Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare met Ms. Julia Klockner, German Minister of Food & Agriculture in New Delhi, today. The Ministers signed a Joint Declaration of Intent between India & Germany on cooperation in agriculture market development. During the meeting, Shri Tomar said that India’s priority has shifted from production centric to farmer centric, and the goal of doubling farmers’ income by 2022 by improving productivity, lowering input cost, creating competitive markets and strengthening the value chain for agriculture and allied sectors. The Minister also mentioned that the Agriculture Export Policy 2018 targets doubling of agriculture exports to US $60 billion by 2022. Ms. Julia Klockner said that Germany has expertise in Mechanization and Post harvest Management and added that she thinks this shall play a major role in achieving doubling farmers’ income. The German Minister also impressed upon continuing the discussions of Working Group started in 2008 on the issues like Food Safety, Consumer protection and hoped that topics discussed are implemented.
Both the Ministers affirmed that Agriculture is a priority for both Germany and India for fulfillment of ‘Sustainable Development Goal 2- End Hunger and Doubling Agricultural Productivity’, which is especially important since it will also impact the achievement of the other 16 SDGs. The Ministers also discussed the areas of cooperation like Mechanization, Post Harvest management, Supply chain, market access and Export issues. Stressing upon the importance and priority given to food safety and consumer protection the Ministers discussed upon further cooperation in the field such as support in setting up labs, conducting food testing workshops etc. India also placed a list of agricultural products being imported by Germany from other countries, which could be imported from India.Both Ministers also expressed happiness on signing of MoU between National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) and the German Agriculture Academy – DEULA-Nienburg, on 30th October, 2019 for technical and professional training of employees in the agricultural sector.