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Nature, R&D

The Botany and Horticulture department of Sikkim Central University carried out tests to understand the soil and actual pH conditions of Yangyang of Sikkim

The saffron bowl, which was so far confined to Kashmir, may soon expand to the North East of India. Plants from seeds transported from Kashmir to Sikkim and acclimatized there are now flowering in Yangyang in the Southern part of the North-East state.

Pampore region, in India, commonly known as the Saffron bowl of Kashmir, it is the main contributor to saffron production, followed by Budgam, Srinagar, and Kishtiwar districts. Saffron has traditionally been associated with the famous Kashmiri cuisine. It’s its medicinal values were considered as part of the rich cultural heritage of Kashmir. As saffron growth was confined to very specific areas in Kashmir, its production remained limited. Though the National Mission on Saffron focused on several measures to improve its farming, the measures were still limited to the specified areas of Kashmir.

North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR), an autonomous body under the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India supported a pilot project to explore the feasibility of growing saffron in North East region of India, with the same quality and higher quantity.

The Botany and Horticulture department of Sikkim Central University carried out tests to understand the soil and actual pH conditions of Yangyang of Sikkim and found it comparable to saffron growing places of Kashmir. Saffron seed/corms were purchased and air transported from Kashmir to Yangyang site by the department. One saffron grower was engaged and stationed to look after the complete growing process, along with the faculty of the university.

The corms were irrigated during the month of September and October, which ensured timely corm sprouting and good flower yields. The matching of climatic and geographical conditions between Pampore (Kashmir) and Yangyang (Sikkim) led to the successful sample farming of Saffron in Yangyang.

The project also focused on post-harvest management and value addition of saffron so that quality saffron drying and efficient post-harvest processing can improve saffron recovery, thereby improving its production.

The Botany and Horticulture department of Sikkim

Schemes - Govt

The launch self-certification scheme will not only benefit the industry but also make India globally competitive in ease of doing business

Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State (IC) for Shipping & Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Govt of India recently in a webinar said that the government is in the process to launch a self-certification scheme for the Indian chemicals industry, which will not only benefit the industry but also make India globally competitive in ease of doing business. 

Addressing a webinar ‘Post-COVID-19: The Future and Dynamics of agrochemicals Industry’, organized by FICCI, jointly with HIL, Mandaviya said that the chemicals and agrochemicals industry is growing rapidly, and India will soon become the priority for foreign companies. “In the future, the world will trade with India and this is an opportunity for the chemicals sectors. Global companies are today investing in India,” he added. 

Mandaviya said that India has created a lot of opportunities in every sector including textiles, ceramics, brass, and agrochemical sectors during the pandemic. “Next 10 years are golden years for India and the world will prefer to come to India,” he noted.   

Mandaviya further said that under the Make in India program, many global companies are looking for opportunities in India. He added, “We are also working to launch the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in the chemicals sectors as we have done in the pharma sector.”

He said that the government will support the industry to become globally competitive along with skill development and bringing new reforms. Our vision is to ensure that both the industry and the economy grow in the future. We must move forward, and we will not take any step that will not benefit the industry, he assured. 

  

The launch self-certification scheme will not only

Agro chems – Chemicals, Agro chems – Fertilizers

Targets Rs 451 crore revenue in current financial year

HIL (India) Limited, a PSU under the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers,  has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals recently to achieve the revenue target of Rs 451 crore in the current financial year ( 2020-21). The MoU was signed by SP Mohanty, Chairman & Managing Director (CMD),  HIL (India) Limited and  Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi,  Secretary, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals.

 Mohanty  said “The target of Rs 451 crore for HIL (India) Limited for the current financial year is quite attainable and can be easily achieved. If we the look at HIL (India) Limited’s performance during the first two quarters, it has recorded incredible growth of 65 percent”. The company has manufactured 530.10 MT of Malathion Technical in the first two quarters as compared to 375.5 MT in the corresponding period last year (CPLY), which is the highest ever production since its inception, he added.

In addition to this, the company has also registered the highest ever sale for the product in the first two quarters and supplied the entire quantity to various institutions like the Ministry of Agriculture’s Locust Control Programme and municipal corporations across the country for the vector control.

Targets Rs 451 crore revenue in

Agrotech, Europe, India, North America, R&D

Merger to consolidate company’s global footprint

After months of deliberation and formalities which began in 2019, the merger of agri-business major SynTech Research, USA and the European Contract Research Organization (CRO) major Acceres, has now successfully met all the requirements to form a world-leading global Agricultural R&D CRO. Consisting of Acceres, (which includes Biotek Agriculture, GAB Consulting and Promovert) and SynTech Research, the new company will be a leading global player in this sector, with over 600 laboratory, field and regulatory staff providing services in over forty countries, in all Regions.

Dr Khosro Khodayari has been appointed as CEO of the new Company, chairing the Global Executive Committee (GEC), leading further integration activities and serving on the Board of Directors (BoD). Dr Francis Lacroze, former SGS, who has been involved with EKKIO Capital in the development of Acceres, has been appointed as Chairman of the BoD. EKKIO Capital are the majority shareholders and will provide the additional investment required for rapid growth of the new Company through acquisitions and Greenfield expansion projects. As previously announced, once integration activities have been completed, the name of the new Company will be formalized as SynTech Research.

SynTech Research which was founded in California 1999 had initially focused on field GLP and bio-efficacy in the US. The company started work in India in 2010 and was the first Contract Research Organisation (CRO) in the country. It works in partnership with a local CRO to deliver client’s trials programs. Currently trials on agrochemicals and new plant varieties including bio-safety research level (BRL) GMO trials are being carried out in several locations in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharastra, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. 

Merger to consolidate company’s global footprint After months

Agro chems – Fertilizers, IT, Schemes - Banks

Collaboration will boost accessibility of quality agri-products in India

 

 

 

www.iffcobazar.in, the e-commerce arm of IFFCO has announced its integration with the SBI YONO Krishi, which is the dedicated portal catering to the farmer’s needs. This will insure that a wide variety of agriculture products are made accessible to lakhs of Indian Farmers. Hassle free payment portal of SBI YONO and quality products of IFFCO is a combination which aims to drive the digital sales in this segment.

 www.iffcobazar.in is one of the fast growing agriculture based e-commerce portals in India, promoted by IFFCO, biggest fertiliser manufacturer in the country. The portal is available in 12 Indian languages and promises free home delivery pan India. It also operates 1200+ stores in 26 states across India. A wide variety of products which include, speciality fertilisers, organic agri-inputs, seeds, agrochemicals, agri-machinery amongst others are made available on the portal. 

 Speaking on the partnership, Dr. U.S Awasthi, MD, IFFCO said that, “IFFCO and SBI are two of the oldest business institutions in India. The letter ’I’ in our names, which stands for India, binds us together in letter and in spirit. I am proud to say that, through this integration the two proud ’Indian’ institution with their combined synergy can work towards the betterment of Indian farmers.”

He further added that, “Through the portal, farmers can not only order best quality non-subsidised fertilisers and other agriculture inputs but can also get answers to their queries through a farmers’ forum and a dedicated helpline.”

 

Yogendra Kumar, Marketing Director, IFFCO added that, “Finance and Fertilisers are two critical inputs for the farmers. With the partnership between SBI YONO and iffcobazar.in two of the biggest Indian institutions in their respective sectors can finally collaborate to get the best quality agri-inputs at the doorstep of farmers”.

He also said that, the collaboration will help IFFCO BAZAR to reach out to over 3 crore registered customers of YONO, a large part of which happens to be farmers. Through the partnership we can leverage the strong brand equity in rural India to create a trustworthy ecosystem which will ultimately help reduce the input costs for the farmers. 

 

 

Collaboration will boost accessibility of quality

Agro Universities, R&D

The aflatoxin detection device hopes to leverage artificial intelligence and big data to resolve the challenges, giving farmers a good price for their safe produce.

 

 

A collaboration between Chennai based startup Pure Scan AI and Hyderabad based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to create a portable aflatoxin detector has won the Inspire Challenge by the CGIAR Big Data Platform at the recent Big Data Convention, earning a $ 100,000 grant to build and scale up the device. 

Utilizing the blacklight fluorescence feature of aflatoxin, this device captures the fluorescence by cameras with filters. Images are processed and the fluorescence degree and pattern are fed into a learning model that predicts the quantity of aflatoxin present in the sample to an accuracy of 1 part per billion error margin. This is the first time ICRISAT has won an Inspire Challenge award.

 

Aflatoxin – a carcinogenic mycotoxin found in groundnut (and other produce e.g. maize, chillies, rice, tree nuts etc.) produced by a fungus Aspergillus flavus – can cause liver damage, malnutrition, immune suppression and cancer. Aflatoxin contamination is also responsible for millions of dollars in trade loss for farmers, processors and exporters. 

Work on development of this device began two years ago with Dr Srikanth Rupavatharam from the Digital Agriculture and Youth (DAY) theme, and Dr Hari Kishan Sudini from the Integrated Crop Management (ICM) theme at ICRISAT. This project seeks to improve an existing low-cost device (<USD50) for rapid aflatoxin detection in peanuts and maize using image processing under UV light.

 

The aflatoxin detection device hopes to leverage artificial intelligence and big data to resolve the above challenges, giving farmers a good price for their safe produce.

 

While more work needs to be done to bring this innovation to the farmer – e.g. an android app and a web platform have to be built, the innovators are hopeful that the device will soon enable farmers to access online marketplaces for a fair price on their high-quality produce free of aflatoxin.

The aflatoxin detection device hopes to leverage

Agro chems – Chemicals, Agro chems – Fertilizers, Finance

The fertilizer sales volume grew by 10 % in H1FY21 as compared to H1FY20, whereas the Profit Before Tax grew from Rs63cr to Rs216cr.

 

 

 The Gujarat State Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited has  posted a net profit of Rs171cr in the second quarter ended September 30 as compared to Rs56cr in the corresponding quarter in the previous year, a rise of 205%.

The fertilizer sales volume grew by 10 % in H1FY21 as compared to H1FY20, whereas the Profit Before Tax grew from Rs63cr to Rs216cr. There was a substantial improvement in the EPS as it grew from Rs1.40/share to Rs4.29/share as compared to the same quarter last year.

GSFC stopped purchasing finished fertilizers, except Urea (imported by Gol) and MoP (where there is no option but to import). Reduction in raw materials consumption expenditure, despite an increase in sales by 10% in volume in H1 Vs H1 and lower price of natural gas and more efficient management of resources have also played a major part in GSFC’s financial results.

 

The fertilizer sales volume grew by 10

Agro Universities, IT, Webinar

Focus on Resilient Agriculture and SAS highlighted

An International Salinity Webinar on ’Resilient Agriculture in Saline Environments under Changing Climate’ was organized by Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (ICAR-CSSRI), Karnal, Haryana in collaboration with the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) on November 3, 2020 with over 967 participants.

In his inaugural address, Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR), emphasized that other than the natural and climate change processes, the over use of irrigation and changing land use patterns are major drivers in bringing cultivable area under the salt affected lands.

Dr Ismahane Elouafi, Director General, International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai stressed that the current Pandemic COVID-19 had compounded natural and man-made factors affecting the agriculture in general and salinity in particular in the Asian region. She highlighted on switching over to under-utilized crop in the marginal areas instead of mono-cropping by major food crops to make the resilience a reality.

 Dr S K Chaudhari, Deputy Director General (Natural Resource Management), ICAR highlighted the major issues needed for SAS. He opined to have a need-based collaborative program and network to take the prioritized issues of SAS at policy and practice levels to address them at the local and regional scales.

Focus on Resilient Agriculture and SAS highlightedAn

E-commerce, Europe, R&D

The two companies jointly developed a technology for automated image recognition to determine the species and quantity of plants, pests and diseases in greenhouse and field trials. 

Protecting crops from diseases and pests is essential to sustainably improve yield on existing arable land to feed a growing population. BASF and TECNALIA, a European centre for research and technological development, are collaborating in digitalization to accelerate the global research and development of new crop protection products. This contributes to a faster development of innovations that respond to farmers’ needs worldwide to control weeds, fungal diseases and insect pests in their crops, protecting yield and biodiversity at the same time.

The two companies jointly developed a technology for automated image recognition to determine the species and quantity of plants, pests and diseases in greenhouse and field trials. “Our collaboration with TECNALIA, started in 2014, enables us to employ state-of-the-art algorithms based on artificial intelligence and machine learning,” said Ramon Navarra-Mestre, Head of Global Agricultural Research Stations at BASF. “This new, efficient technology provides us with more reliable information from our global field trials network as the image recognition assessments can be done more frequently and deliver more objective data compared to traditional methods.”

 

By analysing and processing these large amounts of data from BASF’s field trials, TECNALIA continuously develops its algorithms further. “The more information we incorporate into our database, the more reliable and meaningful are the results we can provide to BASF,” added Jone Echazarra, Head of Computer Vision at TECNALIA. These comprehensive data sets enable researchers and developers at BASF to optimally evaluate the efficiency of new crop protection products. Already at an early stage of the R&D process, this allows to even stronger focus on the most promising, innovative active ingredients.

 

 

The two companies jointly developed a technology

Finance, Machinery – Post-harvesting

Net sales of Industrial Activities up 4%, primarily driven by an 11% increase in Agriculture.

 CNH Industrial reports strong results, with all divisions performing ahead of earlier expectations. Consolidated revenues were $6.5 billion, adjusted net income was $156 million, and positive free cash flow of Industrial Activities was $1.0 billion. At quarter end, available liquidity was $13.2 billion. 

Financial results presented under U.S. GAAP

Net sales of Industrial Activities up 4% (up 4% at constant currency), primarily driven by an 11% increase in Agriculture.

Adjusted EBIT of Industrial Activities of $238 million, compared to $284 million in 2019 which included a $50 million gain realized from granting to Nikola Corporation access to certain Iveco technology as in-kind contribution for stock issuance. Positive price realization in Agriculture and Commercial and Specialty Vehicles, and cost containment actions across all segments fully offset negative mix.

Adjusted net income of $156 million (or adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.11) after excluding, from the $932 million reported net loss, the $1,207 million negative fair value adjustment of the investment in Nikola Corporation, and a tax benefit of $82 million due to the release of valuation allowances on deferred tax assets in certain jurisdictions.

Reported income tax benefit of $15 million and adjusted income tax expense of $81 million, with adjusted effective tax rate (adjusted ETR) of 38%, which reflects the impact of pre-tax losses in jurisdictions where tax benefits are not recognized and excludes the release of deferred tax valuation allowances referred to above.

Positive free cash flow of Industrial Activities of $987 million resulting from a reduction in working capital and a variety of cash preservation measures. Total Debt of $24.7 billion and net debt of Industrial Activities of $1.5 billion, a reduction of $0.8 billion compared to June 30, 2020.

Available liquidity of $13.2 billion at September 30, 2020. In July, CNH Industrial Capital LLC issued $600 million in aggregate principal amount of 1.950% Notes due 2023. Subsequent to the quarter-end, in October, CNH Industrial Capital LLC also issued $500 million in aggregate principal amount of 1.875% Notes due 2026.

Net sales of Industrial Activities up 4%,

Environment, North America, R&D, Start ups

Alt-milk market accounts for 40% of total plant-based food sector

NotCo, Chile’s  plant based ’animal replica’ products has announced the launch of its plant-based milk alternative NotMilk in November 2020, in the US market. NotCo’s US market entry follows an impressive series C funding round of $85 million, bringing the total capital raised to $118 million. The company plans to continue its rapid growth, particularly in the US, which the company considers its most promising market. As part of its growth strategy, it has also appointed Lucho Lopez-May as the new CEO for North America, who, among other positions, had been working for the Danone Group in the US for 15 years.

Plant-based milk is the most established segment in the plant-based category. This year, The Good Food Institute published an overview of the plant-based market, according to which, the alt-milk market accounts for 40 per cent of the total plant-based food sector. Greg Steltenpohl of Califia Farms even predicted that the plant-based milk market in the US will reach 50 per cent market share in the next ten years, compared to 14 per cent at present. The company drew its inspiration to combine  plants to replicate animal products, after they realized that removing animals from food production would protect the planet.

Alt-milk market accounts for 40% of total

Finance, Start ups

The agritech startup is currently going through the Rockstart AgriFood acceleration program

Rockstart, a global accelerator-VC has announced that one of its portfolio companies, MoooFarm Agritech startup based in Delhi, raised €500k in pre-seed funding. The round was led by Navus Ventures, a Dutch investment fund, with Rockstart as co-investor. MoooFarm is part of the Rockstart AgriFood 2020 batch and has managed to raise this investment only four months into the program. The startup plans to use the funding to strengthen their product-market fit and hire key technology talent to launch new services to farmers.

MoooFarm is an agritech startup working in India to build sustainable, inclusive, efficient, and nutritious food systems for 75 million dairy farmers and over 1 billion consumers. MoooFarm is disrupting the €101Bn ($120Bn) Indian dairy industry through its mobile application. Using an Uber-like model, the mobile application allows farmers to connect virtually and schedule physical visits with veterinarians and artificial insemination technicians.

The app provides agricultural extension, farm management tools, access to qualified veterinarians, and an online community to support with increasing milk yields and reducing costs. In its one and a half years of operation, MoooFarm has helped 23,000 dairy farmers increase their daily milk yield and make on average an extra €34 ($40) per month. 

 

 

The agritech startup is currently going through

Dairy, E-commerce

Establishes a robust network of over 1500 retailers 

 

 

 Mother Dairy, a subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), has announced the launch of its milk sales operations in the city of lakes – Bhopal. After Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur, the Company has forayed in the city of Bhopal as part of its expansion strategy in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

 

Mother Dairy milk is currently available across more than 100 cities across the country. Mother Dairy, as part of the launch, is introducing four milk variants namely Full Cream Milk, Double Toned Milk, Super T milk and India’s largest selling Cow Milk variant. The range will be made available across 1500 outlets spread across the city, which will be further strengthened to 2500 outlets.

 

For its milk supply in state of Madhya Pradesh, Mother Dairy sources raw milk from farmer-centric institutions situated in & around Madhya Pradesh, which is being processed and hygienically packed in associated plants in Dewas and Morena.

 

Brand Mother Dairy with the expertise of over 45 years in the Dairy industry is introducing world class practices to ensure safety and quality at all levels. Right from procurement of milk to processing in plant to final placement in market, the Company follows strict adherence to parameters to ensure only safe and quality produce reaches its consumers. In its effort to ensure milk quality and right temperature at retail level, the Company is also introducing industry first ‘Insulated Crates’ for Bhopal market.

 

Mother Dairy is also working towards series of initiatives aimed to create awareness about the brand and benefits associated with the newly launched milk range in the region. 

Speaking on the new foray, Vinod Chopra, Sr. Business Head – Milk, Mother Dairy, said, “At Mother Dairy, we are driven by the ethos of serving the farmers as well as our consumers on a common platform by providing right remuneration to milk producers and offering quality and safe products to our consumers. The overall success witnessed in the state of Madhya Pradesh, supported by the most recent success in Indore, further prompted us to extend our liquid milk offerings to Bhopal, thereby bringing quality milk offerings for our discerning consumers and at the same time providing a new market for our milk producers.”

 

 

Establishes a robust network of over 1500

Agrotech, China, E-commerce

SANANBIO ARK supplies communities with fresh local food

SANANBIO, a leading vertical farming solution provider based in China has announced the availability of its climate-controlled mobile farm for growers globally.

Zhan Zhuo, co-founder and CEO of SANANBIO said, “3,300-4,400 lbs of cucumbers, 7,700 lbs of arugula, or 8,000 lbs of lettuce. These are the proven annual yields that we’re confident to announce. We produce turnkey farms and this one is mobile.”

It adapts to any climate thanks to its thermal insulation system with a thermal conductivity below 0.024w/(m·K). One of the mobile farms operated as usual in the coldness of -40-degree Fahrenheit in northern China, sustaining local communities with local produces at a reduced carbon footprint. It is shocking to find that our food travels 1,500 miles on average before reaching our plate. The CO2  generated, and the nutrients lost during transportation, can’t be good for the planet or human beings. That’s why local food is advocated. “The ready-to-use farm is the solution we offer to regions where the environment is too harsh to support stable agricultural production.” Zhan added.

To streamline the farming experience, the designer simplifies the start-up procedures to a single plug-in motion: power it up through a connector on the exterior and then even hydroponic beginners are set to grow. Moreover, growers can monitor and control farm metrics simply by moving fingertips on their phones.

SANANBIO ARK supplies communities with fresh local