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AgroPolicy, Foodgrains

Govt purchased 297.51 LMTs of paddy by November 21 against the last year corresponding purchase of 252.69 LMT

 

In the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2020-21, Government continues to procure Kharif 2020-21 crops at its MSP from farmers as per its existing MSP Schemes.

 

Paddy procurement for Kharif 2020-21 is continuing smoothly in the procuring States & UTs of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra with purchase of 297.51 LMTs of paddy up to 21.11.2020 against the last year corresponding purchase of 252.69 LMT showing an increase of 17.73 % over last year. Out of the total purchase of 297.51 LMT, Punjab alone has contributed 201.73 LMT which is 67.80 % of total procurement.

About 26.15 Lac farmers have already been benefitted from the ongoing KMS procurement Operations with MSP value of Rs. 56168.95 Crore.

 

 

Govt purchased 297.51 LMTs of paddy by

Agro chems – Chemicals, Agrotech, E-commerce

 It will establish additional bio-fermentation manufacturing capacity in Thailand and expand sales and distribution channels in Southeast Asia 

Cambridge based Manus Bio Inc. (Manus Bio), a leader in the production of complex natural products through advanced fermentation, and BBGI Public Company Limited (BBGI), a leading manufacturer and distributor of bio-based products, announced the formation of a new joint venture for the manufacture and distribution of high value natural ingredients in Southeast Asia. The new entity, called WIN Ingredients, will establish additional bio-fermentation manufacturing capacity in Thailand and expand sales and distribution channels in Southeast Asia for a variety of new ingredients.

 Manus Bio leverages rapid advances in Biology to produce complex natural ingredients used in our daily lives as flavours, fragrances, food ingredients, cosmetics, vitamins, pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals. 

Dr. Ajikumar Parayil, Chief Executive Officer of Manus Bio, commented, “We are pleased to join forces with BBGI, which shares our vision of leveraging the power of biology to provide economical and sustainable sourcing of bio-based products around the globe. This joint venture accelerates the growth of Manus Bio’s business by extending our manufacturing and distribution reach into Southeast Asia with a strong regional presence. By adding a second manufacturing site for many key ingredients, Manus Bio provides an unrivalled value proposition to customers by ensuring global supply chain redundancy and stability.”

BBGI is a leading manufacturer and distributor of bio-based products headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand. The company was recently formed through the amalgamation between Bangchak Corporation Plc., Thailand’s leading green energy group, and KSL Group, Thailand’s leading sugar and bio-energy group. 

“Manus Bio has developed an advanced fermentation technology for the production of a wide range of bio-based products. We are thrilled to work together with Manus Bio to leverage their platform and to enable innovative and sustainable product solutions. This is well-aligned with the Bangchak group and BBGI’s long-standing mission of a BCG (Bio-Circular-Green) Economy Model, which seeks to find creative bio-solutions and products that improve economics, reduce the use of scarce natural resources, and satisfy the consumer’s needs,” said Kittiphong Limsuwannarot, Chief Executive Officer of BBGI. “This joint venture provides an exciting new avenue for BBGI to expand the range of our product offerings and manufacturing capabilities towards this goal.”

 

 

 It will establish additional bio-fermentation manufacturing capacity

Agrotech, Webinar

Anna Roy, Senior Adviser (DM&A, Industry) NITI Aayog was addressing the webinar on ’Deep Tech for Smart Agriculture in India’ by FICCI. 

 

 

 Anna Roy, Senior Adviser (DM&A, Industry) NITI Aayog, said that digital innovation will transform Indian agriculture and the focus should be on spreading awareness about the potential of such technologies in the agriculture sector, not only from the user and consumer side but also to the governance and policy side.

Addressing the webinar on Deep Tech for Smart Agriculture in India, Roy said, “The real challenge for us is not the development of technology, but instead the deployment of technology, and we as a nation has to come together for the development and deployment of such deep-techs for the agriculture sector.”

She further mentioned that in this era of Digital Transformation, Deep-Techs are powering Smart Agriculture or Agriculture 4.0, which no longer depends on traditional farming activities. Instead, farmers can leverage Deep-Tech and can grow crops in arid areas, making use of technology and other resources more effectively and efficiently.

 Farms and agricultural operations will run very differently, primarily due to advancements in technology such as sensors, devices, machines, and information technology. Future agriculture will use sophisticated deep techs such as AI and ML, robots, temperature and moisture sensors, aerial images, and GPS technology to maximize their output, she added.

Her address was followed by a panel discussion on the topic ‘Deep Tech for Smart Agriculture in India’ which was moderated by Prakash Jayaram, Partner, Digital Government Advisory, EY, and was attended by some of the subject matter experts like Vijaykumar. N. Kale, Additional Commissioner (M&T), Department of Agriculture Cooperation, and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, Dr Anil Rai, Head and Principal Scientist, Centre for Agricultural Bioinformatics, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Government of India, Manav Sehgal, Head of National Cloud Innovation Programs, Amazon Web Services, Nirvan Biswas, Chief Technology Officer, National Bulk Handling Corporation, and Shamik Joshi, Head – Products, Amnex Infotechnologies.

Anna Roy, Senior Adviser (DM&A, Industry) NITI

Schemes - NABARD

To facilitate the states in availing an interest sub vented loan for expanding coverage of micro irrigation by taking up innovative projects  

Micro Irrigation Fund with a corpus of Rs. 5000 crore created with NABARD was operationalised in 2019-20. The objective of the Fund is to facilitate the States in availing an interest sub vented loan for expanding coverage of Micro Irrigation by taking up special and innovative projects and also for incentivising micro irrigation beyond the provisions available under PMKSY-Per Drop More Crop to encourage farmers to install micro irrigation systems.

 

Steering Committee of MIF has approved projects for loan of Rs.  3971.31 crore comprising  Rs. 764.13 crore for Gujarat, Rs. 1357.93 crore for Tamil Nadu, Rs. 616.13 crore for Andhra Pradesh, Rs. 276.55 crore for West Bengal,  Rs.790.94 crore for Haryana Rs. 150.00 crore for Punjab and Rs. 15.63 crore for Uttarakhand.

 

NABARD released loan of Rs 659.70 crore to Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Thereby a total amount of Rs. 1754.60 crore has been released so far, comprising Rs.  616.13 crore to  Andhra Pradesh, Rs. 937.47 crore to Tamil  Nadu, Rs. 21.57 crore to Haryana  and Rs. 179.43 crore to Gujarat.

 

To facilitate the states in availing an

North America, R&D

University studies show adverse planting conditions often pushing that number beyond 5-bushel/acre or more

Saving American farmers up to 50 percent on high-quality seed treatment while providing the peace of mind of a 100 percent replant benefit is the mission behind a new offer from Meristem Crop Performance, Ohio was announced recently.

By creating a replant reinsurance program that fits with a seed company’s untreated or “naked” soybean policy, he says, Meristem is able to bring savings to more growers who currently might be reluctant to try RACEREADY, Meristem’s premium seed treatment product.

Benefits of seed treatments are clear from research, according to The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA). They report a 3.6 percent yield benefit in treated soybeans versus un-treated, or about 1.7 bushel, given the national average yield of 47.4 in 2019. But university studies show adverse planting conditions often pushing that number beyond 5-bushel/acre or more. At $10/bushel, that represents an income difference of $17,000 – $50,000 across a thousand acres.

Meristem adds savings on top of those yield benefits with quality seed treatment customized for more local field conditions, at the same time making the price transparent so producers can evaluate the yield advantage and ROI on their own.

University studies show adverse planting conditions often

Agro chems – Fertilizers, AgroPolicy, E-commerce

The GSFC has introduced five products in Himachal Pradesh including liquid boronated calcium nitrate, calcium nitrate, nutri plus, ammonium sulphate and boronated calcium to facilitate the farmers and horticulturists of the State

Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur has recently launched the domestic liquid boronated calcium nitrate fertilizer, a joint venture of HIMFED and Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd. (GSFC) under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ on 19th November 2020. The GSFC has introduced five products in Himachal Pradesh including liquid boronated calcium nitrate, calcium nitrate, nutri plus, ammonium sulphate and boronated calcium to facilitate the farmers and horticulturists of the State.

Speaking on the occasion, the CM congratulated the GSFC for introducing the liquid boronated calcium nitrate fertilizer in the country which was earlier being imported from other countries. He said that liquid fertilizer was a new concept that would help the farming community as this fertilizer would be prepared as per the requirements of different areas of the country.

Jai Ram Thakur further added that the fertilizer friendship between GSFC and HIMFED would prove beneficial to the farmers and increase production. He said that the State has over Rs 4000 crore economy of apple and these fertilizers would specifically benefit the apple growers. He stressed the need to make awareness about these products to achieve maximum benefits.

Chief Managing Director of GSFC Arvind Aggarwal said that “The agreement between GSFC and HIMFED would give a new dimension to horticulture and agriculture sectors in Himachal Pradesh. He said that GSFC has started in-house production of calcium nitrate and boronated calcium nitrate which were earlier being imported to the country.”

He added that “GSFC would provide fertilizers amounting to Rs 20 crore to Himachal Pradesh during current financial year and fertilizers amounting to Rs 31 crore during next financial year.”

The GSFC has introduced five products in

Agro chems – Pesticides, E-commerce, Finance

The Regina facility will produce over half of BASF Canada’s crop protection products 

BASF Canada Agricultural Solutions (BASF) unveiled its modernized formulation, packaging and distribution facility in Regina, Saskatchewan. More than $14 million was invested in facility transformations, making it the division’s single biggest agriculture infrastructure investment in the last decade. Located in the heart of Canada’s agriculture industry, the Regina facility will produce over half of BASF Canada’s crop protection products, helping ensure farmers across the country and the northern United States have access to the products they need, when they need them. 

 

“For decades, farmers have relied on our portfolio of solutions to help them overcome agronomic challenges on their fields,” said Jonathan Sweat, Vice President, Business Management, BASF Canada Agricultural Solutions. “Situated in Western Canada, the transformed facility will further support our customers and enable us to produce more than 30 million litres of agricultural solutions annually. This significant investment highlights our ongoing commitment to innovation, ensuring we can continue to provide farmers with the solutions they need to succeed today, while setting ourselves up to produce, at our Regina site, the solutions they will need for continued success tomorrow.”

 Major enhancements to BASF’s Regina facility include upgrades to mechanical operations, automation systems, quality control and safety protocols and performance. The transformation also supports greater segregation among products, further safeguarding against cross-contamination and upholding BASF’s commitment to quality control.

 These significant improvements will allow BASF to produce high-quality products more efficiently, while supporting future production of new solutions. Viper® ADV, one of the most important herbicides for field pea farmers, is among the first solutions to be produced at the facility this fall and will now be 100 per cent produced domestically at the Regina facility. Offering broad-spectrum weed control and multiple modes of action, Viper provides farmers with reliable and consistent weed control in field peas, further supporting Canada’s pulse industry as the global demand for pulse crops continues to rise.

 

“The transformation of our Regina facility is not only a milestone for our company, but also for our customers and the community at large,” said Sweat. “The upgrades allow us to efficiently deliver product to our retailers, in many cases within a 24-hour period, to help ensure we are responding to farmers’ requirements and are able to get them the products they need, when they need them most. We are incredibly proud of our team’s hard work and dedication throughout the two-year upgrade process, and we’re excited for the future as we continue to provide farmers with the innovative solutions they need to get the most out of every acre.”

 

 

 

The Regina facility will produce over half

E-commerce, IT

The world’s largest digital agriculture e-marketplace, Agri10x has turned the fortunes of more than one lakh farmers within a short span of time 

 

 Pune-based agtech major Agri10x is expected to clock a whopping GMV of INR 100 crore by December 2021, making it not just one of the fastest growing agtech companies globally, but also rightfully earning the title of the ’Alibaba of Agriculture’.

Agri10x is the world’s first Artificial Intelligence & Blockchain enabled global e-marketplace connecting farmers with traders. The fastest growing agritech company worldwide with an extensive data bank, Agri10x offers 360 degree agricultural solutions, ranging from pre-harvest to post-harvest.

The world’s largest digital agriculture e-marketplace, Agri10x has turned the fortunes of more than one lakh farmers within a short span of time. This has been possible thanks to the recent path-breaking Indian Agriculture Reform Bills 2020, which has opened the floodgates for farmers to explore promising selling channels across the country.

 

The 24×7 digital platform is creating waves amongst the farming community, thanks to the ease of conducting business. Backed by innovative technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain, Agri10x platform offers transparency, traceability and sustainability.

 

Its key features like instant payment, quality assaying, competitive pricing, warehousing and logistics support have made Agri10x platform a preferred partner for farmers, FPOs as well as traders. Its clientele also includes various corporates and processing units with whom they aspire to bring a positive change in the agricultural realm.

 

The portal connects farmers with sellers both in domestic and international markets and offers a wide range of fruits, vegetables, grains, pulses, dry fruits and spices. Agri10x has a strong foothold in commodities like onion, potato, tomato, lemon, ginger, chillies, garlic, pomegranate, pineapple, soyabean, maize, corn, etc. and regularly exports to various Southeast Asian and Middle East countries.

The company has managed to generate volume-based business, which shows a promising future for Indian agriculture. Agri10x is also fast expanding its base in local trading across various states including Maharashtra, Bihar, UP, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Tripura to name a few. 

 

The founders deeply believe that a ’farmer is the king’, who deserves to earn a respectable livelihood. “With technological advancement and reforms, farmers can now easily sell their produce at farmgate level without the hassle of going to a mandi physically or waiting for their dues endlessly. At Agri10x, we have consciously worked towards eliminating the middlemen who have threatened the livelihood of farmers for ages. Through our platform, we provide global market accessibility for farmers along with favourable pricing,” said Pankajj Ghode, CEO, Agri10x.

 

The agtech firm is also closely working with the Common Service Centre (CSC) across India — a government set-up that supports farmers and offers e-governance on a massive scale. Agri10x is also building a strong network of Village-Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) and actively contributing in employment generation across rural India.

 

With even the sky not being the limit, Agri10x is indeed a market disruptor that lives up to its motto of ’Ten Times Gains, Ten Times Happiness’ for farmers.

 

 

The world’s largest digital agriculture e-marketplace, Agri10x

China

The festival aims to tap the specialty radish’s dietary and medical functions

On November 18, the 13th Shawo Fruit Radish Festival, organized by The Publicity Department of Xiqing District, opened in Shawo Fruit Radish Intelligent Demonstration Zone, Xinkou Town, Xiqing District, north China’s Tianjin Municipality.

Designed to promote the landmark produce and healthy lifestyles, the festival aims to tap the specialty radish’s dietary and medical functions and promote the healthy food amid the COVID-19 epidemic.

After the opening ceremony, there will be a two-month-long package of activities such as radish harvesting and produce holiday markets. The festival will last into the Spring Festival, during which period visitors can enjoy these activities in over 500 greenhouses in Xinkou Town, according to the Publicity Department of Xiqing District.

Shawo fruit radish is a well-known produce brand in Tianjin and a national geographical indication product. It has been cultivated for more than 300 years. Since the 1930s, Shawo fruit radish has been exported to Hong Kong, Japan and Southeast Asian countries, and is well-known at home and abroad. The radish has also been awarded the intangible cultural heritage of Tianjin, a Tianjin time-honored brand and a nationally well-known trademark, among others.

 

The festival aims to tap the specialty

Agrotech, Europe

Farmers are able to interact with Wilma via a web user interface

The Small Robot Company based in England has recently launched a robot called Wilma that uses AI to identify weeds that can then be killed using an electric current, allowing pesticide-free smart farming.

Wilma is an AI-based system that uses precise, up to date data from Tom (a scouting robot) and converts it into crop care instructions that can be verified and implemented by Dick (the world’s first non-chemical robotic weeder). The data comes in from the field to make decisions, decisions which will take into account agronomy, soil science and market conditions.

Features of Wilma:

  • Weed recognition
  • Per plant intelligence
  • Integration with Farm Management Information Systems

Furthermore, the farmers are able to interact with Wilma via a web user interface. This allows them to efficiently see per plant intelligence in their fields once the data from the robots has been analyzed.

 

Farmers are able to interact with Wilma

Agro chems – Fertilizers, Finance

Sulphur is essential to maximizing plant growth and yield

In order to promote the balanced use of fertilizers in India, National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) is encouraging farmers in its training programmes to also use nonurea fertilizers like DAP, MoP, NPK and Sulphur Based fertilizers.

With these efforts, the company has registered growth in sale of all non-urea fertilizers during the first seven months of the current financial year. The sale of sulphur-based fertilizers of company – Bentonite Sulphur has registered a growth of 237% and SSP has indicated growth of 133% over the CPLY.

While Bentonite Sulphur, produced in NFL Panipat Plant, bagged sale of 11,730 MT during April-October 2020 against CPLY of 3,478 MT, sale of SSP reached 14,726 MT compared to 6,323 MT during the same period last year.

V N Datt, C&MD of the company commented, “It is important to encourage use of all types of fertilizers to provide balanced nutrition to soil.” Sulphur is essential to maximizing plant growth and yield. As the fourth most important nutrient, Sulphur is also required for nitrogen use efficiency. NFL markets Urea, DAP, MoP, NPKs, APS, Compost, SSP and Bentonite Sulphur besides many strains of bio-fertilizers to provide all types of fertilizers to farmers under one roof.  

Sulphur is essential to maximizing plant growth

Agro chems – Chemicals, E-commerce

Adsee AMP40 is biodegradable and an all-in-one product that offers a more cost-efficient solutions to farmers

Nouryon has introduced a sustainable, salt-free adjuvant for customers in the global agricultural market. Adsee AMP40 is biodegradable and an all-in-one product that offers a more cost-efficient solution for customers.

 Adjuvants are defined as ingredients added to a mixture to aid or modify the action of an agrochemical, or to alter the physical characteristics of the mixture. Adjuvants that work as compatibilizers allow different active ingredients to be mixed together to increase the effectiveness of crop protection formulations.

 

“Adsee AMP40 has multiple attributes, making it a great tool for our customers,” said Ignacio Garin, Vice President Agricultural Specialties at Nouryon. “It improves efficacy as a penetrant and works as a humectant and compatibilizer. These attributes address some of the challenges our customers are facing.”

 

Adjuvants will play an important role in supporting the global agriculture industry as it responds to the demand to become more efficient and to minimize its environmental impact. “Farming practices are expected to change greatly over the next 10 years to be more technology driven, requiring less use of crop protection products, reduced water consumption and improved crop yields,” said Garin. “These changes will require the use of higher-performing adjuvants and Nouryon will be ready to support our customers when that happens.”

 

Larry Ryan, Executive Vice President Performance Formulations, added: “Agriculture is one of Nouryon’s key strategic end markets, and we have been working closely with our customers to deliver products that meet their changing needs. We are pleased to offer more sustainable solutions for their formulations through products such as Adsee AMP40, while also providing significant performance and cost improvements.

Adsee AMP40 is biodegradable and an all-in-one

E-commerce, IT

It aims to bring supply chain efficiencies, transparency, and compliance to agricultural products 

 

 

 

 BlockApps, the leading enterprise block chain platform provider, announced the launch of the TraceHarvest Network which is transforming the way agricultural products are managed. The new block chain- powered business network was developed in collaboration with Bayer, the leading technology innovator in the agriculture industry, which served as a founding member and active user of the network for live, customer-facing operations over the past two years in regions including the United States and Brazil, with further plans to expand globally.

This platform will set new standards in sustainability, driving digital transformation and food system resiliency that will shape the future of the agriculture industry. With the support of Bayer, this flexible, scalable and global platform will help farmers of all sizes access new markets and services, increasing their livelihoods through the ability to offer new premium products. Through access to improved supply chain information, this platform also enables farmers to optimize their own operations.

TraceHarvest has the potential to be leveraged for other impactful use cases such as carbon offset crediting to food safety recalls, promoting both sustainability and consumer well-being. Through this platform, information across the lifecycle of agricultural products can provide insights to drive and reward sustainable practices throughout the food supply chain.

The BlockApps TraceHarvest Network is the first block chain solution of its kind to track and trace the full lifecycle of agricultural products starting at the seed source. For products like seeds, this provides a full picture of stewardship as they are sold, exchanged, planted, harvested and processed. In collaboration with the Crop Science Division at Bayer, the platform has been built and tested to the highest industry standard for traceability and provides a first and best-in-class solution for the grain industry.

Farmers, manufacturers, distributors and processors can selectively share and review data within a single, secure platform, making activities available to the entire chain. This streamlined engagement and real-time information exchange allows all parties to identify and address product tracking and integrity issues faster than previous manual processes allowed.

“Blockchain technology is already revolutionizing the agriculture industry, and we’re leading the way thanks to our partnership with the Crop Science Division at Bayer which has turned this concept from idea into reality,” said Kieren James-Lubin, President and CEO at BlockApps. “Together, we’re developing world-class innovation with farmers, setting new standards in sustainability and driving digital transformation that will shape the future of the industry.”

Current analogue processes create significant costs in labour and resources and fail to deliver the data that farmers and other value chain participants need. Such inefficiencies also put businesses at risk of compliance violations across the supply chain and in multiple geographies. TraceHarvest brings agricultural products to market faster, helps safely launch new products in approved regions and traces them accurately to provide strong proof of compliance with international regulations.

Bayer used TraceHarvest over the course of several growing seasons to track the lifecycle and status of the company’s highest-value agricultural products, including soybeans and corn, from sale and planting through harvest.

Member farmers, manufacturers, distributors and processors use the same TraceHarvest network to track where their products are going, providing them with full visibility into the source of their crops.

“By enabling the traceability of products throughout the food supply chain, TraceHarvest will provide a basis for new solutions and services around the food quality and transparency questions that are top-of-mind for farmers and consumers,” said Sascha Israel, Bayer Crop Science CIO and Head of Digital Transformation.

It aims to bring supply chain efficiencies,

Agro Universities, Nature

Researchers have developed environmentally friendly materials that could harvest enough energy from indoor light to power wireless smart devices.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London and Soochow University in China have recently discovered that new green materials currently being developed for next-generation solar panels could be useful for indoor light harvesting.

The team investigated perovskite-inspired materials, which were created to circumvent problems with materials called perovskites, which were developed for next-generation solar cells. Although perovskites are cheaper to make than traditional silicon-based solar panels and deliver similar efficiency, perovskites contain toxic lead substances.

Despite being more environmentally friendly, these perovskite-inspired materials are not as efficient at absorbing sunlight. However, the team found that the materials are much more effective at absorbing indoor light, with efficiencies that are promising for commercial applications. Crucially, the researchers demonstrated that the power provided by these materials under indoor illumination is already sufficient to operate electronic circuits.

“The Internet of Things is critical for many areas, such as improved healthcare, energy conservation, transportation or control of smart buildings,” said co-authro Professor Judith Driscoll from Cambridge’s Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy. “New generations of wireless connected IoT devices function with low-power electronics ideally suited to operate with energy-scavenging devices.”

In addition to their eco-friendly nature, these materials could potentially be processed onto unconventional substrates such as plastics and fabric, which are incompatible with conventional technologies. Therefore, lead-free perovskite-inspired materials could soon enable battery-free devices for wearables, healthcare monitoring, smart homes, and smart cities.

Researchers have developed environmentally friendly materials that