The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) on Wednesday, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Agricultural Science (UAS), Bangalore, for boosting agri-exports in India.
APEDA, which functions under the Commerce Ministry, signed MoU with UAS for boosting agri-exports, especially from Karnataka.
According to the MoU, the key areas of cooperation include developing technologies jointly with APEDA for advanced alertness, efficient and precision farming for enhancing quality exports; diversifying the export basket, destinations and boost high-value agri-exports by establishing Brand India globally by increasing agri-exports from Karnataka under Agri Export Policy (AEP) announced by Government of India in 2018.
"The collaborations between APEDA and UAS will also help in strengthening forward and backward linkages, participation in international exhibitions and fairs, branding and marketing, the establishment of market intelligence cell, developing traceability systems," said the Commerce Ministry.
According to the Ministry, the MoU between APEDA and UAS will also facilitate the participation of farmers, entrepreneurs, exporters and other stakeholders to promote agri-business and exports, including business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) fairs to be organised in India and abroad and also mutually cooperate in market development and traceability in millets and millet products, fresh fruits like mango, vegetables, jaggery and processed fruits.
"Promotion and hand-holding of Farmer Producer Organizations and Farmer Producer Companies and linking them with international markets will also be the part of the agreement between APEDA and UAS," said the Ministry.
"The MoU will also help in the development of agri-entrepreneurs, technopreneurs capacity building, robust skill development and focus on building a collaborative approach for promoting export by the creation of product-specific clusters," added the Ministry.
"The MoU will also help in the development of an end-to-end sustainable value chain of horticulture and livestock produce with APEDA to promote better consignment commitment to importing countries and developing standard operating procedures of potential products of the state for exports," it stated.
The MoU was signed by Dr M. Angamuthu, Chairman of APEDA and Dr S. Rajendra Prasad, Vice-Chancellor of UAS, Bangalore. The MoU is aimed at utilising both the organisations' expertise by mutually working together to synergize the activities in the interest of agriculture and allied sectors for bringing better value to the stakeholders.
( With inputs from ANI )
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