CII Communique - October, 2010

agriculture & food processing industriessectoral synergiesTHE CII AGRICULTURE Council members,led by Mr. Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Chairman,CII National Council on Agriculture andVice Chairman and Managing Director,Bharti Enterprises Ltd, presented the ‘Ideato Rejuvenate the Indian Agriculture:Issues & Recommendations' toMr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, DeputyChairman, Planning Commission on14 September in New Delhi.Agenda for AgricultureThe key focus of the meeting was onissues related to land leasing, APMCAct, Supply Chain Management, hybridand GM seeds, research and extension,rationalizing subsidies, and the efficiency of Governmentschemes.The other members of the delegation were Mr. VivekBharati, Chairman, CII Task Force on Food RegulatoryAffairs, and Executive Director, Pepsico India Holdings PLtd., Mr Sanjeev Asthana, Chairman, CII National TaskMontek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, with CII AgricultureCouncil MembersForce on Horticulture, and Founder & Director, IfarmVentures, Gokul Patnaik, Chairman, CII Task Force on AgriMarketing, and Chairman, Global Agrisystems P Ltd., andMr Hardeep Singh, Chairman, Amalgamated PlantationsP. Ltd. The meeting was also attended by a number ofGovernment officials from different ministries.NZ Apple Trade DelegationA NEW ZEALAND Pipfruit Trade Delegation, led by MrPeter Beaven, Chief Executive Officer, Pipfruit NZ, metthe members of CII National Task Force on Horticulture,on 16 September in New Delhi. Mr Cliff Fuller, TradeCommissioner for New Zealand in India, was alsopresent at the meeting.The discussions mainly focused on how India and NewZealand can work together to build up the apple industryin the two countries by exchange of technologies andbetter germplasm, enhanced trade, and capacity buildingof the Indian farmers. The meeting saw the participationof different stakeholders in the apple industry, includingmembers of farmers associations from Himachal Pradesh,retail operators and industry members.The New Zealand Apple Industry Delegation with members of theCII Task Force on HorticultureCII-NIFTEM SeminarCII, IN COOPERATION with the National Institute ofFood Technology Entrepreneurship and Management(NIFTEM), is organising a series of seminars on‘Opportunities in the Food Processing Sector.’Addressing the Seminar-cum-Workshop in Bhopal on 23September, Mr Uttam Ganguly, Chairman, CII MadhyaPradesh State Council said NIFTEM, being set up by theUnion Ministry of Food Processing Industry, will cater tothe needs of all the stakeholders such as entrepreneurs,industry, exporters, policy makers, government and otherresearch institutions.Mr Anil Shrivastava, Managing Director, MP State AgroIndustries Development Corporation Ltd, said the StateGovernment considers food processing a thrust sector,and is focusing on development of infrastructure in termsof food parks, cold storage, and perishable goods cargohubs at Indore and Bhopal. It is also planning a multimodallogistics hub to support this sector, he added.The workshop had three technical sessions: NIFTEM indevelopment of future food technologies, entrepreneurshipand management; Food Processing – Sunrise Sectorin Madhya Pradesh, and Orientation for incumbententrepreneurs.Communiqué October 2010 | 25