India held bilateral meetings with several major countries on the sidelines of the G20 Agriculture Ministerial Meeting on September 12 and 13, 2024, in Cuiaba, Brazil, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said in a statement on Sunday.
The Indian delegation led by Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Ram Nath Thakur, held bilateral meetings with the USA, Brazil, Germany, the UK, Japan, Spain, and UAE.
During the bilateral meeting between Thakur and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan Sakamoto, both sides expressed their commitment to cooperate in mutually beneficial areas, including the use of technology, food processing, cold storage, etc., and the sustainability and productivity of agriculture in India also through private investment.
India and Japan discussed the issue of market access, where Indian Minister Thakur asked to expedite the market access of Indian pomegranate and grapes in Japan while Japan Minister Sakamoto raised the market access of Japanese cedar.
A bilateral meeting between Thakur and Xochitl Torres Small, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, USA, was also held on September 13.
During the meeting, both countries agreed to follow up on the USDA and MA&FW Dialogue initiative.
Both sides agreed to take forward the cooperation in areas of climate-smart agriculture, agricultural productivity growth; agricultural innovation; forecasting and production reporting, agriculture and crop risk protection, and agricultural credit, the ministry said in its release.
USDA agreed to share learnings through visits in crop insurance sector. Thakur highlighted the market access issues of fruits and vegetables, etc.
US requested to expedite market access for Alfalfa hay fodder to India. Both sides agreed to resolve the pending issues related to market access as per agreed strategies.
Separately, a bilateral meeting between an Indian delegation headed by Thakur and a delegation headed by Ophelia Nick, Parliamentary State Secretary, Germany, was held on September 13.
During the meeting, Nick suggested having the IND-GER working group parallel to the next Aahar food fair in New Delhi.
Both sides agreed to progress on agroecology, technical exchanges, and cooperation through triangular development projects, as per the statement.
Both sides agreed to collaborate in sectors such as the application of artificial intelligence in farming and support to small farmers, agroecology, and organic farming.
Germany extended an invitation to India to participate in the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture and the Agriculture Ministers Conference in Berlin.
A bilateral meeting between an Indian delegation headed by Thakur and a delegation headed by Daniel Zeichner, Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, UK, was held on 13 September.
Both sides expressed their interest in cooperating in the transformation of the agriculture food system into sustainable agriculture, research, and science–precision breeding, gene editing, and extension services.
Spain, during the bilateral meeting, thanked the Indian Minister for the approval of a veterinary certificate for dairy products and expressed interest in engaging in such protocols in the future.
He also showed interest in resolving the sanitary and veterinary certificate for meat and meat products and expressed hope to get confirmation of the validity of cold storage in transit for oranges.
Both sides desired to have cooperation in technology, new genomic techniques, practices, and technology of water use efficiency, climate resilient agriculture, technical and scientific solutions for seeds and plants, and exchange between the research institutions of both countries.
During the meeting, India and the UAE discussed ways to enhance trade in the agriculture sector. Both sides agreed to discuss market access related issues by technical teams.
UAE showed interest in collaboration in research and technology, sharing experience on vertical farming, and high yield technologies.
Both sides also discussed the issues related to sustainable agriculture, resilient food systems.
