Alex Ellis, the UK High Commissioner, on Monday (September 4) expressed unwavering support for the upcoming G20 Summit, emphasising the shared ambition between the G20 Presidency and member nations.

Ellis's remarks also underscored the UK's commitment to boosting India's efforts to expand the G20 and its eagerness to forge a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two nations.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Ellis noted that the G20 Summit is expected to echo the same level of ambition and determination seen during the G20 Presidency. He commended India's aspiration to bring more countries into the G20 fold, indicating the UK's steadfast support for this endeavor.

The Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is organizing the G20 Technical Workshop on 'Climate Resilient Agriculture' on 4-6 September 2023 in Hyderabad. The Workshop aims to bring together experts from around the world to discuss and highlight the challenges of Climate Change and would emphasize the cooperation and exchange of information to enhance the skills and competencies of countries in addressing challenges posed by climate change. The eminent speakers

 

The three-day event began today with the Inaugural Session which was graced by Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ms. Shobha Karandlaje. The first day was focused on the 'Climate Resilient Agriculture Research Needs and Innovations' wherein the eminent speakers shared their experiences in their respective countries to achieve resilience in agriculture. They shall also list out scientific and innovative solutions that are required to address these emerging challenges to reduce the uncertainty in the agriculture food systems. The event is attended by dignitaries including foreign delegates from G20 member states, Guest-invited countries, and International Organizations (IOs). Senior Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and other Ministries also attended the meeting to deliberate in the technical sessions on the various issues of agriculture research predominantly on Climate Change and other techniques and methods for sustainable development of agriculture in the Global context.

 

Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ms. Shobha Karandlaje mentioned that agriculture is the most sensitive sector and is greatly influenced by climate change which is already happening in G 20 Nations. She said that the impacts of climate change are already being experienced by all of us and hope that the recommendations emanated from this workshop will give direction towards attaining climate-resilient agriculture.

 

Secretary DARE, and DG ICAR, Dr. Himanshu Pathak reiterated that agriculture in India is highly vulnerable to climate change and variability. He said that in recent years, the frequency of climatic extremes has increased resulting in increased risks to agricultural production and food security all over the World, including India and emphasized that the efforts of ICAR are very significant in meeting the challenges of climate change. Additional Secretary & FA, DARE, Ms. Alka Nangia Arora opined that Climatic risk is manifested in terms of the incidence of droughts, floods, and high intra-season variability in rainfall. Hence, risk - climatic and other forms of risk - remains a key challenge to researchers and policymakers.

 

DDG(NRM), ICAR, Dr. S.K, Chaudhari chairman of Technical Workshop for Climate-Resilient Agriculture, expressed that G20 Nations, mindful of G20’s leadership role, can position themselves as pioneers in developing climate-resilient practices for sustainable agriculture to enhance food security. Location-specific Climate Resilient Technologies (CRTs) are being demonstrated in India for coping with climate variability in vulnerable districts of India to generate awareness and to build the capacity of farmers and other stakeholders. Further ensured that the deliberations of this workshop would provide a road map for the research and development agenda to comprehensively address the climate change impacts on the agriculture sector. Director, ICAR-CRIDA, Dr. V.K. Singh profusely thanked the dignitaries and delegates for attending the Technical Workshop by travelling all the way from different nations.

 

The Theme of the G20 Indian Presidency is One Earth, One Family, and One Future, which celebrates the spirit of togetherness and harmony amongst us to ensure a bright future for the world. Upscaling Climate Resilient Agriculture Case studies and Experiences, Policy, Finance, and Institutional Needs for Climate Resilient Agriculture will be discussed in the upcoming technical sessions of the three-day event. As a part of the program, on 5th September 2023, the delegates would be taken on an excursion visit to ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR) Hyderabad to showcase the scientific advances made in the field of research on Millets as part of the International Year of Millets 2023. India is looking forward to strengthening its Scientific Research and Development initiatives in the field of Millet and cooperating with other countries to help them develop these crops in their countries.

 

Later the delegates would be taken on a short trip to Shilparamam, Hyderabad on 5th September 2023 to witness the live dance performances of Indian folk artists depicting the traditional dance forms of music. The delegates would also explore the traditional products of India and the opportunity to buy them at the Shilparamam Complex, Hyderabad. The delegates on 6th September 2023 would be taken on an excursion visit to ICAR- CRIDA Hayathnagar Research Farm where they would be taken to field farms and given an overview of the crops and their management. The Department in close coordination with the support of district administration has made elaborate arrangements for the safety and security of the delegates. The delegates would leave for their respective countries on 6th 7th September 2023.

 

Ahead of the G-20 Summit in Delhi under India’s Presidency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jakarta on 6-7 September to attend the 20th ASEAN-India Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit, being hosted by Indonesia as current Chair of ASEAN.

 

Modi has been invited to Indonesia by its President, Mr Joko Widodo.

The forthcoming ASEAN-India Summit will be the first Summit since the elevation of India-ASEAN relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022.

 

The Summit will review the progress of India-ASEAN relations and chart the future direction of co-operation.

 

The East Asia Summit would provide an opportunity for leaders of ASEAN countries and its eight dialogue partners, including India, to exchange views on issues of regional and global significance.

 

The famous Nayagarh Kanteimundi Brinjal of Odisha received the geographical indication (GI) tag from the Centre.

 

An advertisement in this regard has been issued by the Geographical Indications Registry on its official website.

 

The Odisha University of Agriculture & Technology (OUAT) on behalf of Neelamadhab Krushi Sangathan at Banapur under Khandapada Block in Nayagarh district, had applied in 2021 to get GI tag for the Kanteimundi Brinjal.

 

Originated from Badabanapur and Ratnapur area of Khandapada block and Dhanchangda, Laxmiprasad, Kumundi and Fategarh area of Bhapur block, the vegetable is cultivated entire in the district. It is largely grown in Kantilo area in Nayagarh.

 

Nayagarh Kanteimundi Brinjal is a tasteful vegetable with lots of prickly thorns on it as well as the whole plant. It is green in colour and round in shape containing more seeds as compared to other genotypes.

 

The vegetable crop is cultivated in the sandy soil and having unique taste, flavor. It is attributed to the skill of the local

growers who have been cultivating this crop for more than 100 years. The crop is confined to Nayagarh district.

 

The ‘Nayagarh Kanteimundi Brinjal’ is famous for its unique taste and quick cooking quality than other varieties of the brinjal species. The plant is resistant to major insects, pests and diseases. This crop is grown both in the Kharif and Rabi seasons.

 

Besides, the Geographical Indications Registry has granted the GI tag to Odisha’s three more products. These were ‘Gajapati Date Palm Jaggery’, ‘Dhenkanal Magji’ and ‘Mayurbhanj Kai Chutney’.

‘Koraput Kalajeera Rice,’ an aromatic rice variety with nutritional value, has got Geographical Indications (GI) status, bringing cheers to tribal farmers who have been growing it for ages.

 

The Odisha government supported Jaivik Sri Farmers Producer Company Limited at Pujariput had applied on January 11, 2022, for the registry of Koraput Kalajeera Rice.

 

An advertisement in this regard was issued on August 31, 2023 on the official website of the Geographical Indications Registry.

 

The farmers of Koraput district in Odisha, the centre of origin of cultivated rice, have domesticated Kalajeera rice over generations. With the support of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and the Odisha government’s department of agriculture and farmers empowerment, the farmers’ organisation received the GI tag for ‘Koraput Kalajeera Rice.’

 

Koraput Kalajeera Rice known as the ‘Prince of Rice’ is an aromatic variety originating from Koraput district of Odisha. Upholding the nutritional and cooking quality, the rice looks like coriander seeds. The ancestors of the present tribal communities of Koraput district have domesticated the rice in the region for thousands of years contributing to conservation of crop. It is popular among rice consumers for its black colour, good aroma, taste and texture.

 

Jeypore area of Koraput district and surrounding geographical area is very prominent for Kalajeera Rice. The rice is grown in Koraput district’s Tolla, Patraput, Pujariput, Baliguda and Mohuli areas.

 

The ancient text explains that Kalajeera rice improves memory and controls diabetes. It is believed to increase hemoglobin levels and the body metabolism. This fragrant grain has antispasmodic, stomachic, carminative, antibacterial, astringent and sedative properties.

 

Recently, ‘Nayagarh Kanteimundi Brinjal,’ a brinjal species grown in Nayagarh district, had received the GI tag from the Centre.

In a bid to make organic products comply with the stipulated standards, Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has directed its notified laboratories 'to take the necessary steps to enhance the infrastructure and scope of the testing for organic products.'

 

The FSSAI has asked the notified labs to make an application to the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) for authorization, official sources told Bizz Buzz.

 

The food safety authority has directed the labs to apply to the National Referral Laboratory of APEDA for the proficiency testing programme and competence assessment in order to qualify for pre-export testing of organic products.

 

The labs have been also instructed to apply for organic products to compulsorily include this specific category within the FSSAI-NABL integrated scope. The NABL or National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories is an accreditation body. It is one of the constituent boards of the Quality Council of India, an autonomous body under the Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

 

The FSSAI had notified Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulations in 2017 with the aim to benefit farmers by way of increasing their income. These regulations recognize two systems of certification: the Participatory Guarantee System implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Farmers Welfare & National Programme for Organic Production implemented by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. The regulations ensure integrity of organic food products and help in controlling unscrupulous practices in the market. All organic food products should be certified. Organic food that is marketed through direct sales to the end customer by a small original producer or a producer organization is exempted from certification. As per the FSSAI, a small original producer or a producer organization is one whose annual turnover is up to Rs12 lakh.

In about six weeks, India has rattled the rice market.

The world’s top shipper has placed restrictions on all of its exports, panicking governments from Asia to West Africa. Other big growers have tried to reassure consumers that rice supply is ample, but it’s done little to calm the market.

Rice prices in Asia jumped back near the highest level in almost 15 years on Wednesday after India slapped more curbs on parboiled and basmati over the previous weekend.

 

They were the last remaining varieties free from export restrictions, bringing to a head a recent campaign of tightening that started with a July 20 ban on the shipment of some grains.

 

'Spikes in rice prices always hurt poor consumers the most,' said Peter Timmer, Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, who’s studied food security for decades. 'The most pressing concern right now is whether Thailand and Vietnam follow India and put significant controls on their rice exports. If that happens, we will see world rice prices zoom past $1,000.'

The anxiety over supply is understandable. Rice is vital to the diets of billions and contributes as much as 60% of the total calorie intake for people in parts of Southeast Asia and Africa. The benchmark price is currently at $646 a ton and weather could shake up the market even further.

 

The onset of El Niño this year threatens to parch many key growing regions across Asia, with Thailand already warning of drought conditions in early 2024. The crop in China, the world’s biggest producer and importer, appears to have escaped poor weather so far, but India’s major growing areas need more rain.

India’s measures boil down to politics. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing an election early next year and high food prices can make voters very unforgiving at the polls. The curbs have had some impact.

The cost of rice in the capital New Delhi was still higher than a year ago as of Aug. 31, but since the export ban in July, prices have held steady at 39 rupees (47 cents) a kilogram. Across the nation, they’ve inched up slightly. However, India’s restrictions are reverberating across other countries.

The Philippines was forced last week to place a cap on rice prices across the country due to an 'alarming' increase in retail costs and reports of hoarding by traders. The nation is the world’s second-biggest importer of the grain.

Other worried nations are opting for the diplomatic route.

Guinea has sent its trade minister to India, while Singapore, Mauritius and Bhutan have requested that New Delhi exempt them from curbs on the grounds of food security — a provision the South Asian nation added when banning one variety. The restrictions have also provided an opportunity for Thailand.

The world’s second-biggest shipper has been on a roadshow in recent weeks, with its trade officials making trips to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan. If you want rice, we have it, was the message.

Vietnam is offering some support to the market, saying last month that the nation is likely to exceed its export target for the year, a feat it could achieve without jeopardizing its own food security. Volumes to Indonesia have soared over the first seven months of this year, while shipments to China are also higher, customs data show. However, Myanmar’s ambitions wavered recently.

The nation’s rice federation suggested a temporary halt to shipments to cool rising domestic prices, a proposal that was knocked back by the government. The federation had only recently said it could ship more.

The Thai Rice Exporters Association is expected to update its white rice 5% broken price following its weekly meeting on Wednesday, and investors will be watching the Asian benchmark to see if calm, or concern, is trending.

Rice prices in key exporting countries including Thailand and Vietnam have climbed around 20% since India, the world's biggest shipper of the grain, banned shipments of a key variety in July, tightening global supplies.

 

Traders expect similar supply curbs by other exporters needing to ensure domestic food security, which has left importers scrambling to secure shipments.

 

Last year, India banned exports of broken rice and imposed duty on shipments of various grades, ending the price stability that had lasted for more than a decade.

 

Following are key events since late July that led to tighter supplies.

 

* July 20 - India halts exports of its largest rice category, a move that would roughly halve shipments by the world's biggest exporter, triggering fears of further inflation in global food prices.

 

* July 21 - Vietnam, the world's third largest rice exporter, calls on the country's food association to ensure domestic rice supplies are sufficent a day after India announced its ban.

 

* July 21 - India's ban on non-basmati white rice exports results in the cancellation of contracts to supply around 2 million metric tons to the world market.

 

* July 27 - Prices of rice exported from Vietnam and Thailand soar to their highest in more than a decade as India's export curbs spark worries about supply.

 

* July 28 - India restricts exports of deoiled rice bran, used in the cattle feed industry, until Nov. 30.

 

* July 28 - The United Arab Emirates bans rice exports and re-exports for four months, including rice of Indian origin.

 

* July 29 - Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says the country must boost its rice stocks and that he may seek a supply deal with India, worried about the potential impact of El Nino dry weather on the local harvest and about other suppliers.

 

The Philippines is the world's second-largest rice importer.

 

* Aug 1 - Rice exporters in Thailand and Vietnam, the second and third biggest exporters, start re-negotiating prices on sales contracts for around half a million metric tons for August shipment.

 

* Aug 4 - The United Nations food agency's rice price index rises 2.8% in July from a month earlier to its highest level in nearly 12 years.

 

* Aug 7 - The Philippines says it may extend reduced import tariffs on rice and other commodities beyond 2023 to ease pressure on inflation.

 

* Aug 11 - Retail prices for imported and locally produced rice in the Philippines have risen by 4% to 14% in around two weeks, government data shows, as global and domestic farmgate prices soared, adding pressure on food inflation.

 

* Aug 16 - The Philippines' Department of Agriculture recommends additional rice importation of about 500,000 metric tons to cover potential crop losses from the El Nino dry weather conditions.

 

* Aug 16 - Vietnamese exporters renegotiate higher prices for around half a million metric tons of rice.

 

* Aug 18 - Data shows that Indian farmers have planted 36.1 million hectares (89.2 million acres) with rice, up 4.3% on the same period last year, as ample monsoon rains in July and higher prices boost acreage.

 

* Aug 21 - Indonesia's state food procurement firm Bulog says it is looking to import rice from Cambodia and Myanmar to top up government stocks, anticipating output disruptions due to the El Nino weather pattern.

 

* Aug 25 - Myanmar plans to temporarily restrict rice exports to control rising domestic prices.

 

* Aug 25 - India imposes a 20% duty on exports of parboiled rice, which accounts for 30% of the country's rice exports.

 

* Aug 27 - India imposes a $1,200 per ton minimum export price on basmati rice shipments.

 

* Aug 29 - India's export duty on parboiled rice prompts buyers and sellers to postpone shipments of around 500,000 metric tons to after mid-October.

 

* Aug 30 - India allows traders to ship out non-basmati white rice cargoes that were stuck at ports when India imposed its export ban.

Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Sarangi on Friday said that the government will go to the districts to enhance exports. Seventy districts in the country account for 80 per cent of the country's exports total exports, he told reporters at the Indian Chamber of Commerce here.

 

In West Bengal, two districts - Darjeeling and Howrah have been identified for the purpose so far. Darjeeling for tea and Howrah for jewellery and engineering goods. Export plans for them have also been adopted, Sarangi added.

 

'Districts have a huge potential for increasing exports. Only 70 districts account for 80 per cent of the total exports of the country,' he said.

 

DGFT, which is under the commerce ministry, formulates the country's trade policy and also implements it.

 

Sarangi said India has a huge potential for export of electronic items, white goods and processed foods and with the kind of growth rates which the country is clocking for the last 15 years, it can aspire to become a middle-income economy 'very soon'.

 

India's exports to GDP ratio is at 22 per cent now, which is lower than countries like Germany and Taiwan.

 

The series of FTAs which India has signed or is in the process of signing will give greater access to export markets for Indian goods, he added.

India’s coffee exports have registered a 5.85 per cent growth during April-August of the current financial year at $520.45 million over $491.65 million in the same period a year ago on higher prices.

 

However, the volumes were down 5.71 per cent at 1.65 lakh tonnes against 1.75 lakh tonnes a year ago. In rupee terms, exports were up 11.62 per cent at Rs.4,282 crore over Rs.3,836 crore a year ago. The per unit value realised by the Indian exporters was higher at Rs.2.58 lakh per tonne during the April-August period compared with Rs.2.18 lakh per tonne in the year-ago period, as per Coffee Board’s latest data.

 

In the first eight months of the calendar year 2023, coffee exports in volume were down at at 2.74 lakh tonnes compared to last year’s 2.86 lakh tonnes. In value terms, the shipments were up 4.25 per cent at $831.43 million compared with $797.50 million a year ago. In rupee value, shipments have witnessed a higher growth at Rs.6,843 crore (Rs.6,136 crore in the year-ago period).

 

India exports two-thirds of the coffee produced in the country. During the January-August period, the shipments of India-grown coffees were down marginally at 2.06 lakh tonnes (2.23 lakh tonnes), mainly on account of a dip in robusta exports. However, imports for re-exports were up at 68,257 tonnes (63,286 tonnes). India imports coffees mainly the robusta variety from countries such as Vietnam to re-export them as value-added coffees.

 

Shipments of the arabica parchment variety during January-August were up at 30,458 tonnes (28,079 tonnes), while the arabica cherry were almost flat at 6,323 tonnes (6381 tonnes). Robusta parchment shipments were down at 22,492 tonnes (24,217 tonnes), while the robusta cherry exports were down 1.19 lakh tonnes (1.41 lakh tonnes). Italy continues to be the largest buyer of Indian coffees at 41,180 tonnes, followed by Germany at 27,380 tonnes and Russian Federation at 20,553 tonnes.