India And Brazil Agree To Strengthen Ties In Agriculture And Allied Sector

India and Brazil have agreed to further strengthen the mutually beneficial ties in the dairy sector through research and development, genetic improvement, and trade and investment.

Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying ParshottamRupala visited Brazil on invitation of its Agriculture Minister Marcos Montes Cordeiro.

Rupala led a delegation composed of experts from animal husbandry and dairying sector and representatives of the private sector. The five-day visit concluded last week.

The minister held meetings with presidents of the Brazilian Association of Zebu Breeders (ABCZ), Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA), and Brazilian Cooperatives Organization (OCB) and Mayor of Uberabato discussed ways to increase cooperation in the dairy sector.

Jair Bolsonaro, in his visit to India in January 2020 as the first Brazilian President on Indian soil, signed 15 MoUs and agreements with the country and decided to widen cooperation in various areas including animal husbandry and dairying, oil and natural gas, bio-energy, ethanol, trade and investment, and many more.

A Joint Declaration of Technical Cooperation between the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and the Brazilian Zebu Breeders Association (ABCZ) was signed.

In Uberaba, the Minister visited the Zebu Museum and four cutting edge cattle genomics and embryo laboratories vizZebuEmbryo, ABS Semen and Embryos Central, Geneal Embryos Central, and Alta Genetics Semen Central.

He commended their work and welcomed their interest in enhancing cooperation for mutually beneficial partnerships in the areas of animal husbandry and allied sectors.

The Minister also visited the Embrapa Cattle Dairy (Embrapa Gado de Leite) research center in Juiz de Fora and stressed the need for early finalization and to implement a work plan under the MoU.

In Brasilia, Rupala participated in the curtain-raiser event for celebrations of the International Day of Yoga 2022 in Brazil and interacted with a large number of Brazilian Yoga teachers. 

Ayurveda Comic Book Launch

To promote Ayurveda, Rupala launched an Ayurveda comic book ‘Professor Ayushman’, translated by the Embassy of India in partnership with Brazilian Ayurveda expert Dr Jose Ruguê. He interacted with various high-level dignitaries from public and private sectors.

He interacted with Indian diaspora in Sao Paulo, Brasilia, and Rio de Janeiro and paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi’s statues and bust there.

The minister visited the facilities of UPL Ltd, an Indian multinational company that manufactures and markets agrochemicals and offers crop protection solutions.  

India has vast livestock resources including poultry. Livestock is an important source of income for landless and marginal farmers and plays an important role in national economy.

According to Invest India, the demand for overall animal feed was valued at USD 8.3 billion with a growth rate of 4.3 per cent in 2020.

In the current scenarios, India ranks first in cattle and buffalo population and is the largest producer of milk and buffalo meat, second largest producer of goat meat and third largest producer of poultry.

Poultry

The value of output for the Indian poultry egg sector was USD 4.95 bn in 2018-19 with a CAGR of 10.76 per cent. India produced 122.04 billion poultry eggs in 2020-21 with around seven per cent growth from previous year.

Meat

The top five meat-producing states are Uttar Pradesh (15.1 per cent), Maharashtra (12.6 per cent), West Bengal (10.6 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (9.6 per cent), and Telangana (9.3 per cent) which contributed 56.9 per cent of the total meat production in the country in 2020-2021.