To incentivise millet cultivation in Gujarat, the state government is in the process of drafting a scheme to provide assistance to farmers for purchasing seeds, fertilisers and crop protection chemicals, Agriculture Minister Raghavji Patel said in Rajkot

on Friday. He added that procurement of millets from farmers by the government has already begun.

 

The announcement comes in the backdrop of farmers largely remaining indifferent to government operations for procuring millets at minimum support price (MSP) during the ongoing Rabi marketing season.

 

Underlining that the state Budget for 2023-24 has allotted Rs 30 crore to the Gujarat State Civil Supplies Corporation to procure millets from farmers, Patel said that farmers need encouragement in form of assistance in purchasing inputs also to persuade them to sow millet in more area.

 

Speaking to The Indian Express on the sidelines of a media event, Patel, also the minister in charge of Rajkot, said: 'The government wants to give assistance to farmers in purchasing inputs like seeds, fertilisers and pesticides for cultivation of millets. We are drafting a scheme and tentatively, we will provide assistance to each farmer with an upper limit of two hectare of cultivation area for millets.'

 

At the request of India, the United Nations is celebrating 2023 as the ‘International Year of Millets’ (IYM). Millets require very less irrigation, are resistant to changes in climate and can be cultivated in arid land also.

 

India, the largest millets producer of the world, had celebrated 2018 as the year of millets. In 2020, India’s production of pearl millet (bajra) and sorghum (jowar) was 124.88 million tonne (mt) and 34.75 mt, respectively. They respectively accounted for 40.51 per cent and 7.58 per cent of the global production. Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat account for more than 83 per cent of total millet production.

 

Gujarat is a major producer of pearl millet and sorghum. As per state government data, farmers sowed bajra in 1.85 lakh hectare (lh) in 2022 Kharif season and 2.79 lh in 2023 summer season, with cumulative production pegged at 1.14 mt. To celebrate IYM, the state had for the first time decided in March to procure bajra, jowar (hybrid), jowar (maldandi), ragi (finer millet) and maize from farmers at MSP and then distribute the same among the poor through the pubic distribution system.

 

The government had originally decided to procure these grains at the Union government-fixed per quintal MSP of Rs 2,350 for bajra, Rs 2,970 for jowar (hybrid), Rs 2,990 for jowar (maldandi), Rs 3,578 for finger millet and Rs 1,962 for maize.

 

The government had opened the window of registration for farmers between March 1 and 31. 'But the response from farmers was lukewarm, as market prices are either at par or higher than the MSP. This forced the government to declare Rs 300 bonus for bajra, jowar and finger millet over and above their respective MSP on May 9 and keep the registration window open till date,' a government source said.

 

The state food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department has set a target of procuring 45,000 metric tonne (MT) of bajra, 4,000 MT of jowar, 1,000 MT of finger millet and 10,000 MT of maize during Rabi marketing season of 2022-23. The Rs 300 bonus per quintal (10 quintals make one MT) took the effective procurement price of bajra, jowar and ragi to Rs 2,650, Rs 3,270 and Rs 3,878, respectively. The government opened procurement centres on April 1. They are scheduled to remain open till June 15.

 

Nonetheless, farmers seem to have shown little enthusiasm to sell their harvest to the government. Official data shows that as of May 26, only 7,432 farmers had registered for selling bajra, 178 for jowar, 526 for maize and only two for selling ragi.

 

In around two-month-long operations, only 44 of the 7,432 farmers have turned up at government procurement centres with their 168 quintal of bajra. Jowar and ragi procurement is nil, as no farmer has responded to SMS alerts of the government to cart their produce to procurement centre. Only 17 farmers, all from Mahisagar district, have sold 99 quintal of maize to the government.

Patel agreed that farmers are not queuing up to sell their harvest to the government. 'The process of procurement is on but even after our announcement of bonus, farmers are not making a beeline as yet. This indicates that market prices are high,' he said.

 

According to official data, cultivation area of pearl millet – the widely cultivated millet variety in Gujarat – fell from 10.86 lh in 1995-96 to 9.15 lh in 2005-06. It plummeted to 3.9 lh by 2015-16. In 2022-23, the cumulative bajra acreage is 4.63 lh. However, the data shows that production has remained stable at an average of 1 mt.

'It is a fact that the acreage and production of millets has fallen in Gujarat. This calls for a two-pronged strategy. We need to incentivise farmers by providing them inputs so that they bring more area under millets cultivation and then try to ensure that they get good price of their harvest,' Patel told mediapersons, for whom he hosted a luncheon where various preparations of millets were served.

India has widened the door for wheat exports allowing Nepal to obtain a 300,000-tonne shipment it had requested in April to plug a gap in domestic output.

 

According to Indian media reports, India has permitted exports of around 1.05 million tonnes of food grains to Nepal, Indonesia, Senegal and Gambia as part of its economic diplomacy, waiving curbs on exports.

 

Nepali government officials say they are yet to receive official notification of the export restriction being removed.

 

'We had made a request to the Indian side. We have not received official notification from them,' said Radhika Aryal, joint secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies.

 

Nepal had sent a request to the Indian government through the Foreign Ministry to provide wheat as local flour mills were struggling to get raw materials.

 

Mill owners had been pleading with the government that they needed at least 600,000 tonnes of wheat to get them through the upcoming fiscal year beginning mid-July.

 

'The wheat quota set by India may be insufficient as domestic production has declined,' said Radheshyam Agrawal, general secretary of the Nepal Flour Mills Association.

 

'We have to make further requests to import wheat or else the flour industry will have to shut down again,' he said.

 

 

The Economic Survey unveiled by the government shows that Nepal’s wheat production is estimated to drop by 2.14 percent to 2.09 million tonnes this fiscal year.

 

'We do not have authentic data, but demand for flour is rising by more than 10 percent annually as bakery manufacturers have large needs,' said Agrawal who owns Kamdhenu Agro Mill in Chitwan.

 

Kathmandu consumes 2,100 tonnes of flour daily, 80 percent of which is refined flour and 20 percent wheat flour, the association said.

 

Government officials say demand for wheat has been increasing dramatically.

 

Ram Krishna Regmi, chief statistician at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said that wheat imports barely amounted to 100,000 tonnes before Covid.

 

 

'Now, traders and manufacturers are saying that 600,000 tonnes of wheat need to be imported to fulfil their requirement. It is surprising how demand has increased sixfold in a few short years.'

 

According to the Department of Customs, Nepal imported 170,517 tonnes of wheat in the last fiscal year 2021-22.

 

In the fiscal year 2020-21, imports reached 386,789 tonnes worth Rs11.92 billion.

 

Flour mills supply refined flour to makers of biscuits, noodles, bread and other bakery products.

 

Domestic flour mills say they have started procuring wheat locally with the onset of the harvest season. 'But domestic production is enough to keep the mills running for only around six months,' Agrawal said.

 

Nepal suffered a severe shortage when India imposed a ban on wheat exports last May after unseasonably hot weather hit harvests there. The embargo caused 80-85 percent of Nepali flour mills to shut down. It was eventually lifted in December.

 

India instituted a quota system for its neighbours in December last year and allocated 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Nepal.

 

'We were buying wheat at Rs4,000 to Rs4,500 per quintal, but the price jumped to Rs5,500 per quintal as soon as India imposed the ban,' Agrawal said.

 

Amid pressure from the flour industry and fears of a wheat shortage due to rising prices, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies sent a letter to the Indian government in April requesting a consignment of 300,000 tonnes of wheat.

 

According to Indian media reports, the Indian Department of Food and Public Distribution has allowed exports of 300,000 tonnes of wheat to Nepal at the behest of the Ministry of External Affairs.

 

India has set a quota despite low domestic wheat stocks, the report said.

 

The Department of Food and Public Distribution of India, according to reports, deals with the import and export of only wheat and non-basmati rice from central pool stocks available with Food Corporation of India.

 

'World Trade Organisation norms restrict the export of food grains from public stocks procured for domestic consumption through welfare schemes,' the report said. 

The exports have increased by an impressive 19% from 18.89 billion dollars in 2021-22, exceeding the 6.86% increase of India’s global exports.

 

India’s exports to Latin America reached a record high of 22.41 billion dollars in 2022-23 (April-March), according to the Commerce Ministry of India. The exports have increased by an impressive 19% from 18.89 billion dollars in 2021-22, exceeding the 6.86% increase of India’s global exports.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged states to take financially prudent decisions so as to become fiscally strong and capable of delivering programmes that meet the dreams of citizens.

 

Addressing the 8th governing council meeting of NITI Aayog, PM Modi stated that when states grow, India grows, emphasizing on the need to evolve a common vision to achieve a Vikasit Bharat by 2047.

 

The council, which is the apex body of NITI Aayog, includes all chief ministers, lieutenant governors of union territories and several union ministers. The PM is the chairman of NITI Aayog.

 

Some of the top ministers of Modi's cabinet who attended the meeting included finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, home minister Amit Shah, education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and commerce minister Piyush Goyal among others.

 

Deliberating on the skills development agenda, the Aayog said India is one of the youngest nations in the world with 20% of the global youth population. 'This gives India an opportunity to become the skill capital of the world,' it said in a tweet. 'By 2030, India's gig and platform economy is estimated to expand to 23.5 million workers,' it said.

 

Further, deliberating on the GatiShakti initiative of the government for area development and social infrastructure, the Aayog said PM GatiShakti NMP uses a ‘whole of government’ approach for infrastructure planning & implementation based on six pillars, namely comprehensiveness, prioritization, optimization, synchronization, analytics and dynamism

 

'GatiShakti with nearly 1,600 layers of data ensures evidence-based policy making in the infrastructure sector,' it said, adding it also ensures effective socio-economic planning and adoption of an area-development approach.

 

The 8th governing council meeting of the Aayog aimed at charting out a roadmap for a Vikasit Bharat by 2047 where the centre and states collaborate as Team India. 'This will play a key role in the global context as India's socio-economic growth and transformation have the power to produce a positive multiplier effect.

 

Some of the chief ministers who have boycotted the governing council meeting on Saturday included Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejariwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.

Allaying fears over indifferent weather in February and March affecting rabi crops, the Indian government on Thursday raised its estimates for foodgrain production by another 2.1 per cent from the projections made in February.  

 

In a new development, the Centre has come out with projections of the 'Zaid' crop — sown between the rabi and kharif crops — separately unlike earlier years when they were treated as part of rabi crops. 

 

In its third advance estimate of agricultural crops for the current crop year (July 2022-June 2023), the Ministry of Agriculture pegged foodgrains output at a record high of 330.53 million tonnes (mt). This is against 323.55 mt projected in the second advance estimate and 315.61 mt last crop year. 

 

Contentious forecast 

In what could turn out to be contentious in the following months, the Ministry projected wheat output at a new high of 112.74 mt (112.18 mt second advance estimate/107.74 mt last year).

 

The estimate comes amidst other agencies such as the Roller Flour Mills Federation of India pegging the production lower than 105 mt. Traders, too, say wheat production is lower, pointing to the procurement for the Central Pool stocks by the Food Corporation of India this year. 

 

According to official sources, wheat procurement as of May 24 is 26.17 mt against a target of 34.51 mt. 

 

Comfortable situation

With the Centre raising the kharif rice production by 2 mt to 110 mt (108mt/111 mt), overall output for the year has been pegged at a new peak of 135.54 mt with rabi projected at 15.89 and the 'Zaid' crop at 9.61 mt.

 

The comfortable rice production this season is seen as one reason why the Government has permitted exports of fully broken rice, banned since September 8, 2022, under certain conditions such as meeting food emergencies of neighbouring and African countries. 

 

The maize crop seems to have gained from the March rains with its production being raised to 35.91 mt (34.61 mt/33.73 mt). Overall, cereals production has been pegged higher at 303.03 mt (295.74 mr/288.31 mt).

 

Inflation concern 

Coarse cereals production has been raised to 54.74 mt (52.72 mt/51.10 mt) with other gains forming from bajra and Shri Anna (nutri-cereals). Output of the rest such as jowar, small millets and barley is seen lower.

 

In what could be a concern for the Centre to control inflation, pulses production has been lowered to 27.5 mt (27.8 mt/27.30 mt). The output of tur has been cut to 3.43 mt (3.66 mt/4.22 mt) that of gram to 13.54 mt (13.62 mt/13.54 mt) and urad to 2.61 mt (2.68 mt/2.77 mt). 

 

The production of nine oilseeds has been projected higher at 40.99 mt (40.01 mt/37.96 mt) with the output of rapeseed/mustard lowered to 12.49 mt (12.81 mt/11.96 mt). The production will still be a record high.

 

On the other hand, soyabean production has been pegged higher at 14.97 mt (13.97 mt/12.98 mt) which should cause concern for farmers in a market where edible oil prices are falling. 

 

Catching the eye 

Another estimate catching the eye is the increase in cotton production to 343.47 lakh bales from the earlier estimate of 337.23 lakh bales. This comes amidst confusion in the trade over the exact production of cotton. 

 

While the Cotton Association of India lowered production estimate to lower than 300 lakh bales this month, cotton arrivals have zoomed to a nine-year high in May as farmers have begun releasing stocks they had held so far hoping to fetch higher prices.

 

Some traders are estimating the production between 340 lakh bales and 360 lakh bales.

The Federation of Indian Export Organisation and the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, will organise a capacity-building programme for local artisans and entrepreneurs for promotion of products with Geographical Indications tag, in the city on Friday.

 

The focus will be on export of agarbathi, silk, traditional paintings, sandalwood oil and soap, jasmine, betel leaf, rosewood inlay, Ganjifa paintings of Mysuru, and the sessions will be held in association with District Industries Centre and the Mysore Chamber of Commerce & Industry and MSME Development Institute.

 

The programme will be held at Hotel Pai Vista from 10.30 a.m. and the organisers said that the sessions will help create awareness among the entrepreneurs, start-ups, and business professionals about various opportunities available in the international market for GI products.

 

In addition, the participants will also be apprised of support and the facilitation being offered by both State and Centre governments under the GI tag initiative for promotion of exports.

 

Businessmen and merchants, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, start-ups involved in manufacture and export of GI products will participate and take advantage of the deliberations and interactions with experts.

 

Senior officials from the office of the Additional Director General of Foreign Trade, Bengaluru, DIC Mysore, Handicrafts Service Centre, MCCI, FIEO, MSMEDI will also interact with the participants.

India will despatch around 1.05 million tonnes of food grains to Nepal, Indonesia, Senegal and Gambia as part of its economic diplomacy in the current financial year, waiving curbs on exports.

 

India banned wheat and broken rice exports and imposed a 20% export duty on non-basmati rice varieties last year to keep prices down.

 

In what is likely to add heft to India’s role in providing food security on the global stage, the department of food and public distribution has allowed exports of 300,000 tonnes wheat to Nepal; 200,000 tonnes of broken rice to Indonesia; 500,000 tonnes broken rice to Senegal, and 50,000 tonnes of broken rice to Gambia on a request by external affairs ministry. This comes despite low domestic wheat stocks.

 

The Food Corp of India (FCI) so far has procured a little over 26 MT wheat in the 2023-24 (October-March) rabi marketing year against a target of 34.5 MT. A hot February and heavy rains in March and April lowered wheat production to below the agriculture ministry’s second estimate of 112.2 MT. As per government officials, the amount procured so far will be enough to meet wheat requirement for the public distribution system (PDS). After ensuring 18.5 MT for PDS, there will be 8.7 MT available in the central pool, which will be more than sufficient for the open market sale scheme if required. Hence, there is no cause for concern, the government claims.

 

In the case of rice, the government had 26.5 MT rice in its central pool as of 1 May. Up to 21 May, FCI had procured 77.2 MT paddy in the ongoing 2022-23 (April-September) kharif marketing season and 3.2 MT paddy in the current 2023-24 rabi marketing season against an estimated target of 15.7 MT.

 

In response to Mint’s query, the Department of Food and Public Distribution said it deals with the 'import and export of only wheat and non-basmati rice from central pool stocks available with FCI. WTO norms inter-alia restrict the export of foodgrains from public stocks procured for domestic consumption through welfare schemes.

 

However, humanitarian assistance, fully in grant form under the reference of the Ministry of External Affairs, to the deserving countries, is only allowed. During the 2022-23 financial year, no quantity of wheat and rice was supplied or exported to any foreign countries from the department’s central pool stocks,' the official said. Queries sent to the external affairs ministry remained unanswered.

 

Wheat and non-basmati rice exported as humanitarian assistance from central pool stocks during FY15 to FY22 to countries like Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Bhutan, Myanmar, Mozambique among others was 256,427 tonnes, the official disclosed.

 

'In the past two years, foodgrains have been provided to some countries as humanitarian aid on the recommendation of Ministry of External Affairs by DGFT. The data will be available with MEA or DGFT,' the official notified.

 

Emails sent to MEA, Embassy of Nepal on Friday containing queries remain unanswered till press time.

 

Last year, until 22 June of FY23, India shipped 1.8 MT wheat, including 33,000 tonnes of 50,000 tonnes committed to Afghanistan as part of humanitarian assistance, said then Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey. Other than Afghanistan, India also exported food grains to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Israel, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Qatar, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, Vietnam and Yemen during last financial year.

The government on Wednesday allowed the exports of broken rice on the basis of permission given by the government for shipments to other countries for meeting their food security needs, though the export of broken rice is banned in general.

 

'The export policy of broken rice is prohibited, however, export will be allowed on the basis of permission granted by the Government of India to other countries to meet their food security needs and based on the request of their government,' the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.

 

India had banned the exports of broken rice and imposed a 20% duty on exports of various grades in September.

 

In December last year, it allowed the exports of organic non-Basmati rice including organic non-Basmati broken rice.

 

China is the largest importer of Indian broken rice at $418.29 million in FY23 followed by Senegal, Indonesia and Vietnam.

The Bangladesh Bank has permitted Sonali Bank and Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) to open nostro accounts in rupee with the State Bank of India and ICICI Bank.

 

Only the income earned in rupee from exports can be deposited into these accounts. And the money deposited in these accounts can only be used to meet the cost of goods and services imported from India.

 

Besides, in the case of imports, advance payments can be made from these accounts with approval from the Bangladesh Bank. Overdrafts and short-term loans can be taken against these accounts following the central bank's guidelines for forex transactions.

 

Sonali, EBL apply to open nostro accounts

 

Sonali Bank and EBL have already applied to the Reserve Bank of India for opening nostro accounts, according to officials of the two Bangladeshi banks.

 

A nostro account refers to an account that a bank holds in a foreign currency in another bank. nostros, a term derived from the Latin word for 'ours', is frequently used to facilitate foreign exchange and trade transactions.

 

Talking to The Business Standard, EBL Managing Director Ali Reza Iftekhar said, 'The Bangladesh Bank has given us the approval to open a nostro account in Indian banks.'

 

Accordingly, an application has been sent to the Reserve Bank of India for opening a nostro account in the State Bank of India, he added.

 

Amid the dollar crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, there have been talks for months on settling parts of bilateral trade in local currencies, enabling Bangladeshi businessmen to sell goods or services to Indian counterparts for rupees.

 

Similarly, Indian businessmen will sell their goods and services to Bangladeshi businessmen for taka. 

 

It was discussed that Sonali Bank and EBL will open accounts with the State Bank of India and ICICI Bank. Both the Indian banks will also open similar accounts with the two Bangladeshi banks.

 

But at one stage of the discussions, the Indian side asked for transactions only in rupee and Bangladesh agreed.

 

Banks hope to be ready by June

 

Officials from the two banks concerned hope the banks of the two countries will be able to finish preparations for such transactions by next June. After that, the official announcement will be made regarding the opening of LCs under the initiative.

 

Banks other than Sonali Bank and EBL will be able to conduct transactions with India through these two banks in this manner.

 

'Initially we said the Indian banks will open vostro accounts in our banks. But now the Indian side says it will not be necessary. Transactions can be done without opening an account in Bangladesh,' Ali Reza said.

 

A vostro account is an account held by a foreign bank in domestic currency at our bank.

 

'Many transactions will not be possible in the beginning. You have to proceed step by step. As much as rupees will be available against Bangladesh's exports, the liabilities of import from India has to be paid with the same amount of rupees,' said Ali Reza Iftekhar.

 

In the fiscal 2021-22, Bangladesh's exports to India amounted to $2 billion, while imports from India to Bangladesh were approximately $13.69 billion. Over the past two years, Bangladesh's exports to India have increased, and it is expected that the volume will further increase.

 

Majbaul Haque, executive director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, recently told TBS that the central bank of India had issued guidelines for direct transactions in rupees several months ago.

 

'Bangladesh has reviewed the matter in the light of this decision of the Reserve Bank of India and has taken a policy decision to conduct bilateral transactions in rupees.'

 

In a commerce minister-level meeting of the two countries held in New Delhi in December last year, the Indian side gave a verbal proposal to use their rupee in bilateral commercial transactions. Bangladesh then asked India to make a formal proposal.

 

RBI, the Indian central bank, in a circular on 11 July last year, has allowed international trade transactions to be settled in rupees. It is said that all import-export transactions will be in rupee. The exchange rate between the two countries will be market-based.

 

India trades in rupee with 18 countries 

 

In March, Indian Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Krishnarao Karad told the Rajya Sabha that the Reserve Bank of India has already arranged for trade with 18 countries to be settled in rupees. 

 

This arrangement has already started with Malaysia. India wants to increase the value of the rupee in the international market. For this, the country has initiated discussions with several countries, including Russia, besides Bangladesh.

 

Bangladeshi businessmen and analysts, however, recommended proceeding with caution about this and said this arrangement may create dependency on rupee.

 

Besides, Bangladesh has a big trade deficit with India and therefore, it may be at risk in dealing in rupees.

 

Businessmen, bankers express apprehension

 

A businessman, on condition of anonymity, said he fears that at some point it will be seen that banks in India are not accepting LCs in any currency other than rupees. Then rupees have to be bought with dollars and in that case, the exchange rate may suffer losses.

 

A banker also thinks so. He said the raw materials of the products that are being exported to India are imported from other countries. 

 

'Where will the exporter get the money to import the raw material by exporting in rupees? There is doubt if any bank will be found in the country to buy dollars with rupees. As a result, such initiatives will take time to succeed.' 

 

And exports to India should increase, he added. 

 

Of late, there have been discussions in countries around the world about free trade agreements and currency swaps to increase bilateral trade. Asian Clearing Union (ACU) countries are negotiating payment of import duties in their own currencies.

 

Last year, Bangladesh Bank approved the opening of LCs in the Chinese currency yuan. Some banks including Uttara Bank have opened such LCs. Bangladesh is also working on signing a currency swap agreement with Russia.

 

Amid the rise in commodity prices due to the Russia-Ukraine war, several countries are facing a dollar crisis. Apart from this, due to geopolitical reasons, different countries around the world are becoming interested in doing transactions in their own currencies, avoiding the dollar. India also wants to increase international transactions in its currency.

 

The BRICS countries – India, Russia, China, Brazil and South Africa – have also started discussions on starting import and export in their own currencies, avoiding the dollar. Saudi Arabia has also decided to export fuel oil to China in yuan.

 

Economist advises proceeding with caution

 

Executive Director of South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (Sanem) Selim Raihan thinks the initiative to trade in other currencies other than the dollar is fine in the current foreign currency crisis. 

 

'And it is better if it can be done with a big trading partner like India. But we need to check how realistic it is for Bangladesh. Because the import of Bangladesh from India is about 15 billion dollars. And Bangladesh is exporting 2 billion dollars to India,' he said.

 

'Where will Bangladeshi traders or banks get enough rupees to pay the entire import bill from India? If rupees have to be bought with dollars, it needs to be reviewed,' he added.  

 

On the other hand, Indian currency is not an internationally convertible currency. Therefore, the rupees available against exports to India cannot be used to meet the liabilities of any other country.

 

For this reason, Selim Raihan says, Bangladesh should do the transaction in rupees as much as it will get from export to India. If the rupees earned by Bangladesh can be used to import from India, it will reduce the pressure on the dollar.

The FSSAI has issued a manual of methods of analysis of honey and sought comments from stakeholders on the same.  

 

The methods include determination of specific gravity, moisture, total reducing sugars, sucrose, fructose, total ash, acidity, hydroxyl methyl furfural, water insoluble matters and pollen and plant elements.  

 

According to the FSSAI, the test methods given in the manual are standardised / validated and were taken from national or international methods or recognised specifications, however it would be the responsibility of the respective testing laboratory to verify the performance of these methods onsite and ensure that it gives proper results before putting these methods in to use.

 

Meanwhile, the manual defines specific gravity as the ratio of the density of a substance to that of a standard substance. The determination of specific gravity shall be for all types of honey including carvia callosa and honey dew.  

 

The determination of Total Reducing Sugars, Sucrose and Fructose-Glucose Ratio (Titrimetric Method) looks for the difference in the concentrations of invert sugar multiplied by 0.95 to give the apparent sucrose content.

 

The free acidity is defined as the acidity titratable with sodium hydroxide up to the equivalence point.

 

And amongst other, diastase is defined as an enzyme that is found naturally in honey and degrades over time, especially when exposed to heat.