Jungle Talks to India

Thursday 16 December & Thursday 23 December 2021 (16.00 - 17.00 hrs CET)

Agricultural Counsellor Michiel van Erkel will present a general overview of the current horticultural sector in India. Afterwards, Manish Jain, CEO of KF Bioplant and KF Bioseeds will zoom in India's flower production market and cooperation with foreign partners. Robert de Bos, Director at Bangalore Plants First has been giving technical assistance to Indian growers for more than 20 years. He'll share his insights in how to bring local production skills to a higher level. Last but not least, Uday Bhat, Director of Koppert Biological Systems in India will update the audience on the use and implementation of biological crop protection and bio stimulants.

During the second episode on December 23, presenter Ed Smit and his guests will zoom in on some of the challenges in horticulture in India and how to tackle them.
India is a huge country with huge cities and logistics that are not yet apt for perishables. This problem won't be solved from one day to the other. What solutions can be thought of? Even more local for local? Private investment in closed cool chains? What can foreign parties (public or private) do to improve this?

Another issue is that prices remain low. The top end market is supplied by imported produce. On the other hand, if high quality produce was available in India, a rapidly growing (local) market would be within reach and, in addition, export opportunities would become a reality to, with the Middle East as the promising, nearby market.
However, the sector needs to be ready on a production level, marketing level and on a logistic level to satisfy the needs of high end demand. What needs to be done to turn this wheel around? Is it the public sector or the private sector? A combination of both? What would be the first steps to be taken and what can foreign companies and governments do to accelerate this process?

If you're interested to know more about India, do not miss these episodes of Jungle Talks to the World. In 2 hours you'll get a good overview of the current situation in horticulture and what the future will look like in the next couple of years. Tune in on Thursday 16 December and 23 December at 16.00 CET via www.paprikatastyradio.nl.  

'Jungle Talks to India' is powered by Paprika Tasty Radio and Jungle Talks and supported by Netherlands Agricultural Network. Following the radio shows, all 'Jungle Talks to' episodes can be downloaded as podcast from Open Spotify via this link: https://bit.ly/JungleTalksPodcast

Source: HortiBiz