Connect with:
Sunday / December 22. 2024
Home2020 (Page 95)

Lasalgaon and Nashik, have a large number of exports especially for onions and grapes. The cargo center will help to transport such goods with the help of the cold storage facility. 

 

 

 The biggest onion market in Asia, Lasalgaon, will soon get temperature-controlled perishable cargo center. The center is being developed under Central government’s scheme of the national cold supply chain for perishables.

 In the recent Budget session, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to set up a ‘Kisan Rail’ through the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode for a cold supply chain to transport perishable goods. The cargo center at Lasalgaon is being developed under the same pattern of (PPP).

The center is under construction at Lasalgaon in Nashik district, the only one in the state.

The project is being developed by Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR) through a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiative. Another project is commissioned at Ghazipur Ghat (UP), New Azadpur (Delhi) and Raja ka Talab (UP). 

An official from Central Railway said that the cargo center is being developed as a pilot project under the ‘Kisan Vision.’

The Railways already has nine refrigerated vans available on its network for transportation of perishable goods with a carrying capacity of 17 tonne, each for transportation of highly-perishable parcel traffic developed and procured through the Rail Coach Factory. 

Lasalgaon, as well as Nashik, have a large number of exports especially for onions and grapes. The cargo center will help to transport such goods with the help of the cold storage facility. The transportation of perishable goods like fruits, vegetables, milk products, and meat and fishery products will be easy. 

 

The official added that 98 reefer rail containers with a carrying capacity of 12 tonne per container were procured through CONCOR for movement of fruits and vegetables to different parts of the country. The cargo centers and the rail containers will be supplementary to each other and will help to increase exports and commerce in the region.

 

Under the scheme, the Central government is developing infrastructure in the form of cold storage warehouses at both the source and destination centers for seamless transportation. It is expected that with the cold storage facility the farmers in the district will be benefitted.

Lasalgaon and Nashik, have a large number

This new solution will provide an efficient spray program so that farmers can deal with the disease management better. 

In India, apples are among the most produced fruits. Also India is among the top 10 countries that produce apples in such a large quantity. Recently many Indian apple farmers are facing major occurrences of diseases such as Powdery Mildew and Scab. These diseases are ultimately harnessing the crop yield of the farms and are making it a difficult situation for farmers. To help apple farmers fight this issue, BASF, a German chemical company, has come up with a new innovation in pesticides called ’Sercadis Plus’.

Sercadis Plus has Xemium as an active ingredient and an internationally acclaimed DMI (Demethylase Inhibitor), both in combination to manage a broad range of diseases, especially Apple Scab and Powdery Mildew.

BASF has been constantly collaborating with its customers and partners to explore the needs of farmers and evolve with their needs. Every then and now, the brand is bringing innovative solutions to the market to help the farmers. In the past few years, fungicides like ’Merivon’, ’Signum’ and ’Acriso’ have also been launched by BASF for the better health of apple orchards.

This new solution will provide an

The Himachal Pradesh government and the World Bank signed $80 million loan agreement to improve water management practices and increase agricultural productivity in selected gram panchayats in the hill state.

 The Integrated Project for Source Sustainability and Climate Resilient Rain-Fed Agriculture in Himachal Pradesh will be implemented in 428 gram panchayats in 10 districts, benefiting over 400,000 small-holder farmers, including women, and pastoral communities.

 “As we encourage climate-smart agricultural practices in India, farmers will need both technical and financial support to adapt agricultural practices relevant to their geography and climate. As a mountainous state, Himachal Pradesh is particularly vulnerable to climate change and associated risks,” said Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, government of India. 

“Sustainable water management practices under this project can play a big role in doubling farmers’ incomes, a goal set by the government of India. It is, therefore, critical that the best use is made of all available technologies and resources to increase water-use efficiency,” he added. 

The loan agreement was signed by Khare on behalf of the government of India; Ram Subhag Singh, Additional Chief Secretary (Forest), on behalf of the Himachal Pradesh government and Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, India, on behalf of the World Bank. 

“Climate change is a global issue. But addressing its impact requires building resilience at the local level,” said Ahmad.

“Not surprisingly, Himachal Pradesh’s history of devolving greater responsibility to gram panchayats offers the state a great advantage. Through gram panchayats, Himachal Pradesh supports farmers and pastoral communities in securing their livelihoods in the face of climate variability and challenging agro-ecological conditions,” he added.

 In Himachal Pradesh, many of the lowland areas lack access to irrigation water, and farmers depend on decreasing amounts of rainfall during the critical monsoon season. 

Agricultural production and snowlines have already shifted to higher altitudes, impacting the production of fruits, including the state’s iconic apples.

Climate change is also expected to increase average temperatures and decrease rainfall in the lowlands, while both temperatures and rainfall are expected to increase in the highlands, which could lead to more extreme flooding events.

 

The Himachal Pradesh government and the

The rice farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Chattisgarh will have access to the Brevant™ seed range via select business collaborators in these states. 

Global agriculture company, Corteva Agriscience has expanded its Brevant seed range to offer rice farmers in India better access to the company’s trusted hybrid seed portfolio.

As per the report, the rice farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Chattisgarh will have access to the Brevant™ seed range via select business collaborators in these states. Corteva Agriscience plans to further expand the distribution to more rice-growing states across India to provide farmers more choice and more access to its market-leading, high yielding hybrid seeds. 

Dr KV Subbarao, Managing Director, South Asia, said: “I am pleased to announce the introduction of Brevant™ rice seeds for this upcoming sowing season. We are committed to serving our farmers by providing more choices through multiple brands and channels. The introduction of this new brand addresses their different growing needs and buying preferences.” 

In April last year, Corteva Agriscience successfully launched the Brevant™ seed brand for corn farmers across India. This move has provided more farmers with better access to Corteva’s 90-year history of seed innovation where the company has amassed one of the largest, most robust germplasm libraries for corn. Brevant™ seeds leverage this history in seed innovation. 

Dr. Subbarao added, “In addition to our offerings in corn, our in-depth knowledge in hybridization enables us to also provide superior products in rice by translating it to the creation of the right seed choice, for the right environment. To complement our Pioneer® brand seed range, the introduction of Brevant™ seeds to the Indian market will enable Corteva Agriscience to continue to offer India’s farming communities access to products from one of the broadest, most diverse seed portfolios in the world.”

 

The rice farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat,

Under this Mission, the association has created 100 model farms in India’s top producing state Rajasthan, directly involving 2,500 growers in Bundi and Kota districts. 

 The Solvent Extractors’ Association, also known as SEA has started a Mustard Mission together with the Solidaridad with the aim to boost India’s rapeseed production to 200 lakh tons by the year 2025. 

Chairman, SEA Oilseed Development Council, Haresh Vyas said that this can be achieved by improving the productivity by providing better inputs as well as technology to farmers & encouraging the crop diversification from water-intensive surplus rice and wheat to mustard. 

For this, the association has created 100 model farms in India’s top producing state Rajasthan, directly involving 2,500 growers in Bundi and Kota districts. The first year experience showed that the output has increased by about 30 percent over the traditional methods and it has a potential to increase by over 60 percent. The SEA will increase the model farms to 1,000 in the next five years. 

Chairman of SEA Rape Mustard Promotion Council, Vijay Data said the Mission will also harmonize government efforts to improve the income of farmers in the country.

Dr Suresh Motwani, Solidaridad Network Asia’s General Manager said that “We will continue to help the government by making available the infrastructure for best farm practices as well as market linkage to Indian growers to improve their incomes by raising the productivity.”

The association has been regularly conducting crop surveys for important oilseeds including rapeseed to support agriculture value chain in India to take informed decisions.

The SEA, in its constant attempt to improve the precision of the survey, has roped in Star Agri and NCML this year to utilize remote sensing technology in mapping the area & checking  the crop health at every stage of the crop with the use of satellite technology.

Based on the remote sensing data & market intelligence, the Solvent Extractors’ Association forecasts the bumper rapeseed crop in 2019-20 at 77.80 lakh tons.

Under this Mission, the association has created

The Company intends to use proceeds to accelerate launch of its HB4 technology – a drought and salinity tolerance seed solution available for soybean and wheat crops. 

 

 

 Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp. (“Bioceres” or the “Company”) (NYSE American: BIOX), a fully integrated provider of crop productivity solutions designed to enable the transition of agriculture towards carbon neutrality, recently announced the closing of $42.5 million secured convertible promissory notes due 2023 (the “Notes”) in a private placement led by Boston-based Solel Partners LP. The Company intends to use proceeds to accelerate launch of its HB4 technology – a drought and salinity tolerance seed solution available for soybean and wheat crops. Next generation seed varieties integrating HB4 technology with proprietary seed-treatment biologicals are currently being multiplied under the EcoSoy™ and EcoWheat™ product denominations.

 “With the issuance of these Notes we have put in place the necessary funding to transition HB4 crops’ acreage from the ’thousands’ to the ’hundreds of thousands’ over the next crop cycle, as well as accelerate breeding and business collaborations to access incremental geographies, with the main focus on the United States and Brazil,” indicated Federico Trucco, Bioceres’ Chief Executive Officer.

 “In addition to providing HB4-related working capital, this facility will help us improve our overall debt profile by terming-out maturities and reducing interest expenses, mainly by discontinuing inefficient sources of working capital. This transaction together with the February 14, 2020, public bond issuance of our subsidiary Rizobacter Argentina S.A., is part of an ongoing process to strengthen our balance sheet as we prepare to seize the growth opportunities that we have patiently built over many years” Commented Enrique Lopez Lecube, Chief Financial Officer of the Company.

 “This transaction is also well aligned with our efforts towards increasing trading liquidity of our stock. Our commitment to strengthening our financial position and building value for our shareholders is underscored by what we are announcing today,” concluded Lopez Lecube.

The Company intends to use proceeds to

 Funds will be used for the further development, registration and commercial scale production of Biotalys’ most advanced biofungicide product.  

 

 

Biotalys NV, a rapidly growing and transformative food and crop protection company developing a new generation of protein-based biocontrols, recently announced the second closing of its Series C financing round with €10 million, bringing the total amount of capital raised through its Series C to €45 million.

 

The second closing of the Series C round was supported by the current shareholders and includes new specialist investor Novalis LifeSciences. Novalis LifeSciences is an investment and advisory firm for the life sciences industry, based in Hampton, New Hampshire, U.S. Marijn Dekkers, former CEO of Bayer AG and Chairman of Novalis LifeSciences, will join the Board of Directors of Biotalys as Observer.

Marijn Dekkers, Chairman of Novalis LifeSciences commented, “Novalis LifeScience is very interested in break-through biotechnologies that can substitute synthetic pesticides. The protein-based biocontrol solutions developed by Biotalys are a promising novel class of these future food and crop protection agents. We look forward to being part of this exciting company.”

 Proceeds from the financing will be used for the further development, registration and commercial scale production of Biotalys’ most advanced biofungicide product and to continue to expand and build the company’s unique discovery platform. The launch of the first biofungicide is scheduled for 2022 in the fruit and vegetables market in the US. In addition, the funds will support the accelerated development of the innovative product pipeline with applications in critical food and crop pests and diseases. 

“On behalf of all the shareholders of Biotalys, we extend a warm welcome to our US-based investor Novalis LifeSciences. Marijn Dekkers will add his broad agro-industry expertise to our very active board and help us drive the company to the next level. Biotalys is well advanced in the discovery and development of a strong pipeline of innovative biocontrols, meeting the fast evolving farmer and consumer expectations. A game changing AgTech Company delivering on its promises,” added Lieven De Smedt, Chairman of the Board of Biotalys.

 Funds will be used for the further

Both bio-insecticides offered by Marrone Bio Innovations provide resistance management in integrated program, while not harming beneficial insects and pollinators. 

 

Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBII) (MBI), a leading provider of effective and environmentally responsible pest management and plant health products, recently announced  the signing of a commercial agreement with Anasac Chile S.A. to develop and distribute GRANDEVO® Bioinsecticide and VENERATE® Bio-insecticide in Chile. 

Anasac is a leading Chilean agricultural inputs provider, committed to agricultural productivity and its people. Since 1948 Anasac has been a leader in delivering solutions that enable growth for its customers. Anasac has more than 17% share of the $440 million Chilean crop protection market, and is the second largest player in plant nutrition and corn seed in Chile as well, among other business lines in the agricultural & livestock markets. 

The production of fruits and vegetables in Chile was 7.9 million metric tons in 2018. Within South America, Chile is responsible for 60% of all fruit exports. Chile is the leading exporter of fresh blueberries, grapes, plums, dried apples and prunes. It is also the second largest exporter of avocados, cherries, walnuts, and raspberries. Grape is the leading fruit followed by apples and blueberries. 

Anasac’s initial focus will be in table grapes, stone fruit and tomatoes for thrips, mealybug, oriental moth, San Jose scale and whitefly control where both products have proven highly effective in official field studies and will be of great value to its customers. 

Both bio-insecticides offered by MBI provide resistance management in integrated program, while not harming beneficial insects and pollinators. They are also exempt from food tolerance requirements which helps growers manage the residue levels on exported crops. 

Dr Pam Marrone, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Marrone Bio Innovations, commented, “We continue executing on our growth plans with international expansion in key row crops and specialty crop markets. We are pleased to have a clear leader such as Anasac as our Chilean partner.”

 Gabriel Ormeño H., Anasac Chile’s General Manager, said, “We are excited to work with MBI, and to introduce effective, novel biological products like GRANDEVO and VENERATE into integrated pest management programs and for residue and resistance management in Chile’s important fruit production and export markets. 

GRANDEVO is an advanced broad-spectrum bio-insecticide that offers protection against chewing and sucking insects and mites including mealybugs, thrips, whiteflies, Lygus bug, armyworms and other pests. The active ingredients in GRANDEVO bio-insecticide is a novel species of non-living bacteria that produce insecticidal compounds during the fermentation manufacturing process. Grandevo repels, stops feeding and reduces egg laying of pest insects and mites. 

VENERATE Bionsecticide features multiple modes of action and is effective against a wide variety of chewing and sucking insects and mites. The active ingredient is also a non-living, novel microbial species that produces several active compounds. These compounds provide control by exoskeleton degradation and molting interference; control of the pests is achieved through exposure and ingestion of the product.

Both bio-insecticides offered by Marrone Bio Innovations

The research was published recently in Genome Biology details the breakthrough, which has been to innovate a new ‘whole-genome’ approach that determines an organism’s complete DNA sequence 

Abu Dhabi, UAE – As the most important food crop on the planet, rice plays a critical role in global food security. Following a breakthrough in genome sequencing, NYU scientists are now hopeful that this vital crop can be made more resistant to drought and disease. 

The research, partly supported by NYU Abu Dhabi’s Research Institute, was published recently in Genome Biology details the breakthrough, which has been to innovate a new ‘whole-genome’ approach that determines an organism’s complete DNA sequence.  In addition, through a collaboration with UK-based Oxford Nanopore Technologies, a third-generation sequencing technology has been developed, that allows long single molecules of DNA to be sequenced more quickly, improving on the completeness and efficiency of the process. 

These developments are a significant step forward in the field.  Previously, researchers were only able to assemble the genome for basmati rice using ‘short-read’ sequencing. This ‘short-read’ approach, in which DNA is broken into tiny fragments and then reassembled, leads to missing sequences and important gaps in the data. 

NYU’s researchers focused on two varieties. The first, Basmati 334 from Pakistan, is known to be drought-tolerant and resistant to rice-killing bacterial blight.  The second, Dom Sufid from Iran, is an aromatic long-grain rice that is one of the most expensive on the market.

 “This process significantly improves our understanding of the genetics of an organism,” said Lead Scientist and Silver Professor of Biology at New York University, and faculty investigator at NYU Abu Dhabi’s Center for Genomics and Systems Biology Michael Purugganan.  “For a variety like Basmati 334, which is highly resistant to drought and blight, it means we can identify the genes responsible and work with rice breeders and growers to strengthen these valuable traits. For such a critical global commodity, even a tiny improvement in yields can impact our ability to feed the world.”

 In addition to Purugganan and postdoctoral scholar at NYU and the Genome Biology study’s lead author Jae Young Choi, the study authors are Zoe N. Lye and Simon C. Groen of NYU’s Center for Genomics and Systems Biology; Xiaoguang Dai, Priyesh Rughani, Eoghan D. Harrington, and Sissel Juul of Oxford Nanopore Technologies, and Sophie Zaaijer of the New York Genome Center. The work was supported by grants from the Zegar Family Foundation (A16-0051), National Science Foundation Plant Genome Research Program (IOS-1546218), Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF2550.06), and NYU Abu Dhabi Research Institute.

The research was published recently in Genome

BioKick is a robust microbial package specifically designed to work in synergy with growers’ liquid starter fertilizer program for corn and wheat.

The Andersons, Inc. has launched a new biological nutrient product known as BioKick that mixes easily with liquid starter fertilizers and is applied at planting. It is formulated to disperse equally throughout the fertilizer solution to ensure uniform applications from start to finish. 

BioKick is a robust microbial package specifically designed to work in synergy with growers’ liquid starter fertilizer program for corn and wheat. BioKick’s specialized blend of bacteria works together in the soil to help kick off early season growth of seedlings while enhancing the uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other essential nutrients throughout the season. 

“After conducting extensive testing on a variety of biological sources and formulations, we are excited to bring BioKick to the market,” states Sarah Pirolli, Vice President of Sales and Operations for The Andersons Plant Nutrient Group. 

“The struggle with many biological products available today is that they don’t mix easily with liquid starter fertilizers. For those that do, growers run into limitations around mixing and application timing. We have invested a lot of time and resources into the development of our new BioKick microbial product to be sure it is easy to handle for our customers and growers and performs well in the field,” says Pirolli.

BioKick uses a proprietary formulation-stabilizing technology, allowing the product to have an above-industry standard shelf life without needing to be stored at cool temperatures.

 The Andersons plans to launch a series of other biological products custom designed for soybeans, foliar fertilizers, residue management and more in the near future.

 

 

BioKick is a robust microbial package specifically

This alliance allows Trilogy to extend its expertise in Edge Cloud Computing and low latency networking to family farms and multi-national corporations focused on precision agriculture across rural America.

Trilogy Networks and Chat Mobility recently announced plans for a strategic alliance to accelerate the digital transformation of the most fertile agricultural lands in America. The relationship will pair Trilogy’s distributed cloud platform with Chat Mobility’s wealth of network assets in Southwest Iowa. 

This alliance allows Trilogy to extend its expertise in Edge Cloud Computing and low latency networking to family farms and multi-national corporations focused on precision agriculture across rural America. Edge Computing optimizes the interaction of IoT sensors & devices with Cloud applications by bringing compute and storage closer to the sources of data. This dramatically reduces latency and bandwidth requirements, enabling automation of the agricultural ecosystem.   Farmers will have access to accurate data captured in real time from connected devices throughout their farm during the entire crop cycle. 

“The Precision Agriculture segment has been keenly focused on solutions to drive the next generation of efficiency in agricultural output,” said George Woodward, President and CEO of Trilogy Networks. “We are at the genesis of what converged IT, OT (operational technologies), and the Internet of Things can achieve. Producers are constantly looking to increase yields and lower costs. The power of Edge computing within feet of the crops is a game changer. Trilogy’s LinX network and Multi-Tenant Edge solutions will enable the most efficient and highest quality food production on earth.” 

“The first phase of our alliance includes the deployment of high capacity computing and storage in our data center, within our central offices, and at several cell sites across Southwest Iowa,” said Brian Spurgeon, General Manager of Chat Mobility. “This forward-looking initiative continues our history of delivering the cutting-edge solutions needed by our customers, in this case, real-time analytics at the far Edge of network covering thousands of square miles of rich agricultural lands.”

This alliance allows Trilogy to extend its

The Food and Agriculture Organization food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 180.5 points last month, down 1.0 per cent on January. 

World food prices slipped in February, ending four months of successive increases, with the spread of coronavirus dampening demand for some products, the United Nations food agency said in recent.

 The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 180.5 points last month, down 1.0 per cent on January.

FAO also slightly upped its forecast for cereal production, predicting a crop totaling some 2.719 billion tonnes in 2019, up from a previous forecast of 2.715 billion and some 2.3 per cent higher than the 2018 crop.

The vegetable oil price index plunged 10.3 per cent from January, led by a slump in palm oil prices, while the cereal price index eased 0.9 per cent, with the international prices of all major cereals, except rice, declining.

FAO said the spread of the coronavirus contributed to the price decline in both indices amid fears the outbreak would trigger a global slowdown.

Coronavirus also hit the meat price index, which dropped 2 per cent on the month as imports declined to China, the epicenter of the outbreak, which has so far infected at least 95,300 people globally and caused more than 3,200 deaths.

The dairy price index rose 4.6 per cent, pushed higher by a rise for cheese, fueled by tightening export supplies from New Zealand and Australia.

However, quotations for milk powder fell due to a slowdown in purchases by China, the world’s largest importer, because of delays in cargo handling in ports, affected by the spread of the coronavirus, FAO said.

The Food and Agriculture Organization food price

As per the proposal, large-scale industrial fishing vessels and larger developing countries meeting criteria such as per capita gross national income of over $5000 may not be exempted from the prohibition.

India has submitted a fresh proposal on capping fisheries subsidies at the World Trade Organization (WTO), says the official reports. As per the official, the approach is different from its earlier demand seeking exemption for all developing countries from the prohibition of subsidies to vessels.

As per the revised proposal, large-scale industrial fishing vessels and larger developing countries meeting criteria such as per capita gross national income of over $5000 may not be exempted from the prohibition, as reported by businessline. 

“At a recent meeting on fisheries, India stated that its revised proposal shows flexibility to move forward and conclude negotiations by June this year at the Kazakhstan Ministerial meeting of the WTO,” the official said. India’s proposal was a revision of its earlier one made in June 2019.

 Earler Proposal

India had sought an exemption for all developing countries and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) from the prohibition of subsidies to vessels involved in unreported and unregulated fishing in its earlier proposal.

As per the revised proposal, for a developing country to be not eligible for the exemption on prohibition, it not only has to have a GNI per capita of over $5000 for three consecutive years but also have a more than 2 percent share in global marine capture and a less than 10 percent contribution of agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors in its GDP. It should also be engaging in the distant water fishing.

 As per reports, WTO members are hopeful of reaching an agreement on curbing the ‘harmful’ fisheries subsidies estimated at $14 billion-$20.5 billion annually at the forthcoming Ministerial meeting in Kazakhstan. While all members agree that subsidies that are resulting in overfishing and destruction of marine life should be eliminated or reduced, there is no convergence of views on the areas of exemptions.

Moreover, developed countries like the US, Brazil, and Australia want to place subsidy caps on all countries with large fish stocks, like India and China, irrespective of their development status.

As per the proposal, large-scale industrial fishing

The company is recognized for providing farmers with the best organic material with the fairest and the most ethical practices. 

 

 

Suminter India Organics has been recently felicitated with the Topmost Exporter of Organic Spices Award for the year 2016-17 and 2015-16 by Spices Board India. Spices Board of India is an apex organization for the development and promotion of Indian spices across the world. The organization provides an international link between the Indian exporters and importers abroad.

 The award was felicitated by Som Parkash, Minister of State, Commerce and Industry, Government of India. Suminter India Organics is a pioneer in providing high-quality natural and organic ingredients. The company aims at providing farmers with the best organic material with the fairest and the most ethical practices. The company has a worldwide reach and has a big name in the global organic seeds and farming industry. 

The company is recognized for providing farmers