🎄🌟 🎉 Wishing our readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with new possibilities! 🎄🌟 🎉
Connect with:
Monday / December 23. 2024

logo
mobile-logo
Home2020 (Page 61)
AgroPolicy

Makes way for implementation of new technolgies in agriculture

The Karnataka governor has signed the Land Reforms (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 with important changes to the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961.

The ordinance eases restrictions on buying and selling of agricultural land in the state by doing away with sections 63, 79A, 79B and 79C in the Land Reforms Act which put severe restrictions on the ownership of agricultural land.

The amendment now allows a company, trust or an institution to buy agricultural land through its non agricultural income. Under the original law an agriculturist could sell his/her land only to another agriculturist.

The ordinance has been strongly opposed by the Congress party and several farmer organization because of the apprehension that it can adversely affect the farmers of the state. Meanwhile, the government is of the view that the reforms will benefit the farmers by helping them escape from the harassment of officials and improve the profile of agriculture in the state.

It has also asserted that many people who want to implement the latest technologies in agriculture were unable to do so because of the Reforms Act.

Makes way for implementation of new technolgies

China, E-commerce, Supply Chain

Dole will provide a strong impetus for the sales growth of Zespri kiwifruits in China market. 

Zespri, the world-renowned kiwifruit grower and distributor, and Dole, the internationally renowned fruits and vegetables brand, signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Shanghai. 

As a result, Dole officially became a Zespri distribution partner in China market. They will accelerate the development of each other in China market. 

Terry Chan, general manager of Dole China, said: “we are very pleased to have this strategic cooperation with Zespri. Zespri is a world-renowned kiwifruit grower and distributor whose products are popular with consumers. Zespri’s high quality requirement coincides with Dole’s core concept of ’Quality is the foundation of our reputation’ and ‘Dole Sunshine For All’.” 

Dole currently has 12 distribution centres in Shanghai, Beijing, Dongguan, Shenyang, Zhengzhou, Xiamen, Xi’an, Qingdao, Chongqing, Chengdu, Wuhan and Kunming, operating more than 90 items from 17 countries. 

All Dole distribution centres are equipped with advanced equipment, such as pre-cooling, storage, computerized ripening facilities and etc. Through scientific control and rich experience in kiwifruit ripening, storage and logistics, Dole’s distribution centers’ can protect the excellent quality of Zespri kiwifruit. 

Michael Jiang, general manager of Zespri Greater China, said: “Dole is the world-renowned fruits and vegetables producer and distributor who has abundant strength in fruits distribution, packaging, and storage. We believe that Dole will provide a strong impetus for the sales growth of Zespri kiwifruits in China market and help Zespri to deepen our market structure.” 

Zespri was established in 1997 and its kiwifruit is sold in more than 50 countries around the world. During its 2020 season, Zespri is planning to supply about 155m standard retail boxes (amount to 600,000 tonnes) of high-quality kiwifruits to consumers around the world. 

As Zespri’s largest market, China has always been a top priority for Zespri’s business development. At present, Zespri still has huge market potential with Chinese consumers. Dole has been active in the Chinese market for more than 20 years and has extensive operating experience in channel management.

At present, Dole has more than 1,900 store clients including 12 national supermarket systems, 35 well-known local supermarket systems, and 32 well-known fruit chain customers, covering more than 190 cities.

Zespri hopes that through cooperating with Dole, it can continue to explore the development opportunities of various channels, improve operation efficiency and provide quality services to channel clients. 

The cooperation has been officially launched. It is reported that after rapid technical communication, the first batch of Zespri kiwifruit took less than a week to reach Dole’s Shanghai distribution center for ripening. Zespri kiwifruit distributed by Dole has already been sold in 89 Walmart China stores.

Dole will provide a strong impetus for

R&D, Seeds

 It aims to apply pollen technology for improving cross-pollination and enhance wheat program. 

BASF and PowerPollen have signed an agreement to further develop and apply the company’s patented pollen preservation and application technology to improve cross-pollination and enhance BASF’s proprietary wheat program. 

BASF is developing new hybrid wheat varieties to improve yield, quality and stability to meet the agronomic and economic needs of growers and the value chain, as well as the nutritional needs of a growing world population. Through hybridization and advanced breeding platforms, hybrid wheat delivers leading performance and seed quality with value-added traits that can be tailored to local growing conditions.

 The PowerPollen technology, already proven in corn applications, has the potential to collect, preserve and apply wheat pollen at a commercial scale – dramatically increasing pollination efficiency for BASF’s hybrid wheat seed production. 

“Hybrid wheat demonstrates BASF’s commitment to transforming wheat for long-term success through a globally-driven, advanced breeding platform adapted to local needs and supported by a continuous pipeline of innovation,” says Gustavo Gonzalez, director of Global Wheat Crop Strategy for BASF. “This collaboration will leverage PowerPollen’s unique expertise in solving pollen preservation and application in corn to improve hybrid wheat seed production.” 

Commercial-scale hybrid wheat has been the goal of wheat breeders and seed companies since the 1950s. PowerPollen’s preservation and application technology expands the potential for hybrid wheat and improved productivity and profitability for wheat farmers.

 “We are excited to develop our technology in collaboration with BASF, whose industry-leading wheat and traits research platform shows incredible opportunities for hybrid wheat,” says Todd Krone, co-founder and CEO of PowerPollen. “When applied to commercial hybrid seed corn production, our technology increases yields and enables production of hybrids that conventional methods are unable to produce. The goal is to achieve similar results in wheat to accelerate hybridization of this staple crop.”

 

 It aims to apply pollen technology for

Agro chems – Pesticides, Agrotech, Europe

Pearce will be responsible for technical marketing, procurement, strategic sourcing and manufacturing of the company

 Bionema Ltd, a leading UK-based biopesticide technology developer, which specialises in chemical-free, biological crop protection for safe and sustainable agriculture, has announced the appointment of Stephen Pearce as Non-Executive Chair.  

Steve has more than 25 years of global experience in the Pharma, Biotech and Life Science industries and has served in senior positions in both public and private equity-owned companies – where the development and implementation of successful transformational strategies are fundamental to companies’ sustainable growth. 

He spent the last 12 years in the Life Science industry as Chief Procurement Officer for Arysta LifeScience – one of the world’s largest agrochemical companies. He was also part of a team that integrated several companies as part of a mergers and acquisitions strategy and was a key member of the alliance development team. 

During his career, Steve has held senior global leadership and strategy development roles in technical sales, marketing, strategic sourcing and procurement, and alliance development. He spent several years in the US as Director of Biotechnology Research Business Development – a role dedicated to fundraising, developing and commercialising intellectual property, building commercial alliances with academic institutions and a state and federal lobbyist.

Commenting on his new role at Bionema, Steve said, “Bionema is a business that possesses and continues to develop a rich and cutting-edge pipeline of technologies and solutions that offers significant opportunity. The Bionema team are well placed, in terms of intellectual property and technology, to address the significant and growing need to provide innovative and sustainable technologies. With ever increasing regulation, growing consumer concerns over how food is produced and food safety there has never been a more important and opportune time to bring new, innovative and effective chemical-free solutions to the market in support of, and in response to, growing value chain demands. I look forward to working with the Bionema board of directors, management team and shareholders as we take the business forward.” 

Dr Minshad Ansari, Founder and CEO of Bionema, says, “Steve brings a broad and unique skill set in the areas of alliance and business development, mergers and acquisitions, technical marketing, procurement, strategic sourcing and manufacturing, and operations outsourcing. We welcome Steve as our new chair to the Bionema Board and will benefit from his valuable expertise and perspectives as we continue to transform the company, execute on our strategic priorities, and seek ways to enhance shareholder value. We are committed to engaging with all shareholders as we continue to pursue value-enhancing opportunities for Bionema”

 

Pearce will be responsible for technical marketing,

Oilseeds, R&D, Sustainable Energy

This will eliminate the competition between food and fuel

A team of researchers led by Dr Kaustubha Mohanty, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Guwahati have devised a method to produce biofuel from non-edible waste seeds.

In the USA and Europe surplus edible oils like soybean oil and sunflower oil are being used for the production of biodiesel in a bid to overcome future oil shortages in the world.

However, the conversion of food resources to fuel compromises the global supply-demand of food, especially in developing countries with existing nutritional deficiencies.

“Oils derived from non-edible seeds of plants can be used to produce biofuels, to eliminate the competition between food and fuel”, said Dr Mohanty. Plants and trees found in India, such as peela kaner, mahua, gulmohar, neem, rain tree, castor, kusum etc., produce seeds that have oil from which biofuels can be made.

Dr Mohanty and his research team used a heat-chemical route to produce biofuels from these and other such seeds that they had collected from various parts of the country.

 

This will eliminate the competition between food

Agrotech, Trade, Webinar

100 more FPOs to be set-up in the current financial year

Karnataka agriculture minister B.C. Patil revealed that the state government is diligently working on increasing the processing of produce from agriculture and associated sectors from the current 3-5 percent to 25 percent in the next five years.

He was participating in a webinar on the ‘Impact of Agro and Food Processing Industries in Karnataka: Gaps, Challenges, Opportunities and Way Forward for Better Future’, organized by ASSOCHAM.

He said the government is planning to improve the marketability of farm produce and provide value-added services such as assaying, grading, cleaning, labelling, and packing at warehouses and cold storages through Karnataka State Agricultural Produce Processing and Export Corporation (KAPPEC) and Department of Industries and Commerce along with trading platforms.

The minister said the government is also planning to establish warehousing and logistic hubs in food and agri parks with the aim to operate warehouses and cold storages for facilitating sales of agriculture and horticulture produce. He further stated that the government is planning to establish another 100 Farmer Producer Organizations, (FPOs) in the current financial year.

100 more FPOs to be set-up in

Agrotech, E-commerce, Europe, IT, Packaging & Labelling

The virtual fair aims to bring together reps from food, food-packaging, and agro-technologies

The global food, food-packaging and import sectors have come to a grinding halt due to the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on industries doesn’t seem to ease up anytime soon.

To offset the ban on international travel, issues such as social distancing and spread of infection, Agro Food Tech Europe is set to hold a first of its kind virtual fair from July 20 to 26.

The online platform will provide representatives of industries such as food, food-packaging, and technologies with a safe and secure digital space in which they can hold meetings, exchange ideas, and explore new commercial opportunities.

The fair features state-of-the-art infrastructure and will be held for seven days, bringing together industry representatives from across the world.

“At a time when international travel is sorely limited and health concerns prevent physical visits to other countries, virtual fairs have come to the fore as highly-effective business platforms,” said Barış Salur, online Project Director, Agro-Food Tech.

The virtual fair aims to bring together

Agro chems – Fertilizers

Webinar will compensate for training and personal development activities lost due to COVID-19

The Fertilizer Association of India (FAI) has proposed to conduct a webinar titled ’Developments in Fertilizer industry’ on 18th August, 2020 (Tuesday) from 10 am to 4 pm.

The webinar will have presentations in the areas of fertilizer and agriculture, supply, demand of fertilizers, developments in policy environment and technologies for fertilizer production.

The topics under focus include ’The Key lnput in Intensive Agriculture’, ’Indian Demand Supply of Fertilizers’,  ’Latest Developments in Policy for Nitrogenous and Phosphatic Fertilizers’, ’Brief on Manufacturing Technologies for Nitrogenous Fertilizers’, ’Brief on Manufacturing Technologies for Phosphate Fertilizers and’ Fertilizer Quality Control & Fertilizer Control Order’

Interested participants may visit the Fertiliser Association of India’s website. 

 

 

Webinar will compensate for training and personal

Acts & Schemes – Centre, Agro chems – Pesticides

Locust control operations continue in 9 states of North and Western of India.  

Locust control operations have been conducted on 1,68,315 hectares of farmland in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana by Locust Circle Offices (LCOs) between 11th April and 14th July.

Similar control operations have been conducted on 1,47,321 hectares in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Bihar by respective State Governments.

Control operations were carried out at 27 places in Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhunu and Sikar districts of Rajasthan, 1 place in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh, 2 places in Kutch district of Gujarat on the intervening night of 14th-15th July.

In addition to this, respective State Agriculture Departments have also conducted control operations at 2 place each in the districts of Balrampur and Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh and 1 place in Pali district of Rajasthan in the intervening night of 14th-15th July.

79 control teams with spray equipment mounted vehicles and more than 200 Central Government personnel, 50 Technical officers and 22 drivers on contractual basis, are currently engaged in these operations. The operational capability has been boosted by the use of drones, a Bell helicopter, a MI-17 helicopter and the newly imported Ulvamast sprayers from the UK.

Locust control operations continue in 9 states

Agro chems – Pesticides, E-commerce, R&D

Reviton, a PPO-inhibitor herbicide is currently under EPA regulatory review. 

 

 

HELM Agro US, Inc., a global manufacturer of high quality crop protection and fertilizer products announces Reviton™ as the name of its new herbicide, which is currently under EPA regulatory review.

Reviton is a PPO-inhibitor herbicide with a novel active ingredient called Tergeo™. A non-selective herbicide for the preplant burndown and desiccation segments, Reviton will be one of the first new PPO herbicide to be introduced in the U.S. in more than a decade. 

New Molecule Discovery

The new molecule was discovered by Farm Hannong, a Korean agrochemical company, and has been globally commercialized as a joint development with Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha, Ltd, a Japanese agrochemical company.

Earlier this year, HELM Agro US and Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha entered into a long-term collaboration for the commercial development of Reviton herbicide, which contains the novel molecule, exclusively for the U.S. crop protection market.  

The U.S. launch of Reviton is anticipated later this year following federal and state registrations for use in field corn, cotton, soybeans and wheat. According to HELM, additional crop registrations are to be expected.

In more than 700 North American product development trials and regulatory studies, Reviton has demonstrated extremely high-performance ratings in burndown control for more than 50 broadleaf and grass weeds, including ALS, triazine and glyphosate-resistant species.  

A preeminent new tool for row crop growers, HELM describes Reviton’s active ingredient as being fast-acting with effects occurring within 24 hours after application.

Additional characteristics of the breakthrough herbicide include an ultra-low use rate, tank mix compatibility, crop rotational flexibility and expanded use as a desiccant for cotton.

Reviton, a PPO-inhibitor herbicide is currently under

Finance, Schemes - NABARD

NABARD disbursed RS 2.51 crore to SHGs for, skill development and digitization of records. 

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) in Karnataka has disbursed ₹2.51 crore of grant assistance to Self Help Groups (SHGs) for promotion, skill development and digitisation of records.

The project E-Shakti for digitisation of SHGs is under implementation in seven districts. So far, 1.17 lakh SHGs are digitised. The cumulative grant assistance of ₹6.47 crore was released for SHG promotion, said Niraj Kumar Verma, Chief General Manager, Nabard.

Addressing the 39th Foundation Day of NABARD. Verma said on the financial inclusion, during the year, ₹5.65 crore was sanctioned and ₹2.07 crore disbursed for supporting various activities and facilitating financial inclusion and digitation of the financial transactions. 18 DCCBs have been covered under Public Management Financial System (PFMS) resulting in Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of funds under various schemes of the Central Government. The cumulative grant assistance released under financial inclusion was ₹43.98 crore.

NABARD disbursed RS 2.51 crore to SHGs

Agro chems – Fertilizers, E-commerce, Finance

 IFFCO has recorded net profit of ₹1,005 crore in FY20 as against ₹842 crore during FY 2018-19 

Fertiliser cooperative Indian Farmers’ Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) has announced all-time high production, sales, profit and despatches of fertilisers during FY 2019-20. 

According to a statement, the fertiliser manufacturer recorded net profit of ₹1,005 crore during the period under review as against ₹842 crore during FY 2018-19. Its turnover touched ₹29,412 crore as against ₹27,852 crore. Apart from its core fertiliser business, IFFCO has also diversified into General Insurance, Rural Retail, Farm Forestry, Rural Telecom, Agrochemicals, Rural Finance, Logistics, SEZ. IFFCO has also forayed into Food Processing, Organics and small move into Nutrients for Urban Gardening also. Taking all these businesses, IFFCO’s group turnover in FY 2019-20 stood at ₹57,778 crores which was ₹50,908 in 2018-19. 

US Awasthi, Managing Director, IFFCO, said that latest numbers are incredible to accomplish in a year severely affected by global and economic challenges. “I am sure that our decision to implement multi-faceted initiatives to augment Farmers’ Welfare and take them to the last mile across the country will contribute effectively to the Nation Building process and will certainly help to fulfil the vision of PM Narendra Modi Ji of doubling the farmers’ income by 2022,” he said. 

On operational front, IFFCO’s total production of fertilisers increased to 91.42 lakh tonnes last fiscal year, from 81.49 lakh tonnes in the previous year.  Out of the total fertiliser production in 2019-20, urea output was 48.75 lakh tonnes (45.62 lakh tonnes). The production of other fertilisers (DAP/NPK/WSF) was 42.87 lakh tonnes in 2019-20 which was 35.87 lakh tonnes in the previous year.

 

IFFCO sold highest ever 133.31 lakh tonnes of fertilisers in last fiscal year (115.56 lakh tonnes). Out of total sales, urea stood at 86.31 lakh tonnes and DAP/NPK at 47 lakh tonnes in 2019-20. IFFCO also achieved its lowest composite energy consumption of 5.285 Gcal per MT (million tonne) which was 5.331 Gcal in 2018-19. IFFCO, has five plants at Kalol, Kandla, Phulpur, Aonla and Paradeep in India and two overseas.

 IFFCO has recorded net profit of ₹1,005

Acts & Schemes – Centre

FPOs can expect the govt’s support for a period of 5 years of which cost is adjudged to be at Rs.6, 866 crore. 

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar released a booklet on the operational guidelines on the functioning new Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) which are scheduled to be formed under the government scheme. The government has announced that it will form 10,000 FPOs last month. 

During the conferencing several key issues were discussed between the union minister and the representatives of the states. The Minister of state for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala and Kailash Chaudhary were also present along with minister of agriculture from various states and senior officers from the Department of Agriculture.

 He said that under the Atma nirbhar package a financial facility of worth Rs 100,000 crore was allocated to establish various Agriculture Infrastructure Projects across the country. The fund will also be utilised to reduce crop wastage which usually accounts for 20% of the total yield.

 He further remarked that under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme the government has set a target of providing over 2.5 crore Kisan Credit Card by the end of the year. Under the PM-Kisan Yojana data has been collected on over 10.5 crore land holdings out of a total of 14.5 crore which will help in identifying those farmers who are in need of KCC.

 The minister set the deadline of the formation of the 10,000 FPOs as 2023-24 and said that the FPOs can expect the government’s support for a period of 5 years whose cost is adjudged to be at Rs.6,866 crore. He assured the states that the Union government will provide its complete support to the states. 

Most of the states which were represented by their Agriculture ministers supported the Union government’s gesture and announced their support to the Union government in implementing these schemes to ensure a wide coverage which in turn would help the farmers raise their income and will boost the rural economy.

FPOs can expect the govt’s support for

Agro chems – Fertilizers, Finance

Imports additional fertilizers to meet growing needs of farmers

The performance of Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT) particularly in the areas of production and marketing is shown marked improvement during first three months of 2020-21.

It has extended fertilizer marketing operations across India and widening its marketing network to West Bengal, Orissa, Maharashtra & Gujarat. It has also started marketing Ammonium Sulphate in the states of Maharashtra and West Bengal.

To improve its top and bottom lines the company has placed purchase orders for the import of 3 shipments of fertilizers. Two shipments, one of 27500 MT of MOP and the other of 27500 MT of Complex Fertilizer have already arrived.

The third shipment of MOP is expected to arrive in August. During the Financial Year 2019-20, it showed record increase in net profit, production of its prime product Factamfos, Ammonium Sulphate and sale of Fertilizers.

The company is planning to restart Caprolactam operations during the financial year 2020-2021 after completing major maintenance activities and installing online effluent monitoring facilities.

Imports additional fertilizers to meet growing needs