The ITC chairman Sanjiv Puri leading the seven-member expert group on agriculture exports, has three months to submit its report to the commission.

 

The group has been set up to assess export and import substitution opportunities for Indian agricultural products including commodities, and processed and semi processed food items in the changing international trade scenario and suggest ways to step up exports sustainably and reduce import dependence, the commission said in a statement.

 

Its members include former agriculture secretary Radha Singh, Nestle IndiaNSE -6.91 % chairman Suresh Narayanan, agriculture technology firm UPL Ltd CEO Jay Shroff, Olam Agro India Ltd country head Sanjay Sacheti, New Delhi-based think tank Research and Information Systems for Developing Countries (RIS) director general Sachin Chaturvedi, and the chairman of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda).

 

The group will recommend strategies and measures to increase farm productivity, enable higher value addition, ensure waste reduction, strengthen logistics infrastructure, etc. to improve the sector’s global competitiveness. It needs to identify the impediments for private sector investments along the agricultural value chain.

 

It is mandated to suggest appropriate performance-based incentives to state governments for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26 to accelerate reforms in the agriculture sector as well as implement other policy measures in this regard.