Agriculture Working Group (AWG) will be in Hyderabad for its Ministerial Meeting. The three-day event, starting from 15-17 June 2023, will be attended by more than 200 delegates from G20 member countries, invited countries and International Organizations. The event will be graced by the Agriculture Ministers from various countries and the Director Generals from International Organizations.

 

Day one will commence with the inauguration of a grand exhibition by Hon’ble Minister of State, MoA&FW, Shri Kailash Choudhary. The exhibition will showcase the achievements of India in the field of agriculture and allied sectors. The inauguration will be followed by Agriculture Deputies Meeting (ADM). In the second half there will be two side events titled, 'Managing Agribusiness for Profit, People and Planet' and 'Connecting the Digitally Disconnected: Harnessing the Power of Digital Technologies in Agriculture' with participation from top Indian agriculture-based companies and start-ups and central and state government agencies involved in promotion of agri-business companies.

 

Second day of the meeting will begin with the Hon’ble Union Agriculture Minister, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, welcoming the Ministers and other Heads of the Delegation participating in the G20 meeting. The Ministerial engagements on the day will include discussions on 'Sustainable Agriculture for Food Security and Nutrition' and High-level Ministerial Discussion on women-led agriculture, sustainable biodiversity, and climate solutions, in three parallel sessions.  

 

The third day of the Ministers’ meeting will conclude with the adoption of the outcomes of the Agriculture Working Group, G20, Indian Presidency. The delegation will then proceed for a technical excursion to ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), Hyderabad.

The Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) has invited applications from its registered member exporters for participation in the World Food Moscow under the Indian Pavilion.

 

The World Food Moscow is scheduled to be held from September 19-22, 2023. It is one of the largest food expos in Russia and comprises of sections including alcoholic drinks, grocery, soft drinks, frozen, convenience & ready to eat food, confectionery, bakery, canned food, oils, fats, sauces, dairy products meat, poultry, organic food, seafood and fruits and vegetables amongst others.  

 

'APEDA is likely to take part in the World Food Moscow and will collaborate with the Embassy of India in Russia to organise a physical buyer-seller meet and sampling of Indian food products. APEDA intends to book an area of approx. 100 sq m for design and development of India pavilion for export promotion of various food products through its interested exporters,' reads a notice issued by the APEDA, in this regard.  

The statement by APEDA added that the participation in this event would be utilised to promote millets and millets products in the Russian market, as 2023 has been declared the Year of Millets.  

 

Meanwhile, the participation cost was estimated to be Rs 2.0 lakh per participant for 9 sq m cubicle.

Union Minister of Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday flagged off Gabon’s first Agricultural SEZ project in Odisha from New Delhi.

 

According to sources, the project will be implemented by AOM group with Odisha's Centurion University as the technical and knowledge partner. In the first phase of the program, 30 farmers and 20 B.Sc./M.Sc. Agriculture and B.Tech/M.Tech Engineering students from Gajapati district, which is an Aspirational district of Odisha, will be travelling together as agri-technical and technical consultants for the agriculture SEZ which is being developed under this project.

 

Speaking on the occasion, Pradhan said, 'From Gajapati to Gabon, from Cheetahs to Climate Change, India-Africa relationship is going from strength to strength.” Today’s launch will add a new chapter in that relationship, he added.

 

The Minister also expressed confidence that the establishment of an Agriculture and Food Processing Special Economic Zone in Gabon will be a significant milestone towards enhancing food security and self-sufficiency in the country.

 

Speaking about India-Africa relationship, Pradhan said that under the Modi Government, India-Africa relations have gone from strength to strength, recording more than 35 high level visits from India and more than 100 similar ones from Africa.

 

'Anti-colonial solidarity, diasporic goodwill, and the principle of 'South-South' cooperation, among others, are also playing a significant role in strengthening the partnership between India and the African continent,' he said.

 

Pradhan also stated that development partnership is a key pillar in India’s Africa policy. Being a trusted partner in the journey of socio-economic development, India has extended concessional loans of over US$ 12.3 billion to Africa and US$ 700 mn of grant assistance with development projects in various sectors.

 

Speaking about India’s G20 Presidency, Pradhan said that India's G20 Presidency is very unique given India's role in amplifying the voice and concerns of the Global South and developing countries, scripting another chapter in strengthening India- Africa relations.

 

Pradhan said that Gabon and other African countries have a lot to learn from India’s development journey and recent initiatives like the Aspirational Districts Program. He also spoke about India-Africa long standing relations in the areas of education and skill development.

Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) said that it will seek 60,000 tonnes of feed wheat and 20,000 tonnes of feed barley to be loaded by September 30 and arrive in Japan by November 30 via a simultaneous buy and sell (SBS) auction to be held on June 19.

 

Japan buys and sells feed wheat and barley via so-called SBS auctions, in which end-users and importers specify the origin, price and quantity of grain, allowing millers to meet their varied needs for the feed grain.

Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar today inaugurated the Parvatiya Krishak Mahasangam organised by CSK Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University here.

 

He said that the university was playing an important role in the promotion of agriculture and animal husbandry in the hilly regions of the country. He added that the adoption of floriculture and fish farming could significantly improve the income of farmers.

 

The minister said, 'The university should work to transfer new research work from laboratories to farmers’ fields. Farmers should be guided to grow other crops in addition to grains and slowly shift to organic farming.' He asked scientists to adopt new agricultural practices and technologies to improve production. Kishori Lal, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, also appreciated the efforts of the university.

 

Vice-Chancellor HK Chaudhary said that the agricultural fair was organised after 10 years.

The government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on June 8 signed a $130-million loan agreement to increase agricultural productivity, improve access to irrigation and promote horticulture agribusinesses to raise farmers’ income in Himachal Pradesh.

The signatories to the Himachal Pradesh Subtropical Horticulture, Irrigation, and Value Addition Project were Rajat Kumar Mishra, additional secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, for the government, and Takeo Konishi, country director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, for ADB.

 

Mishra said that improving subtropical horticulture in the southern areas of Himachal Pradesh will help in crop diversification, climate adaptation, and equal economic and social development across the rural areas in the state.

He added that supporting horticulture value chains will boost the subsector’s contribution to food security in the country.

 

'The project builds upon a pilot financed by ADB’s project readiness facility which demonstrated the subtropical horticulture production over 200 hectares and prepared the Draft Water User Association (WUA) Act and the draft state horticulture development strategy,' said Konishi.

The project will help increase the income of at least 15,000 farm households across seven districts of the state namely Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Mandi, Sirmour, Solan, and Una. These households have stopped farming or have reduced their farming areas because of lack of irrigation facilities and crop damage by animals.

 

The project will include new irrigation schemes that will improve on-farm irrigation and water management in 6,000 hectares of farmland. It will also help farmers to enhance their access to markets of subtropical horticulture. The farmers will be organised into cluster-wide community horticulture production and marketing associations (CHPMAs) and district-wide CHPMA cooperative societies.

The CHPMA apex institution, a farmer-producer company (FPC), will lead state-wide agribusiness development to ensure profitability and access to markets of subtropical horticulture.

 

The FPC will handle business plan development, and agribusiness promotion, and it will assist CHPMAs in managing these facilities.

The project will modernise public and private subtropical horticulture nursery facilities for improved plant health, and boost digital agri-technology systems for real-time farm advisories. 

India is hopeful of an early decision on the Rupee-Dirham trade with the UAE and the two countries have also more than doubled their non-petroleum trade target to $100 billion by 2030 from the earlier anticipated $48 billion.

 

A similar push will be given to petroleum trade too with India aiming to import more crude and export more refined products. Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal said this after the first meeting of India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement’s (CEPA) joint committee here in Delhi on Monday that he had with UAE’s minister of state for foreign trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi along with a large delegation of government and industry leaders from both sides.

 

'Bilateral trade between India and UAE has seen significant increase n the last 12 months (CEPA was signed just over a year ago). Our earlier target was to touch $100 billion by 2030, which had a substantial petroleum component. (But the way things are going post CEPA) we have mutually agreed to up the target to $100 billion for non-metro by 2030 from the earlier $48 billion. Trade in petroleum (crude and refined) will also be increased,' Goyal said.

 

Several working groups have been set up to further increase trading ties under CEPA by resolving issues that have been raised by businesses on both sides. The 'outcome-oriented' push will be on MSME side, startups and women entrepreneurs.

The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes have led to a significant increase in production, employment generation, economic  growth and exports in the country. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi today, Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary, DPIIT said that due to PLI Schemes, there was a significant increase of 76% in FDI in the Manufacturing sector in FY 2021-22 (USD 21.34 billion) compared to previous FY 2020-21 (USD 12.09 billion).

 

The PLI schemes as envisioned by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi with the objective of making India 'AatmaNirbhar' is built on the foundation of 14 sectors with an incentive outlay of Rs. 1.97 lakh crore (about US$ 26 billion) to strengthen their production capabilities and help create global champions.

 

Sectors for which PLI schemes exist and have seen an increase in FDI inflows from FY 2021-22 to FY 2022-23 are Drugs and Pharmaceuticals (+46%), Food Processing Industries (+26%) and Medical Appliances (+91%). PLI Schemes have transformed India’s exports basket from traditional commodities to high value- added products such as electronics & telecommunication goods, processed food products etc.

 

As on date, 733 applications have been approved in 14 Sectors with expected investment of Rs.3.65 Lakh Crore. 176 MSMEs are among the PLI beneficiaries in sectors such as Bulk Drugs, Medical  Devices, Pharma, Telecom, White Goods, Food Processing, Textiles & Drones.

 

Actual investment of Rs. 62,500 Crore has been realized till March 2023 which has resulted in incremental production/ sales over Rs. 6.75 Lakh Crore and employment generation of around 3,25,000. Exports boosted by Rs 2.56 Lakh Crore till FY 2022-23.

 

Incentive amount of around Rs. 2,900 Crore disbursed in FY 2022-23 under PLI Schemes for 8 Sectors viz. Large-Scale Electronics Manufacturing (LSEM), IT Hardware, Bulk Drugs, Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals, Telecom & Networking Products, Food Processing and Drones & Drone Components.

 

PLI Scheme has led to major smartphone companies shifting its suppliers to India, e.g., Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron. As a result, top high-end phones are being manufactured in India. It has also resulted in a 20-fold increase in women employment and localization in IT Hardware such as Battery & Laptops. Secretary, DPIIT said that the value addition in mobile manufacturing in India is to the tune of 20%. 'We have been able to increase the value addition in mobile manufacturing to 20% within a period of 3 years whereas countries like Vietnam achieved 18% value addition over 15 years and China achieved 49% value addition in over 25 years. Seen in this perspective, it is a big achievement', Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh added.

 

PLI Scheme for LSEM along with existing Phased Manufacturing Program (PMP) has led to increased value addition in the electronics sector and in smartphone manufacturing, 23% and 20% respectively, from negligible in 2014-15. Of the USD 101 Billion total electronics production in FY 2022-23, smartphones constitute USD 44 Billion including USD 11.1 Billion as exports.

 

Import substitution of 60% has been achieved in the Telecom sector and India has become almost self–reliant in Antennae, GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) & CPE (Customer Premises Equipment). Drones sector has seen a 7 times jump in turnover due to the PLI Scheme which consists of all MSME Startups.

 

Under the PLI Scheme for Food Processing, sourcing of raw materials from India has seen significant increase which has positively impacted income of Indian farmers and MSMEs.

 

Due to the PLI Scheme, there has been a significant reduction in imports of raw materials in the Pharma sector. Unique intermediate materials and bulk drugs are being manufactured in India including Penicillin-G, and transfer of technology has happened in manufacturing of Medical Devices such as (CT scan, MRI etc.).

Bilateral trade between India and Myanmar could rise significantly from current level of $1.76 billion once rupee trade settlement mechanism is established, said P K Shah, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Trade Policy & WTO and Past Chairman, EEPC India at an interactive session with U Aung Naing Oo, Union Minister, Ministry of Commerce, The Republic of the Union of Myanmar and his Ministerial Delegation in Kolkata today.

 

'EEPC India has taken up the issue with the Government of India and we are of the opinion that once this rupee trade arrangement is established, competitiveness of both India and Myanmar would be enhanced and bilateral trade and investments will boost to a significant level as this process will be less complicated in absence of any foreign currency,' said Shah.

 

The RBI has already allowed payments to be received in Indian Rupees and the Myanmar government intends to initiate the currency convertibility for the Indian rupee for trade. Under this settlement mechanism, Myanmar will accept payment for all its exports to India in Indian rupees and the same export earnings can be used to make payments for goods and services imported from India.

 

RBI has appointed and authorised Punjab National Bank of India to open a special Rupee Vostro Account (SRVA) for foreign trade with Myanmar. PNB has already approached CB bank and UAB bank of Myanmar to open a SRVA account for trade arrangement in Indian Rupee and MM Kyats under the special arrangement.

 

Once Indian Rupee Trade arrangement is established, it will boost large value trade from India and Myanmar as this will not involve any foreign currency. All the transactions will be settled with both the local currencies of respective countries.

 

U Aung Naing Oo & Thant Sin Lwin, Director General of Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, appreciated the decision of Government of India and Reserve Bank of India for introducing the system of International Trade Settlement in Indian Rupees.

 

India is the 11th largest foreign investor in Myanmar with a total investment of $1.736 billion between April 2000 and March 2023. Total merchandise trade between India and Myanmar has reached $1.76 billion in 2022-23 on the back of rising imports from Myanmar. India’s exports to Myanmar however witnessed a decline in both merchandise as well as engineering in the last few years.

 

Engineering trade more than halved in 2022-23 in comparison to 2019-20 due to drop in exports of Iron and Steel, Auto components/Parts, Industrial Machinery, and Electric Machinery and Equipment among others.

 

EEPC India appealed to U Aung Naing Oo to expedite the trade settlement in local currencies.

In a significant development, the food regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has created a category of 'Ready to Drink' or low-alcohol beverages, having an alcohol content of 0.5-8 per cent.

 

It has also laid down the standards, composition, and definition of such beverages as well as the safety parameters to be adopted.

 

Sources in the regulator said since 2018, the food safety standards for alcoholic beverages had existed but recently standards for low alcoholic and ready to drink products, including their definition and safety parameters, had been specified additionally.

 

'The said standard is an amendment in regulation and is not changing other existing definitions,' the FSSAI notification said.

 

The gazette notification, issued a few days ago, said such low alcoholic beverages would be made from spirits, a mixture of spirits, or any alcoholic beverage other than wine and beer as base. They can have natural, nature-identical or artificial flavours, and/or food additives permitted under the regulations concerned. Mixing can be with fruit or vegetable juice with or without added sugar/salt and with or without carbonation.

 

Welcoming the move, industry players said categorising low-alcohol beverages and ready-to-drink products made things clear for everyone in the value chain.

 

It helps to get the category of ready-to-drink products identified and treated separately.

 

It could also give a fillip to the market and facilitate over-the-counter sales sometime in future.

 

That apart, the FSSAI in the same notification has laid down what should constitute 'country liquor' or 'Indian liquor' and the constituents that should go into its making.

 

The notification defined country liquor or Indian liquor as alcoholic beverages obtained from distilling fermentable carbohydrates of agricultural origin.

 

It further said the criterion for being designated 'plain country liquor' or 'plain Indian liquor' was that it should be made from alcoholic distillate obtained from fermented molasses, jiggery (gur), a mash of cereals, potatoes, cassava, fruits, juice or sap of coconut and palm trees, mahua flowers or any other carbohydrates of agricultural origin.

 

Blended country liquor or blended Indian liquor is a mixture of an alcoholic distillate, rectified spirit, or neutral spirit.

 

'Country liquor has always existed. The FSSAI notification gives some sort of definition to it,' an industry player said.