15.1 The mandate of International Cooperation is to foster mutually beneficial partnerships with other countries of the world in a multilateral as well as bilateral format. Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare is the Nodal contact point in Government of India for Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations. Bilateral Agreement, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Protocols and Work Plans with the countries of strategic interest are signed and implemented for furthering
15.7 office of Minister (Agriculture), Embassy of India, Rome: The Office of Minister (Agriculture), EoI, Rome is a Sub- ordinate Office under the administrative control of this Department. The Government of India, for the purpose of maintaining liaison and coordination with the three Rome based UN agencies has nominated the Indian Ambassador in Rome as its permanent representative to the FAO, IFAD and WFP.
Keeping in view, the specialized nature and the increasing volume of interaction with the UN agencies and their associated bodies, an agricultural wing headed by a senior officer of the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of India with the designation of Minister (Agriculture), EOI, Rome has been set up in the Indian Embassy, Rome. The Minister (Agriculture), EOI, Rome has been designated as India’s Alternate Permanent Representative (APR) to the FAO, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The Minister (Agriculture), EoI, Rome represents Indian interests, particularly in the field of agriculture and allied sectors at the meeting of various UN Agencies.
BILATERAL COOPERATION
15.8 MoU/MoC/Agreements/Work Plans:
Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare has entered into 63 MoUs/
MoCs/Agreements with 62 countries in the field of agriculture. During the year 2017, MoU/
MoC/Agreement/Work Plan/Declaration etc. were signed by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare with corresponding Ministry of Portugal on 06.01.2017, Kenya on 11.01.2017, Mauritius on 16.01.2017, UAE on 25.01.2017 Poland on 27.04.2017, Palestine on 16.05.2017, Philippines on 13.11.2017 and Italy on 06.12.2017.
15.9 In addition to these, (i) Work Plan
under MoU between India and Cyprus for cooperation in the field of agriculture for 2017- 18 on 27.04.2017; (ii) Work Plan under MoU between India and Suriname for cooperation in the field of Agriculture and allied sectors for the period 2017-2021 on 28.04.2017 (iii) “India-Israel Development Cooperation (2018-2020)” three year Work Program in Agriculture on 05.07.2017 and (iv) Protocol amending the Agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Government of Belarus on 12.09.2017 were also signed during the year 2017.
15.10 Joint Working Group (JWG) Meetings: During the year 2017, following Joint Working Group (JWG) meetings were held:
4th meeting of India-Indonesia Joint Working Group (JWG) on Agriculture was held during 17-18 April, 2017 in Indonesia.
3rd meeting of India-Australia Joint Working Group (JWG) on Agriculture was held during 29th -30th June, 2017 in India.
1st meeting of India-Taiwan Joint Working Group (JWG) on Agriculture was held on 3rd July, 2017 in India.
1st meeting of India-Japan Joint Working Group (JWG) on Agriculture was held on 5th November, 2017 in India.
5th meeting of India-Canada Joint Working Group (JWG) on Agriculture was held on 14th November, 2017 in India.
15.11 INDO-US COOPERATION: National Institute of Plant Health Management (NIPHM), Hyderabad has been collaborating with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for training purposes and capacity building programmes. National Institute of Agriculture Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad & National Institute of
Agriculture Marketing (NIAM), Jaipur are also collaborating with USAID to provide training for national of three African countries viz.
Liberia, Kenya and Malawi under trilateral cooperation envisaged under MoU with USA.
Ten more countries have been included under India-USAID Trilateral Cooperation.
MANAGE has successfully completed Nine US- India-Africa Triangular International Training Programmes during April to December 2017.
With this, under this USAID funded project, MANAGE has trained 240 Executives from 12 countries.
STRATEGIC GROUPS
15.12 India is a member of multilateral groupings such as G-20 – a forum for global cooperation on international economic and financial issues; IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa); BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa); SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation); ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations); BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Economic
& Technical Co-operation) etc.
15.13 G-20: An Indian delegation led by Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’
Welfare visited Germany from 19-22 January 2017 for participation in G-20 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting. G-20 Agriculture Ministers’
Declaration 2017 and G-20 Agriculture Ministers’ Action Plan 2017 were issued on final day of the event i.e. 22nd January 2017 under the theme “Towards food and water security : Fostering sustainability, advancing innovation”.
G20 Ministers of Agriculture underlined their responsibility to achieve the agriculture-related goals (especially SDG 2) and targets in order to end hunger, ensure global food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture and focus their commitment on water issues related to sustainable and improved agricultural productivity. G20 Ministers of
Agriculture also committed to take actions that reduce food loss and waste, acknowledging that such actions can alleviate pressure on water. The Ministry also participated in the 3rd meeting of G-20 Agriculture Deputies held in Potsdam, Germany on 14-15 May 2017.
BRICS
15.14 The 7th Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Agriculture & Agrarian Development was held during 15-17 June, 2017, in Nanjing, China. The Indian delegation was led by Secretary DAC&FW. BRICS Ministers of Agriculture adopted a Joint Declaration and an Action Plan for Agricultural Cooperation for 2017-2020. In the Meeting, India gave an outline of achievements made by it in the field of agriculture and highlighted the areas where BRICS Members could increase their cooperation for ensuring food and nutrition security among member nations as well as the need for more intense cooperation on issues related to climate change with a view to enable adoption on mitigation on long term basis.
15.15 INDIA-AFRICA CONFERENCE:
This Ministry, in collaboration with FICCI and CII successfully organized the India- Africa Conference at Gujarat during 24-25 May, 2017 on the margins of the 52nd African Development Bank (AfDB) Annual meeting, in which several Ministers, Government officials and company representatives participated.
OThERS
15.16 Cooperation with International Organizations: This Department is a member of many International Organizations and the annual contributions to these International Organizations are being made from time to time as per agreed commitment/agreement by the IC Division. These International Organizations are as under:-
i) Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO).
ii) World Food Programme (WFP).
iii) Trust Fund of FAO for Desert Locust in Eastern Region.
iv) Trust Fund for International Desert Locust.
v) Organization for Economic Cooperation
& Development (OECD).
vi) Asia and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC).
vii) Asia and Pacific Plant Protection Commission (APPPC).
viii) Global Crops Diversity Trust Fund (GCDT)
15.17 International Seminars/Workshops/
Conferences etc. :
During 2017-18 (upto December, 2017), this Department took part in 97 International Conferences/Meetings/ Seminars/Training etc. dealing with various aspects of agricultural development organized by the FAO and other International Organizations.
EXTERNAL ASSISTANCE
15.18 There are various projects which are being implemented in different States of India with the help of external assistance provided by various foreign agencies/countries such as World Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan International cooperation Agency (JICA) etc.
World Bank Assisted Projects: Currently, this Department is implementing ten ongoing World Bank assisted projects. These projects are as follows:
i) UP Sodic Land Reclamation Project – III ii) Maharashtra Agricultural
Competitiveness Project
iii) National Dairy Support Project
iv) Rajasthan Agricultural Competitiveness Project
v) Karnataka Watershed Development Project-II
vi) Uttarakhand Decentralized Watershed Development Project – II
vii) National Watersheds (Neeranchal) Project
viii) HP Horticulture Development Project ix) National Agricultural Higher Education
Project
x) Assam Agribusiness & Rural Transformation Project.
xi) Tamilnadu Irrigation and Agriculture Modernization Project.
15.19 International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD): Currently, this Department is implementing nine ongoing IFAD funded projects:
i) Post-Tsunami Sustainable Livelihoods Programme for the Coastal Communities of Tamil Nadu;
ii) Tejaswini Rural Women’s Empowerment Programme in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh;
iii) Mitigating Poverty in Western Rajasthan Project;
iv) Convergence of Agricultural Interventions in Maharashtra’s Distressed Districts Programme;
v) Integrated Livelihood Support Project, Uttarakhand;
vi) Jharkhand Tribal Empowerment and Livelihoods Project;
vii) Odisha Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups Empowerment and Livelihoods Improvement Programme;
viii) Livelihoods and Access to Markets Project, Meghalaya;
ix) Andhra Pradesh Drought Mitigation Project.
15.20 Asian Development Bank (ADB):
Currently there is no ADB assisted project which is being implemented by this Department.
15.21 Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA): Currenctly one project is being implemented by JICA assistance viz. Himachal Pradesh Crop Diversification Promotion Project.
*****
16.1 Agricultural Trade Policy Division of this Department is entrusted with the responsibility of making policy recommendations on export and import of agricultural commodities. Agricultural Trade Policy Division is the nodal Division of the Department for coordinating/ formulating responses on World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture with the Ministry of Commerce, with DIPP on FDI in agriculture, with Ministry of Finance in matters relating to the modification in the Custom duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) on agricultural commodities and with Ministry of Commerce in matters relating to Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs)/Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with different countries.
INDIA’S AGRICULTURE TRADE
16.2 India has emerged as a significant agri- exporter in a few crops viz. rice, cotton, sugarcane, cashew nut, castor seed and groundnut. As per WTO’s Trade Statistics, the share of India’s agricultural exports and imports in the world agriculture trade in 2015 were 2.26% and 1.74%, respectively.
16.3 Agricultural exports as a percentage of agricultural GDP has come down from 13.56% in 2012-13 to 9.90 % in 2015-16.
During the same period, Agricultural imports as a percentage of agricultural GDP has also increased from 5.71% to 6.45%.
AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS AND IMPORTS 16.4 Export of agricultural commodities
has helped producers to take advantage of wider international market which in turn has incentivized their domestic production. Crops exported in large quantities viz. rice, cotton, and maize have witnessed significant increase in area coverage and growth rate of production.
16.5 Agricultural exports increased from Rs.
2,27,193 crore in 2012-13 to Rs. 2,27,554crore in financial year 2016-17 registering a growth of nearly 0.15%. Increase in the value of agricultural exports during 2016-17 was primarily on account of higher exports of rice basmati, spices, rice (non-basmati), raw cotton, sugar etc. The share of agricultural exports in India’s total exports decreased from 13.90% in 2012-13 to 12.27% in 2016-17.
16.6 India’s top 10 agricultural export commodities in terms of quantity and value for the year 2012-13 to 2016-17are given in the table 1 below: