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Friday / March 29. 2024

The module will help farmers connect with buyers and sell their produce directly. 

Indore-based agritech start-up Gramaphone has introduced a trading module ’ Vyapar’ to its farm management platform . It will help farmers connect with buyers and sell their produce directly.

Gramaphone currently operates mainly in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, where over seven lakh farmers are using the farm management platform for crop advisory and purchase of inputs.

The Gramaphone platform provides customised crop advisory to farmers right from sowing of the crop to the harvest through its mobile app and also through the call centre, Khan said. Farmers are provided agronomy advice and updates on weather, market price and also on pests and diseases.

Gramaphone currently works with companies such as Godrej Agrovet and Dhanuka on the crop protection side and with seed companies such as Rasi and Nunheims among others.

Now, by adding the Vyapar module to its platform, Gramaphone is enabling farmers to market their produce. It has already about 500 buyers on board, including traders and processors on its platform and plans to add another 5,000 by the year-end.

 

 

The module will help farmers connect with

This will encourage more investments to flow into the introduction of modern technologies and seed varieties into the market 

Federation of Seed Industry of India(FSII) is happy with the increase of 5 per cent in cotton seed price as announced by the Government of India. This is less than the 10 per cent we requested for, but we consider it as a good gesture by the Government.

FSII represented to the Government of India that the cotton seed business was becoming unviable for the industry and research investments in developing new hybrids has dwindled significantly. If this is not corrected immediately it will adversely affect cotton yields and farmers profitability.

Ram Kaundinya, Director General, Federation of Seed Industry of India and Alliance for Agri Innovation said, “We are glad that the government has seen merit in our arguments and agreed for a 5% price increase. The textile industry has aggressive plans to grow their industry in this decade. Cotton production has to go to 5.7cr bales by 2027 from the current level of 3.7 cr bales. It is not possible unless we upgrade the technology in seed. Cotton yield and production has stagnated due to declining investment in breeding and lack of new technology introduction. India’s pre-eminent position in global cotton markets is in danger of being lost. India is losing competitiveness with plateauing yield, declining farmer profits & export volume, allowing other countries to gain share in the international market. Since 2011 Indian cotton export volumes came down by 70% while Brazil increased by 80% and Africa increased by 116% during the same period. Backed by modern technologies the cotton farmers of African countries and Brazil are on the path of increasing their export volumes.”

“Cost of seed production is increasing continuously. The cost of inputs such as labour, fertilizer and crop protection have also gone up significantly. For example, the cost of labour employed in the field costs more than Rs 75000/ per acre for the emasculation and crossing needed for hybridization. The cost of fertilizer has increased by 30% and the cost of crop protection has been increasing due to falling rupee against the US dollar. The situation has been made worse this year due to the pandemic as labour availability was very erratic and expensive. On the other hand, the MRP of BGII cotton has not kept pace with the cost increases. It has been reduced from Rs 800 to Rs 730 over the last 5 years, out of which the seed component (excluding the trait value) moved down from Rs. 751 per packet to Rs. 730 per packet.”

We now feel encouraged by the price increase and would like to thank the Government for this gesture. In the long-term, interests of the industry and for the farmer, we urge the Government to remove the price control completely. This will encourage more investments to flow into the introduction of modern technologies and seed varieties into the market, which is crucial for the health of Indian cotton industry and the Indian cotton farmer.

 

This will encourage more investments to flow

CropIn has opened first international office in Amsterdam as s part of its expansion plans.

 In the latest development, CropIn, a leading AI and data-led Agtech organization, has recently announced the opening of its first international office in Amsterdam. As part of its expansion plans, CropIn is looking forward to setting up its team in Amsterdam, it will also be establishing Customer Success, Sales and Data Science verticals.

The business expansion plan includes fostering channel partnerships with local companies with an aim to cater to existing customer segments while focusing on offering solutions to new segments like Telecom, Farm Machinery and Plantation. CropIn’s AI capabilities will be boosted by continued strengthening of their machine learning based predictive analytics platform, SmartRisk.

As Krishna Kumar, CEO, CropIn says “CropIn has seen phenomenal growth over the last 3 years fuelled by a combination of new product introduction, entry into international markets and new customer segments in the agri space. This has led to a current team strength of 200+ with a focus on strengthening capabilities in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Our revenue is also expected to clock an 8X growth in the next three years and while expanding the reach to 65 countries from the current 52. We also intend to hire 100+ employees for key positions in India and international markets of South East Asia, Europe and Africa to meet the ambitious growth plans. The decision to open a fully functional office in Amsterdam is market-driven. It is imperative to have a physical presence in the client market to service them more effectively. It will help us get a first-hand experience of the customer pulse and enable us to exceed their expectations.”

As the industry pioneer, CropIn aims to empower farmers and agribusinesses with real-time data for better decision-making and improved farm productivity. Through the Amsterdam office, CropIn comes one step closer to its aim of impacting a large number of farmers. The physical office in the Netherlands will provide easy access to CropIn to other European markets.

 

 

CropIn has opened first international office in

It enables excellent systemic movement of the active ingredient through the plant to the site of action against fungal cells.

ADAMA has announced the launch of a novel prothioconazole fungicide which uses a unique formulation to offer improved cereal and OSR disease control compared to the current market leader. Soratel (250 g/l prothioconazole), features ADAMA’s new ‘AsorbitalTM’ formulation technology: comprising a unique combination of two solvents and an adjuvant, this novel formulation, which was developed at ADAMA’s global R&D facility at Neot Hovav, Israel, improves uptake of the fungicide into the leaf and enables excellent systemic movement of the active ingredient through the plant to the site of action against fungal cells.

“With the spring rapidly approaching, our global research and development and product registration teams have been working around the clock to make Soratel available to UK growers in time for the new spraying season,” explains Mel Wardle, ADAMA’s fungicide product manager in the UK.

“Our mission wasn’t simply to bring yet another generic prothioconazole product to the market, but to develop an all-new formulation of this tried and tested active ingredient that offers real and tangible benefits above and beyond those already available from other prothioconazole based fungicides.”

EU trials have shown that, gramme for gramme per hectare, Soratel consistently and reliably provides a notable improvement in disease control under a range of conditions compared to the current market leading prothioconazole product, Wardle adds.

 “Specifically, under UK conditions, trials have shown that Soratel is up to 13% more efficacious against fusarium than the current market leader, with similar results also reported when used to treat sclerotinia in oilseed rape growing in a maritime climate,” she explained.

Wardle added, “It offers a flexible range of application opportunities in cereals and oilseed rape and can be used at a wide range of treatment timings to provide improved protection against a broad spectrum of key diseases.”

 

It enables excellent systemic movement of the

The moU aims to develop innovative packaging technologies and propagate scientific packaging practices in the Meat sector. 

The ICAR-National Research Centre on Meat (NCRM) and the Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) have entered into an MoU for facilitating collaborative research and training. Dr. S.B. Barbuddhe, Director, ICAR-NRC on Meat, Hyderabad and Dr. Tanweer Alam, Director, IIP, Mumbai, Maharashtra signed the MoU on the behalf of their respective organizations.

Both the Institutions resolved to submit joint research proposals, undertake students’ research programmes and organize capacity building programmes to develop innovative packaging technologies and propagate scientific packaging practices in the Meat sector.

Meat is a highly perishable product and it needs to be packaged and stored properly to ensure better shelf life and consumer safety. Interventions in meat sector with innovative packaging technology can reduce the post-harvest loss, contribute in supply of safe meat and meat products to consumers and enhances marketability.

ICAR – NRC on Meat is working on intelligent packaging systems, biodegradable packaging and retort processing to provide packaging solutions to stakeholders. They agreed to facilitate use of each other’s infrastructure and facilities to scientists, faculty, research scholars and students; to undertake research based on the location-specific problems on mutual agreement.

 

The moU aims to develop innovative packaging

It aims at investing in productivity enhancing sustainable technologies that bring real-world benefits to farmers

CNH Industrial announced that it has completed the acquisition of a minority stake in Bennamann Ltd., a UK based, fast growing agricultural technology company in the field of clean energy. This acquisition will see CNH Industrial become Bennamann’s exclusive strategic agricultural technology partner.

This partnership is further evidence of CNH Industrial’s longstanding commitment to investing in productivity enhancing sustainable technologies that bring real-world benefits to farmers. Furthermore, this acquisition strengthens the Company’s commitment to clean energy, which empowers farmers to drive down agricultural emissions through innovative technologies that embrace the circular economy to deliver environmental and economic benefits for customers and the wider community.

Bennamann is actively demonstrating how an innovative new approach to energy independent, sustainable farming will facilitate the adoption across a broad spectrum of agribusinesses. This approach maximizes the use of on-site renewable energy resources in combination with animal waste, to supply all the energy needed for the farm, enabling farmers to become ‘Energy Independent’ from fossil fuels, thereby reducing operational costs. It seeks to deliver commercially viable net zero carbon energy products, both biogas and  liquid  biofuel,  from  animal  waste  for  sale  and  distribution,  generating  additional revenue streams for farmers. It also improves the sustainability of farmland management practices through minimizing artificial inputs such as manufactured fertilizer, lowering operational costs and reducing pollutants.  Furthermore, these scalable solutions are focused on reducing initial capital expenditure, rendering the system more accessible to small and medium sized agribusinesses.

 

It aims at investing in productivity enhancing

It focus on Jackfruit Processing as an enterprise as jackfruit has been identified for North Goa district under One District One Product 

 A three days Capacity Building Programme on Food Processing and Value Addition of Goan Fruits was organized by the ICAR – Krishi Vigyan Kendra, North Goa, ICAR – CCARI, Goa, in collaboration with Goa Biodiversity Board, Saligaon, Goa. Total 25 participants attended the programme from Sanqualim, Harvellem and Pali villages, in the valedictory function organized on 24th March, 2021,  Sulakshana Sawant, President of Food Federation, Goa, was the Chief Guest. She stressed on the women group attending the programme to take up Jackfruit Processing as an enterprise as jackfruit has been identified for North Goa district under One District One Product by Ministry of Food Processing, New Delhi.

Dr. E. B. Chakurkar, Director, ICAR – CCARI, Goa, also attended the programme and appreciated KVK officials for organizing such programme. Dr. B. L. Kasinath, Principal Scientist and Head, ICAR – KVK, North Goa, welcomed the dignitaries and briefed the KVK activities for women empowerment. Sunetra Talaulikar, Subject Matter Specialist (Home Science), shared the brief about the three days programme with the dignitaries.

 

It focus on Jackfruit Processing as an

The new long-term study could mean more sustainable burgers

According to new findings from researchers at the University of California, Davis, a bit of seaweed in cattle feed could reduce methane emissions from beef cattle by as much as 82 per cent.

“We now have sound evidence that seaweed in cattle diet is effective at reducing greenhouse gases and that the efficacy does not diminish over time,” said Ermias Kebreab, professor and Sesnon Endowed Chair of the Department of Animal Science and director of the World Food Center. Kebreab conducted the study along with his PhD graduate student Breanna Roque.

Kebreab and Roque are building on their earlier work with dairy cattle, which was the world’s first experiment reported that used seaweed in cattle.

Since cattle are the top agricultural source of greenhouse gases, many have suggested people eat less meat to help address climate change.

In the new study, Kebreab and Roque tested whether those reductions were sustainable over time by feeding cows a touch of seaweed every day for five months, from the time they were young on the range through their later days on the feedlot.

Four times a day, the cows ate a snack from an open-air contraption that measured the methane in their breath. The results were clear. Cattle that consumed seaweed emitted much less methane, and there was no drop-off in efficacy over time.

The new long-term study could mean more

Origin’s elite corn hybrids to develop potential commercial GMO hybrid corn for Chinese farmers

Origin Agritech Ltd., an agriculture technology company, recently announced that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with Beijing Dabeinong Technology Group Co., Ltd. (DBN) for the development of commercial GMO corn hybrids.

Under the terms of the agreement, the parties will collaborate on the research and development of new GMO corn hybrids by integrating DBN’s approved traits and Origin’s elite corn hybrids to develop potential commercial GMO hybrid corn for Chinese farmers. In the agreement, both parties have also agreed to explore potential collaborations in GMO corn seed production, marketing, and technical services in the future GMO corn market, which would allow the two firms to expand their collaboration over time.

DBN is a Chinese agriculture conglomerate with over 14,000 employees and has over $2 billion in annual sales. Beijing Dabeinong Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (DBNBC), which is DBN’s holding subsidiary, is the leading biotechnology research entity in China. It received the approval of three Corn Bio-safety Certificates and one Soybean Bio-safety Certificate recently.

Origin’s elite corn hybrids to develop potential

It will provide farmers and industry experts with the data and information they need to improve farming sustainability by conserving resources and improving crop yields. 

 NASA Harvest (NASA’s Food Security and Agriculture Program) and CropX, a global leader in soil analytics for agriculture, announced a strategic partnership that will give NASA Harvest unprecedented soil insights for its global agricultural monitoring efforts. Supporting a more sustainable food ecosystem, together NASA Harvest and CropX will provide farmers and industry experts with the data and information they need to improve farming sustainability by conserving resources and improving crop yields.

The partnership will further NASA Harvest’s mission to improve food security and advance sustainable agriculture, supporting farmer productivity while preserving natural resources in the United States and worldwide through the use of satellite data. Combining the power of CropX soil data monitoring, comprehensive insights provided by the CropX ag analytics platform, and NASA’s network of Earth-observing satellites, NASA Harvest aims to deliver critical insights to governments and farmers around the globe in support of informed and science-driven decision making.

“Soil health and nutrient management is at the very root of food security and sustainable agriculture concerns – an accurate understanding of what is actually happening underneath the ground is essential. Satellite imagery has long been an integral part of CropX algorithms, and our partnership with NASA Harvest will deliver valuable agronomic insights by connecting critical data at different depths underground and from an expansive network of satellites in space. We are looking forward to working with the NASA Harvest team to improve farming decision-making worldwide – in both developed and undeveloped regions.”, noted Nadav Liebermann, CropX chief technology officer.

CropX has implemented strategies across a group of alfalfa farms in Arizona controlled by IAF Investments Group to test and fine-tune the algorithms that will become the foundation of nationwide, and potentially eventually global, agriculture insights. Over a 12-month time period with the integration of NASA data and international partner agency satellite data, the pilot program will quickly establish the parameters for water usage estimates, yield prediction, soil quality and land usage assessments based on multiple crop growing cycles.

 “We are in a constant race to produce and supply enough food in order to feed a rapidly growing global population, with finite land and natural resources. NASA Harvest is dedicated to collaborating with top innovators to make the best possible use of our agricultural land; CropX unites our space-led vision with on-farm intelligence and results,” added Inbal Becker-Reshef, program director of NASA Harvest.

It will provide farmers and industry experts

CeraMax is a new biological seed treatment for the prevention of soilborne fungal diseases including Rhizoctonia and Fusarium virguliforme. 

 Netherlands based Ceradis Crop Protection B.V., a global developer and marketer of environmentally friendly plant nutrition and crop protection solutions, has formed a distribution partnership with WinField® United for its CeraMax® bio fungicide seed treatment.

“We are excited about the partnership with WinField United which is an important milestone in commercializing CeraMax in the U.S.,” says Jan Stechmann, Vice President of Marketing and Sales. “This collaboration is a testament to both company’s commitment to the future of biotechnology and a shared goal in delivering effective and environmentally friendly solutions to growers.”

CeraMax is a new biological seed treatment for the prevention of soilborne fungal diseases including Rhizoctonia and Fusarium virguliforme, the causal agent of Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) in soybeans.

Containing the active ingredient Natamycin, CeraMax empowers the genetic potential of crops to increase early-season vigor for a stronger and more uniform emergence at the start-up of the season.

Registered by the Environmental Protection Agency as a bio fungicide seed treatment for soybeans, CeraMax recently received the government’s stamp of approval for expanding its label to now include corn and wheat.

Progressive Partnering

WinField United, which has an established track record for bringing innovations to growers, plans to market and sell CeraMax in 2021 in soybean-producing areas most impacted by SDS in years past.

“We are continuously searching for novel technologies that maximize grower return on investment,” says Ashley Giese, Marketing Manager of Seed Treatment with WinField United. “Our objective is to provide growers with seed treatment offerings that are driven by innovation, performance, and value. We believe CeraMax helps us deliver on that strategy.”

Giese also says, the agreement with Ceradis not only strengthens her company’s mission in delivering next-generation products to customers but enhances the company’s rapidly growing seed treatment portfolio.

The newly-formed partnership between the organizations represents an important validation in regards to the growing demand for biological inputs in the U.S.

CeraMax is a new biological seed treatment

The Asia AgriTech Challenge furnishes a stage to connect with like-minded individuals with openness to cutting-edge agri-tech advancements. 

 

 Pune based agritech company FarmERP, has secured second place in the Asia AgriTech Challenge, organised by the Value Chain Capacity Network. The Regional Value Chain Capacity Building Network (VCB-N) provides professional advisory services and capacity building on Value Chain and Market System Development (VC&MSD) in Asia and the Pacific Region (APR).

The ASIA AGRI-TECH CHALLENGE coordinated by the VCB-N is a global honour that targets advancing innovations in the utilization of ICT along the value chains and gives fruitful developments in a platform to exhibit their products. The Asia AgriTech Challenge furnishes a stage to connect with like-minded individuals with openness to cutting-edge agri-tech advancements.

FarmERP, a leading agritech company from India, has secured second place in the ‘IT Innovation in support of VC supply-demand arrangements/marketing’ category. Along with this, they have also been awarded a cash prize of 2000 USD. The jury board showcased some prestigious & prominent names such as the Department of Science and Technology – India, Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation, and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

When asked for a comment, Sanjay Borkar, CEO and Co-Founder of FarmERP, mentioned, “It is an honour to be a part of the Asia AgriTech Challenge, and we are honoured to bag the second place. I want to thank the honourable Jury, the participants as well as the finalists. I would also like to congratulate my entire team, without whose support, Santosh and I would never have been able to reach where we are today.”

Santosh Shinde, COO and Co-Founder of FarmERP commented, “In the last two decades, Sanjay and I have seen agriculture flourish and evolve with the help of technology, and this is what motivates us every single day to come up with new innovations and provide greater solutions to the agricultural stakeholders.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Asia AgriTech Challenge furnishes a stage

Prof. K C Bansal, Board Member of the Global Plant Council and Senior Consultant, Alliance of Bioversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) shares his views on the ‘Effective use of Genome editing in agriculture’. Edited excerpts – Part -I 

 The Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 2020 has been awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier  and Jennifer Doudna for developing the Genome Editing technology- CRISPR-Cas9.  In some countries like the US, biotech companies have started to apply CRISPR[1]Cas9 in agriculture. In an interaction with AgroSpectrum, Prof. K C Bansal, Board Member of the Global Plant Council and Senior Consultant, Alliance of Bioversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Former Director,ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi shares his views on the ‘Effective use of Genome editing in agriculture’. Edited excerpts – 

  • The 2020 Nobel Prize has been awarded to the developers of genome editing. How do you see the potential of this technology for agriculture?

It’s indeed quite heartening to learn that the 2020 Chemistry Nobel Prize has gone to the Genome Editing technology developed by Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna. No doubt, this technology has tremendous potential as already evident from the literature on basic biological research, human therapeutics and agriculture.

As a scientist engaged in genetic modification of crops for over two decades, I see a great opportunity ahead for another revolution in agriculture, particularly by developing smart crops with desired attributes to bring sustainability to  crop production. Genome editing has already created crops with improved traits that were hitherto, technically speaking, difficult through conventional breeding or genetic engineering. For instance, the development of genome-edited rice with improved growth and high yield combined with high tolerance to drought by mutating ABA receptors, and drought-tolerant maize developed by mutating the negative regulator of ethylene response. Similarly, tomato has been made resistant to the powdery mildew fungal pathogen through loss-of-function mutations in the wild-type alleles of the Mlo gene. Another example is the generation of genome-edited rice with broad-spectrum resistance to bacterial blight by mutating the sucrose transporter gene promoters. 

Notably, all this has been achieved by modifying only a few bases/nucleotides in a precise and targeted manner, as against random mutagenesis attempted in the past through irradiation or chemical mutagens, which resulted in the development of thousands of crop varieties that were released in several countries including India. The genome-edited crops developed with minor targeted genetic modifications in their native genes remain indistinguishable from their non-edited counterparts. There are several complex agronomic traits that need immediate attention, and now we can even use CRISPR-based multiplex genome editing for improving the complex traits with relative ease.

More importantly, genome editing will allow enhanced use of crop diversity by bringing novel resistance genes/alleles from crop wild relatives and landraces to the cultivated gene pool for developing high-yielding climate-smart crops with enhanced resistance to emerging pests and pathogens, and tolerance to multiple stresses, such as drought, high temperature and salinity. Thus, I would say that genome or gene editing mediated by the CRISPR-Cas system has emerged as a game-changer with a great promise to develop high-yielding and climate-resilient crops.

Also, this technology is here to stay and India must take as much benefit as possible for the welfare of smallholder farmers, consumers and society at large, and for a clean and green environment.

  • What is genome editing and how does it differ from the classical way of genetic engineering?

Genome editing technology is based on an existing bacterial immune system, and allows modifications in an organism’s genome, be it insertions/deletions or substitution of certain bases or even inserting a full-length foreign gene at the predetermined genomic site in a precise and targeted manner. Conventional genetic engineering on the other hand, either Agrobacterium-mediated or biolistic-driven, brings in random integration of the foreign gene in the genome. This necessitates GM (genetic modification) crops to go through a lengthy development process as well as clearance through a complex regulatory regime. Interestingly, the genome-edited crops are accepted in many countries as non-GMOs owing to the absence of foreign DNA in the final product.

Genome editing involves cleavage of the plant’s double-stranded DNA by the CRISPR-associated (Cas) protein. This is followed by repairing of the double-stranded break by the cell’s own machinery through non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ), subsequently introducing variable-length  deletions/additions of few nucleotides in the given gene and making it non-functional (knocking out the gene). This way, the genome editing technology allows modification of plants’ own genes and is not dependent on foreign gene insertion, unlike genetic engineering, for incorporating a particular trait. The technology allows targeted substitution of certain nucleotides within the plant’s own gene’s coding sequence or the regulatory elements of a gene, with the use of homologous sequences through a homology-directed repair (HDR) system. And as mentioned before, the technology can be used to precisely insert a full-length foreign gene onto a predetermined genomic location or replace a given gene through the HDR mechanism.

Prof. K C Bansal, Board Member of

Aims to promote science-based industry standards through global research initiative

GE Current, a Daintree company, today extended its global horticulture lighting research initiative, launching a new partnership with Wageningen University & Research (WUR) in the Netherlands. The new study, led by WUR’s Prof Dr Leo Marcelis, will focus on determining the value and uses of interlighting for greenhouse vine crops like tomatoes, using both Current’s range of Lucalox HPS and Arize LED products. The research aims to provide growers with better guidance on the position, type and intensity of interlighting, in combination with LED top lighting, to maximize yield volume and quality.

The study will capture a lot of data through the coming months and the results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. It is the latest research project for Current, which is also working with NC State University, Ohio State University, and the Stockbridge Technology Centre in the UK to investigate the impact of light on different stages of plant growth across a wide variety of medicinal, ornamental and edible crops.

With a growing library of independent, peer-reviewed research, Current roots its product development and commercial guidance in hard data and scientific fact. The findings of its collaboration with WUR will help refine the design and deployment of the company’s forthcoming interlighting portfolio and will offer more detailed insight into the most effective light distribution and the ratio between top lighting and interlighting fixtures.

Aims to promote science-based industry standards through