India’s summer pulses sowing is up by 37.19% while summer oilseed is up 3.35% even as rice has been sown in 1.87 lakh ha less than last year, according to government of India’s latest data release on Monday.

 

For pulses 'about 12.21 lakh ha area coverage has been reported compared to 8.90 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year,' the ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare said in a statement.

 

The area has been reported mainly from the states of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Assam, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Jammu & Kashmir.

 

For Oilseeds, about 10.18 lakh ha area has been reported compared to 9.85 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka reporting the maximum sowing, the government said.

 

About 28.51 lakh ha area coverage has been reported under summer rice compared to 30.38 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year. While nutri -cum - Coarse Cereals such as jowar, bajra, ragi and maize – have been sown in about 9.22 lakh ha area compared to 9.19 lakh ha during the same period of last year.

After turning Krishna-Godavari delta area into a rice bowl of India and becoming a role model in seafood and aquaculture exports, Andhra Pradesh now wants to make a dent in the overseas market by consolidating its position as the leading State with the largest volume of fruits. 

 

Policy shift and creation of awareness among the farmers to grow climate resilient horticulture products have yielded a bumper harvest of fruits. According to a latest report released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, AP has produced 18 million tonnes of fruits during 2021-22 occupying first place. The State has taken up horticulture cultivation in an area of 7.5 lakh hectares.

 

Barring mangoes, the king of fruits and bananas, all other products are not being exported. 'There is bright scope to explore potential to export fruits grown in AP,' Anil Narayanan, Deputy COO, Visakha Container Terminal Pvt Ltd (VCTPL) told Bizz Buzz on Monday. 

 

AP had produced 17 million tonne - the largest volume of fruits among all the States in 2020 followed by Maharashtra 11 million tonnes. The change in cropping pattern and awareness on climatic conditions gave a boost to fruits' production in interior areas like Chintapalli and Lambasingi areas of undivided Visakhapatnam district. The locally grown oranges, apples and strawberries have been hitting markets in North Andhra for the past few years.

 

According to first advance estimates made by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare for 2021-22, horticulture crops are grown in AP in an area of 18 lakh hectare. In addition to bananas and mangoes mostly Banganapalle variety, papaya, orange and batavia are the major crops grown by the farmers across the State. Along with fruits, the Agriculture and Horticulture Departments are making concerned efforts to promote vegetables, spices, coffee and some cash crops. Such cropping will not need much water and assures better returns with low investment. The State has recorded a year-on-year growth of 12 per cent.

 

At present, green apples from the United States and New Zealand and berries and oranges from Australia, Fiji, Chile and other countries are being imported for sale in big department stores. 

 

'Once we improve the quality of domestic production, the prospects of exports will go up after catering to the needs of domestic consumers,' an official of the Horticulture Department, said. 

 

Farmers' organisations feel that there is a need to provide incentives for investments for value addition by encouraging cold storages, transport facilities and food processing industries.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said that India may export 100-150 lakh tonne wheat this year as against 70-73 lakh tonne in the just ended fiscal. India’s overall wheat exports were two lakh tonne till two years ago.

 

His statement comes after Egypt agreed to import wheat from India and approved it as a wheat supplier.

 

'They (Egyptian authorities) visited our farms after end of March…The issue was stuck for 10 years. Now india will export wheat to Egypt,' Goyal told reporters.

 

ET had last month reported that the commerce and industry ministry is exploring new potential markets for Indian wheat in Egypt, Turkey and Italy as the Russia-Ukraine conflict has impacted its shipments globally.

 

India has been exporting to key wheat importers such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, Nigeria and Japan. Egypt, Turkey, China, Italy, Algeria, Morocco, Brazil, South Korea, the Netherlands and Spain are the other major wheat importers.

 

'The approval has come today only. Now we will send our delegation there. They’ve indicated that they’ll start with a few of their large importers. We will send good quality wheat so as to become a permanent supplier,' Goyal said.

 

On the overall export target for FY23, the minister said: 'It is a challenging time. Covid has not ended. The conflict is causing so much disruption in the world both in terms of currency transaction and in terms of supply chains, also in terms of shipping and container availability. Shipping routes are also significantly impacted. The world is facing turbulent times.'

 

India's merchandise exports rose to a record $418 billion in FY22.

 

Goyal said that exports in April first week are $9 billion despite April normally being a slow month.

 

On Indonesia granting a blanket license to most Indian food testing labs for three years, a year after barring the approval given to certification agencies based in India, Goyal said that Jakarta has conveyed about more opportunities where they want New Delhi to export more agricultural commodities

 

'Indonesia has accepted all our shipments. The problem is solved,' he said.

India's Sugar Exports witnessed an astounding growth of 291% from USD 1,177 million in FY 2013-14 to USD 4600 million in FY 2021-22. As per DGCI&S data, India exported sugar to 121 countries across the globe.

 

Sugar export jumped 65 per cent in 2021-22 corresponding to previous year. The growth was achieved despite logistical challenges posed by COVID19 pandemic in the form of high freight rates, container shortages, etc.

 

Highlighting the historic achievement in a tweet, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal said that Modi government’s policies were helping farmers increase their income by tapping global markets.

 

According to the DGCI&S data, India had exported sugar worth of USD 1965 million in 2019-20, which rose to USD 2790 million in 2020-21 and USD 4600 million in 2021-22.  

 

In 2021-22 (April-February), India has exported sugar worth of USD 769 million to Indonesia, followed by Bangladesh (USD 561 million), Sudan (USD 530 million) and U.A.E (USD 270 million). India also exported sugar to Somalia, Saudi Arab, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Nepal, China, etc. Indian sweetener has also been imported by USA, Singapore, Oman, Qatar, Turkey, Iran, Syria, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Germany, France, New Zealand, Denmark, Israel, Russia, Egypt, etc.

 

Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka account for nearly 80 percent of the total sugar production in the country. The other major sugarcane-producing states are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Haryana, and Punjab.

 

Notably, India is the world’s second-largest sugar producer after Brazil. Since 2010-11, India has consistently produced surplus sugar, comfortably exceeding the domestic requirements. The record exports would enable the sugar producers to reduce their stocks and would also benefit the sugarcane farmers, as the increased demand for Indian sugar is likely to improve their realizations. The significant rise in agri-exports is also seen as a testimony of the government’s commitment to increase farmers’ income by boosting exports of agricultural and processed food products of the country.

 

In order to ensure seamless quality certification of products to be exported, APEDA has recognized 220 labs across India to provide services of testing to a wide range of products and exporters.

 

APEDA organizes participation of exporters in the International Trade Fairs, which provides a platform to the exporters to market their food products in the global marketplace. APEDA also organizes national events like AAHAR, Organic World Congress, BioFach India etc. to promote agri-exports.

 

In 2019, APEDA led a delegation of exporters to Indonesia and organised road shows and had meetings with relevant authorities. Thereafter, export to Indonesia picked up and today they are the highest importer of sugar from India. 

India's exports increased by 37.01 per cent to USD 18.79 billion during April 1-14 on the back of healthy growth in sectors like petroleum, gems and jewellery, according to a preliminary data of the commerce ministry. Exports during April 1-14, 2021, stood at USD 13.72 billion.

 

Imports during the period rose by 12.24 per cent to USD 25.84 billion, the data showed.

 

Imports excluding petroleum increased in the said period by 18.24 per cent against the same period of 2021-22.

 

While the total exports during 2021-22 increased to a record high of USD 419.65 billion, imports too soared to USD 611.89 billion, leaving a trade gap of USD 192.24 billion.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said Egypt, which is one of the largest importers of wheat from Ukraine and Russia, has approved India as a wheat supplier.

 

There is a sharp decline in availability of wheat in the global markets due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Both the nations are major producers and exporters of wheat.

 

Egypt imported wheat worth about USD 1.8 billion from Russia and USD 610.8 million from Ukraine in 2020.

 

 

The African nation is looking to import 1 million tonne of wheat from India and would need 2,40,000 tonne in April.

 

'Indian farmers are feeding the world. Egypt approves India as a wheat supplier. Modi Govt. steps in as the world looks for reliable alternate sources for steady food supply. Our farmers have ensured our granaries overflow and we are ready to serve the world,' Goyal said in a tweet.

 

India's wheat exports increased to USD 1.74 billion in April-January 2021-22 as against USD 340.17 million in the same period last year.

Despite the Russia-Ukraine war and the unseasonal rainfall affecting the grapes, the Nashik district has crossed the grape export mark of 1.12 lakh metric tonnes so far.

 

The district has exported 92,000 tonne of grapes to European countries and the remaining 20,000 tonne to non-European countries. According to the data provided by the state agriculture department, before the conflict started, around 15,000 tonne of grapes were exported to Russia and Ukraine. The total exports in the two countries were over 17,600 tonne last season, which has now declined by 2,600 tonne due to the war.

 

However, the overall trend of Nashik grape exports this season continues to be robust as 60,000 tonne has been exported to the Netherlands, 11,000 tonne to the United Kingdom, 9,000 tonne to Germany etc.

 

Manik Patil, the director of Grape Exporters' Association of India (GEAI), said, there has been a robust grape export to the European nations this season.

 

The grape export season will continue for the next 10 days, and around 12,000 MT more grapes are likely to be exported to European countries. We will cross the last year's grape export figures, said Manik Patil.

 

Last year, the Nashik district exported around 1.20 lakh MT of grapes.

Indonesian authorities have granted a blanket license to most Indian food testing labs for three years, ending an imbroglio over import of agriculture produce from the South Asian nation.

 

The Indonesian Agricultural Quarantine Agency (IAQA) said the agriculture ministry has issued a decree for registering labs in India—a document valid for three years starting April 13 and that can be renewed further.

 

 

Indian consignments already bound for Indonesia can be accompanied by a Certificate of Analysis (COA) issued on March 24 or earlier.

 

Indian agriculture imports halted last late March after Indonesian authorities barred the approval given to certification agencies based in India.

 

These agencies or labs issued certificates that are mandatory for exporting agriculture products to Indonesia and had their license valid till March 25.

 

Sources said sent all required documents, including intricate data for the last three years, through its embassy in the last week of February for the renewal of the licenses.

 

Indonesian authorities, however, issued an order on March 23, canceling all licences given to India-based certification agencies and calling for fresh applications. This also impacted shipments in transit carrying agriculture products like rice and sugar from India.

 

India then launched a diplomatic offensive to end the imbroglio.

 

India’s ambassador to Indonesia, in the last couple of weeks, has called on the Director General of the Indonesia Agriculture Quarantine Agency (IAAQ). In India, top officials from the Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) and the ministry of commerce met officials in the Indonesian embassy.

 

Indonesia imported around $692 million of APEDA certified agriculture products from India as of 2020-21 that included rice, groundnut, wheat, onion, dairy and poultry products. Dairy and Poultry products have been kept out of this certification ban for now.

 

On imports, India is one of the biggest buyers of palm oil from Indonesia and imports almost 30 percent of the monthly requirement of crude and refined palm oil from that country.

The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued directions with respect to the sampling of high priced imported alcoholic beverages and lactoferrin.

 

The FSSAI order says that for high priced liquor, a representative sample of 100ml in two numbers and in case of lactoferrin two samples of 25gm each can be drawn for the purpose of analysis.

 

The order reads, 'it is reiterated to all the labs to carry out the analysis with 100ml quantity and authorised officers shall ensure that in case of import of high priced liquor, if miniature/representative sample of 100ml, in two numbers, is available, then only miniature samples shall be drawn.'

 

The order added that if any difficulties were faced in implementation of this order, the concerned officers can bring it to the FSSAI’s notice.

 

It was brought to the notice of FSSAI that field officers were insisting for a significantly higher quantity of samples of high priced imported alcoholic beverages, which was in contravention to the quantity prescribed by the FSSAI.  

 

Similarly the authorised officers were directed to ensure that miniature/representative samples of at least 50gm, in two samples of 25gm each can be drawn in case of lactoferrin.  

 

Lactoferrin falls under the ‘food not specified’ category,  so the usual samples of 500gm are drawn. However, the food businesses sought FSSAI’s intervention to reduce the sample size, as it is an expensive ingredient, the food authority agreed.

 

Further, the food businesses informed the FSSAI that opening of the commercial pack in an uncontrolled environment increases the risk of contamination which affects the final product and leads to losses to the FBO.

 

The FSSAI order added that in case of non-availability of miniature or representative samples, the lactoferrin  samples should be drawn in aseptic condition.

India has started the scoping exercise of deciding the type of framework of FTA with GCC to provide jobs, growth and enhance the country’s economic trade between the two sides.

 

Buoyed by the swift conclusion of free trade deals with the UAE and Australia this year, India has stepped up efforts to clinch similar free trade agreements (FTA) with five other GCC countries, the European Union, Canada, the UK and Israel as the world’s sixth largest economy doubles down on securing its ambitious export target of $1 trillion by 2030.

 

Early this month, India, the fastest growing major global economy, marked a key milestone of surpassing $1 trillion in its global goods trade as exports grew at the fastest pace since 1989-90 to a record $418 billion, while imports scaled the $610-billion mark, also an all-time high.

 

India has started the scoping exercise of deciding the type of framework of FTA with GCC to provide jobs, growth and enhance the country’s economic trade between the two sides, Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said during his recent visit to the UAE.

 

According to ministry officials, New Delhi is set to begin deeper engagements with the GCC countries as early as May-June to finalise the FTAs. Goyal said he was very hopeful of concluding 'a good, free trade, fair and equitable agreement' the rest of the GCC states that will provide opportunities for jobs, growth and boost India’s economic and trade ties with the region. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the UAE, which will be operationalised on May 1, 2022, will open huge opportunities and businesses of both countries should look at taking the bilateral trade to $250 billion by 2030, he said.

 

In fiscal 2021, India imported goods worth $80.5 billion from GCC countries, while exports amounted to $40.5 billion. About half of this trade is with the UAE. India’s exports to the bloc in April-January FY21 amounted to $21.74 billion, of which the UAE accounted for $12.9 billion with the main items being mineral fuels, apparel, gems and jewellery, and electrical machinery. During the same period, India’s imports from the GCC were worth $45.7 billion, of which those from the UAE were to the tune of $19.65 billion.

 

The revival of GCC-India trade talks comes after a long gap. A Framework Agreement on Economic Cooperation between India and the GCC was signed in 2004 that provided for both the parties to consider ways and means to extend and liberalise trade relations besides initiating discussions on the feasibility of an FTA. Two rounds of negotiations were held —in 2006 and 2008.

 

Talks with the 27-nation E bloc on the proposed Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), which have been stalled since May 2013 due to several issues, will restart from June.

 

India’s Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam has said the EU team would visit India for talks immediately after the ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which is scheduled from June 12-15. If the trade agreement comes through, then the EU will replace the US as India’s largest destination for garments.

 

Goyal said he has met a large EU delegation which expressed keenness to expand trade ties with India. He said India will also have a comprehensive pact with the UK and Canada after concluding an interim pact first. The interim agreement would serve as a frontrunner to clinching a more comprehensive FTA. The total trade between India and the UK stood at $24 billion in 2020.

 

India’s merchandise exports to EU member countries stood at about $57 billion in 2021-22 (April-February), while imports aggregated to $46.36 billion.

 

Pharma products, electrical machinery, vehicles, plastics, furniture and textiles are among the 14 product categories that the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has identified for India to clock $1 trillion merchandise exports by 2030. These would contribute over half of the target while the rest would be met with fuels and gems & jewellery, among others. The CII said that India requires a 14 per cent CAGR over 2022-2030 and its share in global exports must be pegged at 5.0 per cent in 2030 entailing 11x growth over 0.55 per cent share in 2019.