Overview
- Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told an IISER convocation that India has resisted demands to allow foreign agricultural imports and will not sign any agreement against the interests of farmers or fishermen.
- He argued that US producers farm on vast tracts with GM seeds and subsidies, contending India’s smallholders could not withstand such competition if markets were opened.
- His remarks come after the US doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50 percent, including an additional 25 percent duty linked to India’s purchases of Russian crude, which has strained trade relations.
- Chouhan said government testing of products sold as bio-stimulants found only 642 effective out of nearly 30,000 marketed items.
- He urged researchers to develop on-farm tools to verify pesticide and fertiliser quality and amplified Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to buy indigenous goods to support employment and the economy.