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Home2021December (Page 8)
Acquaculture, AgroPolicy, Agrotech, Dairy

The aim is to scout for innovative and commercially viable solutions to address six problems faced by the animal husbandry and dairy sector

The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, in partnership with Startup India, launched the second edition of ‘Animal Husbandry Startup Grand Challenge’ at an event celebrating ‘National Milk Day’ in Anand, Gujarat to commemorate the birth centenary of Dr Varghese Kurien. The event was organised in the presence of Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of State of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying and Information & Broadcasting, Dr L Murugan, and Minister of State of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Dr Sanjeev Balyan.

 

The first edition of the startup grand challenge was launched by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on September 12, 2019. Animal Husbandry Startup Grand Challenge 2.0 has been launched by Rupala, to scout for innovative and commercially viable solutions to address six problems faced by the animal husbandry and dairy sector. 

 

The challenge is open for application on the Startup India portal – www.startupindia.gov.in – to all startups for the following problem statements:

  • Cost-effective, long-term and user-friendly alternatives for storage and supply of semen doses
  • Development of Cost-effective Animal Identification (RFID) and traceability technology
  • Development of heat detection kits
  • Development of pregnancy diagnosis kits for dairy animals
  • Improvement of existing milk supply-chain from village collection centre to the dairy plant
  • Development of low-cost cooling and milk preservation system and a data logger

 

For each of the six problem areas, a winner will be awarded Rs 10 lakh and a runner-up with Rs 7 Lakh each as cash prizes. 

The aim is to scout for innovative

Agro chems – Pesticides, Inputs

The SOP will render guidance to the stakeholders involved in undertaking safe and effective control of pest and diseases by the application

CropLife India, an association of 15 R&D-driven crop science companies, and the leading voice of the plant science industry in India, compliments the Government of India for releasing the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for use of drone application for crop protection in agricultural, forestry, non-cropped areas, etc. The SOP will render guidance to the stakeholders involved in undertaking safe and effective control of pest and diseases by drone-based pesticide application.

Asitava Sen, CEO, CropLife India opines, “It is indeed a proud moment that the transparent deliberations within Department of Agriculture, Central Insecticide Board and Ministry of Civil Aviation and industry experts have resulted in the pragmatic SOP and Guidelines for Registration requirements; in an exemplary schedule. These guidelines will now be studied and set the benchmark for ongoing engagements in other Asian countries. Very glad to share that CropLife was allowed to actively participate in several deliberations while framing up these SOP.”

The SOP will render guidance to the

Acquaculture, Agro Universities, AgroPolicy

Appreciates the institute’s dairy cattle unit, eco-friendly wastewater treatment facility

Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying recently visited the ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute, Goa. The union minister was accompanied by Dr Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister, Government of Goa; Filipe Neri Rodrigues, Minister for Fisheries and Water Resources Department, Government of Goa; JN Swain, Secretary, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying; Dr OP Chaudhary, Joint Secretary (NLM/PC) and J Balaji, Joint Secretary (Marine Fisheries), Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying.

 

Rupala visited the institute’s dairy cattle unit, eco-friendly wastewater treatment facility and appreciated the efforts being taken in enhancing the animal and fisheries production. The union minister also highlighted the benefits of the revised schemes for creating the Entrepreneurship in the field of animal husbandry and fisheries.

 

Dr Sawant highlighted the measures taken by the state government for the farmers’ benefits. JN Swain underlined the Government of India’s Schemes and scope of aquaculture which has a potential in the Coastal Regions due to high rainfall.

 

J Balaji stated about the Fisheries Schemes and Programmes for the farmers’ benefits. Dr O P Chaudhary mentioned about the revised Schemes of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying.

 

The occasion also marked a tree plantation drive along with the inauguration of the newly developed fodder museum which boasts of growing 35 different fodder species suitable for the coastal region and can act as a live demonstration unit for the farmers.

 

Appreciates the institute’s dairy cattle unit, eco-friendly

Agro chems – Pesticides, Environment, Europe, North America

Unfortunately, the EU and UK are still lagging in understanding the difference between chemical pesticides and biopesticides. Dr Minshad Ansari, Founder and CEO, Bionema, UK shares an insight

Biopesticides are becoming more and more a major part of our daily lives, but they’re not necessarily getting easier or cheaper to register. Most people don’t realise that it takes an average of 5-10 years and £3-5 million in the EU compare to $300-400k registration and regulatory fee in the US.

 

So, how hard is it to obtain biopesticide registration for your new product?

 

SMEs are struggling to register biocontrol products due to an expensive and overly complex regulatory process. This guide offers the necessary insights for bringing your products to market, navigating the regulatory system with minimal fuss and expense.

 

Regulatory bodies

 

Before any pesticide can be used, sold, supplied, advertised, or stored anywhere in the world, it must be approved for use by the regulatory authorities in that country.

 

Applicants must provide evidence that their plant protection products (PPPs) are safe and effective before an approval can be issued. This includes biopesticides.

 

The term ’biopesticide’ refers to a broad range of possible PPPs. However, for most regulatory authorities’ systems, these are classified into four categories:

 

  • Products containing a microorganism (for example bacterium, fungus, protozoa, virus, viroid)
  • Products based on beneficial biocontrol agents (predators, parasitioids and nematodes
  • Product-based on semiochemicals (for mass trapping includes pheromones)
  • Products based on botanical extract (plant extracts)

 

In the EU, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is the agency responsible for reviewing and approving new biopesticides, while in the UK. Approvals are granted by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), and in the US the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for new approvals. In these and other countries, approvals are subject to a range of specific pesticide-related legislations.

 

Regulation and legal background

 

The majority of pesticides are used as PPPs (Plant Protection Products). These products protect plants or crops from pests or plant diseases, and they are classified by the organism they are supposed to protect plants from herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, bactericides, nematicides and others.

 

In the EU (European Union), Regulation (EU) 1107/2009 sets the requirements for the authorization of PPPs. The EC (European Commission) assesses the active substance for human health and environmental safety.

 

When pesticides are sprayed according to Good Agricultural Practice, the MRL (Maximum Residue Level) will be set in line with Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 for food and feed.

 

Following the approval, the PPPs are authorised in each of the EU member states. The EC, EFSA, and ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) are the EU’s accountable authorities (European Chemicals Agency).

 

The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is responsible for regulating pesticides in the United States under the FIFRA (Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act) and the FQPA (Federal Quality Pesticide Act) (Food Quality Protection Act).

 

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) set rules for the amount of pesticide residue that can be present in crops.

 

Alternatively, in the UK we have the Environment Agency and the HSE who regulate pesticide registration.

 

A key difference between requirements for the US EPA, compared with the EFSA and HSE in the EU and UK, is that the US EPA recognises that biopesticides are natural products, that they act differently to conventional chemical pesticides, and therefore the data required for registration of biopesticides in the US is markedly different to the data required for chemical pesticides.

 

Unfortunately, the EU and UK are still lagging in understanding the difference between chemical pesticides and biopesticides, and they treat both types of products very similarly – even though one is a chemical product, and the other is biological.

 

This makes the current EU and UK regulatory processes for new biopesticides overly complex, frequently requesting unnecessary or unsuitable data and adding unnecessary expense to the registration procedure.

 

Numerous efforts are already ongoing to address this issue. For example, the International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association has been struggling to gain traction in the EU for the past 25 years.

 

Much more recently, post-Brexit, the World Bioprotection Forum (WBF) has initiated its campaign for change in the UK. It is hoped that the WBF will achieve change in the UK within the next couple of years and that this success will make a significant contribution to IBMA’s ongoing calls for change in the EU.

 

—Dr Minshad Ansari, Founder and CEO, Bionema, UK

Unfortunately, the EU and UK are still

Environment, Sustainable Energy, Water

Bags double ‘A’ score for global climate and water stewardship by CDP

CDP, the international non-profit that drives companies and governments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and safeguard water resources, has recognised CNH Industrial NV as a global leader in corporate sustainability by including it on the CDP’s prestigious ‘A List’ for tackling climate change as well as acting to protect water security. 

 

CNH Industrial is one of the 57 companies that achieved a double ‘A’, out of the over 13,000 disclosing businesses in CDP’s 2021 assessment. 

 

“We are proud that our staunch commitment and ongoing efforts to limit the environmental impact of our processes and products were again recognized by inclusion in the CDP A Lists, and especially pleased to obtain a double ‘A’ score for the first time. We are dedicated to reaching our ESG targets and contributing to the decarbonisation of the sectors in which we operate,” said Scott Wine, CEO, CNH Industrial. 

 

Through significant demonstrable action on climate change and water security risks, CNH Industrial is leading on corporate environmental ambition, action and transparency worldwide.    

 

CDP’s annual environmental disclosure and scoring process are widely recognised as the gold standard of corporate environmental transparency. In 2021, over 590 investors with over $110 trillion in assets and 200 major purchasers with $5.5 trillion in procurement spend requested companies to disclose data on environmental impacts, risks and opportunities through CDP’s platform. A record-breaking 13,000 companies responded. 

 

A detailed and independent methodology is used by CDP to assess these companies, allocating a score of A to D- based on the comprehensiveness of disclosure, awareness and management of environmental risks and demonstration of best practices associated with environmental leadership, such as setting ambitious and meaningful targets.

 

 

Bags double ‘A’ score for global climate

IT, Supply Chain, Trade

Pragati Gokhale has worked tirelessly to set up the portal for the upliftment of farmers

Marketmirchi.com has received the ChangeMaker Award for its initiative to create free direct market linkages for farmers, FPOs and self-help groups. Pragati Gokhale, an advisor at the Rajiv Gandhi Science and Technology Commission and a National Resource Person in the Union Ministry of Rural Development, said that the movement has been instrumental in effectively providing an online market to rural entrepreneurs, farmers, artisans, self-help groups, farmers’ producer organisations and other rural stakeholders.

Gokhale is a gold medalist, a software expert who created MarketMirchi.com using her computer knowledge with ease. It is an indigenous, multilingual web portal covering all rural-agricultural products for digital marketing of rural products, agricultural products, rural services and rural employment.

Developed in new progressive web technology, the portal is best suited for rural areas as it does not require download and has all the features of App. Importantly, it sends a link to buyers as soon as your ad is posted, so rural sellers and buyers can contact each other directly for free. Since there is no business model like eCommerce or Trade India, all sellers and buyers can contact each other for free.

Hindi videos have been created to train on how to post advertisements as well as to interact and deal with buyers by making effective use of MarketMirchi.com. Gokhale has created a network of people from all walks of life working in rural agricultural organisations across the country through whom these videos are disseminated to farmers, artisans, women in self-help groups.

Pragati Gokhale has worked tirelessly to set

Finance, Schemes - NABARD

Expert’s views were taken into account for meeting the gap in augmenting productivity by way of agri- reforms, transformation, post-harvest management, collectivisation of agricultural produce, value addition and organising farmers into FPO

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has projected a credit potential of Rs 36,292 crore for the state of Assam for the financial year 2022-23

NABARD launched the State Focus Paper today for the financial year 2022-23 which is the consolidation of exploitable district wise realistic potential, both in physical and financial terms in the state of Assam.
Focusing on the priority sector and to ensure integrated and sustainable rural prosperity in the state, NABARD has projected a credit potential of Rs 36,292 crore for the state of Assam for the financial year 2022-23 in the State Credit Seminar held on December 8, 2021. The credit potential is 12 per cent higher than the previous year.

Of the total projected credit potential, as much as Rs 18755 crore (52 per cent) is towards Agriculture and Allied activities, Rs 12952 crore (36 per cent) is towards MSME sector, Rs 1388 crore for Informal Credit – SHGs / JLGs and Rs 3197 crore for housing, education and other Sectors.

The State Focus Paper was released at Guwahati by Finance Minister Ajanta Neog, in presence of Additional Chief Secretary P K Borthakur, Regional Director, RBI, Sanjeev Singha and CGM SBI, R S Ramesh etc.
The credit potential estimated in the State Focus Paper will be used as a base for the preparation of the Annual Credit Plan for priority sector lending of the state by financial institutions for the year 2022-23.

Baiju Kurup, Chief GM, NABARD informed that the seminar deliberated upon the demand of credit at the grass-root level besides taking cognizance of the policy interventions and programmes initiated by NABARD, Financial Institutions, the State as well as Central Governments in various sectors. It was also informed that expert’s views were taken into account for meeting the gap in augmenting productivity by way of agri- reforms, transformation, post-harvest management, collectivisation of agricultural produce, value addition and organising farmers into Farmer Producers’ Organisation (FPO), which may help in creating local level commodity-specific value chains to enable small and marginal farmers to realise optimal value of their products, through better price discovery mechanisms.

Expert’s views were taken into account for

Agro Universities, Live Stock, R&D, Supply Chain, Trade

Discussions were held on the development of the North-East specific crop varieties, popularisation of integrated farming system, stemming of decline in the North-East livestock population

The 25th Regional Committee Meeting of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research for eight North-Eastern States of India (Zone – III) was held recently.

Delivering the inaugural address, Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare highlighted the importance of agricultural development in the North-Eastern States for the overall development of the country. The development of the North-East specific crop varieties, popularisation of integrated farming system, stemming of decline in the North-East livestock population, farm mechanization and building awareness on FPO formation for the region’s development was emphasised by the Minister.

Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & DG (ICAR) underlined the major issues of the region and highlighted the significant achievements of the agriculture, livestock and fisheries sector of North-East India. The supply-demand gap of meat and milk in the region was outlined by Dr Mohapatra.

Earlier, Sanjay Garg, Additional Secretary (DARE) & Secretary (ICAR) delivered the welcome address.

Dr VK Mishra, Director, ICAR-North-Eastern Hill Region, Umiam, Meghalaya presented the action taken report of the previous RCM Meeting. Dr Suresh Kumar Chaudhari, Deputy Director General (Natural Resource Management & Agricultural Engineering), ICAR delivered the vote of thanks.

Dr Shiv Prasad Kimothi, ADG (Technical Coordination), ICAR along with the Senior Officials of ICAR Headquarters & its Institutes and Agriculture, Horticulture, Livestock and Fisheries Department, Government of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura attended the meeting.


The meeting was aimed at providing a forum to the Agricultural Researchers, state government functionaries and other stakeholders to discuss the gaps and priorities of the agricultural research, education and extension for the next two years.

Discussions were held on the development of

Live Stock

The section will showcase various breeds of cattle, poultry, goats and sheep

The 12th AGROVISION, India’s Premier Agri Summit, scheduled from December 24-27, at Reshimbagh Ground, Nagpur, will conduct a workshop on export quality production of citrus and banana. It may be noted that India exports citrus fruit to over 121 countries and bananas worth Rs 619 crore were exported last year. 

The conference will have a special pavilion on animal husbandry, there would be ‘Live Stock Expo and Special pavilion on Animal Husbandry’ at 12th Agrovision. The section will showcase various breeds of cattle, poultry, goats and sheep and the experts will be present throughout the expo to give detailed information on the breeds and its availability.

This year farmers from in and around Vidarbha and adjoining states will be participating in the event. 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 Nufoods Spectrum India. MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications is the organiser of the event.

The section will showcase various breeds of

Agro Universities, R&D

The genome sequencing of this medicinal plant provides new insights on the origin of the medicinal properties of this plant

A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal led by Dr Vineet K Sharma, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, have sequenced the genome of the turmeric plant for the first time in the world.

The researchers have used two techniques – the short-read sequencing of 10x Genomics (Chromium) and long-read Oxford Nanopore sequencing – to unravel the genetic makeup of turmeric. The draft genome assembly had a size of 1.02 Gbp with ~70 per cent repetitive sequences and contained 50,401 coding gene sequences.

“Being the first elucidation of the genetic makeup of turmeric, our study has provided hitherto unknown information about the plant,” said the lead researcher. The IISER sequencing and analysis has also confirmed the triploid genetic makeup of turmeric.

The researchers have, for the first time, revealed the genetic structures associated with major enzymes involved in the production of curcuminoids, the key medicinal compounds present in turmeric.
The genome sequencing of this medicinal plant provides new insights on the origin of the medicinal properties of this plant will also aid further studies on this species, genus, and family.

The genome sequencing of this medicinal plant

Agro Universities, Agrotech

Dr Praveen Rao is the Vice-Chancellor of Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University

The 7th Dr MS Swaminathan Award for 2017-2019 was awarded to Dr V Praveen Rao, the Vice-Chancellor of Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University. This biennial national award jointly constituted by Retired ICAR Employees Association (RICAREA) and Nuziveedu Seeds Limited (NSL) carries a cash prize of Rs 2 Lakhs, a Gold Medal and a citation. The Award Selection Committee met on 07.03.2020 which was chaired by Dr RS Paroda (Former Director General, ICAR) selected Dr Praveen Rao from among a panel of 13 top national scientists from the fields of agriculture, horticulture and veterinary sciences who were considered for the award. The selection committee stated that the outstanding and innovative contributions of Dr Praveen Rao in the areas of agricultural research, teaching, extension and administration clinched the award for him in a very closely contested selection.

 

Dr Praveen Rao who currently is the first Vice-Chancellor of Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University has, to his credit, outstanding contributions in the area of micro-irrigation. He has handled 13 research and six consultancy projects of micro-irrigation in India, Israel and South Africa. He was a technical advisor and was instrumental in the formulation and commissioning world’s largest micro-irrigation project covering an area of 0.9 million hectares and this project is considered a milestone in Indian agriculture. He is also currently a member of the Telangana State Council of CII.

 

The Retired Indian Council of Agricultural Research Employees’ Association (RICAREA) was formed in 1997 to serve the cause of agriculture based on the ideals and objectives of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), by collaborating with Governmental Agencies, NGOs, Public & Private enterprises, and farming communities with the aid of the rich experience of its Members viz., retired personnel of the ICAR. The Association is also serving as a pool of resource persons for scientific and extension bodies, besides bringing awareness of developments in science and technology among the farming community and general public. At present, the Association has a membership of 500.

 

 

 

Dr Praveen Rao is the Vice-Chancellor of

Agro Universities, R&D

The collaboration seeks to bring the most recently-developed science and technologies to address key fundamental in agriculture

National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) and the Tata Institute of Genetics and Society (TIGS) has announced an institutional alliance. NCBS-TIFR is a premier research institution that has been dedicated to fundamental research at all levels of biology covering a diverse set of subjects spanning from molecules to ecosystems and from nanosecond to evolutionary time. NCBS-TIFR aims to strengthen and expand knowledge in the life sciences, create and facilitate exemplary human capital, and develop novel tools and technologies to enhance capacity for life science research in the country.
 
The collaboration seeks to bring the most recently-developed science and technologies to address key fundamental and applied questions in the area of human health and agriculture. The collaboration is expected to further the frontiers of basic and applied research for the benefit of society.
 
NCBS-TIFR is a member of the Bangalore Life Science Cluster (BLiSc), along with the DBT- Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP). The thriving intellectual environment and quality infrastructure on the BLiSc is expected to catalyse scientific productivity and application at scale. This engagement could broaden the partner base in BLiSc, contributing to the vision of making BLiSc a leader in facilitating and implementing scientific solutions of societal benefit through a deep understanding of fundamental science.
 

The collaboration seeks to bring the most

AgroPolicy, Interaction, Machinery – Post-harvesting, Supply Chain, Trade

Farmers will gain knowledge on how to enhance production

The 12th AGROVISION, India’s Premier Agri Summit, scheduled from December 24-27, at Reshimbagh Ground, Nagpur, will conduct a workshop on export quality production of citrus and banana. It may be noted that India exports citrus fruit to over 121 countries and bananas worth Rs 619 crore were exported last year.

The workshop for farmers will discuss harvesting quality fruits, increasing the production, educating farmers about better/smart farming by adopting modern technology, implementing correct cropping patterns, and new avenues in agriculture.
 
This year farmers from in and around Vidarbha and adjoining states will be participating in the event. 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 Nufoods Spectrum India. MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications is the organiser of the event.

Farmers will gain knowledge on how to

AgroPolicy, Agrotech, Supply Chain

The collection centre is equipped with Ecozen’s latest solar cold room

Amazon Fresh recently opened a fruit and vegetable collection centre at Aasale Taluka, Wai, in Satara district of Maharashtra. The collection centre is set up to collect and distribute the products of the local fruit and vegetable farmers and is equipped with Ecozen’s latest solar cold room, the two metric tonne Ecofrost.

The new collection centre will enhance the market access of local fruit and vegetable farmers, by bringing them onto the Amazon buying platform. The Ecofrost solar cold room in turn will allow Amazon Fresh to pre-cool and store the products at the optimum temperature and relative humidity levels, effectively increasing its shelf life and reducing waste.

Since Ecofrost uses clean energy as its primary power source (can also be connected to a generator and power grid) and has over 30+ hours of battery-less back-up using proprietary thermal storage technology, it was a perfect choice for a cold room set-up for Amazon Fresh India under its sustainability initiative.

Present at the event was Nitin Kale, Deputy Director, Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB),  Rajesh Prasad, Head of Trade, Amazon Fresh, Ravindra Dolare, President Ecozen Solutions, Prashant Zende, Taluka Agriculture Officer, Wai, and many farmers.





The collection centre is equipped with Ecozen’s