Eighth Joint Working Group (JWG) Meeting on Agriculture between India and the Netherlands

The eighth meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Agriculture between India and the Netherlands was held today at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi. The meeting was co-chaired by Shri Priya Ranjan, Joint Secretary (Horticulture), Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, and Mr. Guido Landheer, Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, the Netherlands.

Both sides exchanged views on the current priorities, challenges, and new initiatives in their respective agriculture sectors. Emphasizing the significance of the JWG mechanism, both sides appreciated its role in deepening the longstanding cooperation in agriculture between the two countries.

The discussions underscored the contribution of the Centres of Excellence (CoEs) established under bilateral collaboration, which have demonstrated advanced technologies, facilitated the production of high-quality planting material and seeds, and provided training to thousands of farmers. The success of this model has inspired efforts to scale up similar initiatives across additional states and subsectors of horticulture to benefit more farmers.

The meeting also reviewed ongoing areas of cooperation and explored potential new avenues, including phytosanitary cooperation, the seed sector, animal husbandry and dairy, food processing, food safety, circular agriculture, greenhouse technologies, knowledge exchange, innovation, and naturally ventilated polyhouses.

Both sides expressed satisfaction with the constructive and result-oriented discussions and reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening bilateral cooperation in the agriculture and allied sectors.

The Netherlands delegation included Ms. Marion van Schaik, Agriculture Counsellor; Ms. Sarah Visser Ravichandran, Senior Policy Officer; and Mr. Sritanu Chatterjee, Policy Advisor, Embassy of the Netherlands.

The Indian side was represented by senior officials from the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD), and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)