Connect with:
Wednesday / February 5. 2025

logo
mobile-logo
Home2021December (Page 3)
AgroPolicy, Live Stock

Experts discuss ways to increase the income of fish farmers

On the third day of 12th Agrovision Summit, a conference was held on the scope of inland fisheries in the Vidarbha region. The event started with the lamp lighting ceremony by Dr Suvarna Chandrappagari, Chief Executive, National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Tage Taki, Minister of Agriculture, Horticulture, Dairy Development, Fisheries, Arunachal Pradesh; Lalchand Kataria, Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Dr CD Mayee, Chairman – Advisory Council Agrovision, Ex-Chairman – ASRB (ICAR), Dr Ashish Paturkar, Vice-Chancellor, Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University (MAFSU), Nagpur and Ravi Boratkar, MD, MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications, Publisher, MMA publications and Chairperson, Agrovision Foundation among other dignitaries.

Mayee started the conference by mentioning the scope of inland fisheries in the Vidarbha region as there are lot of water holds in the region. He stated that the conference will help farmers in the region to focus on new techniques and come with innovation in aquaculture.

Paturkar in his speech gave an idea about fishery potential in Bhandara, Gondia and Gadchiroli among other regions, which has big ponds. He also mentioned Google mapping and how it has helped to map the entire Vidarbha region for fish cultivation. Talking about the challenges, he said that many regions lack proper fishing techniques and urged stakeholders, ministry and farmers to work in an organised way for the upliftment of the sector. He emphasised maximum utilisation of water bodies, seed production in sufficient quantities, better logistic facilities, procuring good sources and cheaper fish feed, fish production and processing.

Exports of processed fish products is what Paturkar mentioned during the conference. Lastly, he talked about how value addition and collaboration with private players will help fish farmers for a better future.

Dr Chandrappagari in her speech gave an overview of how despite being a drought-prone region things can turn for better by adopting sustainable measures. Mentioning that Vidarbha has a huge potential in the fisheries sector, she urged farmers and stakeholders to adopt certain measures like increasing productivity, procuring quality seeds, following good management practices and upgrading marketing infrastructure. Focus on river ranching, storage facilities, transportation and logistics and adoption of schemes in the Vidarbha region are some of the measures mentioned by Dr Chandrappagari.

Kataria talked about prawn cultivation in Churu district and how the Government of Rajasthan are taking various initiatives to encourage farmers in fish farming and adopt various sustainable measures viz rainwater harvesting, drip irrigation etc.

Taki in his speech thanked the Agrovision team for inviting him where his state will be hugely benefitted from the technologies being showcased at the event. He said, “Arunachal being a hilly terrain, there are a lot of challenges in the region.” He particularly mentioned the right way to implement techniques for sustainable fish farming, balanced use of water bodies and urged the stakeholders for easy earning methods for farmers. Besides, he talked about better logistic facilities and technologies to enhance fish feed. He particularly mentioned certain fish species on the verge of extinction despite less pollution in the state.

Lastly, he urged farmers to take up responsibilities and form self-help groups to sustain themselves in the long run.

Experts discuss ways to increase the income

Agrotech, Dairy

Panelists discuss initiatives to help dairy farmers in the long run

The dairy sector and its upliftment was the main focus on day two of 12th Agrovision. The seminar was inaugurated with a lamp lighting ceremony by Nitin Gadkari, Chief Patron, Agrovision, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, in the presence of Sunil Chhatrapal Kedar, Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development, Sports and Youth Welfare, Government of Maharashtra; Meenesh C Shah, Chairman, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Dr Ashish Paturkar, Vice Chancellor, Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University (MAFSU), Nagpur along with Ravi Boratkar, MD, MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications, Publisher, MMA publications and Chairperson, Agrovision Foundation and Dr CD Mayee, Chairman-Advisory Council Agrovision, Ex-Chairman- ASRB (ICAR).

The event started with Gadkari talking about bringing in a milk revolution in the Vidarbha region using techniques that can be sustainable for farmers in the long run.

This was followed by a speech by Shah giving a glance about what role in NDDB is playing to improve the dairy sector in Vidarbha and adjoining areas. He said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll on the dairy sector; however, the industry was quick to bounce back as there was a huge demand for milk-related products.”

He recalled the government initiatives for the upliftment of the dairy sector in Marathwada and Vidarbha and procurement of milk from various villages in the region. He also mentioned how farmers are being benefitted from the money being transferred to the bank accounts.

Shah took notice of the reproductive health of cattle, livestock health, upgrading of infrastructure related to gene modification, semen analysis, IVF, training being provided by NDDB to farmers, animal nutrition and what role NDDB is playing in this regard. He talked about conserving green fodder in the form of silage to ensure a regular supply of quality fodder to bovines, especially during the lean season and farmers are being trained for the same.

A special mention of women dairy farmers and their increased participation was made by the NDDB chairman.

Kedar in his speech emphasised two major things, marketing of milk-based products and processing of milk. He informed the audience about how the Govt of Maharashtra ensured that balancing the demand-supply gap helped the dairy sector during COVID. His talk revolved around new technologies being promoted to help dairy farmers, to take the dairy industry in the Vidarbha region to newer heights.

Panelists discuss initiatives to help dairy farmers

Horticulture

Development of Horticulture at East Garo Hills, Meghalaya by NEC is working on to ensure employment opportunities for the villagers

To ensure direct and indirect employment opportunities to the villagers and nearby areas, North Eastern Council (NEC), under the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) have implemented a project for Horticulture Development at Nokrek Region, East Garo Hills, Meghalaya through Department of Horticulture, Government of Meghalaya at a total cost of Rs 439.94 lakhs with State Contributing Rs 44 Lakhs out of the total project cost. The project got completed on March 4, 2020.

Development of Horticulture at East Garo Hills, Meghalaya by North Eastern Council (NEC) is working on to ensure employment opportunities for the villagers. 

The Project aims to provide direct and indirect employment to the villagers and surrounding areas. It is also believed that by implementing the multiple cropping method there would be increased in the intensity of the crops which would later yield better results by making land more fertile. The hi-tech green house and drip irrigation system will also be introduced in the area. The system will promote agriculture entrepreneurship, thereby, reducing series of middleman in marketing.

Development of Horticulture at East Garo Hills,

AgroPolicy, Environment

Gadkari was speaking at the inaugural event of 12th Agrovision in Nagpur

Farmers should henceforth be called energy providers as they are the ones who can take the initiative to convert agri waste to produce LNG and CNG. This information was stated by Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister Road Transport and Highways during the inaugural event of 12th Agrovision, which is currently being held at Reshimbagh Ground in Nagpur.

Gadkari during his speech emphasised drawing a roadmap for future agri tech, knowledge sharing, entrepreneurship and successful practices. He talked about how farmers can transform themselves by conversion of knowledge to wealth, overcoming the challenges with the right solutions.

Gadkari talked about how 100 per cent bio-ethanol in two-wheelers and four-wheelers can lead to a sustainable environment and farmers getting benefitted from this initiative. For the same, production of flex engines will soon start in the country.

He emphasised on the production of nano urea to reduce imports, bio-ethanol from bamboo, ethanol-run cost-effective drones for agriculture, ethanol-based pumps and export of sugar to Brazil.

Gadkari also mentioned how Radio Agrovision and Krishi Kalyan TV is going to benefit farmers in the long run. He also opined about dairy innovation and agri export. 

He also mentioned cotton export to Bangladesh from Vidarbha to Haldia in West Bengal and then to Chittagong port, which will help cotton farmers in the long run.

Gadkari was speaking at the inaugural event

Agrotech, Interaction

The four-day event will see a congregation of 400 exhibitors and farmers from in and around Vidarbha region. 

12th Agrovision, India’s Premier Agri Summit, was launched at Reshimbagh ground in Nagpur. The four-day event from December 24-27, 2021 is witnessing a congregation of farmers, policymakers, stakeholders, scientists from different parts of Maharashtra and adjoining states.
 
Present on the occasion were Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Agriculture Minister, Nitin Gadkari, Chief patron Agrovision, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Sanjay Agarwal, Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, the Guest of Honour Dr Ashwath Narayan CN, Minister for Electronics, IT, BT and S&T Higher Education, Skill Development Entrepreneurship and Livelihood, Government of Karnataka, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Former Minister of Energy, New & Renewable Energy, Govt of Maharashtra and Dr CD Mayee, Chairman-Advisory Council Agrovision, Ex-Chairman- ASRB (ICAR).

The event started with a lamp lighting ceremony by Tomar along with all the dignitaries. Ravi Boratkar, MD, MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications, Publisher, MMA publications and Chairperson, Agrovision Foundation, while welcoming the guests talked about Agrovision’s journey so far and how farmers are continuing to be benefitted from the successive events held so far.

Agarwal in his speech talked about the PM’s vision of enhancing farmers’ income, creating farmer’s database and utilising post-harvest DPR. Gadkari talked about how ethanol from sugarcane is going to be the future fuel in agri pumps and the transport sector replacing petrol and diesel. He emphasised ideating knowledge, entrepreneurship, successful practice and coming out with solutions for the farmer community.
 
The theme for this year’s event is ‘Transforming Agriculture through Technology Innovations.’

On December 25, 2021, a conference will be organised on dairy, its opportunities in the Vidarbha region.

The four-day event will see a congregation

Environment, Nature

The country needs to take multitude approaches to address COP 26

While addressing a webinar on ‘Climate Change: Challenges and Response (for Scientists & Technologists)’, Dr Akhilesh Gupta, Sr Adviser Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India highlighted that, “India needs to take multitude of approaches to address COP 26 (Cooperation of Partnerships 26) announcements made recently by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

The 5-day online training programme at the Centre for Disaster Management (CDM), Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, is being supported by DST.

“Bringing economy’s carbon intensity down to 45 per cent by 2030 is achievable with some major initiatives on Electric vehicle and green Hydrogen energy. Fulfilling 50 per cent of India’s energy requirement through renewable energy by 2030 is also achievable as India already achieved 40 per cent share of renewable energy. Reducing 1 billion tonnes of carbon emissions by 2030 is challenging as India will have to cut down its carbon emissions by nearly 22 per cent. The biggest challenge for the country is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070, which would entail scaling up of renewable energy production by several-fold.” Added Dr Akhilesh Gupta.

Dr Gupta informed that according to the Climate Change vulnerability ranking of states carried out by DST, the 8 most vulnerable states are Jharkhand, Mizoram, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, and West Bengal – all in the eastern region, and there is a direct relationship between poverty and low HDI with the vulnerability of a place.

The country needs to take multitude approaches

AgroPolicy, Dairy, Live Stock

Banas Dairy will be built at a cost of about Rs 475 crores and will have a facility for processing 5 lakh litre of milk per day.

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone of ‘Banas Dairy Sankul’ at the UP State Industrial Development Authority Food Park, Karkhiyaon, Varanasi on December 23, 2021.

Spread across 30 acres of land, Banas Dairy will be built at a cost of about Rs 475 crores and will have a facility for processing 5 lakh litre of milk per day.

Prime Minister in his speech, claimed that, “Strengthening India’s dairy sector is one of the top priorities of our government. In this series, the foundation stone of Banas Kashi Sankul has been laid here today.”

Furthermore, the PM will also lay the foundation stone for the Biogas based Electricity generation plant for the Milk Producers Cooperative Union Plant, Ramnagar, Varanasi. As a key step to make Milk Producers Cooperative Union Plant energy self-sufficient.

Moreover, the Prime Minister in his recent development programme in Varanasi, launched a portal and logo dedicated to the Conformity Assessment Scheme of milk products, developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) with the help of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). The entire development projects worth over fifteen hundred crore which has the aim to further enhance the 360-degree transformation of Varanasi.

Stressing more on the BIS, which has issued a unified system for the country. An integrated logo featuring Kamdhenu cows has also been launched for certification. Wherein, the visibility of logo will assure the purity and the credibility of India’s milk products.

Banas Dairy will be built at a

Acquaculture, AgroPolicy

This is a significant achievement for India in decoding the whole genome of the native species of shrimp, one of the world’s most important seafood commodities.

The Scientists of the ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, Chennai have recently sequenced and assembled the whole genome of Indian White Shrimp (Penaeus indicus) on their own. This is a significant achievement for India in decoding the whole genome of the native species of shrimp, one of the world’s most important seafood commodities.

The Indian shrimp industry contributes about 11 per cent share of the global production (759,906 Tonnes valued at $4 Billion in 2020) amongst the shrimp producing countries.

The whole genome sequence of P indicus is a major landmark and this very high-quality genome assembly of P indicus is of 1.93 Gb size with contig N50 of 1.4 Mb having very high number of 346 un-gapped contigs of over 1 Mb length and scaffold N50 of 34.4 Mb. Considering the large genomes of >1.5 Gb length, the assembly presented for P indicus is the only crustacean genome and one among the only nine invertebrate genomes sequenced so far to meet the reference standard of 1 Mb contig N50 and 10 Mb scaffold N50 lengths.

The future genetic improvement programmes with focus on P indicus would benefit aquaculture with increased productivity and sustainability across Asia and the other geographical locations where this shrimp species is predominantly found.

The Scientists’ team involved in shrimp genome assembly included Dr MS Shekhar, Dr Vinaya Kumar Katneni, Dr Ashok Kumar Jangam and Dr KK Vijayan.

The shrimp genome sequencing project was financially supported by the ICAR-Consortium Research Platform on Genomics and coordinated by Dr Joy Krushna Jena, Deputy Director General (Fisheries Science), ICAR.

This is a significant achievement for India

Agrotech

The 12th AGROVISION, India’s Premier Agri Summit, scheduled from December 24-27, at Reshimbagh Ground, Nagpur, will witness the latest agricultural technologies.

Modern agricultural practices use mechanised equipment for irrigation, tilling, and harvesting along with hybrid seeds, and adopting these innovations in India will help the agriculture sector to grow. In the event, experts will share insights on ‘Modern agriculture changing rapidly with technological innovations in India’.

Agrovision has completed 11 years of its march and brought about a profound impact on the farm economy of Central India.  Agrovision was conceived in the year 2007 to create a common platform for the farmers, industry, and government and bring together every important entity in agriculture to create a better future for the farmers. The vision of Agrovision is to create a more knowledgeable, practical and a smart farmer.

Farmers from in and around Vidarbha and adjoining states will be participating in the event this year. Apart from this, there will be free interactive workshops for farmers. Conferences on current issues in agriculture and allied agri sectors will be held. Around 400 exhibitors are likely to participate in the event.

The exclusive media partner is Agro Spectrum India along with BioSpectrum India and NuFFooDS Spectrum India. MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications is the organiser of the event.

The 12th AGROVISION, India’s Premier Agri Summit,

Finance, Interaction

The report has been authored by the leading agri-tech experts, industry leaders, academics and thinkers.

Aspire Circle, in its fifth series of reports to generate 100 impact ideas for India’s inclusive growth has recently collaborated with 200 experts with their research ideas and spoke about its objective, to shape India’s Impact Economy.

Under the title, ‘Investing for Impact: Food, Agri and Argitech’, the report has been authored by the leading agri-tech experts, industry leaders, academics and thinkers. Focusing on ten disruptive investment ideas, the report offers a comprehensive roadmap on how new-age technologies, innovative practices, process re-engineering, and refined business models can all combine to make Indian agri and food industry, future-ready. 

“In the last decade India attracted close to $9 billion in FDI investments in the agriculture sector. This decade brings an opportunity for India Inc to take advantage of the massive untapped potential this sector holds and transform it to be sustainable and future-ready. With smart innovations, infrastructure & policy support and newer business models the top 10 ideas researched by IFP community can attract $272 billion in investments and generate $813 billion in revenue, impacting 1.1 billion lives,” said Amit Bhatia, Founder of Aspire Circle & Creator – Impact Future Project.

“From massive movements towards plant-based proteins to protected cultivation to tech driven farmer services and collectivization of small-hold farmers, man’s ability to produce more with less in a socially responsible-environment-friendly manner has grown by leaps and bounds. In country like India, this is also politically sensitive sector impacting lives of extremely large section of society making reforms difficult. In this context, platform like IFP is extremely valuable bringing various stakeholders together, ideating on solutions and identifying actionable initiatives.” said Purnima Khandelwal, Co-Founder, INI Farms.

The report further said India has its share of challenges when it comes to agricultural practices, including mechanisation levels, which is at 40-45 per cent unlike 90 per cent in the developed economies.

The report has been authored by the

Biofuel industry, Environment

New project with the Indian Ministry of Power will showcase Bloom’s hydrogen and power production technologies

Bloom Energy has recently announced that NTPC Limited, India’s largest energy conglomerate under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Power, has selected Bloom’s electrolyser and hydrogen-powered fuel cell technologies for the country’s first green hydrogen-based energy storage deployment. As part of India’s pledge to reach carbon neutrality by 2070, the project is designed to explore large-scale, off-grid hydrogen energy storage and microgrid projects at strategic locations throughout the country.

Bloom Energy (India) Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bloom Energy, was selected for its holistic, comprehensive and efficient technology ecosystem spanning green hydrogen production and carbon-free power.

The collaboration will utilise Bloom Energy’s solid oxide, high temperature electrolyser to generate green hydrogen from renewable electricity produced by a nearby floating solar farm. The hydrogen will then be converted into carbon neutral electricity without combustion through Bloom Energy’s hydrogen fuel cells to power NTPC’s Guest House, a local accommodation intended for use by NTPC employees and guests. The project is expected to commence in 2022 in Simhadri, Visakhapatnam, India.

The solar farm coupled with Bloom Energy’s electrolyser and hydrogen fuel cells is intended to operate around the clock.

“Reducing carbon emissions is the number one priority in the fight against climate change, and green hydrogen will be critical to India’s decarbonisation objectives,” said Venkat Venkataraman, executive vice president and chief technology officer, Bloom Energy.

New project with the Indian Ministry of

Agrotech, China, Company News

Origin is currently in trials to develop new corn varieties that have been genetically engineered to have balanced amino acid content.

Headuartered in China, Origin Agritech Limited, an agriculture technology company has recently announced that it is developing nutritionally enhanced corn using CRISPR technology.

Origin is currently in trials to develop new corn varieties that have been genetically engineered to have balanced amino acid content. If these trials are successfully completed, it will validate Origin’s next generation methodology in applying CRISPR technology to develop new corn varieties.

CRISPR gene editing does not introduce foreign DNA into the corn and as such more closely mimics gene mutations that frequently occur in nature. Additionally, the time and cost of developing genetically engineered corn using CRISPR is a fraction versus what it would be using traditional GMO technology. 

Dr Gengchen Han, Origin Agritech’s Chairman, said, “Our nutrition balanced corn trait would not only significantly reduce the need for costly additives in animal feed, it will also pave the way for many more applications of CRISPR technology.”

Origin is currently in trials to develop

AgroPolicy

The entire decision was made after paying heed to the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP)

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given its approval for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Copra for 2022 season. The Committee was chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

The entire decision was made after paying heed to the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). Which makes it sure that the minimum of 50 per cent, as margin of profit as one of the important and progressive steps towards making possible doubling of farmers’ incomes by 2022.

The MSP for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) of milling copra has been increased to Rs 10,590/- per quintal for 2022 season from Rs 10,335/- per quintal in 2021 and the MSP for ball copra has been increased to Rs 11,000/- per quintal for 2022 season from Rs 10,600/- per quintal in 2021. All of it will make a return of 51.85 per cent for milling copra and 57.73 per cent for ball copra over the all India weighted average cost of production.

The increase in MSP for copra for 2022 season is in line with the principle of fixing the MSP at a level of at least 1.5 times the all India weighted average cost of production as announced by the Government in the budget 2018-19.

The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited and National Cooperative Consumer Federation of India Limited will continue to act as Central Nodal Agencies to undertake price support operations at the MSP in the coconut growing State.

The entire decision was made after paying

AgroPolicy

A pre-event summit has been organised by the Health & Family Welfare Department, Government of Gujarat, with a theme “Holistic Healthcare focused on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices” on December 18, 2021

The Government of Gujarat is organising the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2022, from January 10 -12, 2022, at Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. A pre-event summit has been organised by the Health & Family Welfare Department, Government of Gujarat, with a theme “Holistic Healthcare focused on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices” on December 18, 2021, in Pandit Deendayal Energy University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

The pre-event summit was inaugurated by Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilisers and Bhupendra Patel, Chief Minister of Gujarat. S Aparna, IAS, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India, Dr Sarah Mcmullen, India Office Country Director, United States Food and Drug Control Administration (US FDA) and Dr V G Somani, Drugs Controller General of India were also present on the occasion.

The pre-event summit focused on the following:

  • Boosting Bulk Drug Production through Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme
  • Reducing India’s Dependence in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) & Medical Devices
  • Jan Aushadhi Kendras – Generic Medicines

During the summit, Mansukh Mandaviya, inaugurated the stall of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) Through the PMBJP stall, PMBI informed the salient features of PMBJP and benefits of Jan Aushadhi Generic Medicines which are available at affordable prices through more than 8500 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras, functioning across the country.

During this pre-event summit, technical sessions covered various aspects of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme and the opportunities to enhance bulk drug production.

A pre-event summit has been organised by