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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

Dairy, Schemes - NABARD

The Rs 53.93 crore facility would be set up in northern Malappuram district, using NABARD’’s infrastructure investment fund.   

 Kerala state is all set to get a state-of-the-art milk powder factory, at a time when the state dairy sector has faced grave crisis due to a dip in milk consumption after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. State Forest and Dairy Development Minister, K Raju said that it had been decided in principle to form the multi-crore facility in association with the NABARD.

 

The Rs 53.93 crore facility would be set up in northern Malappuram district, under the MILMA’’s Malabar Regional union using NABARD’’s infrastructure investment fund.

Milk procurement, through co-operatives, has set an all-time record in the state and the excess milk has to be powdered and stored, an official statement said.

“There was a major crisis due to lower milk consumption during the time of COVID-19 pandemic. In this backdrop, the idea of having an own milk powder production factory was conceived on the instructions of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan,” the statement said.

The existing milk powder factory in the state has been non-operational for long due to outdated technology.

The Rs 53.93 crore facility would be

Finance, Machinery – Post-harvesting, Trade

The company’s tractor sales surged 15.3% in October 2020 from 11,851 units sold in September 2020. 

 

 

Escorts’ Agri Machinery Segment (EAM) announced that the company has sold 13,664 tractors in October 2020 which is company’s highest ever October sales and registered a growth of 2.3% from 13,353 tractors sold in October 2019.

 Sequentially, the company’s tractor sales surged 15.3% in October 2020 from 11,851 units sold in September 2020.

Domestic tractor sales in October 2020 was at 13,180 tractors, registering a growth of 1.1% from 13,034 tractors sold in October 2019. Export tractor sales in October 2020 was at 484 tractors, 51.7% higher than 319 tractors exported in October 2019.

Escorts said in the release, despite operating at near-full capacity, the demand outpaced supply resulting in lower-than-normal inventories. Festival period of Navratri and Dussehra witnessed good footfalls, however sales even prior to that remained buoyant.

The company also mentioned that the demand is driven fundamentally because of higher crop production, good crop prices, sufficient availability of water and easy availability of finance. Escorts assured that it expects demand momentum to continue and supply chain issues smoothened out in the next few months but inflation in commodity prices remains a worry.

 

The company’s tractor sales surged 15.3% in

Agro Universities, North America, Oilseeds, R&D

High heat and pressure render peanuts less allergenic

Peanut allergies are a serious health threat, and consuming even a trace amount has the potential to cause a life-threatening reaction. In the past 20 years, peanut allergies have tripled in the United States, said Soheila Maleki, a chemist with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). ARS scientists are researching solutions to prevent or treat peanut allergies and methods to create a safer peanut through food processing and crossbreeding cultivars with naturally lower levels of allergens to develop a hypoallergenic peanut plant.

At the ARS Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans, LA, a team of ARS researchers, including Maleki, has been involved in ongoing research to develop immunotherapeutic tools for the treatment of peanut and tree nut allergies, improve diagnostics of peanut and tree nut allergies, and understand the mechanisms of cross-reactivity of peanut-allergic individuals with tree nuts.

The research team has looked at what happens to peanuts following different processes—boiling, frying, and roasting. Maleki and colleagues in Spain showed that cooking peanuts under high heat and pressure could reduce allergenic potential, whereas roasting raw peanuts causes them to undergo molecular changes that increase allergenicity. This groundbreaking research showed that food processing methods can also affect the detection of allergens in food.

High heat and pressure render peanuts less

Agro chems – Chemicals, Agro chems – Fertilizers, Agro chems – Pesticides, Webinar

Strategy post COVID-19 is the core focus

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry ( FICCI ) will be conducting a webinar on November 5, 2020 entitled, ’Post Covid19: The Future and Dynamics of Agrochemicals Industry’ from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm, Indian Standard Time.
Eminent participants and panelists include Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya,  Union Minister of State for Shipping and Union Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilizers, Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi, Secretary, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, GoI, Dr S P Mohanty, CMD, Hindustan Insecticides Ltd, R G Agarwal, Chairman FICCI Sub Committee on Crop Protection Chemicals and Group Chaiman, Dhanuka Agritech Ltd, Erik Jacobs, Head Regulatory Science Asia Pacific Region, Bayer, Singapore, K K Unni, Chief Mentor and Chairman Emeritus CropLife India. Vikram Shroff, Director, United Phosphorus Ltd, Chander Sabharwal, MD, ISK Biosciences India, Pvt Ltd and Koushik Bhattacharyya, Director & Head-Industrials, Avendus Capital, will also offer their expert views and inputs on the aforesaid timely topic of the webinar.

Strategy post COVID-19 is the core focus The

Agro Universities, North America, R&D

A new fact sheet explores the status of weed genomics, what scientists are learning and the potential impact on future weed control. 

The Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) released a new fact sheet that explores the status of weed genomics, what scientists are learning and the potential impact on future weed control. 

To date scientists have mapped the genomes of six weeds known to cause significant crop losses, including horseweed, Palmer amaranth, waterhemp, smooth pigweed, red rice/feral rice, and kochia. Partial draft genomes are available for at least 35 additional weed species. 

The goal of these gene mapping projects is to answer many of the big questions in weed science such as what makes a weed “weedy”? What is the genetic basis for herbicide resistance? Can we develop better-targeted weed treatments or alter weeds to make them easier to control? 

Scientists say mapping weed genomes is especially complex due to the high level of repetition typically found in a weed’s DNA. 

“It’s like trying to work on a puzzle made up largely of pieces that are precisely the same, but each occupying a unique place in the total picture,” says Eric Patterson, a weed geneticist at Michigan State University.

Sorting out the repetitive content can be time consuming and expensive, and it requires the right expertise and tools. Today, though, new technologies are reducing the cost of genome assembly and are helping weed scientists produce more complete and accurate maps of gene sequences. 

In addition, efforts are underway to advance weed genomics through collaboration. One important example is the International Weed Genomics Consortium, an organization spearheaded by Todd Gaines of Colorado State University with support from weed science colleagues around the globe. Consortium members are working together to set priorities, share tools and resources, and build reference genomes for the world’s most troublesome weed species. 

“By deepening our understanding of weeds, we hope to find ways to delay the evolution of resistance and to open the door to new, more sustainable approaches to integrated weed management,” Gaines says.

  WSSA’s fact sheet:

  1. a) Scientists from the University of Illinois have used their understanding of Palmer amaranth genetics to develop a test that can rapidly screen seed mixtures to detect whether they contain seeds from this troublesome weed.

 

  1. b) Scientists at Rothamsted Research conduct a successful lab experiment using what they know about the blackgrass genome. They were able to silence specific genes and make herbicide-resistant blackgrass weeds susceptible to treatment.

A new fact sheet explores the status