PM Narendra Modi backed the proposal for BRICS membership expansion by consensus and, in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping, expressed hope the member-states will support India’s proposal to make the African Union (AU) a permanent member of G20 at the summit next month in Delhi, and also its efforts to address Global South concerns.

Addressing the open BRICS plenary session, Modi made 5 suggestions to further intensify intra-BRICS cooperation including the creation of a BRICS space exploration consortium. He was speaking hours before India’s moon mission, Chandrayaan-3, successfully landed on the moon.

While seeking timelines for UNSC reforms, Modi also called for reform of multilateral financial institutions, WTO and urged BRICS to send a global message of unity and not polarisation

On BRICS expansion, the issue that dominated the summit agenda, government sources said India took the lead in forging consensus on membership criteria and selection of new members. India’s efforts are apparently guided by its objective to incorporate strategic partners like Egypt and Saudi Arabia as new members.

'India fully supports the expansion of the BRICS membership. And welcomes moving forward with consensus in this,' said the PM, adding that BRICS will be breaking barriers, revitalising economies, inspiring innovation, creating opportunities, and shaping the future.

South Africa said after the second day of the summit that the leaders agreed to a document which 'set out guidelines and principles, processes for considering countries that wish to become members of BRICS'.

 

With many developing countries looking at BRICS with renewed hope at a time of great global uncertainty, 23 countries have formally approached the grouping for membership. In his address, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for speeding up the expansion process saying more members will make global governance more just and equitable. India, however, wanted BRICS to first finalise the criteria and guiding principles for extending membership, something that the summit focused on. A formal announcement on expansion guidelines is expected on Thursday.

Modi also lauded South Africa’s focus on the Global South at the summit. 'We have also proposed to give permanent membership of G-20 to the African Union. I am sure all the BRICS partners are also together in the G20. And all will support our proposal. Giving special place to all these efforts in BRICS will increase the self-confidence of the countries of the Global South,' he said.

Apart from BRICS space consortium, Modi also proposed undertaking skill mapping, promoting mobility among BRICS countries and joint efforts for protection of Big Cats under International Big Cat Alliance. He also proposed establishing a repository of traditional medicine among BRICS countries.

The PM said public service delivery is being revolutionized through in India through Digital Public Infrastructure and offered the same to BRICS countries. 'Diversity is a great strength of India. The solution to any problem in India comes out at the test of this diversity. That's why these solutions can be easily implemented in any corner of the world,' said Modi.

India is seeking re-establishment of the dysfunctional dispute resolution mechanism under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) based on the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibility’ along with a push towards consensus-based decision making as it sets the stage to discuss trade and investment issues during the two-day G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting beginning Thursday in Jaipur.

 

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal Wednesday said India is confident that the ministerial meeting will yield a 'concrete actionable outcome' which will help the world withstand future shocks and invoked a 'Jaipur Call for Action' with support of G20 member countries to promote industry, MSMEs and expansion of trade.

 

Goyal said that there has been convergence on major issues in trade ministerial meetings among member G20 countries but acknowledged that there are some realities on which there is 'no possibility of a consensus' — referring to the Russia-Ukraine war.

 

'There is a good understanding between the member countries… but there are some realities (Russia-Ukraine conflict) on which there is no possibility of a consensus… agreeing on that is naturally not a possibility because it is a real situation… Barring this, we are trying to build a consensus on all the remaining priorities,' he said.

 

Goyal met WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Wednesday and held bilateral meetings with trade ministers of Bangladesh, Brazil, France and the UAE. 'India wants the WTO to be modernised. Whatever changes are required as per today’s circumstances, India will play a crucial role in it. It is important that the dispute resolution mechanism, which has been dysfunctional from the last few years, is re-established. When WTO was established, the thinking was that growth rates were different for countries, there are different levels of development, the decisions should be based on that. Which is also referred to as common but differentiated responsibility (CBDR)…(there should be) consensus, decision should be as per agreement of everyone. This was an important issue when WTO was formed and India wants WTO to continue to stay like that,' he said.

 

Under the WTO, countries can appeal in the appellate body to adjudicate disputes. The appellate body at the WTO stopped functioning from December 2019, but the panels are still working. Several countries including the US have been pushing for reforms in the WTO.

 

Goyal said India supports the need for reforms in the WTO and the country’s engagement at the WTO ministerial will further the agenda as the voice of the less developed countries and the developing world. 'India has increasingly become the voice of the global south and our engagement with the WTO ministerial (in February 2024) will further our agenda as the voice of the less developed countries,' he said.

 

The discussions in the trade group meetings have focused on some of the world’s major challenges, complex issues to find concerted action-oriented solutions, he said. 'We have been able to come up with significant consensus amongst the member countries invoking a Jaipur call for action. The Jaipur call for action will help promote industry, MSME sector, upgrade the global trade help desk, and bridge information gaps for MSMEs to help them expand their business and trade,' Goyal said, adding that the members have deliberated on formulating high-level principles for digitalisation of trade and trade facilitation. There were five priorities before the Trade and Investment Working Group — trade for growth and prosperity, trade and resilient global value chains, integrating MSMEs in global trade, logistics for trade and WTO reforms, he added.

The government is trying to get Asean nations to eliminate duties on nearly 90% of the goods exported from the country as it seeks to balance trade volumes and bring the 13-year-old treaty in line with 'more modern agreements'.

 

Earlier this week, India and the 10-nation bloc agreed to New Delhi's long-pending demand for a review, which the government believes is crucial to ensure that two trading partners have strong ties. Since the agreement was signed, India's trade deficit with Asean has shot up from around $5 billion in 2010-11 to $43.6 billion in 2022-23, a rise of 8.7 times. During this period, trade has increased 2.3 times to $131.6 billion, reflecting the asymmetry between growth in imports and exports.

 

Under the agreement, each Asean member had agreed to a different level of tariff elimination and India wants them - especially the higher income countries - to commit to greater opening-up given that free trade agreements with Australia and the UAE have seen tariffs eliminated on over 90% goods. Besides, India wants product specific restrictions imposed by Asean members withdrawn, as is the case with certain types of steel. Besides, the government is insisting that countries rework rules of origin as the current regime is seen to be porous and allows Chinese goods to be routed via third countries. Violations in goods such as set-top boxes from Vietnam, tin ingots from Malaysia, cold rolled stainless steel flat products, and cocoa of Ghana origin from Malaysia, have been reported by authorities.

 

While the services sector is not explicitly on the agenda, the government is also going to seek greater opening-up as someAsean members have refused to honour their obligations after pocketing the benefits on the goods side.

Department of Agriculture Production and Farmers’ welfare Kathua, in collaboration with Basmati Export Development Foundation under Agricultural Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) organized a One Day Workshop on 'Production of Basmati Rice for Export' here dat Sherpur, Hiranagar. The Event was organised to discuss an action plan to boost export from basmati Growing Regions of Kathua District thereby harnessing their potential of agricultural produce exports.

 

 Joint Director (Extension), Agriculture Production & FW, Jammu  R.K Hiteshi, Chief Guest on the occasion highlighted the importance for the production of quality Basmati of international standards. He exhorted the farmers to increase the area under basmati cultivation which will help in raising their income and also use judicious chemicals in paddy production so that international quality pesticide free basmati rice can be produced.

 

Chief Agriculture Officer, Kathua  Sanjeev Rai Gupta said thrust has been made by Department of Agriculture Production and Farmers Welfare to aware the Farmers to promote export quality (Pesticide residue free) Basmati in Kathua’s Basmati growing regions. He said, during 2022-23, 6940 Ha of land in Kathua was under quality Basmati Cultivation with average Yield of 27 Qtl./ Ha producing 186680 Qtls. of good quality Basmati Rice.

 

Dr. Netra Pal Sharma, Senior Scientist, BEDF (Basmati Export Development Foundation) under APEDA gave detailed technical lecture on 'Good Agricultural Practices' for the production of Basmati meeting International standards. He informed that India is No. 1 Exporter of Basmati in the world and Jammu Basmati is most sought after. There is great scope for area expansion and doubling of farmers income by producing pesticide residue free Basmati for export.

 

Vishal Sharma, Scientist, deliberated upon good quality Basmati Production and covered all aspects of Integrated Pest Management / Integrated Disease Management underlining judicious use of insecticides/fungicides.

 

Dr. Vishal Mahajan, Head, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kathua  deliberated upon the use of Organics for production of Basmati Rice, simultaneously assured transfer of technological advancements and new researches to farmers at every crop stage.

 

The successful workshop concluded with a 'vote of thanks 'by  Murari Digra, District Agriculture Officer (Extension), Kathua and participation of large number of Basmati growers.

 

Other officers and officials present on the occasion were Rajiv Katoch, Programme Coordinator, Rajesh Mankotia (Subject Matter Specialist- District Level), Anil Kumar, Assistant Soil Chemist, Soil Testing Lab, Kathua, Purshottam Gupta, Sub divisional Agriculture Officer, Kathua, Ashwani Sharma, Sub Divisional Agriculture Officer, Hiranagar, H.Q Dayalachack, Sanjiv Mehta and Surinder Sharma, Subject Matter Specialists-Sub Division Level, Parmod Kumar, Agriculture Extension Officer, Kathua , Dr. Shivali Sharma and Pooja Andotra, District Nodal Officer, Women Self Help Groups, Kathua.

The Government has started the process of offloading chana (Bengal gram) stocks procured during the 2023 rabi season in several states in a move aimed to keep the prices of the pulses variety under check.

 

Over the past couple of days, the National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) has started inviting bids from interested buyers for disposal of chana procured under the price support scheme in Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.

 

Chana prices have been heading north over the past couple of months, following the bullish trend in the pulses complex led by tur (pigeon pea) and urad (black matpe) as their production was impacted by excess rains last year, leading to short supplies and price rise. Also t sowing of tur and urad has been impacted in the ongoing kharif season due to delayed monsoon and deficit rainfall in Karnataka and Maharashtra, aiding the bullish price trend.

 

Chana prices have moved up by about a fifth since early July and in consuming market of Delhi closed at over Rs.6,000 per quintal on Wednesday.

 

Record output

According to the Agriculture Ministry’s third advance estimates, chana production during the rabi season in 2022-23 touched a record 135.43 lakh tonnes. NAFED has procured about 23.5 lakh tonnes during the 2022-23 rabi marketing season. Along with the carry-forward stock of around 14 lakh tonnes from the previous season, total stocks stood at 37.5 lakh tonnes before the start of disposal. NAFED has been selling the previous year’s stocks in the recent weeks and has began the process of selling the 2022-23 stocks now.

 

'The sale of rabi 2023 stocks is on expected lines and is likely to help contain the rising prices,' said Rahul Chauhan of IGrain India. 'We need to see what price NAFED gets for the 2023 tenders,' he said.

 

For the rabi 2022 stocks sold in the recent auctions, prices were in the range of Rs.5,519-5,699 in various States depending on the quality, Chauhan said.

India has clarified its stance on parboiled rice exports, with Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra stating that the country has no plans to impose any restrictions on the export of non-basmati parboiled rice.

 

This announcement comes after India had previously banned the export of non-basmati white rice last month, catching many buyers off guard.

 

Currently, there are no limitations on the export of parboiled rice, which accounts for approximately one-third of India's total rice exports. Despite earlier reports suggesting the possibility of an export tax on parboiled rice, the government's position remains unchanged.

 

India’s export ban on non-basmati white rice had led to global concerns, triggering a sense of urgency among stakeholders and intensifying apprehensions about food security.

 

The move set off a chain reaction, prompting a race to secure supplies and raising concerns about the potential consequences of this disruption.

 

The implications of this export ban, projected to curtail the availability of a vital staple food by approximately one-fifth in the global market, spurred a scramble among stakeholders to adapt to the changing landscape.

 

Importers, in particular, continue to face the prospect of constrained supplies and surging prices, leading to increased volatility in the market.

 

As the international community grapples with the fallout from India's decision, importers are increasingly exploring alternative strategies to manage the impact. One possible outcome is the rise in government-to-government agreements, as importers seek to counter the shortage and regulate price fluctuations.

 

Amidst these developments, concerns over food security have taken center stage. The ban's potential to disrupt the supply chain has raised alarms, particularly in regions heavily reliant on imports to meet their food needs.

Based on initial estimates from States, the country’s rice production in the current kharif season will likely exceed last year’s 110 million tonnes (mt), sources said. Accordingly, the Food Ministry, on Tuesday, announced that the target for next season’s procurement beginning October 1 has been marginally raised to 52.1 mt from the current season’s actual purchase of 49.6 mt.

 

Last year the government had set the procurement target at 51.56 mt from kharif-grown rice. Though main procurement is carried out between October and March, the purchase in some States like Assam and West Bengal continue until June as kharif paddy’s harvesting is delayed in other States.

 

Addressing media, Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said the target is based on the feedback shared by State governments at the two-day Food Ministers’ conference on fortification that concluded on Tuesday.

 

4% higher area

Official sources said most of the State Government representatives informed that the production in their States would be almost at par with the previous year, based on the acreage report. The Agriculture Ministry will release its first estimate of kharif crops’ production for 2023 kharif season in the third week of September. The official target has been fixed at 111 mt for kharif 2023.

 

Paddy acreage has been completed in 90 per cent of normal area and is 4 per cent more than the year-ago period. The sowing area was 360.79 lakh hectares (lh) until August 18 against 345.79 lh a year ago. Higher acreage has been reported from Telangana (by 4.42 lh), Bihar (4.15 lh), Chhattisgarh (2.71 lh), Jharkhand (2.24 lh), Haryana (1.64 lh), West Bengal (1.47 lh), Uttar Pradesh (1.28 lh), Punjab (0.40 lh) and Madhya Pradesh (0.32 lh). But lower acreage was seen in Andhra Pradesh (1.53 lh), Karnataka (1.47 lh), Assam (0.61 lh) and Odisha (0.43 lh).

 

Fuelling speculation

Meanwhile, Chopra also said there is no proposal, as of now, to restrict exports of parboiled non-basmati rice. But until a decision is taken by the government, it could not be shared, he quipped, fuelling speculation that it could be still under consideration.

 

On July 20, the Centre banned exports of non-basmati white rice to boost domestic supply and keep retail prices under check during the upcoming festive season. In September last year, exports of broken rice were banned.

 

As per official data, India’s total exports of basmati rice were 4.56 mt worth $ 4.8 billion in 2022-23. Non-basmati rice exports were 17.79 mt worth $6.36 billion. In the April-June period of this fiscal, about 1.55 mt of non-basmati white rice was exported against 1.16 mt in the year-ago period.

 

The ban on the export of non-basmati white rice, which has a 25 per cent share in the rice export basket, will lower prices in the domestic market, benefiting consumers, the Food Ministry said last month.

 

Asked about the wheat import plan, Chopra said the government has no such plan. Some media reports have said the government has been negotiating with Russia to import wheat at discounted rates in a government-to-government deal.

Leaders from the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa attended the Business Forum of the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on Tuesday. The summit, scheduled to take place from August 22 to 24, saw the attendance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, upon the invitation of South African President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa. 

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin chose to address the meeting virtually rather than attend in person, while Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov represented the country at the event.

 

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping opted to skip the key meeting, although he had arrived in South Africa ahead of his state visit.

 

This marks PM Modi's third visit to South Africa, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between India and South Africa.

 

The current BRICS summit is being presided over by South Africa, with the theme for this year's summit being: 'BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development, and inclusive multilateralism.'

Union minister for commerce and consumer affairs Piyush Goyal on Tuesday told onion farmers not to worry about the export curbs on the vegetable, saying the government will purchase an additional 200,000 tonnes of onions for the buffer stock at a 'historically high' price of Rs.2,410 per quintal to guard their interests. He said the Nafed and the NCCF will set up procurement centres at all onion producing areas in Maharashtra, MP and other states to ensure that the farmers get a good price for their produce.

 

Farmers have planted more corn (maize) in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra and the total area under the hardy crop in the country has exceeded 81.24 lakh hectares (lh) as of August 18. This is against 79.41 lh covered a year ago. Delayed arrival of monsoon and slow progress has resulted in a section of farmers preferring to plant corn over other crops such as pulses and cotton .

 

Madhya Pradesh has seen the area under maize increase to 17.41 lakh hectares (lh) from 15.99 lh a year ago. The area under maize in MP is above the normal (average of five years) of 13.48 lh. Similarly, Karnataka has seen maize area increase to 14.53 lh (13.79 lh in the same period a year ago) and Maharashtra at 8.77 lh (8.74 lh). The area is up marginally in Uttar Pradesh at 7.54 lh (7.49 lh), Jharkhand at 2.19 lh (1.99 lh) and Telangana at 2.05 lh (2.01 lh). However, the acreage is marginally down in Rajasthan at 9.42 lh (9.44 lh) and Gujarat at 2.82 lh (2.87 lh).

 

Hanuman Sahay Jat, Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research (IIMR), said the kharif acreages are on the higher side compared to last year. Due to the late onset of monsoon farmers have taken up short-duration varieties. 'The crop condition is good and almost similar to the last year. We are expecting a good crop this year,' Jat said.

 

Record output

As per the third advance estimate, India’s maize production was a record 35.91 million tonnes (mt) during 2022-23.

 

However, Bhagirath Chaudhary, director, South Asia Biotechnology Centre, said the government must seriously look into the management of fall army worm, a dreaded pest that had surfaced in maize, a few years ago. 'The pest is still active, but it is below the economic threshold levels in maize. Farmers have learnt to deal with the pest, but at an additional cost of ?3,000-4,000 per acre, which results in a higher cost of cultivation for them,' he said.

 

'Though we are close to last year’s level of 81.5 lh , yields may be a concern this kharif on account of deficit rains and higher temperature levels in August,' said Tarun Satsangi, specialist- global commodity research at agritech firm Absolute.