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Acts & Schemes – Centre

The approval would help in stabilizing prices of cotton and protects the interests of the farmers

 

The Government has approved an extra expenditure of Rs 748.08 crore for the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and Maharashtra State Co-operative Cotton Growers Marketing Federation Ltd. (MSCCGMFL) for reimbursement of losses on the sale of cotton procured under Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations during cotton years i.e. 2014 to 2015 and 2015 to 2016.

 

The government also approved an expenditure of Rs 312.93 crore for reimbursing losses to the Cotton Corporation of India and the MSCCGMFL on sale of cotton procured under MSP operations during the cotton years – 2017 to 2018 and 2018 to 2019. It must be noted that the cotton year starts from October to September. 

The decisions regarding this were taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs or CCEA that also accorded ex-post facto sanction for engaging Maharashtra State Co-operative Cotton Growers Marketing Federation Ltd to take on MSP operations in Maharashtra state as the sub-agent of Cotton Corporation of India Limited during the cotton years 2017-18 & 2018-19. 

An official statement said that “The approval would help in price support operations of cotton that helps in stabilizing prices of cotton and is mainly aimed at protecting the interests of the farmers & controlling any distress sale”

 

The approval would help in stabilizing

Seeds, World

The next ISF World Seed Congress will be held in 2021 in Barcelona, Spain.

As developments move forward with the coronavirus, the International Seed Federation (ISF) sent out a letter recently to announce that the ISF World Seed Congress in Capetown, South Africa, is postponed until 2022.

“During these unpredictable times, one thing is certain: the health and well-being of our members, delegates, sponsors, exhibitors, partners and staff has been – and will always be – our top priority. ISF fully supports all public measures to protect the health and welfare of the population and to prevent the further spread of the novel coronavirus. It is our responsibility to inform you in a timely and proactive manner of decisions made by ISF for the World Seed Congress”, the letter stated. 

“ISF have been closely monitoring the situation on COVID-19 and have kept you informed on where we are, in the updates we sent on March 5 and March 13. Further discussions took place with our National Organizing Committee, Core PCO, and partners, to determine the best option for you and the global seed community”, mentioned the letter. 

In light of recent developments on the rapid spread of COVID-19 in many countries, ISF have made the decision to postpone the ISF World Seed Congress 2020 in Cape Town, therefore no ISF World Seed Congress will take place this year. The next ISF World Seed Congress will be held in 2021 in Barcelona, Spain. 

Amid this unprecedented situation, the commitment of ISF and the seed world to Africa in providing quality seed and increasing our engagement in the continent remains the same. 

Therefore, after agreement with partners, service providers and the National Organising Committee ISF have decided to go back to Cape Town for the ISF World Seed Congress 2022 (16-18 May 2022) where we will celebrate our “shared roots to achieve greater heights,” giving true meaning to the slogan. 

The letter also mentioned that to make this happen, our colleagues from Mexico agreed to be host of the ISF World Seed Congress 2025, instead of 2022.We thank both South Africa and Mexico for their outstanding support in making this transition during these extraordinary times and for the solidarity between continents. 

To approve these changes and to continue the governance and operations of ISF, a virtual General Assembly will take place in June 2020. 

ISF has a longstanding relationship with our members, delegates and sponsors and we will follow up with exact details for refunding of the ISF World Seed Congress 2020 with the registered delegates and companies by email in the coming days. 

The letter also mentioned that, “If you booked through the official ISF WSC 2020 travel and accommodation platform, our hotel team will reach out to you in due course. A smooth reimbursement of your payment will be ensured. However due to the difficult circumstances, it may take some time, so we would please like to ask for your patience on this matter.” 

Over the coming weeks, we will also explore other ways to conduct our meetings under a virtual environment. We will continue to update you on how you can take part in the continuing dialogue on critical topics like plant breeding innovation, seed movement, genetic resources, and others. Our mission continues, therefore our work doesn’t stop! We thank you for your continued trust. Together, we are strong and we will surpass this challenge.

The next ISF World Seed Congress will

E-commerce, Trade

215.82 lakh tons of sugar has been produced till 15th March 2020 as against 273.65 lakh tons produced last year by 15th March 2019.

According to latest report by ISMA, during 2019-20 , 457 sugar mills started crushing operations as against 527 mills which operated last year i.e., 70 mills.215.82 lakh tons of sugar has been produced till 15th March 2020 as against 273.65 lakh tons produced last year by 15th March 2019.

 

As on 15th March 2020, 136 mills have stopped crushing and only 321 sugar mills in the country were crushing. As compared to that 173 mills had stopped operations last year as on 15th March 2019 and 354 mills were operating then. 

In Uttar Pradesh, 119 sugar mills which were in operation, have produced 87.16 lakh tons of sugar till 15th March 2020. Out of 119 sugar mills, one sugar mill has stopped crushing operation. Compared to this, 117 sugar mills in the State were in operation last year and they had produced 84.14 lakh tons as on 15th March 2019. Mills in U.P. had started about 10-12 days earlier than last year, and, therefore, have produced slightly more than what they produced in the last season on 15th March. It is estimated that U.P. will be producing similar quantity of sugar as was produced last year at around 118 lakh tons. 

In Maharashtra, sugar production till 15th March’ 2020 was 55.85 lakh tons, compared with 100.08 lakh tons produced last year same period. In the current 2019-20 SS, 56 mills have already closed their crushing operations in the State and only 90 sugar mills are operating. On the corresponding date in last season 101 mills had closed their operations while 94 mills were in operation.   However, the daily rate of crushing in the current season is significantly lower than last year and the mills currently operating will be closing earlier than last year. 

In case of Karnataka, till 15th March, 2020, 63 sugar mills have produced 33.35 lakh tons of sugar. Out of the 63 sugar mills, 50 mills have already closed their operations in the State and only 13 mills are in operation. During the corresponding period last year, 67 sugar mills had produced 42.45 lakh tons sugar. Of the 67 sugar mills, 56 had ended their operations and 11 mills were in operation as on 15th March 2019, last year. Considering the daily crushing are as of now in Karnataka and the special season in July – September, total of around 34 lakh tons of sugar is expected to be produced in the State. 

In case of Tamil Nadu, Out of 24 sugar mills which operated this season, 1 sugar mill has ended its crushing (as against 3 mills which had closed last year out of 32 sugar mills). Till 15th March 2020, sugar production in the State was 4.12 lakh tons, compared with 5.54 lakh tons produced by 32 sugar mills on the corresponding date last year. 

Gujarat has produced 7.78 lakh tons of sugar till 15th March 2020 with 12 sugar mills in operation. Last year, 9.80 lakh tons of sugar had been produced on the same date. 

In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, 18 sugar mills have produced about 4 lakh tons as on 15th March 2020, of which 11 mills have stopped crushing. Last year, 6.50 lakh tons were produced on the corresponding date and 22 mills were in operation as on 15th March 2019. 

In Bihar, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, sugar production till 15th March, 2020 has been in the order of 6.38 lakh tons,3.22 lakh tons, 4.84 lakh tons, 4.89 lakh tons and 3.85 lakh tons, respectively. 

As per reports available, sugar mills have dispatched almost 30 lakh tons of sugar from their factories for export against MAEQ of 60 lakh tons till 15.3.2020. As per market sources, about 36-38 lakh tons of sugar have been contracted for exports so far. The current unprecedented situation due to outbreak of COVID-19 has impacted the global sugar prices also. However, the impact could be temporary. 

The fall in sugar production from Thailand to the tune of 5 million tons as compared to last year, and the recent decision of Indonesian Government to allow 600 ICUMSA sugar at a concessional import duty from India, Australia and Thailand, gives an additional opportunity to India to export large quantities of sugar to Indonesia. 

In addition, Indonesian Government has issued an additional import quota to its refineries and considering that sugar availability from Thailand is lower to the extent of 5 million tons, which will also reduce sugar exports from Thailand to Indonesia, the Indian raw sugar has a very good chance of getting exported to Indonesia. Hence, it is expected that sugar exports from India will again pick up soon. 

The COVID-19 impact has also reduced sugar off-take from sugar mills in the last 15 days or so. It is understood that sugar in the pipeline would have got sold in the wholesale and retail market in the last couple of weeks. As per experts, it is expected that fresh buying from the sugar mills may take plakhe soon because the pipeline would have largely dried up during the last couple of weeks. That should control sugar prices and the buying should help the sugar mills.

215.82 lakh tons of sugar has been

E-commerce, R&D, Seeds

The new variety enables food companies to eliminate costly energy and water-intensive processing steps across the consumer food, animal feed and aquaculture markets.

Benson Hill announced its plans to release Ultra-High Protein soybean varieties in the 2021 crop year. These varieties are the first commercially available soybeans that can effectively replace soy protein concentrate via typical soybean crushing. This innovation enables food companies to eliminate costly energy and water-intensive processing steps across the consumer food, animal feed and aquaculture markets. The initial launch will include over 20,000 acres in 2021, expanding tenfold in 2022.

“Athletes, active people and consumers who want plant-based options are interested in high-quality protein food choices sourced from simple plant-based ingredients,” says Leslie Bonci, sports dietitian to the Kansas City Chiefs and the XFL. “Soy is the best single source of plant-based protein that contains sufficient amounts of all essential amino acids, to maximize nutrition and health.”

Benson Hill’s seed-to-shelf innovation pipeline leverages plant genomics to drive ingredient innovation through its CropOS platform. CropOS accelerates the path to market by employing proprietary phenotyping, predictive breeding and environmental modeling algorithms, allowing Benson Hill plant breeders to optimize not only the protein content of its soy varieties but also the optimal environments for these varieties to be planted.

“While soybean yields have improved over the past decades, protein levels have fallen,” says David Iverson, United Soybean Board meal target area coordinator and South Dakota farmer. “These Ultra-High Protein varieties demonstrate how we can work together via soy checkoff investments to improve protein content for end-users. We continue to work with public and private partners, including Benson Hill, to serve as a catalyst to enable new technology, farmer choice and innovation across our soybean industry.”

The Ultra-High Protein varieties were developed through traditional breeding, allowing nonGMO certification and unrestricted use in U.S. and export markets, including Europe. Benson Hill will release the varieties through its Benson Hill Seeds division.

“The natural genetic diversity of plants is one of the most powerful sources of product differentiation for companies driving the modern food system,” says Matt Crisp, Benson Hill CEO. “Our Ultra-High Protein portfolio and channel capabilities enable Benson Hill to meet customers where they are and empower innovators with cost-effective, scalable solutions.”

The new variety enables food companies to

Acts & Schemes – Centre, E-commerce

The MoU aims at implementation of the Agri Export Policy that focuses on agriculture export-oriented production, promotion of exports and better price realization to farmer

Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) has always worked with a collaborative approach to cooperate with a number of institutions and organizations with specialized expertise and also with various stakeholders. These organizations and stakeholders can provide solutions for tackling the interventions for the development of Agriculture export measures in accordance with the objectives set under Agri Export Policy (AEP) announced by the Government of India.

 

Recently, APEDA has signed MoUs with many organizations and institutions like Indian Institute of Technology IITD), Quality Council of India (QCI) Delhi, Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture (ICFA), SGT University and Pearl Academy at its office in New Delhi to work in synergy with these organizations and work together achieving greater and better things in the interest of agriculture and allied sectors so that the agriculture sector can prosper.

The MoU is signed for the implementation of the Agri Export Policy that focuses on agriculture export-oriented production, promotion of exports, better price realization to farmer and synchronization within policies and programmes of Government of India. 

 

The Agri-Export Policy suggests adopting the approach of developing product-specific clusters in different agro-climatic zones of the country to help in dealing with various supply-side issues viz., soil nutrients management, higher productivity, adoption of a market-oriented variety of crop, use of Good Agriculture Practices, etc.

 

The MoU aims at implementation of the

Agro Universities, Live Stock

The center will be regarded as a part of agriculture tourism in Hariyana because of this model.

Krishi Vigyan Kendra – Jhajjar is going to be the first center in the state, where a live model of livestock-based Integrated Farming System has been established. Not only the farmer community, but the general public will also be able to understand the usefulness of the system. The exhibition unit will have a set-up of 14 different units including a cow rearing exhibition. The units in the region could become a milestone as the land hoarding has now reduced. 

Commenting on the development, Dr. Umesh Sharma, Coordinator, Krishi Vigyan Kendra-Jhajjar, said, “The model of the livestock-based integrated farming system has been established at Krishi Vigyan Kendra located at Badli Road, Jhajjar. Cow rearing exhibition unit, earthworm manure, goat rearing units, beekeeping, and biogas units have been established in the center.”

 “Through this unit, farmers will be called on the spot and will be explained how they can do farming and animal husbandry together, along with other works, which can increase their income. Along with this, they will also be told how to obtain more remunerative prices by improving the quality of food items,” adds Sharma.

The center will be regarded as a

E-commerce, Seeds, Trade

 Company’s unique business model directly connects food companies to the supply chain, in turn bringing increased transparency and paving the way for more responsible sourcing of high-value plant protein.  

Non-GMO seed-breeding specialist Equinom, Ltd., is expanding and operations. The company will open offices in the US to serve the North American market. This move will accelerate the company’s penetration into the global food market and bring it closer to key farming communities and grain handlers, as well as to food and food ingredient companies.

 Since Equinom supports agronomists, trades with grain handlers, and partners with food companies in North America, a local US operation is a natural evolution to ensure its growth and support for all the members in the supply chain. 

Rick Mignella has joined the company as EVP and Managing Director to lead the US team and focus on scaling up business and expanding Equinom’s presence and reach within the North America market. Mignella has a deep understanding of food industries and channels from ideation to shelf. Before joining Equinom, Mignella held several strategic business development positions for global food and ingredient companies, including Ingredion and Cargill.

 Equinom’s non-GMO technology shapes the future of plant-based landscape by designing smarter seeds via fast-track, proprietary technology with breeding methodology that utilizes natural genetic variation in plants. Food companies can reap the benefits of Equinom’s unique breeding programs by designing new, cleaner products for fast-track delivery.

 “This exciting move to new shores marks the next phase of growth for Equinom,” enthuses Gil Shalev, CEO and founder of Equinom. “We are delighted to welcome Rick to Equinom and are confident that his know-how and vast industry experience will take this rapidly growing company smoothly to the next level of expansion.”

 

“Equinom can significantly contribute to the plant-based revolution and the broader food industries by changing the way food systems currently operate,” says Mignella. “Equinom’s non-GMO technology can help facilitate the creation of clean food products, increase protein content, and tailor key nutrients to the specific requests of food product developers and manufacturers. Our mission of connecting the farming industry with the food companies will build the next-generation mutual ecosystem for food production.”

 Company’s unique business model directly connects food

E-commerce, Live Stock, Middle East countries, R&D

Cargill becomes the strategic marketing and sales partner of some selected innovative BASF animal feed enzymes on account of this new collaboration. 

BASF and Cargill, two leading companies in the field of the global agriculture industry, recently announced that they have entered into a distribution collaboration in the Middle East and Africa region, also known as the MEA region. 

 Coen Van Der Laan has been managing the Cargill as a Strategic Marketing and Technology Director for Cargill’s Animal Nutrition business in the MEA region. As told by Laan to the international news portal, Agriorbit, with this collaboration the companies will be able to provide the region a wide range of enzyme solutions so that the users can optimize the feed cost and enhance animal performance. 

Joerg Schneider, heading BASF’s animal nutrition sales management in Europe, the Middle East and Africa also commented on their collaboration with Cargill. “Cargill has a strong and complementary presence across the strong, growing markets of the Middle East and Africa. They are leading in the marketing of animal nutrition and health solutions. Both companies have a long-lasting relationship and we share a lot of common values. This led us to choose Cargill as our strategic distributor of selected animal feed enzymes in the Middle East and Africa.”

 

Cargill becomes the strategic marketing and sales

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

The agreement emphasizes on the development of collagen-based biostimulants in the near future.

SICIT Group and Syngenta have joined hands to promote sustainable agriculture as they sign a 15-year exclusive supply contract for ISABION and HICURE biostimulants.

Biostimulants are being used in the agricultural sector as these products are natural and eco-compatible, and makes it easier to optimize the use of crop protection products and chemical fertilizers. Biostimulants have a wide variety of benefits ranging from abiotic stresses to increased tolerance to improved nutrient assimilation. It also increases crop yield, enhances the quality, and helps in using water efficiently. 

Commenting on the collaboration, Alessandro Paterniani, Chief Commercial Officer of SICIT Group, said, “We are proud to strengthen our long term collaboration with a market leader. Thanks to this agreement, Sicit will improve farmers’ access to its innovative solutions for sustainable farming“.

 ISABION is a leading product in the biostimulants market with a global presence of over 20 years. The product will help farmers and growers to weaken the impact of cold, heat and transplant shock, and fulfill high demands of premium quality yields.

 “With this agreement, Syngenta secures access to the industry-leading capabilities in the area of collagen-based biostimulants, to further build our strong biological portfolio,” adds Corey Huck, Head Global Biologicals of Syngenta.

 

The agreement emphasizes on the development of

E-commerce, Logistics

As part of the pilot, Snowman Logistics set up a collection centre in Manchar near Pune to facilitate the collection of vegetables and fruits directly from farmers

Global e-commerce giant has partnered with Snowman Logistics for the delivery of FMCG perishables including vegetables, fruits, eggs, frozen food and groceries. 

A pilot project in stealth mode was launched in Mumbai late last year with Western Maharashtra as the focus. As part of the pilot, Snowman Logistics set up a collection centre in Manchar near Pune to facilitate the collection of vegetables and fruits directly from farmers. The farm produce is then shipped to the Snowman Logistics sorting and grading centre located in Navi Mumbai, where the farm produce is further sorted, graded and packed for home delivery purpose. This is then transported to the six fulfilment hubs of the e-commerce player located around Mumbai for onward delivery.

After Mumbai, the pilot will be replicated in Delhi and other cities to follow soon. Snowman Logistics is the market leader in integrated temperature-controlled logistics services, catering to the varied cold chain logistical requirements of its clients, on a pan-India basis.

The company has 293 refrigerated vehicles and 31 strategically located temperature-controlled warehouses with a total pallet capacity of 1, 04,343 located across 15 cities, including the key markets of Mumbai, Chennai, and Bengaluru & Kolkata.

Snowman caters to its comprehensive network of reputed clients, who source and consume temperature sensitive products including dairy products, canned food Items, poultry and meat, seafood, healthcare and pharmaceutical products.

Speaking about this development, Mr. Sunil Nair, CEO, Snowman Logistics said, “We are excited about this partnership to assist the e-commerce giant in their ambition to foray into the FMCG perishable business. We will be replicating this model across the country. This is a validation of our market leadership and endorsement of our state-of-the-art temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics.

 

As part of the pilot, Snowman Logistics

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

The new venture is focused on innovative digital solutions in agriculture to help optimize crop inputs and resources at the farm level.

Valagro, a leader in the development, production and commercialization of biostimulants and advanced nutrient solutions for crops, announces Yaxe®, a joint venture with e-Novia, the Enterprises Factory based in Milan, Italy. e-Novia has been recognized by the Financial Times and Il Sole 24 Ore as one of the fastest growing companies in their respective FT 1000 Fastest Growing Companies in Europe and Leader of Growth 2020.

The new venture is focused on innovative digital solutions in agriculture to help optimize crop inputs and resources at the farm level. In fact, the name Yaxe derives from the words Yield and A(x)cceleration and aims to support the decisions of farmers and other stakeholders in the value chain to improve farm profitability through sustainable agricultural practices. To achieve this goal, Yaxe will offer highly innovative and effective products, as well as tools for ag-tech, i.e. cutting-edge technologies and services based on digitalization of information.

 Giuseppe Natale, CEO of Valagro said,”Yaxe was conceived through a combination of two fundamental ingredients: the innovative mindset that remains the hallmark of Valagro, and e-Novia’s expertise in creating and growing novel ideas into successful business entreprises. For Valagro, Yaxe is a concrete advancement in the growth path the company has set itself on: to be the leader in the global agricultural input markets by offering advanced nutritional products and value-added technology-based services that meet our farmers’ real needs”.

 

“Yaxe comes from a unique integration between the vision and open innovation approach of Valagro and the Enterprises Factory model of e-Novia. At Yaxe we develop innovative technologies and methods to augment the sensing capabilities of the actors involved in the agricultural ecosystem. The entrepreneurial project is one of our most concrete steps towards a more conscious use of the scarce and precious resources available on the planet”, said Vincenzo Russi, CEO of e-Novia.

 

The new venture is focused on innovative

Agrotech, Thailand

In light of the COVID-19 situation, the event scheduled in Bangkok is postponed to 14th – 16th October 2020 prioritizing the health and safety of locals, visitors and industry partners

DLG International and VNU Exhibitions Asia Pacific jointly announce on 13th March 2020 that AGRITECHNICA ASIA and Horti ASIA 2020, scheduled to take place at BITEC, Bangkok, from 7th to 9th May, 2020, have been postponed to 14th to 16th October, 2020 because of the COVID-19 coronavirus situation.

Together with the exhibitors of AGRITECHNICA ASIA and Horti ASIA, the organisers took the decision to postpone the exhibition after closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation in recent weeks.

The Coronavirus outbreak is now a global pandemic according to the WHO. This has alerted all countries to take urgent precautionary actions. Travel bans and restrictions around the world have increased significantly. All these actions support the decision to postpone AGRITECHNICA ASIA and Horti ASIA 2020.

 “We greatly regret that we have to postpone the exhibitions”, said Bernd Koch, Managing Director of DLG International, “The decision was taken after extensive consultation with our partners and exhibitors.”

“As stated by all parties, the postponement of AGRITECHNICA ASIA and Horti ASIA is the best solution. More than 90% of our exhibitors confirmed the decision to rearrange their participation accordingly”, added Heiko M. Stutzinger, Managing Director of VNU Exhibitions Asia Pacific.

In light of the COVID-19 situation, the

E-commerce, R&D, Trade

It will enable BASF’s agricultural research stations worldwide to use the delair.ai cloud platform to streamline and standardize the information gained through drone-based field studies. 

BASF and Delair announced their collaboration to scale up BASF’s research and development projects for seeds, traits and crop protection. The delair.ai platform provides enterprise-focused workflows and industry-specific analytics and will help BASF turn its visual drone data into actionable insights and ultimately, new sustainable solutions for the agricultural market. 

Each year, BASF conducts several thousands of research trials in agricultural stations throughout the globe to measure product performance under different field conditions.

 “As a research driven agricultural company, we want to use the full potential of digitalization to accelerate innovation. Partnering with Delair will help us to get a deeper understanding of the observed crops and their surrounding environments, and reduce the time to market for new products,” says Greta De Both, manager of Sensor-based Field Phenotyping for Seeds & Traits at BASF. 

BASF recently introduced drones equipped with multispectral sensors to automate and optimize their field data collection, allowing real-time insights into how plants respond to environmental conditions. In delair.ai, BASF will be able to build digital twins of their research fields, as well as map and analyze hectares of plots across all trial sites. The cloud platform will enable field agronomists to automatically vectorize as well as geo-reference micro plots and generate biological data and crop behavior per plot. 

“While capturing agricultural data is easier than ever with drones, the real challenge enterprises face is harnessing all of this data so that it is consumable, shareable, and actionable,” says Lénaïc Grignard, agriculture and forestry product manager at Delair. “We are honored to start this new partnership with BASF and help them harness the power of visual data to make the right decisions at the right time.”

It will enable BASF’s agricultural research stations

E-commerce, Seeds, Trade

 The new variety of Pea is resistant to powdery mildew and also has excellent taste and textures.

One of Italy’s leading companies in the seed production sector, Anseme, will soon roll out its new variety of pea ’AN BEST’. The company is known throughout the world and has been providing its consumers with quality seeds since 1952.

 Due to the growing demand for a fresh pea in India, pea seeds will be in more demand for sowing purposes.  Keep this into consideration, Anseme decided to launch a new variety of seeds with many new the pea is dark green in color, is very productive with excellent taste and textures.

Moreover, the new variety has the special feature that the peas are resistant to powdery mildew and also has excellent taste and textures.

The company has excellent-quality seed with very high germinations (over 90%).  The products suit Indian market requirements.

 The new variety of Pea is resistant