Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda), which has been helping Assam farmers get international markets for their natural, organic and GI-tagged agriculture products, said the northeast has the potential to lead the country in exports.

 

Several consignments of litchi, pumpkin and Assam lemon (commonly known as kaji nemu in Assamese) were exported by Apeda from the state to different countries.

 

The state agriculture department under the aegis of Apeda held a conference on Friday focusing on the export potential of natural, organic and geographical indications-certified agro-products here. The prime objective was to create an international market link for the farmers or the producers of the region.

 

Agriculture minister Atul Bora hailed the efforts and initiatives taken by Apeda for the promotion of the export of natural and organic agricultural products of Assam as well as other states of the northeast.

 

'This conference is in line with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to promote Indian heritage, especially natural farming across the globe. The cultivation of natural, organic and GI agro-products would reduce the input cost and increase farmers’ income,' Bora said.

 

Apeda chairperson M Angamuthu said the conference will provide an opportunity to the producers and processors of Assam to showcase their products and promote the exports as well as their wholesale and retail sales. 'We aim to create a platform for the exporters to get the products directly from the producer group and the processors. This event will link the producers and processors of Assam and exporters from other parts of the country,' he added.

 

Apeda has also planned to facilitate capacity building to officials of the agriculture department. The selected officials would be sent in batches to Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

 

There are 417 registered GI products in India out of which around 150 GI-tagged products are agricultural and food related. There are 100 registered GI products which fall under the category of Apeda scheduled products.

Hours before his departure to Germany on a two-day visit to attend the G7 Summit as a Special invitee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday evening said that during the sessions of the Summit he will 'be exchanging views with the G7 countries, G7 partner countries and guest international organisations on topical issues such as environment, energy, climate, food security, health, counter-terrorism, gender equality and democracy.' The PM is visiting Schloss Elmau in southern Germany on June 26 and 27 for the summit of the G7, a grouping of the world's seven richest nations.

 

Mr Modi is attending the G7 Summit following an invitation by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The summit is being hosted by Germany in its capacity as the G7 chair.

 

According to official sources, the PM will hold meetings with over 12 world leaders during his visit to Germany and the United Arab Emirates and will have over 15 hectic engagements during his around 60-hour stay in the two nations. He will be speaking at the Summit on Monday and is expected to hold bilateral meetings with US President Joe Biden on both Sunday and Monday.

 

In a statement ahead of his visit, Mr Modi said that he looked forward to meeting leaders of some of the participating G7 and guest countries on the sidelines of the summit.

 

'It will be a pleasure to meet Chancellor Scholz again after the productive India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) last month. In an effort to strengthen international collaboration on important global issues impacting humanity, Germany has also invited other democracies such as Argentina, Indonesia, Senegal and South Africa to the G7 Summit,' Mr Modi said.

 

He added, 'During the sessions of the Summit, I will be exchanging views with the G7 countries, G7 partner countries and guest international organisations on topical issues such as the environment, energy, climate, food security, health, counter-terrorism, gender equality and democracy. I look forward to meeting the leaders of some of the participating G7 and guest countries on the sidelines of the Summit. While in Germany, I also look forward to meeting members of the Indian Diaspora from across Europe, who are contributing immensely to their local economies and also enriching our relations with European countries.'

 

From Germany, Mr Modi will travel to the United Arab Emirates on June 28 to pay his condolences on the passing away of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the former UAE President and ruler of Abu Dhabi.

 

He said, 'On my way back to India, I will make a brief stopover in Abu Dhabi, UAE for a meeting with His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, on June 28 to convey my personal condolences on the passing away of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the former UAE President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi.'

 

The meeting is expected to further strengthen India-UAE strategic ties, especially in the fields of trade and investment.

Prices of Indian rice, both in the domestic and international markets, have shot up 10 per cent in the last five days after Bangladesh slashed import duty and tariffs on rice from 62.5 per cent to 25 per cent prompting Indian traders to make a dash for export deals with the neighbouring nation.

 

On June 22, Bangladesh came up with a notification that allows imports of non-basmati rice till October 31. This is for the first time that Bangladesh has started importing rice from India so early as there is a fear that India might put a ban on rice exports. Generally, Bangladesh starts importing rice in September-October. There is a shortage of staples in Bangladesh as the Russia-Ukraine war and India's ban on wheat exports have caused the drop in wheat imports, while floods have harmed rice cultivation in the country this year.

 

'In the last five days, prices of Indian non-basmati rice have risen to $360 per tonne from $350 per tonne in the global markets. This has happened after the news from Bangladesh came in,' said BV Krishna Rao, president of Rice Exporters Association.

 

Rising wheat prices and declining imports have pushed up flour prices in Bangladesh and put pressure on rice. In addition, early floods, storms and heavy rains have hampered rice yields, sparking fears of further volatility in rice prices.

 

Suraj Agarwal, chief executive officer, Tirupati Agri Trade, said 'Prices of rice have already gone up by 10 per cent and are still rising. Bangladesh generally buys rice from West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In these three states, prices have shot up by 20 per cent for the common variety of rice. The price rise in these three states have also left an impact on prices of rice in other regions where it has gone up by 10 per cent.'

 

Bangladesh imported 13.59 lakh tonnes of rice in FY21. Bangladesh's early buying of non-basmati rice will give a fresh fillip to Indian rice exports. According to the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics data, India had exported non-basmati rice worth USD 6.11 billion in 2021-22 as compared to USD 4.8 billion in FY21.

 

India, the world's biggest rice consumer after China, has a market share of more than 40% of the global rice trade.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has decided to operationalise standards for fortified rice kernels (FRKs) with immediate effect to strengthen the national-level fortification programme in the country.

 

As per the order dated June 23, the food safety authority said that while the draft regulation with regards to standards for FRKs has been framed and notified on May 25, finalising this amendment regulation after stakeholder consultation will take some more time.

 

'Meanwhile, to strengthen the National level fortification programme and its implementation, it has been decided to operationalise the provisions related to FRKs with immediate effect,' it added.

 

What are FRKs?

FRKs are rice-shaped kernels containing vitamins and minerals produced through the extrusion technique. They need to resemble normal rice kernels as closely as possible in terms of aroma, texture and taste.

 

The regulations that have been operationalised specify standards for rice flour which is used in preparation for FRKs. It also specifies standards for the vitamin and mineral premix (VMP), which is a combination of micronutrients in desired proportion ready for use as a fortificant in the manufacturing of FRKs.

 

Vitamins and minerals are added to pulverised milled rice and this mixture is then used to develop FRKs, which are then blended with traditional rice.

 

The standards specify the permissible levels of iron, folic acid and Vitamin B12 for blending ratios of 1:50 and 1:100. Permissible levels of other fortificants such as zinc, Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3 and Vitamin B6 have also been specified.

 

'FRKs shall only be sold for industrial purposes for manufacturing fortified rice. It shall neither be sold in loose form nor to be sold directly to the consumer,' the regulations added.

 

Specify labelling standards

The regulations also specify labelling standards for FRK packages. 'Each package of FRK shall carry a statement on the ratio in which FRK is to be blended with rice kernels ?1:50 or 1:100,' the regulations added.

 

The FRK packages will also need to carry other disclaimers. 'Not to be consumed as an independent product' and 'Not to be construed as a substitute for rice and rice flour' will need to be displayed on the packages, the food safety authority added.

 

Earlier this month, the Department of Food and Public Distribution said that the government plans to cover 291 districts (aspirational and heavy burden) by March 2023 under the rice fortification programme. The distribution of fortified rice through the public distribution system began in April 2022.

 

The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, today visited the Central Institute of Horticulture in Nagaland and inaugurated a farmers workshop and exhibition. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Tomar said that the Central Government and the State Governments are working together for the development of the North East Region including Nagaland.

 

'The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, wants that there should be holistic and balanced development and the benefits of the government's schemes should reach the eligible people including farmers right down to the grassroots level, which will improve their standard of living. The Central Government is dedicated towards this and will continue to do so. For the development of Northeast, the Central Government will continue to walk step by step and shoulder to shoulder with the States. It is necessary to transform agriculture into advanced farming for the benefit of the farmers in the country including the Northeast,' he said.

 

In the programme organized by the Central Institute of Horticulture (Medziphema, Dimapur), the chief guest Shri Tomar said that if the Central and State Governments work together, then its results are bound to be good, and this is what is happening now. Emphasizing on increasing production and productivity, Shri Tomar said that the income of brothers and sisters working in the agriculture sector should also increase, for this they should shift to remunerative crops, connect with technology, bring new technology to the farmers through R&D institutions, the common farmers should get the benefit of the scientific research and government funding should also reach them. 'The Central Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Modi is working closely with the State Governments on all these issues,' he said.

 

Shri Tomar expressed the hope that the farmers of this region will lead a new revolution in the development of horticulture. 'The North-East Region has been a victim of neglect for a long time and due to its remoteness, it became difficult to get the benefits of schemes here, but after becoming the Prime Minister, Shri Modi has constantly paid attention to get enough funds for the development of the North-East, ensured the Union Ministers visit this region regularly, the Prime Minister himself also came here several times so that the problems of the region continue to be resolved by the Government of India,' he said.

 

Shri Tomar assured that the Central Horticulture Institute will remain here, it will not shift anywhere, there will be no shortage of funds for this and the Central Government will leave no stone unturned in its development.

 

Shri Tomar said that by virtue of 6 agro-climatic zones with vast geographical variations present in the North-East Region, and Nagaland in particular, it has the potential to provide considerable scope and advantages for growing many horticultural crops as compared to other states.

 

'There are huge possibilities. Nagaland also has great potential for export of agricultural products due to its proximity to South-East Asian countries, it is necessary to increase productivity and ensure that the quality of agricultural products is of global standards. As a result, farmers will get good price and their financial condition will improve and the agriculture sector will also contribute more to the country's GDP,' he said.

 

Shri Tomar said that everyone is making efforts together to bring new technology to the farmers at low cost, he appreciated the efforts of the institute and the State Government in this direction.

 

The Agriculture Minister of Nagaland, Shri G. Kaito also addressed the gathering and spoke about the development of agriculture in the state. Central Horticulture Commissioner Dr. Prabhat Kumar delivered the welcome address. Vice Chancellor of Central Agricultural University, Imphal, Dr. Anupam Mishra, Director of the Institute and Additional Commissioner (Horticulture) of the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Dr. NK Patle along with senior officials of Central and State Governments, farmers and representatives of FPOs and entrepreneurs were among the dignitaries present on the occasion.

Egypt has contracted to buy 180,000 tonnes of wheat from India, less than previously agreed, but is looking at ways to extract more flour from grain and even use potatoes in bread making as it tries to trim imports, the supply minister said on Sunday.

 

Egypt, one of the world's biggest wheat importers, has in recent years purchased much of its grain from the Black Sea, but saw those imports disrupted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

 

The conflict has also further raised wheat import costs. Egypt relies mainly on imported wheat to make heavily subsidised bread available to more than 70 million of its 103 million population.

 

As Egypt sought to diversify import origins, Supply Minister Aly Moselhy said in May that it had agreed to buy 500,000 tonnes of wheat from India. India banned wheat exports the same month, but made allowances for countries like Egypt with food security needs.

 

'Based on what the supplier said, the condition was that the wheat has to be at the ports, then it would be available,' Moselhy told a news conference on Sunday.

 

'We had agreed on 500,000 tonnes, turns out [the supplier]has 180,000 tonnes in the port.'

 

Moselhy added that Egypt was also in talks with Russian suppliers for a wheat purchase agreement.

 

Separately, Egypt is looking at ways to obtain more flour from grain, raising the extraction percentage for flour used for subsidised bread to 87.5% from 82%, Moselhy said.

 

That could save around 500,000 tonnes of imported wheat, importing 5-5.5 million tonnes of wheat for the 2022/23 fiscal year, he added.

 

Another idea being tested was supplementing wheat flour with potatoes. 'We are looking at the technology now,' Moselhy said.

 

Current wheat reserves are sufficient for nearly 6 months after procurement of 3.9 million tonnes in the local harvest, according to Moselhy.

Tamil Nadu stood at first place, Gujarat at second and Maharashtra secured third position, from among 17 larger States that participated, at the fourth State Food Safety Index 2021-22, by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

 

Union Health Minister Mansukhbhai Mandaviya; Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan; CEO of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India Arun Singhal; presented the award and certificate to Gujarat at a function held in New Delhi recently.

 

Gujarat has secured the second position in the State Food Safety Index by FSSAI with 77.50% in 2021-22, as the second best performing State across the country in larger States category.

 

Earlier, Gujarat had achieved the first position in larger States category by securing 72% in State Food Safety Index 2020-21.

 

The standards for State Food Safety Index, are prescribed by Government of India, which ranks States with excellence based on overall performance on food safety. These parameters lay emphasis on food sampling, testing, laboratory infrastructure, compliance, training, licence and registration and quality of food available in the State.

 

Dr Hemant Koshia, Commissioner, Food and Drugs Control Administration, Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, said, 'Gujarat has won this award by proving its excellence in all these criteria and norms which were given by Government of India. Gujarat has maintained this priority for the fourth year in a row.'

Union Minister of State for M/o Food Processing Industries, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel today inaugurated the National Conference on Millets on the theme ‘The Future Super Food for India' in New Delhi, organised by industry body ASSOCHAM with the support of M/o Food Processing Industries. The conference has been organised to discuss opportunities and challenges in ensuring food and nutritional security.  

 

In his inaugural address, the Union Minister said that the production of coarse cereals in the country has increased to 17.96 million tonnes in 2020-21 from 14.52 million tonnes in 2015-16 and the production of bajra (pearl millet) has also increased to 10.86 million tonnes in the same period.

 

Shri Prahlad Singh Patel said that due to its ability to be easily preserved for a long time even under ordinary conditions, coarse grain is also considered a storehouse in times of famine.

 

Talking about advantages of Millets at the National Conference on Millets, the Minister of State for M/o FPI said that Millets have been among the oldest eatables in the country. It is a crop grown from small seeds which can be grown well in dry areas or even on lands with deficient and low fertility thus is known as the superfood of India.

 

The Minister shared that due to their short growing season, millets can develop from seeds to ready-to-harvest crops in just about 65 days and this characteristic of the millets is of vital importance in thickly populated regions of the world. If stored properly, millets can keep well for two years or beyond. He stated that there is a need to mainstream millets to improve India’s nutrition outcomes.

 

Shri Prahlad Singh Patel noted that the Government of India has already revised the guidelines to facilitate the movement of the surplus production of millets to other states. The provision of inter-state transportation of surplus millets through the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is incorporated to cater for advance demands placed by consuming states before the start of procurement.

 

The major millets producing states in India include Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

 

Shri Minhaj Alam, Joint Secretary, M/o Food Processing Industries talked about spreading awareness of millets all around the globe as India is now the 5th largest exporter of millets globally. He informed that year 2023 will be the international year of millets that will create value generation and promotion of sustainable products in food choices. He added that more investments are required in production and processing of millets.

The FSSAI has asked food business operators to carry rectifiable labelling information of imported food consignment regarding per serve percentage contribution to recommended dietary allowance and date of expiry along with best before date at customs-bound warehouses.

 

Such rectification can be done by affixing a sticker next to the principal display, says the order issued by the FSSAI.

 

'The rectification can be carried out at customs-bound warehouses, before visual inspection or reinspection by the authorised officer or his representative, by affixing a single non-detachable sticker or by any other non-detachable method next to the principal display panel without altering the original label info in any manner,' reads the order.

 

According to the FSSAI, the decision was taken to facilitate ease of trade while ensuring safety of the food imported into India.

 

The FSSAI statement says, ‘It has been decided that in addition to the labelling deficiencies for which a special dispensation for rectification has been provided under the FSS Import Regulations 2017 (& other respective orders), and the labelling information as the requirement of FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2018, may also be allowed to rectify at port’.

 

As per FSSAI, FBOs can also rectify per serve percentage contribution of the recommended dietary allowance calculated on the basis of 2000kcal energy, 67g total fat, 22g saturated fat, 2g trans fat, 50g added sugar, and 2000mg of sodium (5g salt) requirement for the average adult per day.

 

Also, the date of expiry along with best before dates can be rectified subject to condition that this information was provided by the manufacturers itself and the same shall be verified by the authorised officer.

INDIA HAS exported 1.5 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of wheat to Bangladesh since the country banned export of the grain on May 13, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said on Wednesday.

 

Addressing a press conference, Pandey said, 'There are many countries [which have requested import of wheat from India]. We would not like to discuss… This is a matter of foreign policy.'

 

However, he refused to divulge details of the requests received from other countries for wheat import from India.

 

When asked about the trend in atta (flour) exports, the Food Secretary said, 'The trend is on the high side.'

 

Partha S Das, Joint Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution said India exported 29.70 LMT of wheat and 2.59 LMT of atta between April 1 and June 22 this financial year.

 

Responding to questions, Das, who heads the committee that considers other countries’ requests for wheat import from India, said requests have been received from quite a few countries and those are 'under consideration'.

 

On May 13, the government had banned all shipments of wheat with immediate effect. It moved the export of all wheat, including high-protein durum and normal soft bread varieties, from 'free' to the 'prohibited' category. The decision was aimed at controlling rising prices of wheat in the domestic market.

 

In wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, the demand for Indian wheat has increased overseas. In the current financial year, the government estimates about 45 LMT of wheat to have been contracted for exports.

 

In response to a query, S Jagannathan, Joint Secretary, Food Department said about 4.74 crore ration cards have been deleted in the past eight years. It has prevented diversion of food subsidies of around Rs 33,600 crore annually, he said.

 

Discussing the edible oil prices, the Food Secretary said major edible oil brands have cut prices by Rs 10-15. He said the timely interventions on multiple fronts by the government have led to a falling trend in edible oil prices.