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AgroPolicy, Environment

AIPA aims to generate a coordinated response on climate change matters that ensures India is on track towards meeting its obligations under the Paris Agreement

In another move that re-affirms India’s seriousness to ‘walk the talk’ on climate change, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has constituted a high-level inter-ministerial Apex Committee for Implementation of Paris Agreement (AIPA) under the chairmanship of Secretary, MoEFCC.

The purpose of AIPA is to generate a coordinated response on climate change matters that ensures India is on track towards meeting its obligations under the Paris Agreement including its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). 

Senior officials from fourteen ministries will serve as Members to AIPA who will oversee the progress in implementation of India’s NDC and receive periodic information updates to monitor, review and revisit climate goals to fulfil the requirements of the Paris Agreement. 

Another key function of AIPA would be to operate as a National Authority to regulate carbon markets in India under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, formulate guidelines for the consideration of projects or activities under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, issue guidelines on carbon pricing, market mechanism, and other similar instruments that have a bearing on climate change and NDCs. It will take note of the contributions of the private sector as well as multi-/bi-lateral agencies in the field of climate change and provide guidance for aligning their climate actions with national priorities.

The year 2021 would mark the beginning of the implementation of the Paris Agreement and constitution of AIPA is central to strengthening the national systems and institutional arrangements for implementation and monitoring of climate actions. It will also ensure that India maintains its climate leadership as one the few countries in the world whose climate actions are consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

AIPA aims to generate a coordinated response

Agro chems – Chemicals, AgroPolicy

There is a need of developing a collaborative platform including academia, government and regulatory bodies, farmers’ associations, manufacturers, and farmers for promoting safe and judicious usage of pesticides.  

 

 

 DV Sadananda Gowda, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Govt of India said that the Indian Agrochemical Industry has huge unrealized potential for growth due to very low level of agrochemical consumption as compared to global norms. “The role of agrochemicals in achieving the vision of a $5 trillion economy by 2025 cannot be undermined, as it not only ensures food security, provides livelihoods but also provides impetus to the growth of industries and service sectors,” he added.  

Addressing the virtual session of the ‘9th Agrochemicals Conference’, organized by FICCI, supported by the Dept of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Govt of India,  Gowda said that while focusing on tapping unrealized potential, we must also ensure that the use of agrochemicals remains judicious and sustainable for the environment.

“The Agrochemicals industry should focus on developing new processes and products with sustainability as the core principle. This requires developing a collaborative platform including academia, government and regulatory bodies, farmers’ associations, manufacturers, and farmers coming together to promote safe and judicious usage of pesticides,” he added.   

Gowda further stated that India’s capability in low cost manufacturing, availability of technically trained resources, seasonal domestic demand, overcapacity, better price realization, and a strong presence in generic pesticide manufacturing are the major factors boosting the agrochemicals growth.

“The government is focusing on strengthening the sector by supporting the industry with the development and adoption of new technologies and techniques. We must make well-informed strategic changes and restructure the businesses to navigate this uneven demand scenario until the threat of the pandemic is over and industry dynamics return to pre-outbreak levels,” Gowda noted. 

 Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi, Secretary, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Govt of India said that the agrochemicals the sector has huge potential for growth as the average consumption of pesticides is low in India.

He further added that R&D and innovation should be among the top priority for us. “These are key drivers for the growth in the sector and will supplement the efforts of the industry in the global value chain. Industries’ safety and sustainability should be a priority to safeguard the long-term global value chain. It is imperative to develop a mechanism to make India’s Agrochemicals industry a global brand,” said Chaturvedi. 

Dr Sangita Reddy, President, FICCI said,“ The fertilizer segment of agrochemicals will create demand for a better yield because of the shrinking urban land and higher production of crops with better quality. It is important to maintain soil fertility as it is the real driver of the agrochemical market. It is important for us to ensure balanced use of fertilizers in farmlands, and to look at the future of organics as well.

 

Mr RG Aggarwal, Chairman, FICCI-Sub Committee on Crop Protection Chemicals and Group Chairman, Dhanuka Agritech Ltd said that the agrochemical industry is small in the overall chemical sector, but its role in food nutrition and health security is enormous.

Salil Singhal, Chairman Emeritus, PI Industries Ltd; Siang Hee Tan, ED, Crop Life Asia; Mr Sagar Kaushik, COO, UPL Ltd also share their perspective on the role of agrochemicals in achieving the vision of $5 trillion by 2025. 

There is a need of developing a

Agro Universities, Agrotech, Live Stock

Shiok Meats and SP will provide internship placements and on-the-job training for staff and students in food technology and cell-based meat 

 

 

 Shiok Meats, the world’s first cell-based crustacean meat company based in Singapore, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore Polytechnic (SP) to jointly advance food innovation, research, and training in the cell-based meat and seafood sector.This is the first ever MOU between a cell-based meat company and a polytechnic in Singapore. The MOU signing ceremony was held at Innovate 360, South East Asia’s first food incubator, where Shiok Meats is headquartered.

The MOU was signed by Dr Thomas Chai, Senior Director, SP Computing, Chemical & Life Sciences Cluster, and Dr Sandhya Sriram, CEO and co-founder, Shiok Meats.Dr Adrian Yeo, Director, SP School of Chemical & Life Sciences and Dr Ka Yi Ling, CTO and co-founder, Shiok Meats were also present, along with other SP staff and C-suite members of Shiok Meats.

Shiok Meats and Singapore Polytechnic will provide internship placements and on-the-job training for staff and students in food technology and cell-based meat. This also includes opportunities for student projects and CET training programmes.

Support for research and development efforts on food innovation, alternative proteins, food safety and processing.Development of infrastructural capabilities in cell-based meats and alternative proteins.

  Dr Thomas Chai, Senior Director, Singapore, Polytechnic Computing, Chemical & Life Sciences Cluster said, “I really appreciate Shiok Meats for the MOU and partnership with SP. We look forward to more collaboration, R&D work, and projects with our students and staff. Hopefully our students can intern and work with Shiok Meats to understand the current trends and technology in the cell-based meat sector.” 

Dr Sandhya Sriram CEO & Founder of Shiok Meats said, “This is the first ever MOU between a cell-based meat company and a polytechnic in Singapore. Shiok Meats has been in the sphere of many firsts and this collaboration is very exciting for us. We look forward to working with SP to train their students and use their infrastructure and expertise to accelerate commercialization of our cell-based seafood and meats.”

 

Shiok Meats and SP will provide internship

Acts & Schemes – Centre, Trade

D Sathiyan, Chairman and Secretary, Spices Board of India was addressing webinar organized by FICCI 

  D Sathiyan, Chairman and Secretary, Spices Board of India, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt of India said that amid the COVID-19 crisis, India’s spices export has performed well and has crossed $ 3 billion for the first time in the history of spices exports. 

Addressing webinar on ‘Enhancing Export competitiveness of Spices’ organized by FICCI, Mr Sathiyan said that the Spice Board of India has set a target of achieving an export target of $5 billion by 2025 and $10 billion by 2030. “For achieving this target, the need of the hour is to develop infrastructure for value addition and maintain focus on quality and safety requirement of destination markets,” he added.

 Sathiyan also mentioned that traceability solutions should become integral part of supply chain to sustain the robust demand of Indian spices in international market.

 Sanjay Sacheti, Co-Chairman, FICCI National Agriculture Committee & Country Head & ED, Olam Agro India Pvt Ltd said, “Given our rich heritage and portfolio of locally grown spices and herbs and the expertise developed by the industry in supplying value added products through a supply chain built on sustainability and traceability, India has the potential to grow manifold its exports of spices and related value-added products over the next few years with suitable governmental support and strong private sector initiatives.”

T R Kesavan, Chairman, FICCI National Agriculture Committee & Group President, TAFE Ltd said, “To ensure quality needs of export markets in spices, it is important to invest in traceability technology.” He further added that this will ensure management of quality and build efficiency in entire spice value chain starting from production, processing, and export markets.  

 Nitin Puri, Group President & Global Head, Food & Agribusiness Strategic Advisory & Research, YES BANK said, “The Indian Spices exports sector at $3 Billion offers a plethora of avenues for growth. A combination of technology, sustainability, traceability, product innovations, value addition, infrastructure & branding can open up newer markets & opportunities for the country.”

Sanjeev Bisht, Head-Spices and Aqua, ITC Ltd said, “Right time has come for India to enhance larger share in value added exports of spices by connecting Indian farmers to global markets through cluster approach and leveraging new digital technologies.”

 

 

D Sathiyan, Chairman and Secretary, Spices Board

E-commerce, North America

Creation of the largest production platform of beneficial insects in North America

 Beneficial Insectary Inc., North America’s largest independent producer of beneficial insects and mites, and Biobest Group NV, a leading global player in biocontrol and pollination jointly announced that Biobest Group NV – through its subsidiary Biobest USA, Inc. – has acquired all shares in Beneficial Insectary from the Company’s owner Sinthya Penn.

Sinthya said “I am grateful to Beneficial Insectary’s production and business teams who have worked hand in hand to achieve this outstanding result and to our distributors and growers who count on us as the most reliable local producer and supplier of high quality beneficials. After decades of serving the bio-control industry, it is the right time for me to transfer ownership. I am extremely grateful to Biobest because they made a strong commitment to continuity and further growth in Redding and our values are well aligned. I have full confidence in a smooth transition. Beneficial Insectary’s management team is ready for the task and thanks to the cooperation with Biobest on R&D and Operations we will be able to further develop the company and offer our customers a broad range of locally produced solutions at competitive conditions.”

 

Jean-Marc Vandoorne, CEO of Biobest Group said, “I feel privileged that Biobest has been given the opportunity to take over Beneficial Insectary. This is a significant step for us. The transaction fits perfectly well with our strategy to be the most reliable global supplier to growers in high value crops for their biocontrol and pollination needs. Together with Beneficial Insectary we will occupy a leading position in the North American market for biocontrol, a market which is forecasted to deliver record growth figures in the years to come. This acquisition also strengthens our commercial presence along the West Coast providing a springboard for even better technical support. The combination of Beneficial Insectary and our existing facilities in Canada and Mexico gives us an unrivalled production base in North America whereby we will be able to provide high quality locally produced products to all our North-American customers.

Cliff Noorlander, CEO of Beneficial Insectary”It has been great to work with Sinthya and to see the traction for our offering of natural solutions for pest control. The collaboration with Biobest gives us a platform to continue to build success for years to come: our production base, our commercial strategy and our trusted brand will all remain in place. Biobest’s complementary production programs in North America will further enhance our reliability. Biobest also offers us access to a world-class R&D program and a strong innovation pipeline. This is the time for a big thank you to Sinthya and the entire Beneficial Insectary team for what we could do together and a thumbs-up to Biobest for our joint future.”

Creation of the largest production platform of

Supply Chain, World

Blockchain technology is revolutionizing the food and agriculture sectors by enhancing the decision-making capabilities of organizations

The global blockchain in agriculture and food supply chain market size is estimated to be USD 133 million in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 948 million by 2025, at a CAGR of 48.1% during the forecast period.

Blockchain technology is revolutionizing the food and agriculture sectors by enhancing the decision-making capabilities of organizations. It finds several potential applications in these sectors, some of which have already been explored. The major applications of blockchain technology in food and agriculture include product traceability, tracking and visibility, payment and settlement, smart contract, governance, risk, and compliance management. The blockchain market is expected to grow, owing to an increase in the demand for supply chain transparency. The major driver of the blockchain market is the growing number of food fraud cases.

Using blockchain technology, companies can claim and authenticate their products by providing the end customers with the knowledge about the product’s complete journey – from origin to the shelf. Also, the significance of these applications grew tremendously with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Application and solution providers are third-party entities that distribute and manage blockchain solutions for customers across the agriculture and food industry. These vendors provide blockchain technologies that are more likely to deliver high business value to companies by reducing transactional data duplication and providing periodic reconciliation and authentication for commercial and regulatory needs.

Large organizations have sufficient revenues and funds to invest in new technologies; therefore, industry giants such as Walmart (US), Bumble Bees (US), Nestle (Switzerland), and JD.com (China) are adopting blockchain technology on a pilot basis leading to the dominance of this segment.

 

Blockchain technology is revolutionizing the food and

E-commerce, Start ups

HexGn has proven capability in developing entrepreneurs and is already associated with Governments and private entities in many countries

With a rich legacy of over 50 years maintaining its forte serving the focal sectors of agriculture, rural development and socio-economic transformation of the country, AFC which is a multi-disciplinary cross-functional development organization providing consulting, advisory and implementation support for agriculture, rural development and other strategic socio-economic sectors in India has now started an exclusive vertical namely “Social Entrepreneurship and Inclusive Finance”.

Delhi-based AFC has recently entered into a collaborative partnership with HexGn aimed at promoting agriculture-related entrepreneurship in India leading to over 1000 Agritech Startups in the next 5 years. HexGn has proven capability in developing entrepreneurs and is already associated with Governments and private entities in many countries, helping them make their ecosystems and institutions more entrepreneurial and future proof.

The Company has been doing this through their research at a global level, policy and advocacy, industry events, and online programs. A Memorandum of understanding in this regard was signed at Delhi on the 16th November, 2020 between AFC and HexGn detailing the broad contours of partnership. The main areas of collaboration are to facilitate access to productive resources, finance & market access for small holder farmers; encourage diversification, cultivating high value crops; leverage digital technologies; enhance soil health, promote water conservation & water use efficiency; mainstream biodiversity conservation, address and adapt to climate change; strengthen agriculture ecosystem resilience – introduce new technologies for farm mechanization; create a virtuous cycle of entrepreneurship, innovation, productivity, profits and self-reliance in the rural economic ecosystem.

HexGn has proven capability in developing entrepreneurs

Agrotech, E-commerce, Seeds

It will be useful in areas where growers face severe disease pressure from the virus. 

Syngenta Vegetable Seeds announced the launch of its first commercial Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) resistant variety, available in early 2021. The new variety will be released in areas where growers face severe disease pressure from the virus and will support against crop losses.

 

“The Syngenta Vegetables R&D team is ahead of the curve with the launch of the first commercial ToBRFV resistant variety,” explains Ruud Kaagman, Global Crop Unit Head for tomatoes. “Following this launch, we will aim to introduce varieties with resistance to ToBRFV across our breeding programs and across the globe. Broad resistance will be built in the portfolio during the next several years.

 

What is ToBRFV?

ToBRFV is a newly discovered tobamovirus related to Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and Tomato mosaic virus (ToMV). The very stable and very infectious virus infects both tomatoes and peppers.

 

Tobamo viruses are mechanically transmitted (contact disease) within and between crops by people and equipment. Symptoms caused by ToBRFV in tomato are similar to those caused by other tobamoviruses in susceptible plants: mosaic pattern on leaves, narrowing of leaves, and necrosis on pedicle, calyces or petioles and/or yellow spots on the fruits. This impacts the quality and yield for growers significantly.

Syngenta is committed to adding value to vegetable products using innovative technology solutions. Technology drives faster, more efficient and accurate variety developments – allowing to better serve growers and partners along the value chain with unique traits that create greater appeal and consumption.

Different levels of resistance to ToBRFV exist in Syngenta’s current germplasm, but with modern technology, the R&D team discovered and targeted the specific genes related to the resistance.

“With fast development and use of molecular markers, Syngenta is able to rapidly make use of this resistance, deploying it in a large range of varieties; spreading the resistance in our germplasm. Before the utilization of molecular markers, it could take up to 10 years to develop a resistant variety. With broad use of molecular technology, Syngenta can more accurately and quickly breed a resistant variety,” says Pilar Checa, Global Breeding Lead for tomato.

 

Breeding for the future in tomatoes

The introduction of this breakthrough ToBRFV resistant variety signals Syngenta’s global dedication to supporting its growers and partners. With more than 350 different varieties of tomato available to growers all over the world, Syngenta understands the importance of developing a range of performing varieties to meet the diverse needs of its network of growers. To meet these needs, Syngenta prioritizes linking technology and people to ensure high-value vegetable crops reach their full genetic potential.

It will be useful in areas where

Agrotech, E-commerce

This harvest is ranked as one of Canada’s top single largest, and lowest cost outdoor legal cannabis crop in Canadian history

 Captiva Verde Land Corp. , has announced that Solargram Farms Corporation (“Solargram”), a holder of a Federal Health Canada License to cultivate, test, harvest and sell cannabis, has successfully completed its first large scale cannabis outdoor farm harvest with record THC and terpene results.

 

First Year Harvest Results

The Solargram cannabis harvest began on September 17th and was completed on October 30th with final processing completed on November 27, 2020. The Solargram team is credited with a final harvest of approximately 13,000 plants over 350,000 square feet of outdoor farm grown canopy resulting in 15,000 kg of wet cannabis. This harvest is ranked as one of Canada’s top single largest, and lowest cost outdoor legal cannabis crop in Canadian history and is also the largest outdoor cannabis crop ever grown and harvested in New Brunswick.

 

Very Low Cost of Production Results

Exceeding expectations, the year one total grow cost of production, including direct labor and direct materials, were CDN $0.05/gram wet; $0.22/gram dry which ranks as one of the top tier, lowest cost of cannabis production facilities in the Canadian cannabis industry.

Cannabis is a commodity within the CPG (consumer packaging goods) industry. Lowest cost and highest quality wins. Solargram is a major market disruptor and differentiator as its high quality, very low cost of production, allows it’s planned high cannabinoid full spectrum and distillate oil products to be sold at prices that are produced at a fraction of its competitors’ cost of production. This competitive advantage will allow Solargram to become a leader in the Canadian cannabis market place commencing in 2021.

 

High THC

Solargram produced and harvested approximately 35 genetics of which its R2 strain, representing 65% of its year one outdoor cannabis crop, produced a COA (certificate of analysis) from an independent laboratory supplier at 21.53% THC and 2.7% terpenes.

 

This harvest is ranked as one of

E-commerce, IT

It enables farmers to control the application of mineral fertilizers and to monitor their effectiveness using remote sensors. 

PhosAgro-Region, a PhosAgro subsidiary that is Russia’s largest mineral fertilizer distribution network, and Exact Farming have unveiled a digital system for monitoring the effectiveness of mineral fertilizers at the Russian Agrarian Forum. The companies estimate that the new digital field monitoring system could have an impact of up to RUB 500 million per harvest per 100-thousand hectares of farmed land.

 The joint project between PhosAgro-Region and Exact Farming enables agricultural producers to control the application of mineral fertilizers and to monitor their effectiveness using remote sensors. The system is currently being piloted in nearly 20 regions of Russia.

 

The automated system monitors the condition of crops, enabling PhosAgro-Region’s agronomic service to make recommendations for adjusting the mineral nutrition being applied to crops based on remote sensor data, an analysis of vegetation spectral indices, meteorological data and information from farms. An important element of this system is digital satellite monitoring, which makes it possible to see fields in their entirety from the ground. 

Information on the nutrient contents of different fertilizer grades is input into the system using NFC tags on PhosAgro’s fertilizer packaging. The tags can be read by a mobile app, which transmits the data to the Exact Farming satellite agronomic monitoring system and links a particular fertilizer to specific geo-coordinates. Analysis of data on the results of the use of mineral fertilizers in dozens of Russian regions will make it possible to automate the selection of mineral crop nutrients for various combinations of crops and agrometeorological conditions. 

“The ability to process and analyse large volumes of agronomic data on an ongoing bases makes it possible for our customers to evaluate the effectiveness of various nutrition systems and to adapt them either independently or with the help of automated tools to the agronomic conditions of specific fields,” said PhosAgro-Region Development Director Maxim Zatochny. 

Exact Farming CEO Anna Kudinova noted that during the pilot implementation of the system, the financial impact of the timely corrections to crop nutrition reached RUB 5.5 thousand per hectare for sunflowers, and from RUB 3.5 thousand to RUB 7.5 thousand per hectare for spring wheat, corn and sugar beet. “This means that the impact of this new digital system on a farm with 100-thousand hectares of arable land could reach up to RUB 0.5 billion,” said Ms Kudinova.

It enables farmers to control the application

AgroPolicy, Finance

Agriculture, forestry and fishing shows 3.4% growth 

As per the Statistics Ministry, India’s Gross Domestic Product contracted by 7.5% in the second quarter (July-September) of 2020-21 amid the COVID-19 crisis. This marks the second quarter in a row where the country’s GDP has contracted, implying that India has plunged into a technical recession. During the April-June quarter, India’s GDP crashed by 23.9% which was attributed to the fact that the country was among the economies worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sectors such as agriculture, forestry and fishing (3.4%), manufacturing (0.6%) and electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services (4.4%) have recorded a positive GDP growth. The government has stated that the GDP estimates are likely to undergo revisions owing to the reliance on limited data sources. The release of the next quarterly GDP estimates shall be on February 26, 2021.

Commenting on the second quarter GDP numbers [Q2 FY21] released in recent, Dr Sangita Reddy, President, FICCI said, “The GDP figure showing a decline of 7.5% in the second quarter has come in as a pleasant surprise. This is much better than what was anticipated by most analysts and clearly reflects that the Indian economy is on a sharp recovery mode. The positive, albeit marginal, growth noted in the manufacturing sector in the second quarter is truly encouraging. Many of the high frequency indicators were showing swift correction moving into the green zone and we have also seen an improvement in the incoming corporate results for the second quarter. All these trends are quite reassuring and speak of the resilience of the Indian industry and economy.”

The policy guidance provided by the government so far has been encouraging and we hope to see continued momentum on that front. We are at a critical point on the growth trajectory and it is important that all levers are used to sustain this improvement, added Dr Reddy.

Going ahead, the government should keep a close watch on the demand side. While the festive season will continue till December and the earlier demand-oriented measures announced by the government will take effect, we feel it will be important to lend further support to consumption activity. The government can look at extending the consumption voucher idea to all rather than just government employees. The multiplier effect of consumption vouchers is more than 2 and it is an effective way to boost retail demand in the short term. Also, exchange rate can be focused on as a policy tool to boost demand. Additionally, government must continue to invest heavily in the infrastructure sector as it can be a real driver for growth and employment, said Dr Reddy. 

The latest Atmanirbhar Bharat Package 3.0 will give a further boost to the economy. The PLI scheme for additional ten champion sectors indicates government’s resolve to make India a manufacturing hub and the scheme can be truly transformational, Dr Reddy added.

Agriculture, forestry and fishing shows 3.4% growth As

Agrotech, Webinar

The dignitaries spoke on the forthcoming challenges and the macro-level changes which will arise due to the new farm bills

 

Centre for Civil Society, renowned public policy think tank organised a webinar on “The Role of Agri-businesses in Doubling Farmers Income” which saw the participation from  Anand Chandra, Executive Director- Arya Collateral, a leading post-harvest warehousing and financial solutions company, Sathya Raghu, Co-Founder, Khyeti,  Sudhanshu Kumar, Farmpreneur and owner of the most technologically advanced farm in Bihar. The session was coordinated by Prashant Narang, Associate Director, Centre for Civil Society. The dignitaries spoke on the forthcoming challenges and the macro-level changes which will arise due to the new farm bills, namely – Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, The Farmer (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020. 

Anand Chandra shared his insights on market linkages and commodity warehousing which will play a major part in the coming times as there will be no restrictions for anyone to procure commodities from any part of India. He further shared, “The many good initiatives and reforms in agriculture by the central government will reach logical conclusion when there is greater synergy between central and state government on concurrent list matters”

 

“The agri outlook of India is very positive as compared to the rest of the world as we produce crops of very high quality with low investments, the only task in front of us is to store and manage crops. Farmers’ income can only be doubled when the crops are managed well and the produce is not getting wasted. Arya has come up with a platform called a2zgodaam.com to help farmers for all their post-harvest needs of storing crops to sell them and has seen a significant rise since launch” added Anand Chandra, Executive Director at Arya Collateral Warehousing Services.

 

Prashant Narang, Associate Director, Centre for Civil Society shared, “The outlook of the government policies look very positive but there are still some of the changes which need to be made to make our agri policies more successful resulting not just doubling farmers income but hopefully it can triple or quadruple farmers income by 2025”.

The dignitaries spoke on the forthcoming challenges

Agrotech

Farmers in Southern India can now avail of on-farm delivery of Bayer’s agri-inputs via BigHaat’s e-commerce platform

Bangalore-based Bayer CropScience Limited has recently signed a partnership with BigHaat, a leading agri-input e-commerce platform to enable last-mile delivery of Bayer’s seeds and crop protection products directly to farmer’s doorsteps. The partnership will support farmers in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and focus on paddy, cotton, corn, chili and horticulture crops. Besides access to the entire range of Bayer’s agri-solutions from seed to harvest, farmers can also avail of crop-specific agronomic advisory through BigHaat’s Agristore digital platform. 

Set up in 2015, BigHaat is one of India’s leading agri-inputs e-commerce platform, providing a wide range of quality inputs including seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, nutrients, farm implements, and crop advisory to over 3 million Indian farmers. Besides product listings, review, order placement and doorstep delivery of products, BigHaat’s cognitive intelligence-based technology offers farmers real-time, image-based disease & pest diagnosis and crop stage-wise advisory for over 80 crops and enables them to choose the right agri-inputs and the technical know-how for safe and effective application. Farmers without smartphones can give a missed call on 180030002434 to receive a call back from the customer call center and receive advisory on the phone or schedule a field visit from crop agronomists. 

“With changing grower needs, the Go-to-Market approaches in the Indian agri-input industry are steadily evolving. Rising digitalization has paved the way for dynamic shifts such as the use of e-commerce platforms for the purchase of agri-solutions. Bayer’s partnership with BigHaat is a strategic collaboration to provide farmers diverse choices beyond the traditional services they usually rely on,” said Simon Wiebusch, Chief Operating Officer for Bayer India’s Crop Science Division.

Farmers in Southern India can now avail

R&D

Scientists are trying to understand the disease paradigm for developing innovative management strategies

An improved understanding of Fusarium, a root pathogen infection in the banana plant may soon help develop strategies to prevent the disease that causes wilting of the fruit crop that is grown in at least 5 major states of India.

India is the leading producer of banana in the world and the present cultivation is vulnerable to this fungal disease which dwells in soil as a saprophyte and shifts to the parasitic mode in presence of host roots. Scientists are trying to understand the disease paradigm for developing innovative management strategies.

Dr Siddhesh Ghag from University of Mumbai-Department of Atomic Energy (UM-DAE) Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences (CEBS), Mumbai a recipient of the INSPIRE Faculty fellowship, of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, is using genetic approaches to decipher the molecular cross-talk between banana and Fusarium during infection.

Dr Ghag’s team is focusing on studying the transcriptional factors that regulate the expression of virulence genes in Fusarium oxysporumcubense(Foc), the fungal plant pathogen, that causes Panama disease of banana. His research work could lead to improved disease-resistant in plants.

According to the research work conducted by Dr Ghag and his team, a molecular combat exists between the two partners at the site of infection where repertoire of virulent factors from Foc and defense molecules from banana are secreted. In the process of recognition of banana roots, Foc activates a series of virulence genes. All these virulence genes are under the control of a few master regulators which are up-regulated during colonization. FocSge1 is one such master regulator that acts as a co-activator and triggers the expression of effector genes required for pathogenicity. The FocSge1 deletion strain of Fusarium created in Dr Ghag’s lab showed characteristics that together contributed to the loss of pathogenicity (property of causing disease).

Scientists are trying to understand the disease