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E-commerce

The relief efforts will impact 150,000 families across 16 cities in India  

Amid the global lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19, there is a growing need to feed the most vulnerable communities in our society.  In line with its purpose of nourishing Indian quarantined population, world’ leading Agro manufacturing Industry Cargill has pledged 16 million meals to feed families through dry ration kits and cooked meals. The relief efforts will impact 150,000 families across 16 cities in India; including Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Pune, Kurkumbh, Kandla, Surat, Bengaluru, Davangere, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, Bhatinda, Noida, Nagpur, Varanasi and Jaipur, say reports. 

Cargill Distributes Dry Ration Kit as well as Cooked Meals amid Lockdown.Moreover, Cargill is working with three NGO partners to implement this; namely, Akshaya Patra Foundation, Feeding India and India Food Banking Network (IFBN), reaching out to communities pan India. The dry ration kits include food items like pulses, rice, oil, wheat flour, spices etc. depending on local requirements. And cooked meals are also being served daily across these states.

Cargill’s efforts also include a monetary contribution to the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM Cares Fund). Cargill is also leveraging its own distribution network and working with local state authorities to meet hyper-local needs with in-kind donations across the country.

 Simon George, the president of Cargill India said, “This global crisis requires a fully concerted approach to be adopted. Given the critical nature of our business, we are cognizant of our role in the relief and recovery efforts. We are doing everything needed to ensure supply of essential food and feed products continues. On the other hand, we are supporting local authorities and reaching out through NGO partners to provide food items and meals to nourish those impacted. We will continue helping communities during this time of need.”

 Sundeep Talwar, Chief Marketing Officer, Akshay Patra Foundation, said, “Our partnership with Cargill has strengthened our resolve to serve the ones most affected in this hour of crisis. Support from Cargill shall enable provision of cooked meals and dry ration kits for thousands of marginalized families who have lost their livelihood. We hope our collaborative efforts will alleviate the burden for these families.” 

On the other hand, Cargill India employees are also making voluntary contributions to support the cause. Cargill India will be matching the amount collected through this drive, thus doubling employees’ contribution to help communities. The corpus collected will be donated to the PM Cares Fund, set up by PM Modi for those affected by the coronavirus. 

 Cargill’s 160,000 employees across 70 countries work relentlessly to achieve the purpose of nourishing the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. 

 

The relief efforts will impact 150,000 families

Agro chems – Chemicals, E-commerce

As Govt asked fertilizer and chemical PSUs to convert the current Covid-19 adversity into an opportunity. 

 

 

State-run HIL India is looking for joint venture investments from agro-chemical makers in China, South Korea and Japan after the government asked fertiliser and chemical PSUs to convert the current COVID-19 adversity into an opportunity.

Fertiliser and Chemicals Minister D V Sadananda Gowda has advised that “Indian corporates especially PSUs under his ministry should try to convert COVID-19 adversity into an opportunity of attracting investments from abroad.”

“Following on the advice, HIL, a CPSU under the department, is looking for expanding its business area and has sent proposals to Indian Embassies/Missions in China, Japan and South Korea for inviting interested agro-chemical manufacturers in respective countries for investment in India,” an official statement said.

HIL is looking for business tie up in areas of contract manufacturing or plan-on-lease arrangement, it said.

For smooth running of its Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals has taken initiatives to overcome the hurdles posed by Covid-19 pandemic and has suggested them to strengthen their performance by exploring joint ventures with global enterprises looking for investments.

Despite facing a lot of hurdles due to  COVID crisis, the ministry said HIL is ensuring supply of essential chemicals such as DDT in health segments, while seeds and pesticides in agriculture segments in various parts of the country.

The ministry said that production in HIL units has been affected during the lockdown period. However, the company has shown good sales during the last week ended April 24.

 

HIL sold 37.99 tonnes of agro-chemicals, dispatched 97 tonnes of DDT, executed an export order of 10 tonnes of Mancozeb  to Peru, it said.

HIL has also drafted an agreement, which has been shared with the Ministry of Agriculture, for supply of Malathion Technical for Locust Control Programme, it added.

As Govt asked fertilizer and chemical PSUs

AgroPolicy, E-commerce

The association has urged, in its letter, to increase export incentive on the soyameal from 5 per cent to 10 per cent 

 

The Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA), an apex body of soyabean processors in the country, has sought stimulus package from the government of India to lift the soya processing industry, which has been impacted by the prolonged shut down and collapse of poultry sector. 

In separate letters to the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Prime Minister and other Union Ministers concerned, the SOPA chairman Davish Jain said the prolonged shutdown, which has caused a serious damage to the overall economy of the country, has also impacted the soyabean processing industry. With the collapse of the poultry sector, which consumes 60 per cent of the soyameal, there are no takers for it leading to most of the processing units being shut.

The SOPA chairman said with no operations, no sale and no access to funds, there is no cash flow and the industry is cash-starved.

Added to this the Labour Department’s missive to the units to ensure continued payment of double wages to the workers who work for more than 8 hours, has further added to the industry’s woes. The association has urged, in its letter, to increase export incentive on the soyameal from 5 per cent to 10 per cent so as to revive export in the current depressed global markets. In addition to this, SOPA has urged the Centre to exempt the meal and the bean from GST.

Jain said they have also urged the Centre to advise State governments to remove APMC or mandi fee.

The association has urged, in its letter,

Agro chems – Fertilizers, E-commerce

The company has partially commenced operations at its Visakhapatnam fertilizer unit and Kakinada plant.

Coromandel International Ltd (CIL) announced that it has partially commenced operations at its Visakhapatnam fertilizer unit and that its Kakinada facility is still running, according to a stock exchange filing on 25 April.

The firm is one of the largest domestic suppliers of phosphate-based fertilizers in India, having produced 2.94mn t in 2018-19, according to its annual report. It produced 561,000t of SSP in the same period from eight production locations. 

It has a total annual capacity of 3.5mn t of phosphate fertilizer, which includes DAP, SSP and NPKs, the report says. Its major phosphate plants are in southeast India, in Kakinada and Visakhapatnam, both located in Andhra Pradhesh, and two at Ennore and Ranipet in Tamil Nadu.

CIL reduced manpower at its NPK facilities on 23 March in light of the Indian government’s initial plan for a 15-day lockdown on 24 March to curb the spread of coronavirus. CIL then suspended operations at its NPK plants at Indore and Visakhapatnam on 26 March. The government has since extended the lockdown until 3 May. 

CIL’s shutdown came amid a slew of closures announced by Indian fertilizer producers at the end of March, with fellow suppliers IFFCO, Deepak, PPL, Fact, GSFC, RCF, Smartchem and Greenstar announcing plant closures or reduced operating rates.

 

Raw materials imports return

The announcement of CIL’s resumption follows an uptick in raw materials purchases earlier this month. CIL has been active in securing prompt sulphuric acid at negative cfr prices. The producer was coming out of planned maintenance when lockdowns were imposed and, despite the various disruptions, discharge of sulphuric acid at Vizag and Kakinada has not been affected. 

CIL is still receiving its contracted ammonia shipments from suppliers, with a further 5,000t scheduled for early-May delivery.

CIL sources phosphoric acid as a raw material for production from a wide array of origins, most notably Morocco’s OCP. CIL received 983,000t of phosphoric acid last year, of which OCP shipped 454,000t.

But OCP reports that April-loading phosphoric acid shipments to India have largely ground to a halt following the drop in phosphates production and has accordingly sought to granulate more DAP for Indian consumption. CIL bought 50,000t of Moroccan DAP for May arrival to offset its lowered output.

The company has partially commenced operations at

E-commerce, Packaging & Labelling, Supply Chain

The boxes will begin appearing in grocery stores in mid-May. 

Tanimura & Antle, Salinas, Calif., is introducing HarvestSelect, a box of fresh produce, to retailers for their consumer pickup and delivery programs. Each box contains at least eight fruit and vegetable products and a recipe card, and has its own Universal Product Code for quick scanning, according to a news release. A Produce Traceability Initiative-compliant sticker includes packing dates and where the items were grown. 

Tanimura & Antle first made the boxes for its employees and donations to community groups and plans to sell to foodservice operators and wholesalers participating in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Buy Fresh program, known as the Farmers to Families food box program.

Tanimura & Antle packs similar boxes during the holidays each year. The company continues to donate to local food banks, according to the release.

“After packing over a thousand boxes locally, e-mails and phone calls started coming in,” Scott Grabau, president and CEO, said in the release. “Our retail partners began requesting the option to carry these convenient packs in stores to help provide additional lift to the produce category and offer consumers a convenient and valuable produce option.” 

The boxes will begin appearing in grocery stores in mid-May. “Our HarvestSelect box promotes healthy home-cooking for families, with the convenience of being pre-selected and packaged,” Grabau said in the release.

 

The boxes will begin appearing in grocery

Acts & Schemes – Centre

Out of this Punjab has shared major contribution 48.27 LMT followed by Hariyana with 19.07 LMT.

Procurement of wheat is progressing at a very fast pace in all major procuring states of the country. A quantity of 88.61 Lakh Metric Tonne (LMT) wheat has already been procured for the Central pool till April 26, 2020. Out of this, major contribution has been from Punjab with 48.27 LMT followed by Haryana with 19.07 LMT.

 Going by the present pace of procurement, the target of 400 LMT kept for the season is likely to be achieved. Considering the looming threat of spread of Covid-19 virus, procurement is being undertaken after taking enough precautions and ensuring social distancing in the mandis. Every effort is being made to ensure that the farmers are not put to any kind of distress. Continuing the healthy pace of dispatch of food grains from surplus to consuming regions, Food Corporation of India (FCI) crossed the 2,000 number in terms of train loads dispatched during lockdown period.

 Till April 27, 20, a total number of 2,087 of train loads carrying about 58.44 Lakh MT were dispatched to meet the requirements of food grains under various schemes of Government of India. Unloading of 1,909 rakes carrying 53.47 LMT stocks was also done during this period, despite severe constraints posed due to declaration of hotspots and containment zones in many of the key unloading centres in consuming states.

 

It is expected that with gradual easing of restrictions by Central and state governments, the pace of unloading will be enhanced further in the coming days. Lifting of free food grains to be distributed @ 5 Kg/person for 3 months (April to May 2020) under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) is progressing well with UTs of Ladakh and Lakshadweep already completing lifting of full quota for three months.

 

Another seven states are lifting June month quota whereas 20 states are currently lifting May month quota. Eight states are lifting April month quota, which is expected to be completed by month end. FCI has made arrangements to position adequate stocks in all states to meet the requirements. In the case of West Bengal, where additional allocation for three months is about 9 Lakh MT, plans have already been drawn to move about 227 train loads of rice to various parts of the state concurrently from four states i.e., Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha to West Bengal to ensure availability of sufficient food grains in a short span of time.

Out of this Punjab has shared major contribution

AgroPolicy, Oilseeds, Pulses

About 1.20 lakh tonnes of tur dal has been procured from seven states

 Amid the COVID-19 lockdown, the Centre has procured 1.92 lakh tonnes of gram and tur dal and 1.83 lakh tonnes of mustard seeds, totalling 3.75 lakh tonnes under the Price Support Scheme (PSS), according to the Agriculture Ministry.

 The PSS is put into operation on state governments’ request when prices fall below the minimum support price (MSP). 

The procurement is undertaken by nodal agencies like Nafed at minimum support price (MSP). Only fair average quality commodity is purchased. However in view of COVID-19 pandemic, the daily procurement limit has been increased from 25 quintals to 40 quintals per day under the PSS for rabi crops. 

In a statement, the ministry said PSS has been operationalised for procurement of pulses and oilseeds growing in the rabi season of 2019-20 crop year (July-June) in seven states — Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. 

Among pulses, about 72,415 tonnes of gram (chana) have been procured from five states — Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. 

About 1.20 lakh tonnes of tur dal has been procured from seven states — Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Odisha. 

In case of oilseeds, the Centre has purchased 1.83 lakh tonnes of mustard seed from three states — Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, the ministry said. 

Pulses, Oilseeds output

As per the second estimate of the ministry, pulses and oilseeds output during 2019 rabi season has been pegged at 15.11 million tonnes and 10.75 million tonnes, respectively. 

According to the ministry, standard operating protocol (SOP) related to crop harvesting and threshing is being adhered to by farmers and workers.States have been asked to ensure compliance of SOP in order to protect the health of farmers and farm workers and contain the spread of coronavirus. 

Meanwhile, wheat harvesting across the country is continuing at a brisk pace amidst the Covid-19 lockdown. As reported by the states, nearly 99 per cent of wheat crop has been harvested in Madhya Pradesh, 92-95 per cent in Rajasthan, 85-88 per cent in Uttar Pradesh, 55-60 per cent in Haryana, 60-65 per cent in Punjab and 87-88 per cent in other states so far.

The ministry also said that the National Horticulture Board (NHB) has uploaded on its website the availability of planting material from its 618 accredited nurseries to help farmers buy good planting material for the ensuing sowing season of kharif crops.

About 1.20 lakh tonnes of tur dal

Acquaculture, AgroPolicy

The facility of cargo for aqua production and sale will be launched soon. 

Andhra Pradesh government will soon set up an Aquaculture Authority to monitor the hatcheries from seed to marketing. It will also assure Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farmers and asked the farmers not to sell aqua products in distress. 

The State has the largest number of hatcheries in the country. But with 80 percent of brooders (mother prawns) imported from the US, production has been hit due to the lockdown. In this regard, the State government has already written to the Union Ministry of Commerce and Fisheries to permit the cargo for aqua production and sale.

“The State government will stand by the aqua farmers and make sure that they need not resort to distress sales. As of now, exports of the aqua produce have begun in various ports across the State, soon the cargo services will be made fully functional,’’ Mopidevi Venkataramana Ramana, Minister for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Government of Andhra Pradesh, said in a release.

The facility of cargo for aqua production

E-commerce, Pulses

IPGA is supporting the front line fighters and the migrant families stuck in containment zones. 

 

 

India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA), the nodal body for India’s pulses trade and industry today announced its decision to join the nation’s efforts in providing relief during the COVID-19 lockdown.

IPGA, as a part of its activities, has decided to contribute a sum of Rs. 21 lakhs to the PM-CARES Fund which is in addition to the various amounts contributed by their members. The overall contribution from the Pulses Trade to PM-CARES Fund is close to Rs. 5 crores. This is over and above the contribution made by IPGA Members in the form of food grains, sanitizers, masks, gloves and similar essential commodities and products.

IPGA, apart from the contribution to PM-CARES Fund, is also supporting the frontline fighters as well as the migrant families and needy families stuck in containment zones. IPGA will be providing a total of 6,000 food grain ration bags for this cause. Each bag of ration will contain 5 kgs of rice, 5 kgs of atta, 2 kgs of dal, 1 litre of cooking oil, 1 kg of sugar and 1 kg of salt.

 IPGA handed over the first batch of 500 ration bags to Bellale, Assistant Commissioner, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for distribution in the containment zone in F WARD NORTH. IPGA will be providing 3,500 more bags for F Ward North and another 1,000 bags in the Worli Koliwada area. 

IPGA also handed over the first batch of 500 ration bags out of 1000 bags to Suresh Mengade, DCP – SB at the office of the Commissioner of Police at Belapur in Navi Mumbai.

Jitu Bheda, Chairman – IPGA speaking about the initiative said, “Supporting the police personnel of Navi Mumbai is our way of expressing our gratitude to them for the tireless efforts taken by them to ensure that the APMC continues to function every day. APMC is the hub for distribution of food grains, vegetable, fruits and other essential commodities to Mumbai City and everyday a high number of trucks carrying essential commodities arrive at APMC and the number of people in the area is extremely high making it a high-risk area. It is the crucial responsibility of Navi Mumbai police personnel that proper social distancing, sanitization and controlled movement of citizens is maintained which they have been managing admirably. 

 Bimal Kothari, Vice Chairman – IPGA speaking about the initiative said, “As the nodal body of the pulses trade, we are proud to be a part of this affair and to be the first association to do this. We hope that our effort encourages other similar Associations to come forward and contribute. The migrant population in Mumbai is in a way a huge support system to our society. Many of them work in various infrastructure projects, as daily workers in mandis or wholesale markets, in our houses and many other areas. This is the time, that we as a city need to come together to take care of them and support them.”

 

 

IPGA is supporting the front line fighters

E-commerce, North America, R&D

 Expands use of pollination-on-demand technology for U.S. corn seed production 

Corteva Agriscience, (NYSE: CTVA), and PowerPollen®, an Iowa-based ag tech company that developed the first and only scalable pollination technology for commodity crops, recently announced a commercial agreement expanding the use of pollination-on-demand technology, enabling increased flexibility and productivity for Corteva’s commercial corn seed production. 

As part of the agreement, Corteva will license the on-demand pollination technology and gain access to PowerPollen’s prescriptive pollination expertise and algorithms that inform producers of the optimal pollination timing to increase seed yield, purity and quality. 

“Over several decades, scientific advancements have improved agricultural productivity, but the challenges associated with pollination have remained largely unsolved. Based on in-field testing, we believe PowerPollen’s technology will further enable us to produce high-quality seed for our farmers and improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of modern farming practices” said Neal Gutterson, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Corteva Agriscience. 

PowerPollen will be responsible for collecting, preserving and applying pollen leveraging its patented technology, which uses custom designed tools and preservation methods built to scale for commercial operations.

 “Preserving and applying pollen at the optimal time to enable the production of a hybrid provides flexibility and efficiencies never before achieved in production agriculture. Corteva is the ideal collaborator to help us accelerate our commercialization strategy,” said Dr. Todd Krone, co-founder and CEO of PowerPollen. “Since launching PowerPollen five years ago, we’ve refined our preservation technology to extend the window of pollination from a few hours to more than six months.” 

The ability to preserve pollen enables product innovation across a wider variety of hybrids, increasing genetic diversity and in-season decision making.The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

 Expands use of pollination-on-demand technology for U.S.

E-commerce, Logistics

More than 15,000 farmers have benefited from this service   

Agri major Bayer on Monday said it has tied up with Pune-based e-commerce firm AgroStar to deliver its products like seeds and pesticides to farmers in view of the nationwide lockdown.

“Under the partnership, farmers can order Bayer’s seeds and crop protection products for their entire crop lifecycle and receive agronomic advisory through Agro Star’s digital agri-tech platform,” the company said in a statement.

Home delivery of agri-inputs can currently be availed by farmers in north, west and central India, with plans to extend the scope to other geographies in the future, said the Company.

In the current COVID-19 lockdown situation, Bayer said that the partnership has enabled last mile delivery of seeds and crop protection products for multiple crops directly to farmer’s doorsteps.

With agri-input shops remaining partly shut, AgroStar is fulfilling farmers’ orders through its 500+ strong network of last mile delivery partners, who are doing doorstep delivery of agri-inputs, while following hygiene and social distancing norms.

With agri-input shops remaining partly shut, AgroStar is fulfilling farmers’ orders through it’s over 500 strong network of last-mile delivery partners, who are doing doorstep delivery of agri-inputs. More than 15,000 farmers have benefitted from this service and have avoided stepping out to buy agri-inputs ahead of the kharif season, Bayer said.

Shardul Sheth, CEO and Co-Founder of AgroStar, said the good quality agri-inputs, coupled with our digital agronomy solutions, have the potential to significantly increase farm productivity and farmer incomes.

More than 15,000 farmers have benefited from this service, the statement said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

More than 15,000 farmers have benefited from

Acts & Schemes – Centre

Till date, total of 80,474 farmers and 70,581 traders are registered on this App. 

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare had launched “Kisan Rath” App on 17 April  to facilitate Farmers and Traders in identifying right mode of transportation for movement of farm produce ranging from food grain (cereal, coarse cereal, pulses etc), Fruits & Vegetables, oil seeds, spices, fibre crops, flowers, bamboo, log & minor forest produce, coconuts etc. Till date, total of 80,474 farmers and 70,581 traders are registered on this App.

Due to complete lockdown, all the wholesale mandis were closed on 25.03.2020. There are 2587 Principal/Main agricultural Markets available in India, out of which 1091 markets were functional on 26.03.2020. As on 23.04.2020, 2067 markets were made functional.

The procurement of Pulses & Oilseeds on MSP is currently in progress in twenty (20) States. A quantity of 1,79,852.21 MT of Pulses and 1,64,195.14 MT of Oilseeds has been procured by NAFED and FCI valued at Rs 1605.43 Crores through which 2,05,869 farmers have been benefited.

 

 

 

Till date, total of 80,474 farmers and 70,581

E-commerce

Operations in its all three manufacturing facilities located at Sanand (Gujarat), Udhampur (J&K) and Keshwana (Rajasthan) have resumed. 

After a temporary shutdown amid Covid-19, the agrochemicals services provider Dhanuka Agritech on Friday informed that they have reopened their operations in various regions. However, not all offices of Dhanuka will be opened and employees there will continue to work from home.

In a notification to exchanges, Dhanuka revealed that operations in its all three manufacturing facilities located at Sanand (Gujarat), Udhampur (J&K) and Keshwana (Rajasthan) have resumed.

Dhanuka said, “we would like to inform the exchange that Company started to operate it’s all there plants and depots, to keep the essential manufacturing activities on to ensure the global supply chain of pesticides/crop protection products as the Company falls under the “Essential Commodities and Services list, issued by Govt. of India.”

However, Dhanuka also informs that personnel based at its corporate offices located at Gurugram and registered office at New Delhi are working from home and providing the required support to other functions.

For Gurugram and Delhi corporate offices, Dhanuka states the situation will continue to be closely monitored and appropriate actions initiated will also be communicated at the appropriate time as required.

 

Operations in its all three manufacturing facilities

Agro Universities, R&D

New maize hybrids have been recognized as promising for the release in different seasons & agro-ecologies of the country. 

 

 The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said that it has identified 8 new hybrid varieties of maize as promising for release in different seasons & agro-ecologies in the country.

 It said that the maize varieties were identified after discussion with the agri scientists through a digital training of the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) attended by as many as 150 participants from across the nation.

 While addressing the workshop, Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, ICAR Director General appreciated the efforts of maize scientists for continuing with the research work amid COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Mohapatra asked the ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research (ICAR-IIMR), Ludhiana to carry out basic, strategic and applied research for improving production, productivity & sustainability of the crop. 

He added that AICRP on maize needs to play the lead role in making maize as the future crop of the country. 

ICAR in a statement said, “In this workshop, eight new maize hybrids have been recognized as promising for the release in different seasons & agro-ecologies of the country”.

’Makka’ app 

 A bilingual mobile app known as ’’Makka’’ was launched for the farmers, industries & other stakeholders in maize. This app (Hindi and English) contains video, static & dynamic features on the crop varietal selection, crop cultivation practices, pest fertiliser/pesticide calculation, mechanisation, news or updates & advisories to the farmers, the ICAR said.

 In addition, demos were held in over 1,500 hectare on enhancing maize productive practices in various parts of the country. 

Besides this, the workshop suggested zero-tilled maize after rice; sensor-based nitrogen management; post emergence herbicide for weed control to increase farm profitability, input use efficiency & reduce drudgery in maize production.

 The workshop also discussed about the outbreak of Fall Armyworm (FAW) that had threatened maize crop last year. The ICAR said, to control the pest disease, around 102 training programmes were conducted in India, benefiting more than 10,000 stakeholders for management of FAW.

New maize hybrids have been recognized as