(From left to right): USSEC CEO Jim Sutter, USSEC chairman and ASA director Jim Miller, and USSEC and USB director Jimmy Sneed host a media teleconference from Delhi, India on March 30. Photo courtesy of USSEC

As part of the U.S. soy industry’s ongoing work with the International Soy Growers Alliance (ISGA), U.S. farmers went on a mission trip to China and India, addressing topics like biotechnology, food safety and future demand of these two populous, growing countries.

ISGA was formed in 2006, bringing together farmers and industry representatives from the United States and the South American countries of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Canada joined the alliance in 2015.

Attending the recent trip were Jim Miller, American Soybean Association (ASA) director and chairman of the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) and Jimmy Sneed, USSEC and United Soybean Board (USB) director.

ISGA’s six member countries supply more than 95 percent of the world’s soybean production and share a commitment to meet increasing world demand for quality soy produced sustainably. The mission of this group is to communicate the social, economic and environmental sustainability of the soybean chain. ISGA also helps to consolidate the voices of soybean producers in opposing market restrictions, excessive tariffs and scientifically unsound non-tariff barriers regarding environmental, health, chemical residues or biotechnology approvals.

Although the U.S., Canada, and South America are traditionally viewed as competitors, this collaborative effort helps develop a select few soybean markets.

“We are working to try and impress upon the customers in [the Chinese and Indian] markets of the long-term commitment of the soybean growers around the world and being a good supplier to them to ensure the food security that they need in their countries and to have a good relationship with them,” USSEC CEO Jim Sutter said.

In China, the delegation attended an ISGA forum, met with media, visited major soybean importers and met with the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA).

Miller said these meetings highlighted the importance of biotechnology.

“A question and answer session with approximately 15 media outlets gave us a good opportunity to help educate the people there about the importance of biotechnology, why we use biotechnology on our farms, and helped to dispel some of the myths,” Miller said.

The meeting with China’s MOA was also critical to the mission’s success. Sneed said it’s vital to impress upon the Chinese the importance that innovation and technology is going to have as we continue to partner with them to help secure their food supply, their food security.

“This increased production, being able to feed the population, is something that’s important,” he added.

In India, the ISGA team met with delegates from the Indian government, agriculture ministries and commerce groups along with media and stakeholders from the feed, food and soy industries.

While India and China have similar populations, the situations in the two countries are very different. China is heavy on soy use, Sneed said, while the focus in India is on soy oil and soybean meal for livestock. He added it’s a market we are still seeking to understand.

“There is good growth potential opportunity here if the standard of living can increase and they have a better economy and the people have more money to spend on food,” Miller said. “So we’re looking at that opportunity –it’s probably going to be maybe even up to five years before we start the see the opportunities come through, but it is providing us some good outlook on the future for possible work with India as a potential customer.”

Presenting a united front is important to ISGA’s success, Sneed said.

“To allow the diplomats to see that we as farmers were working together toward a common cause and that we were not necessarily competitors in this environment. We were working together and we expected them to work together as well,” he said.

Miller added the overall purpose of ISGA’s mission to China and India, was to better understand how we can work together with our ISGA partners and help in our efforts to work with food safety and food security around the world.

For more information and to listen to the March 30 media teleconference hosted by Miller, Sneed and Sutter, discussing U.S. soy’s activities on behalf of ISGA in China and India, please click here or visit www.USSOY.org.

For more information about ISGA, click here.