Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Monday agreed to launch the EU-India Trade and Technology Council at their meeting here.

 

This strategic coordination mechanism will allow both partners to tackle challenges at the nexus of trade, trusted technology and security, and thus deepen cooperation in these fields between the EU and India, according to a statement by the EU.

 

Both sides agreed that rapid changes in the geopolitical environment highlight the need for joint in-depth strategic engagement. The Trade and Technology Council will provide the political steer and the necessary structure to operationalise political decisions, coordinate technical work, and report to the political level to ensure implementation and follow-up in areas that are important for the sustainable progress of European and Indian economies, according to the statement.

 

 

The decision to set up a Trade and Technology Council will be the first for India with any of its partners and second for the European Union following the first one it has set up with the US. Establishing the EU-India Trade and Technology Council is a key step towards a strengthened strategic partnership for the benefit of all peoples in the EU and India.

Says there is a need to evaluate technologies to reduce the cost of cultivation and ensure environmental sustainability

Trilochan Mohapatra, Director-General of ICAR, has asked the rice scientists to work on varieties with multiple resistances to a range of pests and diseases.

 

Addressing the inaugural function of the 57th Annual Rice Research Group meeting virtually on Monday, he said that it was time the country focussed on precision farming.

 

‘Excellent performance’

 

Mohpatra, who is also the Secretary of Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), said that agriculture in general and rice sector in particular had performed exceedingly well despite the Covid-19 pandemic in the last two years.

 

He felt that there was a need to evaluate technologies to reduce the cost of cultivation and ensure environmental sustainability. 'Potential microbial cultures can be validated through multi-location trials to reduce the fertiliser use and, in turn, cost of cultivation in rice. Rice scientists should know how to think and go beyond the current research aspects,' he pointed out.

 

R Meenakshi Sundaram, Director of Indian Institute of Rice Research Institute (IIRR), said that as many as 27 high-yielding varieties and three hybrids were released through central varietal release committee last year.

 

T R Sharma, Deputy Director-General (Crop Sciences) of ICAR, has recalled how the mapping of rice genome helped in developing high-yielding varieties and hybrids in rice sector. 'Genes are incorporated to enhance yield and manage biotic and abiotic stresses,' he said.

 

He also emphasised the need for national and international partnership to address the problems faced by the farmers due to climate change and other natural calamities.

 

About 400 delegates from India and abroad are taking part in the three-day event.

 

Besides evaluating the work done last year, the meeting would lay a roadmap for the 2022-23 rice seasons.

 

Secretary, DPIIT, Shri Anurag Jain has urged the National Startup Awardees to adopt one district individually and contribute to its holistic development. Delivering the keynote address during the launch of Handholding Support of National Startup Award 2021, Shri Jain urged all stakeholders, winners, and finalists of the Awards to stay connected to the roots and contribute back to the society and the Nation. Stating that a Holistic Ecosystem support is the key for Startups success in India, he asked the pioneers to handhold Next Gen Startups in their growth journey.

 

The Results of the National Startup Awards 2021 were released by Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution on 15th January 2022 virtually.

 

A total of 2177 applications were received from Startups across the 49 sub-sectors along with applications from 53 incubators and 6 accelerators for the ecosystem enablers categories. A total of 46 Startups across sectors and special categories along with one incubator and one accelerator were recognized as the winners of National Startup Awards 2021.

 

Reflecting past efforts, this year for the second edition of National Startup Awards, DPIIT has put together 7 tracks that are more inclusive and exhaustive. The 7 pillars are:

 

    1. Investor Connect: The pillar would focus on facilitating funding and investor connects.

 

    2.Mentorship: Under this pillar, curated mentorship programs for startups will be organised. The pillar would contain one-to-one mentorship sessions, masterclasses & classroom sessions.

 

   3.Government Connect: The pillar would focus on enhancing Government procurement for startups. Startup will be provided with an opportunity to present their innovations to various               ministries under 'Startups for Public Service Workshop'.

 

   4.Unicorn Engagement: This is a new pillar which has been introduced for this year cohort. Under this pillar Startups will get a chance to work closely with Unicorns. Exercises such as              transformational workshops, pitch-to-unicorns and strategic alliances will be conducted.

 

   5.Capacity Development and Startup India Benefits: This pillar would contain sensitization workshops on Startup India benefits and regulatory masterclasses to improve the regulatory            environment.

 

    6. Market Access: Under the Market Access pillar, startups will get a chance to work with various industry enablers and Indian missions abroad to scale up their startups.

 

   7.Brand Showcase: This pillar would help Startups in building their brands by conducting workshops on storytelling & marketing. This pillar would also help build visibility of startups              through blogs and social media channels and focused episodes will cover winners of National Startup Awards 2021 on 'Doordarshan Startup Champions 2.0' (A TV show being telecasted           in both Hindi and English across Doordarshan network channels).

 

Today’s launch programme was attended by several C – Suite industry and ecosystem enablers, startup unicorns, senior Government officials from SIDBI, GeM, Doordarshan, international missions such as JETRO, Embassy of Japan among others, who offered exclusive offerings to support the National Startup Awardees. Additionally, winners and finalists of National Startup Awards 2021 joined the launch programme virtually to understand the engagement plan prepared for them in the way ahead.

 

The launch of the handholding support was highly appreciated by the cohort of the National Startup Awardees 2021.

India imported $5 billion less from China in fiscal 2020 than in financial year 2021 and further $48 million lower in FY21 However, in FY22 imports from China increased significantly by $19 billion, reflecting the pandemic induced uncertainties. But the good thing is that the share of China in total merchandise imports has moderated to 15.5 percent currently, noted SBI Research in a report.

 

However, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for India’s overall imports between FY97 and FY21 is 11.1 % while that for imports from China is 20.8%, which is almost double, making China India's third biggest importer.

 

While India’s service exports of telecommunications, computer, and information services far outpace China, the latter is rapidly catching up and India needs to buckle up in these areas, noted the SBI report.

 

However, India does have a comparative advantage in certain goods where China doesn’t. This includes select chemicals, minerals, stone and glass, animals and vegetables. But China has an advantage in many goods where India has advantage too such as footwear, hides and skins, metals, textiles and clothing.

"India might consider restrictions on certain products in which it has a revealed comparative advantage over China. This will provide support to MSMEs," said Dr. Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Adviser at State Bank of India.

 

Moreover, India is pushing for fresh free trade agreements and trade concessions with major economies and regional blocs in a bid to boost export-oriented domestic manufacturing as it chases an ambitious export target of $450-500 billion in FY23.

 

The prime objective of an FTP is to facilitate trade by reducing transaction cost and time. It aims to work with state governments to implement ‘District Export Hubs’ that will work towards achieving the export goals of each state.

Jakarta clarifies its curbs from April 28 will cover only RBD palmolein; relief for Indian edible oil industry

 

Bengaluru/Mangaluru, April 25

 

Indonesia on Monday clarified that its export ban on palm oil, to come into force from April 28, will not cover crude palm oil, providing much relief to importing nations such as India that depend on imports of edible oils to meet their domestic demand.

 

Agencies reported that Indonesia government officials told palm oil companies that the ban would apply only to refined, bleached and deodourised (RBD) palmolein, though trade ministry officials in Jakarta failed to respond on requests for clarification. 

 

In India, the report of Indonesia’s decision was greeted with relief by the industry terming it as 'better senses prevailed'. 

 

The Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) said it was yet to get any official information from the Indonesian government. BV Mehta, Executive Director, SEA, said the development is good for Indian edible oil industry. 

 

'I think better senses prevailed in Indonesia also. Otherwise, the market would have been on a fire,' he said. 

 

On Monday, the Malaysian Derivatives Exchange (MDEX) saw crude palm oil open higher by nearly seven per cent. Once the reality of the decision, announced by Indonesian President Joko Widodo on April 23 shocking the global market, sunk in, the commodity pared its gains to close two per cent lower at 6,222 Malaysian riniggit a tonne ($1,428.70/?1.09 lakh).

 

The Indonesian decision had the industry and Centre on tenterhooks as already cooking oil prices have been surging continuously since last year. India’s wholesale price index inflation rose to a record 14.95 per cent in March.

 

Russia-Ukraine conflict

 

Most of India’s inflation has been imported with the Russia-Ukraine war further compounding it. Cooking oil prices have been soaring on supply shortage globally due to lower soyabean production in South America and palm oil output in South-East Asia. Jakarta decision only stoked it further. 

 

Flaring up of crude oil prices have also aided the surge in prices of cooking oils and foodgrains. The Indian government has also run out of options by reducing import duties to maximum possible limits and controlling the retail price fixed by processors. 

 

The decision, in a way, hurt processors as import of refined oil had become more viable than importing crude oils. In the case of palm oil, the export tax imposed by Malaysia and Indonesia hurt the processors further. Of late, imports of RBD palmolein have been increasing due to these policy measures.  

 

Mehta said refined palm oil export to India had touched over 30 per cent of total palm oil imports in the last five months, thereby reducing capacity utilization of Indian refiners.

 

India to gain

 

Indonesia curbs on exports of RBD palmolein could be a blessing in a disguise for Indian processors. India’s imports of palm oil have been changing in tune with the policies here and in South-East Asia, which prefer its refining units capacity to be utilised.

 

SEA data show that India imported 4.74 lakh tonnes (lt) of RBD palmolein from Indonesia during November-March of the current oil year to October against 4,900 tonnes in year-ago period. The import of CPO from Indonesia stood at 5.01 lt during November-March of the oil year 2021-22 against 12.95 lt in the year-ago period.

 

Mehta said India needs more CPO and not RBD palmolein. 'India will be comfortable if CPO is allowed. That is the reason why the market which went up by 600 points in the morning is now hardly about 100 points up,' he said.

 

In case, India needs RBD palmolein, it can always import from Malaysia, he added.

 

In a representation to the government on April 21, SEA had stated that Indonesia has imposed export tax + levy of $575 a tonne on CPO, $408 a tonne on RBD palmolein and $386 a tonne for refined palm oil.

 

This had made palmolein cheaper than CPO by about 5 per cent at their current prices. SEA said Indonesia was incentivising exports of finished product (refined palmolein) at the cost of raw material (CPO).

 

Soyabean Processors Association of India Executive Director DN Pathak said: 'We have heard that Indonesia has now excluded crude palm oil from the export ban. If that has happened, it is very good thing as in an already tight market, a ban on CPO would have tightened supplies further. However, we are awaiting more clarity.'  

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday said about 4 lakh hectare has been brought under natural farming so far as part of a sub-scheme of the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana and think-tank Niti Aayog will prepare a roadmap to scale this up.

 

Tomar, while addressing a national workshop on innovative agriculture here, said the need of the hour is to do farming that works in harmony with nature, reduces the cost of production, ensures good-quality produce and profits to farmers.

 

Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, parts of Haryana and Gujarat are gradually adapting to natural farming. More farmers will join after seeing the success stories, he said.

 

Tomar said Niti Aayog will prepare a roadmap on natural farming after deliberation with farmers, scientists and agri-varsities' vice chancellors in today's workshop and the ministry will move forward accordingly.

 

He said some may have 'apprehension that production might decline by shifting to natural farming. Such people after seeing the success stories of natural farming will be able to adapt easily.'

 

Natural farming should be promoted in areas first where less or no chemicals are used in farming, he added.

 

According to the minister, about 38 lakh hectares have been brought under organic farming at present. About 4 lakh hectares of area is under natural farming so far as part of a sub-scheme of the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana.

 

A central programme is underway to certify farm fields where no chemicals are in use in areas of Nicobar and Ladakh. The centre is pursuing with states to identify such farm fields for certification, he said.

 

The government is working on a mission mode to promote natural farming and even include this as part of a syllabus in agri unversities, he added.

 

Citing reasons for the need to shift to natural farming, the minister said although chemical farming -- introduced during Green Revolution in the 1950s -- has definitely helped in turning a food deficit nation to a surplus but this method of farming has affected soil fertiliser, water and global warming.

 

'Chemical farming has helped increase production but there are limitations. Farmers may earn income but they are under stress with use of higher quantity of fertilizers and water consumption,' Tomar said.

 

The harmful impact of chemical farming is such that Punjab farmers sell their produce to others but never consume themselves, he said and stressed the need to change the cropping pattern that works in harmony with nature.

 

Stating that the government is committed to addressing the challenges posing the farm sector, the minister said alternative methods of farming especially natural farming are being promoted because India needs to sustain agriculture as a large percentage of the country's population is still dependent on farming for its livelihood.

 

Union Minister for Fisheries, Dairying and Animal Husbandry Purushottam Rupala said a new demand for quality produce has emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic and farmers need to take note of this and grow accordingly.

 

He welcomed a suggestion to promote natural farming in areas where no or less chemicals are used, while also stressed on the branding of commodities produced in natural farming.

 

Sharing the success stories of natural farming, Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat urged farmers not to get 'discouraged and confused' about natural farming.

 

He said production will come down in the first year of natural farming but expenses and water consumption will remain lower. This will also help grow better quality produce that will fetch a good rate in the market.

 

Devvrat shared how a large farmer in Gujarat gradually shifted to natural farming from 5 acres to 50 acres and now planning on 400 acres. He also shared how a horticulture secretary in Himachal Pradesh government shifted successfully to natural farming for growing apples.

 

Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said there is a need to understand the challenges facing the farm sector amid climate change, lower crop yields, high use of water, and imbalanced use of chemicals and fertilisers.

 

'A new revolution is necessary. Natural farming is the need of the hour. It is because due to the Green Revolution, cost of production has gone up and water use efficiency has remained lower,' he said.

 

There is a need to bring a social movement for promoting natural farming in a scientific manner among farmers, he added.

 

Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand said the chemical farming that has been adopted since Green Revolution has posed several challenges and therefore alternative methods are being thought about.

 

Some may call it non-chemical or natural farming or zero budget farming or organic farming -- these different methods of farming have been experimented. These methods need to be synthesized and moved forward, he said.

 

Chand said there is a need to give a chance to natural farming as the time is ripe to try this method. 'The country is not facing any food security threat, we can give a chance to this method of farming,' he said.

 

About 6 per cent of area in the country use no chemicals and this area can be targeted for promoting natural farming. There are also some districts where use of chemicals is less than 5 kg, those can also be promoted, he said.

 

A road map will be prepared taking leads from the discussion in the national workshop, he added.

The food authority has removed 28 FoSTaC training partners from the panel for not conducting any training since their empanelment. These training partners were requested to conduct at least 10 such training under the FoSTaC within 3 months from Jan 15, 2022.

 

The 28 training partners de-empanelled include 1. Burger King India Pvt Ltd, Maharashtra 2. Prabhodita Services India Pvt Ltd, Karnataka 3. Food Safety Solutions International, Kerala 4. Mind Genius Education Pvt Ltd, Maharashtra 5. Nalanda Educational Society, Telangana 6. ICAR-National Research Centre on Meat, Telangana 7. Samudayik Vikas Samiti, Uttar Pradesh 8. Department of Food Science and Technology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Punjab 9. Halal Asia Services LLP, Tamilnadu 10. Karuppiah Pillai Theivanai Ammal Educational Trust, Tamilnadu 11. Health Foods & Dietary Supplements Association (HADSA), Maharashtra 12. EDUJOIN Training Foundation, New Delhi 13. National Institute of Education and Development, New Delhi 14. Manav Vikas Sanstha, Rajasthan 15. Anant Learning and Development Pvt Ltd, New Delhi 16. Ecolab Food Safety and Hygiene Solutions Pvt Ltd, Maharashtra 17. S.P. Mandali's Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Maharashtra 18. Excellent Bio Research Solutions Pvt Ltd, Madhya Pradesh 19. Global SME DevNet Private Limited, Maharashtra 20. All India Institute of Local Self Government, Maharashtra 21. Alqama Education and Welfare Society, Maharashtra 22. SukShan Consultancy, New Delhi 23. Rojavanam College of Higher Education, New Delhi 24. AMK, Tamilnadu 25. Universal Health Foundation, New Delhi 26. Yum Restaurants India Private Ltd, Haryana 27. Chitransh Corion Marketing Pvt Ltd, Bihar and 28. Social Development for Communities Foundation, Uttarakhand.

 

In this regard, a statement by FSSAI says that it was noticed that during 3 months' period none of the 28 training partners conducted any training programme, except Nalanda Educational Society, Telangana and Food Safety Solutions International, Kerala, which have conducted only one training.

 

'All the 28 TPs are, therefore, de-empanelled as FoSTaC TP with immediate effect,' reads the statement.

 

According to the FSSAI, FoSTaC is a participatory programme of training and capacity building, designed to enhance public awareness while simultaneously training food handlers across the value chain. Its success would rest on forging of partnerships amongst all stakeholders, since food safety has to be a shared responsibility.

Both the sides have agreed to intensify work towards ensuring market access for Indian farm products, such as sweet corn, baby corn and banana, etc and recognising Canada’s systems approach to pest risk management in pulses, which would ease the inflows of Canadian pulses to India.

 

After a gap of almost five years, India and Canada resumed negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) last week and are eyeing an interim trade deal first to bolster bilateral commerce and investment, sources told FE.

 

Both the sides have agreed to intensify work towards ensuring market access for Indian farm products, such as sweet corn, baby corn and banana, etc and recognising Canada’s systems approach to pest risk management in pulses, which would ease the inflows of Canadian pulses to India.

 

Canada has also agreed to examine expeditiously the request for conformity verification body status to APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) to facilitate Indian organic export products. While India also wants greater market access for AYUSH products, Canada has sought access for its cherries and lumber.

 

While no time-frame has been firmed up yet for hammering out the interim agreement, official sources indicated that it could be concluded in 6-9 months; the broader FTA will follow. It will likely include high-level commitments in goods, services, rules of origin, technical barriers to trade, and dispute settlement.

 

The stage was set for the revival of negotiations after commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal held talks with his Canadian counterpart Mary Ng here last month, as part of the fifth ministerial dialogue on trade and investment.

 

New Delhi and Ottawa launched negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), as the FTA is formally known, in 2010 and held the last round of formal talks in August 2017. During this period, they held ten rounds of negotiations on a broad range of issues, including goods and services, e-commerce, telecommunications, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and technical barriers to trade.

 

The negotiations are a part of India’s broader strategy to sign “balanced” trade agreements with key economies and revamp existing pacts to boost trade. The move gained traction after New Delhi pulled out of the Beijing-dominated RCEP talks in November 2019. India signed an FTA with the UAE in February, its first with any economy in a decade, and a “substantial” interim trade deal with Australia in April. Similarly, London and New Delhi are eyeing a trade deal by Diwali in October.

 

The resumption of negotiations with Ottawa comes at a time when bilateral trade is running below potential and several Canadian companies — including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) — have either announced multi-billion-dollar investments in India or enhanced focus on the country. Last year, CPPIB invested $800 million in Flipkart Group.

 

Although Indian goods despatches to Canada are less than 1% of its exports, a joint study before the FTA talks started in 2010 had estimated fairly symmetric gains for both the nations. Annual export gains for Canada were estimated to range between 39% and 47%, and for India, between 32% and 60%.

 

India’s merchandise exports to Canada rose 26% until February last fiscal from a year before to $3.6 billion, while Canada’s rose 14% to $2.9 billion. Major Indian exports to Canada include drugs and pharmaceuticals, iron and steel, marine products, cotton fabrics and readymade garments, and chemicals, while key Canadian exports to India comprise pulses, fertilisers, coal and crude petroleum.

These programmes are planned to be conducted in cities, including Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Agra.

 

The commerce ministry will conduct a series of outreach programmes in various cities, including Hyderabad and Mumbai, to promote the recently signed free trade agreements with the UAE and Australia, an official said.

 

'The main objective of these programmes is to inform Indian exporters about the export opportunities which these trade agreements will provide to them in both goods and services segments,' the official said.

 

 

These programmes are planned to be conducted in cities, including Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Agra.

 

They would be organised in close coordination with the respective state governments. Officials from trade or industry ministries of the states concerned as well as those from industry associations and export promotion councils will participate in the programmes.

 

The first in the series of programmes would be conducted in Hyderabad on Saturday.

 

The free trade agreement between India and the UAE is likely to come into effect from May 1 this year, under which domestic exporters of as many as 6,090 goods from sectors like textiles, agriculture, dry fruits, gem and jewellery would get duty-free access to the UAE market.

 

The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was signed by India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in February which aims to boost bilateral trade to USD 100 billion in the next five years from current USD 60 billion.

 

On April 2, India and Australia signed an economic cooperation and trade agreement under which Canberra would provide duty-free access in its market for over 6,000 broad sectors of India, including textiles, leather, furniture, jewellery and machinery.

 

Both the pacts would help in promoting trade in services as well.

 

Mumbai-based exporter and Chairman of Technocraft Industries Sharda Kumar Saraf said the India-UAE agreement is also likely to give a boost to bilateral investments from both sides.

 

'Importers in UAE can now set up joint ventures in India to procure goods at competitive terms. Indian manufacturers can get the benefit of importing raw material in India duty free and finishing the final product using excellent infrastructure and cheap finance in UAE,' he said.

 

Saraf said that CEPA has come at the right time when the government of Dubai is in the process of establishing Bharat Bazar in their proposed Traders Market.

 

This is a unique facility wherein Indian exporters will be given office and warehousing space for active and aggressive marketing in Middle East and African region.

 

'These agreements (with the UAE and Australia) are likely to help in providing a quantum jump to Indian exports,' he added.

Aiming to give a boost to the export value chain, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Research Development Corporation (NRDC).

 

The MoU has been inked for utilizing both the organizations’ expertise by working together to synergize the activities in the interest of agriculture and allied sectors for bringing better value to the stakeholders. The MoU has been signed for the implementation of the Agri Export Policy   and to strengthen the export value chain.

 

The MoU’s mandate is to infuse and disseminate technologies jointly with APEDA in the areas of climate-resilient agriculture related to zero carbon emission farming to produce residue/carbon-free food for exports.

 

As per the MoU document, both the organizations will cooperate in collaborative projects for the commercialization of embedded technology related to agri and food processing at various levels of the value chain for boosting the export of agri products.

 

The key areas of cooperation include developing and improvising farm machinery for low cost, user-friendly and energy-efficient tools for small scale farmers, promoting and supporting Agri Start-ups associated with the NRDC Incubation Centre (NRDCIC) for engagement in agri-exports and strengthening of the Startup ecosystem and nomination of expert resources of NRDC/APEDA for mutual knowledge sharing.

 

The MoU was signed by Secretary APEDA, and NRDC CMD Commodore (Rtd) Amit Rastogi in the presence of APEDA Chairman Dr. M. Angamuthu, IAS at APEDA head office in New Delhi.

 

NRDC is an enterprise of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India and it was established in 1953 with the primary objective to promote, develop and commercialize the technologies, know-how, inventions, and patents.

 

APEDA has been focusing on a collaborative approach to bring synergy with a number of organizations and institutions having inherent professional and specialized expertise in different areas. The prospective sectors of collaboration include capacity building of various stakeholders and providing solutions for addressing some of the identified interventions for the development of Agriculture and its export enhancement in consonance with the objectives set under Agri Export Policy (AEP) announced by Government of India in 2018.

 

The AEP was framed with a focus on agriculture export-oriented production, export promotion, better price realization to farmers and synchronization within policies and programmes of the Government of India. It focuses on the “Farmers’ Centric Approach” for improved income through value addition at the source itself to help minimize losses across the value chain.

 

The policy also focuses on adopting the approach of developing product-specific clusters in different agro-climatic zones of the country to help in dealing with various supply-side issues viz., soil nutrients management, higher productivity, adoption of a market-oriented variety of crop, use of good agriculture practices, etc.