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Agrotech, Environment

The partnership will help towards evolving a sustainable food systems approach

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) will partner on programmes and research to improve food, nutrition security and livelihoods in India against the impacts of climate change. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Bishow Parajuli, WFP India Representative and Country Director and Dr Jacqueline Hughes, Director General, ICRISAT.

 

“This is a strategic partnership between the WFP and ICRISAT as both are aligned by their vision of food security, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable communities. It comes on the day that the pioneering UN Food Systems Summit kicks off in New York. The increasing/frequent climate crises and shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic have worsened global hunger, threatening food security, nutrition and the livelihoods of millions,” Parajuli said.

 

“This partnership strengthens efforts to bring together science, knowledge and implementation frameworks to bolster food security, nutrition and livelihoods that are resilient to climate change,” he added.

“Climate-resilient food security, nutrition and livelihoods, especially for smallholder farmers and ecologically vulnerable communities, are focus areas for ICRISAT, and with this partnership, we aim to generate ideas and frameworks for policy positions relevant not just for India but regionally and globally,” Dr Hughes said.

 

“The latest IPCC report has sounded an alarm over the impact of climate change on agriculture and food security. A significant part of this partnership will be focused on vulnerability analysis at the state level in India and will be directed towards evolving a sustainable food systems approach,” she added.

 

WFP in India and ICRISAT will work jointly to promote research, advocacy and awareness-raising on traditional nutritious crops, undertaking food and nutritional security analysis, and adaptation strategies, among other engagements.

 

The partnership will help towards evolving a

Acquaculture, Environment

The multi-year agreement will develop, evaluate and enhance feeds for the growing land-based aquaculture industry

The Conservation Fund’s Freshwater Institute, an internationally-renowned research and development programme focusing on recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) and Cargill have announced a multi-year agreement to develop, evaluate and enhance feeds for the growing land-based aquaculture industry.

The partnership builds on recent efforts between the two groups that validated the effectiveness of Cargill’s new diet for Atlantic salmon grown in land-based RAS. The partners started working together in 2018, and this new agreement solidifies the collaboration through 2023 and beyond.

Dr Marc Turano, Nutrition and Technology Lead for Cargill Aqua Nutrition in North America, summarized the importance of the partnership, “Our customers want the best nutrition possible. Partnering with the Freshwater Institute has provided key access to capabilities but more importantly to renowned thought leaders in land-based aquaculture production and thus, important to the advancement of science in this strategic growth area.”

The Institute provides Cargill nutritionists and researchers with access to fish, systems, research facilities, and a world-class team of scientists, engineers, and fish culturists with decades of RAS experience. In addition, Cargill provides leading-edge diet development and aquaculture feeds to optimise fish performance. Together, the partners hope to further improve land-based aquaculture’s environmental and economic performance through feeds developed and tested specifically for RAS.

The multi-year agreement will develop, evaluate and

Agro chems – Pesticides, Agrotech

Seclira SG insecticide offers quick control of general insects such as cockroaches and bed bugs, while Selontra rodent soft bait eliminates rat

BASF has launched two sustainable pest control solutions with Agro Technic Singapore. Seclira SG insecticide offers quick control of general insects such as cockroaches and bed bugs, while Selontra rodent soft bait eliminates rat and mice infestations using a non-anticoagulant active ingredient.

 

With its novel and effective mode of action, Seclira SG can be applied by professionals via spot treatment to cracks, crevices and other indoor spaces where only pests can reach. The selective utilisation minimises impact to the environment, children, and pets – while resulting in labour savings for the pest control applicator. 

 

In addition, the non-repellant active ingredient means that dying pests do not rush out of their hiding places after treatment, which is particularly beneficial in kitchen environments and offices. This means treatments can be scheduled inside normal operating hours, which is much more convenient. Seclira SG’s unique colourless, non-staining and odourless formulation is suitable for use in many areas where appearance is important. The formulation dissolves entirely in water, meaning that the solution will not leave marks on surfaces, where pure water would do the same. 

 

Selontra rodent bait is a superior alternative to other rodent baiting systems. Cholecalciferol is readily metabolised by rodents and is neither persistent in the environment nor bioaccumulative. Persistent chemicals can remain in the environment, including in soil. 

 

Bioaccumulative chemicals are those that accumulate in living organisms. Studies on birds (quail and mallard) have shown approximately 50-times less sensitivity to cholecalciferol compared to rats and mice. Additionally, Selontra rodent bait is effective against rodents resistant to commonly used anticoagulant baits and demonstrates proven palatability even when desirable competing food sources are available. With durability that holds up in extreme hot and cold environments, Selontra rodent bait creates less wastage than competitors. 

Seclira SG insecticide offers quick control of

Agro chems – Chemicals

The decision was taken at 30th AGM

New Delhi-based Best Agrolife at its 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM) passed a resolution on the acquisition of Best Crop Science by Issue of Equity Shares on a preferential basis to the shareholders of Best Crop Science as consideration other than cash.

 

Best Agrolife acquired Best Crop Science, for backward integration in the form of technical manufacturing of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and PGRs on September 2, 2021. The company informed that the acquisition will further help it in the diversification of risk, and increase its revenue by 40 per cent on the back of recently announced in-demand products.

 

Vimal Alawadhi, MD – Best Agrolife, said, “Part of the rationale behind the M&A is it will enable us to utilise our expertise in increasing the reach through our strategic alliances with leading agrochemical companies of India and an extensive network of 3000 + distributors and dealers. Of course, one of the byproducts of this M&A would be the distinct ability to serve the market better. We intend to play a vital role in the effective management of crop disease, improving the yield and profitability of farmers across the globe.”

 

At the AGM, the company informed that it became the first agrochemical company in India to manufacture and market Trifloxystrobin Technical, a fungicide that has enormous demand in the domestic and global markets of North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, the Middle East, and Africa. 

 

The company has also received the license to manufacture Picoxystrobin Technical. The company plans to launch a commercial formulation of Picoxystrobin in the Kharif season of FY22.

The decision was taken at 30th AGMNew

Agro chems – Chemicals, Environment, Sustainable Energy

The cooperation provides flexibility and reliability to customers while enabling a lower carbon footprint throughout the value chain

BASF and Sanyo Chemical Industries signed a Memorandum of Understanding for strategic collaboration of polyurethane dispersions (PUDs) development. The two parties aim to jointly develop and produce innovative products with strong sustainability contributions. Newly developed technologies and products will have worldwide market access through the two companies’ global production footprint.

“The PUD market demand is expanding and formulators are looking for improved product performance. They also look for sustainable solutions to comply with local regulations or to meet their corporate responsibility goals. The collaboration will allow both parties to reduce time-to-market of their new technologies and to accelerate conversion to water-based systems,” said Sylvain Huguenard, VP, Resins & Additives, Asia Pacific, BASF.

“Japan has a long history in developing innovative solutions and transferring them to the overseas markets. Conversion to the water-based system is a global trend. The cooperation will enable customers to access the best-in-class PUDs globally,” said Kouzoh Kubota, VP, BASF Japan.

“Leveraging the market reach and production assets of a global player like BASF is a significant milestone for Sanyo Chemical’s PUD business,” said Masahiro Harada, Managing Executive Officer, GM of Business Planning Division, Sanyo Chemical.

The MoU enables the strategic collaboration of BASF and Sanyo Chemical. It enhances joint development and allows the two companies to leverage the production networks for PUDs. The cooperation provides flexibility and reliability to customers while enabling a lower carbon footprint throughout the value chain.

The cooperation provides flexibility and reliability to

Agro chems – Pesticides, Agrotech

The fusarium oxysporum species is a ubiquitous fungal inhabitant of soils

Agdia has announced the commercialisation of a rapid, user-friendly, DNA-based assay, on their AmplifyRP XRT platform, for the detection of Fusarium Oxysporum. The Fusarium Oxysporum species is a ubiquitous fungal inhabitant of soils throughout the world. 

 

Agdia’s new AmplifyRP XRT assay for detection of Fusarium oxysporum is based on recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA). This technology promotes the rapid amplification and detection of nucleic acid targets, DNA or RNA, while maintaining a single operating temperature of 39 – 42 °C. The AmplifyRP XRT products achieve target sensitivity and specificity comparable to PCR, while having clear advantages over the lab-based technology. AmplifyRP XRT products do not require a nucleic acid purification step; crude sample extracts are prepared using a simple extraction buffer and tested directly. This makes the testing process simple and saves the end-user valuable time. Furthermore, this facilitates the implementation of this technology at remote locations with limited resources. When paired with Agdia’s AmpliFire isothermal fluorometer, the XRT system is a rapid, user-friendly tool that can be implemented in the field or the lab by personnel with limited experience in molecular diagnostics.

 

Agdia now offers AmplifyRP XRT products for the detection of several important bacterial, fungal, viral and viroid pathogens across several markets, including grape, cannabis, ornamental, potato and tomato. 

 

“We are working to develop a comprehensive portfolio of easy-to-use diagnostic products on our AmplifyRP XRT platform. Customer demand for assays that can be implemented across a wide spectrum of applications has driven our production. We continue to focus on product development for established customers and burgeoning markets, such as the cannabis industry,” said Robert Emmitt, Domestic Account Manager, Agdia.

 

The fusarium oxysporum species is a ubiquitous

AgroPolicy, Dairy

Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB and Assam CM discuss ways to promote dairying as livelihood in the state

Meenesh Shah, Chairman, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) recently called upon Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister, Assam, on in Guwahati and presented Assam’s dairy development road map. Atul Bora, Minister for Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary, Border Area Development, Implementation of Assam Accord, Cooperation, Government of Assam was also present.

 

The CM is keen to promote dairying as a livelihood in Assam with achieving a target of handling around 10 lakh litres of milk per day by end of the project period. Dr Sarma emphasised that initiatives should be commercially viable and sufficiently remunerative for the dairy farmers of the state.

 

Shah said that the plan will include the creation of processing infrastructures, village level institutions and marketing of milk and milk products. Simultaneously, productivity enhancement of milch animals will be achieved through increasing artificial insemination coverage, usage of sex-sorted semen, induction of high yielding animals, calf rearing programmes and interventions in feed and fodder. The project will be implemented by a Special Purpose Vehicle to be promoted by the Government of Assam and NDDB.

 

The Govt of Assam had requested NDDB to manage the West Assam Cooperative Milk Union (WAMUL), which was on the verge of closure. NDDB took over the management in 2008. Keeping in view the effect of NDDB’s intervention in restoring/reviving the dairy cooperative institution, the Assam Government has approved another extension of NDDB’s management of WAMUL for a further period of five years. 

Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB and Assam CM

Agro Universities

Discussions were held on the impact of climate change in perennial fruit crops

The ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute, Nagpur, Maharashtra recently organised a brainstorming workshop on citrus fruit drop. 

 

In his address, the Chief Guest, Sunil Kedar, Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development, Sports and Youth Welfare, Government of Maharashtra stressed the severity of pre-harvest fruit drop in Nagpur Mandarin and suggested developing an integrated strategy to deal with the problem.

 

Dr BK Pandey, ADG (Horticultural Science), ICAR emphasised the problems in perennial fruit crops like citrus due to climate change in the different parts of the country.

 

Earlier, in his welcome address, Dr Dilip Ghosh, Director, ICAR-CCRI, Nagpur highlighted the research achievements of the institute and also briefed the available technologies to control the citrus fruit drop which has been successfully disseminated among the farmers.

 

An extension Bulletin entitled “Improved Cultivation Practices for Nagpur Mandarin” was also released during the occasion.

 

Around 150 farmers from Nagpur, Amravati and Wardha Districts of Maharashtra along with senior officials of ICAR Institutes attended the workshop.

 

Discussions were held on the impact of

Agrotech, Machinery - Pre-harvesting

The eight-month, fixed-term contract will help to grow multi-national customer base

Delta Drone International has secured a contract with Corteva Agriscience RSA in South Africa, adding to the company’s growing multi-national customer base. The eight-month, fixed-term contract was signed after Delta Drone International successfully provided its leading drones-as-a-service capabilities across several ad-hoc agriculture projects for the conglomerate over the last two years.

 

Delta Drone International will provide a full-time specialist agriculture drone pilot to deploy state-of-the-art agriculture-specific drones to capture a range of vital data including plant analytics to ensure maximum yield for crops such as maize, soybeans and sunflowers for Pioneer Seed RSA (Pioneer), a subsidiary of Corteva.

 

Delta Drone International CEO, Christopher Clark said, “Obtaining the data required to assess crop health on time has historically been a challenge for the agriculture sector. With our fleet of state-of-the-art agriculture-specific drones and drone pilots who specialise in flying in agricultural settings, we can more accurately obtain the data and provide it to customers much faster so they can take more effective action to maximise yields.”

 

 

 

The eight-month, fixed-term contract will help to

Agrotech, Seeds

ALMACO will optimise the final product development phase of IPT’s patent-pending POP-ST technology

Inflexion Point Technologies (IPT) and ALMACO announced a business relationship that will sustainably increase food productivity and farmer profitability by enabling researchers and growers to increase their use of sustainable biological seed treatments while also more effectively tailoring their treatments to their agronomic zones and growing conditions.

 

IPT, co-founded by CEO Steve Smith and President Nick Iwig, is an Ag-Tech company that has developed the industry’s first prescriptive, on-planter seed treatment (POP-ST) solution.

 

ALMACO will optimise the final product development phase of IPT’s patent-pending POP-ST technology. ALMACO research planters with POP-ST technology will be available for the Spring 2022 planting season with commercial planter kits available for the Spring 2023 planting season. In exchange for the product optimisation, ALMACO will get certain preferred terms in its license to commercialise the POP-ST solution in the research planter market.

ALMACO will optimise the final product development

Live Stock

The facility is being built as the next step in Bion’s development of a sustainable grain-finished beef product line

Bion Environmental Technologies, a developer of advanced livestock waste treatment technology that largely mitigates environmental impacts and recovers high-value coproducts, has executed a lease for a site near Fair Oaks, Indiana, where Bion will develop a sustainable and/or organic grain-finished beef production facility that will include its first third-generation waste treatment technology (3G Tech) platform at commercial scale.

The facility is being built as the next step in Bion’s development of a sustainable grain-finished (vs solely ’grass-fed’) beef product line, consisting of both conventional and organic beef products. Bion’s patented 3G Tech platform will provide resource recovery and verified waste treatment, including dramatic reductions in carbon and nutrient/water footprints, as well as pathogens linked to foodborne illnesses and antibiotic resistance.

The facility will be designed to feed approximately 300 head of beef cattle in state-of-the-art covered barns that can be re-configured to house swine when appropriate. Bion’s 3G-Tech system will be sized with the capacity to treat the waste from approximately 1,500 head – large enough to demonstrate engineering commercial scale, but small enough that it can be constructed and commissioned quickly.

The facility is anticipated to produce sufficient ammonium bicarbonate for both commercial testing by potential joint venture partners and university growth trials. The facility will also produce sustainable beef products – conventional and organic – for initial test-marketing efforts. These critical steps must be accomplished to move forward with joint ventures to develop the large-scale projects that will be needed to supply national distribution.

Mike McCloskey, Chairman, Fair Oaks Farms, stated, “Innovation in environmental sustainability is a concept we take very seriously at Fair Oaks Farms. The consumer understands, and we wholeheartedly agree, that sustainability is not a passing trend. In addition to our efforts, we have worked with like-minded producers in the dairy and pork industries to develop sustainable production. It only makes sense to support Bion’s sustainable beef demonstration project, which will be our new neighbour.”

The facility is being built as the

Agro chems – Fertilizers, Agrotech, IT

The researchers conducted experiments that validated eight master transcription factors as genes of importance to nitrogen use

According to a new study published in Nature Communications, machine learning can pinpoint “genes of importance” that help crops to grow with less fertiliser. It can also predict additional traits in plants and disease outcomes in animals, illustrating its applications beyond agriculture.

Using genomic data to predict outcomes in agriculture and medicine is both a promise and challenge for systems biology. Researchers have been working to determine how to best use the vast amount of genomic data available to predict how organisms respond to changes in nutrition, toxins, and pathogen exposure – which in turn would inform crop improvement, disease prognosis, epidemiology, and public health. However, accurately predicting such complex outcomes in agriculture and medicine from genome-scale information remains a significant challenge.

In the Nature Communications study, NYU researchers and collaborators in the US and Taiwan tackled this challenge using machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence used to detect patterns in data.

As a proof-of-concept, the researchers demonstrated that genes whose responsiveness to nitrogen are evolutionarily conserved between two diverse plant species- Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant widely used as a model organism in plant biology, and varieties of corn, America’s largest crop- significantly improved the ability of machine learning models to predict genes of importance for how efficiently plants use nitrogen. Nitrogen is a crucial nutrient for plants and the main component of fertilizer; crops that use nitrogen more efficiently grow better and require less fertilizer, which has economic and environmental benefits.

The researchers conducted experiments that validated eight master transcription factors as genes of importance to nitrogen use efficiency. They showed that altered gene expression in Arabidopsis or corn could increase plant growth in low nitrogen soils, which they tested both in the lab at NYU and in cornfields at the University of Illinois.

Moreover, the researchers proved that this evolutionarily informed machine learning approach can be applied to other traits and species by predicting additional traits in plants, including biomass and yield in both Arabidopsis and corn. They also showed that this approach can predict genes of importance to drought resistance in another staple crop, rice, as well as disease outcomes in animals through studying mouse models.

The researchers conducted experiments that validated eight

Agrotech, Dairy, Schemes - Banks

Aims to enable cashless payment transfers to small dairy farmers across the country 

 

 

 Stellapps, a leading dairy-tech startup, has joined hands with Airtel Payments Bank to enable cashless payment transfers to small dairy farmers and contribute to digital financial inclusion in the country.  Stellapps has been closely working with dairies and their milk collection centers to enable direct payments to the bank account of the dairy farmers. However, a significant challenge for farmers has been the long travel to reach the nearest ATM or bank branch for withdrawing the payments.

Airtel Payments Bank will now onboard the new partner milk collection centers of Stellapps as banking points. With milk collection centers operating as a banking point, farmers and other residents in the neighbourhood will no longer have to travel long distances. Through these banking points, they will be able to open a bank account, withdraw and deposit cash, earn interest on savings, access Aadhaar Enabled Payments, get government pension schemes, and make bill payments.

On boarding of the centres as banking points will happen in a phased manner. Through this collaboration, both entities aim to provide easy access to formal banking services to over one million small dairy farmers from around the country.

The partner ecosystem has been piloted in Uttar Pradesh (Varanasi & Kanpur) and Madhya Pradesh (Gwalior). Over 120 milk collection centres are now also operating as Banking Points. mooPay enabled milk collection centers not only enable FinTech and value-added service delivery to farmers but also enable access to a wide range of ecosystem partnerships to assist in farm improvement, animal health care, and nutrition services that help them improve animal productivity, quality of milk, and thus income.

 Rahul Mallick, CEO – Stellapps FinTech and Value Added Services says, “We are very excited to partner with Airtel Payments Bank as it will strengthen our own service offering, help over one million dairy farmers with their banking needs and drive financial inclusion in the rural economy. Effectively financial inclusion and prosperity goes hand in hand. Stellapps through its network and partner dairies is enabling payments, credit and insurance directly to farmers and Airtel Payments Bank’s assistance will provide products and services that have the potential to further increase farmer productivity and provide financial opportunities for them to further innovate and prosper. ”

Ganesh Ananthanarayanan, Chief Operating Officer, Airtel Payments Bank, said, “We are delighted to partner with Stellapps to enable cashless payment transfers for the small dairy farmers. Direct payments help farmers to be financially independent. Our unique and extensive distribution network allows us to offer the benefits of formal banking to these farmers. The initial success of this initiative has encouraged us to expand it nationally. This is in line with our stated philosophy of financial inclusion for all.”

Aims to enable cashless payment transfers to

Agro Universities, AgroPolicy

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Central University Mumbai and Dharwad Agriculture University Karnataka bagged the second, third and fourth prizes

Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has been declared as the cleanest and green campus under the National Agriculture Higher Education Project by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research declared for last year. The award carries an amount of Rs 10 lakh and a certificate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi awarded PAU with this award in the Vice Chancellors conference organised by the Farmer Welfare Department New Delhi.

 

The award aims to create awareness about environment-friendly techniques in campuses of educational institutions. In an online ceremony, Modi awarded four agricultural universities of the country under Swach Bharat Movement. The second prize went to Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and the third and fourth awards are bagged by Central University Mumbai and Dharwad Agriculture University Karnataka. 

 

The parameters for this award include greenery on campus, waste management and energy conservation etc. Vice-Chancellor of PAU Anirudh Tewari congratulated authorities, teaching and non-teaching staff and student for the award.

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Central University Mumbai