The minister may be paying a visit to India, but he isn’t going empty-handed. On Nov. 17, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall announced that the province would be providing $100,000 to support the United Nations’ International Year of Pulses (IYOP) in India in 2016.
The announcement was made during the Premier’s trip to Mumbai, India, where he is currently promoting Saskatchewan as a global supplier of food, fuel, and fertilizer.
“The province is looking at activities that can increase demand and increase the profile of Pulse Canada and (the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers),” said James Kettel, manager of Trade and Industry for the policy branch for the Ministry of Agriculture. “We’re trying to increase the Indian consumers’ knowledge of Pulses and increase the knowledge of Canada or Saskatchewan Pulse trade.”
According to the Pulse Canada website, the term “pulses” comes from the Latin puls, which translates to thick soup or potage. “Pulses are the edible seeds of plants in the legume family.” More specifically, pulses are dried seeds that can refer to dried peas, edible beans, lentils, chickpeas, etc. Saskatchewan in particular is focusing on their main exports of green and yellow peas and red and green lentils to India.
“We’re looking to increase our exports to that country and strengthen those ties; making us the preferred source is our hope,” said Kettel. “In terms of pulse, they’re our largest pulse market.”
After India, the next largest markets would be China and then Bangladesh, although India has been at the top since 2009. Aside from dried peas and lentils, the province also exports some chickpeas. Since India is such a large market, the province is hoping to expand that area of trade.
Furthermore, the hope is that strengthening the trade relationship will expand beyond just food.
“The long-term goal is that the more familiar they are, the more potential there is for cross-investment,” said Kettel. “Our mission would be to track investment and they would obviously like to see more Canadian investment in their economy.”
In other words, by increasing economic trade, it could also open the doors for more market opportunities.
