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E-commerce, Machinery - Pre-harvesting, Machinery – Post-harvesting

Priority was given to agricultural and power train manufacturing, considered essential industries by governments

 

CNH Industrial today announced that the resumption of manufacturing operations is proceeding according to plan, and follows all COVID-19 health and safety protocols on a global basis. Central to this process is employee health and safety and agreements with trade unions, to ensure full engagement with the resumption of activities. 

More than two thirds of the Company’s 67 plants are already operational, to varying degrees. On a regional basis, more than 75% of production sites in Europe and some 60% in North America, in South America and in the Rest of the World are already operational; in the case of the latter, when considering joint ventures, this proportion approaches 90%.

 Priority was given to agricultural and powertrain manufacturing, considered essential industries by governments, and in response to local market demands. These were followed by commercial and specialty vehicle manufacturing, given the importance of the transportation and civil protection sectors at this time, and thereafter construction equipment production. 

The Company plans to return to full operation at most sites by the end of the month. Modifications may be necessary if local or regional situations deteriorate or in response to specific critical issues, such as end market conditions and supply chains. 

From the beginning of the pandemic, the Company has continuously maintained support and assistance to its sales networks and global spare parts and components supply. End customers, together with the dealer network, have been fully supported by CNH Industrial Aftermarket Solutions, and today, almost all of its 45 logistics hubs are operational, the majority of which are running at full capacity. 

To guarantee future product innovation, CNH Industrial is maintaining its commitment to its most significant Research & Development programs.

Today some 24,000 Company employees are able to work from home, and around half are operational. Where available, the Company in agreement with trade unions, is leveraging employee salary support measures. 

During this period, the Company remains committed to updating and refining its health and safety protocols. Through the contributions of qualified external experts, as well as working in partnership with local and national health authorities, CNH Industrial is ensuring the highest levels of protection and safeguarding for its employees and the local communities in which it operates.

Priority was given to agricultural and power

Acts & Schemes – Centre

It aims to provide SHGs in rural areas with market access to Central and State Government buyers. 

 

 

Amid the 3.0 nationwide lockdown, the Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar, launched “The Saras Collection” on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal at Krishi Bhavan in New Delhi. A unique initiative of GeM and the Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Ministry of Rural Development, the Saras Collection showcases daily utility products made by rural self-help groups (SHGs) and aims to provide SHGs in rural areas with market access to Central and State Government buyers.

As per reports, 913 SHGs from 11 States have already registered as sellers and 442 products have been on-boarded in the first phase.

Under this initiative, the SHG sellers will be able to list their products in 5 product categories, namely handicrafts, handloom and textiles, office accessories, grocery and pantry, and personal care & hygiene. In the first phase, 913 SHGs from 11 States have already registered as sellers and 442 products have been on-boarded. In order to develop a scalable model capable of on boarding a large number of SHGs across the country in a short time frame, GeM has developed an API based integration mechanism with the NRLM database.

About GeM platform

GeM will provide dashboards for functionaries at the national, state, district and block level to provide them real time information about the number of products uploaded by SHGs, and value and volume of orders received and fulfilled. In addition, Government buyers shall be sensitized through system generated messages/ alerts in the Marketplace about availability of SHG products on the portal. Potential buyers shall be able to search, view, cart and procure such products through the stipulated modes of procurement.

The on-boarding of the SHGs under the initiative has been initially piloted in the States of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The coverage shall be rapidly extended to enable a large number of SHGs from all the states/ Union Territories to sell their products to Government buyers.

In order to handhold and facilitate the SHGs in uploading their products, GeM, along with the State and National Rural Livelihoods Missions, are assisting the sellers with product catalogue management, order fulfilment and bid participation. GeM shall also collaborate with State functionaries to address the capacity building and training needs of SHGs, and build up their competencies required for order packaging, catalogue management and logistics. 

With inputs and assistance from NRLM and SRLMs, GeM will develop online learning resources in vernacular content for SHGs and SRLM staff to meet user specific needs. Further, GeM will conduct online webinars for SHGs and functionaries at State Livelihoods Missions and develop videos, eBooks, Manual and repository of FAQs fora seamless learning experience.

 By providing SHGs with direct access to Government buyers, the Saras Collection will do away with intermediaries in the supply chain, thus ensuring better prices for SHGs andspurring employment opportunities at the local level.This is just the beginning and GeM is delighted at this opportunity to partner the SHGs in their growth story. 

The SHGs deserve to be specially commended for the manner in which they, like the entire country, are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic valiantly at this time of national health emergency of unprecedented and historic scale.

 

It aims to provide SHGs in rural

E-commerce

Chakhao has also been used by traditional medical practitioners as part of traditional medicine. 

 

 

Manipur black rice which is popularly known as ‘Chakhao’ by the locals has bagged the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. Moreover, the Geographical Indications Registry website also confirmed the report of registering Chakhao in the name of ‘Manipur black rice’ on their official website. 

 Chakhao Rice

The application for Chakhao was filed by the Consortium of Producers of Chakhao (Black Rice),  Manipur and was facilitated by the Department of Agriculture, Government of Manipur and the North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited. 

About GI Tag

The GI status is an indication that identifies goods as produced from a particular area which has special quality attributable to its geographical origin. GI has great potential to play a major role in trade and there is a possibility of preserving many traditional skills.

 As per reports, it took more than a year for the registration process including documentation by the team members of the state agriculture department, according to officials. 

On getting the registration, project coordinator MS Khaidem of Manipur Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium said, “Now we can sell seeds as well as grains to any parts of the globe. We will get loyalty if anyone wants to do trading.”

  Speciality of Chakhao

Chakhao, scented glutinous rice which has been in cultivation in Manipur over centuries, is characterised by its special aroma. It is normally eaten during community feasts and is also served as Chakhao kheer.Chakhao has also been used by traditional medical practitioners as part of traditional medicine. It is sold at Rs 100-120 a kilogram on an average in the Imphal market.

 “Now we are targeting to take up the GI process for a high protein content local pea variety-Hawai-Tharak Makhyatmubi,” MS Khaidem added. This local pea variety is sold double the price of other pea varieties in Manipur markets.

 

 

 

Chakhao has also been used by traditional

Agro chems – Pesticides, E-commerce, Europe

It will enable companies to commercialize TAEGRO®, biofungicide addressing critical grower needs 

Syngenta, a leading agricultural company, and Novozymes, the world leader in biological solutions, announced last Friday that they are entering the commercialization phase of TAEGRO®. The two companies originally joined forces in 2012 to develop and market the product, and have now received the first wave of product approvals in Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and United Kingdom. Several other approvals are expected across the EU and Latin America during the next 12 months, which will enable multiple product launches in 2020. 

“We’re delighted to see our collaboration with Novozymes entering the commercialization phase and excited about our launch plans. Over the last seven years, our journey together deepened our understanding of biologicals, and we are pleased to place a new tool in the hands of farmers” comments Jean-Philippe Albert, Global Head of Disease Control at Syngenta. 

“This collaboration matches Syngenta’s global market strength in biocontrol and dedication to bring novel technologies to market with Novozymes’ deep knowledge of sustainable, biological solutions,” says Thomas Batchelor, Novozymes’ Vice President of BioAg Commercial. “As the developer and producer of TAEGRO®, we are really excited to see another microbial technology become available to farmers to help them sustainably combat crop diseases and avoid significant yield losses”. 

Alleviating critical grower pain points and addressing the sustainability challenge

TAEGRO® is a microbial foliar fungicide with broad spectrum potential. When fruit and vegetable growers use TAEGRO® in the recommended crop management programs it protects against diseases such as powdery mildew and botrytis. Due to its microbial origin, low application rates, and short re-entry and pre-harvest intervals, TAEGRO® is a powerful tool that helps ensure compliance with food chain requirements and maximize marketable yields. The efforts behind the development and commercialization of TAEGRO® demonstrate both companies’ commitment to sustainability.

It will enable companies to commercialize TAEGRO®,

AgroPolicy

Mandis from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Odisha connected to E- NAM 

A total of 200 mandis, including 94 from Rajasthan, on Friday, joined electronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM) platform, taking the total number of mandis engaged in online marketing of agricultural produce to 785, an official release said here. 

With its 119 mandis on eNAM, Rajasthan has emerged second on the list of States with the maximum number of mandis integrated with the online platform, after Uttar Pradesh whose mandis on eNAM moved up to 125 from 100 earlier with the addition 25 more mandis. Gujarat which added an additional 25 mandis to its list of 79, stood third. 

Among other States, those added more to the eNAM portal include Tamil Nadu, which added 25 mandis to take the total to 50, Odisha which added 16 and Andhra Pradesh which increased the total mandis on eNAM to 33.

Mandis from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil

Agro Universities, Supply Chain

Kisan Sabha connects farmers to supply chain and freight transportation management system.

 

India’s ongoing lockdown has threatened the agriculture sector as it overlaps with the time of harvest. In the present situation of COVID-19, farmers are looking for help in taking their produce to the market, as also in procuring seeds, fertilizer, etc. from the market. A robust supply chain management is urgently required to facilitate the timely delivery of the produce at the best possible prices. 

The Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), a CSIR lab, has come up with an app called Kisan Sabha to resolve the problems related to the agricultural supply chain. The App was remotely launched today by Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Dr Trilochan Mohapatra. The primary objective of Kisan Sabha is to connect farmers to supply chain and freight transportation management system.

Dr Mohapatra complimented the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for developing this App as a one-stop solution for farmers, transporters and other entities engaged in the agriculture sector. He also offered that ICAR can work together with CSIR and use the vast network of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in the country for implementation.

 Dr Shekar C. Mande, Director General of CSIR and Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), who was present on the occasion, noted that “The development and launch of the App reiterate the commitment of CSIR in supporting the farmers in these critical times in the country. We look forward to partnering with ICAR, Industry, MSMEs, the trucker and farming community and all stakeholders to take this initiative forward”, he said. 

Launch of this App was witnessed remotely by representatives of industry, farmers, the team of CSIR-CRRI and other senior scientists of CSIR. Dr Satish Chandra, Director of CSIR-CRRI, highlighted that “As the overall agriculture market is not well organized and a lot of produce gets wasted or is being sold at very low rates, a detailed primary study was undertaken wherein 500+ farmers were interviewed and 6-day long survey with dealers, transporters and farmers were conducted in Asia’s biggest Azadpur Mandi to understand the various issues and gaps in the current environment. Based on this study and the current prevailing situation, the Kisan Sabha App was developed.”

 Kisan Sabha acts as a single stop for every entity related to agriculture, be they farmers who need a better price for the crops or mandi dealers who want to connect to more farmers or truckers who invariably go empty from the mandis. App also works for people in the agriculture services sector such as dealers of fertilizers/pesticides, who can reach out to more farmers for their services. It would also prove to be useful for those associated with cold stores or godowns. KisanSabha also provides a platform for people who want to buy directly from the farmers. Kisan Sabha has six major modules taking care of Farmers, Mandi Dealers, Transporters, Mandi Board Member, Service Providers and Consumers.

 

Kisan Sabha aims to provide the most economical and timely logistics support to the farmers and increase their profit margins by minimizing the interference of middlemen and directly connecting with the institutional buyers. It will also help in providing the best market rates for crops by comparing the prices in the nearest mandis, booking of freight vehicle at the cheapest cost, thereby giving maximum benefit to the farmers.

Kisan Sabha connects farmers to supply chain

E-commerce, Finance, Logistics

 The start-up will make a foray into new sectors like pharmaceuticals, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and groceries 

Logistics platform Loadshare Networks has raised Rs 100 crore in Series-B funding from investors led by Beenext, with participation from the CDC Group of Britain and existing investors like Matrix Partners India, Stellaris Venture Partners and Alteria Capital.

The startup will utilise the funds to expand its network and make a foray into new sectors like pharmaceuticals, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and groceries, the company said in a statement on Monday.

 “The funding will help us deepen our engagement with clients and continue building capabilities through investments in technology, attracting talent, geographical expansion and entering hyperlocal delivery and groceries, Raghu Talluri, the chief executive of Loadshare said.

 Over the past two years, Bengaluru-based Loadshare has increased its regional footprint beyond the north-east, where it first started operations, to over 400 towns across 18 states now with a focus on the eastern states. 

The CDC Group of Britain has co-invested in Loadshare alongside Stellaris Venture Partners, which has been an early investor in the startup launched in 2017.

Loadshare focuses on e-commerce logistics to serve small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in non-e-commerce businesses such as regional trucking and distributor/brand to store logistics. 

“Logistics is a major cost of business in India and this investment demonstrates our continued goal to support increased market access for small businesses and provide economic opportunities for low-income workers in some of the most remote regions, said Srini Nagarajan, head of CDC Group Asia.

Stellaris has been an early investor in Loadshare. Their model of building a country-wide logistics network by enrolling smaller, regional logistics service providers as franchisee partners is unique, and allows them to build a highly capital efficient, asset less logistics company, Alok Goyal, Partner, Stellaris Venture Partners said.

According to Rajinder Balaraman, a director at Matrix India, LoadShare is playing a very significant role in ensuring supply chain continuity. “With their model of working with SMEs, they provide customers flexibility and reach at lower cost. These are important differentiators especially in small towns.”

 The start-up will make a foray into

E-commerce

The production levels will be gradually increased.

Rallis India has resumed operations at its plants located at Lote, Ankleshwar and Dahej from April 27, 2020 after completing critical maintenance jobs which could be taken up by advancing the Annual Shutdown. The production levels will be gradually increased.

The Company’s operations come under the approved list of essential activities as per Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

While resuming operations, the Company is ensuring compliance with the directives issued by the authorities in this regard and is continuing to take various measures to ensure the safety and well-being of all its employees and stakeholders.

The Company continues to closely monitor the situation and will take all necessary measures as directed by the Central and State Government authorities from time to time.

In view of the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and in compliance with the directives issued by the Government authorities and keeping in mind the safety and well-being of all the employees and stakeholders, Rallis India had commenced safe shutdown activities at these plants with effect from March 24, 2020.

 

The production levels will be gradually increased.Rallis

Agrotech, E-commerce

It aims to make the full fruit growing cycle as autonomous as possible. 

Kubota Corporation and Aurea Imaging announced their partnership to explore, validate and demonstrate their combined technology and system solutions for fruit growers around the world. Together, Kubota and Aurea focus on practical tools that leverage the synergies between advanced equipment and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, creating value for fruit growers globally. 

Kubota is accelerating open innovation through the established Innovation Centres in the different regions of the world. Innovation Centre Europe’s focus is to build new business innovations in Orchard and Vineyard farming system solutions through emerging technologies such as Digitalization, AI, Robotics and Autonomous equipment, and advanced Sensor technologies. The key success factor is to create the system link between the equipment in the field and the digital world.

Aurea Imaging develops ‘Crop Intelligence’ products that combine drones and IoT sensors with AI and decision support for high value crops such as apples and pears. Aurea’s prescription maps are used for precision blossom thinning, growth regulation and disease control.

While commenting Kubota, Director of Innovation Centre Europe, Peter van der Vlugt said, “Kubota’s approach to open innovation through its regional Innovation Centres has greatly paid off now in the strategic partnership with Aurea Imaging. Aurea’s Crop Intelligence platform, its network of worldwide drone pilots, and the extensive knowledge in high value crops, especially in Orchards, will boost forward the decision support system for Orchard growers. At the same time we will directly collaborate on developing new equipment ideas and practically linking our existing Kubota equipment into the Crop Intelligence platform.

Aurea Imaging, CEO and Co-founder, Bert Rijk said, “The horticulture sector relies on innovations to help solve its challenges regarding labour force, environmental sustainability and increased productivity. Kubota is the global market leader in equipment for horticulture crops such as orchards and vineyards. Having our Crop Intelligence portfolio work with Kubota’s tractors and machinery we look forward to contributing to a sustainable and profitable horticulture sector.”

 

 

It aims to make the full fruit

World

Earlier, Dr Hughes was Deputy Director General–Research at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines 

Dr. Jacqueline d’Arros Hughes, a well-known plant health expert and leader in international agricultural research, took charge as Director General at Hyderabad based, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). Owing to travel restrictions, Dr Hughes assumed office from the Philippines during a virtual event, where she outlined priorities for the institute during and post the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We need to help where we can in the short-term with the COVID-19 response. ICRISAT’s help will be in assuring productivity in the semi-arid tropics. Risk to people, staff, communities, stakeholders, and the research on which many of our stakeholders depend, has to be minimised as the lockdown lifts,” she stressed. The virtual event was attended by ICRISAT staff and the Governing Board. Dr Hughes took charge from Dr Peter Carberry, who has returned to Australia. 

After earning a doctoral degree in microbiology/virology and spending her early research years in UK, Dr Hughes, a British national, moved to Ghana in the early 1990s to work with the Cocoa Research Institute and then at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nigeria, where she took on increasingly challenging roles in virology, germplasm and plant health management, and eventually was appointed councillor for IITA’s highest research management body. She then joined the World Vegetable Centre in Taiwan as its Deputy Director General – Research. 

Before joining ICRISAT, Dr Hughes was Deputy Director General–Research at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines. IRRI and ICRISAT are sister institutes in CGIAR – the world’s largest agricultural research for development body.

 “Her work and that of the teams she has led has delivered significant impact across Africa and Asia, improving the livelihoods of some of the poorest communities,” said Dr Paco Sereme, Chairman, ICRISAT Governing Board. “She has gained invaluable insight to the world of international agricultural research having worked about 15 years each in Africa and Asia. During the time, she has overseen a diverse number of programmes encompassing numerous issues such as strategic innovation, sustainable impact and cross-cutting research support,” Sereme added.

 At the moment, Dr Hughes is focused on mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on agriculture by supporting smallholder farmers in the semi-arid tropics of Africa and Asia in finding ways to safely return to their farms and ward off food crisis. She also said the year 2020 must be observed with greater resolve as the International Year of Plant Health, as declared by the United Nations. 

When asked what drew her to agricultural research, Dr Hughes said the drive to help farmers and their families led her to it. “The science and research was always there in my family. But I also grew up in rural areas where I admired the knowledge and wisdom of traditional farmers. They couldn’t always see their way out for something better but they certainly knew how to manage their environment,” she said, adding that they were the farmers who were responsible for providing food and this encouraged her from a very early age to work for helping them and their children to have a better life.

 

Calling for making agriculture profitable, Dr Hughes opined it is the only way to attract youth. She also emphasised the need for gender equity and urged researchers to look at project proposals with a gender lens to understand how ICRISAT’s work could affect women and men, and to ensure it does not undermine either. She said equity can lead to gender equality by empowering women to step up to the same level as men.

 

On ensuring ICRISAT’s mandate crops, which are climate-smart and nutritious, go from the farm to the fork, Dr Hughes highlighted the importance of consumer demand.

 

“Agriculture is a business and new products need new proof of concept through consumers and famers as well. How do we get consumers to change? If the product is better, healthier, cheaper and tastier. That should pull the consumer towards the product. But, we need to work very closely since diets are context and culture specific, and trying to change the taste of a community or of a country is really difficult.”

 

Dr Hughes also underscored the role ICRISAT can play as a mentor and a trusted advisor for the Semi-Arid Tropics (SAT) in ensuring dissemination of reliable information and data on weather, water availability, markets and other essential factors through Digital Agriculture efforts.

 

In a message to its staff, ICRISAT’s Director General advised them to keep well and thanked the institute’s funders and partners for continued support. She said, “I want to reassure everyone that ICRISAT is continuing to work with necessary restrictions. We are looking forward to continuing with the support of funders and partners through the pandemic, and as we go through the new normal, we will deliver on our commitments to the Semi-Arid Tropics.”

Earlier, Dr Hughes was Deputy Director General–Research

E-commerce, Supply Chain

It has been launched in partnership with local grocery stores in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Pune  

 

 

With millions of farmers across the country left in the lurch, owing to the lockdown, Ninjacart – India’s leading fresh produce supply chain company has launched an initiative called ‘Harvest The Farms’ to help the farmers. Millions of tonnes of vegetables are rotting in the farms – unharvested and through this initiative, farmers who are struggling to find buyers for their produce can now directly sell to the consumers through Ninjacart. This is a win-win situation for both the farmers and the consumers. Farmers will have ready customers for their produce whereas customers will get farm fresh products at lower rates. Ninjacart’s well-connected fresh food supply chain across the country can distribute the produce at a very marginal cost from farm to consumers. 

‘Harvest The Farms’ has been launched in partnership with local grocery stores and will be available in Zomato, Swiggy and Dunzo in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Pune. Customers can simply head to the Zomato Market, Swiggy Grocery section or Dunzo Fruits and Vegetable section, search for the nearest Ninjacart powered stores, select the fresh vegetables and fruits on offer and place their order. To enable this, Ninjacart has partnered with local grocery stores to bring the benefit to consumers

 

Highlighting the initiative, Thirukumaran Nagarajan, Co-founder and CEO, Ninjacart said, “Ninjacart has always believed in leveraging technology to create a positive impact on our society. During these uncertain times, while we are dealing with supply chain disruption, we cannot overlook the farmers’ plight and let the harvest get wasted. With India’s largest fresh produce supply chain and extensive distribution network in cities, we can leverage our capabilities to help farmers harvest the produce and let customers buy directly – preventing food wastage and reducing losses to farmers.”

 

“‘Harvest the farms’ is putting the best of Ninjacart to work in partnership with consumers to feed the feeding hands. This initiative would have not been possible without the support of local grocery stores and quick turnaround by teams at Zomato, Swiggy and Dunzo to make it accessible and beneficial for large consumers,” Nagarajan added.

 

Rajappa, Owner, Fresh Basket grocery store, Bangalore said, “Ninjacart’s innovative initiative to help farmers reduce losses, while making the products more affordable to customers through the ‘Harvest the Farms’ initiative is commendable. We are happy to partner with Ninjacart to make this possible.”

Speaking on the partnership, Vivek Sunder, COO, Swiggy also said, “During these unprecedented times, farmers are amongst the hardest-hit as a result of the lockdown and disruptions in the supply chain. Our partnership with Ninjacart will enable us to support them and ease some of their challenges. Through Ninjacart’s tech-driven supply chain platform, fresh produce sourced directly from the affected farmers will now be available to our customers across major cities through the ’Grocery’ tab on Swiggy.”

 

“Across the country, we’ve seen a surge in demand for essentials like fruits and vegetables. It was important that we connect suppliers and farmers directly with the customers. The strained supply chain needs to be rebuilt and the farming community rests at the heart of that effort and this initiative by Ninjacart, allows all of us to empower and support farmers during these uncertain times. With Dunzo’s logistics and on-demand services, this partnership ensures the safe and timely delivery of their produce directly to consumers, aiding the initiative as well as supporting the livelihoods of our farmers.” said Kabeer Biswas, CEO and Co-Founder, Dunzo. 

“We have been focused on finding ways to help everyone whose livelihood has been impacted due to the pandemic in the country. Therefore, Ninjacart’s Harvest the Farms is one initiative hits home. We are glad to team up with Ninjacart and employ our tech expertise, wide customer reach and on-ground delivery network to help them sell fresh produce procured directly from the farmers on Zomato Market,” said Mohit Sardana, COO- Food Delivery, Zomato

 

Under this initiative, Ninjacart will identify vegetables that are in excess supply, as well as those that are going unharvested within their farmer networks. They will offer to buy these vegetables from the farmers, to help them recover their investments. These products will then be offered to customers at a lower rate, so as to increase the demand.  Some of the products available under Harvest the farms initiative are tomato, capsicum, cauliflower, cabbage, banana, watermelon and muskmelon among others.

 

Ninjacart is also appealing to the public to let them know if they are aware of any farmers who are struggling to sell their produce.

It has been launched in partnership with

Agrotech, E-commerce

Solutions includes farm mechanization, agri technology, crop monitoring, etc.

 

 FICCI Task Force on Agri start-ups is supporting and scaling Agri innovations by Agri start-ups, which can transform agriculture landscape and improve farm economics. The Agri and food supply chain is broken and disrupted due to Covid- 19 pandemic and need some immediate solutions. As of now the priority for the nation is to keep the Agri supply chain rolling during and post lockdown phase. This becomes even more critical when a huge Rabi crop will have to be procured and stored as well as the sowing for Kharif will begin in a few weeks. Agritech ecosystem can play an important role in many ways to keep the food and Agri supply chain rolling. Many Agri start-ups are already working to solve the problems at hand. Some of the possible solutions by them are as follows: 

1 Agritech Solutions for Rabi produce 

 Aggregation and distribution of farm produce from point of collection to consumption centres. Aggregation of farm produce is a key missing link in the supply chain. Mandi infrastructure (including loading, unloading, grading, sorting, packing, quality assaying, trading) is not working as much as it should to handle the Rabi harvest at hand. In addition, there are many pockets in the country, where the density of mandis is low and not easily accessible to farmers. Many start-ups are trying to connect farmers with buyers including retailers, e-commerce, processors, cloud kitchens and even direct to consumer.

Start-ups working in this area include Ninjacart, Jumbotail, Bigbasket, ShopKirana, SuperZop, WayCool, MeraKisan, Kamatan, DeHaat, KrishiHub, Agrowave, Loop, Crofarm, FreshoKartz, Agribolo, Himkara, Kisan Network.

 Quality assaying of agricultural commodities

Grading and sorting methods used in India are often manual, subjective, instrument driven, expensive or time-consuming.  The Indian agricultural supply chain has always faced a problem of lack of standardisation of grade of commodities. This makes it difficult to develop a pan India market platform like ENAM for trading and online / remote transactions of commodities. Such a platform needs to be operationalised urgently for enabling remote transactions for farmers and traders.

Many Agritech start-ups are attempting to solve problem of standardisation through mobile imagery and digitisation (such as transactional data, discovery and traceability). The start-ups in this category include Intellolabs, Agricxlab, Zense, Raav Tech, Occipital, Amvicube, Nanopix etc. 

 Building near-farm storage, warehouse and processing units

We may lose significant proportion of food products after harvest due to disruption and poor infrastructure. Lack of bulk storage and transportation for cereal crops and lack of end-to-end cold chain facilities for perishable items (including animal protein, milk, and horticulture) is another major challenge causing post-harvest wastages.

A majority of losses can happen immediately after the harvest at the farm level itself because of lack of labour on the farm. Some start-ups have begun work on near-farm, modular and affordable storage and processing solutions. These storage facilities are intended to give farmers an option to sell the produce at the right price at the right time instead of immediate or distressed liquidation of their produce after harvest. The start-ups in this category include Our Foods, Agri Bazaar, Star Agri, Arya Collateral, Ecozen, Origo.

 Agritech Solutions for Kharif sowing

Optimise the use of agricultural inputs and enable delivery to farmers

The solutions include farm and crop diagnostics for mapping soil nutrition requirements through scanners and detection of pest attack through mobile imagery. This, in turn, helps in precise and timely application of agricultural inputs including seeds, fertilisers and pesticides.

These solutions improve farm economics by reducing the use of inputs and improving farm productivity. ‘Direct to farmer’ models for agriculture also enhance timely availability of necessary inputs, which conventional supply chains fail to deliver in many cases. Agri start-ups are trying to build business models to reach out to farmers directly with both online as well as through offline presence in the villages. Such start-ups can play pivotal role in making sure that farmers get desired inputs in timely manner. Some of the start-ups in this category are Agrostar, BigHaat, Behtar Zindagi, Unnati, Gramophone, Freshokartz, AgriBolo, DeHaat, Bharat Rohan, Bharat Agri.

 Reduce labour cost through mechanisation

Farm labour is in scarcity both for harvesting and sowing at this point of time. Mechanisation solutions include innovations in both hardware and farm services. Remote irrigation controllers, machines for urea deep placement, rain guns, and machines for grading and sorting, equipment for solar dehydration are some examples of innovations around hardware development to improve mechanisation in Indian farms.

Innovations around farm services typically include business models operating on the pay-per-use models (also known as FaaS – Farming as a Service) through custom hiring services. Such innovations have a huge role to play in improving farmers’ access of mechanisation.  Some of the start-ups in this category are Sickle innovations, Distinct Horizon, Tractor Junction, Khetibadi, J Farm service.

In addition, some of the start-ups have focused on accurate and timely assessment of soil moisture and developing data-driven controlled irrigation model. The start-ups in this category include Satyukt Analytics, Flybird, Kritsnam, Agrirain, and Manna Irrigation. 

 Farmer advisory for crop monitoring

Agritech start-ups can also help in sowing as well as crop monitoring solutions. This include capturing and analysing multiple data points including weather, farm, soil and crop data, all of which can facilitate decision making as well as enabling farmers’ access to institutional credit and crop insurance.

Many of these start-ups are using satellite images to geotag farms, assess crop health and estimate output.  They are also building algorithms for farm monitoring and models for artificial intelligence to automate and improve predictably of yield and farmers’ incomes. Some of these start-ups include CropIn, SatSure, Farmguide, Niruthi, AgRisk, Skymet.  Start-ups like Samunnati, FarMart, Jai-Kisan, PayAgri, Bijak are specifically working in value chain financing.

 

 

Solutions includes farm mechanization, agri technology, crop

AgroPolicy, Finance

The gross value added (GVA) in the sector was assumed to have grown 3.7% in FY20. 

 Agriculture would come to the rescue of Indian economy and it will grow by 3 per cent this year despite all adverse conditions and thus would add at least 0.5 per cent to India’s GDP growth in 2020-21, said Ramesh Chand, Member Niti Aayog in Delhi. The gross value added (GVA) in the sector was assumed to have grown 3.7% in FY20, according to the second advance estimate of the economic growth announced by the government. 

Chand, who along with Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, addressed the media here said an expected normal monsoon and nearly 40 to 60 per cent more water in reservoirs as compared to last year, would ensure a good crop output this year. On top of it, mandi prices of most agricultural commodities, including potatoes and onions, are better than last year and this would increase the farmers’ income, which would lead them to invest more in farming this year, he said. 

To buttress the point, Chand hinted at increasing sales of fertilisers and seeds in April. As compared to April last year, the sale of fertiliser in the country is 5 per cent more so far. If the sale of total fertiliser last April was 12.86 lakh tonnes, that was around 13.5 lakh tonnes till April 28 this year. “There are two more days left. If one includes the fertiliser sales today and tomorrow, it would be at least 8 per cent more than the same period of last year despite all adverse conditions due to the lockdown,” the Niti Aayog Member said.

 Similarly, the sale of seeds sold through Krishi Vigyan Kendras during the first four months of the year was 20 per cent more than the corresponding period last year, Chand said. Earlier addressing the media, Tomar said the area under zaid (summer) crop this year was more than 57 lakh hectares, which is 38 per cent more than that in the previous year.

 The Minister said the government is taking all measures to ensure that farming activities are not affected by the lockdown. While rabi pulses and oilseed crops are already harvested by the farmers, 88 per cent of wheat harvest is already completed. The rest would be done by next one week. Till Wednesday, the total wheat procurement by Central agencies has gone up to 117 lakh tonnes.

 He said to make it easy for farmers to sell the commodities, 100 more mandis would join eNAM platform by May 1, taking the total number of mandis engaged in online trading of agricultural produce to 685. During the month of May, the attempt would be to take the total number of mandis on eNAM to 1,000, Tomar said.

 He also said that 11 lakh big and small vehicles registered on Kisan Rath app recently launched by the Agriculture Ministry to help ferry farm produce from farm gate to mandi and between mandis and warehouses.

The gross value added (GVA) in the

E-commerce

The challenge will identify two companies with novel solutions to support the future of protein

Radicle Growth and Syngenta announced the launch of The Radicle Protein Challenge by Syngenta. Together, Radicle and Syngenta will identify two companies with novel solutions to support the future of protein (which could include new or experimental protein sources, or protein conversion technologies) that are solving challenges spanning from plant-based ag to the regenerative side of agriculture, to invest $1.25m in.

Radicle and Syngenta are seeking entrepreneurs representing companies of all stages from around the world to apply for the $1.25 million in investment — $1 million for the Challenge winner and the $250k for the second-place winner — to accelerate the growth of their technologies. Applications are open through May 29, 2020. The winners will not only receive a significant investment and custom accelerator program from Radicle Growth but will have access to Radicle and Syngenta’s broad agriculture expertise and global agtech networks to advance and promote their technology. 

“Innovative protein sources are increasingly important for a growing population. We are excited to be collaborating with Radicle and entrepreneurs from around the world to accelerate innovation and I am looking forward to seeing lots of creative ideas,” says Erik Fyrwald, CEO, Syngenta. “Our mission at Syngenta of helping farmers to make the best use of available resources and grow the crops we need in an environmentally friendly and healthy way, includes providing them with the best products, technologies and agronomic advice.” 

After entries close, several months of due diligence work will begin and 4-6 finalists will be identified from the pool of applicants. The finalists will participate in a Pitch Day competition . Each company will have the opportunity to present in front of a leading panel of judges, including Erik Fyrwald, who will deliberate and select the two winners. 

“Recent Gallup data confirms that nearly a quarter of Americans are eating less meat than ever before. This has increased the demand for plant-based and cellular agriculture alternatives to traditional protein sources,” says Kirk Haney, managing partner of Radicle Growth. “Many companies focused on this space have been hard at work with plans to launch in the near-term. Getting the product right to meet consumer demand is only half the battle, the pricing also needs to be right. We look forward to seeing the companies emerging in, and looking to grow, in this space and providing them the capital they need to overcome the challenges of growing this segment and staying ahead of consumer demands.”

The challenge will identify two companies with