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Agrotech, E-commerce

For the year 2021-22, the company is estimating the sales of over 8000 MT.

ETG Agro India, with its flagship enterprise ETC Agro Processing India Pvt. Ltd, is one of the largest processors and marketers in the global pulse processing industry. It has recently commissioned a state-of-the-art Nuts – Almonds processing plant with over 100 strong women workforce at Kheda, Gujarat. Originally a pulses processor, ETG Agro India’s move to add this new product line and open a new revenue stream comes on the heels of rising demand for nuts in the Indian market.

The processing unit is focused on the deshelling and processing of almonds and is among the biggest almonds processing plants in India. The plant’s processing capacity is over 10,000 MT raw almonds per annum. The sorting line is fully operated by the skilled women workers who are deployed to provide hand-picked, assorted, superior quality almonds. Nuts will be marketed under the brand – ETG AGRO NATURZ – PRO NUTS in both bulk and consumer pack formats.

 Parag Gadre, CEO – ETG Agro India said, “Presently we are observing some interesting trends in consumption of staples and overall snacking at home. Consumers across demographics and age groups are exercising increasing health consciousness – including mental health – while making choices for bites at home. Preference for vegetarian protein is making its way into the Indian kitchen. The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns have brought a lot of people to home cooking, baking, and experimenting with easily accessible staples, processed foods, and even discretionary snacks and munchies such as Nuts. These behavioral trends are manifesting in the rising consumption of Nuts, especially Almonds. However, there is a huge gap in the supply of unadulterated, clean, and hygienic nuts. We have observed that institutional buyers and domestic traders are longing for a reliable global partner who have a reputation established in the Indian market, and this is where ETG comes in. ETG PRO Nuts plant aims to deliver pure and hygienic nuts to the consumer while being a solid partner to India’s nuts traders and institutional buyers.”

 Kapil Yadav – Head Nuts Business said, “ETG Pro Nuts (Almond) plant is a state-of-the-art processing facility with a capacity of over 3.5 MT per hour. Setting up this plant and commissioning the same in November-20 has been exemplary execution, especially during the COVID time. India has a huge potential for nuts market. In developed countries consumption of nuts like almonds is around ten times more.

ETG Agro India will be sourcing Nuts- such as walnuts/ cashews from domestic growers, and almonds from global origins such as USA and Australia. The company has established partnership with key suppliers. For the year 2021-22, the company is estimating the sales of over 8000 MT.

 

 

 

For the year 2021-22, the company is

Agro chems – Chemicals, Agrotech

UPL has won the award in the category of Best Patent Portfolio, Large (Lifesciences/Pharma) for its pioneering Intellectual property (IP) research and innovation. 

UPL Ltd. has won the sixth CII Industrial Intellectual Property Awards aimed at recognizing and celebrating enterprises that have embraced IP generation and protection to fuel their business and economic growth. UPL Ltd. has always put the farmers’ needs first and creates products and services around fulfilling their requirements.

 UPL has won the award in the category of Best Patent Portfolio, Large (Lifesciences/Pharma) for its pioneering Intellectual property (IP) research and innovation. An example of UPL’s major research and innovation includes sustainable products such as Zeba and services such as Adarsh Farm Services which have proven successful at the grassroots level.

Dr Vishal Sodha accepted the award at a virtual ‘CII International Conference on IPR & CII Industrial IP Awards’ on behalf of UPL during the felicitation ceremony. He stated “At UPL, our focus is completely on sustainable development including efficient utilization of the natural resources and adapting and building resilience to climate change. All of which bears testimony to our ability to make products and services available to farmers; that help fuel the new age of farming – Farming 3.0 around the globe.”

UPL’s Chief Technology Officer, Adrian Percy stated “We continuously strive to make our formulations and processes environmentally friendly, using progressive innovation.  ZEBA, for instance, is a granular soil applied starch-based technology, working much like a sponge. Distributed in the rooting zone, each micro granule is able to absorb many times its original weight in water and release it back to plants as and when they need it. This water management and interaction with essential water-soluble nutrients is the key to reducing the amount of nutrients being lost into the environment, thereby reducing any negative impact on environmental and human health.”

UPL has won the award in the

AgroPolicy, Warehousing

Subsidies and benefits under Agri Infrastructure Fund and other government schemes to be extended to setting up of flexible and in-demand storage solutions

 Arya, a leader in post-harvest agritech and agri-fintech also has huge expectations from the government for the Budget.

“With the passage of the three farm bills in FY2020, the focus of the Government has to be on the development of Agriculture Infrastructure which is critical for the successful take-off of these marketing reforms. We hope for the inclusion of lending by Banks to Agri Fintech start-up NBFCs under PSL for all categories of loans otherwise classified as agriculture in PSL. Subsidies and benefits under Agri Infrastructure Fund and other government schemes to be extended to setting up flexible and in-demand storage solutions including Hermetic Storage solutions and Agri-NBFCs to be allowed borrowing through the ECB route”, said Prasanna Rao, Co-Founder & CEO, Arya.

“I think the biggest challenge for the government in the current budget will be raising resources. Imposing an additional tax burden does not augur well for markets, hence this will be a dilemma. While the government will be thinking in terms of how to increase demand for consumption, in the backdrop of the pandemic, it may not be sufficient enough a resource to meet the budgetary gaps. One of the ways that they can do this is to advance 25 per cent of the tax collections for the next two years with a rebate on tax for the next two years. A formula can be built out which is attractive both at the Individual and at Corporate tax levels. This may even be tried for GST too. It being optional, it may not face much resistance as an idea. People may even opt for it given the fact that bank deposits have gone up and rates of deposits are low. This reform will help the government to meet the resources required and in turn, benefit the taxpayer.  Moreover, since only 25% is being targeted with the improvement in the economy, this gap will get abridged in the ensuing years and the strain on the following years may not be very significant”, stated Chattanathan Devarajan, Managing Director- Aryadhan Financial Solutions Private Ltd

Subsidies and benefits under Agri Infrastructure Fund

Finance, Start ups

CropIn’s data-driven farming solutions enable agri-enterprises and growers to ‘maximize per-acre value’

Bangalore based CropIn, a leading global artificial intelligence and data-led agri-tech organization empowering stakeholders to reimagine agriculture with data, has raised US$20 million in a Series C funding round led by ABC World Asia, an Asia-focused private equity fund dedicated to evidence-based impact investing.

Existing investors Chiratae Ventures, Invested Development, and Ankur Capital also participated in this funding round. Other new investors in this round include CDC Group and Kris Gopalakrishnan’s family office Pratithi Investment Trust.

CropIn will use this capital infusion to focus on its global expansion while continuing to innovate on its machine learning-based predictive analytics platform, SmartRisk to further strengthen its artificial intelligence capabilities. CropIn is also investing to penetrate deeper into its target markets globally.

CropIn’s data-driven farming solutions enable agri-enterprises and growers to ‘maximize per-acre value’. Its farm data and agronomy management platform, SmartFarm, empowers stakeholders to improve efficiency, productivity, predictability, and sustainability of their crop value-chains. SmartFarm enables agri-enterprises to adhere to food safety standards thereby ensuring farm-to-fork traceability.

Thus far, CropIn has positively impacted 13 million acres and 4 million farmers through the SmartFarm and SmartRisk platforms.

Based in Singapore, ABC World Asia invests in companies that demonstrate a commitment to generating positive and measurable social or environmental impact, alongside the ability to deliver compelling risk-adjusted returns.

 

CropIn’s data-driven farming solutions enable agri-enterprises and

Agrotech

She will be responsible for Human Resources, Strategy and Business Consulting and drive the accelerated transformation of Bayer.  

The Supervisory Board of Bayer AG announced the appointment of Sarena Lin (50) to the company’s Board of Management as of February 1, 2021. Lin will become the company’s Chief Transformation and Talent Officer. She will be responsible for Human Resources, Strategy and Business Consulting and drive the accelerated transformation of Bayer. Additionally, she will serve as Labor Director. Lin will be based at the company’s headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany. She will join Bayer from Elanco Animal Health Incorporated, where she is a member of the Executive Committee, responsible for the areas of Transformation and Technology. She previously worked in senior positions at McKinsey and Cargill, among others.

“We are delighted that Sarena Lin will strengthen the Bayer Board of Management with her global experience, strategic expertise, leadership skills and ability to lead large-scale transformations,” said Norbert Winkeljohann, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bayer AG. “Bayer must now decisively accelerate the transformation it has initiated. Few companies have the potential to benefit from the ongoing bio revolution as much as Bayer. The company’s leading positions in attractive life science businesses must be translated into accelerated growth and value creation.”

“I have gotten to know Bayer as a highly professional, innovative company with enormous potential and an inspiring vision and purpose. Now is the time to unleash that potential,” said Lin of joining the company. “I am looking forward to shaping the ongoing transformation as part of Team Bayer for the benefit of all of the company’s stakeholders.”

 

She will be responsible for Human Resources,

Agrotech

By Dr Shivendra Bajaj, Executive Director, Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII)

 

Social media has changed the way we think, comprehend and communicate, and it has not just restricted young people in urban pockets anymore but has penetrated deep into rural areas as well. Social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram is acting as a powerful tool for farmers to connect with buyers as well as agribusinesses over large geographical distances. It is also helping to share knowledge and information of mutual interest by farmers living in the same region or growing similar crops in the different parts of the country. Social media is facilitating farmers to make judicious decisions.

 The Government of Maharashtra, in November 2020, had taken a decision to promote its policies and schemes related to agriculture through WhatsApp. The use of communication technology would equip farmers with real-time data, monitoring demand and supply of seeds and crop produce as well as updated information about market prices. Himachal Pradesh government also has enrolled total of a few thousand farmers on WhatsApp to help them resolve their farm- related problems and issue advisories. Globally, in New Zealand, the UK, the US, Australia, discussions are facilitated between farmers and agribusinesses under the AgChat model, which is a Twitter online discussion group. All this gives a glimpse into how powerful and effective social media can be to connect with millions of farmers in our country.

 Social media can empower farmers as it brings in transparency, engagement, trust and authenticity in the supply chain. The most important aspect is that it reduces social isolation for farmers and enables them to connect with other farmers, agribusinesses and customers comfortably. They can market their produce well and sell it off wherever they want, seeking best prices. Also, they can interact with experts, people with influence, from whom they can gain a wealth of knowledge, experiences and guidance. Even for regular farm operations such as building irrigation system, buying crop inputs, accessing better markets, such online platforms can do wonders for farmers. Social media can keep them updated of every farm-related development.    

In Vidarbha’s farm-distressed district of Yavatmal, over 13 farmers came together and formed a WhatsApp group to share information about farm operations and government schemes. From time to time they share information about cropping patterns, new irrigation and pest control techniques, use of fertilisers and pesticide, innovations in cultivation methods, crop damage among others. These farmers are benefitted greatly since the group has scientists, experts and consultants working in the agriculture field. There is need to have such groups in every part of India. 

India is a country that has more smartphones than computers, and the users are increasing rapidly in the rural parts- from 9 percent in 2015 to 25 percent in 2018. According to Indian Cellular and Electronics Association, rural India registered a year-on-year growth of 35 percent in 2018 compared to 7 percent in urban areas. This bears good news for the efforts to use social media in agriculture extension. Lack of skills can be a hurdle initially, but sensitisation and training can help enhance the number of farmers using social media. The central government’s Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) that aims to increase digital literacy in the country can facilitate farmers to get benefitted from social media. Effective usage of social media would certainly enhance agriculture extension education efforts and thus productivity.     

By Dr Shivendra Bajaj, Executive Director, Federation

AgroPolicy

Dr Mohapatra emphasized taking-up such surveys in horticulture, dairy and fisheries sectors too

Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & DG (ICAR) recently chaired the CSISA-KVK collaborative Project Review on Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning through the Large Scale Diagnostic Survey. Dr Mohapatra applauded the observations made through the Large Scale Diagnostic Survey (LDS) of rice and wheat crops. He desired that five major recommendations which are revealed from the survey viz. impact of early sowing of wheat and rice, application of nutrients, irrigation at critical stages, etc., may be brought out from Wheat and Rice Surveys. The Director-General stressed taking-up the recommendations with the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India for the different regions and states.

Dr Mohapatra emphasized taking-up such surveys in horticulture, dairy and fisheries sectors too. He stressed harnessing the KVK’s strength. The Director-General also released the Publication “New Frontiers in Agricultural Extension” – Volume – II based on LDS for rice crop during the occasion.

Dr Ashok Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General (Agricultural Extension), ICAR outlined the adoption Patterns of different varieties in rice. He underlined that the older varieties, such as, MTU 7029 (Swarna) released in 1982 and BPT 5204 (Samba Mahsuri) released in 1986 continue to dominate the Eastern India region. The Paddy yields in Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh were just half to that of Punjab and Haryana within the same maturity class.

 

Dr Mohapatra emphasized taking-up such surveys in

Agro chems – Chemicals, World

Fawligen is manufactured by the global leader and innovator in biological pest control, AgBiTech LL

Farmers in Nigeria, the first country where Fall Armyworm (FAW) was detected in Africa in 2016, will soon get access to a biological tool that will prevent an infestation of the invasive pest. The product which is called Fawligen belongs to the new IRAC mode of action Group 31 (host-specific occluded pathogenic viruses). It contains a nucleopolyhedrovirus specific to the Fall Armyworm pest and has been undergoing several regulatory trials and evaluations across several African countries since early 2018.

To ensure that farmers in Nigeria which have the largest maize acreage in Africa of 5 million hectares can protect their crops from severe injury and economic damage caused by the FAW infestation, Golden Agri Inputs Limited (GAIL), a member of the FMN Group have partnered with AgBiTech as its exclusive distributor for Fawligen in the country.

Fawligen is manufactured by the global leader and innovator in biological pest control, AgBiTech LLC. According to Dr Shachi Gurumayum, Head of Africa & South Asia for AgBiTech, “Fawligen has been tested and evaluated by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) for two consecutive years in Nigeria. Having access to a safe and effective biological control for FAW will be a welcome relief to many of the Nigerian farmers affected by FAW”. 

 

Fawligen is manufactured by the global leader

E-commerce, Machinery – Post-harvesting, R&D

The technology will allow greenhouses to increase efficiency, eliminate transport bottlenecks, reduce operating costs, and alleviate labor shortages. 

Canada-based Cyberworks Robotics has announced the initial sale of 18 autonomous (self-driving) tow-tractors to Fernlea greenhouse. This represents the first deployment of autonomous tractors in an industrial greenhouse anywhere in the world. The order represents the first batch of up to 90 autonomous tractors expected to be delivered to Fernlea which is one of North America’s largest greenhouses with facilities in both the US and Canada. The tractors are used to tow trailers of produce from growing areas to processing areas. The technology will allow greenhouses to increase efficiency, eliminate transport bottlenecks, reduce operating costs, and alleviate labour shortages.

Greenhouse production output levels continue to increase, requiring adjustments to workforce productivity. The agricultural sector already faces chronic labour shortages and has difficulty attracting and retaining workers in some regions. The COVID-19 pandemic further exposed the industry’s vulnerabilities to labour shocks, which had an impact on the supply chain. The financial impact of the labour shortages in this industry includes lost sales due to planting and harvesting delays and losses, and delayed expansion plans. The innovative solutions provided by Cyberworks Robotics are lowering the cost and improving the productivity of greenhouse operations while allowing existing labour resources to be used in the most effective way possible.

The technology will allow greenhouses to increase

Acquaculture, Agro Universities, Agrotech

It aims to enhance the fish stocks in the Beel, improve the fish yield rate and provide livelihood support to the fishers post-COVID-19. 

As a part of the implemented Project “Small Scale Fisheries in Wetlands for livelihood and nutritional security”, in collaboration with the WorldFish, Penang, Malaysia, the ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata demonstrated its technologies (ICAR-CIFRI Pen HDPE® and Fish Stock Enhancement)c in the selected floodplain Wetlands (Beels) of West Bengal and Assam with community participation. 

As a part of Project’s Assam Component, Borkona Beel, the Institute selected a seasonally open floodplain wetland located near Sarthebari in Barpeta District, Assam for the technology demonstration. The Beel managed by Bampara Fishery Co-operative Society has 65 active members belonging to Scheduled Caste community and a total of 350 fisher families who depend on the Beel for livelihood support.

 Borkona Beel is an unstocked beel with low fish production (average fish yield rate: 180 kg ha-1 yr-1). The ICAR-CIFRI initiated the Supplementary Stocking with Fingerlings of major and minor carps (40,000) in the Beel for the first time on December 28, 2020. The main objective of the programme is to enhance the fish stocks in the Beel, improve fish yield rate and provide livelihood support to the Beel Fishers post-COVID-19.

It aims to enhance the fish stocks

Environment

Tata Consumer Products received an A-, placing the company in CDP India’s leadership band for the second consecutive year, out of a universe of 9600 global companies that were rated this year.

Tata Consumer Products, the focused consumer products company, uniting the principal food and beverage interests of the Tata Group under one umbrella, has been recognized for its actions towards protecting the environment and preventing climate change across the globe by CDP India 2020 Climate Change Report. Tata Consumer Products received an A-, placing the company in CDP India’s leadership band for the second consecutive year, out of a universe of 9600 global companies that were rated this year.

CDP is a global non-profit that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states, and regions to manage their environmental impacts. Companies scoring within the leadership category are recognized for their transparent and comprehensive disclosure of climate data, thorough awareness of climate risks, demonstration of strong governance and management of climate risks, and demonstration of market-leading practices. 

Tata Consumer Products took several Green House Gas (GHG) emission reduction initiatives including investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency. The company has been able to bring down its carbon footprint by 26 per cent between 2010-20.

 

Tata Consumer Products received an A-, placing

Agro Universities, Agrotech, R&D

Dr. Singh led several key projects in South Asia such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)-funded IRRAS project in Bihar, the World Bank-funded APART project in Assam. 

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) announced last week the appointment of Dr Sudhanshu Singh as the new Director of IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (IRRI SARC) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Dr Singh took on the role on January 4, 2021.

IRRI Director General Matthew Morell said of the selection and appointment to this strategic and coveted assignment in South Asia for the Institute, “Dr Singh brings a wealth of experience, institutional knowledge, and demonstrated a track record to his new role. This will be pivotal to maintaining, consolidating, and pushing the boundaries of quality outcomes and impact of IRRI’s Research for Development agenda.”

Dr Singh, a native of the Samenda village of Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh, is an IRRI alumnus who did his Ph.D. in Agronomy in its headquarters in the Philippines and post-graduate and graduate degrees from Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Ayodhya. Dr. Singh led several key projects in South Asia such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)-funded IRRAS project in Bihar, the World Bank-funded APART project in Assam, the European Commission- and International Fund for Agriculture Development-funded projects on abiotic stresses, and the USAID and BMGF-funded CSISA project across South Asia.  He was also a key contributor to the BMGF-funded mega project STRASA.

Dr Singh said, “I will focus on its strong positioning as the preferred partner of governments and other NARES organizations in the region by aligning its priorities with the national and regional strategies through demand mapping. We will also work on widening the R4D partnership with key international agencies to make IRRI SARC a center of choice for them. Moreover, tapping of unexplored private & public sector partnership and building a strong linkage with the industry to mobilize resources, scale innovation, and strengthen and leverage successful multi-CGIAR projects and networks for sustained innovations and joint resource pulling will be on top priority agenda for us in 2021.”

Dr. Singh led several key projects in

AgroPolicy

Focus should be more on Interest subsidy on agriculture credit, Irrigation and increased funding on research and development

 In order to channelise the growth of agriculture sector, Deloitte India has conveyed its pre-budget expectations note. The Union budget for FY2021 will be presented in the parliament on February 1 by Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister.

To improve the sector’s productivity, the budget should allocate more for the following thrust areas:

Interest subsidy on agriculture credit for long-term loans – To help farmers with long-term investment on equipment, irrigation, or infrastructure creation related to farming, rather than focusing on recurring expenditure, such as weeding, harvesting, sorting, and transporting

Crop insurance – To help farmers mitigate the challenges posed by the frequent climatic changes and unpredictable weather; low levels of coverage currently can be attributed to low awareness levels amongst farmers; and higher allocation can bring a large section of farmers under the ambit of this scheme and enable adequate coverage

Irrigation – To help address the issues related to availability of water and incentivise adoption of drip irrigation

Introduction of new scheme on vertical farming, given the scarcity of land, support can be designed for promotional campaigns and incentives on investments such as new equipment, systems, and allied infrastructure.

Allocations should be increased for quality maintenance, monitoring, and upgrading. In this regard, focus should be given on maintaining soil health through the balanced use of urea and other fertilisers. The increased allocation may be focused towards creating mobile soil testing labs that can benefit a large section of the small and marginal farmers who might not have testing labs near their regions. Increase in outlay can help modernise the existing testing labs and create new ones, given the increasing thrust on food safety and stringent norms imposed by importers.

Increased funding on research and development should be a priority in this budget. Given India’s significant dependence on imports of major commodities (such as vegetable oils and pulses), enhancing the domestic production of these commodities is important and additional funds might be allocated for this purpose.

It is important to note that livestock farming is one of the key pillars for augmenting farmers’ income through non-farm related activities. While the sector has immense potential, one of the big impediments for development is the prevalence of various diseases that affect mortality, productivity, and overall production. Supply of vaccine is not adequate to address the increasing demand. Funding for developing vaccines and creating necessary infrastructure would be required in this budget.

 

 

 

 

 

Focus should be more on Interest subsidy

Acts & Schemes – Centre, Poultry

Central teams deployed to visit the affected states of Kerala, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh for monitoring and for epidemiological investigation 

 

After confirmation of Avian Influenza positive samples from ICAR-NIHSAD in poultry (two poultry farms) of Panchkula district, Haryana, positive cases of Avian Influenza in migratory birds were reported in Shivpuri, Rajgarh, Shajapur, Agar, Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh, Zoological Park, Kanpur, Uttar Pradeshand Pratapgarh and Dausa districts of Rajasthan. The Department has issued advisory to the affected States so as to avoid further spread of disease. So far, the disease has been confirmed from seven states (Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh).

Reports of unusual mortality of birds have been received from State of Chhattisgarh in poultry and wild birds in Balod district, Chhattisgarh. The State has constituted RRT teams for emergency situation and also sent the samples to designated laboratory.

Further, reports of unusual mortality in ducks have also been received from Sanjay lake, Delhi. Samples have been sent to the designated laboratory for testing. Samples of dead crows have also been sent to NIHSAD from Mumbai, Thane, Dapoli, Parbhani and Beed districts of Maharashtra for confirmation of AI.

Meanwhile culling operations have been completed in both the affected districts of Kerala and Post Operational Surveillance Programme (POSP) guidelines have been issued to the State of Kerala. Central teams deployed to visit the affected states of Kerala, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh for monitoring and for epidemiological investigation have reached Kerala.

 DAHD requested State Animal Husbandry departments to ensure effective communication and coordination with Health authorities for close vigilance of the disease status and avoid any chances of jumping of the disease into humans. Besides increasing surveillance around water bodies, live bird markets, zoos, poultry farms, etc. proper disposal of carcass, and strengthening of bio-security in poultry farms have to be ensured. States were also requested to be prepared for any eventuality of Avian influenza and were requested to ensure sufficient stock of PPE kits and accessories required for culling operations.

Central teams deployed to visit the affected