas of some key crops, particularly wheat, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Arjun Munda has said.
 
Speaking to business line, the minister said: 'We have been asking States to make sure that no sowing deficit happens in wheat and other rabi crops and farmers get all the requisite help in the planting operation. I am quite hopeful of a good rabi harvest this year.'
 
He said the Centre has been closely watching the situation in all the States, including Karnataka where water is not available for irrigation and Tamil Nadu which has been affected by Cyclone Michaung two weeks ago and a heavy downpour in southern districts this week.
 
Overall area down
Major winter crops-producing States have already informed that there is no concern about wheat acreage as during the ongoing season sowing in over 92 per cent of the normal area of 307.32 lakh hectares (lh) has been completed as of December 15. Latest data show that wheat acreage has reached 284.15 lh compared with 293.01 lh a year ago, which is lower by 3 per cent. Last year, the total area under wheat was 343.23 lh, marginally higher than 2021.
 
Area sown under all rabi crops during 2023 has reached 567.04 lh until December 15, which is nearly 90 per cent of the normal area. Though it is still down by 3 per cent from 587.33 lh during the corresponding period of last year, the gap has been narrowed as until December 1 the deficit was 5 per cent.
 
Rabi pulses acreage has reached 128.54 lh compared with 139.98 lh, down by 8 per cent as both lentil (masur) and gram (chana) acreage dropped. Higher sowing of mustard has helped the overall oilseed sowing look comfortable at 99.11 lh, up from 98.08 lh year-ago. In coarse cereals, the sowing area has reached 43.61 lh, up by less than 1 per cent from 43.37 lh.
 
El Nino impact
India is one of the countries where the agriculture sector has been impacted by the active El Nino weather pattern. According to the National Centres for Environmental Information, a unit of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, at least 26 per cent of the country is in the grips of drought until November-end.
 
El Nino resulted in the South-West monsoon being deficient with August proving to be one of the driest periods in 120 years. Due to the warm ocean weather phenomenon, rains during October and November were also affected.
 
According to India Meteorological Department, at least 44 per cent of the 713 districts from where data has been received are rain deficient. The weather pattern, due to climate change, has resulted in the water storage situation in 150 major reservoirs dropping below the last 10 years’ average.
 
At least 20 per cent of the storages have levels below 40 per cent of their capacity with 11 States having water below normal. This, it is feared, could affect irrigation for rabi crops, particularly in States such as Maharashtra and Karnataka.

 Source:  thehindubusinessline.com
21 Dec, 2023 News Image Government takes various export promotion initiatives like New Foreign Trade Policy, extension of Interest Equalization Scheme on pre and post shipment rupee export credit, etc.
Government has taken the following export promotion initiatives:-
 
i New Foreign Trade Policy was launched on 31st March, 2023 and it came into effect from 1st  April, 2023.
 
ii Interest Equalization Scheme on pre and post shipment rupee export credit has also been  extended upto 30-06-2024 with additional allocation of Rs. 2500 crores.
 
iii Assistance provided through several schemes to promote exports, namely, Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) and Market Access Initiatives (MAI) Scheme. 
 
iv Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) Scheme to promote labour oriented sector export has been implemented since 07.03.2019.
 
v Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme has been implemented since 01.01.2021. With effect from 15.12.2022, uncovered sectors like pharmaceuticals, organic and inorganic chemicals and article of iron and steel has been covered under RoDTEP. Similarly, anomalies in 432 tariff lines have been addressed and the corrected rates have been implemented with effect from 16.01.2023.
 
vi Common Digital Platform for Certificate of Origin has been launched to facilitate trade and increase Free Trade Agreement (FTA) utilization by exporters.
 
vii Districts as Export Hubs initiative has been launched by identifying products with export potential in each district, addressing bottlenecks for exporting these products and supporting local exporters/manufacturers to generate employment in the district.
 
viii Active role of Indian missions abroad towards promoting India’s trade, tourism, technology and investment goals has been enhanced.
 
ix Regular monitoring of export performance with Commercial Missions abroad, Export Promotion Councils, Commodity Boards/ Authorities and Industry Associations and taking corrective measures from time to time.
 
Following measures have been taken by the Government to maximize the growth of domestic markets and to expand its reach globally;-
 
i.          Pradhan MantriGati Shakti
 
ii.         National Logistics Policy
 
iii.        National Industrial Corridor Development Programme
 
iv.        GIS enabled Land Bank- India Industrial Land Bank (IILB)
 
v.         Industrial Park Rating System (IPRS)
 
vi.        Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI)
 
vii.       Make In India
 
viii.      Startup India
 
ix.        One District One Product
 
x.         National Single Window System
 
A new Chapter has been introduced within the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), 2023 that aims to promote e-Commerce exports by bringing such exporters under the ambit of various export promotion schemes of the Government. In line with the special emphasis laid in the FTP 2023 on e-commerce exports, the outreach events are being held in the districts under Districts as Export hubs initiative with focus on promoting e-commerce exports of the identified goods from the districts in collaboration with various stakeholders including the e-commerce platforms, various concerned central and state government departments such as the Department of Posts, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Banks, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Export Promotion Councils, Local Trade Associations/Chambers of Commerce, District Industries Centers, etc.
 
This information has been provided by the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Smt Anupriya Patel in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

 Source:  pib.gov.in
20 Dec, 2023 News Image India s lentils output may rise on higher yield, says trade.
The production of masur (lentils) will likely increase this crop year (July 2023-June 2024) with favourable weather supporting the crop despite the acreage trailing marginally till mid-December compared with the year-ago period.
 
The India Pulse and Grains Association (IPGA), in its latest market update, said the forthcoming domestic masur crop is projected to have higher yields due to favourable weather conditions in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the key producing States. The upcoming crop period of December-January is crucial for plant growth and the yield potential hinges on the soil moisture availability. 'If nothing goes wrong on the weather front, we should have a crop of 16.5-17 lakh tonnes, higher than last year’s 15.5 lakh tonnes,' said Bimal Kothari, Chairman, IPGA.
 
Sowing down a tad
At the rabi outlook webinar of Friday, Manek Gupta, Managing Director, Viterra India Pvt Ltd, said crop conditions in most growing areas were pretty good and that the expectation was yields of lentils may be higher and the crop could be higher by 5-10 per cent this year. 'We can look at crop of 16.5 lakh tonnes or in that vicinity,' he said.
 
Per the Agriculture Ministry data, sowing of lentils has taken place on 16.75 lakh hectares (lh) as of December 15, marginally lower than the same period last year’s 16.84 lh.
 
'The expected acreage this year is 18.5-19 lh, almost similar to last year. Farmers have received healthy prices and the minimum support price has been increased by 10 per cent. All the signals have gone to the farmers and that they should be planting more,' Gupta said.
 
Higher MSP
The Government has increased the MSP of lentils to ?6,425 per quintal for the rabi marketing season 2023-24, up from the previous year’s ?6,000. However, the current prices are ruling around ?5,800-5,900 levels. 'There is 3.5 months for harvest. We really need to see how prices will be move between now and the harvest window,' he said.
 
The Government has bought almost half a million tonnes of lentils from the trade. According to the estimates, the government is holding stocks of 6.5 lakh tonnes of lentils. From a supply and price perspective, the government will be an important player in the lentils market, Gupta said. 'Last year, the government bought 1.5 lakh tonnes from the farmers and this year they will probably buy more considering how much lower the price is compared to the MSP,' he said.
 
Rahul Chauhan of Igrain India also said that the lentils crop condition is good and that we can see a production of over 14 lakh tonnes. Due to the huge increase in imports of lentils and also due to last year’s good crop, the market is range-bound, Chauhan said.
 
Kothari said the lentils imports this year have been more than a million tonnes. The monthly consumption of lentils is about 2 lakh tonnes, Kothari said, adding that the supply situation was comfortable.

 Source:  thehindubusinessline.com
20 Dec, 2023 News Image Stabilizing Agricultural output.
The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) is implementing various schemes namely National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Mission for Integrated Development of  Horticulture  (MIDH),  Rashtriya  Krishi  Vikas Yojana (RKVY), National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) etc. for increasing Production, Productivity and minimizing risks associated with climatic variability ensuring sustainable agricultural production. Concerted efforts by Central Government and states has resulted in record foodgrains production of 329.69 million tonnes during 2022-23 (Final Estimates of DES). The scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) also ensure providing financial protection to the farmers against crop loss due to natural disasters, encouraging them to adopt and implement modern agricultural practices. Farmers with crop loss of 33% and above due to natural calamities also avail input subsidy as per NDRF/SDRF norms.
 
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), launched a flagship network project ‘National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture’ (NICRA) in 2011 to enhance the resilience of agriculture sector against climate change. The project aims to develop and promote climate resilient agriculture to address vulnerable areas of the country and help the districts and regions to cope up with extreme weather conditions like droughts, floods, frost, heat waves etc. Further to enhance the resilience of agricultural sector against the increasing unpredictability of monsoon pattern, ICAR has released 2380 high yielding varieties/ hybrids of field crops for different agro-climatic conditions during 2014 to 2023 including 240 less water requiring/drought/moisture stress/water stress tolerant comprising 128 of cereals, 22 of oilseeds, 34 of pulses, 9 of fibre crops and 29 of sugar crops. Besides, a total of 72 flood/submergence/water logging tolerant field crop varieties including 46 of rice, 2 of maize, 1 of sorghum, 5 of Jute, 1 of rice bean and 17 of sugarcane have been developed. In addition to above, 42 heat stress/high temp tolerant, 17 of cold/frost/winter chilling/low temp tolerant varieties of different field crops have also been developed. The above specific crop varieties are being promoted for cultivation in the country under different agro-climatic conditions.
 
Indian Council for Agricultural Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (ICAR-CRIDA) also develops the District Agriculture Contingency Plan (DACP) for 650 districts to mitigate the impact of weather related challenges and circulates to all State Agriculture Departments. The plan contains suitable technology interventions. The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare also issues advisory to the States for creating awareness campaign and to implement contingency plan as per local need.
 
Central Water Commission (CWC) monitors live storage status of 150 important reservoirs in the country and issues weekly bulletin on every Thursday. Weekly Bulletin is shared with the Water Resource (WR) Departments of concerned states and also uploaded on the CWC website. This weekly bulletin is also shared with Inter Ministerial Crop Weather Watch Group (CWWG) to review the status of Reservoir Storage in the country to assess agricultural activities and to suggest remedial measures to states in case of distress situation. Whenever the percentage of departure of current storage of all reservoirs under CWC monitoring in a state falls below 80% of Normal (Average Storage of last Ten years), Advisory is issued to the State Government for judicious use of available water.
 
This information was given by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Arjun Munda in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

 Source:  pib.gov.in
20 Dec, 2023 News Image Financial Assistance for Setting up of Cold Storages.
The State/UT-wise details of the financial assistance provided for setting up of cold storages for perishable horticultural produce during last five years are at Annexure-I.
 
As per the study conducted by NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS) in 2015 on 'All India Cold-chain Infrastructure Capacity (AICIC-2015)', required capacity of cold storages at that time was 351.00 lakh MT against the existing capacity of 318.23 lakh MT in 2014. As per available information, currently, there are 8653 cold storages in the country with the capacity of 394.17 lakh MT. The State/UT-wise details of Cold Storages are at Annexure - II.
 
Government is implementing various schemes under which financial assistance is available for setting up of cold storage for perishable horticultural produce throughout the country. Though, to avoid damage to the agriculture/horticulture produce, besides Cold Storage, financial assistance is also provided for setting up of Pre-cooling Unit, Cold Room, Pack Houses, Integrated Pack House, Preservation unit, Reefer Transport, Ripening Chamber etc. under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH). The components are demand/entrepreneur driven for which Government assistance in the form of credit linked back ended subsidy is available at the rate of 35% of the project cost in general areas and at the rate of 50% of the project cost in hilly and scheduled areas through respective State Horticulture Missions (SHMs).
 
This information was given by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Arjun Munda in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

 Source:  pib.gov.in
20 Dec, 2023 News Image Details of One District One Product Brands.
As part of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) is implementing a centrally sponsored 'PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme' for providing financial, technical and business support for setting up / upgradation of micro food processing enterprises in the country. The scheme is operational for a period of five years from 2020-21 to 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs. 10,000 Crore. Scheme primarily adopts One District One Product (ODOP) approach to reap the benefit of scale in terms of procurement of inputs, availing common services and marketing of products. It provides the framework for value chain development and alignment of support infrastructure.
 
The scheme aims to enhance the competitiveness of existing individual micro-enterprises in the unorganized segment of the food processing industry and promote formalization of the sector.
 
The objectives of the scheme are to build capacity of micro enterprises through increased access to credit, integration with organized supply chain by strengthening branding and marketing, increased access to common services, strengthening of institutions, research & training in the food processing sector.
 
Credit linked subsidy has been sanctioned to 12,024 numbers of micro food processing units based on ODOP in the country under PM Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme, out of which 109 units are in Rajasthan, 756 units are in Uttar Pradesh, 69 units are in Gujarat and 240 units are in Odisha.
 
The growth of ODOP units and other groups under the PMFME scheme is assessed and monitored through regular follow up/review meetings with States/UTs, lending banks, concerned Ministries/Departments and other stakeholders. Handholding support is also provided to beneficiaries under the PMFME Scheme.
 
Under Branding and Marketing component of the PMFME Scheme, support is provided to FPOs (Farmer Producer Organizations)/ Self-Help Groups (SHGs) / Cooperatives or Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of ODOP based micro food processing enterprises for Market Study and Product Standardization, Packaging Material, Quality Control and food safety adherence for consumer retail sales, Warehousing and Storage Rentals, Marketing and Promotion. Till 30th November, 2023, 14 ODOP brands have been launched in the country as per the details at Annexure-I. 
 
The details of financial support provided to various beneficiaries in Pali, Deoria, Jhansi, Pratapgarh, Navsari and Balasore Parliamentary Constituencies under the PMFME Scheme is as at Annexure-II.
 
Under Capacity Building component of PMFME Scheme, training is being provided on 'entrepreneurship development' and 'food processing' to the beneficiaries of credit linked subsidy which includes FPOs/SHGs/Cooperatives etc.
 
Till 30th November 2023, 54,767 beneficiaries have been trained including members of FPOs/SHGs/Cooperatives.

ANNEXURE-I

Details of ODOP Brands launched under PMFME Scheme

Sl.No

State/UT

Product

Brand

Brand Ownership

1

Bihar

Makhana (Darbhanga, Madhubani)

Makhana King

NAFED

2

Delhi

Bakery Products (West Delhi)

Dilli Bakes

NAFED

3

UP

Multi Flora Honey (Saharanpur)

Madhu Mantra

NAFED

4

Rajasthan

Coriander Powder (Kota)

Cori Gold

NAFED

5

J&K

Lal Mirch Powder (Kulgam)

Kashmiri Mantra

NAFED

6

Haryana

Amla Juice (Gurugram)

Amrit Phal

NAFED

7

Maharashtra

Raagi Flour (Thane)

Somdana

NAFED

8

Uttar Pradesh

Multi Flora Honey & Lemon Honey (Saharanpur)

Madhurmithas

NAFED

9

Punjab

Mango Pickle (Amritsar)

Mixed Pickle

Pind Se

NAFED

10

Meghalaya

Spicy Dried Pineapple (Ri Bhoi)

Anaras

NAFED

11

Punjab

Jaggery, Pickle and Murraba (Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Fatehgarh Sahib and SAS Nagar)

Aasna (SPV)

Punjab Agro Unati Grameen Marketing Pvt. Ltd. (PAGMARK)

12

Maharashtra

Raagi (Nandurbar and Thane), Sorghum (Solapur) and Tomato (Pune and Latur)

Bhimthadi

 (SHG)

Bhimthadi Foundation

13

Karnataka

Millet based products (Davanagere)

Seemi

Davanagere & Chitradurgadistricts Organic Farmers Cooperative Federation (DCOFCF)

14

Karnataka

Red gram based products (Kalaburgi)

Bhima

Karnataka State Pulses Abhivrudhi Mandali Ltd.

 

ANNEXURE-II

Details of financial support provided to various beneficiaries in Pali, Deoria, Jhansi, Pratapgarh, Navsari and Balasore Parliamentary Constituencies under the PMFME Scheme

Sl.No

Parliamentary Constituencies

District

Loan sanctioned for Credit linked subsidy to beneficiaries

Seed capital sanctioned to SHG members

No .of beneficiaries

Amount

(Rs. in crores)

No. of SHG Members

Amount

(Rs. in crores)

1

Pali

Pali

10

1.80

164

0.80

 

 

Jodhpur

38

6.40

55

0.21

 

 

Total

48

8.20

219

1.01

 

2

Deoria

Kushinagar

90

9.20

8

0.03

 

 

Deoria

34

2.01

160

0.55

 

 

Total

124

11.21

168

0.58

 

3

Jhansi

Jhansi

56

6.60

22

0.08

 

 

Lalitpur

16

1.20

42

0.16

 

 

Total

72

7.80

64

0.24

 

4

Pratapgarh

Pratapgarh

97

12.70

109

0.37

 

5

Navsari

Navsari

8

0.85

11

0.01

 

 

Surat

40

11.10

83

0.13

 

 

Total

48

11.95

94

0.14

 

6

Balasore

Mayurbhani

6

0.82

465

0.99

 

 

Balasore

48

3.30

1031

3.70

 

 

Total

54

4.12

1496

4.69

 

This information was given by the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Km. Shobha Karandlaje in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

 


 Source:  pib.gov.in
20 Dec, 2023 News Image We are unique in several agricultural products: Dir Agr.
Director of Agriculture Kashmir Chowdhury Mohammad Iqba Tuesday inaugurated a capacity-building programme on branding and packaging of APEDA scheduled products at Agriculture Complex Lalmandi.
The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) organized the event. The event was attended by worthy Director Agriculture Kashmir Chowdhury Mohammad Iqbal, Joint Director Agriculture Kashmir (Inputs) Tabassum Naz, Joint Director Agriculture Extension G.M Dhobi, Deputy Director Central Wahid ur Rehman, Deputy Director HPM Ms Nahid, Representatives of APEDA madam Fatima and other senior officers of the department.
Speaking on the occasion Director Agriculture highlighted the importance of value addition and marketing strategies of agricultural and processed products at national and international level.
Director Agriculture said that because of our special agro climatic conditions we are unique in many agricultural products. He asked the participants to shift their focus towards the processing and value addition of Agriculture products. He appreciated APEDA for organizing such events and said that such events provide an opportunity to the agri-entrepreneurs for the exchange of ideas.
He impressed upon the APEDA to organize more such programmes in coming times so that more and more educated youth could be attracted towards this initiative.

 Source:  brighterkashmir.com