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Agrotech, Seeds

Conkesta E3 soybeans incorporate broad lepidopteran insect protection in strong genetics as part of the Enlist weed control system

Corteva has launched Conkesta E3 soybeans in the Brazilian market. The leading technology is part of the Enlist weed control system that also includes Enlist E3 soybeans, which was recently launched in the country. Conkesta E3 soybeans will be available to Brazilian farmers in the remaining 2021-2022 season.

An important innovation for farmers in Latin America, Conkesta E3 soybeans incorporate broad lepidopteran insect protection in strong genetics as part of the Enlist weed control system, which offers maximum flexibility and superior control of broadleaf weeds and grasses. Through the introduction of this proprietary technology, Corteva expects to expand its position in the attractive Latin America soybean market. Corteva expects this technology to drive steady, incremental growth looking further ahead.

Conkesta E3 soybeans recently received authorisation by the European Union Commission, which enables grain produced from Conkesta E3 soybeans grown in Brazil to be exported to the European market for food and feed use. The technology has been previously authorised in several other export markets, including China.

Conkesta E3 soybeans are tolerant to Enlist Colex-D and Enlist Duo Colex-D herbicides — both contain 2,4-D choline with Colex-D technology that provides near-zero volatility and reduced drift potential — and also are tolerant to glyphosate and glufosinate herbicides. Conkesta E3 soybeans additionally incorporate two Bt proteins (Cry1F and Cry1Ac) for the management of the main caterpillar pests in soybean crops, a tailored option for farmers in Latin America.

Conkesta E3 soybeans will be available for the remaining 2021-2022 season through two of Corteva’s global brands: Brevant seeds, which provides premium seed to retail customers, and the regional genetic licensing business brand in Brazil, Cordius, Licensing Division of Corteva Agriscience.

The Enlist weed control system is a solid proof point of the company’s integrated portfolio. It delivers innovation in seed, chemistry formulations and stewardship, while providing much-needed solutions that address complex challenges such as insect resistance.

Conkesta E3 soybeans incorporate broad lepidopteran insect

E-commerce, IT, World

The partnership will help farmers by providing them advance warnings on crop health, weather, and pest and disease activity to help them prevent losses

Spire Global, a leading provider of space-based data, analytics, and space services, and Mantle Labs, a pioneering, satellite-based remote-sensing company, have jointly announced a new strategic partnership to provide complete risk assessment solutions to banks, crop input, insurance, and agri-commodity companies for managing their agriculture portfolios. The partnership will help farmers by providing them advance warnings on crop health, weather, and pest and disease activity to help them prevent losses. Powered by Spire’s space-based data and Mantle Labs’ AI-driven agriculture risk analytics suite, this partnership provides a clearer world view of global agriculture in previously unobserved regions.

Informed by Spire’s advanced data insights, Mantle Labs will have access to critical weather data in South East Asia, India, South America, and Africa, all of which currently lack adequate weather infrastructure. Radio occultation data collected by Spire’s satellites and analysed by its advanced weather algorithm will complement crop health data by Mantle Labs. The partnership will unlock a comprehensive and reliable weather forecast to empower the agriculture industry.

John Lusk, VP and GM Global Data Services, Spire, said, “We are proud to be partnering with Mantle Labs to help farmers, banks, crop input, insurance, and agri-commodity companies access previously difficult weather data in under-observed areas around the world in one of our most complementary partnerships to date. It is critical that technology reach these locations to empower farmers on the ground, maximise their profit, and properly anticipate risk assessment, especially in the face of rapidly accelerating climate change.”

Swapnil Baokar, Co-Founder of Mantle Labs, said, “We operate in many countries where there is a lack of reliable weather monitoring. This leads to issues for industries like agriculture where weather data and forecasting are vital for risk mitigation. Our Geobotanics platform, powered by AI, is used by leading customers in food and agriculture. Adding Spire’s revolutionary technology will offer unprecedented access to high-quality weather forecasts at a global scale and offer greater visibility into weather-related risks, helping the world’s farmers build climate resilience.”
 

The partnership will help farmers by providing

Agrotech, IT, Supply Chain, Sustainable Energy

True Digital Solutions aims to impact 9,880 acres (25,000 rai) and six million farmers in Thailand

CropIn, a leading AI and Data-led Agtech organisation, and True Digital Solutions have partnered to enable digital transformation in the agricultural ecosystem in Southeast Asia and strengthen farmers’ position as a backbone of the region’s economic development.

 

In tandem with the vision of True Digital Solutions, to build a unique ecosystem of digital solutions to offer a portfolio of innovative services to farmers, and enterprise markets, CropIn offers comprehensive solutions for the entire ecosystem aiming at the complete digitisation of farmers’ data to ensure transparency, financial self-sufficiency and manage cultivation efficiently. Through this partnership, True Digital Solutions aims to impact 9,880 acres (25,000 rai) and six million farmers in Thailand.

 

Speaking about the partnership, Jitesh Shah, CRO, CropIn, said, “We are delighted to partner with True Digital Solutions. Through CropIn’s solutions, we aim to support True Digital Solutions to bring inclusive innovation for sustainable growth to impact farmers in the Southeast Asia region. In the new world of digitisation, our constant aim has been to provide unique and technological solutions to the agriculture space. Through this partnership, the industry will open avenues for a sustainable ecosystem and the multi-solution offering.”

 

The initiative aims to empower farmers of the Southeast Asia region by digitising farm and farmer level data to offer intelligent insights on weather and PoP advisory, disease prediction and advisory, crop health, and yield estimation. True Digital Solutions aims to utilise remote sensing data for crop production forecasts by using prescriptive and in-season analysis. 

 

The partnership also streamlines the supply chain management to bring in traceability, ensure effective farmer monitoring and evaluation, and even buy back produce from the farmers. To enhance farmer experience, True Digital Solutions also aims to provide drones services to farmers and offers financial and irrigation services by using remote sensing.

 

True Digital Solutions aims to impact 9,880

Agro chems – Fertilizers, Agro chems – Pesticides

IIL plans to reach out to more than 25 lakh farmers pan India

Insecticides (India) Ltd (IIL) has deployed more than 600 crop advisors across India. In the FY 2021-22, the crop advisors will help more than 10 lakh farmers to understand every aspect related to crop protection ranging from seed treatment to pest, weed and disease management. The service to promote the judicious use of agrochemical products is available to the farmers and will reduce their input cost and increase output as well as protect soil health.

 

IIL has plans to reach out to more than 25 lakh farmers pan India. This year, the company aims to bring 10 lakh more farmers across India under its crop advisory coverage.

 

IIL has done this initiate as a part of their Mega Extension Activities Program (MEAP). Roping in crop advisors at a large scale also comes close on the heels of integrated pest management (IPM) research project, rolled out jointly in parts of Uttar Pradesh by IIL Foundation, the CSR wing of Insecticides (India) Limited (IIL), the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) before the pandemic. Participant farmers were trained on IPM and the right use of agrochemicals that reduced the number of sprays. The crop advisor also scouts the fields of the farmers to solve the issue that may arise during the growing season. 

 

Rajesh Aggarwal, MD, IIL says, “IIL’s mission is to help farmers to understand the judicious use of agrochemical and good farming practices to minimise the cost of inputs and maximise the outputs with good productivity that will help them to increase their farm income. We aim to bring in world-class technology and provide the agricultural sector with quality agrochemicals as well as guide and educate the farmers through our crop advisors.”

 

Sanjay Singh, GM – Market Development, IIL says, “With the pandemic forcing lockdowns, we formulated the idea of crop advisors to reach to farmers through physical and digital meetings, using tele calling and WhatsApp to prevent them from committing mistakes that can be detrimental to their and the crop’s health. Our crop advisors created awareness and guided farmers to generate better output with minimal waste. We are receiving an overwhelming response from the market as well.”

 

IIL plans to reach out to more

Supply Chain, Trade

Around 129.03 lakh farmers are likely to be benefitted from Kharif marketing season procurement

Paddy procurement has reached an all-time high level, surpassing the previous high of 773.45 LMT in KMS 2019-20. About 129.03 lakh farmers have already been benefitted from the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) procurement Operations with an MSP value of Rs 1,64,951.77 crore.

 

Paddy procurement in the ongoing season Kharif 2020-21 is continuing smoothly in the procuring states with the purchase of 873.68 LMTs of paddy (includes Kharif Crop 707.69 LMT and Rabi Crop 165.99 LMT) upto 23.08.2021 against last year corresponding purchase of 763.01 LMT. 

 

Marketing Season RMS 2021-22 has concluded in wheat procuring states and till now (upto18.08.2021) a quantity of 433.44 LMT of wheat has been procured (which is an all-time high, as it has exceeded the previous high 389.93 LMT of RMS 2020-21) against the last year corresponding purchase of 389.93 LMT.

 

About 49.20 Lakh farmers have already been benefitted from the ongoing RMS procurement operations with an MSP value of Rs. 85603.57 crore.

 

Further, based on the proposal from the states, approval was accorded for procurement of 109.58 LMT of pulse and oilseeds of KMS 2020-21 and Rabi Marketing Season 2021 and Summer season 2021 for the States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh under Price Support Scheme (PSS). 

 

The sanction for procurement of 1.74 LMT of copra (the perennial crop) for the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala was also given. For other States/UTs, approval will also be accorded on receipt of proposals for the procurement of pulses, oilseeds and copra under PSS so that procurement of FAQ grade of these crops can be made at notified MSP for the year 2020-21 directly from the registered farmers if the market rate goes below MSP during the notified harvesting period in the respective states/UTs by the central nodal agencies through state nominated procuring agencies.

 

Up to 23.08.2021, the government through its nodal agencies has procured 11,91,926.47 MT of moong, urad, tur, gram, masoor, groundnut pods, sunflower seed, mustard seed and soybean having an MSP value of Rs 6,686.59 Crores benefitting 6,96,803 farmers in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana, Odisha and Rajasthan under Kharif 2020-21 and Rabi 2021 and Summer 2021.

 

Similarly, 5089 MT of copra (the perennial crop) having an MSP value of Rs.52.40 crore has been procured benefitting 3961 farmers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu during the crops season 2020-21. For the season 2021-22, sanction for procurement of 51000 MT of copra from Tamil Nadu has been given, against which 8.30 MT having an MSP value of Rs. 0.09 crores have been procured benefitting 36 farmers in Tamil Nadu, up to 23.08.2021.

 

 

Around 129.03 lakh farmers are likely to

Agrotech, Finance, Supply Chain

The deal will help to build Suumaya Agro as a holistic agribusiness and drive the sector significantly

Suumaya Industries, an emerging diversified conglomerate group having recently ventured into agri-commodity business, has acquired 51 per cent stake in payAgri Innovations, a tech-driven agri and food business company for an undisclosed valuation.

The company through our wholly-owned subsidiary Suumaya Agro is acquiring payAgri, a fast-growing ‘Seed 2 fork’ start-up poised to become a global leader in agri and food business. This will enable Suumaya Agro to gain a strong foothold in the agri value chain business in India. Agri business is witnessing strong traction. We would be differentiating our approach in the entire Agri Value Chain and endeavour to be a dominant player in the segment.”

Ushik Gala, CMD, Suumaya Industries said, “Suumaya Industries has embarked onto an ambitious journey with Suumaya 2.0 Strategy. Diversifying into the agri business is a new pathway for the company which is unfolding new opportunities and markets for us. Agri business has been instrumental in the robust financial performance of the company. In line with this vision, the company is also exploring various inorganic opportunities to be recognised as a significant player driving the sector in unchartered frontiers.”

Gala added, “The capital infusion by Suumaya Industries will help drive the growth and expansion of payAgri as a farmer-centric value chain focussed hybrid bulk and retail supply chain, model. We are excited to partner with Rajkumar KVM and Rajeev Kaimal, both first-generation entrepreneurs, who have created a strong business through their market acumen and perseverance. There is a great synergy as it will give access to Suumaya in the Southern markets, entry into higher value agri commodities as well as a wider range of customers and a vast access to the farmer’s network which are the key strengths of payAgri.”
 
KVM Rajkumar, Co-Founder & MD (Bulk Value Chain Business), payAgri Innovations said, “We are building a unique and workable ‘seed to fork model’ with a focus on spices and grain value chains. We are excited to see the acceptance and appreciation from our B2B customers, especially Food Processing MSME customers for our quality and supply reliability. We plan to scale up our bulk value chain business by on-boarding 100+ MSME & Overseas buyers and increase our wallet share to min. 50 per cent of their procurement requirements in the coming 12 months.”
 
The investment will help in critical farm-gate and supply chain infrastructure, expand the FarmConnect Hubs within and outside India and also strengthen tech platforms.
 
Rajeev G Kaimal, Co-Founder & MD (Products & FinTech Business), payAgri Innovations said, “With this investment support from Suumaya, we aimed to take this model across geographies in the coming months and establish ourselves as a prominent player in the Agri Value Chain space providing unique tailor-made market and financial solutions to the various value chain players.”

The deal will help to build Suumaya

Acquaculture, AgroPolicy, Environment, Poultry

The decision will benefit farmers, poultry farmers and fishermen

The Government of India has relaxed the rules for the import of crushed and de-oiled GM soya cake (non-living organism only). The move is going to benefit the farmers, poultry farmers and fishermen in a big way.

 

Application of provision as in Condition 6(b) of General Notes Regarding Import Policy Schedule — I (Imports) of the ITC (HS) 2017 has now been relaxed to allow imports of 12 Lakh Metric tonne of crushed and de-oiled GM soya cake (only non-living organism) under ITC HS codes 23040020 and 23040030 from Nhava Sheva port and LCS Petrapole, till October 31, 2021, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

 

The said relaxation comes after clarification and prior permission from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. It states that since soya de-oiled and crushed (DOC) cake does not contain any living modified organism, this Ministry has no concerns and no objection to the import of soya cakes from an environmental angle.

 

Further, to ensure the import quantity of 12 lakh Metric tonne is not breached, strict monitoring will be carried out by CBIC through the customs authorities at respective ports. The decision will positively impact farmers, poultry farmers, and fishermen.

The decision will benefit farmers, poultry farmers

Agro chems – Fertilizers, AgroPolicy

Meets Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers, Mansukh L Mandaviya

The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan recently met the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers, Mansukh L Mandaviya in his office and discussed in detail the demand for urea and DAP in the state.

The Chief Minister informed that paddy plantation work is in progress in the state, for which the demand for DAP has increased in the state. Along with this, top dressing of urea is being done in maize and paddy, due to which the demand for urea has also increased. Chouhan further informed that against the demand of 12.13 lakh metric tonnes for allocation of urea by the Centre till now, only 8 lakh metric tonnes have been given by the Center to the state. Similarly, the allocation of DAP has been provided only 5 lakh MT against 8.05 lakh MT. Chouhan has requested that the remaining 4.13 lakh metric tonnes of urea and the remaining 3.05 lakh metric tonnes of DAP should be released by the Centre soon.

Apart from this, at the suggestion of the Union Minister, the Chief Minister talked about implementing the e-rupee voucher scheme issued by the Centre on the lines of a pilot project in Madhya Pradesh for fertilisers in one district. Apart from this, along with NPK and SSP fertilisers, he also talked about promoting nano urea in the agriculture sector. Along with this, the Chief Minister said that his ministers, MPs, MLAs, and progressive farmers would use it in their respective fields and would encourage the farmers to follow it.

Meets Union Minister for Health and Family

Sustainable Energy, Webinar

Discussions were held on rainwater harvesting and rejuvenation of bore wells

The ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil & Water Conservation, Research Centre, Ballari, Karnataka recently organised a webinar on ’Rainwater Harvesting and Rejuvenation of Bore Wells’.

In his inaugural address, Dr M Madhu, Director, ICAR-IISWC, Dehradun, Uttarakhand highlighted the need for rainwater harvesting and rejuvenation of bore wells in today’s context of the depleting natural resources.

Dr Rajendra Hegde, Head, ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Research Centre, Bengaluru and Dr SL Patil, Principal Scientist (Agronomy), ICAR-IIPR, RS, Dharwad, Karnataka were the Guests of Honor for the webinar.

Dr BS Naik, Head, ICAR-IISWC, Research Centre, Ballari, Karnataka gave the welcome address and briefed about the importance of the programme for mitigating the challenges like water scarcity in the Semi-Arid Region of Karnataka.

Dr Devaraj Reddy NJ, Founder, NGO – Geo Rain Water Board, Chitradurga, Karnataka deliberated on ’Rainwater Harvesting and Rejuvenation of Bore Wells,’ and accentuated on the role of the aquifer in the availability of groundwater, rejuvenation of dried bore wells, rainwater harvesting through rooftop terrace and farm pond, effectiveness of different recharge filter techniques, synthesis of farm pond and recharge filter in water availability and agricultural productivity, etc.

The webinar was organised as a part of the ’Bharat Ka Amrut Mahotsav’ to commemorate 75 Years of India’s Independence registered participation by 56 participants.

Discussions were held on rainwater harvesting and

Agro Universities, R&D, Seeds

The new variants will be cultivated in Punjab

The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has developed and recommended three new varieties of wheat and one variety each of berseem and oats for general cultivation in Punjab. These include PBW 803, PBW 824 and PBW 869 of wheat; BL 44 of berseem and OL 15 of oats. The varieties were approved during the meeting of the State Variety Approval Committee held under the chairmanship of Dr Sukhdev Singh Sidhu, Director of Agriculture, Punjab. According to Dr Navtej Singh Bains, Director of Research and Dr Jaskarn Singh Mahal, Director of Extension Education, PAU, the salient features of all the varieties were discussed in detail.

The variety PBW 803 has been recommended for cultivation in the South-Western region of Punjab (Bathinda, Faridkot, Fazilka, Ferozpur, Mansa and Sri Muktsar Sahib) under irrigated timely sown conditions. Its average plant height is 100 cm and matures in about 151 days. It is resistant to brown rust and moderately resistant to yellow rust. Its average yield is 22.7 quintals per acre. Being a medium duration variety, it exhibits better performance under the abiotic stress-prone South-Western region of Punjab.

The variety PBW 824 has been recommended for general cultivation in the Punjab state under irrigated timely sown conditions. Its average plant height is 104 cm and matures in about 156 days. It is resistant to brown rust and moderately resistant to yellow rust. Its average yield is 23.3 quintals per acre. It possesses a high hectoliter weight.

The variety PBW 869 has been recommended for sowing with Happy Seeder/Super Seeder in in-situ rice residue managed fields based on research and adaptive trials conducted by Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) and PAU. Its average plant height is 101 cm and matures in about 158 days. It is resistant to brown rust and moderately resistant to yellow rust. Its average yield is 23.2 quintals per acre. It possesses a high 1000-grain weight and longer coleoptile.

Berseem variety BL 44 is a quick-growing variety with more tillers. BL 44 out yielded the check variety BL 43 by 5.9 per cent for green fodder yield and also possess better nutritional characters.

Oats variety OL 15 is a single cut variety for irrigated areas of Punjab. Its plants are tall, having long and broad leaves with more leafiness and tillering ability. Its fodder quality is better than OL 12, Kent and at par with OL 13. On average, it yields about 309 quintals of green fodder per acre. Its seed yield is about 9.8 quintals per acre.

The new variants will be cultivated in

Seeds, Supply Chain, Warehousing

The fully operational site in Grundy County will provide Beck’s with soybean seed processing capabilities and additional warehousing

Beck’s has recently purchased the Bayer processing plant in Beaman, Iowa, for the use of soybean production and processing. The fully operational site in Grundy County will provide Beck’s with soybean seed processing capabilities and additional warehousing.

“At Beck’s, we base our growth and acquisition strategy and decisions with a focus on helping farmers succeed,” said Sonny Beck, CEO, Beck’s. “As we continue to expand into new states and grow our customer base, our family of employees and farmer-dealers remain dedicated to providing exceptional localised service. The new facility will allow Beck’s to maximise efficiency, stay ahead of demand, and deliver products faster.”

Ten of the former full-time Bayer employees have been hired on by Beck’s to continue operations at the Beaman facility, allowing a seamless transition this fall and winter to ensure soybean seed is ready for spring 2022 planting. The facility features approximately 30,000 square feet of warehousing and is configured with all the modern equipment necessary for Beck’s to process and treat one million units of soybeans per year. In addition to the new facility in Beaman, Beck’s has three other permanent locations in Iowa, including a processing and distribution facility in Mount Pleasant, a research facility in Marshalltown, and a distribution and Practical Farm Research (PFR) site in Colfax.

“Situated 15 minutes north of our Marshalltown, Iowa facility and approximately an hour northeast of our Colfax location, the addition of this new facility will take the pressure off of our distribution channels,” said Beck. “More importantly, it will help us ensure we are fulfilling our customer’s soybean needs quickly and efficiently. We’re excited to put down roots in Beaman and for the opportunity to provide our growing family of customers with more regionally selected, grown, and processed soybeans.”

The fully operational site in Grundy County

Agro Universities, Agrotech

Farmers were sentisised about the ill effects of crop residue burning and were advised to adopt crop residue management technologies

The Department of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), organised a travelling seminar on ’Crop Residue Management’ under the Project funded by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). A total of 30 farmers from different villages of Moga district visited research fields and attended presentations of scientists to get the latest information on crop residue management.

Addressing the participants, Dr Kuldeep Singh, Head, Department of Extension Education, sensitised the farmers about the ill effects of crop residue burning and advised them to adopt crop residue management technologies in their farms.

Dr RS Gill, Principal Rice Breeder, urged the farmers to adopt short-duration varieties of paddy for better paddy straw management in their fields.

Dr Dharminder Singh, Senior Extension Scientist, shared project activities and suggested the farmers purchase farm machinery in groups and use these on a cooperative basis.

Dr Arshdeep Singh, Scientist, Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, provided in-depth knowledge about crop residue management technologies like Happy Seeder, Super Seeder, PAU Super SMS system, Mulcher, Mould Board Plough, etc. He also gave information about the new machine Strip Seeder, also known as ‘Smart Seeder’ for efficient management of straw.

Dr Lakhwinder Kaur, Extension Scientist, called upon the participating farmers to become vivid readers of PAU farm literature. Farmers also visited Food Industry Business Incubation Centre at PAU.

Ramneet Singh, Extension Fellow, coordinated the field visit.

Farmers were sentisised about the ill effects

Agro chems – Pesticides, Agrotech

Dr Manjunath is a versatile agricultural entomologist with over five decades of research and executive experience in biological control, biopesticides

Dr TM Manjunath, often referred to as the ’Father of Commercial Biocontrol and IPM in India’ has joined the Advisory Committee of the World BioProtection Forum (WBF) to help drive the organisation’s activities and advance the bio protection sector globally.

Dr Manjunath is a versatile agricultural entomologist with over five decades of research and executive experience in biological control, biopesticides, pheromones, IPM, insect-resistant transgenic Bt-cotton and other related areas of plant protection. Starting his career in 1961, he initiated work in these areas at a time when these were barely explored, relentlessly worked to popularise them, and made several pioneering contributions. He is hailed as one of the pioneers of biological control of crops pests, ’The Father of Commercial Biocontrol and IPM in India,’ and a passionate promoter of environmentally-friendly IPM throughout his long career.

Dr Manjunath is enthusiastic about adding his expertise and experience to the WBF’s advisory panel. “Biological control is the mother of all crop protection,” he said. “The commercial production of bioprotectants should be treated as a passionate scientific adventure, as they provide the answer to plant protection without pollution, and give us the ability to revolutionise agriculture in the 21st century.”

Dr Minshad Ansari, Founder and Chairman of WBF, said, “We welcome Dr Manjunath to the Advisory Committee. He will bring a wealth of academic and commercial expertise to WBF which will benefit to its member globally.”

Dr Manjunath is a versatile agricultural entomologist

Agrotech, E-commerce

The platform is committed to help farmers grow better dates while enabling wholesale date buyers to grow their business

Agthia Group, a leading regional food and beverages company, has announced the launch of eZad, an innovative, convenient and efficient business to business eAuction platform, where buyers from across the globe can buy dates in bulk from sellers in the UAE.

eZad makes buying and selling of dates faster, more transparent and profitable for all stakeholders. The platform is committed to helping farmers grow better dates while enabling wholesale date buyers to grow their business.

In the first phase, eZad will source dates from farmers in the UAE and begin listing from the start of the harvest season in August. Subsequently, eZad’s scope will be gradually expanded to other countries.

Farmers will list their dates for auction in eZad through a trustworthy certification system that grades dates under reliable market standards, supported by a quality guarantee built on the extensive experience and reputation inherited from Al Foah.

The auction listing will be made available on eZad to buyers around the world for 48 hours. Buyers will be able to search and filter the listings based on preferences such as price, date type, quantity and quality.


Buyers can collect the dates purchased from one of eZad’s warehouses or select from any of the value-added services on offer, including storage, packaging, loading, fumigation, washing and delivering the dates to world-wide locations.

Alan Smith, CEO, Agthia Group said: “The eZad platform has been created to bring transparency, convenience and standardisation to the dates industry, through the technology and services we provide. Our goal is to link small and big farmers directly to bulk date buyers via a single, simple and innovative platform. By creating this direct link, previously hidden margins, as well as travel expenses, would be eliminated thereby offering a cost-effective solution to buyers.”

 eZad aims to become the leading sales channel for farmers and at the same time offer a completely hassle-free experience for buyers.
 

The platform is committed to help farmers