Agriculture Current Affair 12 May 2022

Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces a dilemma: Keep Indian voters happy or feed the world

A growing food security threat is set to push Prime Minister Narendra Modi into a conundrum: continue sending wheat to countries hit by dwindling supplies from the war in Ukraine or stockpile food at home to fend off high inflation.

Severe heat waves have damaged wheat yields across the country, prompting the government to consider export restrictions, Bloomberg News reported. While the food ministry said it sees no case yet for controlling wheat exports, it’s a question that will gain momentum and carry political ramifications for Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party.

Modi has sought to burnish his reputation as a dependable global leader, but he faces frustration on home soil about record-high inflation, one issue that brought down the previous government and paved the way for his ascension to power.

Agriculture minister to visit Israel next week

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar will visit Israel during May 8-11 for bilateral meetings between the countries and discuss various issues related to the farm sector.

A delegation under the leadership of Tomar is going to visit Israel from May 8-11, 2022, on the invitation from Oded Forer, Minister of Agriculture of Israel, for bilateral meetings to discuss various issues related to agriculture between two countries.

On May 9, the delegation is proposed to visit facilities of Green 2000 – Agricultural Equipment and Know How Ltd and NETAFIM Ltd which are engaged in planning, set-up, consultation and on-going management of various projects in different spheres of agriculture and micro & smart Irrigation Systems (drip irrigation) usage to paddy cultivation, sugarcane and cotton respectively.

India allows additional 2,051 MT raw sugar exports to US under tariff-rate quota

The government has permitted additional export of 2,051 metric tonne of raw sugar under the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) to America for the US fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, according to DGFT. TRQ is a quota for a volume of exports that enter the US at relatively low tariffs. After the quota is reached, a higher tariff applies to additional imports.

“Additional quantity of 2,051 MT of raw sugar, for export to the US, under TRQ up to September 30, 2022, has been notified,” Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said in a public notice.

It added that with this quantity, total sugar export to the US under TRQ during US fiscal year 2022 would be 10,475 MT.