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R&D, Webinar

The month long event to focus on India’s overall sustainable development

Vaishwik Bharatiya Vaigyanik (VAIBHAV) Summit, a virtual event will be inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi, on 2nd October’2020 in the virtual presence of registered academia and researchers from across the world. This will be followed by online month-long deliberation sessions starting from October 3 to October 30, 2020 among researchers via webinar. The Summit aims to bring out mechanisms of advancements in education, research and entrepreneurship in India as an essential element of its overall sustainable development.

Participating organizations include the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Institutes,  Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) Delhi, Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi, Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering (CIAE), Bhopal. IIHR, Bengaluru will be part of the summit as ‘Champion Institute’ under the Agro Economy and Food Security area. The concluding session will be on November 7, 2020 the occasion of Sir CV Raman Jayanti. 

 

The month long event to focus on

North America, R&D, Supply Chain

Application comprises a cloud and two apps, providing ongoing FSMA compliance

Florida-based ‘fsma SaaS’ announced the launch of its Single Management System on September 30, 2020. The system is a multi-discipline, multi-organizational digitalization platform for the food industry, guaranteeing ongoing regulatory compliance, while simultaneously addressing the complexities of the supply chain.

In 2020, ‘fsma SaaS’ offers a solution through on-going guaranteed Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) compliance on its digitalized single management system platform, which incorporates the supply chain. The United Natural Product Alliance (UNPA) and others in the food supply chain have an opportunity to digitize their documentation at the source for integration with their supply chain.

It is the opinion of experts that digitalization serves as the basis for addressing supply chain complexities. The format of ‘fsma SaaS’, commences the digitalization for alleviating supply chain complexities, through seamless real-time access to the source. We explore the digitalization recommendations of three well-recognized experts for aligning our technology offering.

The ‘fsma SaaS’ application consists of a Cloud and two apps called ‘Shecklist’ and ‘Sheca’. Shecklist manages Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls, while Sheca manages the corrective actions at each process step.

Application comprises a cloud and two apps,

Agro chems – Chemicals, Europe, R&D

Glu-L™ will deliver an improved, highly concentrated weed control product

BASF SE is a German multinational chemical company and the largest chemical producer in the world. BASF has recently acquired the proprietary Glu-L™ technology for L-glufosinate ammonium from AgriMetis™, an industry leader for the development of biotechnological innovations for crop protection. With this BASF Agricultural Solutions will offer its customers an even more efficient product to protect against unwanted weeds with an improved formulation.

The global market for crop protection and seeds is growing as are population numbers and it is becoming increasingly important to conserve natural resources and meet consumer demand for transparency and food safety. 

Glu-L™ makes a decisive contribution for the global market for crop protection and seeds. Glufosinate products consist of the active L-glufosinate ammonium and the inactive D-glufosinate ammonium. The latter is converted into active L-glufosinate ammonium by the new technology. This makes the new product significantly more efficient.

While weed control is at least on the equivalent level with currently available commercial glufosinate products, farmers can reduce the amount of crop protection they need to apply by up to 50%. This change will reduce operating costs for both farmers and the channel significantly and make the distribution and application of the product even more sustainable than today’s solutions. The comprehensive patent protection for this new technology puts BASF in a strong competitive position for the coming years.

The new product is currently in the registration process in the United States and will be launched there in the next few years. 

BASF’s Agricultural Solutions division is continuously investing in its portfolio and researching new solutions that benefit farmers, the environment and society.

Glu-L™ will deliver an improved, highly concentrated

Agro chems – Chemicals, AgroPolicy

The sector can contribute $300 billion to the GDP

D V Sadananda Gowda, Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers said via a virtual event, that it was a good time to invest in India when the government was focusing on self-sufficiency in domestic production. Gowda was addressing a webinar on ’Specialty Chemical’ Organized by Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals and FICCI. The minister officially launched  ’India chem2021’ , which will be held from March 17 to 19, 2021. 

He reiterated that Specialty Chemicals is one of the areas where there is  a huge potential for growth. The past couple of decades have seen a significant shift in the manufacturing of chemicals, particularly  the specialty chemicals from EU and North America, to Asia. Gowda added that the sector can alone contribute $300 billion to the GDP as compared to $160 billion at present. 

The sector can contribute $300 billion to

Agrotech, Machinery – Post-harvesting

For its whole range of self-propelled grape and olive harvesters and straddle tractors designed and manufactured in France. 

  The Origine France Garantie (French Origin Guaranteed) label certifies the provenance of the New Holland self-propelled grape and olive harvesters and straddle tractors manufactured in the French plant of Coëx. Furthermore, it provides clear and objective traceability information.

 

New Holland Agriculture has obtained Origine France Garantie (French Origin Guaranteed) certification for its whole range of self-propelled grape and olive harvesters and straddle tractors designed and manufactured in France, as a recognition of the more than 40 years of manufacturing quality at its New Holland Centre of Excellence in Coëx, in the Vendée region of France.

 

New Holland initially achieved the certification for its compact range of grape harvesters (8030L and 7030M) in 2017 and then gradually extended the number of models certified.  This year the independent certification body, Bureau Veritas, has extended this recognition to the entire range of products manufactured at the Coëx facility.

 

Richard Mesnil, Coëx Plant Manager and Head of Grape Harvester Production stated: “All of us at the Coëx Centre of Excellence are very proud of this certification. We work every day to deliver the highest manufacturing standards to our customers around the world. This Origine France Garantie label is an important recognition of our unflagging commitment to excellence.”

Thierry Le Briquer, Grape, Olive and Coffee Global Product and Platform Manager, added: “This certification highlights New Holland’s strong heritage in serving grape, olive and coffee growers around the world, and its deep roots here in Coëx, the birthplace of our Braud grape harvesters.”

 

The Origine France Garantie certification was created in 2010 by the Pro France association – which brings together manufacturers and professional organisations – to provide customers with clear information on the French origin of their product, promote French industrial know-how in the domestic and international markets, and raise the profile of companies who manufacture in the country.

For customers, the Origine France Garantie label guarantees the product’s clear and objective traceability and the assurance that it has been manufactured in compliance with health and safety, social and environmental standards.

Source-press release

 

 

For its whole range of self-propelled grape

Agrotech, IT

It aimed at helping the agriculture and food sectors to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis. 

 

 

For the first time in history, a 2-month online international hackathon HACK AgriFood’20 is being organized. HACK AgriFood’20 is aimed at helping the agriculture and food sectors to overcome ongoing problems and to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis. After the hackathon, its participants will be able to sell their MVP stage targeted solutions to the challenge owners – AgriFood sector companies. Currently, different companies from all over Europe have already submitted nine challenges in four main categories: Local Food Supply Networks, Utilizing Production Side-Streams, Smart Food Packaging and Solving Last Mile Delivery.

Gintas Kimtys, the head of the Lithuanian Agency for Science, Innovation and Technology (MITA), has emphasized that events like HACK AgriFood’20 and International AgriBusiness Forum in Vilnius, which will close the hackathon, show Lithuania’s ambitions and potential to become a testing ground for agri-food digital innovations in Europe.

HACK Agrifood’20 has already received support from both international and local communities. The hackathon is sponsored by many influential partners, such as the SMART AgriHubs consortium, which unites 164 partners all over Europe, the Lithuanian Science, Innovation and Technology Agency and others.  Kristina Šermukšnytė-Alešiūnienė, the head of AgtiFood Lithuania DIH, which is organizing the event, has emphasized that the biggest advantages of this hackathon are the duration and the fact that teams will solve real challenges and will have to provide real solutions at the MVP stage. According to AgriFood Lithuania DIH experts, it is very likely that at least some of the solutions provided by the teams will be purchased and commercialized.

Registration of teams and individuals willing to participate in the international online hackathon HACK Agrifood’20 has already started and will end on October 6. Everybody willing to address the challenges proposed by AgriFood sector companies can register at www.hackagrifood.lt.

source- press release

 

 

It aimed at helping the agriculture and

Acquaculture, E-commerce, Finance

AquaCRED facilitates BFSI players to extend their services across the value chain and thus ensure easy formal credit availability to the farmers.  

 Aquaculture start up Aquaconnect launches a full-stack technological intervention AquaCRED. This aims to bring a formal financial network to small and medium aquaculture farmers by working on risk assessment based financing strategy.

 

AquaCRED initiative facilitates BFSI players to extend their services across the value chain and thus ensure easy formal credit availability to the farmers.

India is one of the largest aquaculture producers in the world that produces about $17 billion worth of fishes and shrimp production with more than 90 percent of produce coming from small/medium-size farmers. However, access to formal finance still remains a challenge as the majority of them lack access to formal credit to purchase key inputs at critical junctures in the aquaculture cycle.

 

It enables this financial inclusion by combining ‘eyes in the sky’ (secondary data from satellite remote sensing solutions) and ‘boots on the ground’ (primary data from pond’s samples) through machine learning. It also brings transparency and predictability to the entire process, thereby lowering risks & solving associated problems for the BFSI segment transforming the industry. With this, the company enables the aquaculture farmers to access formal finance and avail credits to buy farm inputs and other farming requirements.

 

“In my view, the biggest impediment for the growth of the aquaculture sector is the lack of data and the absence of formal finance. While it is a multi-billion dollar ecosystem, Indian banks, financial service providers and insurers are staying away from this opportunity due to the lack of data and credit risk assessment framework,” Aquaconnect Founder and CEO Rajamanohar Somasundaram said.

 

 

A lack of data-driven risk-mitigation strategy makes it almost impossible for BFSI institutions to extend their products to various stakeholders within the value chain, especially farmers who bear the maximum risk.

 

Limited access to formal credit leads to a higher dependency on informal lenders such as feed &, farm-care product retailers, traders, etc. Eventually, in comparison to formal credit-based interest rates, they pay very high annualized interest thereby leading to a reduction in farm income for the farmers.

 

According to Amit Salunkhe, VP – Sales, Aquaconnect, “Our goal at AquaConnect is to turn data into information & information into actionable insights for Banks, Financial intuitions & Insurance companies, thereby empowering them to invest in the growth of aquaculture farmers and eventually within the industry itself. AquaCRED is going to be the single most important key which shall successfully bridge the gap between BFSI institutions and Fish & Shrimp Farmers”

 

Source- press release

AquaCRED facilitates BFSI players to extend their

AgroPolicy, R&D

Focus on adoption and implementation at the farm level

A two-day national-level consultation with relevant stakeholders was organized by NITI Aayog on September 29 and 30 to leverage the socio-economic and environmental benefits of natural farming for boosting farmers’ welfare, consumer health, food security and nutrition.

Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare  said that the Union Agriculture Ministry had allocated a budget to promote natural farming and lauded NITI Aayog’s efforts to spearhead its implementation across the country. “Current proposals on natural farming by Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Chhattisgarh were under consideration and approvals were accorded for their implementation,” Tomar added.


Governor of Gujarat Acharya Devvrat said that in the next five years, 12 lakh hectares would be brought under natural farming in the state. He mentioned that approximately 1.20 lakh farmers in Gujarat adopted natural farming during the ongoing kharif season and another 5.50 lakh were interested to follow the same.


Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, emphasized that there was a need to build a common understanding and workable strategies to push natural farming to maintain continuity in the food supply system. The two-day consultation covered four technical sessions and highlighted the need for a systematic approach for the adoption and implementation of natural farming at the farm level. It also sought to identify an extension-cum-training programme to be undertaken by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research through Krishi Vigyan Kendras

Focus on adoption and implementation at the

E-commerce, IT

UPL integrates Qlik into key processes to facilitate faster, simpler, and more accurate data-driven decision-making for its business users 

 

 

 

Delhi, based Qlik® announced that UPL Ltd. (formerly United Phosphorus Limited) is leveraging Qlik’s data analytics platform to empower and inform business users across its organization. The Indian multinational has been working closely with Qlik to streamline its data operations and enable data-driven decisions to drive growth.

 

A Data-Driven Vision

UPL first started working with Qlik in 2014, when they first integrated QlikView® with its Salesforce portal. After a few years, as data consumption and usage of the dashboards increased, UPL wanted to modernize its analytics strategy to provide its users with a self-service option and greater visibility around the data sets they had available.

 “Historically, our analytics operations used to take up a lot of time. We realized that, even after putting in so much effort, the insights generated were limited in scope and didn’t have the kind of accuracy, consistency and agility that we expected. This changed, first with the implementation of QlikView and then with Qlik Sense”, said Bhushan Narsinghani, Head of Analytics, UPL in press statement.

 

Making Data Accessible

Initially deployed as a proof-of-concept, Qlik Sense® quickly differentiated itself with a unified, intuitive, and seamless dashboard that provided real-time, explorable insights at the touch of a button. The platform’s innovative approach to combining multiple data sources and Qlik’s practical licensing proposition made it the most viable solution.

With Qlik, UPL stakeholders found that they could dive deep into their data and get multi-level reports, from an overview of the entire organization to the financial performance of individual business units. Business users are also able to discover highly contextual insights, personalized to their specific needs. Moreover, users can conveniently generate and securely share multiple reports based on different parameters, thus making information more accessible and useful. By democratizing access to data and providing the ability to work with it, Qlik has empowered employees to be more data literate.

 

“Our business users had varied skill levels and were surprised by the ease-of-use and intuitive nature of Qlik Sense. Here was a powerful BI tool that presented ready-made insights in an interactive visual format right in front of us,” said Sudhanshu Gupta, Global Head – Business Excellence, UPL.

 

Given its positive impact on business goals, UPL is now developing a Qlik dashboard for its HR function, as well as a centralized data governance framework to deploy Qlik across multiple international markets at national and regional levels.

“With our unique complete analytics platform offering, we are making insight generation and decision-making more intuitive, convenient, accurate, and agile by allowing business users to translate their data into actionable insights for better business outcomes at speed and scale. We are delighted to be a part of UPL’s data transformation journey and are motivated to meet and exceed the high bar that we have set for ourselves in the future”, said Varun Babbar, Country Manager, India at Qlik.

 

Source- Qlik press release

UPL integrates Qlik into key processes to

AgroPolicy

Union Minister alleges opposition of misleading farmers

Alleging that the farmers are being misled, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh stated on September 20, 2020 that the Contract Agreement, as per the Act brought in through the new Agricultural Laws will be for the crops and not for the land.

Launching a campaign from his Lok Sabha constituency in support of the Farmers Laws introduced by the Modi Govt and against the disinformation being spread by the Congress Party, Dr Jitendra Singh was addressing the Party workers, Sarpanches and BDC Chairmen from villages and other areas of districts Kathua and Udhampur.

The minister said that the common farmer was satisfied with the new law but some politically motivated interests with no knowledge or stake in farming were misleading farmers.

While the Bill clearly prohibits sale, lease or mortgage of farmers’ land, Singh said that the Bill clearly states that the Agreement will be for the crops and not for the land.

“The Contract Agreement with the farmers is to get the fixed price and also provides the provision for farmers to withdraw from the Contract at any time without any penalty. Nowhere is it mentioned that the provision of MSP will be done away with at any point of time,” he added.

 

Union Minister alleges opposition of misleading farmersAlleging

AgroPolicy

MSP for farmers selling pulses and oilseeds assured

With the arrival of Kharif Marketing Season 2020-21, the Government continues to procure Kharif 2020-21 crops at MSP from farmers as per its existing MSP Schemes as done in previous seasons.

Approval has been accorded for procurement of 14.09 LMT of Pulse and Oilseeds for KMS 2020-21 for the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Haryana based on the proposal from the States. The Government through its Nodal Agencies, has procured 46.35 MT of Moong having MSP value of Rs.33 lakhs benefitting 48 farmers in Tamil Nadu, as of September 28, 2020.

For other States/UTs, approval will also be accorded on receipt of proposal for Kharif Pulses and Oilseeds and procurement of FAQ grade will be made as per Price Support Scheme (PSS), if the market rate goes below its MSP during the notified harvesting period.

MSP for farmers selling pulses and oilseeds

Agro Universities, R&D

The new high density plant variety can bear fruit faster in 2-3 years  

Scientists of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) have introduced new, high-density plant varieties of pear. It is expected these will revolutionise the horticulture sector. The new varieties are also expected to benefit the growers in Kashmir by boosting the growth of pears.

 

The high-density plants have a good capacity to give large quantities of fruit within a short period of time compared to traditional plants. Scientists are monitoring experimental fields where they have planted a good number of high-density pear trees.

 

Dr Khalid Mushtaq, Head Division of Fruit Sciences SKUAST said “Usually the person who sows pear plants cannot enjoy its fruits. It is enjoyed by his future generations. The new high density plant variety can bear fruit faster in 2-3 years. In Kashmir, we have 50,000-60,000 hectares of area. We had experimented on apples and on similar lines, we have done another experiment on pears in 50,000-60,000 hectares of area. We have grown exotic varieties of pear as part of our experiment.”

The university is in its fourth year of the experiment it able to produce around 25 tonnes per hectare. In the next couple of years, some 45-50 tonnes per hectare will be produced.

 

The new high density plant variety can

Dairy, Supply Chain, Transportation

Doodh Duronto a special milk train covered 2,300 km distance within 34 hours. 

  Doodh Duronto Special, introduced during the lockdown period from Renigunta to H Nizamuddin to supply milk to New Delhi, has so far transported three crore litres. Transportation of milk to New Delhi plays an important role in balancing the milk supply. Considering its importance, the South Central Railway has been running Doodh Duronto as a special milk train. The train is run on par with best of the Mail express trains and the distance between Renigunta and H Nizamuddin (2,300 km) is covered within 34 hours.

 

The Doodh Duronto special, which was introduced on March 26 to operate every other day, has been enhanced to run daily from July 15.Doodh Duronto specials normally run with six milk tankers, each having a capacity of 40,000 litres. So far, around 126 trips of Doodh Duronto special trains have been operated, resulting in 751 milk tankers duly transporting three crore litres.

 

The milk is sourced by a unit of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) from more than 3,000 pooling points spread across 13,000 villages in and around the Chittoor district.

 Further, the regular movement of the special train connecting Renigunta with the National Capital via Kacheguda has seen increasing patronage from parcel customers for movement of commodities. 

Apart from transportation of milk, around 56 parcel-vans were attached to these trains from Renigunta and transported essential commodities and fruits such as China clay, hard parcels, mangoes, musk melons etc, to en route stations like Delhi, Bhopal, Nagpur and Jhansi and also to non-en route stations such as Jodhpur, Jaipur, Rourkela, and Ambala. 

In addition, regular loading was done at the Kacheguda station. A total of 191 Parcel vans were loaded and carried around 4,039 tonnes of goods. These goods are transported to Nizamuddin, Bhopal, and Jhansi and also to non-en route stations like Tata Nagar, Rourkela, Gorakhpur, Jaipur, Jodhpur etc.

Doodh Duronto a special milk train

AgroPolicy, Organic, Trade

The bill gives them the freedom to sell the product without the fee it collects

Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill 2020, the new farm bill has recently cheered up the farmers growing crops organically. Organic farming (without the use of chemicals) costs almost twice or thrice the usual farming that makes extensive use of pesticides. 

The licensed organic farmers find it difficult to look for a buyer under the mandi system where they must compete with the usual types of farm produce. Organic farmers say that under the new system, they will have the advantage of selling directly without any mandi tax to buyers that are very limited and spread across the country.

Farmers have to take a license from the agriculture department for organic farming. They have given the undertaking that they cannot add any chemicals and only natural elements like seeds, manure, and water to be used. The bill gives them the freedom to sell the product without the mandi and the fee it collects. For organic farmers, it is not the mandi fee that bothers them but the new system that will give them wings to sell their products according to their terms and price.

The bill gives them the freedom to