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The platform enables access to all FAO food loss and waste resources and connects to related portals from development partners

A comprehensive platform to help the global community step up action to reduce food loss and waste has been launched by The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) even as the UN agency and partners gears up for the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste to be marked for the first time on 29 September 2020.

The Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste is a comprehensive database of information containing measurement, reduction, policies, alliances, actions and examples of successful models applied to reduce food loss and waste across the globe.

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu at the launch of the platform said that wasting food amounts to wasting scarce natural resources, increasing climate change impacts and missing the opportunity to feed a growing population in the future.

The platform enables access to all FAO food loss and waste resources and also connects to related portals from development partners, serving as a one-stop shop for all food loss and waste knowledge. The funding for the platform has been provided by the Swiss Development Cooperation.

 

The platform enables access to all FAO

AgroPolicy, Start ups

112 startups to be nurtured in the year 2020-21

New technology in the field of agriculture and allied sectors through start-ups and agripreneurship is being promoted under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana in order to contribute directly and indirectly to enhancing the income of farmers, stated Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar.

In the year 2020-21, in the first phase, 112 startups in the area of agro processing, food technology and value addition will be funded for an amount of Rs. 1185.90 lakhs.

The Minister also stressed on the need to make agriculture competitive, provide handholding to agriculture-based activities and adopt new technology at the earliest along with increasing private investment in agriculture.

Under the revamped Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY) scheme, an Innovation and Agri-entrepreneurship Development programme has been launched in order to promote innovation, agripreneurship & startups by providing financial support and nurturing the incubation ecosystem.

DAC & FW has selected 5 Knowledge Partners (KPs) as Centres of Excellence and 24 RKVY-RAFTAAR Agribusiness Incubators (R-ABIs) from across the country.

112 startups to be nurtured in the

Acts & Schemes – Centre, R&D

Testing lab will unlock export potential of India’s honey 

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated India’s first honey testing lab set up by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) at Anand.

The testing lab will unlock potential for apiarists to not just get domestic business but also take advantage of exports to the US and Europe. Till recently, the exporters were required to ship their samples to Germany for testing.  The development comes after National Bee Board’s decade-long wait for a government testing facility for honey. 

“Standard quality testing and certifications are the primary requirements and preconditions for exporting honey to the markets such as the US and Europe. The new lab will test honey as per the norms specified by the food safety regulator FSSAI. The quality honey will boost exports and ensure better rates for farmers,” said Tomar adding that this move will contribute to India’s efforts to double farmers’ income by 2025. 

The lab — set up with ₹7.7-crore funding from the government — has been accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and Export Inspection Council. It has also got an approval from FSSAI as a national reference lab. The government has allocated ₹500 crore for bee-keeping infrastructure development under Atmanirbhar Bharat package.

NDDB Chairman Dilip Rath said that the Board has set up the facility after FSSAI notified quality standards for honey, as there was no comprehensive testing lab in the country.

Rath also stated that a proposal has been sent to the Union Agriculture Ministry to provide Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) testing to identify ‘Country of Origin’.

During the e-inauguration, Union Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Giriraj Singh said, “Honey’s authenticity had become a serious issue as suppliers indulged into unethical practices for economic gains. The testing lab will help honey farmers, cooperatives and honey industry to produce quality honey for domestic consumption and exports.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Testing lab will unlock export potential of

E-commerce, IT, R&D

Users will be able to explore various field trials, InVigor hybrids, solutions available to help solve in-season weed, disease, and insect pressures 

 

 BASF Agricultural Solutions has launched InField Innovation Tours in Canada; a new, interactive tour experience enabling growers to virtually visit trial sites across the country, learn about new, innovative solutions for 2021 and see how products are performing. 

“With COVID-19 creating significant challenges for all Canadians, our initial focus this spring was ensuring the seed and crop protection products our customers rely on continued to be delivered in a safe and timely manner,” said Justin Gayliard, Senior Manager, Customer Solutions, BASF Agricultural Solutions Canada. 

“Then, our focus quickly turned towards identifying a way to meaningfully connect with our customers and provide them a way to not only explore products that will help overcome agronomic challenges, but receive the advice and technical expertise they have come to rely on each season from our BASF team.” 

BASF runs hundreds of performance trial sites across Canada each year. Through the new virtual platform, accessible at AgSolutions.ca/InfieldInnovations, visitors can tour five BASF research farms as well as search performance results at a more localized level via an interactive map. Navigable by crop or solution, users will be able to e explore various field trials, including two of the new 300 series InVigor hybrids, view solutions available to help solve in-season weed, disease, and insect pressures including a new seed treatment targeted at wireworm control,

With content added throughout the season, this online tour expands on the snapshot-in-time vantage point of an in-person tour, enabling visitors to see how products perform over time in season and at any point throughout the year, the company said.

InField Innovation Tours will be integrated into BASF’s annual program, providing a way for customers from across the country to step into multiple BASF trial sites – and as close to new innovations – as possible.

 

 

Users will be able to explore various

Agro Universities, World

As IDA, the NAIMCC will be entrusted for conserving the microorganisms used to develop patents  

The National Agriculturally Important Microbial Culture Collection (NAIMCC), a unit of the ICAR-National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms (ICAR-NBAIM), Maunath Bhanjan, Uttar Pradesh under the aegis of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research & Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Government of India has acquired the status International Depository Authority (IDA) by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Geneva,  under Article 7 (1) of the Budapest treaty by its Notification No. 338 w.e.f. 28th July, 2020. 

Around 82 countries are part of the treaty and there are about 48 IDAs across 26 countries.

The microbial resource centres having the status of IDA mainly accepts and maintains the microorganisms for patenting of work related to live organisms having the medical, agricultural and other uses. In view of this, an agreement known as Budapest Treaty was passed in 1977 for depositing the microorganisms in culture collection centres for the purposes of patent procedure.

The NAIMCC will be the third IDA of the country after Microbial Type Culture Collection (MTCC), Chandigarh and National Centre for Microbial Resources (NCMR), Pune. As IDA, the NAIMCC will be entrusted for conserving the microorganisms used to develop patents and also conserving the newly described microbial taxa as a requirement for valid taxonomic publication. The NAIMCC is a designated microbial repository for the Agriculturally Important Microorganisms (AIMs) under the National Biodiversity Act, 2002 and is a member of the World Federation of Culture Collections (WFCC).  Currently, the NAIMCC holds accessions of 6907 AIMs including 2595 bacteria, 3981 fungi and 331 cyanobacteria.

As IDA, the NAIMCC will be entrusted

Agro chems – Chemicals, Agro chems – Fertilizers, E-commerce, Finance

The company achieved Rs 100 Crore in 67 days and the next Rs 100 Crore in 51 days.

 Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd (RCF), a Public Sector Undertaking(PSU) under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has crossed the milestone of Rs 200 Crore in sales of its Industrial Products in the current Financial year 2020-21 up to 27th July 2020.

Despite the COVID-19 situation, the company achieved Rs 100 Crore in 67 days and the next Rs 100 Crore in 51 days. It produced more than 5.9 Lakh MT of fertilizers in the 1st Quarter of 2020-21 and more than 2.3 Lakh MT of fertilizers July 2020.

RCF also imported more than 2 Lakh MT of complex fertilizers of various grades to overcome the shortages in the country. As State Trading Enterprise, the company imported more than 13 Lakh MT of Urea on behalf of the Department of Fertilizers.

Going one step further, the company opened its Hostel premises as a COVID Care Centre and also provided an ambulance to the collector’s office in Alibag.

RCF’s Industrial Products Division (IPD) has 23 products in its portfolio which are key inputs for other industries viz. pharmaceuticals, pesticides, mining, bakery products, fibers, leather etc.

The company achieved Rs 100 Crore in

E-commerce, R&D

It provides a sustainable solution to fertilizer overuse and nitrogen pollution.

 Azotic Technologies, a UK-based global ag-tech company, to develop and commercialise a natural nitrogen-fixing technology (N-Fix®). N-Fix® is a disruptive technology which has the potential to totally transform agriculture and is unique to Azotic. A marketable product is now being commercialised with positive benefits to growers.

Agriculture accounts for 80 percent of total nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions, mainly from the application of fertilisers, and 20 per cent of greenhouse gas discharges which impacts on climate change¹. . Azotic’s natural nitrogen fixing technology provides a sustainable solution to fertiliser overuse and nitrogen pollution.

N-Fix® is a novel technology which is derived from a naturally occurring beneficial food grade bacterium Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus (Gd). This is neither genetic modification (GM) nor bio-engineering. This enables plants to fix nitrogen from the air and replace up to 50 per cent of their nitrogen needs as an alternative to fertiliser. This is a patented innovative technology which will have a huge impact on agriculture – Azotic’s strain of Gd is unique in its ability to colonise plant cells intracellularly. Azotic is the only company offering an “intracellular” strain of Gd in non-legumes. The bacterium Gd does not persist as a free-living soil bacterium, it has been found only when associated with plant material, most notably sugar-cane.

Azotic’s N-Fix® technology is a new way to deliver nitrogen to plants; it is applied to plants via the seed in order to create a symbiotic relationship within the plant enabling it to substitute the nitrogen it normally takes up from the soil with atmospheric nitrogen – thus reducing dependency on nitrogen fertilisers. It works from within plant cells to fix nitrogen from root to leaf all season long. It contains no toxins, is environmentally friendly and helps reduce nitrogen pollution. It has proven efficacy in strategic crops which include corn, soybean, rice, wheat and others.

Peter Blezard, CEO of Azotic, said: “Agriculture requires more efficient and sustainable farming practices in order to increase food supply and maintain biodiversity. Positive results highlight the efficacy of our revolutionary technology in making crops nitrogen-fixing and with the resulting increased yields. This technology is a must for commercial agriculture where yield, cost and pollution needs can be optimised”

Azotic’s progression is quite remarkable. The company has developed its own strain of Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus (Gd) and transformed that into a marketable product. The scale up and production of an inoculant via the development of a specific fermentation process has resulted in the first commercial product of its kind. Azotic is delivering this technology to market and continues to add value with new IP. Through its development work on N-Fix, Azotic has identified a new platform nitrogen technology. It will commercialise technologies based on this platform through appropriate partnerships in R&D and routes to market. There is a pipeline of products under development and these include a dry formulation and a foliar spray.

This ground-breaking nitrogen technology has achieved positive results in the USA through a Grower Partner Programme

It provides a sustainable solution to fertilizer

Agro chems – Fertilizers, India, Logistics

‘SSL Visakhapatnam’ carries first batch of 560MT Ammonium Sulphate from Cochin Port to West Bengal

Shipping of fertilizers to the East and the West Coast of the country has commenced by the Fertilizers & Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT), a PSU under the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers. FACT has adopted Coastal Shipping as a new mode of transport for uninterrupted supply of fertilizers to farmers in coastal India.

Kishor Rungta, CMD, FACT and Dr Beena, IAS, Chairperson, Cochin Port Trust jointly flagged off the movement of the first batch of containers with 560 MT Ammonium Sulphate, in a function held at FACT Udyogamandal Complex, Eloor on July 28, 2020. ‘SSL Visakhapatnam’, a cargo ship, has started for West Bengal from Cochin Port on July 30, 2020. A total of 20 containers of Ammonium Sulphate will be dispatched to Haldia Port for distribution to the farmers in West Bengal.

FACT is getting active support of Cochin Port Trust in this endeavour. Fertilizers moved through coastal shipping will be carried out further through Rail to reach the required destination. Shipping of fertilizers through sea route shall ease the pressure on movement of fertilizers by rail and road to a great extent, especially during the tough time of COVID- 19 pandemic. 

‘SSL Visakhapatnam’ carries first batch of 560MT

Agro chems – Chemicals, Agro chems – Pesticides, Agrotech

It highlights the application of agrochemical spraying via drones in India, the benefits and potential risk and mitigation strategy around it.

FICCI-CropLife jointly released technical paper on ‘Drone Usage for Agrochemical Spraying’. It highlights the application of agrochemical spraying via drones in India, the benefits and potential risk and mitigation strategy around it.

The report was released at a FICCI webinar ‘Drones Application Technology in Spraying for Crop Protection’ by Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation; Shomita Biswas, Joint Secretary (M&T), Ministry of Agriculture; Dr S K Malhotra, Agriculture Commissioner and Chairman, Registration Committee; Dr K Alagusundaram, Deputy Director General (Agriculture Engineering), Indian Council of Agriculture Research; Rajan Luthra, Chairman, FICCI Drones Committee and Asitava Sen, CEO, CropLife India. The webinar was jointly organized by FICCI and CropLife India.

The technical paper also outlines the drone regulation in other countries such as the EU, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, citing the best practices in agrochemical spraying.

 Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Govt of India said that FICCI along with other industry stakeholders should come forward with indigenous solutions for Indian problems. Highlighting the potential of drones’ usage in the agriculture sector, he said, “There are around 1 lac villages which can be benefited by the drones. We can design special purpose drones and industry must focus on developing low cost drones for them.”

He also stressed on industry tie-up with central or state level agricultural universities or institutions for getting the necessary approvals.

 Shomita Biswas, Joint Secretary (M&T), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare said that drone enabled technology can be very useful in soil analysis of the fields. This can also help us in better irrigation management and maintaining correct nitrogen levels. She urged the startups to create drone planting system which will reduce the planting cost considerably. 

Dr S K Malhotra, Agriculture Commissioner and Chairman, Registration Committee, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare opined, “Drone spraying would help the farmers to increase their productivity, lower water consumption, higher  efficiency; besides being safe for human and the environment. The Registration Committee is looking into various aspects of product approvals through drone application.”

Rajan Luthra, Chairman, FICCI Committee on Drones said, “Start-ups, industry, government agencies and academia are collaborating actively as a cohesive drone ecosystem.” India has over 150 drone start-ups, comparable with USA or Israel and top management of most large companies are today understanding the potential impact that drones can add. “FICCI is working closely with all stakeholders to act as a catalyst for the collaboration and supporting the enabling regulatory frameworks,” he added.

 Asitava Sen, CEO, CropLife India said, “Hon. Prime Minister of India has been emphasizing need for modernizing agriculture sector and adoption of new technological innovations in achieving the goal of doubling farmers income. One such area is drone technology deployed on a large scale”. He added, “With the recent permission of use of drones for control of locusts by Civil Aviation Ministry along with Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; India has become the first country in the world with broad specification for drones that can fly at night. There is opportunity to extend this technology to other crops and areas of application through robust and pragmatic science-based policy framework”.

 

Key Highlights of FICCI-CropLife Technical Paper:   

The necessary regulations should take into consideration (1) civil aviation laws (both local and umbrella) and setting of vehicle specifications, (2) SOPs and piloting requirements for safe use of drones, and (3) product approval and permissions for spray operations.

In addition to these general regulations, we would recommend at least five other criteria to be met for obtaining permission: (1) approval of vehicle needs, (2) licensing or certification of pilots/operators and training for agrochemical application by drones, (3) registration of agrochemical product sought to be sprayed, and (4) Encouragement for fast approval of ULV formulations or allowing mixing of mineral oils to the existing formulations, so as to serve the purpose of ULV formulations, however, by proper testing of flash point (5) Strict adherence to product label instructions.

More specifically, we propose setting up a system for certification or licensing of drone operators to ensure their capability to pilot the UAV machines safely. Such certification/licensing should be subject to regular renewal and conducting of refresher courses. The authorities should also accredit training facilities to put in place a standardized programme for all agricultural drone operations.

The Product Registration Process for inclusion of drone as alternate equipment for application of CPP must be simplified & time-bound and should not be duplicated from scratch as the drone use is just an extension in the case of a formulation already approved for conventional manual spraying. The idea is to reduce registration timelines and make available the same crop protection products to farmers quickly, without compromising on safety and efficacy. A reasonable and predictable timeframe for all the regulatory clearances will create a vibrant and a compliant ecosystem that attracts more investment in the sector.

 

 

It highlights the application of agrochemical spraying

Agro Universities, Animal Health, R&D

The kit is quick and six times cheaper

A team of scientists at Indian Veterinary Research Institute is located, Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh state has developed a new mono-clonal antibody and recombinant antigen based ELISA, a rapid testing kit that can be used to detect deadly foot-and-mouth disease, FMD across various species. The disease is a highly infectious viral disease of all cloven-hoofed animals including cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats and pigs.

The presently used diagnostics, Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals, DIVA are species-specific and need to be optimized for each animal species. The new kit, however is easy to perform, rapid and sensitive. It can be performed at room temperature without an incubator.

 Six times cheaper than a similar commercial imported kit, the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the assay are 95.2 percent and 98 percent, respectively. The estimated cost per samples is Rs 15 as compared to Rs 105 per sample for an imported kit.

 The kit will be useful for screening of serum against FMD antibodies for DIVA application. The kit is available in the form of recombinant antigen coated modules and all ready-to-use reagents packaged in one box for 90 serum samples, and to be stored at 4°C.

 

The kit is quick and six times

Agro Universities, R&D

Imager can be used for real time water stress assessment of crops

A new RGB-Thermal imager for spatial data collection with location coordinates and real time data processing which can be integrated with actuation system for real time communication has been developed and launched by India Council of Agricultural Research, ICAR and Central Institute of Agriculture Research, Bhopal on the occasion of  92nd founding day of ICAR. 

Commercially available thermal imagers are useful for crop stress monitoring, real time application of irrigation scheduling and measuring surface temperature of fruits, seeds, vegetables among other uses but cannot be used for real time data processing and communication.

The new imager has been developed using Raspberry Pi 3B+ micro-controller board, Raspberry Pi RGB module V2 (8 MP), thermal module AMG 8833 (0 to 80 degree C), 7 inch HDMI display, GPS module NEO 6M V2 and keypad buttons supported by 20000 mAh power bank. The Raspberry Pi board is driven by NOOBS operating system with 64 GB memory.

The software of the imager has been developed in Python 3 using its libraries pygame (for image display), RPIO (for keypad button), AMG 8833 (for thermal sensor) and time (timer library). The imager is user friendly, robust, low cost, under R15000 and unaffected by temperature changes and rainfall.

 

 

Imager can be used for real time

Animal Health, Dairy

Lysine supplement expected to give better ROI on nutrients fed to cattle

ADM, a global leader in animal nutrition, has launched NutriPass L, an encapsulated lysine supplement that is rumen-stable and intestinally available to cows.

Brad Dalke, Vice President, ADM Animal Nutrition said that through effective encapsulation, NutriPass L supplies a consistent and stable supply of metabolizable lysine for lactating cows and growing cattle. This gives producers the advantage of improved return on investment on the nutrients fed. Lysine is an essential amino acid that must be provided through feedstuffs, since cows do not produce it naturally.

Encapsulating lysine makes it possible for producers to supply a balanced, cost-effective diet, through the reduction of higher cost protein ingredients in the ration. NutriPass L has been shown to meet or exceed net delivery of metabolizable lysine when evaluated against comparable products.

The supplement supports optimal milk production, animal growth and creates opportunities for nutritionists to limit nutrient wastage in rations.

It can be mixed with a wide variety of feed ingredients and forages. This is the latest addition to ADM’s expansive portfolio of livestock nutrition-based technologies and feed solutions.

Lysine supplement expected to give better ROI

Finance, Logistics, Warehousing

EBITDA increased to Rs 17.87 Crores from Rs 17.10 Crores in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. 

 

 

During the quarter ended June 30, 2020, Snowman Logistics Ltd recorded a Revenue of Rs 55.12 Crores against Rs 62.07 Crores in Q1 FY19-20. The decline in revenue was attributable to the disruption in road transport due to migration of drivers, however the warehousing occupancy of the company increased due to a surge in demand for high quality temperature-controlled warehousing as a result of which the EBITDA increased to Rs 17.87 Crores from Rs 17.10 Crores in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. As a result, EBITDA margin increased from 27 per cent to 32.4 per cent. PAT increased to Rs 0.78 Crores in the current quarter from a loss of Rs 8.99 Crores in the same period in the previous year. 

As cold chain logistics was deemed an essential service by the Ministry of Home Affairs, all facilities of the Company remained operational throughout the lockdown period and the overall warehouse occupancy had increased in the current quarter from various segments such as healthcare products, groceries, dairy, seafood, meat, poultry and QSR products. The Company has implemented all necessary precautions and followed the guidelines as recommended by W.H.O and other various healthcare bodies, for ensuring the safety of our employees, customers, and all other stakeholders.

 Speaking about the quarter performance,  Sunil Nair, CEO, Snowman Logistics Ltd said, “At Snowman, our commitment to our partners is unwavering. Despite the lockdown we ensured that there are no service disruptions and we continue to meet the demands of our clients. The lockdown has witnessed an increase in temperature controlled warehouse demand, especially for food, pharmaceuticals and other essentials from our partners. We would always go extra miles with our customers to ensure we serve them in business and in serving communities during such challenging times. Today, we are well positioned to cater to such demands at all our facilities across India.”

Commenting on the results,  Prem Kishan Dass Gupta, Chairman, Snowman Logistics Ltd said, “The demand for high quality cold chain logistics infrastructure has grown exponentially in the food and pharmaceutical industry due to the circumstances surrounding COVID, and our customers trust the quality of services provided by Snowman as a leader in this industry. We are continuing to expand and add cold storage capacities in both new & existing locations to cater to this growing demand.”

 

 

 

 

 

EBITDA increased to Rs 17.87 Crores from

Agro chems – Chemicals, Agrotech

Chaudhry is currently the Co Chairman of  FICCI Committee on Agriculture. 

 

 

 

The Board of Directors of Dhanuka Agritech Ltd in its meeting has approved the appointment of Siraj Azmat Chaudhry as an Additional Director under Independent Category.

 Siraj Azmat Chaudhry has been appointed as an Additional Director under the category of Independent Director of the Company.

 Siraj Azmat Chaudhary is an industry expert, thought leader and innovator in the agriculture and food industry. He is a key voice on issue concerning agriculture, food safety and nutrition and has worked extensively with industry, the social sector and the Government on related projects.

 Siraj has over 32 years of experience in building, turning around, acquiring, and divesting businesses.

He is currently the Co Chairman – FICCI Committee on Agriculture. He has also been the Past Chairman of the National Committee on Food Processing at FICCI and National Committee on Food Processing at FICCI and the National Alliance for Edible Oil Fortification, a joint initiative by CII and GAIN to address malnutrition through food fortification.

He has also been past President of the Food Industry Skill Council under the NSDC. He has chaired the Agriculture and Food Committee at American Chambers of Commerce and as also the Agriculture and Food Committee of USIBC in India.

Siraj is an eminent industry spokesperson and is a sought after key note speaker at prestigious events organized by FICCI, CIJ, JIM and other entities.

 

Chaudhry is currently the Co Chairman of