Monday 28 October 2013

Manufacturing Pesticide for Export, Export Norms to be Relaxed in India

The norms for pesticides exports and manufacturing of pesticides through foreign technology from India may be liberalized.

According to official sources, the liberalization is aimed at making hub for manufacturing pesticides especially those through buying the technology from foreign companies. After manufacturing of those high end pesticides, these pesticides will be directly exported out of India. These pesticides will not be marketed at all into the domestic India market.

Thus as per the proposal of liberalization, these products will not be put through stringent inspection norms as regards to the quality and procedures. However factories engaged in such technology transfer from overseas and manufacturing in India will have to comply with the safety, environmental norms and labour standards.

A discussion has already taken place between the ministries of agriculture and chemicals and fertilizer with the Ministry of Commerce.

A similar endeavour has also been taken for export of imported processed foods.

While the exports of such product will import the processed food, they will only export it and not market it in the domestic market. Thus these products will not be subjected to stringent inspection of food standards in India.

India is one of the largest producers of pesticides in Asia. In value terms the size of the Indian pesticide industry alone was $3.8 billion in the year 2011 that producers even those pesticides, which are banned in the developed countries.

Key destination markets for Indian exports of agrochemicals are USA, UK, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, South Africa, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Singapore. India is one of the most dynamic generic pesticide manufacturers in the world with more than 60 technical grade pesticides being manufactured indigenously by 125 producers consisting of large and medium scale enterprises (including about 10 multinational companies) and more than 500 pesticide formulators spread over the country.

However, the industry seems to financially constrained, said official sources mainly due to rising costs of inputs, governmental duties and taxes, and the cost of capital. There are also high rates of excise duty both on intermediates and finished products, and excise and sales tax account for nearly 20% of the cost of pesticides.

The pesticide industry is a part of the chemical industry. Reportedly, the global turnover of the chemical industry is more than three trillion US dollars.

The Indian Chemical Industry ranks 12 by volume in the world production of chemicals. With the current size of approximately $108 billion, the Indian chemical industry accounts for about 3% of the global chemical industry.

By 2017, accordingly to the Planning Commission of India, it could reach the size of $224 billion or $290 billion (about 6% of global industry). Indian chemical industry accounts for approximately 7% of Indian GDP and the share of industry i national exports is around 11%. In terms of volume, India is the third largest producer of chemicals in Asia, after China and Japan.


Source: Agropages 

Friday 18 October 2013

'Increasing Farm Production the Only Long-Term Solution to Food Security World Food Day Focuses on “Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security & Nutrition”

Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Minister, Shri Sharad Pawar on October 16, 2013 emphasized that the only long-term solutions to ensuring food and nutrition security lay in increasing farm production. 

In his message on the World Food Day, the Minister also called for promoting sustainable food systems. Since sustainability of the farm sector depends to a great degree on the performance of small and marginal farmers, the Government has taken a number of initiatives keeping in view these farmers and other beneficiaries especially women and children, the Minister has stated. 


“World Food Day is observed all over the world every year on October 16 to mark the founding of the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The basic idea of observing this Day is to raise public awareness about the plight of the hungry and malnourished people all over the world and to encourage all concerned to take concrete action to tackle and overcome the menace of hunger. The theme selected for World Food Day this year is “Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition”. 

“The only long term solution to ensuring food and nutritional security in the country lies in increasing production and productivity in the agriculture sector with diverse and integrated farming systems to provide nutritious diets to each and every citizen. Rapid industrialisation and urbanisation in the country has reduced the availability of natural resources such as land and water for growing food. It is therefore imperative to utilize the limited resources available for sustainable supply of food to the ever increasing population of the country through efficient and effective policies. While ensuring the sustainability of our food systems, we have to not only produce nutritious food for our present population but also protect the capacity to feed the future generations. Sustainable food systems require a commitment from food producers as well as food consumers to use resources efficiently at every stage – getting the most out of every drop of water, inch of land, grain of fertilizer and minute of labour. Sustainability can also be improved by turning waste products into valuable fertiliser or energy and also by minimisation of food losses and waste. The future of sustainable agricultural growth and food security in India is dependent to a great degree on the performance of small and marginal farmers. Government of India has accordingly launched a number of schemes and initiatives keeping in view these farmers and other beneficiaries especially women and children. 

“On this day, let us all resolve to use the scarce and limited resources at our disposal to ensure complete eradication of malnutrition and hunger in our country. On this occasion, I urge renewed commitment from all stake holders to ensure food and nutrition security of the people of this country through concerted action for sustainable food systems.” 


Source: Ministry of Agriculture

Monday 7 October 2013

IFAD and FAO Target Small-Scale Agricultural Projects Facing Challenges

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) have launched a new joint project to help developing countries, particularly fragile states, manage public investments in small-scale agriculture more effectively.

The UN food agencies will co-finance the $2.6 million initiative focusing on countries where a lack of strong national governance means development projects can face serious challenges in delivering results.

Up to 15 projects in ten countries will be targeted over a two-year period, with priority given to projects that are already under way but that are encountering difficulties.

FAO’s Investment Centre Division, which leads the Organization’s efforts to generate increased investment in agriculture and rural development, will work with countries to improve their ability to plan and implement investment programs funded by IFAD.

Kevin Cleaver, IFAD Associate Vice-President, Programs, said: “Fragile states host the greatest proportion of poorly performing agriculture projects, and IFAD has found that the major problems consist of weak local institutions and weak local management. This co-financed project will address both the capacity-building and institution-building requirements of these poorly performing projects.”

Laurent Thomas, FAO Assistant Director-General, Technical Cooperation Department, said: “This initiative presents a more strategic approach to collaboration which will enable both UN agencies to better plan and significantly enhance the effectiveness and quality of their services to member countries. It will lead to better results and, ultimately, to a greater impact on the livelihoods of those targeted by the programs.”

IFAD's Executive Board approved a $2 million grant for the project in September 2013, while FAO and participating countries will each add another $300 000 to the initiative.

FAO regularly works with its sister agency through the FAO-IFAD Cooperative Program, which has seen over 300 joint operations worth almost $9 billion between 1977 and 2012.



Source: FAO (http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/200906/icode/)