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Home2021October (Page 12)
Agro chems – Pesticides, Agro Universities

The main aim is to develop a comprehensive solution that achieves complete plant health rather than just the containment of spread

The Innoterra India has signed a licensing agreement with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research for ICAR-FUSICONT. The FUSICONT is a bio-pesticide solution that battles Panama Wilt (TR4) disease affecting Cavendish bananas globally which reduces up to 90 per cent production losses and help save the livelihoods of thousands of farmers. The bio-pesticide is based on a novel technology that directly targets the deadly fungal disease currently responsible for the destruction of millions of tonnes of banana crops worldwide. 

 

The FUSICONT is in the advanced stages of commercialisation and has also received regulatory approval from Central Insecticide Board (CIB), Government of India. The main aim is to develop a comprehensive solution that achieves complete plant health rather than just the containment of spread.

 

The bio-pesticide has shown promising results in ICAR’s large-scale validation in hotspots of India and has proven to be a sustainable solution for the environment. 

 

The main aim is to develop a

Agro Universities, Agrotech

Discussions were held on to include the medicinal and aromatic plants in the integrated farming system to enhance the farmer’s livelihood and equitable utilisation of the farm resources

Dr GR Chintala, Chairman, National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD) along with the Regional Officers visited the ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

The chairman visited the institute’s research farm showcasing several state-of-the-art experiments on the integrated farming system (IFS), water harvesting for crop production, precision farming, gum garden, agri-voltaic system and Agri-Business Incubation Centre. He urged for including the medicinal and aromatic plants in the IFS to enhance the farmer’s livelihood and equitable utilisation of the farm resources. Dr Chintala applauded the institute’s efforts to improve the production technologies of fruit crops – ber, anar and date palm.

 

On his visit to the precision farming block fully equipped with the automated drip and fertigation system for efficient water management and facilitate precise use of nutrients, the Chairman was depicted the polyhouse-based vegetable production system having grafting technique for cultivation of cucumber, tomato and capsicum.

 

Dr Chintala was also demonstrated the ongoing experiment using Thermocol Ball Technique used for reducing the water evaporation from diggies or small farm ponds. The commercial utilisation of the newly developed carrier for the production of microbial cultures for use at the farm level was apprised to the Chief Guest.

 

In his address, the chairman stated about the high priority of the NABARD in dairy farming, conservation agriculture and post-harvest technologies. He stressed disseminating the benefits of research to the farmers.

 

Earlier, in his welcome address, Dr OP Yadav, Director, ICAR-CAZRI, Jodhpur, Rajasthan apprised the Chief Guest about the institute’s achievements.

 

Discussions were held on to include the

Agro chems – Pesticides, R&D

The pesticide reduces the amount of plant damage caused by the beetle

Renaissance BioScience Corp, a leading global bioengineering company, announced that an independent test of its environmentally safe, RNA-based biopesticide technology conducted on Colorado potato beetle (CPB) larvae resulted in 98.3 per cent mortality and greatly reduced the amount of plant damage caused by the beetle. 

 

The proof-of-concept test, conducted by a leading international agriculture consultancy with expertise in pesticide evaluation, applied Renaissance’s proprietary yeast-based RNA interference technology that is designed to precisely target and turn off a specific CPB gene. This, in turn, resulted in high CPB mortality and protected the potato plant. A key characteristic and industrial benefit of the Renaissance novel proprietary RNA production and oral delivery platform technology is that it’s possible to include multiple different gene targets in each cell of the delivery system, thereby greatly reducing or eliminating the potential for CPB to develop resistance to this innovative biopesticide. 

 

Dr John Husnik, CEO, Renaissance BioScience comments, “Given that the large-scale, low-cost production of yeast is already readily available from well-established global yeast companies, our focus now is maximising effectiveness through further laboratory tests and field trials and organising appropriate commercial partners for the next phases of product development.” 

 

The Colorado potato beetle (CPB) (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) is one of the most economically devastating pests facing potato crops in North America and Mexico, Europe, Russia and Eastern Europe, and in Asia, including in western and northeastern China. As the world’s leading producers of potatoes, China and India are at the leading frontier of CPB spread as it expands its range eastward. 

 

The pesticide reduces the amount of plant

AgroPolicy, Dairy

A website of AWBI was launched by Union Dairy and Fisheries minister that will benefit the end-users of animal welfare

The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) celebrated World Animal Day at Kamdhenu Dham Gaushala (Nagar Nigam Gaushala), Gurugram, Haryana (run by Shri Chetan Dass Gosanvardhan, Sangel, Ujina) in the presence of Parshottam Rupala, Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India and Jai Prakash Dalal, Minister, Animal Husbandry Department, Government of Haryana. A website of AWBI was launched by Rupala that will benefit the end-users of animal welfare.

Sarvan Garg, Chairman, Haryana Gauseva Aayog while addressing the audience told that the Government of Haryana and Gauseva Aayog are working tremendously and the number of cows in the Gaushalas has doubled during the last decade and the livestock is free from various diseases like FMD etc.

Dr OP Chaudhary, Joint Secretary, (NLM and AW) & Chairman AWBI, while giving his welcome and introductory address told that the animal kingdom should also get their rights including five freedoms for the animals i.e. freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from fear and distress, freedom from pain, injury and disease, freedom from discomfort and freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour.

A website of AWBI was launched by

Finance, Start ups

Company will strengthen the technology and product offerings to significantly scale up the business and support functions.  

 

 

India’s leading rural insurtech startup ‘GramCover’ today announced their Series A fundraise of USD 7 million co-led by Siana Capital and Inflexor Ventures. Stride Ventures also participated in this round alongside existing investors Omidyar Network India, Flourish Ventures and Emphasis Ventures (EMVC). Unitus Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to the company on the transaction.

 GramCover, the tech-enabled insurance marketplace for rural India has adopted a unique technology led distribution & servicing model customized for rural India to minimize the inefficiencies and transaction costs involved in protecting people’s assets and families. With this fundraise, the company will strengthen the technology and product offerings to significantly scale up the business and support functions. GramCover will also enhance the availability of various insurance products and services on “GramCover Partner” application and also expand its point of sale network, tech, sales & operation teams across multiple geographies.

Dinesh Goel, Partner, Siana Capital said, “GramCover team has understood the key nuances of scaling up the non-urban segment of insurance distribution which is a gigantic opportunity in India. With a solid end to end deep technology platform in conjunction with a human assisted local agency network, we feel GramCover is well positioned to continue its high growth trajectory. Further, the business model helps achieve the twin objectives of profitable growth and providing livelihood risk protection to a large rural population of India.”

Pratip Mazumdar, Partner of Inflexor Ventures stated, “Our investment in GramCover stems from Inflexor’s conviction in backing technology led enterprises working towards deepening the insurance penetration, to create a meaningful impact in a large, under-insured market.”

GramCover started its journey in 2018 by insuring a 1000 farmers. In FY 21, the company worked with more than 1.7 million rural customers providing insurance across products like crop, motor, livestock and health worth 1.1 billion Rs in premiums. The company aims to continue on its growth trajectory and would like to insure more than 10 million farmers in the next two to three years with a premium target of 10 billion Rs. During this period, team GramCover aims to deepen its footprint in states where it is already present like Bihar, West Bengal,  Assam, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra etc and shall further extend its presence across  other states as well. 

Dhyanesh Bhatt, Co-Founder and Group CEO at GramCover stated, “We are excited about our Series A fund raise with seasoned tech focussed investors like Siana Capital and Inflexor. We, at GramCover, will be strengthened by their deep tech domain expertise and their start up experience as we work towards building a growth and profitability focussed rural insuretech organization.” 

Jatin Singh, Founder and Managing Director at GramCover said, “My vision of starting GramCover has been to provide a comprehensive cover to rural India. I believe that the security of the village, the cow, the car, the crop and the disease, is our responsibility.”

 

Company will strengthen the technology and product

Agrotech, Finance

Samunnati plans to extend the insurance benefits to over two lakh farmers

Chnnai-based specialised agri value chain enabling start-up Samunnati recently launched an insurance initiative Annadata Suraksha Abhiyaan (ASA) to cover farmers from daily farming risks. On the occasion of Daan Ustav, Samunnati launched the ASA campaign to cover over 50,000 smallholder farmers who are part of its FPOnEXT programme, an exclusive network working with farmer producer organisation. 

 

Samunnati plans to extend the insurance benefits to over two lakh farmers by amplifying the crowdsourcing campaign in partnership with other ecosystem players. Through ASA, Samunnati’s vision is to insure Indian farmers from the vulnerabilities and risks associated with farming, as well as to drive more awareness and adoption of insurance among India’s agrarian communities. 

 

The insurance benefits will initially provide coverage up to Rs 50,000 to each farmer free of cost via FPOnEXT platform. It will cover over a dozen risks such as accidental deaths, permanent or partial disablement, accident and hospitalisation, fractures, burns, vector-borne diseases and emergency ambulance charges. Child education and marriage expenses have also been included in the insurance.

 

Anilkumar SG, Founder and CEO, Samunnati, said, “We look forward to partnering with other stakeholders in giving back to this community and making their lives risk-proof in the coming years.”

Samunnati plans to extend the insurance benefits

R&D, Seeds

Research activities will help sorghum breeders to expand the crop’s potential

Researchers at The University of Queensland are optimistic the value and versatility of one of the world’s top crops will be improved following the discovery of genes that could increase the grain size of sorghum.
The use of the drought-resilient summer crop has been constrained by the small size of sorghum grains, but Professor David Jordan from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation said that could be about to change.

Sorghum is popular among Australian growers, particularly in Queensland and New South Wales, and the research will help breeders to expand the crop’s potential. The project began six years ago, involving UQ and the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

QAAFI Research Fellow Dr Yongfu Tao initially mapped the sorghum genome to help identify which genes were associated with grain size, narrowing the search with existing genetic information for rice and maize.

Dr Tao said 125 regions in the sorghum genome had now been identified where variation in the DNA sequence was associated with grain size and response to environmental conditions. The analyses included wild relatives of domesticated sorghum and Australian native sorghum.

The project also delivered additional information and tools to help plant breeders improve sorghum cultivars. The research is published in The Plant Journal. The research was funded by the Australian Research Council, with additional support from the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Grains Research and Development Corporation and UQ.

Research activities will help sorghum breeders to

Finance, Korea

The company will use its latest investment to execute its plans for global commercialisation of ’CUBE’ with cultivated crops and portfolio expansion

Korean AgriTech startup N.Thing, has raised $21 million in series B fundraising that is up from $5 million in the previous series that is secured $26 million in total. This has been run as an additional round of series B funding, led by InterVest and Kiwoom Investment where are the follow-on investment from existing investors as well, and new participation from Ascendo Ventures, SL Investment, IGIS Asset Management and KT&G.

The seven-year-old Seoul-based company is one of the frontiers of vertical farming, where vegetables are grown without pesticides, pollution and contamination all year round. N.Thing aims to encourage everyone to adopt farming by developing sustainable smart farm products and services. Started in 2014, N.Thing offers ’CUBE’, a modular container vertical farm and its solution ’CUBE OS’. In May 2021, N.Thing signed a deal with Sarya Holdings in the United Arab Emirates to construct a $3 million vertical farm within this year.

The company will use its latest investment to execute its plans for global commercialisation of ’CUBE’ with cultivated crops and portfolio expansion. Near-term milestones include scaling-up the supply chain, growing operations, and expanding its product lines and technology platform both domestically and internationally.

N.Thing has recently opened its first smart farm showroom, ’Sik Mul Sung Dosan’ in Seoul, the premium shop complex space with N.Thing’s flagship product while communicating with customers more closely and sharing the value and essence of the freshness.

The company will use its latest investment

AgroPolicy, Trade

2,000 kgs of walnuts were transported as part of ODOP import substitution efforts

The first consignment of Kashmiri walnuts was recently flagged off from Budgam. A truck carrying 2,000 kgs was despatched to Bengaluru, Karnataka under the One District, One Product (ODOP) Initiative of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

 

The facilitation of trade was marked with a flag off by Additional Secretary, Sumita Dawra, DPIIT, organised in collaboration with the Jammu and Kashmir Trade Promotion Organization (JKTPO). Ranjan Prakash Thakur, Principal Secretary to Government Industries and Commerce, J&K, Tazayun Mukhtar, Director, Industries, Kashmir, Khalida, Deputy Director, Horticulture, Kashmir, Ankita Kar, MD, JKTPO and Invest India Team.

2,000 kgs of walnuts were transported as

Trade

Chilean walnut is recognised for its extra-light colour, freshness and its high yield

ChileNut, the grower and exporter association of Chilean walnuts with the support of ProChile, the institution of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that promotes the supply of Chilean goods and services in the world has launched the first generic promotion campaign in India to introduce the Chilean Walnuts to Indian consumers.

Juan Angulo, Ambassador of Chile to India recently launched a promotion campaign and said, “Chilean walnut is recognised as being the best in the world, thanks to its extra-light colour, freshness and its high yield. I am delighted to see them here in India.”

Sumit Saran, In-Country Marketing Representative for Chilean Walnuts remarked, “We foresee an immense potential of Chilean Walnuts in India. The demand here for high-quality walnuts is continuously rising. Chile will have an important role as the production of walnuts in Chile is 100 per cent counter-seasonal to Indian walnuts and also to other northern hemisphere walnut origins that are supplying to the market.”

Chilean walnut is recognised for its extra-light

Acquaculture, AgroPolicy, Agrotech, Poultry

Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying reviewed the on-going lab and field research activities of Tripura centre

The ICAR-Research Complex for North-Eastern Hills Region, Tripura Centre recently organised the Krishi Diwas on the theme ’ICAR Tripura – Transforming Rural Agriculture.’

The Chief Guest, Dr Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying reviewed the on-going lab and field research activities of Tripura centre. The minister also inaugurated the exhibition organised during the occasion.

During his interaction with the farmers, the minister urged to be proactive and utilise the government schemes for the successful realisation of Prime Minister’s dream of doubling the farmers’ income. He also stressed on equipping the farmers with all the improved technologies and encouraging them for entrepreneurship. This will motivate the other farmers thereby, improving the agricultural scenario of the state.
Dr Balyan distributed the various inputs like improved paddy seeds, poultry chicks, vegetable seeds, fruit plants, fish seeds, fish feeds, fodder cuttings, mushroom spawns, cast nets and sprayers to the farmers of Tripura.

Dr K Sasikumar, Director, ARRD, Government of Tripura marked his presence as the Guest of Honor of the occasion. Earlier, in his welcome address, Dr Basant K Kandpal, Joint Director, ICAR-Research Complex for NEH Region, Tripura briefed the delegates on the past achievements and on-going activities of the centre. More than 250 farmers, 150 delegates from different Line Departments and Krishi Vigyan Kendras attended the programme.

Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal

AgroPolicy, Sustainable Energy

The move will encourage sugar mills to divert excess sugar cane/sugar to ethanol and to achieve targets of blending ethanol with petrol

Incentive on sugar sacrificed for producing ethanol from B-heavy molasses/sugarcane juice/sugar syrup/sugar has been doubled from October 2021, onwards in their monthly release quota. This initiative was taken in view to encourage sugar mills to divert excess sugar cane/sugar to ethanol and to achieve targets of blending ethanol with petrol in line with Ethanol Blended with Petrol programme. 

 

Due to excess availability of sugar in the country, the ex-mill prices of sugar remain subdued resulting in cash loss to sugar mills. This excess stock of 60 LMT also leads to blockage of funds and affects the liquidity of sugar mills resulting in accumulation of cane price arrears. To liquidate excess stocks, the Centre has also been extending assistance to sugar mills to facilitate export of sugar.

 

The Centre is taking several steps for diversion of sugar to ethanol. Government is encouraging sugar mills to divert excess sugarcane to ethanol to find a permanent solution to address the problem of excess sugar. 

 

The government is encouraging sugar mills and distilleries to enhance their distillation capacities for which the government is facilitating them to avail loans from banks for which interest subvention @ 6 per cent or 50 per cent of the interest charged by the banks whichever is lower is being borne by the government. 

 

As a result of these measures, ethanol distillation capacities in the country would likely be more than doubled by 2025, which would ensure achievement of 20 per cent blending target.

 

The move will encourage sugar mills to

Agrotech, Environment, Finance

Expands its products to various nations

FarmERP, the brainchild of Shivrai Technologies, has expanded its products to a wide range of nations, making a difference locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. The brand is engaging with several national and international leading agriculture enterprises, as well as policy-making organisations, to achieve their core goal of making the business more profitable and technology efficient.

In five years, FarmERP aims to have 10 million stakeholders on board. FarmERP works continuously towards expansion. Further to the first round of external funding, the company is committed to improving the product with a variety of comprehensive and innovative features, such as mapping all farm operations, QR code-based access control across business processes, implementation of an agriculture-focused accounting and costing module, hydroponics pack, IoT device integrations, climate-smart advisory using AI, etc.

FarmERP is well recognised for its ‘Uberisation of Agriculture for Smallholder Vegetable Growers’ initiative, which has helped the entire agri-value chain to become more consistent, enhancing their everyday routines. The expedition has received several honours such as Asia Agritech or Maxell Award for Excellence in Innovation 2017 along with enjoying worldwide attention.

FarmERP recently developed specialised and customised ‘packs’ for its consumers, based on their sub-verticals and company processes. These SaaS-based packs are tailored for various stakeholders in the agriculture business and may be customised to meet the needs of the clients.

Expands its products to various nations FarmERP, the

Agro chems – Chemicals, AgroPolicy

Spraying nano urea through drones is more effective on crops and will also have a positive effect on productivity

A practical field trial of drone spraying of nano liquid urea was conducted in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, in the presence of Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers and Health & Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya. The trial was attended by a large number of farmers. This demonstration of spraying liquid nano urea by drone was undertaken by IFFCO, a company involved in developing nano urea.

 

IFFCO in its study has found that spraying nano urea through drones is more effective on crops and will also have a positive effect on productivity. A large number of farmers participated in today’s trial and eagerly inquired about nano urea and the technique of drone spraying. IFFCO experts answered the queries of the farmers. 

 

On this occasion, along with Union Minister Shri Mandaviya, Chairman of National Cooperative Union of India and Vice President of IFFCO Dilip Bhai Sanghani was also present.

 

Spraying nano urea through drones is more