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Organic

A webinar will cover the basics on April 20th at 12 pm Pacific time

Organic Seed Alliance (OSA) and partners of the Tomato Organic Management and Improvement Project (TOMI) have announced recently two new tools to help growers produce tomato seed using organic practices.

The new Tomato Seed Production Guide, and an accompanying webinar on April 20, 2021, Growing Organic Tomato Seed: A How-To Virtual Training, provide practical information for growers interested in producing high-quality tomato seed for their own farm or to sell commercially. These resources are applicable to growers of all scales.

According to the US Department of Agriculture data, tomatoes are the fourth largest organic vegetable crop by sales, demonstrating the popularity of this iconic summer crop. Organic growers are required to use organic seed unless commercially unavailable, which means as demand for organic food grows, so too does the demand for organic seed to help growers meet this regulatory requirement.

The Tomato Seed Production Guide offers readers a comprehensive resource for growing organic tomato seed from start to finish, beginning with the history of tomatoes, the various types and fruit colors, as well as the lifecycle and biology. The guide outlines climatic requirements and how to select for desired traits, which includes recommendations for isolation distances to maintain genetics and population sizes.

The April 20th webinar will take place from 12:00 – 1:00 pm Pacific Time. Participation is free but pre-registration is required at the link below. TOMI partners Laurie McKenzie and Jared Zystro from OSA, and Plant Pathologist Dan Egel from Purdue University, will provide a summary of recommendations in the guide – including tomato biology, climatic requirements, genetic maintenance, disease management, and how to harvest, clean, and store tomato seed – while answering questions from participants.

A webinar will cover the basics on

Acts & Schemes – Centre, Foodgrains, Schemes - Govt

Till 18th April 2021, about Rs 202.69 crore in Punjab and about Rs 1417 crore in Haryana has been transferred directly into farmers’ account.

For the first time, farmers of Punjab have started receiving payments directly into their bank accounts against the sale of their Rabi crops. In the last week, about Rs 202.69 crore has already transferred directly into Punjab farmers’ account.

In the ongoing Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) 2021-22, the Government of India is continuing to procure Rabi crops at MSP from farmers as per the existing Price Support Scheme. The Government of India has plans to procure around 427 LMT wheat in the current RMS at MSP in the central pool.

Wheat procurement has picked up pace in the last week and is going on briskly in the procuring States & UTs of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and other States with the purchase of over 121.7 LMT up to 18th April 2021 against 5.23 LMT during the corresponding period of last year. 

Out of the total purchase of 121.7 LMT, major contribution has been made by Haryana- 44.8 LMT (36.8%), Punjab- 41.8 LMT (34.2%) and Madhya Pradesh -28.5 LMT (23.4%) of total procurement as of April 18, 2021.

About 11.6 Lakh Wheat farmers have already been benefitted from the ongoing RMS procurement Operations with MSP value of Rs. 24,037.56 Crore. During last week a quantity of 92.47 LMT Wheat has been procured.

This year, a new chapter has been added in the history of public procurement when Haryana and Punjab also switched from indirect payment of MSP to direct online transfer of benefits to farmers’ bank account by all the procuring agencies as per direction of GOI, which is being rejoiced by the farmers of Punjab/Haryana as for the first time they are receiving direct benefits against the sale of their hard toiled crops without any delay and cuts under “One Nation, One MSP, One DBT”.

 Till 18th April 2021, about Rs 202.69 crore in Punjab and about Rs 1417 crore in Haryana has been transferred directly into farmers’ account.

 

 

 

 

Till 18th April 2021, about Rs

Agrotech, R&D, Sustainable Energy

The sugarcane syrup-based ethanol plant at Godavari Biorefineries Ltd (GBL) in Karnataka, aims to increase the Ethanol manufacturing quantity in India using various sugary feedstocks. 

Praj Industries has bagged an order to set up India’s largest capacity sugarcane syrup-based ethanol plant from Godavari Biorefineries Ltd (GBL) in Karnataka. As a part of this project, Praj will expand the existing ethanol manufacturing capacity to 600 KLPD, using sugarcane syrup.

When commissioned, this will become India’s largest capacity syrup-based ethanol plant. The Government of India has made several strategic interventions by way of progressive policies, conducive financial mechanisms, to encourage the sugar sector to limit surplus sugar production and instead, produce more ethanol. This capacity expansion planned by GBL is in line with the Government’s Biofuel policy to increase the Ethanol manufacturing quantity in India using various sugary feedstocks.

The expansion capacity at GBL Plant will continue to be a zero liquid discharge facility. The expansion will maintain zero liquid discharge norms by deploying innovative technology i.e. SHIFT, developed in Praj’s state-of-the-art R&D facility – Praj Matrix. The ‘SHIFT’ technology minimizes energy and water footprint while maximizing value for customers.

 Samir Somaiya, Chairman & Managing Director of Godavari Biorefineries Limited (GBL) said, “Responding to government’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, we decided to divert sugar cane syrup to the distillery to manufacture Ethanol. We are happy for our association with Praj as our technology partner for increasing our manufacturing capacity. Praj will design, engineer, supply, install and increase our capacity from 400 KLPD to 600 KLPD ethanol production using sugar syrup as raw material. We look forward to building on our mutually rewarding relationship with Praj with our new ventures.”

 Shishir Joshipura, CEO & MD of Praj said, “Praj is delighted to work with an industry leader and to bring its state of the art syrup to ethanol technology, to establish India’s largest syrup-based ethanol plant. Praj has over a decade’s experience in designing and building syrup to ethanol systems in overseas markets. Our technology delivers best in class yields enhancing the delivered value for our customer.”

This is expected to open more similar opportunities in syrup to ethanol manufacturing and ultimately boost ethanol production in the country.

The sugarcane syrup-based ethanol plant at Godavari

Europe, IT, R&D

The new tool, Klimatkalkylen (the Climate Impact Calculator), measures actual emissions of greenhouse gases from the farmer’s cultivation and factors in local growing conditions. 

To succeed in the ongoing transition in greening the agriculture sector, correct data are needed in order to monitor the efficacy of sustainability measures. Lantmännen and Dataväxt hope this tool can contribute to a new sector standard for measuring climate impact and to create added value for Swedish grain.

The tool that has been developed by Dataväxt and Lantmännen factors in the type of crop, harvest, fertiliser use, tractor fuel consumption etc., and compiles all the data into a CO₂ footprint per kg harvested (expressed in carbon dioxide equivalents). Comprehensive data collection is already happening on farms with products and technology from Dataväxt. All this information will be able to be used directly in the newly developed software for cultivation, Klimatkalkylen, which is unique and differs from other tools and systems used today. Klimatkalkylen can be used as a decision-making support system, for example when choosing seed and soil preparation, and provides a more correct picture of the climate footprint of an individual farm.

“In many cases, a standard value forms the basis for CO₂ calculations today. We will now be able to get a bit closer to the true value as the calculations also take into account local conditions. In order to contribute with new knowledge in this area and to confirm we are moving in the right direction, we must be able to measure initiatives linked to the sustainable agriculture of the future,” says Claes Johansson, Head of Sustainable Development at Lantmännen.

Via the tool, Lantmännen and Dataväxt wish to contribute to a new sector standard for measuring climate impact and at the same time, create opportunities for new business models linked to sustainable added values at the farm level. Pilot trials are now going to be implemented with a beta version of the tool, where different business models will be evaluated and further developed.

Framtidsgården Bjertorp – the first pilot farm

Framtidsgården Bjertorp is being officially opened on 15 April where Lantmännen is going to present solutions for the farming of the Future in practice, with the latest technology within precision sowing, sustainable input goods, intermediate crops that increase carbon sequestration, as well as measures that boost biodiversity. The first version of the tool will be demonstrated during the official opening and a full-scale version will then be used on the farm for measuring and monitoring purposes in 2021. A further ten or so farms are set to be added to the pilot study in the future. The tool is planned to be launched in autumn 2021.

The new tool, Klimatkalkylen (the Climate Impact

Agrotech, IT

The no-code Webee SmartFarm platform cuts implementation time – even across large operations

Webee SmartFarm, a turnkey platform purpose-built for connected agriculture that deploys in minutes without technical know-how, was recently launched by the award-winning industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) innovator Webee. The no-code Webee SmartFarm platform cuts implementation time – even across large operations – from months to days.

Webee SmartFarm aggregates heterogeneous smart farming sensor data with third-party environmental and other contextual information to create a highly granular picture of the wellness and productivity of live plants and animals or the condition of stored agricultural products. With Webee’s NLP-powered analytics, users can make sense of sensor-generated data by asking questions and receiving answers about the state of their agricultural operations in natural language.

Smart farming made simple and cost-effective

Since margins are tight, producers also need to see ROI fast, which deters them from making investments in modern but complicated software and hardware technologies that would lead to more streamlined operations.

Webee’s cost- and time-effective no-code solution deploys quickly, allows sensors to be connected in places with scarce connectivity without adding any significant additional costs, and sends users real-time notifications about anomalies, so they can promptly make necessary changes to preserve and improve agricultural assets. By detecting diseases and other anomalies early, protocols to lower their impact can be activated before disaster strikes.

 

The no-code Webee SmartFarm platform cuts implementation

Agro chems – Pesticides, Agrotech, Seeds

The partnership will help identify and support the development of sustainable technologies that help reduce the environmental impact of crop protection and reduce field greenhouse gas emissions.

SVG Ventures THRIVE, a leading global agrifood venture and innovation platform headquartered in Silicon Valley, is partnering with Bayer, one of the world’s leading innovators in seeds and crop protection, to launch the ’THRIVE-Bayer Sustainability Challenge’ .

The challenge will identify and accelerate emerging technology solutions that will help transform global agriculture to feed the world’s growing population in a more sustainable way.

Agtech and food tech startups and scaleups whose solutions embody the combination of the Bayer sustainability commitments and THRIVE’s Global Initiative focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goals are invited to apply. Through this challenge, Bayer and THRIVE are seeking to identify and support the development of sustainable technologies that help reduce the environmental impact of crop protection, reduce field greenhouse gas emissions, and improve smallholder farmer access to agronomic knowledge, products, and services.

In addition to the investment, the startup winner will receive an invitation to participate in THRIVE’s award-winning accelerator program, access to the Leaps by Bayer impact investment team and open innovation resources, expert mentorship, and extensive media spotlight and exposure through THRIVE and Bayer channels.

 

The partnership will help identify and support

Agro Universities, AgroPolicy, IT

The Union Minister stressed on the quality research and advanced agricultural education

Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare has virtually inaugurated the “Virtual Classroom” & “Agri-Diksha Web Education Channel” recently. The Union Minister also released the “Exploration Centre & Drone Remote Sensing Laboratory” and “Manual on Drone Remote Sensing” during the occasion. Tomar applauded the efforts of all the scientists of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. The minister stressed on the quality research and advanced agricultural education that can make agriculture a medium of employment generation.

Tomar also lauded the responsible efforts by the academicians and scientists of the Pusa Institute along with Krishi Vigyan Kendra, State Agricultural Universities and Education Division of the Council. He stressed on the pivotal role played by the various digital platforms to implement the various Central Government Schemes at the ground level effectively. The Union Minister stated that digital platforms help to connect with a wide array of people at a given time. He also emphasized that the two programmes will be a milestone in uplifting the livelihood standards of the agri-students and farmers to a large extent.

Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare stated that the new technological venture by the Council in the arena of agricultural researches and education is commendable. The Minister regarded the conduct of virtual meetings as a perfect way to contain the spread of COVID-19 Pandemic.

Outlining about the Krishi-Megh Scheme of the National Agricultural Higher Education Project, Dr RC Agrawal, Deputy Director General (Agricultural Education), ICAR apprised the dignitaries about the various features of the new Virtual Classroom & Agri-Diksha Web Education Channel.

 

The Union Minister stressed on the quality

AgroPolicy, Interaction

Maize is a cereal crop of versatile use and must be promoted as intercrop.

Parshottambhai Rupala, Minister of State (Agri & Farmers Welfare), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, has recently mentioned that PM Narendra Modi’s ambitious target of doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022, can be achieved through private sector investment and participation in agriculture.

Addressing the ’7th India Maize Summit 2021’, organised by FICCI, Rupala said that farmers will be interested in the cultivation of maize only if it’s profitable. “We must project maize as a surplus crop,” added the minister.

Rupala further highlighted the importance of hedging and the need to include it in agricultural policies. He also gave assurance for minimum support price (MSP) in maize. Maize, he said is a cereal crop of versatile use and must be promoted as intercrop.

Amrendra Pratap Singh, Minister, Agriculture Department, Government of Bihar said that Bihar is one of the strongest agricultural states in India and urged entrepreneurs to invest in agriculture and agro-processing sector in the state. “Investors and entrepreneurs can rest assured they will get full cooperation from the Bihar government. We want maize to be used enterprisingly in Bihar and industry has a key role to play in it,” he added.

T R Kesavan, Chairman, FICCI National Agriculture Committee & Group President, TAFE Ltd said that having realised the potential of maize in generating better income for farmers while providing gainful employment, Maize also qualifies as a potential crop for doubling farmer’s income. Over the last decade, maize consumption in India grew at a CAGR of 5.6 per cent while production grew at just about 2.9 per cent. Looking at the rising demand for Maize, there is an imminent need to establish a clear road map for this sector.

Maize is a cereal crop of versatile

Start ups, Supply Chain, Trade

The acquisition sets in motion a partnership that promises to increase outreach to agribusinesses, FPOs and agri Enterprises 

Agri solutions provider company Samunnati has announced the acquisition of Kamatan, an agri logistics and supply chain company serving some of the largest agri enterprises, food processors and institutional buyers in the market. It cements a partnership, unlike anything India’s agri ecosystem, has witnessed yet.  Company is delighted to break new ground with Kamatan as it begin the next phase of growth for Indian agriculture.

 This acquisition sets in motion a partnership that promises to increase outreach to agribusinesses, Farmer Producer Organisations and agri Enterprises, both in the number of entities and solutions served. While Kamatan offers its expertise in customising supply models and end-to-end digitisation for farmers and FPOs, Samunnati leverages its holistic AMLA approach to help agri value chains across the country operate at a higher equilibrium. 

Now in the thick of a ‘Growth Phase’ itself, this partnership offers us a unique opportunity to shift the optics surrounding our role – transforming Samunnati into a full-spectrum agri solutions provider led by technology. The phenomenal growth of Kamatan reaffirms that together, we can create, mine and manifest inclusive, transparent and efficient value chains – thus helping Indian agriculture realise true self-reliance or Atma Nirbharta.

The acquisition sets in motion a partnership

Agro Universities, R&D

The workshop covered the worldwide regulatory status of genome edited crops with special emphasis to India 

 A 5-day Hands-on Laboratory Course on CRISPR-Cas Gene Editing was organized by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, New Delhi at the SGT University campus, Gurugram in collaboration with ICAR institutes – National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack; National Institute of Plant Biotechnology, New Delhi, and the DBT’s National Agri-food Biotechnology Institute, Mohali, from March 23 -27, 2021. The workshop had 14 offline and 128 online participants from various parts of the country. The faculty included eminent scientists from reputed international institutions such as International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Manila; International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Tanzania; University of Maryland, USA; University of California, USA; and Corteva Agriscience, USA in addition to the key national institutes like IARI, New Delhi and CSIR- Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), New Delhi.

The workshop covered broadly the following topics as theory and practical sessions: Efficient sgRNA designing for knocking out genes; multiplex editing; epigenome editing and single base editing; gRNA synthesis using PCR and in vitro transcription and determination of their in vitro efficiency; Plant transformation with GE reagents and regeneration; Screening, detection, and validation of mutant plants; Assessing off-target mutations and their relevance in plants,  and worldwide regulatory status of genome edited crops with special emphasis to India. A special session was devoted to human/mammalian cell line transfection with GE reagents by Dr Debojyoti Chakraborty of CSIR-IGIB. 

The workshop participants revealed that the knowledge gained by them was extremely useful and helped them develop an understanding of the basic concepts for use of this powerful technology in various applications in agriculture, particularly for developing climate resilient and nutritionally-enriched crops. Workshop participants with Prof. K C Bansal, Course Director and Dr. J C Rana, Guest of Honour; flanked by Dean Dr Ashok Kumar, Course Coordinator Dr. Kutubuddin Molla, ICAR-NRRI, Cuttack and Convener, Dr Sonia Goel of SGT University, Gurugram

 

          

The workshop covered the worldwide regulatory status

AgroPolicy, Foodgrains

Maize Farmers need good germplasm, agronomic interventions, enabling infrastructure & minimizing of post-harvest waste. 

 Parshottambhai Rupala, Minister of State (Agri & Farmers Welfare), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, today said that PM’s ambitious target of doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022, can be achieved through private sector investment and participation in agriculture.

Addressing the ‘7th India Maize Summit 2021’, organized by FICCI, Rupala said that farmers will be interested in the cultivation of maize only if it’s profitable. “We must project maize as a surplus crop,” added the minister.

Rupala further highlighted the importance of hedging and the need to include it in the agricultural policies. He also gave assurance for minimum support price (MSP) in maize.

Amrendra Pratap Singh, Minister, Agriculture Department, Government of Bihar said that  Bihar always had the potential to be an enterprise state and an ethanol promotion policy will permit investors to directly produce ethanol which will make Bihar the ideal state for investment in agriculture.

 Ravishankar C, Vice President Marketing, Bayer CropScience & Chair of Maize Initiative said we need to create public infrastructure so that we can be competitive exporters and not just internal traders. We must ensure our farmers do not suffer a competitive disadvantage.

 Gurpreet Bhathal, Director-Seed Sales, Corteva Agriscience said to realize full potential of maize, it is necessary to make maize farming profitable for farmers. Maize Farmers need good germplasm, agronomic interventions, enabling infrastructure & minimizing of post-harvest waste. This could only be achieved through collaboration & intervention. Private companies, FPOs, Govt and Public sectors need to come together to play an enabling role, he added.

 Vijay Kumar Venkatraman, Managing Director, NCDEX said farmers will wait for the right price and need storage infrastructure for maize. India has major scope in maize exports which needs improvement in the supply chain.

Sunjay Vuppuluri, Head -Food & Agribusiness Strategic Advisory & Research (FASAR) Segment, YES Bank said the knowledge paper released today captures dynamics of the maize sector with a focus on India and identifies the key challenges. We need to develop a maize atlas, productivity improvement and agricultural practices, he said.

 T R Kesavan, Chairman, FICCI National Agriculture Committee & Group President, TAFE Ltd said having realised the potential of maize in generating better income for farmers while providing gainful employment, Maize also qualifies as a potential crop for doubling farmer’s income.

Maize Farmers need good germplasm, agronomic interventions,

Agro Universities

Punjab Agricultural University has also identified wild rice accession with high grain protein and genetic stocks with high iron content

Punjab, the granary of India, has come up with offerings of a bouquet of improved crop and vegetable varieties that are rich in nutrients and can make valuable contributions to the nutritional requirements of India’s population.

‘PAU 1 Chapatti’ with low polyphenols and outstanding processing qualities has been shortlisted for commercialisation whereas wheat candidate varieties having high grain protein, high zinc, low phytates, and high carotenoids have been developed.

Besides this, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has offered to growers two carotene-rich cherry tomato varieties called Punjab Sona and Punjab Kesar and two anthocyanin rich brinjal varieties called Punjab Raunak and Punjab Bharpoor with antioxidant properties.

PAU has also identified wild rice accession with high grain protein and genetic stocks with high iron content for breeding rice with enhanced nutritional value. High grain iron and zinc lines have been identified in interspecific crosses of chickpea.  

The varieties and genetic stocks have been developed by the Punjab Agricultural University with support from the Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (PURSE) grant provided by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India. Besides varieties, a number of technologies for value-added products from nutritionally enhanced varieties of cereals, pulses and vegetables are on the cards.

The first phase of the project focussed on “Climate Change” induced abiotic stresses in the selected field and horticultural crops. It introduced a crop improvement strategy in wheat, rice, tomato and pepper to develop varieties with better adaptation to various stresses.

Punjab Agricultural University has also identified wild

AgroPolicy

Government procures 64.7 LMT of wheat worth Rs 12,800 Cr against target of 427 LMT

Shudhanshu Pandey, Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution, has recently addressed the media virtually on the status of Wheat Procurement in Rabi Marketing Season 2021-22.

In his address, the Secretary said that the Government of India is committed to purchase the wheat at MSP and to ensure that payments are made directly into the accounts of the farmers. He further added that until now, 6,60,593 farmers from 11 states have benefited.

Pandey informed that the Rabi season 2021-22 has already started in the States of MP and Rajasthan from March 15, 2021, in Haryana & Delhi w.e.f. April 1, 2021, in Punjab w.e.f. April 10, and in Bihar, it will commence from April 20, 2021.

He briefed the media that during the current RMS (2021-22), so far, Government has procured 64.7 LMT of wheat worth Rs 12,800 Crore at MSP of Rs 1,975 per quintal, against an estimated target of 427 LMT this year. In comparison, last year (2020), record procurement was at 389 LMT but on the same date i.e. till April 14, it was just about 60 tonnes, whereas 12.81 LMT was procured during the corresponding period in the RMS 2019-20. 

Briefing about the wheat procurement in Punjab, he informed that 10.6 LMT has been procured as of April 14, 2021, against zero (0) LMT during 2020-21 and 0.15 LMT during the corresponding period of 2019-20. 

On a question of proposals for maize procurement in Bihar, the Secretary said that the existing policy of Govt. of India is to ask for quotes from states and accordingly MSP is announced.

Further to a question on price rise of oilseeds, he said the price rise is taking place due to several international on factors – damaged international oilseeds owing to which Latin American countries saw less production of Soyabean etc.

 

 

Government procures 64.7 LMT of wheat worth

Agro chems – Pesticides, North America, R&D

Craze offers pre- emergence suppression of hard-to-control grasses and yellow nutsedge as well as post-emergence activity on target weeds at the time of application. 

Craze Herbicide from Nichino America is now registered in California for use on grapes and nut crops as well as non-bearing stone fruit the company announced recently. The active ingredient in Craze, orthosulfamuron, is a HRAC Group 2 herbicide that works by inhibiting the plant enzyme acetolactate synthase (ALS). Inhibition of this enzyme blocks branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis of valine, leucine, and isoleucine which leads to plant death.

Craze provides long-lasting, pre- emergence control of troublesome weeds in nut and vine crops, including cheese weed (little mallow), filaree, fleabane, henbit, lambsquarters, and marestail. Craze also offers pre emergence suppression of hard-to-control grasses and yellow nutsedge as well as post emergence activity on target weeds at the time of application.

Field trials show Craze to have equal or superior efficacy against broadleaf weeds compared to other ALS herbicides. Additionally, Craze controls broadleaf weeds resistant or tolerant to post emergence herbicides. “The strength of Craze is its activity on fleabane and marestail,” reports Cathy Fleming-Wimer, product manager for Nichino America, Inc. “That important benefit, along with providing broad spectrum control of other susceptible weed species, makes Craze an excellent choice when considering herbicides in pre emergence spray programs,” she adds.

Craze may be used anytime during the pre-emergence application period. It should be applied at 5.7 to 8.6 oz per acre in combination with another effective pre emergence herbicide to enhance performance of the tank mix and increase control of tough weeds in vine and nut crops. The Craze label allows a maximum yearly dosage of 8.6 oz per acre with a maximum of one application per year. Always read and follow all labels for use directions.

Craze offers pre- emergence suppression of hard-to-control