APEDA Signs MoU with NRDC to Focus on Climate-Resilient Agriculture

Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) in order to boost the export value chain (NRDC). The MoU was signed at APEDA's head office in New Delhi by Secretary APEDA and NRDC CMD Commodore (Rtd) Amit Rastogi in the presence of APEDA Chairman Dr. M. Angamuthu, IAS.

The mandate of the MoU is to infuse and disseminate technologies in the areas of climate-resilient agriculture related to zero carbon emission farming to produce residue/carbon-free food for exports in collaboration with APEDA.

The MoU was signed in order to leverage both organizations' expertise by collaborating to synergize activities in the interest of agriculture and allied sectors in order to provide better value to stakeholders. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in order to implement the Agri Export Policy and strengthen the export value chain.

According to the MoU, both organizations will collaborate in collaborative projects for the commercialization of embedded technology related to Agri and food processing at various levels of the value chain in order to increase Agri product exports.

The key areas of cooperation include developing and improving farm machinery for low-cost, user-friendly, and energy-efficient tools for small scale farmers, promoting and supporting Agri Start-ups associated with the NRDC Incubation Centre (NRDCIC) for engagement in agri-exports and strengthening of the Startup ecosystem, and nominating NRDC/APEDA expert resources for mutual knowledge sharing.

The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) was founded in 1953 by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, with the primary goal of promoting, developing, and commercializing technologies, know-how, inventions, and patents.

APEDA has been focusing on a collaborative approach to create synergy with a variety of organizations and institutions that have inherent professional and specialized expertise in various areas. Prospective areas of collaboration include capacity building for various stakeholders and providing solutions for addressing some of the identified interventions for agricultural development and export enhancement in accordance with the objectives set out in the Government of India's Agri Export Policy (AEP) announced in 2018.

The AEP was designed with an emphasis on agriculture export-oriented production, export promotion, better price realization for farmers, and synchronization with Government of India policies and programmes. It focuses on the "Farmers' Centric Approach" for increased income through value addition at the source, thereby reducing losses throughout the value chain.

The policy also focuses on developing product-specific clusters in various agro-climatic zones of the country to assist in dealing with various supply-side issues such as soil nutrients management, higher productivity, adoption of a market-oriented variety of crops, and use of good agricultural practices, and so on.

Source - PIB