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Home2021August (Page 11)
Agro chems – Pesticides

Global reform is needed to develop framework and system for bioprotectants to enable their registration, distribution, and sale across nations. An insight by Shashi Sharma, President of the World BioProtection Forum, UK

Bioprotectants (erroneously known as biopesticides) have enormous potential to be the fastest growing industry in plant health and pest control sectors. The global community is eagerly waiting for the delivery of novel bioprotectants. Industry is ready, expecting global leaders, policy makers and regulators to put their act together and enable them to develop and deliver novel products to humanity for safeguarding the at-risk resources from biological threats. 

 

During the last century, we had developed a high degree of reliance on chemical pesticides for pest and disease management. Because of many unacceptable environmental safety and human health concerns associated with these products, the pesticides-based global pest and disease management system is not tenable. There are examples of serious adverse impacts of pesticides on human health and the environment. In a region in South Asia where pesticides were indiscriminately used, cancer incidence in the farming community is so high that hundreds of patients travel regularly by train to a cancer hospital approximately 300 km away. The train is dubbed as the ‘cancer train’ unfortunately. 

 

I often dream that humanity has released a global tender seeking quotations for safeguarding food and agriculture, and other plant and animal resources on this planet, from pest and disease threats. The rationale for this tender is that food that can feed over two billion people is being lost due to pests and diseases, and the overall economic damage caused by them amounts to trillions of dollars. The key caveat of this tender, however, is that the safeguarding products, tools, and processes should not have adverse impacts on the environment as well as on the ability of future generations to use the natural resources that are available to present generations. 

 

I also dream that scientists, entrepreneurs, policy makers and regulators have responded to the tender and provided evidence that ‘biologicals’ fit that niche well. In our enthusiasm, we have even started calling these biologicals ‘biopesticides’, making humanity wonder as to why we label beneficial biologicals such as a fungus, a virus, or a nematode as a type of ‘pesticides’? Let us rectify this mistake and henceforth resolve to call them ‘bioprotectants’, as the World BioProtection Forum, a non-profit organisation, has advocated.  

 

It appears to surprise many people that, already, 500+ businesses have come forward in producing these bioprotectants around the world. Unfortunately, game changing bioprotectant products that have consistently comparable, if not better, efficiency and effectiveness of the chemical pesticides have not been delivered. Lack of long-term vision, strategic direction, global initiatives, funds, and enthusiasm are all among the key reasons for the lower impressions of bioprotectants’ efficacies. 

Two decades of the 21st century have already passed, and we have made sub-optimal progress in replacing the 20th century’s chemicals-based plant pest management system with a biologicals-based systems. Numerous pesticides have been banned from use due to their toxicity, but rather than being replaced by bioprotectants that could fill those “gaps in the market”, farmers across the world find themselves with no tools to fight pests and diseases. This raises the question of why more bioprotectants are not available. The answer relates, at least in part, to the fact that in many parts of the world new bioprotectants are still being evaluated and regulated using the systems and protocols developed for chemicals. The consequence of this one-size-fits-all approach is that there is little tangible progress made worldwide in delivering novel bioprotectants, as trying to meet the requirements of regulatory systems that do not fit the products in question present an insurmountable hurdle. New approaches and systems are needed to be developed for changing the basic operating system for safeguarding the food and agriculture and plants and animals in the natural environment from pest threats.

 

We have also failed to accelerate the identification and characterisation of microbial diversity to discover the game changing microbes that can be potentially used as bioprotectants. The global microbial diversity is a vast source of promising populations and strains and we have so far been able to identify only about 1 per cent of the global microbial biodiversity. We have not yet adequately progressed the development of a global microbial gene bank and resource centres for preserving, culturing, maintaining, studying, and distributing the material and associated information to scientific institutions and industry worldwide. We do not even have adequate protocols needed to accelerate and enhance the smooth exchange of microbial resources across nations. It will require streamlining of laws, regulations, standards, and practices across the national boundaries to enable easy access to resources, and products developed from these resources. A European network, Common Access to Biological Resources and Information (CABRI), appears to be a potentially good model to expand and develop global systems.

 

Global reform is needed to develop framework and system for bioprotectants to enable their registration, distribution, and sale across nations. At present, the regulatory frameworks of different nations are inconsistent and not much progress has been made to streamline them. A reform in the regulatory thinking and processes will help to achieve system compatibility across regions and nations and facilitate innovation, market access and trade. In a fast-changing technology driven world where the scales of technologies and business change rapidly, regulators need help to develop and enforce regulations and properly monitor compliance. Novel approaches, tools and partnerships are needed to regulate the new technologies including the evaluation and delivery of bioprotectants. 

 

Partnership of policy makers and regulators with industry and academia will be crucial to achieve regulatory frameworks and systems that are outcome-focused, fit for purpose, reduce the time and cost for businesses, and promotes innovation and growth. Regulators may have to deviate from the ‘business as usual’ regulatory processes and focus more on providing clear and comprehensive guidelines for developing and registering new bioprotectants. Regulators should also be ready to acknowledge the best practice industry standards and protocols, which may be assessed as equivalent in meeting the regulatory purpose. The skill set, mindset and attitude required for the modern regulatory role is to facilitate and help in making it happen. This would require new working models to engage and synergistically collaborate with academia and industry to access knowledge and expertise needed to effectively regulate and facilitate innovation for the development of the bioprotection sector. 

 

The development of new bioprotectant based pest management system requires financial investment and commitment from political leaders juggling competing priorities. However, they should be mindful that we have a broken pest and disease management system and, if a new system is not developed, we will suffer trillions of dollars of economic losses on an ongoing basis. There is urgency to put our act together and deliver outcomes to safeguard humanity and this planet. Incidentally, a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has revealed that the global arms spending steadily increased over the past 20 years to $1.9 trillion in 2019. The global community expects that politicians worldwide who readily endorse funds for the procurement of arms and ammunitions would pay equal attention to the funding needs of the institutions and initiatives that are critical for safeguarding the food and agriculture, natural biodiversity, and humanity from the real threats to their survival. The development of bioprotectants based pest management system needs immediate attention of the global leaders. This is a high priority, which we cannot afford to neglect.

Global reform is needed to develop framework

AgroPolicy, Finance

The PM talked of the sowing season and expressed the hope that the amount received will help the farmers

The Prime Minister (PM), Narendra Modi released the next instalment of financial benefit under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) today through a video conference. The PM interacted with farmer-beneficiaries during the event. This enabled the transfer of an amount of more than Rs 19,500 crores to more than 9.75 crores beneficiary farmer families. It was the 9th instalment of the financial benefit under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).

 

Addressing the gathering, the PM talked of the sowing season and expressed the hope that the amount received will help the farmers. He also mentioned that the scheme of Kisan Infrastructure Fund with 1 lakh crore rupees corpus also completes one year today. The PM touched upon initiatives like Mission Honey-Bee and making saffron from Jammu and Kashmir in the NAFED shops. The honey mission has led to Rs 700 crore export of honey resulting in extra income for farmers.

 

Referring to the upcoming 75th Independence day, he said that apart from being an occasion for the pride it is also an opportunity for new resolutions. We have to take this opportunity to decide where we want to see India in the coming 25 years, he said. The PM remarked that our agriculture and our farmers have a big role in determining the condition of India in 2047 when the country completes 100 years of independence. It is time to give direction to India’s agriculture to face new challenges and take advantage of new opportunities. He called for changes in Indian agriculture according to the demands of changing times. He lauded the farmers for record production during the pandemic and outlined the government’s measures to reduce the hardships of farmers during the difficult period. The government ensured an uninterrupted supply of seeds, fertilisers and access to markets. Urea was available throughout and when prices of DAP increased manifold in the international market, the government immediately arranged 12000 crore rupees for that so that the load is not felt by the farmers.

 

The PM said the government has made the biggest ever purchase from farmers at MSP, be it Kharif or Rabi season. With this, about Rs 1,70,000 crore have reached directly into the accounts of rice farmers and Rs 85,000 crore have gone directly into the account of wheat farmers.

 

The PM reminded that he urged the farmers to increase the production of pulses, when there was a shortage of pulses in the country, a few years ago. He said that as a result, there has been an increase of almost 50 per cent in the production of pulses in the country in the last six years.

 

The PM highlighted National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm i.e. NMEO-OP as a pledge for achieving self-reliance in edible oil. He said that through the National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm mission, more than Rs 11,000 crore will be invested in the cooking oil ecosystem. The government will ensure that farmers get all the facilities, from quality seeds to technology. The PM pointed out that today, for the first time, India has reached among the top-10 countries of the world in terms of agricultural exports. The country has set new records of agricultural exports during the corona period. Today, when India is becoming recognised as a big agricultural exporting country, it is not right to stay dependent on imports for our needs of edible oil.

 

The PM remarked that the small farmers are now being given utmost priority in the agricultural policies of the country. With this spirit, in the last few years, serious efforts were being made to provide convenience and security to these small farmers. Under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, Rs 1 lakh 60 crores have been given to farmers so far. Out which Rs 1 lakh crore were transferred to small farmers during the pandemic period. More than two crore Kisan Credit Cards were issued during Corona person, most of them to small farmers. Such farmers will be benefitted from the agriculture infrastructure and connectivity infrastructure that is coming up in the country. Initiatives like food parks, Kisan Rails and infrastructure funds will help small farmers. In the year gone by, more than six thousand projects have been approved under the Infrastructure Fund. These steps increase the small farmer’s access to the market and his bargaining power through FPOs, said the Prime Minister.

The PM talked of the sowing season

Animal Health, Poultry

The primary cause for significant growth in demand for poultry diagnostics is rising outbreaks of poultry diseases worldwide

The global poultry diagnostics market is projected to expand at a healthy CAGR of 9 per cent till 2031, surpassing $660 million in valuation, reports, market research and competitive intelligence provider. Historical data suggests that the market expanded at a CAGR of 8.3 per cent from 2016 to 2020, according to Fact.MR.

The primary cause for significant growth in demand for poultry diagnostics is rising outbreaks of poultry diseases worldwide. These flock infections affect world trade in layers of poultry, broilers, and turkeys. As a result, ongoing efforts are being made to increase awareness among farmers about these diseases. Different bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoon pathogens, and environmental and nutritional deficiencies are causing these diseases.

The rising prevalence of these infectious diseases and a growing threat of antibiotic-resistant microbes are key factors bolstering demand for poultry diagnostics across the world. Also, concerns of bacterial and viral transmission from birds to human consumers are supporting the use of diagnostics, as poultry consumption continues growing worldwide.

Key takeaways from the market study
·        By test, ELISA to generate 52 per cent of total market revenue.
·        Market for poultry diagnostics to grow 1.8X in value by 2031.
·        The US to remain dominant in the North American market expanding at 6 per cent CAGR through 2031.
·        Market for poultry diagnostics in China to surge at a CAGR of 12 per cent over the analysis period.
·        Within Europe, the market in Germany to expand at a CAGR of 7 per cent over the next ten years.
·        Demand for PCR tests to rise at a CAGR of 8 per cent over the decade.

“Growing incidence of zoonotic diseases and rising awareness of consumers towards the safety of poultry products to boost demand for poultry diagnostics over coming years,” says a senior research analyst.

Prominent players in the industry are QIAGEN, Zoetis, BioChek Smart Veterinary Diagnostics, IDvet, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Bioneer Corporation, MEGACOR Diagnostik GmbH, Biogenetics Biotechnology Company, FinTech, and IDEXX Laboratories, among others.

The players focus on adopting various strategies to expand their product offerings and strengthen their geographic presence. With advancements in technology, new players are expected to enter the market.

The primary cause for significant growth in

Agro chems – Chemicals, Finance, Inputs

Registered sales of Rs 30,129.2 million

BASF India has registered sales of Rs 30,129.2 million for the first quarter ended June 30, 2021, as compared to Rs 17,864.9 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, representing an increase of 69 per cent.

 

The company has reported a profit (before exceptional items) of Rs 2,484.4 million as compared to a loss (before exceptional items) of Rs 406.9 million in the prior-year quarter.  

 

“We saw a strong start to FY 21-22 and the company recorded growth in revenues and margins compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year, which was impacted by the COVID-19 induced lockdown. The intense second wave of the pandemic led to lockdowns in several states impacting industrial activity and businesses, especially related to the automotive sector. However, the company managed to outperform the preceding quarter in most business segments aided by enhanced customer engagement and initiatives that enhanced supply chain resilience,” said Narayan Krishnamohan, MD, BASF India.

 

Digital outreach for products from the agricultural solutions segment helped increase their visibility and demand. The industrial solutions and materials segments delivered strong growth in revenues and results with an increase in volumes and prices realisations.

 

Additionally, the company donated life-saving medical equipment like oxygen cylinders and oxygen concentrators to augment the medical infrastructure in the vicinity of our facilities.

 

The financial results of the company for the quarter ended June 30, 2020, have been restated to include results of erstwhile BPPIPL (BASF Performance Polyamides India Private Limited), which was merged with the company effective February 1, 2020.

 

Registered sales of Rs 30,129.2 millionBASF India

Agrotech, R&D

The novel product can benefit the farmers and food industry by extending the shelf life of fruits

Indian scientists have developed a composite paper made of carbon (graphene oxide) loaded with preservatives that can be used as wrappers to help extend the shelf life of fruits. Unlike the present preservative dipping technology, where the preservatives are adsorbed by the fruit, causing chronic toxicity to the consumers; here preservatives the wrapper releases the preservative only when needed. The wrapper can be reused, which is not possible with the present technology.

 

Fruits are highly perishable, hence 50 per cent of fruits produced are wasted, causing huge losses. Conventional preservation relies on coating the preservative with the resin, wax, or edible polymer, which may cause chronic health problems.

 

A team of researchers led by Dr PS Vijayakumar from Institute of Nano Science and Technology, Mohali, an Autonomous Institute of the Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India looked for an alternative, that could be generated from waste and would not lead to adsorption of preservatives in the fruit.

 

The activated graphene oxide-loaded molecules were then loaded with preservatives. This high preservative-loaded graphene oxide, when cast into a paper used for fruit wrapping, ensures that the fruit is not loaded with toxic preservatives. But when the fruit over-ripens or gets infested by pathogens, the acidity increases by the secretion of acids, critic, and oxalic acids trigger the release of the preservatives for the preservation of the fruit. Otherwise, the preservative stays with the carbon wrapper. In the fruit dipping method, the preservative will be lost along with the fruit, whereas the wrapper can be re-used after the consumption of the fruit for the preservation of the next batch of fruits. 

 

To develop this non-toxic and reusable wrapping paper, the team allowed the carbon matrix to incubate with the preservative. After the incubation for 24 hours at room temperature, the resultant was washed several times to remove the extra preservatives. And finally, this carbon-preservative composite was cast into paper. The work has been published in the journal ‘ACS applied materials and interface’.

 

“Already waste-derived carbon materials are known to harbour a huge amount of organic molecule loading, hence the preservative loaded carbon has been prepared and cast into paper for the fruit preservation. Increasing the capacity of carbon to hold organic molecules helped us to develop this product,” adds Dr Vijayakumar.

 

The novel product can benefit the farmers and food industry by extending the shelf life of fruits. Using this wrapper for the fruit will also ensure that the customer gets the fruits with healthy quality, as we have found improvement in the phenol content. The production of this graphene fruit wrapper requires only the carbon produced from the heating of biomass, hence it will also benefit biomass consumption and employment generation. 

The novel product can benefit the farmers

Agrotech, Start ups

Award recognizes AgNext’s work to implement AI-led solutions to digitize food quality for multiple commodities and accelerate food trade

 

 AgNext Technologies, India’s leading agritech start-up, has been awarded the ‘AI Game Changers’ award in agriculture by NASSCOM in the second edition of their Xperience Virtual Summit. The award recognizes the pioneering work being done by AgNext to implement AI-led solutions to digitize food quality for multiple commodities and accelerate food trade.

AgNext has built novel AI tech solutions to help agribusinesses in addressing quality assessment issues, to bring more trust, speed and transparency in the food trade across global agricultural value chains. The company is at the forefront of deep-tech implementation in post-harvest agriculture processes. By using integrated interventions of AI, IoT and data analytics, AgNext is helping agribusinesses to create value by adopting digital solutions to support food procurement and trade operations. 

The company presented the use cases of their solutions across commodities such as grains/oilseeds, milk, tea leaves, spices and animal feed. AgNext’s AI implementation story was also covered by NASSCOM in their AI Game changers compendium which brings together 50 AI use cases from across the sectors.

On the recognition, Taranjeet Singh Bhamra, Founder & CEO of AgNext, said “We are delighted and honored to be awarded the distinguished ‘AI Gamechangers’ award by NASSCOM. This esteemed recognition of AgNext’s deep-tech interventions to solve persistent legacy issues in agricultural ecosystems is a great achievement for us. There is a huge potential to scale innovative AI technologies in agriculture and benefit every stakeholder in the value chain. We are working at the forefront of agricultural revolution 4.0 to transform this potential into reality.”

The summit was attended by audiences from diverse backgrounds – Government, Practitioners, AI Experts, Industry Leaders, Academicians, Start-ups & Researchers- bringing a versatile pool of AI stakeholders at one stage to celebrate best use cases of AI in India across the board.

Award recognizes AgNext’s work to implement AI-led

Agro Universities, Foodgrains, Seeds

ICRISAT and ZARS-Kalaburagi are also using genomics to improve pigeon pea in a first-of-its-kind effort for this crop

TDRG 59, a high-yielding variety of pigeon pea resistant to Fusarium wilt and sterility mosaic diseases, has been identified for cultivation in India’s south zone. The new variety produced 23.13 per cent higher yield than the national check-in three-year trials conducted by the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on pigeon pea.

 

Developed by ICRISAT and Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University’s (PJTSAU) Agricultural Research Station in Tandur, TDRG 59 was identified by AICRP in June 2021. Also known as ICPL 99050, the variety produced an average yield of 1719 kg/ha or 23.13 per cent higher than ICPL 8863 (national check) and 26.21 per cent higher than CO 8 (local check) in multi-location trials. The fungal disease Fusarium wilt and the viral disease caused by the sterility mosaic virus are two diseases that significantly lower pigeon pea yields. ICRISAT developed the line which was taken up for testing and evaluation by the research station.

 

“After nine years in the making, TDRG 59 is ready for release. It is a medium-duration variety and matures within 170 days. The variety will become available to farmers after the Central Varietal Release Committee (CVRC) notifies it,” said Dr Rachit Saxena, Senior Scientist, Applied Genomics, ICRISAT. The south zone for pigeon pea cultivation covers the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

 

Bheema, a pigeon pea variety that resulted from ICRISAT’s collaboration with the University of Agricultural Sciences Raichur’s Zonal Agricultural Research Station (ZARS) in Kalaburagi (Karnataka state) was among the recent varieties notified by the CVRC. Bheema was identified for release in India’s central zone covering the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. Bheema matures in 165 days and has high resistance to Fusarium wilt and sterility mosaic virus.

 

ICRISAT and ZARS-Kalaburagi are also using genomics to improve pigeon pea in a first-of-its-kind effort for this crop. Three advanced breeding lines (NAM88, NAM92 and NAM151) that were developed by ICRISAT through a technique called Nested Association Mapping (NAM) were evaluated for two years by ZARS at Kalaburagi. Subsequently, they were picked up for AICRP’s Initial Varietal Trails (IVT) in 2021.

 

“These lines were found to have high yield potential, good seed size and adaptation. The three lines have the potential to fulfil the need for good cultivars in early (NAM88) and mid-early (NAM92 and NAM151) maturity groups,” said Dr Rajeev Varshney, Research Program Director for Accelerated Crop Improvement, ICRISAT.

ICRISAT and ZARS-Kalaburagi are also using genomics

Agrotech, Seeds

Single seed chipping proves most advantageous

Researchers at ICRISAT have established seed-chip genotyping for groundnut as a significantly faster and cheaper method for genotyping than the oft-used leaf-disc technique. In a recent research publication, they have also shown that the former can be easily integrated with rapid generation advancement (RGA) to hasten groundnut research by six to eight months.

 

In the single seed chipping method, about 20 mg is chipped off from the posterior of a seed cotyledon (embryonic leaf) using a scalpel. The DNA in this chip is comparable in quality and quantity to the DNA from punched leaf samples. The results of genotyping are clear by 15 days as against 40 days that it takes through the leaf-disc technique. It was also found that chipping does not affect seed germination as both chipped and non-chipped seeds showed similar germination percentages after 30 days of storage at 4˚C. Following the efficiency gains the ICRISAT team has witnessed, an optimised seed-chip based genotyping (shown in the image) has replaced the leaf-disc-based genotyping in ICRISAT’s groundnut breeding programme.

 

Genotyping (determining gene-level differences in an individual compared to the rest of the population) is used for various purposes in breeding programmes, such as the selection of desirable lines in large segregation population, identification of duplicates in germplasm, estimation of genetic purity of available varieties and confirmation of hybrids derived from two-parent or multi-parent crosses.

 

At ICRISAT, the groundnut breeding programme has, for a decade, been using marker-assisted selection (MAS) for developing high-oleic, rust and late leaf spot diseases-resistant groundnuts. The existing process using leaf-disc genotyping involves planting seeds in pots or in the field, label preparation and printing, tagging individual plants with labels, collecting the punched leaf discs from the individual plants, discarding the plants based on the genotype result and harvesting the genotype-confirmed plants while following the results sheet with the labels on the plants. This is a laborious and expensive process. Genotyping using leaf-punching costs $7.76 per sample and takes about 40 days, which can be reduced to $2.5 with a 15 days’ time duration by deploying the new seed-chipping based genotyping.

 

“Seed-chip-based genotyping allows selection without the need for growing plants; which reduces the expenses required during maintenance of undesired and desired lines/accessions in the field during leaf-based genotyping methods,” said Dr Manish Pandey, Senior Scientist -Groundnut Genomics and corresponding author of the paper published in Agronomy.

 

Single seed chipping proves most advantageous when the proportion of selectable candidates is about 10-20 per cent of the total candidates from which selections need to be made. Researchers say that when combined with RGA, single seed-chip genotyping can significantly reduce research duration and increase genetic gain. At ICRISAT’s semi-controlled RGA greenhouse in Hyderabad, India, three-and-a-half generations of groundnut has been achieved per year. Researchers are now working on designing a fully controlled RGA facility to optimise and scale-up RGA to churn out at least 50 per cent of groundnut breeding populations.

 

“The application of seed chipping technology complements low-cost rapid generation advancement for cost-effective development of high oleic groundnut line breeding and cultivar improvement with an enhanced rate of genetic gain. The Breeding Schema for groundnut integrates single seed-based genotyping in F4 and rapid generation advancement (RGA) to advance F2 to F3 and F3 to F4 Single Seed Descents are advanced,” said Dr P Janila, Principal Scientist-Groundnut Breeding and co-corresponding author of the study.

 

According to Dr Rajeev Varshney, Global Program Director, Accelerated Crop Improvement, seed-chip genotyping can be used for several purposes in breeding programmes and can help significantly help accelerate crop improvement.

 

“Reducing the time taken for every breeding cycle is a significant way of enhancing genetic gain in crop research. If we are to continue feeding a growing world and meet the nutritional demands while besting the climate crisis, all means to accelerate genetic gains have to be embraced. Seed-chip genotyping and RGA are two of the most potent tools available,” said Dr Varshney.

 

The authors of the paper, Single Seed-Based High-Throughput Genotyping and Rapid Generation Advancement for Accelerated Groundnut Genetics and Breeding Research, are Parmar S, Deshmukh DB, Kumar R, Manohar SS, Joshi P, Sharma V, Chaudhari S, Variath MT, Gangurde SS, Bohar R, Singam P, Varshney RK, Janila P and Pandey MK (2021).

 

The scientific work described here has been supported by the National Agricultural Science Fund (NASF) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), India, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (High Throughput Genotyping Project—HTPG (OPP1130244), and OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) and CGIAR Research Program on grain legumes and dryland cereals.

Single seed chipping proves most advantageousResearchers

AgroPolicy, Webinar

Discussions were held on faster technological progress for the benefit of the farmers and farm women of the country

The ICAR-Central Institute for Women in Agriculture, Bhubaneswar, Odisha recently organised a Virtual National Webinar on ’Sensitization on Intellectual Property Rights in Agricultural Research and Education.’ 

 

Dr Anil Kumar, Director, ICAR-CIWA, Bhubaneswar emphasised the importance of IPR and why it should be an integral part of all research in agriculture and allied sciences.

 

Dr Lipi Das, Principal Scientist, ICAR-CIWA, Bhubaneswar highlighted the significance of IPR, its advantages and its impacts on agricultural and allied sciences.

 

The main objective of the webinar was to sensitise of scientists and innovators on the IP regime, its management and benefits to enable them to reorient their research endeavours and engage in knowledge creation leading to further innovations. This will result in faster technological progress for the benefit of the farmers and farm women of the country.

The webinar was organised as a part of the “Bharat Ka Amrut Mahotsav” to commemorate 75 Years of India’s Independence registered participation by around 90 participants including Scientists and Staff Members of ICAR-CIWA, ICAR-AICRP on women in agriculture and scientists from the other government organisations.

 

Discussions were held on faster technological progress

Interaction, Logistics, Warehousing

Sandeep Sabharwal, CEO, SLCM Group, shares his views on the status of the agri-warehousing industry in India with AgroSpectrum. Edited excerpts;

Sohan Lal Commodity Management (SLCM) is a global post-harvest agri-logistics group. The company provides services to farmers, processors, millers, traders, importers, exporters, commodity exchanges and the government. Sandeep Sabharwal, CEO, SLCM Group, shares his views on the status of the agri-warehousing industry in India with AgroSpectrum. Edited excerpts;

 What is the current status of the agri-warehousing industry in India?

Agri warehousing constitutes approximately 15 per cent of the warehousing market in India and is worth between Rs 80-85 billion. At present, the agri warehousing capacity in India is more than 120 million metric tonnes (MMT) and has grown at 4 per cent CAGR since 2017. The exponential growth and innovations like scientific warehousing, GPS tracking, geo-fencing, real-time monitoring, etc., have instilled confidence amongst stakeholders involved in the sector that has, in turn, brought in a lot of interest from private equity (PE) investors as well.

The segment can contribute in a big way in helping the Indian economy achieve the ambitious $5 trillion target. Typical storage losses for agricultural produce in India account for approximately 10 – only for the dry food grains – of the entire production, which works out to a staggering Rs 1 trillion. It is, therefore, important that technological solutions are adopted rapidly to help reduce the post-storage losses.

An independent study by the industry chamber Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) concluded that SLCM’s proprietary centralised real-time process management system, AgriReach, has a remarkable impact on the quality of stored produce.

 SLCM has recently developed an AI-based mobile app to assess crop quality. How will it be useful for the farmers and traders?

The artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML)-based app, which is currently in the final stages of development, would be available for downloading on handheld devices like a smartphone or tablet PC. The app will be able to check multiple quality parameters for a variety of food grains and pulses like wheat, rice, chana (chickpea), guar (cluster bean), moong and tur (pigeon pea) within minutes with up to 90 per cent accuracy as compared to a lab test. The results will be automatically compared with pre-fed data in the back-end system, which will regularly update itself using ML with Python programming language, on a real-time basis.

Once SLCM mobile quality app gets rolled out later this financial year, its on-ground utilisation will tremendously help to improve the fidelity of the commodity quality checks and disseminate the instantly obtained quality control results in a secure and transparent environment, hence, drastically reduce the turnaround time in comparison to the task being performed manually. The advanced app is a result of four years of intensive research by SLCM’s in-house team of experts. We had applied for a patent on it in August 2018.

What are the growth strategies and plans of the company for 2021-22?

In FY2021-22, we propose to continue reinforcing our technological backbone in pursuit of our vision to become a completely digitalised enterprise that not only adopts the global best practices but also establishes many firsts along the way. In the past, we were also the first company to introduce SAP-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in the agri warehousing space and implement it in a record time of six months. The German software multinational also recognised our project as a first-of-its-kind in the world.

We will be executing our warehousing contracts using our proprietary AgriSuraksha solution that incorporates the latest cutting-edge Internet-based surveillance technology, enabling monitoring as well as interaction with the personnel at the site. This enables 24×7 monitoring of produce in faraway locations from the command and control centre at the group’s corporate headquarters in New Delhi, personal computers, or handheld devices like laptops, tablets and smartphones in real-time. As of June 2021, 200 warehousing facilities were tracked using AgriSuraksha. By the close of FY2021-22, SLCM expects to bring 80 per cent of its warehouses under its coverage. Launched in April this year, AgriSuraksha is part of AgriReach. Again a result of years of painstaking research by in-house experts, AgriReach is a culmination of all the processes, methods and systems to ensure the health of the crop and start warehousing operations in just 24 hours at any location irrespective of the available infrastructure to provide a standard operational experience at all facilities even while maintaining the highest standards of quality control. It combines a series of processes, audits and real-time tracking of the facilities to give error-free results and depletes the risk of crop damage.

During the year, we are also committed to further expanding our network of warehouses in the country. As of June 2021 end, SLCM had a network of 7,088 warehouses.

 How would you envisage the future of the agri-warehousing industry in India?

The May 2020 announcement by the Central Government of 11 measures for the agriculture sector as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative was indeed a welcome move. Among the measures announced, eight are for boosting the agricultural infrastructure, capacity and logistics. The allocation of Rs 1 trillion for farm gate infrastructure, including affordable and viable post-harvest management, clearly reveals the seriousness of the government’s intent in developing and enhancing post-harvest agri infrastructure.

Similarly, in a marketplace model, intelligent call centres have an important role to play particularly during a crisis like COVID-19. Smart call centres when integrated with real-time data embedded in AI help in real-time tracking of the facilities providing error-free results on the status of the warehouse and the products stored within as well as in transit. A virtual customer service network is the need of the hour because it will enhance the service standards and will also help in raising the bar on scientific storage by eliminating the paperwork and providing evidence of the calling details.

We had set up our first dedicated 24-hour call centre in 2010 to service our operations. We have re-engineered the facility into a paperless entity integrated with AI to enhance its efficiency and response time. This upgrade has enabled our dedicated team of customer support executives to provide support to our agri-warehousing operations in India and Myanmar even more seamlessly.

 What is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the agri warehousing industry, agriculture financing and collateral management to procurement?

In our view, the economic impact of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic is softer and will likely be limited to the April-June quarter. Rural demand, which remains resilient, will continue to be supported by strong agricultural production, higher procurement prices for the 2021-22 sowing season, together with an overall rebound in economic activity. Due to greater awareness about the covid virus, restrictions imposed by the central and state governments during the second wave of the corona are more targeted, localised and less stringent. Therefore, the economic impact of the second wave is softer and will likely be confined largely to the April-June quarter. However, amid the talk of a third wave, we are keeping a close watch on the situation.

Our wholly-owned subsidiary, Kissandhan Agri Financial Services provides loans to farmers, traders and agri processors for enhancing their incomes at very competitive interest rates in a hassle-free manner. Kissandhan has disbursed loans amounting to Rs 2,307 crores to date and made a difference to the lives of nearly 500,000 people across India’s agricultural supply chain. In the 2021-22 fiscal, we are again looking to provide financing against a diversified basket of agricultural commodities and products like lending to farmer producer organisations (FPOs), non-banking financial companies and microfinance institutions (NBFC/MFIs), business correspondents (BCs), invoice discounting facilities, etc.                                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                                                                                    Dipti Barve                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             dipti.barve@mmactiv.com

Sandeep Sabharwal, CEO, SLCM Group, shares his

Agro chems – Fertilizers, AgroPolicy

Nano-fertilisers release plant nutrients in a controlled manner contributing to higher nutrient use efficiency

 

 

 

The nano-fertilizer holds great promise for application in plant nourishment because of its size-dependent qualities, high surface-volume ratio, and unique properties. Nano-fertilisers releases plant nutrients in a controlled manner contributing to higher nutrient use efficiency.

 

Experimental trials of Nano Nitrogen (Nano urea developed by IFFCO) were undertaken during Rabi/Zaid 2019-20 through the National Agriculture Research System (NARS) at seven ICAR research institute/state agricultural Universities on different crops like paddy, wheat, mustard, maize, tomato, cabbage, cucumber, capsicum, onion etc. were found agronomically suitable indicating that nano nitrogen (Nano Urea) can enhance farmer’s crop yields beside nitrogen saving to the extent of 50 per cent.

 

National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) PSUs of DoF signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Farmers Fertilizers Cooperative Ltd. (IFFCO) for the technology transfer for the production of nano urea.

 

IFFCO has sought permission from the Department of Fertilizers for the export of nano urea (liquid) manufactured from its nano fertilizer plant facility set up at Kalol, Gujarat. 

 

The information was given by the Minister of Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Mansukh Mandaviya in Rajya Sabha.

 

Nano-fertilisers release plant nutrients in a controlled

AgroPolicy, Agrotech, Machinery – Post-harvesting

Noida-based company Leads Connect will conduct crop cutting experiments (CCE) on a pilot basis in 23 districts of Assam

The Government of Assam (GoA) for its World Bank-backed project, Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART) has given the Crop Cutting Experiments (CCE) mandate to Noida-based agri-tech company, Leads Connect. The agritech will conduct the CCE in 23 districts of the Assam state, on a pilot basis.

 

Leads Connect, with its cutting-edge technologies such as Remote Sensing and GIS, Numerical Modeling, artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics frameworks, will co-observe the CCEs conducted by the Assam government. This pilot study will start from September 2021 and will be done for Kharif 2021. Currently, the agritech is engaged in delivering projects in more than 100 districts of India and has a pan-India presence backed by a comprehensive presence of field team and well-equipped research lab. 

 

APART was launched in the year 2018 by the Government of Assam through the Government of India and received huge funds from World Bank to uplift the agricultural sector of the state and encourage farmers to use technology to increase production. 

 

On being appointed, Navneet Ravikar, CMD, Leads Connect Services informed, “Getting a mandate to conduct CCE for different zones of Assam is a huge achievement for us an organisation, and we are excited and prepared to deliver the project successfully.”

 

Noida-based company Leads Connect will conduct crop

Agro Universities

NAFED proposed to set up a FPO for organic farmers through agency IASPL, Agriwatch in Hoshiarpur district

Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bahowal, Hoshiarpur, under the aegis of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana organised an awareness camp on Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO) in which farmers and groups involved in organic farming participated.

Dr Maninder Singh Bons, Deputy Director (Training), Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Hoshiarpur welcomed the experts and farmers and urged the farmers present to come forward to avail the benefits of this scheme. He said that the main objective of the FPOs is to enshrine collective work culture, increase the productivity of the farmers, skill enhancement through training and exposure visits, ease in marketing, easy availability of banking facilities and facilities for setting up processing units for business up-gradation. Dr Bons also said that under the able supervision of Apneet Riyait, Deputy Commissioner, Hoshiarpur, concerned departments are making all-out efforts for the formation of FPOs in the district.

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) has a proposal to set up a Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) for organic farmers through agency IASPL, Agriwatch in Hoshiarpur district, for which Kamaljit Singh and Anuj Sood, representatives from implementing agency IASPL, Agriwatch, shared detailed information about the scheme with the farmers and also had detailed interaction and discussion with the farmers regarding their concerns.

NAFED proposed to set up a FPO

Agro chems – Fertilizers, AgroPolicy

States have been advised to expedite the issue of the G-2 Form within 15-20 days of the receipt of application from the manufacturer

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in a recent clarification to all the directors of states and UTs have stated to include biostimulants in Schedule VI of Fertiliser Control Order (FCO). As per the notification, all manufacturers/importers are required to submit applications in Form G to the Controllers of Fertilisers along with the toxicity report from NABL accredited laboratories and details of bio-efficacy trials conducted in the National Agriculture Research Framework.

 

The order further mentioned that in order to facilitate, the existing manufacturing industry, a provision has been made from provisional registration of two years from the date of issue of notification i.e February 22, 2023. 

 

Concerns were being raised by biostimulants associations as well as the state governments with regards to the implementation of this notification. States have to expedite the issue of the G-2 Form within 15-20 days of the receipt of application from the manufacturer, in order to facilitate all manufacturers to submit their G-1 Form for provisional registration in the month of December 2021, to the Controller of Fertilizer, JS(INM), DAC&FW, Krishi Bhawan. With regards to sale data of the last three years, the state government has been advised to accept the self-attested label of the product along with self-attested sale figures of products sold in their state, for the last three years, from an authorised representative of the company or GST data for the last three years or stock, production/trade of the product for last three years duly verified by a chartered accountant. 

 

Regarding the data of the hazardous effect of the product, the states have been advised to consider self-declaration of “No reported ill-effect or hazardous effect’ or any publication or worldwide acceptable test report supporting non-hazardous effect of the product.

 

States have been advised to expedite the