The Netherlands Agricultural Network team in India looks back at a successful visit by Minister for Food Security, Fisheries and Horticulture Silvio Erkens to India, together with a horticulture trade mission of 18 Dutch companies and organisations.
Minister Erkens and the Trade Mission visit to Florence Flora, Bengaluru
India is a dynamic country, in rapid development, with a domestic market of over 1.4 billion people and a strategic location in the Indo-Pacific region. Its economic growth is 7-8% per year; India contributed 17% of worldwide economic growth in 2023-2025. Therefore, the geopolitical and geo-economic relevance of India is substantial. India offers opportunities for trade and investment, market diversification and finding talent.
Why now?
India is a rapidly growing country and the agriculture sector is very important from an economic perspective. And when it comes to agrifood innovation, India is quickly becoming a major world player. This presents economic opportunities for the Netherlands, owing in part to the country’s scale. We have a lot to offer India in terms of knowledge and innovation in areas such a seed improvement and greenhouses. The aim of this trip is to strengthen our trade relations and our broad partnership and to open the door for Dutch business in India.
- Silvio Erkens, Minister for Food Security, Fisheries and Horticulture
From 27 September until 2 October, Minister Silvio Erkens visited India. The visit took place in between two important occasions. In May, Mr. Narendra Modi, India’s Prime Minister, visited the Netherlands to meet with Prime Minister Rob Jetten. They agreed to elevate the bilateral relations to a so-called Strategic Partnership. In the Strategic Partnership between Netherlands and India, cooperation on agriculture and resilient food systems is one of the key elements. Minister Erkens was the first Minister from the Netherlands to visit India since the announcement of the Strategic Relationship. In December, Mr. Modi is planning to visit Brussels for the ratification of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement.
This illustrates India’s growing proximity to the EU and its Member Countries. India is looking to widen its liaisons with other countries and integrate into the global markets. Its consumer market is large, its middle market segment (over 400 million people) increasingly demanding higher standards for its lifestyle and foods.
New Delhi – the G2G dialogue
Minister Silvio Erkens kicked off his India visit with meetings in New Delhi. He met with Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, of the ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. The ministers spoke about the longtime partnership between both countries and the need for more innovation to make farming resilient and future‑ready.
Minister Erkens shared his Ministry’s Agrifood Innovation Agenda and plans for an Innovation Summit in the Netherlands in May 2027. Both ministers agreed to discuss the innovation agenda further at the 9th India‑Netherlands Joint Agriculture Working Group meeting. Both ministers agreed on further steps in the Seed Partnership for exchange of knowledge and technology on aspects like seed quality assurance.
Minister Erkens met with Minister Chouhan of the Indian Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare
Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan underlined the impact of the Indo‑Dutch Centers of Excellence, which have trained 27,000 farmers and supplied 14 million planting materials so far.
In light of the India-Netherlands Strategic Partnership, a Joint Declaration was signed between the Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature and the Indian ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, in May of this year. It was agreed in this Joint Declaration to strengthen the dialogue between the two ministeries.
On September 28, Director General for Agriculture, Mr. Marten van den Berg had the honour with Secretary Mr. Naresh Pal Gangwar hold the First Joint Working Group on Animal Husbandry.
Mumbai – the value chain
In Mumbai, the focus of the mission was on food processing, logistics and agrifood value chains. Maharashtra is one of the prime agricultural states of India and home to the important Mumbai deep sea port for export of agriculture and food items to Europe. In Maharashstra, as well as in the neighboring state of Gujarat, many Dutch companies are active in the value chain.
The minister participated in the Anuga FoodTec India Exhibition inaugural session and to meet with around 12 Dutch businesses at the exhibition. These companies focused on food processing machineries, robotization of food handling, processing lines, and cold storage.
After this, Minister Erkens had a positive meeting with the Government of Maharashtra, where several of areas for cooperation were identified.
Minister Erkens also spoke at the closure session of a Business Roundtable on the Vegetable Seed Sector, organised with SeedNL, Plantum and Sathguru Management Consultants.
Minister Erkens and Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Shivakumar officially open the Dutch Pavillion at Agricon-Horticonnect Expo
Bengaluru – the Dutch Trade Mission at the Agricon HortiConnect Expo 2026
A trade mission of 18 Dutch companies and organisations joined Minister Erkens in Bengaluru. With the visit of the minister to Bengaluru, the Agricon HortiConnect Expo 2026 had a great start. Minister Erkens and Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar of the State of Karnataka together inaugurated the expo, and ceremonially opened the Dutch pavillion and the Karnataka pavillion.
The Netherlands pavilion hosted the following Dutch companies and organizations from the horticulture sector: AP Holland, Bom Greenhouses, Delphy, East-West Seed Trading, Gemeente Westland, Growgroup IFS, IDH India, Invest International, KoSSiL REKA, Kubo Greenhouses Projects, Meteor Systems, Plantum NL, Priva, Raddis / Yasasree Holding, SeedNL, Van Der Hoeven Horticultural Projects, Van Hall Larenstein University, and Wageningen University and Research.
The Netherlands Pavillion at the Agricon-Horticonnect Expo
Resilient agri-value chains, doing business and … to the field!
At the HortiConnect event, a Country Session Seminar was hosted on "Transition to Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture: Building Resilient and Market-Ready Agriculture Value Chains" with IDH, REKA-KoSSiL/Koppert, Delphy Peterson, and East West Seeds.
The trade mission furthermore participated in a comprehensive seminar on doing business in the agrisector in India and had intensive matchmaking appointments, connecting them with new and sometimes unexpected but promising partners.
Minister Erkens and the trade mission delegation visited Florence Flora, a leading supplier company of young floriculture plants and tissue culture varieties in India. Its journey has now brought them to work with and represent 10 Dutch companies.
The Ministerial delegation also visited New Cold, an innovative Dutch company providing post-harvest and cold chain agro-logistic solutions which is rapidly expanding its presence in India.
A special session with Indian Scale-up Innovators and Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) illustrated to Minister Erkens how six Indian entrepreneurs have developed cutting edge technology and applications, and are seeking to also join the innovation ecosystem in the Netherlands.
Upcoming events
- Global Potato Summit, Delhi, 16-18 December 2026
- Agricon-Horticonnect Expo 2027, Bengaluru, October 2027
- Innovation mission to India on Resilient Cropping, Q2 or Q3, 2027
More information
For more information about the seed and greenhouse sector in India and opportunities for the Netherlands, you can reach out to the Netherlands Agricultural Network team in India via: nde-lvvn@minbuza.nl.