Indian Ambassador recommends Ukrainian farmers to grow legumes

Ukrainian farmers have a huge potential for the export of legumes to the Indian market. This was stated by Manoj Kumar Bharti, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to Ukraine, during the conference "Agribusiness - 2017: financial instruments, innovative technologies, risk assessment and management", which takes place today in Kiev.

"India and Ukraine are closely cooperating in the agrarian sphere. India is the largest importer of sunflower oil from Ukraine. But there are still many areas in which we plan to expand our cooperation," said Manoj Kumar Bharti. "The population of India is 12.5 billion people and mainly consumes legumes and lentils. The annual demand for legumes in the country is about 90 million tons, but India produces only 9 million tons. Therefore, we export these products from Canada, but Ukraine is closer to India. I always strongly recommended that farmers in Ukraine focus on the production of legumes in order to export them to the Indian market, "said the ambassador.

He said that in 2016 a large amount of legumes was exported from Ukraine for the first time to India. "If we take the export of legumes, wheat and sunflower oil, then the total volume of exports from Ukraine will be from 40 to 50%.Our countries have great potential in trade, which according to statistics for 2016 amounted to 2.1 billion dollars, 1.75 billion dollars of which exported to Ukraine. Therefore, Ukrainian farmers should pay attention to the Indian market ", - said Manoj Kumar Bharti.