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Thailand, Trade

Since December 2020, the Group has entered into various agreements to sell over 1,480 containers of fresh durians from Thailand to major Chinese fruit importers. 

NutryFarm International Limited has announced that the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Global Agricapital Holdings Pte Ltd has entered into two binding purchase agreements with Royal Farm Group Co, Ltd and Thung Thang Thong Co Ltd. 

Under the agreements, GAH has entrusted RFG and TTT to purchase an estimated volume of 270 and 300 containers of fresh durians in Thailand respectively. The price will be based on market price which is acceptable to GAH and the orders will be placed by GAH in batches. GAH shall made a pre-payment of not more than 30 per cent of the order amount upon confirmation of each batch order with the remainder to be paid within thirty days after delivery.

It is also agreed that RFG and TTT shall guarantee the quantity of goods shipped from Thailand and exercise strict quality control based on the requirement of the logistics partner as well as during transportation and warehousing.

Led by the Group’s CEO, Cheng Meng, an industry veteran in the durian industry, the Group has entered into various agreements to sell over 1,480 containers of fresh durians from Thailand to major Chinese fruit importers since December 2020. The total contract value of these agreements is estimated at approximately RMB 962.0 million as announced on 13 February 2021.

Together with these latest two purchase contracts, the Group has entered into purchase agreements to collectively purchase 870 containers of fresh durians from various sources in Thailand to fulfil the sales orders. Shipments of the fresh durians have already started since 20 February 2021 and will continue throughout 2021.

 Cheng Meng, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of NutryFarm, commented, “China’s demand for durians has remained strong despite the COVID-19 pandemic and Thailand is the only country that can export fresh durians to China. Specialised knowledge, industry experience and network are required in the durian trade, particularly when it comes to the cross-border trade of fresh produce, hence there are significant barriers of entry in this industry.With China’s durian supply relying almost entirely on imports.We believe that the growing demand from the Chinese market can provide us with significant opportunities.”

 

Since December 2020, the Group has entered

Finance, R&D

Bota Bio’s next-generation industrial biology platform is a combination of computation and cutting-edge biotechnology

BASF Venture Capital (BVC) has invested in Bota Biosciences, Ltd. (Bota Bio), an industrial synthetic biotech company based in Hangzhou, China. Bota Bio, founded in 2019, is developing a proprietary next-generation biotechnology platform which enables sustainable and economical production of high value products for a broad array of industrial applications. Examples are sweeteners, vitamins, personal care or crop protection products.

Industrial biotechnology or “white biotechnology”, uses living cells and enzymes to develop and manufacture products efficiently. Also, it can upgrade cells, enzymes and processes easily and therefore has the flexibility to adjust its capacity and volume to meet the market demands. Moreover, it expands market opportunities for products not accessible using conventional manufacturing processes. Computation is the core and foundation of Bota Bio’s next-generation bio-foundry to build and evolve enzyme, strain and process pipelines. It quickly identifies and characterizes suitable microbial hosts, shuffles and combines desired phenotypes to create new industrial strains, and furthermore develops and improves manufacturing processes starting from green raw materials, such as sugar.

BASF itself uses fermentation and biocatalysis to manufacture products such as vitamins and enzymes and is working on processes that use white biotechnology for the production of chemical building blocks from renewable raw materials such as sugar and plant oils. The two strong partners are looking forward to explore possible synergies

  Markus Solibieda, BVC’s Managing Director said, “Bota Bio’s highly innovative platform enables the acceleration of product development and contributes to sustainable and economical production. It has the potential to shape progress for the future of the chemical industry. With our investment in this promising young company, we are strengthening BASF’s activities related to sustainability and enhancing the group’s potential for innovation in the dynamic Asian markets.”  

Bota Bio will use this investment to expand its development and production capabilities. “In BASF, we have a strong industry partner by our side whose strengths optimally complement our own. We welcome this support in scaling up our processes and launching new products,” said Cheryl Cui, Ph.D., CEO of Bota Bio.

Bota Bio’s next-generation industrial biology platform is

Agro chems – Chemicals

India to emerge as front runner in chemical and petrochemical industry in the world 

 DV Sadananda Gowda, Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Govt of India recently  said that the Indian chemicals and petrochemicals industry is growing to new heights, and he made it clear that investments worth Rs 10 lakh crore will happen in the industry by 2025. 

Gowda was addressing the inaugural session ’India Chem 2021 – 11th Biennial International Exhibition and Conference’, organized by FICCI, jointly with the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Govt of India.

Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, said ,” India is emerging as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. The Indian economy is showing signs of emerging as one of the fastest economies in the world. The vision of India Chem 2021 is to seize the opportunity to establish India as a leading chemical and petrochemical hub”.

Mekapati Goutam Reddy, Minister for Industries, Investment, Infrastructure, Commerce & IT, Govt of Andhra Pradesh said ,”Presence of large petrochemical industries and oil refineries is enabling the country to become self-sufficient. The state has attracted more investments in the recent years. We have around 5,000 MSMEs working in the state which contributes to 8 percent of the entire business in India”.

 Deepak C Mehta, Chairman, FICCI National Chemical Committee & CMD, Deepak Nitrite Ltd told that India is emerging as a global leader in the chemical and petrochemical industry. He added that the chemical industry is driving extremely well in India over the past few years, and he expects the same to happen in the future too.

 

India to emerge as front runner in

World

The fungicide, Priaxor Xemium, is not labeled by the EPA for specific use on coffee plants

The Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) recently filed a request for a specific exemption from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow Hawaii coffee growers to use a fungicide to help manage coffee leaf rust (CLR), a fungus that is a serious threat to Hawaii’s $56 million coffee industry. On March 3, Gov. David Ige delegated the authority to submit the EPA emergency application to Hawai`i Board of Agriculture (Board) chairperson, Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser.

The fungicide, Priaxor Xemium, is not labeled by the EPA for specific use on coffee plants, but it is allowed for use to control fungi on leafy vegetables, strawberries, tomatoes, soybeans, wheat and many other crops. The manufacturer of the fungicide notified HDOA last week that they support the review by EPA on the use of the product on coffee plants.

Any use of Priaxor Xemium would not be allowable until EPA reviews and approves the application which could take up to 45 days. If the exemption is approved, the fungicide may be used for up to one year or until use on coffee plants is added to the product label by EPA and the product’s producer.

A multi-agency effort including HDOA, University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (UH-CTAHR) and the USDA Daniel K. Inouye Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center and the Hawai`i coffee industry has been ramping up efforts to battle the disease on several fronts.

The Board has tentatively scheduled a virtual meeting for March 23rd to consider expanding the infested areas to include Lana`i and O`ahu and implementing the same restrictions on the movement of coffee plants, plant parts and other coffee-associated materials.

The fungicide, Priaxor Xemium, is not labeled

AgroPolicy, Agrotech, E-commerce, Trade

International buyers from the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, New Zealand, France, Saudi Arabia, UK, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Fiji, Philippines, Myanmar, Netherlands, etc. had registered for the virtual events. 

First Virtual Trade Fair (VTF) organised by APEDA to boost the export potential of India’s agricultural and processed food products during the COVID-19 pandemic drew a huge response from participants, exporters and buyers from countries including India, UAE, Brazil, New Zealand and France.

The VTF organised during March 10-12, 2021 drew more than 404 visitors. There were 313 exhibitors registered for the mega virtual event where 128 stalls were set up to showcase products from the categories – basmati rice, non-basmati rice, millets, wheat, maize, groundnut and coarse grains.

The buyers from around the globe showed distributed interest in a variety of product categories displayed during VTF. The fair with the theme ‘India Rice and Agro Commodity’, focussed on showcasing the export potential of various agricultural commodities. Importers as well as exporters were key participants of the VTF. For each day during VTF, the potential buyers or importers and visitors keenly explored a wide range of food products presented by the exporters.

All the exhibitor stalls looked attractive and integrated well with the event’s theme. All the stalls had their product catalogues, product lists and a short video of their company. Indian and international buyers from the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, New Zealand, France, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Fiji, Philippines, Qatar, Sudan, Myanmar, Netherlands, and Peru had registered for the virtual events. The promotion of VTF was also generated with the support of Indian Embassies abroad. An aggressive social media campaign for the promotion of VTF was initiated.

Because of COVID-19 related restrictions on physical travel and trade, APEDA has initiated the concept of VTF for sustaining India’s agricultural and processed food products exports and also exploring new markets for expanding export footprints.

In the pre-COVID-19 era, trade fairs and exhibitions have been instrumental in promoting the export of agricultural foods by APEDA. In the VTF, the trade facilitations take place using interactive technology.

At VTF, the exporters and importer meetings were held with no interruption via audio as well as video sessions. The fair provided the facility workshops, product launches, live streams and webinars. The virtual meet facilitated private meetings as well as personalized meetings.

 

 

 

International buyers from the United Arab Emirates,

E-commerce, Start ups

Farmers Family team of agronomist and quality control, keep a strict watch on the production, procurement, processing and packaging to ensure compliance with highest quality standards. 

 In order to make quality and fresh farming products reach the last mile, Farmers Family, an agri- tech start-up, has launched their online shopping app that is the one-stop solution for all your farm-fresh veggies and fruits needs. The app is making consumer’s shopping experience hassle-free by enabling them a bouquet of user-friendly services including user-friendly login, in-app messaging services and easy payment options.

Titled as Farmers Family, which will be available on Android and IOS platforms, the app aims at providing a quick and efficient doorstep delivery of services as a part of an effort to restrict people’s movement further. Users can avail all the services with a click of button by simply login with their email or mobile number. The no-contact delivery will ensure that the veggies and fruits are delivered safely to the consumers.

Vikal Kulshreshtha, Co-founder & CEO, Farmers Family said, “We are excited to announce the mobile app which will make things easier for both retailers and the customers. Investment in mobile app will help us reap benefits for a longer period because Rewards/loyalty programs can create value addition through this app. Moreover, we are seeing a substantial rise of smartphone usage as smartphones are easily accessible, and this has transformed not just the mobile industry, but also the retail sector.”

Farmers Family hopes to create a bridge between the farm and table. It provides healthy and quality farm produce directly from the farms to the consumers. The company has in-house state-of-the-art machines, which are being used to hygienically clean and pack the products. Their team of agronomist and quality control keep a strict watch on the production, procurement, processing and packaging to ensure compliance with highest quality standards. They also have an appropriate mechanism in place to prevent post-harvest wastage technology driven business with minimum human interference.

Farmers Family team of agronomist and quality

Acts & Schemes – Centre, Agrotech, Start ups

To conduct Crop Cutting Experiments on pilot basis across 100 districts In India

Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture has appointed Leads Connect Services Private Limited a Noida based Agri-tech Company, along with two other independent private agencies, to conduct the Crop Cutting Experiments (CCE) in 100 districts across India. This is a part of Government of India’s flagship scheme, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) under which the agency will be conducting large-scale pilot studies for technology-based Gram-Panchayat level yield estimates.

Leads Connect, with its cutting-edge technologies such as Remote Sensing and GIS, artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics frameworks, will co-observe the CCEs conducted by state Government for PMFBY. In addition to this, Leads Connect will conduct few additional CCEs for wheat in various districts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, covering Gram Panchayats in 25 districts across these states. This pilot study may be extended to 200 districts from Kharif 2021 which is a part of Government of India Initiative to use technology for precise yield estimation and timely claim settlement under PMFBY scheme.

Navneet Ravikar, Chairman & Managing Director, Leads Connect Services Private Limited said  “This will be a smart union of traditional Random Number based CCEs data collection with a Satellite Remote Sensing technology based Random Smart Sampling methodology. In future there is a strong possibility that new methodology will replace the tradition method and reduce the number of sampling points with a better yield projection model or system. Our nation is a country of small hold/marginal farmers so this will collectively enable accurate and efficient execution of CCE, resulting in timely clearance of claims with a precise production estimates for Agriculture planners.”

To conduct Crop Cutting Experiments on pilot

Agro Universities

Around 100 farmers attended the inaugural ceremony of the complex

Keeping in view the significance of agro-processing plants, a processing complex at village Mohi, district Ludhiana has been established under the aegis of All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Post-harvest Engineering and Technology (PHET) with technical assistance from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU).

It is owned by Sardar Jaswant Singh, son of Sardar Naurang Singh. This agro-processing plant includes a modern wheat flour milling unit, mini oil expeller with filtration unit and spice grinding unit. Around 100 farmers attended the inaugural ceremony of the complex.

Dr MS Alam, Principal Scientist-cum-Incharge, AICRP on PHET, Department of Processing and Food Engineering, PAU, observed, “Agro-processing plants at farm gate are the need of the hour for value addition of agricultural produce, entrepreneurship and to curtail post-harvest losses at the village level.” He informed that PAU was imparting training and providing technical guidance and support to the rural population for the establishment of processing complex.

He said that the establishment of an agro-processing complex (APC) at the farm gate will help in getting quality products, employment to rural youth, reducing post-harvest losses and achieving diversification concept in agriculture besides improving the economic and social status of farmers. He also appreciated the workmanship of Artesian Sardar Pritpal Singh.

Around 100 farmers attended the inaugural ceremony

R&D

Palm oil is the richest source of Beta-carotene, a natural source of Pro-Vitamin A, apart from tocotrienols (Vitamin E)

Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), one of the world’s largest palm oil-based agribusinesses, has stepped up efforts to dispel misperceptions while raising awareness about the multiple health benefits of the world’s most widely used edible oil.

In fact, depending on the degree of refining, palm oil is the richest source of Beta-carotene, a natural source of Pro-Vitamin A. It is also a great source of tocotrienols (Vitamin E).

 Eliminating trans fats entirely from the food supply

The fear of the increased risk of heart diseases is driving global health regulators to ban trans fats, which can be found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. The US Federal Drug Administration and the WHO plan to eliminate industrial trans fats by 2020 and 2023, respectively.

F&B conglomerates have turned to natural palm oil, due it being naturally free from industrial trans fatty acids and not needing to undergo hydrogenation to be modified, unlike sunflower, rapeseed, and soybean oils. Among the four major commodity oils, palm oil remains free from genetic modification – a non-GMO oil.

Innovating to adapt to customer needs

At GAR’s R&D centre in Marunda, Jakarta, food technologists develop margarines with different flavor profiles, shortening with special whipping capabilities, or unique specialty ice-cream coatings.

Palm oil is the richest source of

E-commerce, R&D

It will advance the Agrify Solution for the fast-growing Hemp market and drive further Innovation and Evolution of Indoor Agriculture Grow Solutions. 

Agrify Corporation, a developer of highly advanced and proprietary precision hardware and software grow solutions for the indoor agriculture marketplace, announced it has entered into a binding letter of intent, which sets forth the principal terms of a partnership currently being negotiated with Atlantis Hydroponics to build a 2,500 square foot research and development facility. The new R&D facility will be at the Atlantis location in Georgia, where Atlantis has a license to grow hemp in the state.

“At Agrify, we passionately believe indoor, large-scale cultivation is the future of agriculture, and by investing in R&D partnerships, we can continue to foster the necessary data and technology needed to advance the industry,” said David Kessler, Chief Science Officer of Agrify.

“This collaboration with Agrify is intended to advance our mission to bring self-sustaining gardening practices to the forefront of agriculture and help them become an integral part of our communities,” said Jeremy Doan, Certified Master Grower of Atlantis Hydroponics.

The R&D facility is expected to focus on increasing concentrations of certain phytochemicals and metabolites (e.g., CBG, CBD, terpenes, and flavonoids) via the manipulation and control over abiotic elements in the growing environment, such as temperature and light spectrum. Agrify and Atlantis believe this research will lead to further stabilization and control over the chemotypic expression, and ultimately to safer and more consistent phyto-derived medicines and products. Testing capabilities at the R&D facility will also include mechanical component testing and improvements, new product development evaluation, remote customer “simulation” studies, and LED light mapping and evaluation.

The completed R&D facility will be comprised of Agrify’s Vertical Farming Units (“VFUs”), Integrated Grow Racks (“IGRs”), and Agrify Insights software platform, and operations are expected to commence in April of 2021, subject to entry into a definitive agreement.

It will advance the Agrify Solution for

Agro chems – Fertilizers, Agrotech

The new office will accelerate every process in the country, from product registration to a closer and more efficient customer service. 

The Tradecorp India team was founded in 2015, without a physical place and lots of effort over these 5 years, they have achieved a total integration in the country, bringing expert solutions and more than 35 years of experience to every corner. Tradecorp manufactures and distributes specialty fertiliser and crop nutrition products for agriculture. 

 The new Tradecorp office will be located Wakad, Pune. This location has been chosen with a strategic view, as Pune in Maharashtra is one of the main points for business in agriculture, in a mid-point for transportation along the country and an open door for great nutrition market due to the size and variety of crops that surround the area. The opening of the new India office will accelerate every process in the country, from product registration to a closer and more efficient customer service.

 As Tradecorp keeps growing, the team does so. Badola started the way alone, but many kept joining bringing different and great values to the team. Shortly after joined Bonde, India technical manager, with a background in bio-control. He quickly got used to the new environment, started travelling to every corner, bringing technical advice and solutions to every farmer and distributor.

 Followed Rajesh Kaushik, India business developer. Since Tradecorp’s fame kept organically growing, the team needed to integrate and take care of every client, giving a closer attention to the needs and looking for tailor-made solutions in relation with the global and local technical team. Ravindra was the last to join the team with the objective of ensuring the best attention and local support in all matters, and the closest person to the day to day work and support.

Badola, Regional manager of India, stated: “As we started growing, I was joined by my colleagues Bonde, followed by Rajesh and Ravindra. Needless to say, that our stakeholders (importers) played a very positive role in development of business. Our strategy of dealing with regional importers, brand promotion and product performance contributed to good growth year on year”

 

 

 

The new office will accelerate every process

Agrotech, IT, Start ups

Asia AgriTech Challenge provides a platform to interact with like-minded people with exposure to state-of-the-art agri-tech innovations.

 Pune based agriech FarmERP, has bagged a Top 3 finalist spot in the Asia AgriTech Challenge, organised by the Value Chain Capacity Network. 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 organised by the VCB-N is an international award which aims at promoting innovations in the use of ICT along the value chains and provide successful innovations in a platform to showcase their products. Asia AgriTech Challenge provides a platform to interact with like-minded people with exposure to state-of-the-art agri-tech innovations.

FarmERP has bagged the spot for finalists in ‘IT Innovation in support of VC supply-demand arrangements/marketing’ category. The jury board included some prestigious names such as the Department of Science and Technology – India, Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

FarmERP aims to add 2 million agricultural stakeholders to their platform in the next 14 months. Catering to various domains within the Agricultural Value Chain and has multiple different uses. Their solutions cater to multiple sub-verticals like Contract Farming, Farm Management, Plantation and Farm, Biotech or Tissue Culture, Organic Farming, Greenhouse, Hydroponics, Floriculture, among a host of others, with stakeholders from Government Institutions, FPOs, and FPCs, Agribusinesses, Agriculture Consultants, etc.

Sanjay Borkar, CEO and Co-Founder of FarmERP, said, “We are honoured to be chosen as one of the finalists for The Asia Agritech Challenge Awards. I want to thank the Jury, the participants and congratulate our fellow finalists. Such awards are kind motivators to agribusinesses all over the world.”

The winners of the award would be announced on 19th March 2021.

 

 

 

Asia AgriTech Challenge provides a platform to

Agro Universities

About 60 participants have participated in the training program

Entrepreneurship training programme on ’Agro-processing’ was recently jointly organised by the Department of Extension Education and Communication Management, and Department of Processing and Food Engineering in collaboration with Skill Development Centre, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in the department adopted village Assi Kalan, block Pakhowal, Ludhiana.

The course was held under the guidance of Dr Kuldeep Singh, Head, Department of Extension Education and Communication Management, PAU. About 60 participants have participated in the training program.

In his remarks, Dr MS Alam, Principal Scientist, Department of Processing and Food Engineering, urged the participants to adopt food processing as an entrepreneur. He further explained the importance of food processing and value addition in enhancing household income.

Dr Maninder Kaur, Scientist, Department of Processing and Food Engineering, explained the techniques required for the processing of turmeric and jaggery. She also discussed the machines developed by the department.

Dr Manjot Kaur, Scientist, Department of Extension Education and Communication Management, provided information about various skill development courses conducted by PAU.

About 60 participants have participated in the

R&D

The study examined rice yields and atmospheric conditions from 1966 to 2016

A study of the relationship between temperature and yields of various rice varieties, based on 50 years of weather and rice-yield data from farms in the Philippines, found that warming temperatures negatively affect rice yields.

Recent varieties of rice, bred for environmental stresses like heat, showed better yields than both traditional rice varieties and modern varieties of rice that were not specifically bred to withstand warmer temperatures. But the study found that warming adversely affected crop yields even for those varieties best suited to the heat. Overall, the advantage of varieties bred to withstand increased heat was too small to be statistically significant.

Roderick Rejesus, a professor and extension specialist of agricultural and resource economics at North Carolina State University and the corresponding author of a paper that describes the study, says that teasing out the effects of temperature on rice yields is important to understand whether rice-breeding efforts have helped address the environmental challenges faced by modern society, such as global warming.

The study examined rice yields and atmospheric conditions from 1966 to 2016 in Central Luzon, the major rice-growing region of the Philippines.

The study examined three general rice varieties planted during those 50 years: traditional rice varieties; “early modern varieties” planted after the onset of the Green Revolution, which were bred for higher yields; and “recent modern varieties” bred for particular characteristics, like heat or pest resistance, for example.

Perhaps as expected, the study showed that, in the presence of warming, recent modern varieties had the best yields when compared with the early modern and traditional varieties, and that early modern varieties outperformed traditional varieties.

The study examined rice yields and atmospheric