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Agrotech, Machinery - Pre-harvesting

The kit is designed particularly for small farmers with farmland up to one acre

Netafim India, a leading smart irrigation solution provider, has Portable Drip Kit – a comprehensive all-in-one irrigation solution. The kit is designed, particularly for small farmers with farmland up to one acre that offers installation assistance without additional labour. 

 

The Portable Drip kit is available across India through Netafim’s dealer network. It is suitable for all types of Rabi and Kharif crops varieties including vegetables, cucurbits, close spacing crops etc. The company through the launch of the Portable Drip Kit aims to cover 10,000 hectares of land under irrigation and reach 25,000 farmers across India in the upcoming year. 

 

Designed for irrigation of 4500 m2 fields, all the products and parts can be easily installed and dissembled after use to relocate at a convenient storage space. Additionally, the kit is integrating advanced durable drippers that provide excellent operational performance.

 

The key component of the kit is FlexNet – a ground-breaking leak-proof flexible mainline and manifold piping solution that offers precise water delivery solutions and increases water savings as well as improves crop performance potential through enhanced system performance. It reduces weeding and muddy spots thanks to perfect sealing between the patented outlets and the pipe, which guarantees to provide top performance over many years. It offers a full line of lateral connectors compatible with all Netafim systems. The white colouring offers thermal resistance and can withstand high chemical and UV exposure.

 

Randhir Chauhan, MD, Netafim India, commented, “Netafim India focuses its energies on simplifying cultivation process for farmers and empowering them on the road to growth. We understand that most farmers in India hold fragmented land pieces smaller than 1 acre. Such conditions make crop cultivation a daunting and challenging task for them. The debut of Portable Drip Kit is a result of Netafim’s continued commitment to offer convenient technology, especially to marginal farmers for improved yield potential and productivity, while reducing costs, labour and bring efficiency to water use.”

 

The Portable Drip Kit includes all needed components for field installation and operation that consists of screen filter, flexnet pipe, dripline and connectors.

 

 

The kit is designed particularly for small

Agrotech, Start ups

The three-month accelerator program recognizes deep-tech start-ups that are focused on solving India-specific challenges using AI and ML technologies. 

 AgNext Technologies, India’s leading agritech start-up, has been selected by Google India for the fifth edition of Google for Startups Accelerator (GFSA) India. The three-month accelerator program recognizes deep-tech start-ups that are focused on solving India-specific challenges using AI and ML technologies. Out of the 700 start-ups screened for the program, AgNext, along with 15 other start-ups, has been selected to be part of the GFSA India program.

AgNext is Punjab-based award-winning agritech start-up that has been globally recognized for its pioneering work in building and implementing deep-tech solutions for food assessment and accelerating quality-based trade. AgNext has successfully built integrated hardware, software and data-analytics solutions that culminate into a one-stop full stack platform ‘Qualix’, which helps agribusinesses in addressing food quality issues.

On the selection in the eminent GFSA program, Taranjeet Singh Bhamra, Founder & CEO of AgNext, said “As a deep-tech start-up, the recognition of AgNext’s AI-led solutions by Google India is an honor and substantiation that we are headed in the right direction. We are thrilled to be part of this program and look forward to engaging with the Google team to receive mentorship and support across domains of technology, product strategy and marketing. At AgNext, we aim to use the power of AI to solve the core issues of quality to transform global food trade and agricultural systems. Through this accelerator program, we will strengthen our technological foundation to scale to newer commodities and newer geographies.”

Presently, the company uses its deep tech solutions for food quality analysis of commodities such as grains/oilseeds, milk, tea leaves, spices and animal feed. By promoting digital solutions to support food procurement, storage and trade operations, AgNext is creating significant value for agribusinesses. Furthermore, these digital interventions are helping to bring more trust, speed and transparency across food value chains.

The key benefits of the GFSA India program are three months long equity free support, mentorship from Google teams and other industry experts, training in design and marketing, leadership workshops, strategic support on company and product development, Google product credit for tech stack, and also the opportunity to partner with Google on an advanced technology project.

The three-month accelerator program recognizes deep-tech start-ups

Environment

Kellye Eversole and Keith Matthews will facilitate enhanced regulatory approaches that will enable increased innovation and commercialisation

World BioProtection Forum has appointed two leading bio protection regulatory experts, who were involved in developing the US regulatory system and have unrivalled expertise and experience in guiding the sensible development of new guidelines. 

 

Kellye Eversole, President of Eversole Associates and Executive Director of the International Alliance for Phytobiomes Research, is a pioneer in agricultural genomics, biotechnology, and the development of pre-competitive, public-private agricultural research. 

 

Keith Matthews, Of Counsel at Wiley Rein LLP, Washington, DC, has practised environmental law focusing on the regulation of chemicals and genetically engineered organisms for over 20 years. 

 

The experts join the existing team of Advisors to help the WBF achieve its goal of encouraging collaborations between all stakeholders throughout the bio protection industry to facilitate enhanced regulatory approaches that will enable increased innovation and commercialisation. 

 

Matthews said, “I agree that the time is ripe for reform of the regulatory systems applicable to bio protection products in the UK and the EU and I am delighted to play a part in helping to guide those changes and bringing them to fruition.” 

 

Eversole said, “If we bring experience and expertise from across the world, from all parts of the bio protection industry, we can take a holistic approach to develop a better system for the EU that enables the registration of new products in a reasonable timeframe and an efficient manner.”

Kellye Eversole and Keith Matthews will facilitate

Agrotech, Seeds

The collaboration focuses on four key segments within cucumber, pepper, and tomato breeding programmes to develop and execute breeding work-flows etc

BASF’s vegetable seeds business has collaborated with Nature Source Improved Plants (NSIP) as an external collaborator since 2008, but as of July 1, 2021, the company has entered into a more intensive, comprehensive partnership. The collaboration focuses on four key segments within cucumber, pepper, and tomato breeding programmes to develop and execute breeding work-flows, combining the NSIP genomic selection toolbox and BASF germplasm.

Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, NSIP will work closely with selected breeding teams, applying their extensive bank of algorithms to improve data-driven decision making throughout the breeding and selection process. “By applying these algorithms with additional phenotyping, our breeding teams will improve the output of our predictive breeding efforts,” says Johan Warringa, Head of R&D EMEA, Vegetable Seeds, BASF. Predictive breeding brings together tools such as phenotyping, genomic selection, and statistics will to help breeders make data-driven predictions of which lines will perform best in a given situation.

Dr Suresh Prabhakaran, COO, NSIP, said, “We aim to be a trusted strategic partner and advance the frontiers of genomics and production technologies. We are excited to leverage complementary expertise of NSIP and BASF’s vegetable seeds business to help increase productivity and meet the current and future food needs of our global community.”


 

The collaboration focuses on four key segments

Acquaculture, AgroPolicy

The initiative was funded by the National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad

The cage farming initiative of the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, Kerala was recently launched at the Bahabalpur Fishing Centre in Odisha’s Balasore district. The initiative was launched byPratap Chandra Sarangi, Member of Parliament.

The Marine Cage Culture Demonstration of Indian pompano (Trachinotus mookalee) was funded by the National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad by stocking the seeds in as many as eight cages.

Appreciating the Institute for its tremendous efforts in the demonstration of the diversified mariculture practices along with the coastal states, Sarangi stressed the need for sea cage farming in augmenting the fish production and doubling the fishermen’s income. He stated that the successful demonstration of the ongoing culture technology through the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) Scheme can instil confidence among the fishermen. He emphasised that it can also encourage them to take up such alternative livelihood methods, which will not only improve their socio-economic status but, also conserve the fishery ecosystem by reducing the dependency on capture fisheries.

Dr Shubhadeep Ghosh, Head, Visakhapatnam Regional Centre of ICAR-CMFRI & Principal Investigator of the project outlined the benefits of marine cage farming and apprised about the future plan of action.
Over 1,700 seeds weighing an average of 50 gm were stocked in each cage. The fish will be cultured for the duration of six to eight months during which it is expected to grow to an average size of 700 to 800 gm body weight.

The fish seeds were successfully transported from the Visakhapatnam Regional Centre of ICAR-CMFRI by road in 1,000 litres HDPE tanks provided with the facility of vigorous aeration in two batches. The intermittent cooling was provided by using the ice blocks to ease the stress during transportation. The innovative method resulted in 100 per cent survival during 18-hour on-road transportation.

The initiative was funded by the National

Agro Universities, Webinar

A total of 28 agriculture and horticulture officers, scientists from PAU and its Krishi Vigyan Kendras attended the course

The Skill Development Centre, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, organised a two-day online training course on agro-based industries at a small scale level for in-service candidates. A total of 28 agriculture and horticulture officers, scientists from PAU and its Krishi Vigyan Kendras attended the course.

Dr Kuldeep Singh, Associate Director (Skill Development) emphasised on the need for developing more innovative mechanisms to boost rural employment opportunities in the agricultural sector.

Dr Kiran Grover, Principal Extension Scientist (Food & Nutrition) and Course Coordinator shared that the small and medium enterprises set up at the rural level can supplement farm income in a big way and can create an alternate source of income by generating employment opportunities for rural youth.

 Dr MS Alam, Principal Scientist, Processing and Food Engineering shed light on the set-up of various agro-processing complexes. He informed that the developing entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector can benefit immensely by local processing of farm produce, ensuring adulteration free products and ease of disposal of waste. “Further, it will reduce the need for migration from rural to the urban area, thereby reducing the pressure on urban cities”, stressed Dr Alam.

Dr Tarsem Chand Mittal, Senior Extension Engineer, Department of Processing and Food Engineering and Technical Coordinator demonstrated the processing technology and machinery for turmeric. He illustrated that one kg turmeric powder can be obtained by processing five kg raw turmeric which can lead to a two-fold increase in earnings through proper marketing.

Prof Dr Satish Kumar discussed the machinery for cleaning and grading of fruits and vegetables and storage of vegetables after drying. Dr Sandhya, Senior Scientist detailed the processing of oilseeds and paddy at the farmers’ level.

Later, Dr Grover while proposing the vote of thanks remarked that apart from generating new sources of job and income, it is equally important to bring about transformational change in the agribusiness sector.

A total of 28 agriculture and horticulture

Agrotech, Trade

Under the deal, CommoditAg will function as a wholly owned subsidiary of Farmers Edge led by the existing CommoditAg leadership team. 

 

Farmers Edge Inc., a pure-play digital agriculture company has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire CommoditAg, the industry’s premier trusted online marketplace for high-quality agriculture products. This will allow Farmers Edge to significantly expand its roster of services by empowering farmers to purchase a wide range of agricultural products from trusted suppliers, while also advancing the company’s connected digital ecosystem strategy. Under the terms of the deal, CommoditAg will function as a wholly owned subsidiary of Farmers Edge led by the existing CommoditAg leadership team. The deal is expected to close over the next several business days. 

Founded in 2017, CommoditAg combines the efficiency and convenience of digital technology and e-commerce capabilities with deep-rooted agriculture knowledge. Providing farmers and ranchers with a top-notch customer experience and outstanding value, the company currently has 14 retail distribution partners with over 500 locations servicing 170,000 customers representing a 70-million-acre footprint. Offering a broad portfolio of more than 200 brands and products from more than 25 suppliers, its category selection includes crop protection, seed, fertilizer, micronutrients/biologicals, agricultural lubricants, animal nutrition, and more. CommoditAg currently has over 40 local fulfilment centres covering 13 states and plans to expand its footprint to over 75 per cent coverage of the US business by the end of 2021.

The acquisition builds on continued investment by Farmers Edge in establishing strong digital connectivity between farmers and their trusted advisors while meeting the rising demand for complete integration, transparency, and personalized experience. By combining the deep industry expertise and local knowledge of the most progressive retail companies in the US with Farmers Edge field-centric data powered by AI and machine learning technology growers will experience a new level of insights and decision support.

“We are thrilled to join a company that shares our vision and mission,” said John Demerly, CommoditAg Chief Executive Officer. “Farmers Edge brings together all parties in the supply chain to the digital ecosystem, so farmers get seamless, transparent, and secure connections to their vendors and trusted advisors. We look forward to growing together, bringing new digital capabilities to the market, and driving innovation that supports our customers’ success.” 

Wade Barnes, Farmers Edge Chief Executive Officer and Founder said, “CommoditAg is a trusted marketplace that thousands of farmers rely on every day, and we are incredibly excited to welcome them to the Farmers Edge family. By combining its robust e-commerce solution with the FarmCommand platform, we can deliver a best-in-class omnichannel experience, bring more value to our customers, reach a wider footprint, and accelerate Farmers Edge growth.” 

The marketplace will create new value for growers and partners by offering innovative risk management, grain marketing, and sustainability products, such as carbon offsets, customized for their operations.

Under the deal, CommoditAg will function as

Agro chems – Pesticides, Agrotech, E-commerce

Two global leaders in sustainable crop protection combine green technology and biological solutions to reduce agriculture’s environmental footprint.

 

Marrone Bio Innovations, an international leader in sustainable bioprotection and plant health solutions to support global agricultural needs, and Terramera, a global agtech leader and inventor of Actigate™ technology, will collaborate to combine their technological and biological expertise to enhance the performance of MBI’s crop protection products and expedite product development.

MBI’s collaboration with Terramera is expected to provide a unique platform that will bring existing and new biologicals to market supported by Terramera’s artificial intelligence-based screening platform of novel adjuvants, Plant Intelligence Engine™, and Actigate technology, a proprietary green chemistry that delivers active ingredients directly into target cells. The synergistic approach is anticipated to increase the performance and consistency of new and existing active ingredients in Marrone Bio’s portfolio including market-leading Regalia® Biofungicide, newly developed Stargus® Biofungicide, Venerate® XC Bioinsecticide, and Grandevo® WDG Bioinsecticide.

“We are always looking for ways we can innovate and partner with companies whom share our commitment to creating new technologies which support sustainable agriculture and enhance our ability to develop original products that provide growers with increased efficacy and industry-leading ROI,” stated Kevin Helash, chief executive officer of Marrone Bio Innovations. “We believe that collaborating with a leader in greentech, such as Terramera, will allow both organizations to capitalize on some of the most robust technical algorithms in the industry and provide an opportunity to enhance the specificity and value of our products. Perhaps most exciting is how this partnership has the potential to expedite our product pipeline and allow us to bring more novel products to market faster, such as a bioherbicide currently in development.”

“We are excited to work with Marrone Bio to accelerate their proven crop protection products with ActigateTM and our digital platforms, both of which improve product performance in the field,” said Karn Manhas, Terramera Founder and CEO. “Collaborating with Marrone Bio Innovations, a recognized global leader in developing sustainable biopesticide solutions, advances Terramera’s goal of reducing the synthetic pesticide load in agriculture by 80%.”

 

Two global leaders in sustainable crop protection

Agro Universities, IT

33 delegates from all over the world attended the certificate course

Chamber for Advancement of Small & Medium Businesses (CASMB) in association with NAHEP, Marathwada Agricultural University (MAU) Parbhani conducted a two-week Virtual Certificate Course on Food Processing & Automation.

The course focussed on faculty development and knowledge building for PG students, PhD students and faculty. Speakers from all over the world were invited and they covered topics such as AI, Machine Learning, Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0 in the food industry among others.

The course was inaugurated by Chief Guest Prof Smita Lele, Emeritus Professor Institute of Chemical Technology, she spoke about how technology has evolved in past decades and there will be a competition between man and machine. She encouraged attendees to learn and apply the latest technology in their day-to-day and work life. 33 delegates from all over the world attended the certificate course.

The objective of the certificate course was to provide knowledge of advanced food processing and automation technologies, impart knowledge  about  the  global food processing scenario and value addition in food processing industries, generate understanding about global food safety and quality standards, expose the participants to advanced processing, packaging  methods,  marketing  strategies  and export systems and encourage  the  participants to establishing processing units.

33 delegates from all over the world

AgroPolicy, Warehousing

The primary objective of this scheme is to provide modern infrastructure facilities for food processing along the value chain from farm to market

Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Pashupati Kumar Paras said that efforts are on for early completion of 19 mega food parks in the country, which are under various stages of implementation. He said that the primary objective of this scheme is to provide modern infrastructure facilities for food processing along the value chain from farm to market. 

 

The ministry has accorded final approval to 38 mega food parks and in-principle approval to three mega food parks in the country. Out of these, 22 mega food park projects have been made operational. The interaction also had Secretary, Food Processing Industries Pushpa Subramanyam accompanied the minister during the formal tour and interaction.

 

The minister said that efforts are also on to boost value addition in 22 perishables like mango, banana, apple, pineapple, carrot, cauliflower, beans etc identified by the ministry to supplement the income of farmers. According to him, the government has announced the expansion of the scope of the ’Operation Greens Scheme’ from tomato, onion and potato (TOP) to 22 perishable products, in the budget speech for 2021-2022. Paras said that there is huge scope for mini food parks in North Eastern Region and North Bihar.

 

Paras said that he will be visiting Bihar on the 20th of this month and will conduct an on-the-spot assessment of the mega food park at Mansi in Khagaria district of Bihar, which he said is 70 per cent complete. The minister will also meet Bihar’s industry minister Shahnawaz Hussain to assess the progress of the mega food park at Motipur block of Muzaffarpur district, approved by the Centre in April this year.

The primary objective of this scheme is

Acts & Schemes – Centre, R&D

Permission granted to Bayer CS, Mahindra & Mahindra and TAFE for drone based agricultural research and precision spraying to prevent crop diseases.  

 

Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have granted conditional exemption from Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021 to 10 organizations. The organisations includes Bayer Crop Science, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and TAFE (Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited) for drone based agricultural research and precision spraying to prevent crop diseases.  

In total, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has granted drone use permission to 10 organizations – Government of Karnataka; National Health Mission, Mumbai; Gangtok Smart City Development; Steel Authority of India, IISCO Steel Plant, Burnpur, West Bengal; Asia Pacific Flight Training Academy, Hyderabad, Telangana; Blue Ray Aviation, Gujarat; Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited, Chennai; Mahindra & Mahindra, Mumbai, Maharashtra; Bayer Crop Science, Mumbai, Maharashtra; Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune at 5 locations – IITM Bhopal; NDA, Pune; Karad Airport; Osmanabad Airport; and Mohammed Airfield, Farrukhabad. 

 

These exemptions are valid for a period of one year from the date of approval or until further orders, whichever is earlier and shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the SOP issued by DGCA.

Organizations where government has granted drone permission:

  1. Government of Karnataka – Drone based aerial survey for creating urban property ownership records in Bengaluru

 

  1. National Health Mission, Mumbai – Conducting experimental BVLOS drone flights to deliver essential healthcare items in tribal areas of Jawhar in Palghar district of Maharashtra

 

  1. Gangtok Smart City Development – Drone based aerial survey for Smart City project

 

  1. Steel Authority of India, IISCO Steel Plant, Burnpur, West Bengal – Conducting perimeter surveillance of the plant

 

  1. Asia Pacific Flight Training Academy, Hyderabad, Telangana – Conducting remote pilot training using drones

 

  1. Blue Ray Aviation, Gujarat – Conducting remote pilot training using drones

 

  1. Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited, Chennai – Conducting drone based aerial spraying to assess crop health and prevent crop disease

 

  1. Mahindra & Mahindra, Mumbai – Conducting drone based agricultural trials and precision spraying on paddy & hot pepper crop in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

 

  1. Bayer Crop Science, Mumbai, Maharashtra – Conducting drone based agricultural research activities and agricultural spraying

 

  1. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune – Atmospheric research at these 5 locations – IITM Bhopal; NDA, Pune; Karad Airport; Osmanabad Airport; and Mohammed Airfield, Farrukhabad

 

Permission granted to Bayer CS, Mahindra &

IT, R&D

Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV) infection causes severe losses in tomato yield worldwide

Scientists from DBT Autonomous Institution, National Institute of Plant Genomics Research (NIPGR) has reported an effective defence strategy deployed by a resistant tomato cultivar against ToLCNDV. It employs Sw5a (R gene) that recognises AC4 protein (viral effector) of ToLCNDV to restrict virus spread. At the transcriptional level, the sly-miR159-SlMyb33 module has been identified as governing gene expression of Sw5a. Thus, the investigators have provided mechanistic insight into slymiR159-SlMyb33–controlled Sw5a-mediated defence response in tomatoes against ToLCNDV. The findings could be translated into the development of resistance in susceptible cultivars of tomato through modern breeding or molecular approaches. The work was published in Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences.

 

Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV) infection causes severe losses in tomato yield worldwide. Lack of information on resistance (R) genes against ToLCNDV has considerably retarded the pace of crop improvement against this rapidly spreading pathogen. Several attempts have been made to identify antiviral genes against ToLCNDV and related viruses. 

 

Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary DBT congratulated Dr Manoj Prasad and his team for the work which can be applied to improve the yield of tomato crops. Dr Swarup also commented that the Department of Biotechnology has taken several initiatives in agriculture biotechnology in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of doubling farmers’ income by the year 2022.

 

Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV)

AgroPolicy, R&D

The gene bank at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, Pusa will benefit farmers with the facilities for germplasm

Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the world’s second-largest refurbished state-of-the-art National Gene Bank at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), Pusa, New Delhi. 

 

Appreciating the services of visionary experts like Prof BP Pal, Prof MS Swaminathan and Prof Harbhajan Singh, Tomar said that they had laid a strong foundation for the conservation of the diversity of indigenous crops in the country. 

 

The National Gene Bank established in the year 1996 to preserve the seeds of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) for future generations can preserve about one million germplasm in the form of seeds. Presently it is protecting 4.52 lakh accessions, of which 2.7 lakh are Indian germplasm and the rest have been imported from other countries. National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources is meeting the need of in-situ and ex-situ germplasm conservation through Delhi Headquarters and 10 regional stations in the country.

 

Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Kailash Choudhary said that agri-farmers would be greatly benefited by the new gene bank with state-of-the-art facilities for germplasm.

 

Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, while delivering the welcome address, explained the activities and progress of the Bureau. On this occasion, Tomar released some publications of the Bureau and launched PGR Map App. The services of Kuldeep Singh, the recently retired Director of the Bureau, for the modernisation of the gene bank, was appreciated.

 

The gene bank at the National Bureau

Agro Universities, Oilseeds

Kalinga Groundnut-101 has superior haulm quality

Odisha has officially released a new groundnut variety ‘Kalinga Groundnut-101’ as an alternative to ‘Devi’, the ruling variety after a gap of 14 years. Both the varieties are of ICRISAT origin. The new variety has a pod yield and kernel yield advantage of 12.1 per cent and 20.7 per cent respectively. Kalinga Groundnut-101 is tolerant to drought, foliar fungal diseases, late leaf spots and rust. Studies show that superior haulm quality has the potential to increase milk yield in cattle by 11 per cent.

 

Kalinga Groundnut-101 (ICGV 02266) was released by the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) at the State Varietal Release Committee (SVRC) at a recently held meeting in Bhubaneshwar. The state releases its groundnut variety after 14 years. It released Devi (ICGV 91114) in 2007, which is now a popular variety in the state.

 

Kalinga Groundnut-101 is suitable for cultivation under residual soil moisture in the post-rainy season, irrigated conditions of the summer season, and can be grown in rainfed uplands during the rainy season for Odisha. 

 

For on-farm testing, 45 ’minikit’ traits were conducted at Bargarh, Bolangir, Kalahandi and Ganjam districts of Odisha during the rainy season. In these trials, Kalinga Groundnut-101 recorded a mean pod yield of 1,726 kg/ha. The pod yield range across the 45 minikits is 1,450-2,120 kg/ha).

 

Groundnut haulms are considered valuable for livestock in Asia and Africa. Research by ICRISAT and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has confirmed that one of the most important drivers for adoption is its contribution to milk production – on-farm trials showed cattle fed on ICGV91114 fodder gave an average of 11 per cent more milk per day than those fed fodder from local cultivars. Yet another study at ILRI showed, the weight gain in sheep for different groundnut cultivars varied from 65 to 137 g/day indicating the value of groundnut fodder quality on livestock productivity.

 

Dr Janila Pasupuleti, Principal Scientist (Groundnut Breeding) and Flagship Leader of CRP-Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals (CRP-GLDC) noted that the collaborative work between ICRISAT and ILRI resulted in the identification of groundnut lines with better haulm quality. The haulm quality assessment is now streamlined in breeding pipelines of ICRISAT’s mandate crops with the joint efforts of the two CRPs GLDC and livestock.

Kalinga Groundnut-101 has superior haulm quality Odisha