Connect with:
Monday / March 10. 2025

logo
mobile-logo
Home2021 (Page 34)
Acquaculture, Agro Universities, Live Stock

Discussions were held on to enhance the income sustainably of farmers in the eastern part of the country

The ICAR-Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna, Bihar recently organised a three-day National Conference on ’Integrated Farming Systems: A Tool for Enhancing Income and Nutritional Security.’

In his inaugural address, the Chief Guest, Dr BS Mahapatra, Vice-Chancellor, BCKV, Kalyani, West Bengal outlined the importance of the integrated farming system and emphasised decreasing the cost of cultivation. Dr Mahapatra regarded the IFS as a climate-resilient practice that increases the farmers’ agricultural income by the integration of the different components – crops, livestock, horticulture and fisheries, etc.

The Guest of Honour, Dr AS Panwar, Director, ICAR- Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Modipuram, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh highlighted the importance of nutritional security for all along with food security. He also stressed on to develop location-specific farming system models for the various agro-ecological conditions.

Earlier, in his welcome address, Dr Ujjwal Kumar, Director, ICAR-RCER, Patna stressed the need for adoption of the IFS for the small and marginal farmers of the Eastern region to enhance their income sustainably.

The conference saw participation from 500 participants.

Discussions were held on to enhance the

Agro Universities, AgroPolicy

Takes part in seed distribution programme

Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare recently visited the ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute (ATARI), Zone – VI, Guwahati, Assam at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kamrup. Tomar was addressing the ’Interaction-cum-Seed Distribution Programme.’

The minister distributed packets of seeds to the farmers during the occasion. The seeds were made available under the North-Eastern Hills Component of ICAR-IARI, New Delhi; ICAR-IARI, Assam; ICAR-VPKAS, Almora, Uttarakhand; ICAR-IIAB, Ranchi; ICAR-DCR, Puttur and ICAR-CISH, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

Atul Bora, Minister of Agriculture & Animal Science, Government of Assam; Shri Sanjay Agarwal, Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India; Dr Ashok Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General (Agricultural Extension), ICAR and Dr PK Pathak, Vice-Chancellor & Director of Extension Education, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam were also present on the occasion.

More than 200 farmers, farm women and rural youth participated in the programme.

Takes part in seed distribution programmeNarendra Singh

Agrotech, Sustainable Energy

Agritech has enabled the promotion of sustainable farming practices, reduction of crop wastages etc besides promoting farmer income

The opportunities that agritech presents before the farming community in the country today are revolutionary in more ways than one. As the Indian farming system undergoes a tremendous shift in the way fresh produce is farmed and reaches the consumer, it is the farmer who stands to be empowered.  

 

Agriculture in India is at the crossroads of an important change. It is witness to a transformation that involves agritech which has enabled the promotion of sustainable farming practices, reduction of crop wastages and crop protection, strengthening connections of the domestic and international market besides importantly improving farmer income.

 

Rural push

 

Maintaining sync with its increased globalised position, India has realised the importance that modernising agriculture holds, right from handling growing demand to keeping up with other markets internationally. Access to information on what to produce and when modern agricultural techniques and technology have led to the creation of an e-commerce marketplace for clean and healthy farm produce. 

 

Several steps towards innovation in agriculture have managed to arrest a decline in last-mile delivery to farmers that was putting pressure on the system. It is this transformation led by agritech that has given a push to clean rural cultivation and brought in successful concepts like farm-to-mill, farm-to-fork, and farm-to-warehouse, etc. Over time these models have been able to efficiently link farmers to the marketplaces and thus consumers leading to an urban sustainable farming revolution unfolding. 

  

Specific targeted corrective action has also become possible with agritech. Optimisation of input, reduction in the use of water, chemicals, and pesticides through this action has led to a reversal of damage caused to the ecosystem.

 

Making it a reality 

 

The emergence of online platforms capable of providing these efficient linkages to farming has proven to be a boon. They are now providing relevant and innovative solutions to the agriculture sector. A mechanism of the agricultural value chain, thanks to the emergence of agritech, these platforms have led the way to innovative ideas and affordable solutions.  

In establishing itself, agritech in India has proved to be the missing link between farmers, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers connecting each of them and providing strong marketing linkages and timely quality produce. In the start-up ecosystem, agritech platforms assume a key role in touching every stage of the agricultural value chain. The revolution in this space is brought about through innovation and providing simpler solutions to existing challenges. 

 

Technology has resulted in earth-friendly agriculture being adopted on a larger scale. The use of land, water, knowledge, and new-age technology has helped in reducing the damaging environmental impact of the past that can make agricultural systems far more efficient by using resources that ensure climate resilience and provide insights of traceability from farm to fork.

 

Revolutionary solution 

 

With no middlemen, produce being chemical and toxic-free produce available, people are happily switching to eco-friendly products after realising its importance. Getting clean and organic produce has become much easier than before with different platforms providing that infrastructure. Besides the commendable efforts of the private sector in agritech through the start-up space, the government too has initiated an action plan to support the efforts of creating an ecosystem for a green future, a green India. 

 

With the best and choicest of clean products being available just a click away, agritech has begun to chart its way forward as an e-commerce marketplace. Having become a ray of hope in Indian agriculture, the emergence of these technology-backed marketplaces or agritech platforms is the way forward today. When it comes to being an enabler providing key solutions and offering different applications or models that offer optimisation or reduction, in cost, wastage, and ways of bettering our tech-powered sustainable farming system, it is agritech that has managed to offer a revolutionary solution to both the farmers and consumers. 

 

Agritech has enabled the promotion of sustainable

Machinery - Pre-harvesting, Machinery – Post-harvesting, Thailand

The combined harvester market is expected to register a CAGR of 6.6 per cent between 2019 and 2025

Thailand’s Agricultural Machinery Market is expected to cross $1.9 billion by 2025 owing to a surge in demand among farmers and rising financial support.

The report by Ken Research also covers the market share, competitive landscape, and business model of hire purchase and lease, along with the strength and weaknesses of major players. In addition to this, the report also covers the country overview, government regulation, and agricultural overview of Thailand. Land under cultivation, changes in cropping patterns, farm holding structure, and scale of mechanisation are covered in the agricultural overview.

The agricultural tractor market in Thailand is expected to register a CAGR of 3.2 per cent between 2019 and 2025. The two-wheel and four-wheel tractor markets are expected to contribute 23 per cent and 77 per cent respectively by the end of 2025.

Thailand Combine Harvester Market is expected to register a CAGR of 6.6 per cent between 2019 and 2025. Combine harvesters with power above 150 HP is expected to contribute more than 40 per cent. Followed by combined harvesters powered 75-105 Hp and 70Hp and below.

The sale of rice transplanters in Thailand is expected to decline in future as farmers have been focusing more on purchasing a used rice transplanter or renting a rice transplanter as it has seasonal usage and can be only used to plant rice.
 

The combined harvester market is expected to

AgroPolicy, Trade

The products have a shelf life of more than one year

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) facilitated exports of the first consignment of various value-added and nutri-rich products derived from jackfruit, passion fruit and nutmeg (Jaiphal) sourced from farmers in Thrissur, Kerala, to Melbourne, Australia. The products have a shelf life of more than one year.

Dr M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA and T V Subhash, Director of Agriculture, Kerala, Exporter and Importer along with other officials of APEDA took part in the virtual flag-off ceremony held recently. In the current fast-food era, consumers’ preference is shifting towards healthy food. The gluten-free products prepared from healthy options like jackfruit, passion fruit etc are providing a viable alternative against the consumption of fast food.

The major export destinations of jackfruit are Singapore, Nepal, Qatar, Germany etc.
 

 

The products have a shelf life of

Dairy

According to the study, private players have a strong foothold in eight of the top 12 milk-producing states in India

Chennai-based Hatsun Agro Product has recently commissioned CRISIL, India’s largest independent research house to conduct a market study regarding milk procurement by private dairy companies in India. The study was initiated based on the request from R Rajasekaran, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Dairies Association for details about milk procurement in India by private players. Hatsun Agro Product has sponsored this all India study by CRISIL.

RG Chandramogan, Chairman, Hatsun Agro Product, “The report is extensive and gives a good picture of the contribution made by the private sector in the dairy industry starting from 1992 when the dairy industry was opened up for the private sector. The private sector used their risk capital without any subsidies or loss write-off by state governments and contributed to the dairy sector development. The report also highlights how the market mechanism in procurement works for cooperatives and private dairies.”

According to the study, private players have a strong foothold in eight of the top 12 milk-producing states in India. The top 12 states account for 88 per cent of India’s milk production as of 2019-20 and two-third of the total milk is handled by private dairies in Tamil Nadu.

According to the study, private players have

Agro Universities, R&D

The study conducted provides a comprehensive insight into sugar uptake into plant organs such as flowers, seeds and fruit

Aarhus University researchers have just elucidated structures of a sugar transport protein that drives transport of sugar in plants. The study provides a comprehensive insight into sugar uptake into plant organs such as flowers, seeds and fruit. Future research can benefit from these discoveries to address challenges like food security through crop improvement.

The results are a continuation of earlier research at Associate Professor Bjørn Panyella Pedersen’s research group at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics. A major challenge to make progress in the field is to obtain structures of Sugar Transport Proteins (STPs) in different conformations.

PhD Student and first author Laust Bavnhøj explains: “The STPs are highly dynamic membrane proteins that undergoes large conformational changes during transport. This flexibility present a great challenge as conformational stabilisation is needed in order to facilitate structure solution by X-ray crystallography. This challenge was exacerbated because we needed the transporter in a very specific conformation in order to answer our questions. Based on our previous work, we could design mutants that worked to destabilise an outward facing conformation. This allowed us to break the “conformational dead water” and push our protein into a new inward facing conformation.”

“Combining these methods, we were able to not only identify key elements involved in the transport cycle within STPs but also provide new evidence for regulatory mechanisms conserved within the sugar porter family across all kingdoms of life,” says Bjørn Panyella Pedersen.

 

The study conducted provides a comprehensive insight

Agro chems – Pesticides, Agrotech

GM technology goes beyond Bt Cotton and has larger application in sustainable agriculture

Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII) is celebrating the power of technology like Bt Cotton in making India the world’s leading producer. World Cotton Day is celebrated on October 7 every year.

 

Ram Kaundinya, Director General, FSII said, “Many factors influence the outbreaks of pests. Pink Ball Worms (PBW) existed and was controlled with chemical pesticides and other practices even before Bt Cotton came into the country. Many measures related to ginning of cotton, movement of cotton seed for oil extraction, transportation of cotton from infected areas to other areas, destruction of plant residues from cotton fields are needed to control the spread of an infestation.”

 

Dr Shivendra Bajaj, Executive Director, FSII said, “Bt cotton controlled all the bollworms very effectively and continues to do so. Pink Bollworm outbreak could be a result of very good control of other bollworms, but it is also because we have not introduced more advanced upgrades of Bt technology, thanks to the activism and regulatory logjam. The needs of the farmers have been neglected. In many states implementation of a proper package of agronomic practices have provided good relief from PBW. GM technology goes beyond Bt Cotton and Herbicide Tolerant cotton. It has many other applications like water use efficiency that reduces the use of water in cultivating crops, nitrogen use efficiency that reduces the use of nitrogenous fertilisers in crops, heat tolerance that helps crops to grow under higher temperatures, improving the nutritional profile of crops, etc. Many of these applications help us to preserve natural resources and improve the nutrition of the poorer sections of society. Rejecting all of them under the umbrella of GM crops is completely irrational and dangerous.” 

 

Dr Bajaj, “We must realise that no technology gives permanent and complete solutions. For a technology to last 15-20 years without up-gradation and still give good results is a major achievement. Instead of criticising the technology, we should advocate for the up-gradation and integrated management of the technology. We need a basket of technologies including organic, crop protection chemicals, fertilisers, biotechnology interventions and breeding improvements for the farmers to have the awareness and freedom to choose the best and long-lasting solutions.”

GM technology goes beyond Bt Cotton and

Supply Chain

The two companies will use agribusiness technologies, development resources and innovate last-mile dairy supply chain solutions for markets in India and abroad

America’s leading dairy technology, services, and intelligence provider, Dairy.com, has made its first investment in India with the acquisition of Mr.Milkman, a leading last-mile dairy supply chain SaaS platform based out of India. The company has acquired a 100 per cent stake in Mr.Milkman to strengthen its integrated supply chain solution offerings for dairies worldwide.

The two companies will use their combined agribusiness technologies, development resources, and industry expertise to enable and innovate last-mile dairy supply chain solutions for markets in India and abroad.

Dairy.com and Mr.Milkman are positioned to thrive in India as their solutions are ideally suited to successfully supporting the country’s exponential rise of e-commerce and its increasing consumer demand for convenience, value, food safety, ease of payment, and product variety from the industry.

“Indian dairy sector and milk brands in India will need to employ technology at every level, right from procurement of milk to last delivery mile to grow and be successful. Milk brands in India and around the world operate on slim margins, and since milk prices have a cap, the only way to grow profits is to become more efficient – which can only happen through the implementation of technology,” said Milkman Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Samarth Setia.

The two companies will use agribusiness technologies,

Agro chems – Chemicals, Agro chems – Pesticides

The post-emergence herbicide will help to control narrow and broad leaf weeds in the onion crop

Insecticides (India) Limited recently launched OXIM, the new herbicide that will effectively control both narrow as well as broadleaf weeds. Oximwill is marketed by Insecticides (India) under its popular ‘Tractor Brand’.

Oximis is effective when used 15-20 days after sowing or transplanting the onion crop or two to three-leaf stages of the weeds. Especially it is very helpful for the areas where the onions are sown directly. Here the manual weeding is very difficult and expensive, so Oximwill turns out to be a good solution for these areas.

“The new herbicide OXIM is focused on the onion farmers so that they get better control of both narrow leaf and broadleaf weeds together. Oxim will help the onion farmers of Maharashtra, Karnataka, MP, Gujrat, Bihar and Rajasthan,” says Rajesh Aggarwal, MD, Insecticides (India).

“Oxim will have a good avenue in Maharashtra, MP and Gujarat in the western zone in the coming Rabi season. We look forward to a good response from the market for this product as we have received for Hachiman,” says PC Pabbi, Sr Vice President, Insecticides (India).

The post-emergence herbicide will help to control

Finance, Start ups

The startup will utilise the fresh capital for its business growth, expansion and other general corporate activities

Pune-based agritech startup AgroStar is raising Rs 53 crore in a funding round led by Aavishkaar Bharat Fund, Accel India and Bertelsmann. The fresh infusion seems to be part of the startup’s Series D round.

The startup is raising Rs 47.3 crore from Aavishkaar Bharat Fund, Accel India and Bertelsmann by allotting a total of 1,68,178 Series E Compulsory Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) at an issue price of Rs 2816.06.

AgroStar will also raise Rs 5.2 crore by allotting 20,796 optionally convertible redeemable preference shares (OCRPS) to Innoven Capital India. The startup will utilise the fresh capital for its business growth, expansion and other general corporate activities.

The startup will utilise the fresh capital

Agro Universities, AgroPolicy, Organic

A Certificate of Declaration was issued that will enhance the coconut production by the farmers and the coconut value-addition enterprises

The entire Union Territory of Lakshadweep has been declared as the Fully Organic Territory. Rajnath Singh, Union Defence Minister during his recent visit to Kavaratti applauded the four major programmes of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Lakshadweep of ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi during the occasion. The minister presented the Certificate of Declaration to the Praful Patel, Administrator, Union Territory of Lakshadweep.

 

The Certification is under the PGS-India, a Participatory Organic Guarantee Programme of the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India. The certification will enhance the coconut production by the farmers and the coconut value-addition enterprises in the islands paving the way for increased value-addition and local employment generation bringing in big economic gains for the islands.

 

The minister commissioned the Poultry Feed and Organic Manure Making Unit of the ICAR-CMFRI, KVK, Lakshadweep established in association with the ICAR-CIFT, Kochi as a part of demonstrating the ICAR-CIFT’s technology for the production of poultry feed and organic manure from fish wastes. The unit can produce One Tonne feed/manure per day and will be operated by the Fishermen Cooperative Society, Kavaratti on a commercial basis. The Tuna Fishery of Lakshadweep generates nearly 3,000 tonnes of waste annually which can yield nearly 4,000 tonnes of poultry feed/manure every year.

 

Singh also inaugurated the UT Level Demonstration of Coconut Sap (Neera) Chiller Box Technology of the ICAR-CPCRI, Kasaragod, Kerala by the KVK by distributing the sap chiller boxes to two farmers from the different islands. 

 

The Lakshadweep is the Second Union Territory / State to be declared fully organic after Sikkim.

 

A Certificate of Declaration was issued that

AgroPolicy, Environment, Oilseeds, Sustainable Energy

The union agri minister emphasised on a special package and assistance for NE states that is likely to change the socio-economic status of the farmers

National Mission on Edible Oil- Oil Palm Business Summit for the North Eastern States was held in Guwahati. The conference began under the chairmanship of the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar with the watering of the oil palm plant and showcasing of a film on an oil palm plantation.

 

Tomar emphasised playing an equal role in the development of the crop and assured to make major investments for seed nurseries, drip irrigation, technical back up, set of mills, purchase centres and training of farmers. Special package and assistance for NE states will change the socio-economic status of the farmers and will open employment opportunities in the established oil palm mills along with infrastructure development, said the minister.

 

Tomar further informed that the Mission with a total outlay of Rs 11040 crore will bring an additional area of 6.5 lakh hectares under oil palm plantation with 3.28 lakh hectares in the North-Eastern states and 3.22 in the Rest of India in next five years.

 

Certificates for FPOs formed by NABARD were distributed and an MOU was signed with ABPRL and Numaligarh Refinery to establish the first-of-its-kind biorefinery in India to produce renewable green fuel bioethanol.

 

Books titled Glimpses of NMEO-Oil Palm in NE States by Oilseeds Division, DA&FW and Improved Management Practices of the Oil Palm Cultivation in NE States by ICAR-IIOPR and Assessment Report were released. 

 

Oil palm players, viz Godrej Agrovet, Ruchi Soya, Shivaisis and 3 F oil palm were present for the Summit. 3 F oil palm and Ruchi Soya have committed to setting up mills in Arunachal Pradesh over the next year. Ruchi Soya will also set up an oil palm mill in Mizoram. 3 F oil palm mentioned they would invest around Rs 1200 crores. 

 

Union MoS of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Kailash Choudhary and Sobha Karandlaje, MoS, DoNER BL Verma and Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Pema Khandu attended the National Summit.

 

Minister of Agriculture, Sikkim Loknath Sharma, Chief Secretary, Government of Assam JishnuBarua, Chief Secretary, Government of Arunachal Pradesh Naresh Kumar, Principal Secretaries of the states, Shubha Thakur, Joint Secretary, GoI were present.

The union agri minister emphasised on a

Live Stock, Start ups, Supply Chain

Emerges as India’s first D2C Unicorn

Bengaluru-based Licious has emerged as India’s first D2C Unicorn. The tech-powered, D2C fresh animal protein brand in the country, achieved a billion-dollar valuation post receipt of funding worth $52 million led by IIFL AMC’s Late Stage Tech Fund.

The achievement of Licious Unicorn status is expected to not only further the journey of the brand but unlock the next level of opportunities for the animal protein sector through an inflow of investment, talent and the emergence of more start-ups that will help raise the bar in all aspects.

Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, Co-Founders, Licious, said, “Even though the funding for D2C sector has grown significantly, FMCG is still not considered the most attractive category. We expect that Licious’ Unicorn status will change that. The fresh meats and seafood sector are still largely underserved and unorganised that holds a vast opportunity of $40 billion. As the category leader, we aim at paving the way for the second wave of young start-ups that can join hands in fully harnessing the potential that the industry has to offer. We will continue to build the category through investments in technology for supply chain excellence, product innovation, talent, and vendor partner upgrades.”

They added,” In the coming years, you will see Licious work towards building a sustainable, responsible business that will reimagine the animal protein category in India through an optimal mix of global influence & products curated for the Indian palate. But most of all, you will see us championing the cause of the fresh meats and seafood sector as we continue to put it in the front row of consumer businesses in India.”

The company also recently announced their pledge to comply with the lofty global ESG standards, setting new benchmarks for sustainability and governance.

Emerges as India’s first D2C UnicornBengaluru-based Licious