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Organic

ICAR and KVKs should develop area-wise models of agricultural development

Union Agriculture Minister and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar said that Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) and agricultural scientists have an important role to play in overseeing agricultural development in the country.

 He was speaking at a three-day zonal workshop of the Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh was organized from July 29–31, 2020.

He added that the urgent need for agricultural production to increase so that the youth are encouraged to take up agriculture as a means of livelihood.

KVKs must guide the small and marginal farmers on agricultural practices that help them to get maximum profit even from small landholdings. ICAR and the KVKs should develop area-wise models of agricultural development that appeal to the farmers.

Stressing the importance of organic and natural farming, Tomar said that these were vital for healthy soil and clean environment and to increase exports and make agriculture profitable.

 Maintaining soil health and dealing with climate change were important challenges before the scientists.

 Pointing out that there are large tribal populations in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh who are already practising natural farming without use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the Minister exhorted the agricultural scientists to help them in improving this practice so that organic farming is promoted further and animal rearing is made profitable.

ICAR and KVKs should develop area-wise

Agrotech

The company appoints Abhijeet Dange and Vikram Metkari as the Associate Vice President for Delivery and the Head of Sales and Marketing 

FarmERP’s main focus lies in rigorous technology-intensive transformation of agriculture and agribusinesses, through latest advancements including Internet of Agricultural Things, AI, Blockchain and Machine Learning. To enable revolutionary ease within the management system, FarmERP welcomed. Abhijeet Dange and Vikram Metkari on board.

The team at FarmERP recently announced the appointment of Abhijit Dange as the Associate Vice President for Delivery at the organization. With vast experience in banking and financial services, learning, and talent development for over 22 years while working for organisations like Cognizant and Silverline, he has immense knowledge about handling large offshore customer engagements.

On his appointment, Dange quoted, “With the knowledge I possess, I aim to help in maintaining FarmERP’s competitive advantage by effectively aiding the growth of agribusinesses through cutting edge technology platforms Sanjay Borkar, the CEO of the Indian-grown 2001 brand believes that, apart from being a strong leader with excellent people management skills, with his expertise in streamlining digital IT transformations,. Abhijeet will play a crucial role in solving the issues of complex product management for FarmERP.

The team also welcomed on board Vikram Metkari as the Head of Sales and Marketing, who shares the same passion that the co-founders of the organisation do, for transforming the inner workings of agriculture through the use of tech platforms.  Metkari, an MBA and BE professional with rich work experience in marketing, sales, and business strategy, is a self-motivated and confident leader. He is not only a keen planner and strategist, but also an articulate communicator offering high- calibre presentations, negotiations, and analytical skills.

Santosh Shinde, the COO of FarmERP believes that  Metkari’s extensive experience of working for various companies- both smaller organizations and world leaders like SAP and Vodafone in the IT & Telecom domain will enable him to guide, innovate, build, and provide value to agribusiness’ customers by strengthening FarmERP’s existing leadership in the domain.

With the valuable addition of both these members to the team at FarmERP, striving to make a difference and create an impact in these testing times, and the immense experience and culmination of expertise that they bring to the table, the management is now stronger than ever. 

 FarmERP is a leading smart agriculture management ERP technology platform. It was incepted as a part of Shivrai Technologies more than a decade ago and is currently deployed in 25 countries, assisting a variety of agribusinesses.

The company appoints Abhijeet Dange and Vikram

AgroPolicy, IT

 The app gives info on cashew grafts, nursery, cultivation, plant protection, post-harvest processing, market information, e-market, and stakeholders 

 The Directorate of Cashew Research (DCR) at Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka has developed the ‘Cashew India’ app for farmers and other stakeholders of cashew in India. Available in 11 languages, the app can be downloaded from Google Play Store. 

Mohana GS, Senior Scientist at DCR, who conceptualised and designed this app, said that ‘Cashew India’ app gives comprehensive information on cashew grafts, nursery, cultivation, plant protection, post-harvest processing, market information, e-market, and stakeholders such as farmers, researchers, developmental agencies and processors at one place. 

He said a farmer or user of the app can upload and store images related to cashew and videos in ‘My Cashew’ sub-section under the ‘Cultivation’ section. It is also possible to record the expenditure, observations and data of the cashew farm in that. Real-time chatting is available for users under the ‘Chat Room’ section. Users can use e-speak button provided throughout the app. This button enables the app to read text for users in different sections. 

He said it is possible to order for grafts online in ‘Planting Material’ section from the research stations in a state. The user can give his/her buy/sell requirements in ‘Market Info’ section. Experts can be contacted through ‘Ask Expert’ section, he said.

 Multilingual app

Stating that the app is developed for States such as Gujarat, Maharastra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Meghalaya, Mohana said this might be the highest number of States covered in an app.The app is available in 11 languages such as Hindi, English, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Odia, Bengali and Garo. 

Technical Information for the app is provided by the scientists of DCR and scientists from centres of All-India Coordinated Research Project on Cashew in the country. 

The financial support is provided by the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, under the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, through the Directorate of Cashew and Cocoa Development, Kochi, he added.

 The app gives info on cashew grafts,

Foodgrains, Machinery - Pre-harvesting, Oilseeds, Pulses

Sowing of all crops except jute and mesta have significantly increased

 The total Kharif crops has been sown on 882.18 lakh ha area against 774.38 lakh ha area during the corresponding period of last year, as on July 31, 2020 according to the Ministry of Agriculture. This is an increase in area coverage by 13.92 per cent compared to last year in the country. 

Rice accounted for about 266.60 lakh ha area coverage compared to 223.96 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year while pulses covered about 111.91 lakh ha compared to 93.84 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year. Around 148.34 lakh ha area coverage was of coarse cereals as compared to 139.26 lakh ha in same period of 2019.

Oilseeds covered 175.34 lakh ha compared to 150.12 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year and sugarcane was planted in 51.78 lakh ha compared to 51.20 lakh ha during the corresponding period of last year.

However, jute and mesta accounted for only 6.95 lakh ha area coverage compared to 7.05 lakh ha, while cotton was planted in 121.25 lakh ha area compared to 108.95 lakh ha last year.

 

Sowing of all crops except jute and

Agro chems – Pesticides, E-commerce

Bayer is partnering independently with multiple drone technology providers for locust control activities

 

 

 

India is facing its worst-ever invasion of desert locusts in three decades. States across Northern and Western India are at a high risk. If locust swarms are not contained on time, they can move rapidly into farm lands and devour standing food crops. The Government of India under the Directorate of Plant Protection Quarantine and Storage (DPPQ&S) is taking several measures to prevent the invasion and spread of locusts to minimize crop loss for smallholder farmers and safeguard food security.

Locust swarms can stretch across miles and are large and aggressive. Considering this, the government’s locust control drive includes the use of effective products & formulations, new vehicles, ULV (Ultra Low Volume) sprayers, drones and helicopters. Since chemical control measures are highly effective for locust management, Bayer CropScience Limited is supporting the government initiative by providing 5,500 litres of Deltamethrin for locust control activities in the states of Rajasthan and Punjab. These activities will help curb the spread of locusts to bordering districts in Northern Gujarat. 

Deltamethrin 1.25 ULV is globally recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for locust control and was also approved in March 2020 by the Registration Committee for locust control in India. Deltamethrin is a space spray formulation used for the control of flying insect pests by thermal or ULV fogging. It has proven beneficial during emergency situations such as the current locust attacks.

India is one of the first countries to approve the use of drones for locust control. To trial drone-based spraying of its approved chemistries, Bayer is partnering independently with multiple drone technology providers for locust control activities in Rajasthan, one of the worst-affected states. These trials are also being conducted in collaboration with the State Agricultural Universities in Rajasthan to generate data on effective locust control. 

“Unprecedented situations like the current locust attacks require timely and innovative solutions. Bayer is collaborating with the government, academia and industry stakeholders to provide integrated solutions for locust control. Working with other stakeholders, we will create standard procedures for drone-based locust control and oversee drone trials with effective formulations such as Deltamethrin,” said Dr. Arun Kumar, Head of Environmental Science, Bayer South Asia.

 “Bayer is also creating farmer awareness on safe & effective ways to prepare for and tackle locust attacks in their farms and villages. We are committed to partner with state task forces for locust control and are discussing long-term solutions such as improved early-warning systems for locust attacks,” added Dr Arun Kumar.

 

 

Bayer is partnering independently with multiple drone

E-commerce, Warehousing

The warehouse has sensors installed for monitoring temperature, humidity and gas, thereby enabling early detection of spoilage of the produce. 

Nest-In, Tata Steel’s modular construction solutions brand, has launched a revolutionary onion storage solution ‘Agronest’ that is aimed at reducing spoilage of the onions to half of its current level.

This is a first-of-its-kind smart warehouse for onions developed with scientific backing and latest innovations and technology. The lack of scientific storage practices, non-standard designs and poor quality of material used for onion storage leads to over 40 per cent loss of the produce inside the warehouse. With unpredictable weather and climate changes and the recent challenges of transport and movement, farmers face multiple challenges with respect to storage and maintaining a healthy shelf life for their produce. Over the years, farmers have suffered losses in quality and quantity of their produce, as the onion industry lacks proper storage facilities

 P  Anand, Chief, Services & Solutions,Tata Steel, said, “We strongly believe achieving self-reliance and self-sustainability in agriculture is critical to making India Atmanirbhar. Inspired by this mission, our expert professionals are developing customised solutions for the agriculture sector. Climate change and environmental conditions affect the shelf-life of the farmers produce and lack of proper storage facilities lead to huge losses. We understood the problem here and our teams crafted a solution that is long-term and practical. We are committed to creating innovative products and solutions for our customers and enable a better tomorrow.”

 Given that the agricultural sector supports 70 per cent of India’s population and contributes to 50 per cent of the GDP, the government is rapidly investing in Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs). Tata Steel’s Innovent team identified this white space in the market to build solutions in agri-infrastructure.

Taking a step forward to achieve this objective and support the backbone of the Indian economy, Tata Steel’s Nest-In and Innovent teams have developed Agronest, a smart warehouse solution with a unique structural design that maximizes air flow, is spacious thus making it conducive for longer and safer storage of onions, and provides a cost-effective environment control to ensure minimal wastage. The warehouse has sensors installed for monitoring temperature, humidity and gas, thereby enabling early detection of spoilage of the produce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

tata-steel-nest-in_36352.png Image Source: Tata Steel Nest InTata Steel’s modular construction solutions brand Nest-In announced launch of onion storage solution Agronest for better storage and reducing wastage. Agronest has a unique structural design that maximises air flow, and is spacious, thus making it conducive for longer and safer storage of onions, and provides a cost-effective environment control to ensure minimal wastage, the company said in a statement.

 

, it said.

The warehouse has sensors installed for monitoring

Environment

The platform enables access to all FAO food loss and waste resources and connects to related portals from development partners

A comprehensive platform to help the global community step up action to reduce food loss and waste has been launched by The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) even as the UN agency and partners gears up for the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste to be marked for the first time on 29 September 2020.

The Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste is a comprehensive database of information containing measurement, reduction, policies, alliances, actions and examples of successful models applied to reduce food loss and waste across the globe.

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu at the launch of the platform said that wasting food amounts to wasting scarce natural resources, increasing climate change impacts and missing the opportunity to feed a growing population in the future.

The platform enables access to all FAO food loss and waste resources and also connects to related portals from development partners, serving as a one-stop shop for all food loss and waste knowledge. The funding for the platform has been provided by the Swiss Development Cooperation.

 

The platform enables access to all FAO

AgroPolicy, Start ups

112 startups to be nurtured in the year 2020-21

New technology in the field of agriculture and allied sectors through start-ups and agripreneurship is being promoted under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana in order to contribute directly and indirectly to enhancing the income of farmers, stated Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Narendra Singh Tomar.

In the year 2020-21, in the first phase, 112 startups in the area of agro processing, food technology and value addition will be funded for an amount of Rs. 1185.90 lakhs.

The Minister also stressed on the need to make agriculture competitive, provide handholding to agriculture-based activities and adopt new technology at the earliest along with increasing private investment in agriculture.

Under the revamped Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY) scheme, an Innovation and Agri-entrepreneurship Development programme has been launched in order to promote innovation, agripreneurship & startups by providing financial support and nurturing the incubation ecosystem.

DAC & FW has selected 5 Knowledge Partners (KPs) as Centres of Excellence and 24 RKVY-RAFTAAR Agribusiness Incubators (R-ABIs) from across the country.

112 startups to be nurtured in the

Acts & Schemes – Centre, R&D

Testing lab will unlock export potential of India’s honey 

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated India’s first honey testing lab set up by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) at Anand.

The testing lab will unlock potential for apiarists to not just get domestic business but also take advantage of exports to the US and Europe. Till recently, the exporters were required to ship their samples to Germany for testing.  The development comes after National Bee Board’s decade-long wait for a government testing facility for honey. 

“Standard quality testing and certifications are the primary requirements and preconditions for exporting honey to the markets such as the US and Europe. The new lab will test honey as per the norms specified by the food safety regulator FSSAI. The quality honey will boost exports and ensure better rates for farmers,” said Tomar adding that this move will contribute to India’s efforts to double farmers’ income by 2025. 

The lab — set up with ₹7.7-crore funding from the government — has been accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and Export Inspection Council. It has also got an approval from FSSAI as a national reference lab. The government has allocated ₹500 crore for bee-keeping infrastructure development under Atmanirbhar Bharat package.

NDDB Chairman Dilip Rath said that the Board has set up the facility after FSSAI notified quality standards for honey, as there was no comprehensive testing lab in the country.

Rath also stated that a proposal has been sent to the Union Agriculture Ministry to provide Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) testing to identify ‘Country of Origin’.

During the e-inauguration, Union Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Giriraj Singh said, “Honey’s authenticity had become a serious issue as suppliers indulged into unethical practices for economic gains. The testing lab will help honey farmers, cooperatives and honey industry to produce quality honey for domestic consumption and exports.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Testing lab will unlock export potential of

E-commerce, IT, R&D

Users will be able to explore various field trials, InVigor hybrids, solutions available to help solve in-season weed, disease, and insect pressures 

 

 BASF Agricultural Solutions has launched InField Innovation Tours in Canada; a new, interactive tour experience enabling growers to virtually visit trial sites across the country, learn about new, innovative solutions for 2021 and see how products are performing. 

“With COVID-19 creating significant challenges for all Canadians, our initial focus this spring was ensuring the seed and crop protection products our customers rely on continued to be delivered in a safe and timely manner,” said Justin Gayliard, Senior Manager, Customer Solutions, BASF Agricultural Solutions Canada. 

“Then, our focus quickly turned towards identifying a way to meaningfully connect with our customers and provide them a way to not only explore products that will help overcome agronomic challenges, but receive the advice and technical expertise they have come to rely on each season from our BASF team.” 

BASF runs hundreds of performance trial sites across Canada each year. Through the new virtual platform, accessible at AgSolutions.ca/InfieldInnovations, visitors can tour five BASF research farms as well as search performance results at a more localized level via an interactive map. Navigable by crop or solution, users will be able to e explore various field trials, including two of the new 300 series InVigor hybrids, view solutions available to help solve in-season weed, disease, and insect pressures including a new seed treatment targeted at wireworm control,

With content added throughout the season, this online tour expands on the snapshot-in-time vantage point of an in-person tour, enabling visitors to see how products perform over time in season and at any point throughout the year, the company said.

InField Innovation Tours will be integrated into BASF’s annual program, providing a way for customers from across the country to step into multiple BASF trial sites – and as close to new innovations – as possible.

 

 

Users will be able to explore various

Agro Universities, World

As IDA, the NAIMCC will be entrusted for conserving the microorganisms used to develop patents  

The National Agriculturally Important Microbial Culture Collection (NAIMCC), a unit of the ICAR-National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms (ICAR-NBAIM), Maunath Bhanjan, Uttar Pradesh under the aegis of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research & Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Government of India has acquired the status International Depository Authority (IDA) by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Geneva,  under Article 7 (1) of the Budapest treaty by its Notification No. 338 w.e.f. 28th July, 2020. 

Around 82 countries are part of the treaty and there are about 48 IDAs across 26 countries.

The microbial resource centres having the status of IDA mainly accepts and maintains the microorganisms for patenting of work related to live organisms having the medical, agricultural and other uses. In view of this, an agreement known as Budapest Treaty was passed in 1977 for depositing the microorganisms in culture collection centres for the purposes of patent procedure.

The NAIMCC will be the third IDA of the country after Microbial Type Culture Collection (MTCC), Chandigarh and National Centre for Microbial Resources (NCMR), Pune. As IDA, the NAIMCC will be entrusted for conserving the microorganisms used to develop patents and also conserving the newly described microbial taxa as a requirement for valid taxonomic publication. The NAIMCC is a designated microbial repository for the Agriculturally Important Microorganisms (AIMs) under the National Biodiversity Act, 2002 and is a member of the World Federation of Culture Collections (WFCC).  Currently, the NAIMCC holds accessions of 6907 AIMs including 2595 bacteria, 3981 fungi and 331 cyanobacteria.

As IDA, the NAIMCC will be entrusted

Agro chems – Chemicals, Agro chems – Fertilizers, E-commerce, Finance

The company achieved Rs 100 Crore in 67 days and the next Rs 100 Crore in 51 days.

 Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd (RCF), a Public Sector Undertaking(PSU) under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has crossed the milestone of Rs 200 Crore in sales of its Industrial Products in the current Financial year 2020-21 up to 27th July 2020.

Despite the COVID-19 situation, the company achieved Rs 100 Crore in 67 days and the next Rs 100 Crore in 51 days. It produced more than 5.9 Lakh MT of fertilizers in the 1st Quarter of 2020-21 and more than 2.3 Lakh MT of fertilizers July 2020.

RCF also imported more than 2 Lakh MT of complex fertilizers of various grades to overcome the shortages in the country. As State Trading Enterprise, the company imported more than 13 Lakh MT of Urea on behalf of the Department of Fertilizers.

Going one step further, the company opened its Hostel premises as a COVID Care Centre and also provided an ambulance to the collector’s office in Alibag.

RCF’s Industrial Products Division (IPD) has 23 products in its portfolio which are key inputs for other industries viz. pharmaceuticals, pesticides, mining, bakery products, fibers, leather etc.

The company achieved Rs 100 Crore in

E-commerce, R&D

It provides a sustainable solution to fertilizer overuse and nitrogen pollution.

 Azotic Technologies, a UK-based global ag-tech company, to develop and commercialise a natural nitrogen-fixing technology (N-Fix®). N-Fix® is a disruptive technology which has the potential to totally transform agriculture and is unique to Azotic. A marketable product is now being commercialised with positive benefits to growers.

Agriculture accounts for 80 percent of total nitrous oxide (Nâ‚‚O) emissions, mainly from the application of fertilisers, and 20 per cent of greenhouse gas discharges which impacts on climate change¹. . Azotic’s natural nitrogen fixing technology provides a sustainable solution to fertiliser overuse and nitrogen pollution.

N-Fix® is a novel technology which is derived from a naturally occurring beneficial food grade bacterium Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus (Gd). This is neither genetic modification (GM) nor bio-engineering. This enables plants to fix nitrogen from the air and replace up to 50 per cent of their nitrogen needs as an alternative to fertiliser. This is a patented innovative technology which will have a huge impact on agriculture – Azotic’s strain of Gd is unique in its ability to colonise plant cells intracellularly. Azotic is the only company offering an “intracellular” strain of Gd in non-legumes. The bacterium Gd does not persist as a free-living soil bacterium, it has been found only when associated with plant material, most notably sugar-cane.

Azotic’s N-Fix® technology is a new way to deliver nitrogen to plants; it is applied to plants via the seed in order to create a symbiotic relationship within the plant enabling it to substitute the nitrogen it normally takes up from the soil with atmospheric nitrogen – thus reducing dependency on nitrogen fertilisers. It works from within plant cells to fix nitrogen from root to leaf all season long. It contains no toxins, is environmentally friendly and helps reduce nitrogen pollution. It has proven efficacy in strategic crops which include corn, soybean, rice, wheat and others.

Peter Blezard, CEO of Azotic, said: “Agriculture requires more efficient and sustainable farming practices in order to increase food supply and maintain biodiversity. Positive results highlight the efficacy of our revolutionary technology in making crops nitrogen-fixing and with the resulting increased yields. This technology is a must for commercial agriculture where yield, cost and pollution needs can be optimised”

Azotic’s progression is quite remarkable. The company has developed its own strain of Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus (Gd) and transformed that into a marketable product. The scale up and production of an inoculant via the development of a specific fermentation process has resulted in the first commercial product of its kind. Azotic is delivering this technology to market and continues to add value with new IP. Through its development work on N-Fix, Azotic has identified a new platform nitrogen technology. It will commercialise technologies based on this platform through appropriate partnerships in R&D and routes to market. There is a pipeline of products under development and these include a dry formulation and a foliar spray.

This ground-breaking nitrogen technology has achieved positive results in the USA through a Grower Partner Programme

It provides a sustainable solution to fertilizer

Agro chems – Fertilizers, India, Logistics

‘SSL Visakhapatnam’ carries first batch of 560MT Ammonium Sulphate from Cochin Port to West Bengal

Shipping of fertilizers to the East and the West Coast of the country has commenced by the Fertilizers & Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT), a PSU under the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers. FACT has adopted Coastal Shipping as a new mode of transport for uninterrupted supply of fertilizers to farmers in coastal India.

Kishor Rungta, CMD, FACT and Dr Beena, IAS, Chairperson, Cochin Port Trust jointly flagged off the movement of the first batch of containers with 560 MT Ammonium Sulphate, in a function held at FACT Udyogamandal Complex, Eloor on July 28, 2020. ‘SSL Visakhapatnam’, a cargo ship, has started for West Bengal from Cochin Port on July 30, 2020. A total of 20 containers of Ammonium Sulphate will be dispatched to Haldia Port for distribution to the farmers in West Bengal.

FACT is getting active support of Cochin Port Trust in this endeavour. Fertilizers moved through coastal shipping will be carried out further through Rail to reach the required destination. Shipping of fertilizers through sea route shall ease the pressure on movement of fertilizers by rail and road to a great extent, especially during the tough time of COVID- 19 pandemic. 

‘SSL Visakhapatnam’ carries first batch of 560MT