Feeding Our Tomorrow: how India’s women-led, sustainable farming is reaching Europe
At SIAL Paris 2026, the India Trade Promotion Organisation put sustainable agriculture, ladies’s empowerment and a altering relationship with Europe on the coronary heart of India’s meals story.
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When Jawed Ashraf took to the stage on the opening of SIAL Paris 2026, within the presence of French Minister Anne Genevard and an overseas viewers, he described an agricultural revolution happening throughout India. Led by small farmers, he stated, it rests on range, resilience, sustainability and higher self-sufficiency. These themes outlined the India pavilion, which carried a easy title: “Feeding Our Tomorrow”.
As Chairman of the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), Ashraf led India’s presence as Partner Country on the exhibition, held at Paris Nord Villepinte from 17 to 21 October 2026. He is aware of the French capital nicely: he was India’s ambassador to France and Monaco from 2020 to 2024 and obtained the Commander de la Légion d’honneur for his service. More than 140 Indian exporters joined the pavilion, with stay culinary masterclasses and a programme on plant protein, women-led agriculture and rice exports.
A farm sector constructed on sustainability
Ashraf described a shift in the direction of extra sustainable, climate-resilient farming, with much less chemical use and higher traceability. Drones, sensors, synthetic intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) assist farmers handle water, fertilisers and crop safety extra effectively, a rising benefit as excessive climate places stress on meals manufacturing.
The stakes are world. Feeding a rising inhabitants amid local weather stress, commerce disruption and inflation will demand change. India already produces grains, fruit, greens, dairy, meat and seafood for roughly one sixth of humanity, and Ashraf sees that capability, paired with extra sustainable strategies, as a part of the reply.
2026: the 12 months of the lady farmer
The UN has designated 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer, and Ashraf used the event to spotlight the position ladies play in India’s agricultural transformation. Many farmer/producer organisations are based and run by ladies, elevating family incomes and giving ladies higher independence and affect of their communities.
One of these ladies travelled to Paris. Priyanka Rhushikesh Mohite, from Nashik in Maharashtra, is a licensed agricultural drone pilot. Her husband, an agricultural adviser, heard a few Government of India scheme coaching rural ladies to function drones, the Namo Drone Didi Scheme. She utilized, gained a spot and accomplished a month of coaching in Pune. She has flown since August 2024.
The sensible features are putting. Her drone sprays nano fertilisers and spreads seeds. Watering an acre as soon as took a full day and round 200 litres of water. With the drone, she says, it takes seven to eight minutes and 10 litres.
Yet expertise is simply a part of her story. “I’m a easy housewife,” she says. Becoming a pilot has given her an id of her personal, respect in her neighborhood and the prospect to encourage different ladies to observe. Before 2024, she may by no means have imagined travelling to Paris, and she or he thanked ITPO for the chance.
A commerce take care of wider attain
A free commerce settlement (FTA) reduces or removes customs duties on many traded items and units guidelines to ease cross-border commerce. The EU-India FTA was concluded in January 2026 and is anticipated to be signed by the tip of the 12 months. It builds on India’s preparations with the UK and the European Free Trade Association, which have opened additional alternatives for Indian meals merchandise by zero or decreased tariffs.
Ashraf believes the advantages may attain farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), supplied they meet market necessities and attain European patrons. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has known as the settlement the “mom of all offers”. Ashraf sees a partnership between economies representing round two billion folks, with democracy and the rule of legislation as shared foundations.
Its attain extends nicely past meals. According to Ashraf, India’s exports to Europe have grown by greater than 100% in a decade, led by electronics, equipment, electrical items and cell phones. Future cooperation may span synthetic intelligence, superior manufacturing tools for knowledge centres, clear vitality, inexperienced mobility, biopharmaceuticals and significant minerals, alongside digital expertise, defence, training and science. Energy safety is a shared concern, and he sees nuclear energy as one space for nearer work.
He says commerce between India and Europe has practically doubled in a decade and that European capital allocation in India has risen from 80 billion to 140 billion in 4 years. In France, bilateral items commerce stood at round €13.6 billion in 2025-26, and 38 CAC 40 corporations function in India.
“An FTA is an enabler,” Ashraf says. Exporters and commerce businesses should now flip it into enterprise.
From commodities to manufacturers
For meals exporters, which means pondering past quantity and value. Ashraf needs extra Indian merchandise to construct a recognisable presence in Europe, which requires understanding European requirements, strengthening logistics and creating merchandise that stand out on the shelf. At SIAL the emphasis was on packaged, ready-to-eat and premium meals, backed by traceability and geographical indication tags for merchandise tied to explicit locations, similar to Naga chilli and Mithila makhana, the edible seeds of the fox nut plant.
ITPO can also be contemplating places of work in a number of European cities, with Frankfurt, Paris, Milan and Rotterdam among the many choices.
Taking flight
Priyanka Rhushikesh Mohite’s journey to develop into a drone pilot is one instance of what that change can appear like. Her drone is a sensible software for farming. It has additionally given her a occupation, a public voice and a cause to think about new prospects for different ladies in her neighborhood.
For India, the problem now could be to show that form of progress into one thing extra widespread, whereas constructing a stronger presence for its meals producers in European trading floors.
