1. India and New Zealand to Sign MoU on Agriculture
   
   
2. Nestle Opens Ice-Cream Plant in China
   
   
3. IDF’s Standing Committee meets at Anand
   
   
   

1. India and New Zealand to Sign MoU on Agriculture
   
   India and New Zealand are likely to join hands soon for exchange technology transfer and research in the agriculture sector. “We are in the process of finalizing a few things at the official level in this regard,” Hon’ble Union Agriculture Minister, Shri Sharad Pawar said after meeting his New Zealand counterpart, Mr. Jim Anderton. Both the countries are likely to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the firm sector shortly, which would also encourage private sector investment. New Zealand has offered its expertise in horticulture, dairy and meat sectors to India, Shri Pawar said. He said the MoU aimed at strengthened mutual cooperation and bilateral trade between both countries.
   
   
2. India and New Zealand to Sign MoU on Agriculture
   
   Nestle opened a new ice-cream plant in south China, demonstrating its aims to further develop the Chinese market. The 22,000-sq-metre factory, in Guangzhou, will increase the giant's annual ice-cream productivity to 64 million litres, three times the output from its old facilities. The plant, involving 250 million yuan (about $35.6 million) in investment, will help Nestle to promote its high-end ice-cream brand in south China and meet the growing consumer desire for ice-cream products, said Mr. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman, and CEO of the Nestle Group worldwide at the opening ceremony.
   
   
3. India and New Zealand to Sign MoU on Agriculture
   
   The Standing Committee of the International Dairy Federation on Dairy Policies and Economics met for the first time in India on 8th March 2008 at National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Anand. The meeting was hosted by the Indian National Committee of the International Dairy Federation. About twenty five specialists from United Kingdom, France, Poland, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, China, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Australia, Norway, Switzerland and India participated.
   
   This Standing Committee meets regularly to analyse the developments in the dairy industry worldwide and project future trends. Increased demand due to rising incomes and higher costs of inputs would result in higher prices of dairy commodities worldwide.
   
   The meeting was followed by presentations and discussions on the theme “Dairying — Its Impact On The Environment”, which was chaired by Dr. (Miss) Amrita Patel, Chairman, NDDB. Presentations were made by Dr. Rudolf Schmidt, Head of Milk Department, German Farmers Union and Mr. Jim Begg, President of IDF on the topic — “The Link Between Climate Change and Dairy”. Senior Officials from NDDB shared their experiences on the Indian perspective. While concluding the session, Chairman, NDDB said that it is clear that we have reached a point when it cannot be "business as usual" and as a responsible industry it was necessary to assess critically all the interventions required to be made from production to processing and marketing and international trade.
   
   The committee members also visited village dairy cooperatives, Engineering, Product & Process Development departments of NDDB and Vidya Dairy. They also visited Sabarmati Ashram Gaushala, Bidaj.