Connect with:
Monday / December 23. 2024

logo
mobile-logo
Home2021August (Page 15)
Finance, Machinery – Post-harvesting

Total tractor sales (Domestic + Exports) during July 2021 were at 27229 units, as against 25402 units for the same period last year. 

 

 

  Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.’s Farm Equipment Sector (FES), part of the Mahindra Group, today announced its tractor sales numbers for July 2021. Domestic sales in July 2021 were at 25769 units, as against 24463 units during July 2020.Total tractor sales (Domestic + Exports) during July 2021 were at 27229 units, as against 25402 units for the same period last year. Exports for the month stood at 1460 units.

Commenting on the performance, Hemant Sikka, President – Farm Equipment Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. said, “We have sold 25769 tractors in the domestic market during July 2021 with a growth of 5 per cent over last year. Demand remained buoyant in July as crop sowing operations gained traction with monsoon picking up pace across all the regions. Easing of COVID curbs & robust farm incomes on account of record Rabi crop procurement has bode well for the rural economy. We continue to stay bullish on tractor demand in the coming months owing to revival of monsoon, hike in MSP of key Kharif crops & upcoming festival season. In the exports market, we have sold 1460 tractors with a growth of 55 per cent”.

Total tractor sales (Domestic + Exports) during

Agrotech, Interaction

The 100 delegates representing over 40 countries will meet in November 2021 for a virtual global forum / Delegates will also work with the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) 

100 delegates from more than 40 different countries will make up Bayer’s 2021 Youth Ag Summit cohort this November. The global forum and biennially organized conference selected young leaders between the ages of 18 and 25 with a passion for sustainable global agriculture for the opportunity to learn and collaborate with others on solutions to issues challenging food security. This year’s delegates come from more than 2,000 applicants representing nearly 100 countries.

“This is an opportunity to empower the next generation of agricultural change-makers,” said conservation student and grower Ndavisabye Rukundo Christian from Rwanda. “I am a farmer in the village where I live, and agriculture is my passion. This summit fits completely with my goal of doing sustainable agriculture by conserving the environment as well.”

To be selected, this year’s delegates presented project ideas and examples of previous advocacy work based on the summit’s overall theme “Feeding a Hungry Planet

 “The Youth Ag Summit has always been a great opportunity for me to connect with the next generation of ag. These young people provide the passion needed to make a real difference in tackling food security challenges,” said Liam Condon, member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG and President of the Crop Science Division.

This year’s 5th biennial Youth Ag Summit will be the company’s first virtual YAS event and its first with a virtual idea incubator called YAS University. Within the YAS University program, delegates will continue to develop their business and communications skills, receive coaching from mentors, and complete weekly assignments that help them hone their own project concepts for 10 weeks following the summit, beginning in January 2022. At the end of YAS University, the delegates will have the opportunity to pitch their project ideas to a panel of experts to compete for prizes. Bayer’s partnerships for this year’s forum with the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the tech company Babele make the unique experience of YAS University possible.

The 100 delegates representing over 40 countries

Agro chems – Pesticides, Finance

The product is estimated to help Best Agrolife achieve revenue grow by 40 per cent

Best Agrolife has received a patent valid for 20 years for the three-way insecticidal combination in India that will effectively control the entire sucking pest complex, including whitefly, jassids, aphids, and thrips together in various crops in just one spray alone. The company has applied for a product trademark- RONFEN, and the product will be out in the market with the onset of the next Kharif season.
 
“We are expecting a minimum sale volume of 1500 KL, worth Rs 410 crore of this novel combination in FY 22-23. With its wonderful control on the entire sucking pest complex in one spray alone, we have decided to introduce it in PAN-India on multiple crops with a focus on the North, South, & West regions,” says Vimal Alawadhi, MD – Best Agrolife.

The insecticidal combination is titled ‘A synergistic insecticidal composition comprising a bioactive amount of Diafenthiuron and Pyriproxyfen’, and the patent covers the composition of Pyriproxyfen, Diafenthiuron, and Dinotefuran in a unique suspension concentrate formulation.
 
Best Agrolife has a turnover of Rs 912.74 crore and the company says that as of March 2021 figures, the product is estimated to help Best Agrolife revenue grow by 40 per cent; overall it will contribute around 25 per cent of the total revenue in the coming year.
 
Ailawadhi, says, “On a global scale, sucking pests are one of the most serious threats to agricultural crop productivity, as they cause both quantitative and qualitative losses. These losses are estimated to harm 18–20 per cent of annual crop productivity. Most of the loss happens in the fields before harvest, and losses have been worst in developing countries. Except for cotton and rice, global agricultural losses due to insect pests have increased significantly in the post-green revolution age.”
 
The company also plans to own Subsidiary Companies in Africa, the EU, and the US markets.

The product is estimated to help Best

Environment, Finance, Start ups

The proceeds of $4.6 million in local currency equivalent will be fully allocated towards climate-smart agriculture

Symbiotics, a leading market access platform for impact investing, with Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services has launched Green Bond whereby the proceeds of $4.6 million in local currency equivalent are fully allocated towards climate-smart agriculture. 

 

Anilkumar SG, Founder and CEO, Samunnati said, “Samunnati is working with FPOs on the supply side and Agri Enterprises on the demand side across 22 states in India. We are delighted to partner with Symbiotics on our first Green Bond. This will help us further offer customised financial solutions to entities interested in adopting climate-smart and green solutions, using social and trade capital, to FPOs and SMEs, enabling the Agri value chain to operate at a higher equilibrium. The Green Bond will enable Samunnati to strengthen the climate resilience across agri-sector, including that of small and marginal farmers in India.”

 

The bond is issued via Symbiotics sponsored bond issuance platform under its sustainability, social and green bond framework, which was certified in December 2019 by DNV GL. The Green Bond will be listed on the Luxembourg Green Exchange within the Green Bond section. The proceeds are to be fully used towards a three-year tenor, senior, local currency loan facility to Samunnati.

 

 

The proceeds of $4.6 million in local

AgroPolicy, Trade

For the first time, Agri Exporters from the remote districts of India connected to the international buyers from USA, the UAE, and Japan 

 Under the Districts as Export Hubs initiative, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under Department of Commerce in partnership with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Invest India conducted a 2 Day Virtual Outreach Event connecting exporters from the Districts to the buyers outside India. Following the opening ceremony, a virtual trade fair was held where 197 exhibitors participated from the states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. The event provided a platform to small sellers from areas earlier not known for exports, apart from large exporters from India. 28 stalls from Jammu and Kashmir and 5 from Ladakh were highlighted in the exhibition.

The virtual outreach event saw a footfall of over 300 visitors and importers from domestic and international buyers inclusive of the USA, the UAE, and Japan. Putting a spotlight on agricultural products under five categories namely spices and tea, food grains and agro-products, fruits and vegetables, dry fruits, and processed food, three buyer-seller interactive sessions were held with the support of Indian Embassies from the USA, the UAE, and Japan. Few leading supermarkets such as Spinney, Walmart, and Lulu also participated during the interactive sessions and showed keen interest in India’s agricultural products.

The event marked the beginning of a series of events to be held to boost India’s exports and commemorate 75 years of India Independence under the Districts as Export Hubs initiative.

For the first time, Agri Exporters from

Agro Universities, Agrotech, Environment

Foundation stone of retractable roof polyhouse laid at Ludhiana

Dr (Prof) Harish Hirani, Director, CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Durgapur inaugurated a naturally ventilated polyhouse facility and laid the foundation stone of retractable roof polyhouse at Ludhiana in Punjab. 

 

Briefing about the technology, Dr Hirani said that the farmers face a number of problems such as excessive or insufficient cold, heat, rain, wind, and other factors associated with insufficient transpiration, and also crop losses in India due to insect pests is about 15 per cent at present and this loss may increase as climate change lowers the plant defence system against insects & pests. To some extent, these problems can be overcome by conventional polyhouse. Conventional polyhouse has a stationary roof to reduce the effect of weather anomalies and pests. However, there are still disadvantages due to roof covering which sometimes lead to excessive heat, and insufficient light (early morning). Besides this, they are also prone to insufficient levels of CO2, transpiration and water stress. A combination of open field conditions and conventional polyhouse conditions is a more robust way to deal with climate change and associates problems in the future. 

 

Dr Hirani also revealed that CMERI Extension centre, Ludhiana is installing a retractable roof polyhouse technology. The all-weather structure will have an automatic retractable roof which will be operated based on weather conditions and crop requirements from the conditional database using PLC software. The ongoing development will help farmers to cultivate both seasonal and off-season crops which can fetch higher yield, firmer and high shelf-life produce by creating optimal indoor micro-climate conditions compared to conventional open field tunnels and naturally ventilated poly houses, and also it is a viable technology for organic cultivation.

 

Jagdish Manikrao, Senior Scientist, who is leading the research team on the development of this technology explained that the retractable roof will be used to manipulate sunlight quantity, quality and duration, water stress, humidity, carbon dioxide levels, and crop and soil temperatures. 

 

Dr Pradeep Rajan, Sr Principal Scientist, Head, Farm Machinery and Precision Agriculture further elaborated that this structure is being developed in collaboration with CSIR-IHBT, Palampur and in the process of integrating Artificial Intelligence in automating the polyhouse based on the crop and weather requirements and providing an IoT-enabled farmer-friendly user interface.

 

The director also briefed that as the scientific experimental data on the advantages of the new polyhouse system are lacking, therefore horticultural crops will be cultivated in both naturally ventilated polyhouse and retractable roof poly house for comparing the crop production and product quality. With the installation of naturally ventilated polyhouse and retractable roof polyhouse side by side, we can get the required scientific data and by analysing the results we can enhance productivity. The developed facility will be used as a demonstration farm for the farmers.

Foundation stone of retractable roof polyhouse laid

AgroPolicy, Agrotech

Piyush Goyal was speaking at the 2nd Indo-US Services Summit organised by Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC)

Addressing the ‘2nd Indo-US Services Summit’, organised by Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC), Union Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal observed that India and the US are working towards peace and stability across the world.  Goyal said that the services sector holds a lot of promise in aiding economic recovery during the post covid period.


The Minister further said that India is also rapidly progressing to become one of the world’s largest digital markets. Agritech, hospitality, fintech,  entertainment, accountancy, law, cybersecurity, healthcare and tourism etc. are some of the areas where India and the US can cooperate with mutual benefits.

Goyal said the services trade will play an important role in the two countries ever-expanding relations. “India & US are two natural partners and our relationship has stood the test of times due to our shared values of equality, liberty and democracy” he added.

Goyal recalled the Y2K challenge two decades back and how the Indian talent helped the US deal with it and how the world started noticing India’s skills, capabilities and commitment like never before. “It changed the perception of India,” he remarked.

The Minister said India is now moving beyond a ‘low-cost service provider’ to a ‘high value add partner’ and added that the back offices in India are evolving into brain offices. Giving examples of the 57 startup unicorns, Goyal said the entrepreneurial spirit of young Indians will place the country at the forefront.

The Minister informed that the total services exports from India to the world was $17 billion in 2001-02 and has now leapfrogged to $205 billion in 2020-21, registering a 12-fold increase.

“When we talk of India-US partnership, we each have areas of strengths where we excel. The US is the hub of innovation, technology, research and quality education. India has skilled and intelligent manpower at a competitive cost. Uniting our strengths will create an unbeatable combination,” Goyal remarked.

Goyal applauded the good work of service industry stakeholders and said that India has met all its service commitments that it had across the world without failure throughout the last 15-16 months. “Our services exports are back to 97 per cent level of the previous year,” he said.
Goyal appreciated the efforts taken by the IACC for choosing such a relevant topic at such crucial times when the world is fighting the Pandemic. “The IACC who has always been at the forefront of strengthening the Indo US relations has initiated this dialogue at a very critical time,” he said.

Piyush Goyal was speaking at the 2nd

Agrotech, R&D

A first-of-its-kind field experiment laid out over 300 acres in 4 clusters of cotton field in Waroda and Adasa villages in Kalmeshwar Taluka in Nagpur District of Maharashtra 

 

 

 The South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), Jodhpur in collaboration with Agrovision Foundation, Nagpur has laid out the country’s largest field experiment of an innovative mating disruption or mating confusion technology spread over 300 acres in 4 clusters to ward off Pest Pink bollworm (PBW) in cotton in Waroda and Adasa villages in Kalmeshwar Taluka in Nagpur District of Maharashtra.

PBKnot is an innovative mating disruption technology, approved recently by CIBRC of the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfares of the Govt of India is an ideal approach for effective PBW management and a best fit in IPM of bollworm management in cotton. Moreover, PBKnot technology is easy in application, safe to beneficial insects and eco-friendly.

A first-of-its-kind field experiment laid out over 300 acres in 4 clusters in GPS coordinated cotton fields with the structured tagging of PBKnot thread by trained local volunteers under the guidance of experts from South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), Agrovision Foundation and ICAR-CICR will be studied for pest insect population dynamics, insect ecology and damage as part of an integrated pest management approach (IPM) of pink bollworm.   

“We have laid out the country’s largest field experiment by tagging cotton plants with PBKnot in such a way that PBKnot charges the surrounding air with Gossyplure, a pheromone scent that confuses the male adults preventing them for finding and mating with female adults and reduces the number of eggs laid and PBW population in subsequent generations. Interestingly, PBKnot releases the same scent that female PBW releases to attract males for mating,” explained Dr CD Mayee, President of the SABC, Jodhpur.

“Mating confusion – a disruptive pheromone-based technique, is now available in the form of the solid metric dispenser rope known as PBKnot and can be easily applied to the cotton plant at the pin head square stage over the minimum area of 60 to 64 acres in contiguous basis. The PBKnot can protect cotton plant for 90 days in the crucial time of flowering, boll formation up to boll maturity and hence reduce boll damage, improve quality and increase cotton yield”, said Bhagirath Choudhary, Director of SABC, Jodhpur.  

Project Bandhan is supported jointly by PI Foundation and Rasi Seeds Pvt Ltd and is being implemented across Vidarbha, Maharashtra, in partnership with cotton and textile value chain partners. The project aims at demonstrating mating disruption technology, promoting integrated pest management (IPM) based package of practices (POP) developed by ICAR-CICR, intensifying skill development and training programs and amplifying effective PBW control measures to farmers across the Vidarbha region. Project Bandhan enrolled hundreds of farmers in 4 clusters, were given free Bt cotton hybrid seeds & IPM based POP brochures and were engaged in tagging PBKnot thread dispenser in their field on 30th and 31st July 2021.

 “Project Bandhan is an exemplary initiative toa promote pheromone based IPM production system of cotton. The novel PB Knot pheromone technology is easy to use, affordable and environmental friendly innovation to manage the devastating pest such as Pink Bollworm,” noted Mr. Prashant Hegde, CEO (Agri Business) at PI Industries Ltd.

“Rasi Seeds Pvt Ltd has been supporting the Pink Bollworm campaign in Vidarbha for the last two years, implemented jointly by the South Asia Biotechnology Centre and Agrovision Foundation. Our joint efforts have resulted in the management of Pink Bollworm, particularly in Vidarbha. We reinforce our commitment to support the innovative technology and programs to improve the cotton production and farmers’ realization. Project Bandhan is a unique program dedicated to showcase the utility, efficacy of novel mating disruption technology and IPM based production system,” stated Dr Ramasami, Chairman of Rasi Seeds Pvt Ltd.

“We have successfully implemented awareness and training programs on pink bollworm in collaboration with South Asia Biotechnology Centre across Vidarbha in the last 3-4 years. Implementing mating disruption technology will help growers to effectively manage pink bollworm in Vidarbha, Maharashtra while outreach program continues to spread right messages about IPM based management of pink bollworm,” stated Ravi Boratkar, President, Agrovision Foundation, Nagpur.

The implementation of PBKnot under the technical guidance of ICAR-Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR) was attended by experts including Dr Rama Krishna, Agronomist and Dr Shailash Gawande, Plant Pathologist of ICAR-CICR, Ravi Boratkar, Ramesh Mankar,  Rahul,  Akash and  Akshay of Agrovision Foundation; Dr Sandip Agale of South Asia Biotechnology Centre and elected representatives and hundreds of cotton farmers of Waroda and Adasa villages in Kalmeshwar Taluka in Nagpur District of Maharashtra.

A first-of-its-kind field experiment laid out over