The Times of India – Online

The directorate of industries has proposed to set up district level laboratories for certification of agriculture produce to promote exports from those districts. A senior official from the directorate of industries said that the laboratories would certify agriculture produce with respect to standards required from the countries where the exports are intended. “The laboratories are proposed to help farmers get certification of mostly major agriculture produce of the districts based on the parameters of presence of chemicals specified by destination countries. There is no common test for the produce as each country has a different set of parameters set by their governments,” said the officer.

The Financial Express – Online

Exports of agricultural and processed food products rose by 9% to $26.3 billion in 2022-23 as compared to FY22, driven by a spike in shipment of rice, fruits and vegetables, livestock and dairy products. The shipment of products under the agricultural and processed food products exports development authority (Apeda) basket surpassed the target of $23.56 billion for FY23. According to the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, the value of rice exports in FY23 rose by more than 15% year-on-year to a record $11.1 billion from $9.6 billion in the previous fiscal. In terms of volume, rice shipment grew by 5% to 22.34 million tonne (MT) last fiscal year-on-year.

The Financial Express – Online

A majority of farmers in India depend on middlemen to find buyers for their produce who take a major slice of their profits, leaving little room to negotiate prices. Globally, over 99% of agricultural transactions are cash-based, and goods distribution can be inefficient. In fact, 30% of cash crop value is lost through value chain inefficiencies, representing a $4 billion annual post-harvest food loss. The agriculture value chain is highly complex and paper-based; leading to inefficiencies, waste and fraud across the ecosystem of partners. Digital technology can unlock much-needed efficiency and financing for small farmers as well as other stakeholders to make farming commercially sustainable.