RED Delicious and Royal Delicious were the first apple varieties introduced in Himachal Pradesh by Samuel Stokes around a century back. From these traditional plants that can grow up to 30 to 35 feet and yield 40 to 60 boxes in their prime, the transition to the latest spur and high-colour strain varieties, which is already underway, could gather greater pace this year. The trigger would be the inadequate snowfall in the lower and middle apple belts, despite abundant snowfall at higher altitudes, leading to the traditional varieties performing below par at low and middle elevations.

 

For more than a decade now, snow has been receding from the low and middle apple belts. While an elevation of 4,500 feet to 5,500 feet is classified as the low belt, 5,500 to 7,000 feet is the middle belt, and above that, the high belt. Earlier, when it snowed in the higher reaches, these elevations would receive substantial snowfall too. It’s no longer the case. 'Over the past decade or so, a decline has been observed in snowfall in low and middle heights. Climate change and meteorological factors are the major reasons behind the receding snowfall,' says Surender Paul, Director, Indian Meteorological Department, Himachal Pradesh.

 

In the absence of abundant snow, the ‘chilling hours’, over 1,000, required by the traditional apple varieties are difficult to meet. Also, the absorption of nutrients by the soil and eventually by the plant is also impaired. As a result, the traditional varieties are struggling to produce quality fruit at these heights. This has forced growers to switch to modern varieties that need comparatively much less ‘chilling hours’.

 

'We received just 3-4 inches of snow this year. The traditional ‘delicious’ varieties are not performing at low heights, and people are rushing towards the latest ones,' says Pratap Chauhan, an orchardist from Kotkhai, who has an orchard at an elevation of 5,000 feet. 'Not many are considering the traditional varieties for elevations less than 7,000 feet,' he adds.

 

Compared to the new varieties, though, the lifespan of traditional varieties is very long. There are trees that are almost 80 years old.

 

Horticulture expert SP Bhardwaj believes the shift to newer varieties is the need of the hour. 'It’s an intelligent decision. At these heights, the traditional plants are struggling to produce the fruit with good colour and size. On the other hand, the newer varieties have no such issues and are fetching better prices,' says Bhardwaj. 'Also, all varieties suffer from genetic degradation after a certain period of time, leading to a decline in the quality of fruit. So, it’s imperative that apple growers move to the latest varieties.'

 

The shift, though desired, is easier said than done. The input cost is much more, especially at the outset, in newer varieties. The investment includes expenditure on irrigation, associated structure and hail nets. Compared to the traditional varieties, the new ones demand more care. 'It’s easy to replace a few plants, but when you need to replace the whole orchard, especially if one is switching to rootstocks, the cost is very high,' says Dikshit Chauhan, an orchardist from Jubbal.

 

The government does offer some support in the form of subsidies on plants, anti-hail net, irrigation, etc, but the budget seems to run short. In certain areas, people have been waiting for net subsidy for a decade.

 

Importing trouble

 

While the farmers may have found a way to deal with the changing climatic conditions, they are struggling to stay afloat amid a deluge of imported apples, particularly from Iran. Due to the heavy arrival of Iranian apple this year, there is no demand for the local apples that were stored during the running season (when the harvest is still on, or has just finished). 'Both farmers and arhtiyas have suffered huge losses on stored apple this year. The market is flooded with cheap Iranian apple and our people are forced to sell their produce at throwaway prices,' says NS Chaudhary, president of the state arhtiya sangh. 'This will have an adverse impact on the next season. The arhtiyas, suffering losses, will struggle to clear payments and both growers and traders will be scared to store the fruit next year. And if the entire produce comes to the market at one time, the prices will crash.'

 

While apples are imported from a number of countries, the import from Iran is particularly troublesome. 'The problem with the Iranian apple is the volume and the cost at which it is reaching the Indian market. It’s available for as low as Rs40-60 per kg,' says Lokender Bisht, an apple grower from Rohru.

 

Earlier, it was routed via Afghanistan-Pakistan (under SAFTA) to avoid import duty. With the regime change in Afghanistan, the by-road arrival has significantly dropped. Now, it’s coming through the sea but it is still available at cheap prices because of the rampant under-invoicing and low cost of production in Iran, Bisht adds. The growers feel that doubling the import duty from the current 50 per cent would give some elbow space to the local apple.

 

The ever-increasing cost of production has pushed the local apple into a weak position against the Iranian apple. As per the rough estimates of growers, the per kg cost of production has reached around Rs30. 'An apple box is fetching more or less the same price as in 2010. The input cost, however, has increased manifold. The cost of insecticides, pesticides, fertilisers and packaging material has seen a sharp rise, the subsidies are shrinking or closing down altogether, the transport and labour charges have also increased significantly. All this has led to a massive decrease in profit margins,' says Dikshit Chauhan.

 

And last but not the least, the growers believe the marketing of the fruit needs a big thrust. 'The government must find a market where we can export fruit. Some efforts were made last year to explore the market in the Middle East; these need to continue,' says Harish Chauhan, president of the Fruit, Vegetable and Flower Growers Association. 'There’s an urgent need to set up processing plants and small controlled atmosphere (CA) store facilities in the apple belt. This would go a long way in saving the growers from market forces and ensuring a remunerative price for their produce,' he adds.

 

India’s pineapple exports rose by almost 100 per cent to $3.26 million during the April-December period in 2021, compared to $1.63 million recorded in the corresponing period of 2013, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry informed on Monday.

 

The major export destinations last year were the UAE (32.2 per cent), Nepal (22.7 per cent), Qatar (16.6 per cent), Maldives (13.2 per cent) and the US (7.1 per cent).

 

India is the fifth largest producer of pineapple in the world with an annual output of about 1.2 million tonnes. The other leading producers are Thailand, Philippines, Brazil, China, Nigeria, Mexico, Indonesia, Colombia and the US.

 

The states where pineapple is grown include Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka and Goa.

 

The other states where it is grown in a smaller scale are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

 

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) actively supported the government in taking the export of agricultural products to $20.67 billion in 2020-21 from $0.6 billion in 1986 when it was founded.

 

The APEDA also helped expand the export basket to 205 countries.

 

The export target set by APEDA for the current financial year (2021-22) is $23.7 billion, out of which more than 70 per cent, i.e., $17.20 billion, has been achieved till January.

India is becoming the new global market for millets. Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shobha Karandlaje shared that as the demands are increasing, India has become a global market for this nutritious crop.

 

India is an important consumer, and producer of nutri-cereals in the world. Nutri-cereals refers to a group of crops comprising sorghum (Jowar), pearl millet (Bajra), finger millet (Ragi/Mandua), and small millets like little millet (Kutki), kodo millet (Kodo), barnyard millet (Sawa/Jhangora), foxtail millet (Kangni/Kakun), and proso millet (Cheena). UNGA Adopts Resolution to Mark 2023 as 'International Year of Millets'.

 

International Year of Millets

 

The Government of India had proposed to the United Nations for declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets (IYoM). This would create domestic and global demand and also provide nutritious food to the people. 72 countries supported India’s proposal and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets in March 2021.

 

In 2018, India celebrated the National Year of Millets. Further, with the help of research and development, the government is also popularizing nutri-cereals. It has established 3 Centres of Excellence (CoE) and also supports start-ups and entrepreneurs in developing recipes and value-added products that promote the consumption of millets.

 

Millets in India

 

Millets are a rich source of protein, fibre, minerals, iron, calcium and have a low glycemic index. Nutri-cereals are grown in arid and semi-arid tracts under low rainfall (200-600 mm) conditions. These are known for their nutrient-rich content and characteristics like drought tolerance, photo-insensitivity, resilience to climate change, etc.

 

Millets are grown in about 21 states in the country including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana.

 

5th largest exporter

 

India is now the 5th largest exporter of millets globally. Nearly 41% of total global production was met by India in 2020. In 2020-21, it exported millets worth US $26.97 million.

 

India major export destinations are Nepal, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, the UK, Yemen, Oman, and Algeria. Nepal (US$ 6.09 million), the UAE (US$ 4.84 million), and Saudi Arabia (US$ 3.84 million) were the top three importers of millets from India in 2020-21.

 

The production of millets increased from 14.52 million tonnes in 2015-16 to 17.96 million tonnes in 2020-21. The production of bajra also increased from 8.07 million tonnes to 10.86 million tonnes during the same period.

 

Government’s support

 

The Indian government notified millets as nutri-cereals in April 2018. Then to facilitate the movement of the millets, it revised guidelines for the movement of surplus production of millets to other states. A provision of inter-state transportation of surplus millets has been incorporated via the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to cater for advance demand placed by the consuming state before the start of procurement.

 

On 20th December 2021, NITI Aayog also signed a Statement of Intent with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) to support India in taking a global lead in knowledge exchange using the opportunity of 2023 as an International Year of Millets. It also aims at building resilient livelihoods for small-holder farmers and adaptation capacities to climate change and transforming food systems.

India's merchandise exports in January rose 25.28% from a year earlier to $34.50 billion, buoyed by higher outbound shipments of engineering goods, petroleum products and gems and jewellery, data released by the commerce and industry ministry on Tuesday showed.

 

Though the trade deficit widened to $17.42 billion as against $14.49 billion in January 2021, it was at a five-month low. Imports increased 23.54% to $51.93 billion during the month though gold imports shrank 40.52% on-year to $2.4 billion.

 

'The fall in mobility and the demand for gold with the onset of the third wave (of Covid) and the associated restrictions, helped to pull back the merchandise trade deficit to a five-month low at $17.4 billion in January 2022,' said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ICRA.

 

Chemicals, cotton yarn, handlooms and textiles were the other top performing export sectors.

 

'Out of these, almost all of them were labour-intensive sectors contributing majorly to the exports basket, which itself is a good sign, further helping job creation in the country,' said A Sakthivel, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations.

 

Cumulatively, exports increased 46.73% to $335.88 billion during April 2021-January 2022, from $228.92 billion in the year-earlier period.

 

Imports in the 10 months grew 62.65% to $495.75 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $159.87 billion.

 

Prahalathan Iyer, chief general manager, research & analysis, at India Exim Bank, said the country's export performance has been promising with the monthly exports remaining above $30 billion since the beginning of the fiscal year.

 

'The imports have been above $50 billion in the last five months; the trade deficit is likely to touch the peak level of $190 billion witnessed in FY13,' he said, adding that the trade surplus generated under the services sector is likely to be offsetting the deficit by more than $100 billion.

 

Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery (gold, silver & precious metals) imports, an indicator of the strength of domestic demand, grew 31.33%.

India and the United Arab Emirates are likely to sign a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on Friday during a virtual meeting between the leaders of the two sides.

 

The trade agreement is India’s first such trade deal in the Gulf region and is likely to cover areas such as goods, services, rules of origin, government procurement and investment. The two sides began the first round of the negotiations on the CEPA in September last year.

 

'The CEPA could be signed later this week, most likely Friday,” said an official, who did not wish to be identified.

 

The UAE is India’s third-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade amounting to nearly $60 billion in 2019-20. It was India’s second-largest export destination after the United States, with an export value of about $29 billion.

 

In December last year, the UAE lifted a ban on import of eggs and other poultry products from India, conceding a long-standing demand.

 

The UAE is part of the Gulf Cooperation Council, with which India is in talks for a separate trade agreement.

 

India's major exports to the UAE include petroleum products, gems and jewellery, minerals, cereals, sugar, fruit and vegetables, tea, meat, seafood, textiles, engineering and machinery products, and chemicals. India's top imports include petroleum and petroleum products, precious metals and stones.

 

The concept of Bio-fortified rice farming is getting popular among farmers in Bihar these days as it is not just nutritious but also helps in increasing the farmers' earning.

 

It is believed that bio-fortified rice has rich contents of nutrition including protein and zinc which is helpful to fight with malnutrition among children especially in a financially backward state like Bihar. 

 

One such initiative was taken in Bihar's Samastipur district where farmers started the cultivation of bio-fortified rice in Kalyanpur-Samartha village.

 

'We have started cultivation of bio-fortified rice in a 2.5 acre land in Kalyanpur- Samartha in Samastipur district as a pilot project and it has given good yield despite adverse situations. It is a new technique introduced in the farming sector not only to enhance the nutrition of a product but also to increase the earning of farmers. We need support from the state government to provide seeds,' a local farmer said.

 

'Over the years, more than 20 districts of North Bihar have been affected by floods every year. Last year, flood water entered into districts like Samastipur, Muzaffarpur and Vaishali. Interestingly, our crops sustained in adverse climatic situations and yielded a good amount of agricultural produce,' he said, while pointing out that the water logged in agricultural fields for extended periods due to choked drains connected with different rivers.

 

'I used one 2.5 acre land for farming and used 50 kg seeds of bio-fortified rice in Samastipur. Besides, the same cultivation is also done in Bela Bilaspur in West Champaran district,' he said. 

 

The farmer was guided by some experts of India Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Bihar origin NRIs related to an USA based forum called Global Indian Scientists and Technocrats (GIST).

 

Sharad Mohan, a Bihar origin NRI based in USA along with some other technocrats were working in the field of technologically upgrading Indian agriculture, had planned such an initiative last year.

 

'We took it as challenge to connect technology with farmers that would not only enhance their income but also help to fight micronutrient deficiency,' Mohan said.

 

The shift from normal farming of paddy to bio-fortified rice may prove to be a boon to the state like Bihar that ranks lowest with more than 48 per cent stunted children in the country.

 

'It could be a good initiative to introduce bio-fortified rice in the mid-day meal program of the state government in schools, Anganwadi centers and different food distribution programs to cater the needs of poor families having undernourished children. The bio-fortified rice has high protein content of 10.1 per cent and Zinc containing 20 ppm as per the claim of National Rice Research Institute Cuttack,' Mohan said.

 

'Bio-fortification could be a step for India's transition from availability and access to nutrition security and eradicating hidden hunger. I firmly believe that Bihari Thali would soon transform into a Nutria-Thali after adoption followed by replication of the practice by the farmers in the state,' he said.

 

'Some of the senior officials Ashok K. Singh, DDG of ICAR has shown special interest in this initiative. He has provided expert views and support for the farming of bio-fortified rice,' Mohan added.

 

'The cultivation of rice would certainly fetch a premium price in the market. It required branding followed by awareness and advertisement at government level to promote this product. Qualitative analysis, especially nutrition aspects mentioned on the packets are key here to promote the product. At present, rice means carbohydrate which the people know. Once they know about the nutrition aspect like protein and zinc, people from across the country and world attract towards it,' said Aditya Satsangi, a USA based agriculture trader and owner of a farm named kisanpro.com.

 

'India is a big market for bio-fortified rice. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also pointed out this in his Independence Day speech from Red Fort this year. Besides India, if we target African countries, it would give good export opportunities to generate foreign revenue for the domestic farmers as well,' Rachit Garg, a trader of HFN Mandi said.

 

'We are looking forward to buying bio-fortified rice from farmers of Bihar and selling it off in the countrywide market,' he says.

 

Bihar has good potential to produce bio-fortified rice especially in districts such as Rohtas, Kaimur, Bhojpur, Buxar which are known as 'Dhan Ka Katora' of Bihar. Apart from these districts, the cultivation of rice is being done in all 38 districts as well.

Algeria’s state grains agency OAIC has issued an international tender to buy milling wheat to be sourced from optional origins, European traders said on Monday.

 

The tender sought a nominal 50,000 tonnes, but Algeria often buys considerably more in its tenders than the nominal volume sought.

 

The deadline for submission of price offers is Feb. 16, with offers having to remain valid until Feb. 17.

 

The wheat is sought for shipment in two periods from the main supply regions including Europe: April 1-15 and April 16-30.

 

If sourced from South America or Australia, shipment is one month earlier.

 

Algeria is a vital customer for wheat from the European Union, especially France, but it has been turning its back on French wheat recently as it seeks to diversify to other suppliers.

 

In its last wheat tender on Jan. 26, the OAIC made a relatively small purchase of 60,000 to 80,000 tonnes expected to be sourced from the Black Sea region after seeking shipment to two ports only.

India's export of Shallots sees a boom with a growth of 487% since 2013. Exports rose from USD 2 Million in April-December 2013 to USD 11.6 Million in April-December 2021. 

 

Major export destinations during April-December 2021 were Sri Lanka (35.9%), Malaysia (29.4%), Thailand (12%), U Arab E (7.5%) & Singapore (5.8%). 

 

India’s export of Pineapple also rose by almost 100% to USD 3.26 Million during April-December 2021 compared to USD 1.63 Million during April-December 2013. 

 

Major export destinations for Pineapple during April-December 2021 were U A E (32.2%), Nepal (22.7%), Qatar (16.6%), Maldives (13.2%) & U S A (7.1%). 

India has been seeing consistent growth in exports. It may be noted that India’s merchandise export in January 2022 increased by 23.69% to USD 34.06 billion over USD 27.54 billion in January 2021; recording an increase of 31.75% over USD 25.85 billion in January 2020. 

 

India’s merchandise export in 2021-22 (April-January) rose by 46.53% to USD 335.44 billion over USD 228.9 billion in 2020-21 (April-January); marking an increase of 27.0% over USD 264.13 billion in 2019-20 (April-January). 

 

The government has been taking up a number of proactive steps to boost exports.  An export monitoring desk has been set up to help remove impediments, constraints and bottlenecks faced by the export sector, especially during the pandemic. 

 

Various Acts under the Department of Commerce are being reviewed to remove redundancies and outdated provisions. 

 

Several bilateral trade agreements are being pursued with great vigour. The government is committed towards developing each district in India as an export hub through initiatives such as One District One Product (ODOP). Innovative measures such as use of payload carrying drones to address first and last mile connectivity issues are being taken. 

 

Efforts are being made for reducing compliance burden through rationalization and decriminalization and several initiatives are being undertaken to improve the ease of doing business. 

 

Support is also being extended to exporters through various exporters-oriented schemes. 

 

The Government is also working on enhancing value of branding of Indian exports to improve India’s global standing as a reliable supplier and proactive steps are being undertaken to align the nation with the global value chain. 

 

An IT based platform for providing exporters licensing and addressing their grievances is also in the works.

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), which celebrated its 36th Foundation Day on Sunday, has taken a giant leap in making the landlocked Purvanchal (eastern UP) a new destination of agri-export activities.

 

The export of the first trial shipment of 14metric tonne (MT) green chilly was facilitated by APEDA from Varanasi to Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port in December 2019. 'And, there has been no looking back since then. For the first time, from Varanasi 3MT fresh vegetables was exported to London, 3MT fresh mangoes to Dubai, 1.2MT fresh mangoes to London, 520 MT regional rice to Qatar and 80 MT regional rice to Australia during the Covid pandemic in 2020, after APEDA’s intervention,' said APEDA’s regional in-charge and AGM Dr CB Singh.

 

According to him, major export from India occurs from coastal areas like Maharashtra and Gujarat. Working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, the APEDA has taken several initiatives in making eastern UP region as a new destination of agri-export activities through development of Varanasi Agri-Export Hub (VAEH). He said that the Varanasi region, where negligible agri-exports used to take place because of lack of basic infrastructure, is now abuzz with activities which has given a boost to exports. After the intervention of APEDA,

 

Varanasi region has recorded exemplary changes in the export scenario and registered many first-of-its-kind achievements in a very short span of time. The APEDA has identified potential districts of Uttar Pradesh to be covered under the VAEH. The Purvanchal division covers districts of Varanasi, Mirzapur, Azamgarh, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Basti, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Chandauli and Sant Ravidas Nagar.

 

'With the active intervention of APEDA, about 20,100MT of agri- produce have been exported from Purvanchal region in the last six months.

Out of these shipments, about 5,100 MT fresh fruits and vegetables and 15,000 MT of cereals have been exported to Vietnam, Gulf nations, Nepal and Bangladesh by all modes of transportation,' Singh told TOI, adding that Varanasi and nearby areas witnessed an export of around 12 MT, 22 MT and 45 MT in October, November and December, respectively in 2021.

 

Also, around 125 MT goods have been exported through waterways from Varanasi and nearby areas. As Varanasi is a territory based in the plains of river Ganga, it has rich nutritional composition of soil with ample amount of fertility which leads to production of good quality agri-produce. Besides, Varanasi region also has reputed institutions of central and international level such as Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (IIVR), International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Banaras Hindu University (BHU).

 

He said that Varanasi has an airport, but it was not active in terms of export of agricultural products directly. Currently, the Varanasi region has a number of exporters.

 

Exports of agricultural products is now being undertaken through air route due to establishment of robust quarantine as well as custom clearance facilitation centre at Lal Bahadur Shastri International (LBSI) Airport.

 

APEDA has organised more than 30 capacity building programmes in the entire Varanasi region followed by eight international buyer-seller meets, which has provided a platform for the exporters to market their food products in the global marketplace.

 

According to Singh, in order to monitor the product and production, a project of AI tech is also being considered for approval.

The government is also considering to replicate the Varanasi model in the Gorakhpur region of Purvanchal as the geography, demography and few other parameters are common in both the places.

 

The newly established international airport in Kushinagar may play a vital role in triggering the export. The DDU Gorakhpur University, Indian Institute of Seed Science, Mau are the institutions actively working towards promotion of agri- activities in the region.

 

Singh said that the APEDA has also approved three projects for comprehensive grain and nutritional quality profiling of non-Basmati Rice, value added products from rice and rice-based food systems. An APEDA-funded project for integrated IT solutions to enhance Agri Export in the Varanasi region is under process

The highest ever exports are happing in India this fiscal, said Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, adding that along with a new foreign trade policy, restructuring of the organisational set up within the Department of Commerce is taking place

 

'The country is likely to cross $400 billion worth of exports in the financial year 2021-22. Exports have grown substantially. We have seen 46 per cent of growth in exports over the previous year. The previous year, of course, had a much lower base. We are likely to achieve our highest every export from our country in achieving $400 billion of exports' said Sarangi, speaking at the Pune International Business Summit organised by the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) on Monday.

 

'We have to come up with a new foreign trade policy and we are working in setting up an ecosystem that will facilitate foreign trade and a positive export environment. We are also working on restructuring some of the organisational set up within the Department of Commerce to give us an additional advantage in terms of trade negotiations, in terms of trade promotion, and in the areas of trade remedial,' he said.

 

Key elements

Sarangi said that he anticipates that India’s export effort will continue to focus on four or five key elements.

 

'One of these will be a greater linkage between the manufacturing hubs and exports. SEZs, industrial clusters, food processing clusters are going to become increasingly important. The kind of quality consciousness, the quality of technological augmentation will determine our ability to ramp up our exports substantially,' he said. 

 

Sarangi added that in horizontal support, the focus is going to be on the creation of global standards of infrastructure like roads or linkage of manufacturing with ports.

 

'The second horizontal effort will be on quality up-gradation. The focus and thrust on quality are going to be key and the government’s increased investment and focus is also going to be in the areas of quality,' he added. 

 

Sarangi said that the government will be facilitating market access through a range of pre-trade agreements which are being negotiated right now and on simplification of regulations. 

 

He said that one of the key area is ability to adjust to the post-pandemic global economic order and invest more in the emerging technologies like AI, digital blockchain, nano technology and genetics.