An ancient Chinese royal food - black rice - has made its way to Pakistan and it has the potential to fetch three times greater export revenue for the country. These are the views of a grower, Rehan Khoso, who has successfully cultivated this rice variety in Jacobabad - the border area of Sindh and Balochistan - after conducting prior research.

 

In an interview with The Express Tribune, he mentioned that this variety of rice, being a royal food, was once forbidden for the common people.

 

Underlining the health benefits of the variety, he explained that black rice contained 28 antioxidants. He was of the view that the variety had a huge export potential, as India had been exporting this type of rice on a large scale since 2017.

 

'Rice is the second biggest export product of Pakistan after textile,' he underlined and sought government’s support to exploit the full potential of the new variety and fetch foreign exchange.

 

'As of now, Pakistan does not have a full-fledged domestic market for black rice and it takes a lot of effort and money for export,' he said.

 

'The basic thing is to get seeds to the farmers and they will grow it by themselves as hybrid varieties are getting popular here,' Sindh Abadgar Board Vice President Mahmood Nawaz Shah told The Express Tribune. 'Although these seeds are more expensive and untested, they are increasingly becoming popular now owing to their high-yielding capability,' he underlined. 'There is no doubt that if the government supports this new variety of rice, it will fetch significant export revenue for Pakistan,' noted Agriculture Republic Co-founder Aamer Hayat Bhandara.

 

He was of the view that black rice had a huge demand in the international market. 'Thus, Pakistan has a massive export potential if this variety is cultivated successfully across the country.'

 

The government should scale up the research platforms and link them with farmers to get the desired results, he suggested. 'We must opt for hybrid crop varieties due to their robust demand in global markets,' he stressed, adding that such varieties would support the farmers, exporters and government in terms of revenue.

Bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh may have increased steadily in recent times but transactions involving the northern areas of Bangladesh and Northeast Indian states have not really taken off. Progress remains slow despite recent official efforts on both sides to increase overall business turnover, by generating more trade between Bangladesh with Tripura and Meghalaya.

Assam, the biggest state in the region has proved a mixed proposition. The traditional wariness in Assam, about Bangladeshis in general – an inevitable product of Assam’s own historical development – has been hard to shake off. By extension, the term ’Bangladeshis’ in Assam often means people who had crossed over from erstwhile East Pakistan and ‘Bengalis’ in general, in times of passion. Bangladeshis are also well aware of Assamiya reservations about them. Such a situation is hardly conducive towards the healthy growth of closer regional cultural/economic ties.

 

Currently there are signs that both sides may be more interested in overcoming the present stalemate. Observers have taken note of positive moves made by leaders both in Bangladesh and Assam specifically, to increase cross border trade and economic exchanges. There have been occasional visits to Assam by Bangladeshi Ministers and diplomats. Bangladeshis have been participating in fairs and gatherings in Assam where garments and handicraft are sold and the Assamese have reciprocated.

 

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma have both called for closer ties and cultural/economic exchanges, at different official fora . Earlier this year, during summer, Bangladesh sent a special gift of quality mangoes and sweets to India – more specifically to Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, among other destinations, to the Indian Prime Minister and Chief Ministers.

 

But perhaps a stronger indication of the changing times has been recent articles by Bangladeshi experts about the need for a closer contact between Assam and Bangladesh, carried in the Guwahati-based media. A few years ago, this would have been unthinkable. More on this later,

However, the unusually long and sustained aggressive campaign of major Assamiya organisations like the Asom Sahitya Sabha, the AASU and the AJYCP against what they describe as an “unceasing illegal infiltration of Bangladeshis” has left a toxic legacy .Harsh words and bitter sentiments about issues relating to Bangladesh expressed from the highest political/official levels as well as in the mainstream Assam-based media have not helped matters .

 

As stated earlier, Assam’s own history during British times and the migratory trends seen post 1947 have been the prime factors for the present situation. In short the comparatively smaller Assamiya population acutely feels the pressure of the larger Bengali population in the region, regarding it as an existential threat.

 

Rightly or wrongly, Bangladeshis(Bengalis who came over from East Pakistan and later, Bangladesh) settled in Assam are regarded as an already sizable minority that poses a strong challenge culturally/politically to the ruling Assamiya establishment in terms of its sheer weight in numbers. A general sense of unease gets reflected at many levels of Assam/Bangladesh interaction, especially at the official level. Until recently, Bangladeshi diplomats/officials hardly interacted with the mainstream media in Assam, let alone going in for any image building exercise. Some years ago, during a brief interface between a Bangladeshi diplomat and Assamiya mediapersons, the unbridgeable divergence of views on sensitive issues came to light.

 

The diplomat was asked whether Dhaka would take more stringent steps to stop the illegal movement of Bangladeshis, a major problem plaguing Assam over the decades. The presence of millions of mostly dirt-poor settlers added to the economic burdens of a relatively smaller Indian state.

Prompt came his reply: Since Bangladesh came into being only in 1971, Dhaka was not in a position to talk about what had happened decades ago. But his Government was prepared to deal with any major issues that might have developed after 1971, no matter how serious.

 

As for Bangladeshis entering Assam or India illegally, there is now in place a bilaterally accepted procedure. It is for Indian/Assam agencies to round up and present suspected illegal settlers to Dhaka authorities. They in turn would verify/check their alleged Bangladeshi origins before accepting or rejecting them as its citizens!

 

The element of mutual reserve extends to other levels as well including cultural initiatives. A couple of years ago, at an annual fair, Bangladeshi garment sellers put up a few stalls, with specimens of high quality Tangail sarees and other items on offer. But sales remained low. Disappointed, the stall owners said they would not participate in such fairs anymore!

Given this background, it has been revealing to see in Assam media special write-ups from Bangladesh arguing the case for closer ties with Assam and the major mutual benefits this would bring to the region as a whole.

 

Interestingly, the approach of one Bangladeshi writer was not defensive at all. Quite the reverse: Assam, he reasoned, should be grateful to Bangladesh. By throwing out former ULFA militants from its territory and handing over hardened insurgent leaders, Dhaka had already earned high praise from GOI for contributing to the better security of the entire NE region, and of Assam in particular. It had frozen bank accounts run by major Indian insurgent leaders/organisations and seized their assets, to help India and for the sake of lasting regional peace and harmony. Clearly Bangladesh had done Assam a major favour.

 

Bangladesh, he added, was already an economic powerhouse in the region. It had much to offer to the NE states. By way of connectivity, NE states including Assam could use the waterways and the new ports Mongla and Chalna to carry their exports to ASEAN countries and beyond.

By road too, now that transit rights were operative bilaterally, Assam-based entrepreneurs could access Myanmar/Thailand areas not to mention the Bay of Bengal. The NE region could overcome the economic limitations of being landlocked, following the example of Nepal. Both Bhutan and Nepal were seriously considering the use of Bangladeshi roads/waterways and its new ports, in addition to special facilities they already enjoy in the Kolkata/Haldia ports.

 

Bangladesh could learn from Assam in improving its fledgling tea production efforts, while NE entrepreneurs could learn more effective production/other techniques in exporting agri-processed items, developing fishing, rice cultivation etc.

 

As for pending issues/problems, official negotiations and agreements wherever possible, were the only way to go forward. The strong Bangladeshi middle class/rich would well be travelling to Nepal and Bhutan through Assam and the NE states. They could be interested in Assam-made garments, the rich variety of different layers of tribal culture and handicrafts of Meghalaya, Manipur or Nagaland. There could be major exchanges in expanding the bilateral food culture.

India’s merchandise export in January 2022 increased by 23.69% to USD 34.06 billion over USD 27.54 billion in January 2021; records 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); marks an increase of 27.0% over USD 264.13 billion in 2019-20 (April-January).

 

Value of non-petroleum exports in January 2022 was USD 30.33 billion, registering a positive growth of 19.4% over non-petroleum exports of USD 25.4 billion in January 2021 and a positive growth of 33.81% over non-petroleum exports of USD 22.67 billion in January 2020.

 

The cumulative value of non-petroleum exports in 2021-22 (Apr-Jan) was USD 287.84 billion, an increase of 37.59% over USD 209.19 billion in 2020-21 (Apr-Jan) and an increase of 25.8% over USD 228.8 billion in 2019-20 (Apr-Jan).

 

Value of non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in January 2022 was USD 27.09 billion, registering a positive growth of 20.1% over non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports of USD 22.56 billion in January 2021 and a positive growth of 36.92% over non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports of USD 19.79 billion in January 2020.

 

The cumulative value of non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in 2021-22 (April-January) was USD 255.69 billion, an increase of 34.95% over cumulative value of non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports of USD 189.47 billion in 2020-21(April-January) and an increase of 29.18% over cumulative value of non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports of USD 197.94 billion in 2019-20 (April-January).

India’s economic growth in the current year is estimated to be 9.2 per cent, highest among all large economies. The overall, sharp rebound and recovery of the economy from the adverse effects of the pandemic is reflective of our country’s strong resilience. This was stated by Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Union Budget in Parliament today.

 

The Finance Minister said, India is celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and it has  entered into Amrit Kaal, the 25-year-long leadup to India@100, the government aims to attain the vision of  Prime Minister outlined in his Independence Day address and they are:

 

* Complementing the macro-economic level growth focus with a micro-economic level all-inclusive welfare focus,   

 

* Promoting digital economy  & fintech, technology enabled development, energy transition, and climate action, and 

 

* Relying on virtuous cycle starting from private investment with public capital investment helping to crowd-in private investment.

 

Since 2014, the government’s focus has been on empowerment of citizens, especially the poor and the marginalized and measures have been taken to  provided housing, electricity, cooking gas, and access to water. The government also have programmes for ensuring financial inclusion and direct benefit transfers and a commitment to strengthen the abilities of poor to tap all opportunities.

 

The Finance Minister informed that the Productivity Linked Incentive in 14 sectors for achieving the vision of AtmaNirbhar Bharat has received excellent response, with potential to create 60 lakh new jobs, and an additional production of  Rs 30 lakh crore during next 5 years. Dwelling on the issue of  implementation of the new Public Sector Enterprise policy, She said, the strategic transfer of ownership of Air India has been completed, the strategic partner for NINL (Neelanchal Ispat Nigam Limited) has been selected, the public issue of the LIC is expected shortly and others too are in the process for 2022-23.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced that the government plans to promote chemical-free natural farming across the country. At the same time, she also reduced the allocation towards the fertiliser subsidy by around a fourth over the revised estimates last year.

 

Presenting the Union Budget on Tuesday, Sitharaman said, 'Chemical-free natural farming will be promoted throughout the country, with a focus on farmers’ lands in 5-km wide corridors along the River Ganga, at the first stage.'

 

Further, she added that States will be encouraged to revise the syllabi of agricultural universities to meet the needs of natural, zero-budget and organic farming, modern-day agriculture, value addition and management.

 

For the fertiliser subsidy, the Budget has made an allocation of Rs1,05,222 crore, about 25 per cent lower than the revised estimates of previous year’s Rs1,40,122 crore. Of the total outlay for the fertiliser sector for 2022-23, Rs63,222 crore has been earmarked for urea (Rs75,930 crore RE 2021-22) alone and Rs42,000 crore for the nutrient-based subsidy (Rs64,192 crore RE 2021-22) for phosphatic and potassic fertilisers.

 

‘Subsidy inadequate’

 

ICRA said the budgetary allocation for the fertiliser subsidy is inadequate to meet the sector’s requirement for the year. ICRA expects the subsidy requirement to be around Rs1.30-1.40-lakh crore. While the subsidy allocation remains lower than the expectations, ICRA expects GoI to make additional allocations in case of an increase in the requirements as the year progresses as has been the case for the last two fiscals.

 

Interestingly, on Monday, the Economic Survey had made a pitch for reduction in use of chemical fertilisers and promote the use of low-cost organic inputs to protect the soil. The main aim for promotion of natural farming is elimination of chemical fertilisers and pesticides usage and promotion of good agronomic practices.

 

'Natural farming also aims to sustain agriculture production with eco-friendly processes in tune with nature to produce agricultural produce free of chemicals. Soil fertility and soil organic matter is restored by natural farming practices. Natural farming systems require less water and are climate friendly,' the Survey had said.

 

Natural farming in India is being promoted through a dedicated scheme of Bharatiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati Programme (BPKP). The scheme promotes on-farm biomass recycling with major stress on biomass mulching, use of on-farm cow dung-urine formulations, periodic soil aeration and exclusion of all synthetic chemical inputs. Under BPKP, financial assistance of Rs12,200 per hectare for 3 years is provided for cluster formation, capacity building and continuous hand-holding by trained personnel, certification and residue analysis.

Jordan's state grains buyer purchased 60,000 tonnes of hard milling wheat to be sourced from optional origins in a tender which closed on Tuesday, traders said.

 

It was bought from trading house Ameropa at an estimated $326.00 a tonne c&f for shipment in the second half of August, they said.

 

Traders said two other trading houses participated in the tender, CHS offered $329.43 a tonne c&f and Cargill offered $335.00 a tonne c&f.

Meenesh Shah, Chairman, National Dairy Development Board had welcomed the reduction in alternate minimum tax for cooperative from 18.5 per cent to 15 and surcharge from 12 to 7 per cent%for cooperatives having income Rs R to 10 crore.

 

The decision will boost development initiatives of dairy cooperatives and ensure better remuneration to millions of farmers.

 

Meghana Narayan and Shauravi Malik, co-founders, Wholsum Foods Pvt Ltd (makers of millet-based children’s food brand Slurrp Farm) said that the Budget has put the grain in focus, especially by way of branding of millet products nationally and internationally.

 

With 2023 designated as the International Year of Millets, the awareness around the health benefits of millets and also their environment-friendly cultivation methods will only continue to grow. This will strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the space of these nutricereals in India.

 

A new wave of entrepreneurship is sweeping the nation and the move will allow numerous young Indians to bring their ideas to life and build brands for the new-age Indian consumer, they said.

 

'Wholsum Foods and Slurrp Farm are proud to be a part of both India’s startup and millet stories and we look forward to playing our part in this next chapter of India’s growth', they added.

The Union Finance Minister on Tuesday proposed to increase the budget allocation in the agriculture sector from Rs 1,23,018 crore to Rs 1,32,513 crores—a marginal increase of Rs 9495 crores from the previous budget allocation.

 

Besides, the government has also proposed to allocate Rs 6037 to the Ministry of  Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Diaring and another Rs 2,941 crore to the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, the Finance Minister budget provisions made by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

 

She also proposed to promote high services to farmers including the use of ‘Kisan Drones’ for crop assessment, digitization of land records, spraying of insecticides and nutrients.

 

She said for the delivery of digital and hi-tech services to farmers with the involvement of public sector research and extension institutions along with private agri-tech players and stakeholders of the agri-value chain, a scheme in PPP mode would be launched.

 

Besides this, the state governments would also be encouraged to revise syllabi of agricultural universities to meet the needs of natural, zero-budget, and organic farming, modern-day agriculture, value addition, and management, the Finance Minister said.

 

She said a fund with blended capital, raised under the co-investment model, would be facilitated through NABARD. This is to finance startups for agriculture and rural enterprise, relevant for farm produce value chain.

 

'The activities for these startups will include, inter alia, support for FPOs, machinery for farmers on rental basis at farm level, and technology including IT-based support,' the Finance Minister said.

 

The government would also promote chemical-free natural farming throughout the country with a special focus on farmer’s land in five-kilometer-wide corridors along river Ganga. In wake of 2023 being announced as the International Year of Millets, 'Support will be provided for post-harvest value addition, enhancing domestic consumption, and for branding millet products nationally and internationally,' the Finance Minister said.

 

She said the government would also announce a rationalized and comprehensive scheme to increase the production of oilseeds to reduce India’s dependence on the import of oilseeds.

Reorientation of 18 schemes under 10 broad subjects and more freedom to States to implement their own plans in agriculture, besides nearly 74 per cent hike for fisheries and increased allocation for fertiliser subsidy amid call to shift towards natural farming show a clear blue print for the farm sector for next year. Even though there were no specific new announcements as expected by stakeholders, sufficient indications are there in the Budget document to what are the steps likely to be taken over the next one year.

 

After a long gap, the allocation under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) has seen nearly three-fold jump to Rs10,433 crore for 2022-23 from Rs3,712.44 crore (BE) in current fiscal and the hike is over five-times from the revised estimate. The scheme, started during UPA government, had found support from Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan who even had pitched for all Central schemes to be like this as it allowed States to develop and implement their own plans.

 

'There is a major emphasis on procurement of paddy and wheat, but bulk allocation should shift to pulses and millets,' said former Union Agriculture Secretary SK Pattanayak. More allocation to RKVY will give flexibility to States to mould these funds the way they want, he said. However, one has to see what is the total allocation for the farm sector minus PM-Kisan, crop insurance and interest subsidy, he added.

 

Out of the total Rs1,24,000 crore allocated to the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, allocation to PM-Kisan, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and interest subsidy for crop loan has a combined share of 83 per cent at Rs1,03,000 crore. In the current fiscal (BE), the share of these three schemes was nearly 82 per cent of the allocation made for the department.

 

No separate programmes

 

The Budget has clubbed all major activities in the 50:50 fund sharing plan with States under a new Krishionnati Yojana divided under 10 areas like agri extension, integrated development of horticulture, and seed and planting material. There will be now no more separate programmes like National Project on Soil Health and Fertility, Rainfed Area Development and Climate Change, Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana and National Project on Agro-Forestry.

 

Earlier, there was no allocation under extension and Rs1,000 crore to it separately will take care of many activities and a micro focus on this key activity which is crucial for raising farmers’ income whether it is technology adoption or reduction in input costs, said an agriculture ministry official. The details of fund utilisation will be worked out in consultation with States since extension is in their domain and they will also have to deposit the matching share, the official said.

 

As outlined in the Economic Survey on the need to focus more on non-farm businesses, animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries sectors to boost farmers’ income, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has increased allocation for the Department of Fisheries by 73.5 per cent to Rs2,118.47 crore and by 26.3 per cent to Rs3,918.84 crore for the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

 

Lower allocation

 

However, there is no clear indication on the chemical fertilisers even as the Budget mentioned about the need to shift towards chemical-free natural farming as the subsidy on urea has been kept at Rs67,186.78 crore, 7 per cent more than current year (BE), while it is more than doubled to Rs42,000 crore in case of phosphorous (P) and potash (K). But the allocation is lower compared with revised allocations for current year in all three nutrients.

 

'The focus on start-ups and AgriTech will be helpful for the development of a digital ecosystem and technology inclusion in the farm sector. However, most industry aspirations remain unmet,' said Ajay Kakra, Leader – Food and Agriculture, PwC India.

 

The silver lining is that it has put focus on technology and has concentrated on logistics from which agriculture sector will reap the benefit. Since the Budget was very cryptic and short we do not know the outlines of the actual proposals that will throw light in the coming days,' said Pattanayak.