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Animal Health, Goat farming, Live Stock, North America, R&D

To address anti-parasitic drugs resistance 

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service (ARS), on December 9, 2020, announced a groundbreaking treatment that prevents anemia, weight loss, poor wool and meat production, and even death in sheep.

ARS researchers partnered with Virginia Tech and the University of Massachusetts’ Medical School to solve H. contortus parasite infection, which also happens to be the number one health problem in the U.S. sheep industry. The parasite infects the stomach of ruminant mammals, feeding and interfering with digestion, before ultimately affecting the animal’s overall health and stability.

 “The H. contortus parasite has developed resistance to virtually all known classes of anti-parasitic drugs,” said ARS Researcher Dr Joseph Urban, who led the research team in testing and implementation of a para-probiotic treatment to kill the parasite that causes H.contortus.

The worm parasite mates within the animal and its fertilized eggs pass through the animal’s waste into the soil. The larvae then develop to re-infect other unsuspecting animals, spreading the infection throughout a pasture and creating a cycle of infection that hinders animal growth, development and production.

To address anti-parasitic drugs resistance   The U.S. Department

Agrotech, Organic, World

The high investment cost of hydroponic technologies might challenge growth

Technavio estimates the global hydroponics technologies market to grow by USD 450.18 million, progressing at a CAGR of almost 15% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, the latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

The market is driven by facilitation in soil and space-saving. However, the high investment cost of hydroponic technologies might challenge growth.

Hydroponics Technologies Market: Technology Landscape

Based on technology, the market witnessed maximum growth in the environment and climate control systems segment. The segment is expected to offer several growth opportunities for vendors over the forecast period.

Hydroponics Technologies Market: Geography Landscape

34% of the market’s growth originated from Europe in 2019. Factors such as the rising adoption of controlled environment agriculture for horticultural crops and the increasing development of new advanced technologies that target specific crop needs are fueling the growth of the hydroponics technologies market in Europe.

The Netherlands is the key market for hydroponics technologies in Europe. Market growth in this region will be slower than the growth of the market in APAC and North America.

 

The high investment cost of hydroponic technologies

Dairy, Finance

The company plans to expand & meet global demand for its revolutionary animal-free dairy products

Remilk, an Israel-based start-up producing identical dairy products through microbial fermentation, has announced the completion of its $11.3 million funding round. With this new capital, the company plans to rapidly expand its production and distribution capabilities, and meet global demand, for its revolutionary animal-free dairy products.

The latest funding was led by fresh.fund with participation from OurCrowd, CPT Capital, ProVeg and food manufacturers Hochland, Tnuva and Tempo, as well as Co-founder & Former Managing Director of Berkshire Partners, Bradley Bloom; prominent investor, Sake Bosch; serial technology entrepreneur and investor, Amiad Solomon; food-tech investor Beni Nofech and others.

Remilk’s first-of-its-kind, the lab-made dairy product is indistinguishable from natural dairy and is essential for developing the authentic taste and texture of dairy derivatives like cheese, yogurt and cream, without cows. The company uses a unique, patented process to replicate the properties of dairy proteins. This process recreates these proteins in the most effective way, and even optimizes functionalities compared to their animal-derived equivalent.

Remilk’s commercial manufacturing and distribution partners use its functional animal-free dairy as a starting material for large-scale dairy production.

Remilk products are cholesterol-free and contain no lactose, antibiotics or growth hormones. Importantly, Remilk is far more sustainable and eco-friendlier than traditional dairy systems, requiring 1 per cent of the land, 4 per cent of the feedstock and 10 per cent of the water to produce than comparable dairy products.

 

The company plans to expand & meet

Agro chems – Fertilizers, Agro Universities, Environment, Japan, R&D

The study aims to address the problem of food production in closed environments

An innovative study conducted recently by a team of Japanese researchers led by Junior Associate Professor Norihiro Suzuki from Tokyo University of Science and published in the New Journal of Chemistry of the Royal Society of Chemistry. In this study, Dr Suzuki and his team aimed to address the problem of food production in closed environments, such as those in a space station.

Realizing that farmers have used animal waste as fertilizer for thousands of years, as a rich source of nitrogen, Dr Suzuki and his team have been investigating the possibility of manufacturing it from urea (the main component of urine), to make a liquid fertilizer.

The research team – which also includes Akihiro Okazaki, Kai Takagi, and Izumi Serizawa from ORC Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Japan – devised an electrochemical process to derive ammonium ions (commonly found in standard fertilizers) from an artificial urine sample. Their experimental setup was simple: on one side, there was a reaction cell, with a boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode and a light-inducible catalyst or photocatalyst material made of titanium dioxide. On the other, there was a counter cell with a simple platinum electrode. As current is passed into the reaction cell, urea is oxidized, forming ammonium ions.

The research team then examined whether the cell would be more efficient in the presence of the photocatalyst, by comparing the reaction of the cell with and without it. They found that while the initial depletion of urea was more or less the same, the nitrogen-based ions produced varied both in time and distribution when the photocatalyst was introduced. Notably, the concentration of nitrite and nitrate ions was not as elevated in the presence of the photocatalyst. This suggests that the presence of the photocatalyst promoted ammonium ion formation.

The study aims to address the problem

Agrotech, Machinery - Pre-harvesting

Winners are chosen on the basis of their impact on advanced engineering for the food and agricultural industries 

 Case IH and New Holland Agriculture, the global agricultural machinery brands of CNH Industrial N.V., have won nine ASABE 2021 AE50 awards. The prestigious awards, conferred by a panel of international engineering experts, are chosen on the basis of their impact on advanced engineering for the food and agricultural industries. The 50 best products from around the globe are named on the final list. This year the awards will be presented at the virtual ASABE Agricultural Equipment Technology Conference (AETC) to be held in February 2021.

The Case IH award winning innovations all hail from the brand’s successful Customer Driven Product Design process. The process has proved to be key in helping farmers increase productivity, profitability and safety while at the same time reducing cost and labor.

New Holland was recognized by the panel of experts for two of its products. The BigBaler 340 High Density large square baler produces bales of up to 22% higher density than conventional large square balers. It has two unique features. The first is the SmartShift™ two speed gearbox which significantly increases productivity, enhances operator comfort, and improves tractor driveline protection. The second is the patented Loop Master™ knotting technology which delivers up to 26% improved twine tensile strength. It is also the first commercialized double knotter in the world that prevents plastic pollution by eliminating twine offcuts.

Winners are chosen on the basis of

Acts & Schemes – Centre, Agrotech

As farmers’ protests result in a daily loss of Rs 3500 crore loss due to value chain and transport disruption

Urging the government and farmers’ organisations to resolve the impasse over the new Agri laws, the ASSOCHAM today said, the ongoing protests are dealing a big blow to the interconnected economies of the region, including Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

Though the economies of these states are predominantly based on agriculture and horticulture, several industries like food processing, cotton textiles, automobile, farm machinery, IT have become their lifeline. Besides, vibrant services sectors including tourism, trading, transport and hospitality, have added to the strength of the regions, known for their enterprising farmers, entrepreneurs and innovators.

’’The size of the combined economies of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and J&K is about Rs 18 lakh crore. With the ongoing farmers’ agitation and blockade of roads, toll plazas and railways, the economic activities have come to a halt. Industries such as textiles, auto components, bicycles, sports goods which cater significantly to the export markets would not be able to fulfil their orders, ahead of Christmas, harming our goodwill amongst the global buyers,” ASSOCHAM President, Dr Niranjan Hiranandani said.

A daily loss of Rs 3,000-3500 crore is resulting in the economies of the region from the value chain and transport disruption because of the protests, according to ASSOCHAM rough estimates.

 Deepak Sood, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM said the supply chain disruptions are also taking a toll in the retail prices of fruits and vegetables all across the country as the region is a major producer of these items. “Industries, farmers and also the consumers are paying a heavy price for the serious disruption in the supply chain. Ironically, these disruptions have come about when the economy had started unlocking from the Covid-19 impact,” Sood said.

He said, while the government is engaged with the farmers for allaying their concerns over the new Agri reforms laws,” we would like to assure our farmers that the core of the industry, business and trade – big or small is rural India where over 50 per cent of our population resides. The industry has a big stake in the welfare of the farmers who can rest assured that any economic proposition from the Agri sector would have a bias only in favour of farmers”.

Recovering from the harsh Covid-19 blow, the Indian economy needs to double down on growth which is possible only with a conducive environment for industrial activities, investment including the Foreign Direct Investment. ’’The Government’s commitment to spend a big budget on roads and highways along with rural infrastructure cannot be implemented with the ongoing protests”.

The region had been amongst the favoured destinations of foreign investments in automobile, information technology, textiles and food processing. ’’It is incumbent upon all of us to resolve whatever differences are there as regards reforms in the crucial agriculture sector. Reforms would ultimately help people of the region in terms of increased employment and prosperity, as more investment flows into the sector which needs a technology and innovation push”.

 

As farmers’ protests result in a daily

Agrotech, Start ups

It aims to provide guidance from the “seed to harvest” stage of farming 

  To strengthen the greenhouse farming techniques with the best advisory, Bangalore based agritech start up- Clover has been providing agronomy services for their greenhouse farmers with an aim to provide them with structural market access. Over 60 greenhouse farmers with over 70+ acres of farms have benefitted with Clover’s agronomy service and have seen their yield increase up to 4 times. This service is a part of Clover’s business model aiming to improve the per acre yield from the farmer’s landholding, in turn improving farmer income while providing consistent access to high-quality fruit and vegetables to Clover’s consumers in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

 Clover’s team of in-house agronomists work closely with the farmers as a ‘one-stop solution’ for guidance from the “seed to harvest” stage of farming. Agronomists provide them with detailed and meticulous information about the demand from the market, crop to be grown, quality of seed selection, fertilizer management, insect and disease management, water management, harvesting and storage. Clover’s agronomy team also supports farmers with nutrient deficiency data that help in determining the nutritional needs of the plant at different stages.

Clover guides farmers on greenhouse farming methods including proper use of ventilation, lighting control, pest management which results in significant yield improvement, reduced cost of cultivation and improvement in the percentage of first grade produce.

This extensive and holistic agronomy support has resulted in the improvement of first-grade fruits by more than 25 per cent, reduced input costs like nutrient and crop medicine. The farmers have been guided to use proper nutrients at the right stage.

 

Avinash BR, CEO and Co- founder of Clover said, “With Clover’s agronomy services we ensure higher yields and productivity for the farmer. A Clover network farmer has the enviable privilege of being able to sell all his produce to us. Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen farmers increase their yield anywhere from 4 times compared to the times without Clover’s agronomy intervention. The added benefit is also lesser wastage due to committed market access.”

 

Farmers face the issue of the inability to sell their produce at a price they want because of the prevalent traditional approach towards this sector. Clover Ventures is working towards this and many such issues to empower farmers to adopt sustainable farming practices and improving productivity as well as income. Clover partners with small farm holders, and sells premium quality, greenhouse-grown fresh produce — spinach, coriander, lettuce, basil, cucumbers, beans, cauliflower, etc. — through B2C channels. Clover is currently managing over 70 acres of farms and intends to scale this manifold over the coming months.

 

 

It aims to provide guidance from the

Agrotech, Finance, Supply Chain, Warehousing

Round was led by Quona Capital, alongside existing investors Omnivore and LGT Lightstone Aspada

Arya, a leader in post-harvest agritech and agri-fintech, announced the close of its Series B round, having raised USD 21 million in a mix of equity and debt. The equity round was led by Quona Capital, a venture firm focused on  fintech in emerging markets, alongside existing investors LGT Lightstone Aspada  and Omnivore. Multiple lenders participated in providing additional debt financing to the company. The new funding will be used to expand financing to farmers through Arya’s embedded fintech arm, Aryadhan, and to strengthen its digital post-harvest services and market linkages platform, www.a2zgodaam.com.

Building on its market leadership in agricultural warehousing services, Arya has expanded to become a full service provider of digital solutions for storage, processing, financing, and market linkages. Arya’s clients include farmers, farmer producer organisations (FPOs), financial institutions, SME agri processors, commodity traders and corporate agribusinesses. Arya helps farmers realize better value for their produce through village level commodity storage, integrated financing, and market linkage services to create better options for commodity sales. The company’s focus on smallholder farmers, combined with its ubiquitous presence across primary agri-produce markets and utilization of a digital platform with embedded finance, have enabled its rapid scale over the past few years.

“Of the food grains worth USD 130 billion produced by India annually, there are huge losses  in primary and secondary markets due to lack of storage, forcing farmers to sell off-cycle for  lower returns,” said Arya’s Co-Founder and CEO, Prasanna Rao. “These same farmers are dependent on financing for their cash flow needs but are vastly underserved, hurting their ability to store and sell their produce optimally. Arya’s digital solution pairs warehousing with financing and critical market linkage services to help smallholder farmers thrive.”

“Arya is addressing a vastly underserved market of farmers in India, half of whom previously had little access to post-harvest finance,” said Ganesh Rengaswamy, Co-founder and Partner at Quona Capital. “We believe Arya’s unique approach, providing a full-service digital platform with embedded finance and differentiated efficiencies for small farm holders, will drive the future of farming in India.” As part of the investment, Varun Malhotra, Principal at Quona Capital, will join the Board of Arya.

Arya is led by a team with decades of experience in agri-business and agri-finance sectors.  The founders of Arya – Chattanathan Devarajan, Prasanna Rao and Anand Chandra – pioneered the warehouse receipt financing business in India, and were responsible for the agri-finance playbook at ICICI Bank.

Round was led by Quona Capital, alongside

Acts & Schemes – Centre, Dairy

To cost Rs 121 Cr with processing capacity of 2 Lakh Litres of milk per day

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a visit to Dhordo in Kutch, Gujarat on December 15, 2020 and lay the foundation stone of several development projects in the State. These projects include a desalination plant, a hybrid renewable energy park, and a fully automated milk processing and packing plant. Chief Minister of Gujarat will be present on the occasion. Prime Minister will also undertake a visit to the White Rann, followed by witnessing a cultural programme.

The Hybrid Renewable Energy Park near Vighakot village in the district of Kutch in Gujarat will be the country’s largest renewable energy generation park. It will lead to the generation of renewable energy to the tune of 30 GW. Spread over 72,600 hectares of land, the park will have a dedicated hybrid park zone for wind and solar energy storage, as well as exclusive zone for wind park activities. Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of a fully automated milk processing and packing plant at Sarhad Dairy Anjar, Kutch. The plant will cost Rs 121 Crore and will have the capacity to process 2 Lakh Litres of milk per day.

To cost Rs 121 Cr with

Agro Universities, IT, R&D

Provides basic information on 20 commonly grown promising agroforestry tree species

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Agroforestry Research Institute (ICAR-CAFRI), Jhansi ,Uttar Pradesh has recently launched an application called FarmTree on Google Play Store for android devices. The mobile app provides a user-friendly, bi-lingual, e-platform to have all basic information on 20 commonly grown promising agroforestry tree species by farmers at their farm. It covers various aspects like common name, botanical name, family, potential area, silvi-cultural requirements, nursery techniques, planting techniques, tending operations, suitable agroforestry systems, tree protection, yield, utilization and material availability.


The app provides appropriate content supported by beautiful original photographs making it more useful for forestry professionals, naturalists, forest department personnel, students and farmers.FarmTree also provides its users a platform of having a discussion on its public forum, sending a query directly to the developers, attaching a photograph for easy communication, contacting experts and
knowing how to avail the materials.

Provides basic information on 20 commonly grown

E-commerce, Seeds

It aims to provide rural farmers and semi-urban growers greater choice in cultivating their own vegetables with mini packs of seeds 

German agrochemicals Major Bayer announced that it is entering India’s home garden segment with mini packs of Seminis Vegetable Seeds, to provide rural farmers and semi-urban growers a choice in cultivating their own vegetables.

 

The company said in a statement, “Bayer aims to leverage its broad portfolio of high-quality hybrid seeds and provide rural farmers and semi-urban growers greater choice in cultivating their own vegetables with mini packs of Bitter Gourd, Bottle Gourd, Okra and Beans initially.”

 

 Bayer is planning to extend its mini packs across the entire range of its Seminishybrid seeds.The mini packs will be available in select agri-retail outlets and Bayer’s Better Life Farming centres across India.

While in commercial farming, farmers buy large packs suitable for on-farm cultivation, the mini packs will come in two sizes – a pack of 25 seeds and a pack of 50 seeds.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown saw many people in India’s urban cities take to gardening in their balconies and terraces, to meet these requirements, Bayer will extend its mini packs to urban markets in 2021 to cater to kitchen and hobby gardeners.

For this, Bayer will look at collaborating with e-commerce partners and plant nursery e-tailers to extend the reach of its high-quality hybrid seeds to urban markets, it added.

It aims to provide rural farmers and

Agro Universities, Foodgrains, Webinar

Focus on enhancing rice productivity and quality, sustainable rice farming and biotic-stress management in rice

Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR), on December 8, 20202, inaugurated the three day ’1st Virtual Indian Rice Congress – 2020’ organized by the Association of Rice Research Workers at the ICAR-National Rice Research Institute (NRRI), Cuttack, Odisha. Dr Mathew Morrel, Director General, International Rice Research Institute, Philippines was the Guest of Honor. Dr Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog, Government of India delivered the Plenary Lecture. On the occasion,  a panel discussion was held on ’Reinventing rice production system to achieve the SDGs’ in which 9 Panelists across the country with different backgrounds participated in the deliberations.

The Congress was organized in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi; ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad; ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi; Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology, Bhubaneswar; Society for Advancement of Rice Research, Hyderabad and IRRI-South Asia Regional Centre, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The theme of the Congress was ’Rice Research and Development for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals’ with the objective to provide a platform for all rice stakeholders to interact and exchange ideas about the recent advances in rice science and brainstorm key policies to meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and to sustain the rice cultivation in India. Enhancing rice productivity and quality, sustainable rice farming, biotic-stress management in rice and rice for livelihood security, equity and profitability were the primary focus.

Focus on enhancing rice productivity and quality,

Agro Universities, R&D

The Seed Centre of the TNAU conducted research to standardise seed treatment and foliar spray

 The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has got the patent for the technology for protein extraction for seed treatment and foliar spray application. The Seed Centre of the TNAU conducted research to standardise seed treatment and foliar spray with ’’Protein Extract’’ to increase crop growth and productivity. The foliar spraying of protein extract 1-1.5 per cent during pre-flowering and flowering stages, increasing the crop yield by over 15 per cent across the crop spectrum, a TNAU press release said .

When the protein extract was applied through seed coating of 40 -75 per cent, seed germination of crop seeds increased by about 6-8 per cent and seedling dry matter increased by 10 – 15 per cent. Alternatively, pre-sowing soaking of the seeds in secondary protein solution of 0.5 – 0.75 per cent can be followed to increase the seed germination by 6-10 per cent depending on crop seed.

The products were launched as commercial natural growth boosters as ’’NutriGold’’ and ’’SeedAid.’’ An application was filed for patent by the scientists for the newly developed technology which includes product development procedure of protein extract for seed treatment and foliar spray to improve crop productivity and after proper examination, patent was granted, the release said.

The Seed Centre of the TNAU conducted

Agro chems – Pesticides, North America, R&D

Regulatory submission planned for late 2022 in the U.S. and Canada

Syngenta recently announced the global launch of spiropidion, an innovative new insecticide active ingredient. The technology will help farmers protect a broad range of crops against damaging and difficult-to-control sucking pests in a targeted, effective and environmentally sustainable manner. In North America, Syngenta has entered into an agreement with Gowan Company LLC, a family-owned agricultural solutions business headquartered in Yuma, Arizona. Gowan has been granted an exclusive license to market and sell a patented spiropidion 300 SC formulation in the United States and Canada.

“Spiropidion is the result of our commitment to bring two new and sustainable active ingredients to the market every year,” said Jeff Cecil, head of marketing, Syngenta Crop Protection, North America. “Its development also reflects our deep understanding and anticipation of grower needs. We are pleased to be collaborating with Gowan to deliver this solution to the market.”  Syngenta plans regulatory submissions for late 2022 in the U.S. and Canada and anticipates product launch by mid-decade. The first global registration of a formulated product containing spiropidion was obtained in Guatemala in September 2020. Over the next six years, product launches are expected in more than 60 countries.

Regulatory submission planned for late 2022 in