Netherlands and India are boosting their collaboration and trade in agriculture through regular G2G meetings and many B2B exchange visits. The agriculture sector in India is vibrant and fast developing.
8th Joint Agriculture Working Group meeting
Introduction
On October 31, 2025, India and Netherlands reconfirmed their long time collaboration in the agriculture sector. Ministry LVVN’s deputy director general Guido Landheer visited the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare (MinAFW) in New Delhi for the 8th Joint Agriculture Working Group. The meeting was co-chaired by Mr Landheer and Mr Priya Ranjan, Joint Secretary of the MinAFW.
On the agenda were the progress of the Indo-Dutch Centers of Excellence, phytosanitary and veterinary matters, and collaboration in the horticulture, animal husbandry and food processing sectors.
Indian Agriculture
India’s agriculture sector is developing fast to cater for the food and nutrition security of its 1,4 billion people and at the same time India has the ambition to expand its exports to become a global food basket. Productivity increase, cost reduction as well as environmental sustainability are high on the agenda of the MinAFW.
Visit to Bengaluru - Seed to Space
All major Dutch vegetable seed companies have R&D centers in India, mostly in Bengaluru. The Netherlands and India have intensified their collaboration in the seed sector through a Indo-Dutch Seed Secretariat that deals with trade and breeder rights regulations, seed enhancement, and agro-biodiversity. Regarding horticulture, the Centers of Excellence are a key element to link Dutch and Indian actors and facilitate knowhow exchange.
Prior to the meeting in New Delhi, Mr Landheer visited Bengaluru -also known as the Silicon Valley of India- where he was impressed by the agritech start-ups and scale-ups some of which were working on satellite data or waste to value: Pixxel, LoopWorm, AltM, SatSure, University of Agriculture Science and Omnivore , a venture capital firm. “Reimagining Agriculture: A Roadmap for Frontier Technology-Led Transformation”, a report released recently focusses on the use of technology to aid Indian farmers in increasing their income. He furthermore visited the by Aalsmeer inspired flower auction and two Dutch companies: East West Seeds and Tempeh Today.
Visit to Tempeh Today
Visit to International Flower Auction Bangalore
Participants of Indian start-up companies in Bengaluru