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North America

The Mushroom Company’s product capabilities range from individually quick-frozen (IQF) to canning, blanching, blending, and roasting mushrooms and other vegetables.

South Mill Champs (SMC), one of the largest high-quality mushroom growers in North America, has acquired The Mushroom Company based in Cambridge, MD.

The Mushroom Company is one of North America’s largest mushroom processors. Over the last 90 years it has built a reputation for high-quality, innovative products and superior dedicated customer service.  The Mushroom Company’s product capabilities range from individually quick-frozen (IQF) to canning, blanching, blending, and roasting mushrooms and other vegetables.  It primarily serves the foodservice and industrial markets, where its mushrooms end up on pizzas, soups, and various quick and casual-service restaurant menus.

The facility will continue to operate under The Mushroom Company banner, with Dennis Newhard remaining President and General Manager.  In the near term, SMC plans to expand capacity and capabilities at the Cambridge facility, in line with its growing North American operations.

The Mushroom Company’s product capabilities range from

Agro chems – Chemicals, Trade

MKVN Chemicals and Viet Chemicals team will significantly increase Azelis’ presence in Vietnam allowing for significant portfolio expansion through lateral integration. 

Azelis, a leading distributor of specialty chemicals and food ingredients, announced that it has acquired a majority shareholding of MKVN Chemicals Co Ltd (MKVN Chemicals) and Viet Chemicals Trading and Service Co Ltd (Viet Chemicals) through their parent company Bellekimia Singapore Pte. Ltd (Bellekimia). Both companies are active in personal care, industrial chemicals, agro and food segments as well as supply chain solutions. Founded in 2000 and with offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, MKVN Chemicals and Viet Chemicals have a strong reputation in Vietnam. 

 Laurent Nataf, CEO and President of Azelis Asia Pacific, explains, “Growth in Asia Pacific has been one of the strategic priorities for Azelis. By strengthening our presence in Vietnam, we will gain better coverage in the entire region which is key for us to attract new mandates with our existing principals. Azelis and our new partners MKVN Chemicals and Viet Chemicals have highly complementary business models which will help us diversify our product portfolio significantly.”

 Kamal Hezry Kassim, Managing Director of MKVN Chemicals and Viet Chemicals, said, “We are very excited about this partnership for several reasons. Firstly, becoming part of such a highly regarded, international player will not only provide continuity and security for our company but also additional expertise, infrastructure and growth opportunities.”

The acquisition of MKVN Chemicals and Viet Chemicals illustrates the support provided by EQT since the initial acquisition of Azelis. EQT is confident that the expanded range of services and global reach provided by this acquisition will continue to bring benefits to customers and principals of the combined group.

 

 

MKVN Chemicals and Viet Chemicals team will

Agro chems – Fertilizers, E-commerce, Supply Chain

This partnership will enable last-mile delivery of value-added, differentiated fertilizers directly to farmers’ doorsteps

Fertiliser major Smartchem Technologies Limited, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited (DFPCL), one of India’s leading producers of Fertilisers and Industrial Chemicals, has announced its partnership with AgroStar, a leading agri-input e-commerce platform. Since digitalization is rapidly changing the way services and products are delivered to the consumers, this partnership will enable last-mile delivery of value-added, differentiated fertilisers directly to farmers’ doorsteps. Home delivery of fertilisers can currently be availed by farmers in Maharashtra & Madhya Pradesh, with plans to extend the scope to other geographies in the future.

Mahesh Girdhar, President, Crop Nutrition Business, DFPCL, said, “The new normal is all about focusing on obstacles and carving a way through them. The COVID-19 pandemic and low mobile data cost has accelerated the adoption of e-commerce platforms even in rural regions, and this trend is swiftly catching up in the agricultural space and the farmers now have access to diverse choices beyond the traditional services. Farmers will now have high-quality Mahadhan products home-delivered.”

“We are happy to partner with AgroStar, India’s foremost AgTech start-up, we both share the mission of empowering farmers through improving their productivity and income”, Mahesh added.

Shardul Sheth, CEO and Co-Founder of AgroStar, said “Getting access to good quality nutrients and knowing what to use when and how much is critical for farmers to increase their yield and improve the quality of their output. We are excited to collaborate with Smartchem Technologies to enable broader and deeper penetration of their products across multiple states that we operate in.”

This partnership will enable last-mile delivery of

Agro chems – Chemicals, Agrotech

First Indian company which has broken into the top bracket of the industrial biotechnology sector globally. 

US-based Biofuels Digest has announced that Praj Industries of India is ranked 2nd in a list of the world’s 50 hottest companies in global bioeconomy for 2021  in Low Carbon Fuels and Renewable Chemicals category. This list represents companies that have made outstanding contributions to bioeconomy by developing and deploying sustainable decarbonisation solutions using innovative technologies that help preserve environment.

Additionally, Praj has also secured 3rd ranking in the newly introduced Biodesign & Engineering category that recognizes hottest companies for their capabilities in innovations and services in commercial-scale operations and products.

This is the first time any Indian company has broken into the top bracket of the industrial biotechnology sector globally. Praj Industries tops the list that includes fortune 500 companies and global majors. Earlier this year, Praj was ranked No.1 among the best places to work in the advanced bioeconomy 2020 by Biofuels Digest.

Jim Lane, Editor and Publisher of the Biofuels Digest, said, “It’s the highest ranking ever achieved by a company out of Asia, and the highest ever for an engineering services company. This year, the invited international selectors and subscribers agreed that Praj Industries has become a world-leader in the transition to renewable fuels and bio based chemicals. We’ve seen for several years a decisive shift towards renewables all across India and Praj is in the front of that movement.”

Talking about this landmark achievement, Dr Pramod Chaudhari, Founder Chairman, Praj said, “We are very proud of 2nd ranking in the Low Carbon Fuels and Renewable Chemicals category that manifests Praj’s market positioning as a global leader in industrial biotechnology. This stature is only reinforced by 3rd ranking in the Biodesign & Engineering category, a definitive endorsement of Praj’s capabilities across the value chain.”

First Indian company which has broken into

Agrotech, Live Stock

The Extender preserves the Pig Semen in a liquid state.

The ’Extender for preservation of Boar Semen’, invented by the ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute, Goa has been granted Patent No. 355114 (Application No. 3037/MUM/2015, dated August 11, 2015) on 1 Jan 2021. In India, pig rearing as an organized industry has seen rapid strides since the last decade. The various governmental and non-governmental agencies, besides the industry, have been making efforts to promote pig rearing for improving the pig farmers’ socio-economic status.

The use of advanced reproductive technologies like Artificial Insemination (AI) in pigs is the need of the hour, especially, to boost pig production and profitability. The semen collected needs to be preserved for AI. However, implementation of such technology has not been truly successful to date largely due to non-permeation, technical complexities, and costs that remain beyond the reach of those involved in pig-rearing.

The Extender preserves the Pig Semen in a liquid state. It has a protocol of use that is simple, cost-effective and within the ambit of even a layman to implement. The researchers have used the product for their research work and different pig production centres in neighboring states regularly procure the extender for pig breeding through AI. The potential beneficiaries of the technology include pig farmers, researchers, state animal husbandry departments, industrialists, and agri-entrepreneurs.

The Extender preserves the Pig Semen in

E-commerce, Live Stock, R&D

Collaboration to bring cultivated meat to Japan will help the country meet food security goals

Israel based Aleph Farms, Ltd., and Mitsubishi Corporation’s Food Industry Group have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to bring cultivated meat to the Japanese table. Aleph Farms will provide its proven, scalable manufacturing platform (BioFarm) for the cultivation of whole-muscle steaks. Mitsubishi Corporation will provide its expertise in biotechnology processes, branded food manufacturing, and local distribution channels in Japan.

Mitsubishi Corporation is a globally integrated business enterprise that develops and operates a global network of 1,700 group companies in 90 countries.

This cooperation takes a lead role in the fight against climate change, especially now that the Japanese government stipulated a goal of achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions. As the demand for meat continues to rise with evolving lifestyles, the cooperation will also provide actionable solutions to overcome the societal challenges to the local population surrounding the domestic meat supply. This includes implementing stable food channels of quality nutrition.

Aleph Farms and Mitsubishi Corporation are members of the “Cellular Agriculture Study Group”, a consortium implementing policy proposals under the Japanese Center for Rule-Making Strategy. The consortium brings together a range of experts on the definition and construction of cellular agricultural foods. It also adds clarification of conditions for Japanese products and technologies to have international competitiveness and establishes mechanisms for coexistence and division of roles with existing industries.

Collaboration to bring cultivated meat to Japan

Agrotech, China

The new releases include three models of XAG agricultural drone and two editions of R150 unmanned ground vehicle

China-based XAG has recently launched a new series of smart agri-tech at its annual conference (XAAC-2020) hosted on 15 December, 2020, introducing more in-depth digital unmanned solutions to make farming easier and more sustainable. The new releases include three models of XAG Agricultural Drone and two editions of R150 Unmanned Ground Vehicle for broadcast and mower, which will soon be commercially available in the Chinese market. 

XAG P Series agricultural drone

XAG P40 and P80 as two new models of XAG’s P Series agricultural drone are rolled out to provide various types of farms with more efficient, flexible unmanned operations. The new P Series drone can switch between three different payloads systems – XAG RealTerra, RevoSpray, and RevoCast. 

XAG R150 unmanned ground vehicle

XAG has also fully tapped the potential applications of R150 Unmanned Ground Vehicle, by adding two new editions for large-scale broadcast and precision mowing. As the world’s first mass-produced agricultural robotic platform, XAG R150 debuted in China early this July with a wide range of capabilities, such as crop spraying, on-farm transport, and field monitoring.  

XAG V40 agriculture drone

Unlike the traditional multi-rotor drone, XAG V40 Agricultural Drone is a revolutionary dual tilt-wing unmanned aircraft that leapfrogs flight performance and energy efficiency. 
XAG V40 can fully utilize its downdraft at 100% to make the spray particles better penetrate into the leaves and plants.

AI prescription map as an enabler of the sustainable food system

XAG has announced to take a strategic move to reduce the use of pesticides by introducing prescription map technology in agriculture. XAG RealTerra is the payload system that would facilitate the application of prescription map solution on seeding, fertilization, and crop protection. 

The new releases include three models of

Finance, Start ups

The company also became profitable in FY 20 which is the 2nd full year of operation.

 GramCover is de-risking rural India and making insurance accessible for all by leveraging technology and its point of sale (POS) network. The year 2020 for the company, was a year of three-fold growth in terms of revenue and six-fold growth in terms of the number of insurance proposals. The company also became profitable in FY20 which is the second full year of operation. Despite the Covid 19 scenario, Gramcover raised a Pre-Series A round in May 2020 (FY 21).  GramCover also worked with 4 lakh farmers in Kharif 2020 which is almost 30 per cent spike as compared to Kharif 2019. 

Accounting for 68 per cent of India’s population, rural India has little or no access to insurance beyond certain government programmes. Despite efforts from the insurance regulator, 60 per cent of the gross cropped area and 90 per cent of the livestock is not insured, 70 per cent of the two-wheeler insurance is not renewed, 65 per cent of the health expenses are still out of pocket and life insurance cover is either not available or woefully inadequate.

 

The company also became profitable in

Finance, Machinery - Pre-harvesting

Company reports tractor sales at 7,733 units in December 2020.

Farm equipment manufacturer, Escorts Agri Machinery reported an 88 per cent jump in tractor sales at 7,733 units in December 2020. The company had sold 4,114 units in December 2019.

Domestic tractor sales during last month stood at 7,230 units as against 3,806 units in December 2019, up 90 per cent, Escorts said in a BSE filing. Escorts said in release that post lockdown, this is the first month where the company could supply as per demand of customers, some of whom waited long to get their preferred tractor brand.

“Going forward all macroeconomic factors remain in favour of continued growth and we do not expect any significant supply-demand gaps. Rising inflation, however, continues to be a worry,” the company said. Exports last month grew to 503 units compared with 308 units in December 2019. 

Company reports tractor sales at 7,733 units

AgroPolicy

Next round of dialogue to be held on 8th January 2021  

On January 4, 2021, Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for Agriculture,  Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Railways, Commerce and Industry and Consumer Affairs, and Som Prakash, Food and Public Distribution and Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, participated in the 7th round of talks with the representatives of 41 Farmers’ Unions at VigyanBhawan, New Delhi. Before proceeding with the meeting, a two minute silence was observed for those who had lost their lives during the agitation.

Tomar said that keeping in mind the discussions during the previous meeting the government is committed to find solutions on farmer’s issues with an open mind. Both sides need to take steps forward to find solution.

The Minister said that keeping in mind the welfare of the farmers talks regarding Farm Acts will be held with all farmers Unions representatives from different States. Tomar also said that clause-wise discussion on Farm Acts can be carried forward to resolve contentious issues.

In today’s meeting both sides expressed their opinions and have decided to meet again on 8th January 2021. 

Next round of dialogue to be held

Agro chems – Chemicals

EPA reviewed trifludimoxazin and determined there are no human health risk concerns

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to register pesticide products containing the new active ingredient trifludimoxazin, a vital additional tool in managing resistant weeds.

Trifludimoxazin is an herbicide intended for pre-and/or post-emergent control of broadleaf and grass weeds. It can be applied by aircraft on citrus fruits, pome fruits, cereal grain (except rice), tree nuts, peanuts, and foliage of legume vegetables. Non-agricultural use sites include tree plantations, industrial landscaping, native grass openings, and conifer and hardwood plantations.

EPA reviewed trifludimoxazin and determined there are no human health risk concerns.

EPA is proposing specific mitigations to address potential ecological risks, including label instructions to reduce spray drift by using a medium to an ultra-coarse spray nozzle, and resistance management strategies to reduce the potential for herbicide resistance. The label also includes advisory language to prevent off-site movement to non-target areas due to runoff, along with application restrictions and recommendations on what types of soils and substrates to avoid.

 

EPA reviewed trifludimoxazin and determined there are

R&D

The Director-General stated that the gardens will become key information systems for educating the people

Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & DG (ICAR) virtually inaugurated the ’Golden Jubilee Forage Gardens’ established at 50 SAUs / CAUs / DUs / CUs / ICAR Institutes throughout the country as a part of the Golden Jubilee Year activity and celebration of ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Project on Forage Crops and Utilization on 22 December 2020.

Dr Mohapatra applauded the participants and ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Project on Forage for establishing the gardens in a limited time span. The Director-General stated that the gardens will become key information systems for educating the people, especially, the policymakers, farmers, livestock keepers, and students about the importance of forage crops. Dr Mohapatra stressed extending the establishment of the gardens to other relevant ICAR Institutes of Animal Science and Horticulture also.

Dr Tilak Raj Sharma, Deputy Director General (Crop Science), ICAR regarded the Forage Gardens as unique media for demonstrating and promoting the different fodder technologies. He stressed broadening the genetic base in fodder crops by modern genetic and genomic approaches.

The Vice-Chancellors of different Universities also expressed their views regarding the Forage scenario and Golden Jubilee Forage Garden in particular.

Around 200 participants from different ICAR Institutes, State Agricultural Universities, Central Agricultural Universities, DUs, and CUs participated in the program.

 

The Director-General stated that the gardens will

AgroPolicy

Tomar regarded government policies and schemes as essential to implement agricultural researches more efficiently

Applauding the ICAR’s agricultural scientists’ roles in making the country self-sufficient in terms of crops’ production, Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare urged to create of a roadmap for advancing agricultural research. The Union Minister was interacting with the Officials of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Department of Agricultural Research and Education. Tomar regarded government policies and schemes as essential to implement agricultural researches more efficiently.

 

Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare emphasized that with strong determination, the ICAR scientists will definitely be able to meet the challenges of food security. Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare applauded the ICAR’s un-matching contributions to make the essential food products available during the challenging times of the COVID-19 Pandemic lockdown period. He urged to meet the targets of doubling the farmers’ income by 2022.

 

Dr Mohapatra applauded the agricultural scientists’ and farmers’ untiring contributions to ensure the regular availability of essential food products in the markets. The Director General also highlighted the release of 270 crops varieties including 18 Biofortified varieties of crops by the Council in the last one year.

 

The Director General applauded the team ICAR for receiving the most prestigious Digital India Award – 2020 by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India. Dr Mohapatra outlined the Agricultural Education Division’s invincible contributions to help the agri-students study and appear in their exams through digital platforms. He underlined the agricultural scientists’ initiatives to provide the farmers with mandatory agricultural and farming advisories in their regional languages.

Earlier, Shri Sanjay Kumar Singh, Additional Secretary (DARE) & Secretary (ICAR) delivered the welcome address.

 

Tomar regarded government policies and schemes as

AgroPolicy

24 lakh MT of rice to be delivered to FCI under the central pool during KMS 2020-21.

An MoU has been signed between the Government of India, State Government, and Food Cooperation of India in both DCP and non – the DCP States for procurement of paddy from farmers under the central pool.

As per Clause No.3 of MoU of DCP State, “In the situation of State giving any bonus/ financial incentive in direct or indirect form, over and above MSP, if the overall procurement of the State is in excess of the total allocation of the State made by the Government of India under TPDS/ OWS, such excess quantity shall be treated to be outside the Central Pool”.

Initial targets are only estimates settled with States and States are asked if they are giving incentives or not. Some states including Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were found to be giving incentives so Central Government procurement is restricted to the quantity which was procured in past without bonus/incentive. Central Government is following a uniform policy and supporting farmers across the Country. The same is followed in Chhattisgarh procurement.

During KMS 2020-21, the Government of Chhattisgarh had also published an advertisement/press release on 17.12.2020 detailing the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana that they will procure paddy from the farmers at Rs 2500/- per quintal during KMS 2020-21 by paying Rs.10,000/- per acre which is a form of indirect incentive over and above the MSP which is as good as a bonus on procurement of paddy.

Accordingly, it has been decided to allow 24 lakh MT of rice to be delivered to FCI under the central pool during KMS 2020-21 which is equivalent to the quantity as allowed in previous years.

 

24 lakh MT of rice to be