Agriculture is one of the 14 areas of BIMSTEC Cooperation and this sector is led by Myanmar

The 8th Experts Group Meeting on Agricultural Cooperation under India’s chairmanship was held virtually on Tuesday in which member-states reviewed the progress made in agricultural cooperation to the implementation of 9 identified common projects under the BIMSTEC framework.

“The 8th EGMAC Meeting reviewed the progress made in Agricultural cooperation to the implementation of the 9 identified common projects under the #BIMSTEC framework. Agriculture is one of the 14 areas of BIMSTEC Cooperation,” said a tweet by Rakesh Tiwari, Undersecretary, BIMSTEC and SAARC Division, Ministry of External Affairs.

https://twitter.com/RakeshTiwariIFS/status/1432633491728973826?s=20

Earlier, a tweet by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) had said that Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General ICAR led the Indian delegation in 8th Meeting that was attended by senior officials of agricultural ministries of 7 member states.

“Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & DG (#ICAR) leads Indian delegation in 8th Meeting of BIMSTEC Expert Group on Agricultural Co-operation being held today. Senior officials of Agricultural Ministries of 7 Member States are attending Meeting,” said ICAR’s tweet.

https://twitter.com/icarindia/status/1432602549442338822?s=20

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising seven Member States - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Agriculture is one of the 14 areas of BIMSTEC Cooperation. The sector is led by Myanmar.

The sector deepens its cooperation among the Member States through BIMSTEC Experts Group Meeting on Agricultural Cooperation (EGMAC) and conduct of other businesses related to this sector.

With Tuesday’s meeting held under Chairmanship of India, 8 EGMAC, two Workshops on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP Phase I & II), and a Workshop on improving Agricultural Trade and Investment have been held.

The 3rd BIMSTEC Expert Group Meeting on Agricultural Cooperation held in Kandy, Sri Lanka had identified nine Common Projects for implementation under this sector.

The 9 projects are as follows:
1) Collaboration in research and development of power generation and utilization of alternative energy crops to promote cost effective bio-fuel production at community level;
2) Encouraging private sector participation, especially, in value-chain management for agricultural products;
3) Strengthening of Agriculture Statistical Information System and its networks;
4) Workshop on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP);
5) The development of Agricultural bio-technology including bio-safety;
6) Preventing and Control of trans-boundary animal diseases;
7) Affiliation of agricultural universities, veterinary universities, and agricultural research institutes;
8) Development of seed sector in BIMSTEC Member States;
9) Workshop(s) on improving Agricultural Trade and Investment.