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Agrotech, China, Seeds

One herbicide resistant (Gt) variety has completed its final trial and is pending final approval

 Origin Agritech Ltd., an agriculture technology company, has recently announced progresses in official government trial of GMO corn hybrid varieties.

One herbicide resistant (Gt) variety has completed its final trial and is pending final approval.  Under the agricultural regulations in China, both the GMO traits and the hybrid corn varieties require government approval before the seed can be sold commercially. In general, the government hybrid variety trials take two years to completion.

In addition, five of Origin’s insect resistant and herbicide resistant (Bt/Gt) double stack GMO corn hybrid varieties have advanced to the second-year variety trials. Three more new elite Bt/Gt corn hybrids will join the first-year government variety trials next year. In total, 27 elite commercial hybrids have been converted to GMO corn hybrids in different stages of evaluation trials. Furthermore, thirteen GMO Phytase have completed the trials and are pending final approval.

Dr Gengchen Han, Origin’s Chairman, said, “We are very excited by the progresses we are making in the approval process of our hybrid corn varieties. This further shows the importance of our corn seed germplasms in bringing GMO corn to the commercial markets, which will give us production ready product lines once our GMO technology receives regulatory approval.”

 

One herbicide resistant (Gt) variety has completed

Agrotech, Finance, R&D

Mark Kahn, Managing Partner, Omnivore

Omnivore is an impact venture capital firm, based in India, which funds entrepreneurs building the future of agriculture and food systems. Omnivore pioneered agritech investing in India, backing over 30 startups since 2011, and currently manages Rs 9.35 billion (approximately $132 million) across two funds. Omnivore defines itself as a ‘financial first’ impact investor, seeking to deliver market-rate venture capital returns while impacting the lives of Indian smallholder farmers and rural communities. Every day, Omnivore portfolio companies drive agricultural prosperity and transform food systems across India, making farming more profitable, resilient, and sustainable. Recently Omnivore has invested in hyperspectral imaging startup Pixxel and has high hopes for its hyperspectral technology, which should have transformative use cases across the entire agri-value chain. Mark Kahn, Managing Partner, Omnivore shared his views with AgroSpectrum on the role of space tech startups in agriculture. Edited excerpts- 

What is the status of agritech in India? What more are we looking for in agritech by 2030?

In 2020, the pandemic forced Indian agriculture to go digital. This shift from informal and analogue systems to formal and digital ones will accelerate even further in 2021. However, with rising awareness of the risks created by climate change, we expect to see more climate-centric and sustainability-focused startups, including in the field of space tech.

Why do we need more space tech startups like Pixxel to solve issues in India’s agricultural scenario?

Technology-led interventions are necessary to enhance agricultural productivity and improve farmer incomes without further degrading the environment. Satellite imagery and remote sensing data are invaluable tools for forecasting agricultural output, regulating crop inputs, and even calculating how much carbon farmers are sequestering. Multispectral, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and hyperspectral satellites can create rich datasets, yielding deep insights to make farming more profitable, resilient, and sustainable. 

Will the use of space tech have far-reaching implications on crop yields, optimal use of scarce resources, financial inclusion, food security, and crisis management?

Insights created by space tech will help ensure that we improve the productivity and profitability of Indian agriculture. Likewise, space tech will play a critical role in timely prediction of natural calamities, droughts, and monitoring adverse environmental processes such as deforestation and desertification.  

What does the investment trajectory look like for space tech in India?

India ranks fifth on the global Climate Vulnerability Index. We are already dealing with the adverse effects of climate change in the form of rising temperatures, frequent extreme weather events, and fluctuating precipitation. Current farming practices in India are exacerbating the situation by consuming 85 per cent of our freshwater resources while accounting for 20 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions. To combat such challenges swiftly and efficiently, agritech interventions are crucial. Space tech startups like Pixxel can identify key interventions to transform Indian agriculture while also monitoring potential risks for farmers. The coming years will definitely see more investments in this versatile technology.  

With rapid advancement of this technology what could be the potential business models that will benefit Indian farmers, majority of whom are smallholders?

While most farmers, except the very largest, will not be direct users of the space tech services, nodal institutions such as FPO’s, cooperative societies, farmer platforms, agribusinesses, and government organizations will play an important role in information dissemination. They can purchase imagery and data, sharing the same with their farmer customers.  

                                                                                                               Dipti Barve

                                                                                                         dipti.barve@mmactiv.com

 

Mark Kahn, Managing Partner, OmnivoreOmnivore is

Agro chems – Chemicals, Agrotech

Mehta is designated as Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Company, for a further period of five years with effect from 9th May, 2021.

 

The Board of Directors of Deepak Nitrite Ltd at their meeting held on 5th May, 2021, subject to the approval of the members of the Company, have approved the re-appointment of Maulik D. Mehta as a whole Time Director, designated as Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Company, for a further period of five (5) years with effect from 9th May, 2021.

 Maulik D. Mehta is a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Liverpool, UK. He holds a Masters in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, USA. Further, he is part of Harvard Business School’s prestigious Owner & President Management Program. Shri Maulik Mehta has held important positions in the Company and has been on the Board as Whole-time Director of the Company since 9th May, 2016. He has around 13 years of experience in the areas of Business Development and has been responsible for the day-to-day business of all the verticals of the Company along with Group Strategy.

Mehta is designated as Executive Director &

Agrotech, E-commerce, Oilseeds

It aims to meet fast-growing demand from food, feed, industrial and biofuel customers, including producers of renewable diesel

ADM has recently announced its plan to build North Dakota’s first-ever dedicated soybean crushing plant and refinery to meet fast-growing demand from food, feed, industrial and biofuel customers, including producers of renewable diesel.

Based in Spiritwood, ND, the approximately $350 million crush and refining complex will feature state-of-the-art automation technology and have the capacity to process 150,000 bushels of soybeans per day. Strategically located in a major soybean-producing area, ADM’s global logistics network will enable the facility to access both domestic and global markets for soybean oil and meal. The facility is expected to be complete prior to the 2023 harvest.

“ADM’s commitment to preserving and protecting our planet’s resources stretches from the farm gate to the food on our tables and the renewable fuel we put in our vehicles,” said Greg Morris, president of ADM’s Ag Services & Oilseeds business. “This exciting new project allows us to partner with North Dakota farmers to further advance the role of agriculture in addressing climate change through the production of low carbon feedstocks for products such as renewable diesel.”

“This soybean processing plant is a gamechanger for North Dakota farmers, adding value and expanding the market for this important crop closer to home while also supporting the production of products such as renewable green diesel right here in North Dakota,” said North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.

ADM also plans to invest approximately $25 million to expand refining and storage capacity at its crush and refining facility in Quincy, Illinois. This project will fully align the location’s refining capabilities with its crush capacity and allow for greater flexibility in meeting the needs of ADM’s food, biofuel and industrial customers. The expanded capacity is expected to be online by Q1 2022.

 

 

It aims to meet fast-growing demand from

Agrotech, E-commerce, North America

BVT has grower commitments from all three major growing regions in the Pacific Northwest: Northern Washington, Eastern Washington, and North Western Oregon. 

 

 

Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. has announced that it has secured its first revenue commitments in the US Pacific Northwest from four blueberry growers in Oregon and Washington. BVT also has secured two R&D demonstration trials in the region.  

“This rapid market penetration continues the progress that BVT is seeing in 2021. This is our first year in the Pacific Northwest since the early work done last year was cut short because of escalating restrictions with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Ian Collinson, Sales Manager at Bee Vectoring Technologies. “These new commitments align with our 2021 commercialization objectives and demonstrate that our focus on sales and marketing is paying off. We have accelerated penetration in the US Southeast, Midwest and the Pacific Northwest berry markets with revenues secured. This is in addition to kick-starting California and New Jersey with initial trials. We anticipate this strong commercial momentum to continue to build in the US in coming seasons.”

The market opportunity for BVT in the Pacific Northwest is significant, with 25,000 acres of blueberries and caneberries in Oregon and Washington. There is high market demand for Pacific Northwest berries both domestically and overseas, with a large export market to Asia in fresh-packed and frozen berries.

The blueberry bloom period commenced in mid-April and these growers are already using BVT’s proprietary Vectorite with CR-7 (Clonostachys rosea CR-7) (CR-7) biological fungicide and natural precision agriculture system for commercially-managed honeybees on about 80 acres of their approximately 5,000 overall acres of blueberry acres under production. The growers have both conventional and organic acres utilizing the BVT system. Based on common practice and the actions of previous growers trialing the system, the Company expects these growers will add BVT on more acreage across their operations in the coming two to three seasons based on positive results.

BVT has grower commitments from all three major growing regions in the Pacific Northwest: Northern Washington, Eastern Washington, and North Western Oregon. “We are in the second pilot stage of BVT’s sales adoption cycle in the Pacific Northwest, and our second season in the region. Now that we have a foothold in the three major growing regions in the Pacific Northwest, we will leverage grower trial data and endorsements to expand our reach into each region annually”, said Ryan Dragoo, Pacific Northwest Territory Manager at Bee Vectoring Technologies.

 

BVT has grower commitments from all three

Agro chems – Pesticides, Agrotech, North America

AZterknot fungicide is the world’s first three-way fungicide combination that harnesses the benefits of biologicals 

 

 

AZterknotTM fungicide from Vive Crop Protection received approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently. AZterknot fungicide is the world’s first three-way fungicide combination that harnesses the benefits of biologicals, the performance of chemistry and the ease of Allosperse®. Allosperse is proprietary nano-polymer technology developed by Vive Crop Protection that allows previously incompatible products to be mixed and applied in one application, reducing fuel, time and water usage.

Registered in a broad range of crops for soil and foliar applications, AZterknot provides the plant health and disease control benefits of two market-leading active ingredients: Reynoutria extract and azoxystrobin, the disease-fighting active found in AZteroid® FC 3.3 from Vive Crop Protection. These two modes of action combine with Vive’s patented Allosperse technology to provide unparalleled handling ease and efficiency, systemic disease control and activation of the plant’s natural defense mechanisms.

Darren Anderson, CEO of Vive Crop Protection says, “Biologicals are a large and growing segment, because they add additional performance and environmental benefits. But until now, delivering them to the field has been a challenge. For the first time, we have used Vive’s patented Allosperse Delivery System to combine a biological and a chemical in the same jug. This provides growers the best of both worlds, allowing them to save valuable resources and money while increasing crop yields.”

Anderson continues, “AZterknot is the first step in mobilizing the power of both biological and chemical active ingredients, using our Allosperse technology. Vive is working on a pipeline of products to integrate a broad range of biological actives with Allosperse and other trusted chemistries to provide grower solutions that were not possible before.”

Dan Bihlmeyer, VP Sales and Marketing at Vive Crop Protection says, “AZterknot opens up a world of possibilities for growers looking for the plant health benefits of biologicals and the power of trusted chemistry in one easy product. They’ll find that AZterknot activates the plant’s natural defenses and inhibits pathogen growth while providing systemic control of yield-robbing diseases.”

The U.S. EPA approved AZterknot fungicide to address fungal diseases in important food, fiber and fuel crops. There is a growing demand, and an unmet need for a solution to address the annual US market of over 200 million acres of corn, rice, soybeans, peanuts, cotton, sugarbeets and potatoes.

AZterknot fungicide is the world’s first three-way

AgroPolicy, Agrotech, IT

The linkages with the industry will be synergised better to enable seamlessly procurement from production units and information gaps can be plugged through MIS module 

National Bamboo Mission has launched an MIS (Management Information Systems) based reporting platform for agarbatti stick production to collate the locations of stick making units, availability of raw material, functioning of the units, production capacity, marketing, etc. With the help of this module, the linkages with the industry will be synergised better to enable seamlessly procurement from production units and information gaps can be plugged. All NBM States are in the process of documenting all the units to assess better how further support can be given for ‘Vocal for Local’ and ‘Make for the World’ since Indian agarbatti are much sought after in global markets.

National Bamboo Mission (NBM), Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) schemes as well as States, together with industry partners have stepped up focused support to enable India to become Atma Nirbhar in the agarbatti sector, to bring back livelihoods for the local communities while at the same time modernising the sector too. The agarbatti sector traditionally provided large scale employment to the local workforce, which however dwindled due to various factors including the ingress of cheap imports of round sticks and raw batti. A comprehensive study was carried out by NBM in 2019 following which policy measures taken by the Government of moving raw batti imports from free to restricted category in Aug 2019 and increasing import duty on round stick uniformly to 25 per cent in June 2020 came as a boost to the domestic units.

The linkages with the industry will be

Agrotech, Trade

Benson Hill, to become publicly listed through a business combination with Star Peak Corp II.

Benson Hill, Inc., a food technology company unlocking the natural genetic diversity of plants, has announced that it will become publicly listed through a business combination with Star Peak Corp II. Upon closing of the transaction, the combined company will be named Benson Hill, Inc. and is expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol “BHIL”. Matt Crisp, Chief Executive Officer of Benson Hill, will lead the combined company.

Transaction will provide up to $625 million in gross proceeds, comprised of Star Peak’s $403 million of cash in trust, assuming no redemptions, and an oversubscribed and upsized $225 million common stock PIPE at $10.00 per share, including investments from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Van Eck Associates Corporation, Hedosophia, Lazard Asset Management, Post Holdings, existing Benson Hill investors and affiliates of Star Peak Corp II.

Transaction supports Benson Hill’s continued rapid growth in the forecasted $140 billion plant-based meat segment and broader $5 trillion agri-food industry, offering a pure-play ESG investment opportunity tied to improving human health and driving decarbonization.

Innovative plant-to-plate business model 

Benson Hill’s proprietary CropOS technology platform uses predictive analytics to simulate tens of millions of genetic outcomes for plants, referencing an ever-expanding and unmatched data library. Benson Hill’s approach is tailored to meet consumer demand and link the interests of both growers and consumers, which has been a historical divide in the food system.

With CropOS, Benson Hill is working to:

  • Leverage the vast natural genetic diversity within plants to simultaneously optimize for quality traits such as nutrition and flavor profiles, as well as yield;
  • Improve sustainability through plant breeding innovations that can use fewer resources, including displacing the need for certain expensive water- and energy-intensive ingredient processing steps typically required to produce protein-rich ingredients used in plant-based meat alternatives; and
  • Increase access to healthier foods capable of delivering more nutrients that consumers are demanding while offering cleaner labels for food companies and retailers.

Benson Hill deploys an innovative go-to-market approach that significantly reduces technological and product risk.

Benson Hill, to become publicly listed through

Agro chems – Pesticides, Agrotech, E-commerce, Finance

For the full year ended March 31, 2020, company reported consolidated total income of Rs.6, 876.2 crore which reflects year-on-year growth of 15.7%.

 

Godrej Agrovet Limited has reported its financial performance for the fourth quarter and full year ended March 31, 2020 .For the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2020, company reported consolidated total income of Rs.1,508.9 crore which reflects year-on-year growth of 7.5 per cent. Profit before tax (excluding non-recurring and exceptional items) was Rs.17.9 crore compared to Rs.53.8 crore reported during the same period in the previous year

For the full year ended March 31, 2020, company reported consolidated total income of Rs.6, 876.2 crore which reflects year-on-year growth of 15.7 per cent. Profit before tax (excluding non-recurring and exceptional items) was Rs 280.5 crore, compared to Rs.361.4 crore reported during the same period in the previous year.

 (1) For the fourth quarter and full year ended March 2020 total income excludes Rs.134.7crore, EBITDA and PBT excludes Rs.78.1crore and PAT excludes Rs.61.7crore of non-recurring income pertaining to sale of real estate project

 (2) Consolidated results of the fourth quarter and full year ended March 2020 include financials of Godrej Tyson Foods Limited and Godrej Maximilk Private Limited which became subsidiaries on 27th March 2019. Consequently, the consolidated results for current quarter and full year are not comparable with the corresponding previous periods.

Total income, EBITDA and PBT for full year FY19 excludes Rs.29.9 crore and PAT excludes Rs.23.0 crore of non-recurring income pertaining to profit earned on sale of land (net of expenses). (2) Total income, EBITDA and PBT for 4QFY19 and full year FY19 also excludes Rs.2.3 crore and PAT excludes Rs.1.5 crore of non-recurring loss incurred on sale of land in CDPL; (3) Financials exclude exceptional items.

Commenting on the performance of the 4QFY20 and FY20, B. S. Yadav, Managing Director, Godrej Agrovet Limited, said, “Godrej Agrovet Limited’s reported consolidated total income of Rs.6876 crore for the financial year 2019-20 registered year-on-year growth of 15.7 per cent. Consolidated profit before tax (excluding non-recurring and exceptional items) was Rs.281 crore compared to Rs.361 crore reported in previous year”.

Our performance had started showing good recovery in the beginning of the fourth quarter, especially in the businesses which were impacted in the first nine months of the year. This was because output prices were improving and input prices started trending downward. However, in beginning of February 2020, false rumour of coronavirus infection through poultry and its products significantly impacted volume, prices and thereby the profitability in our two businesses – animal feed and Godrej Tyson. Further, outbreak of COVID-19 in mid-March 2020 in India affected sales in other segments also. This adversely impacted the performance of the fourth quarter. However, on the positive side, performance in Astec, oil palm plantation and aqua feed was strong which supported the quarterly performance. For the full year, while animal feed and Astec posted strong growth compared to previous year, food businesses and oil palm plantation were impacted by low output prices and high costs. Performance of the crop protection in the standalone business was also modest during the year.

 

 

 

For the full year ended March 31,

Agro chems – Chemicals, Japan

UPL will obtain exclusive rights to develop and commercialise formulations of Flupyrimin for foliar applications in rice in Southeast Asia

UPL Ltd., a global provider of sustainable agriculture solutions, has recently announced that its subsidiary has entered into a license agreement with a Japanese company, Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd. for exclusive access to Flupyrimin for rice in Southeast Asia.

Under the license agreement, UPL will obtain exclusive rights to develop, register and commercialise formulations of Flupyrimin for foliar applications in rice in Southeast Asia, expanding the ongoing collaboration between the two companies with this compound.

In addition to this latest arrangement, in 2018 UPL’s subsidiary and Meiji entered into an exclusive licensing agreement for UPL to commercialize formulations of Flupyrimin for applications in rice in India. Furthermore, in 2020, the two companies signed a long-term global commercial exclusive agreement, excluding Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and non-exclusive in China, to use Flupyrimin in seed treatment and in-furrow applications.

Flupyrimin, discovered by Meiji, is a patented active ingredient and the only AI in the new mode of action subgroup, Pyridylidenes, defined by IRAC in 2021. It is a novel insecticide with unique biological properties that, among other benefits, is effective against major rice pests, such as brown plant hopper and rice stem borer, including those populations resistant to existing insecticides.

Together, both companies will continue their contributions to the development of differentiated solutions based on Flupyrimin to address farmer pain points and improve their livelihoods.

 

UPL will obtain exclusive rights to develop

Agro Universities, Agrotech, Seeds

Transferring the DSR technology to farmers on a wider scale will help save water and labour costs.

The Department of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), recently organised a webinar on “Direct Seeded Rice” under the guidance of Dr Jaskarn Singh Mahal, Director Extension, PAU, and Dr Kuldip Singh, Head, Department of Extension Education.

While sharing the importance of Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), Dr Kuldeep Singh reiterated the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon’s message for transferring the DSR technology to farmers on a wider scale to help save water and labour cost.

Dr MS Bhullar, Head, Department of Agronomy addressed the queries of participants and explained the details of sowing time, seed rate, soil condition, irrigation, and weed control in direct-seeded rice.

Dr Manpreet Singh from the Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, while sharing personal experiences, demonstrated the working of machines and the method to convert domestically available machines into DSR machines. Both the experts showed video clips and live to work of DSR technology.

Transferring the DSR technology to farmers on

Agrotech

The next edition of Asia Fruit Logistica returns to Hong Kong’s Asia World-Expo on 7-9 September 2022.

 

Because of the  severe limitation of international business travel during the global coronavirus pandemic, Asia Fruit Logistica is shelving plans for 28-30 September 2021 when more than 800 exhibitors and 12,000 visitors from 70 countries all over the world were hoping to meet in Hong Kong.

“It’s simply impossible to promise a large-scale international trade show in such circumstances,” says Karel Heijs, managing director of Global Produce Events GmbH (GPE), organiser of Asia Fruit Logistica. “We’re not in the game of promising our exhibitors and visitors something that no one can deliver this year. We all know that things are unlikely to be back to normal before September, and its better we say that loud and clear and that we say it right now.”

 Asia Fruit Logistica is Asia’s premier exhibition for the international fresh fruit and vegetable business. It has taken place every September in Hong Kong for more than ten years. Over the last decade, the leading event has attracted many thousands of exhibitors and visitors from all over the world for a week of business meetings and discussions in Hong Kong. 

Asiafruit Congress goes online

“Asia Fruit Logistica is also about the exchange of business ideas and insights on the fresh fruit and vegetable market in Asia,” says Heijs. “So we’re very pleased that Asiafruit Congress is taking place online this September 2021. It offers all the great content you get at Asia Fruit Logistica. And it gives all our visitors and exhibitors a chance easily to connect and network on a great new platform.” 

Countdown to 2022

GPE also plans to host a networking event on the ground in Hong Kong this September. It is to celebrate Asia Fruit Logistica and to start the countdown for its return in September 2022. “The moment will come when everyone in the global fresh fruit and vegetable business will meet again at Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong. We look forward to welcoming all industry delegates to Asia’s premier fresh produce trade show,” says Heijs. 

The next edition of Asia Fruit Logistica returns to Hong Kong’s AsiaWorld-Expo on 7-9 September 2022, and Asiafruit Congress takes place on 6 September 2022.

The next edition of Asia Fruit Logistica

Middle East countries, R&D, Seeds

It will accelerate the breeding and commercialization of high resistance non-GMO tomato varieties. 

Israel based company TomaTech, Ltd., has announced a major advancement in the fight against the Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV), which has caused significant economic damage estimated as much as billions of USD in the last few years globally. Lead by Assaf Eybishitz PhD, the company furthered the fight against this pandemic of the tomato world by filing for a provisional patent for identifying the DNA markers correlated to its resistant traits which will accelerate the breeding and commercialization of high resistance non-GMO tomato varieties.

“Following years of intensive R&D efforts, TomatTech has succeeded in identifying DNA markers that elicit resistance to ToBRFV,” says Ofer Ben Zvi, CEO of TomaTech. “This discovery will allow us to rapidly develop a complete portfolio of resistant tomato varieties for global introduction and will benefit the growers and the entire value chain, providing a consistent supply chain while lowering production costs.”

ToBRFV virus

The ToBRFV virus has been inflicting havoc on in-door tomato plantations globally since 2014, affecting a broad spectrum of tomatoes, from sweet cherry lines to full-sized beefsteak tomatoes. Outbreaks have overwhelmed greenhouses across the North America, Europe, and the Middle East and is spreading to other regions.

The appearance of ToBRFV on commercial tomato cultivations presented a substantial threat to tomato growers and to the entire value chain around the world, causing severe damage to commercial varieties. It already has led to colossal losses in yields, ranging from 30% in losses to devastating entire crops.

Due to the virus’ ability to rapidly spread via mechanic transmission, especially under intense production practices, hygiene protocols have been imposed that require farmers to wear full protective gear and fully isolate virus-infected greenhouses.

Development of a portfolio of resistant varieties requires exceptional phenotyping and genotyping capabilities. TomaTech targeted virus resistance as one of its top R&D goals and has been working intensively since 2017 to develop new sources of resistance and the new cultivars.

“The ability to find strong resistance as well as identify DNA markers, protecting our IP through submission of provisional patent application, demonstrates TomaTech’s capabilities to position itself at the front line in the research and breeding of the tomatoes varieties for the global market,” explains Favi Vidavski, PhD, president and head of R&D of TomaTech. 

Identifying DNA markers

“We developed an advanced highly efficient screening system based on controlled inoculation and molecular technology where we continually tested tens of thousands of tomato plants under the most severe conditions,” explains Vidavski. “We reached a breakthrough a year ago with the discovery of specific DNA markers that proved instrumental in helping us isolate, identify and introduce ToBRFV-resistant genes, which we bred into our principal commercial tomato varieties.

TomaTech have already introduced intermediate resistance (IR) capabilities across its entire breeding program while concurrently broadening efforts to attain the next stage of high resistance (HR), projected to be completed in the near future. 

TomaTech’s innovation can be applied to a comprehensive range of tomato varieties across all segments and can be adapted to both heated and non-heated greenhouses. TomaTech will continue to invest efforts and agronomical inputs to bring real solutions to growers.

It will accelerate the breeding and commercialization

Acts & Schemes – Centre, Schemes - Govt

Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture’ (MIDH) covering fruits, vegetables, root and tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic plants, coconut, cashew and cocoa.  

Keeping in view the huge potential and role of the horticulture sector in increasing farmer’s income, the Government of India has allocated Rs. 2250 Crore for development of horticulture sector during 2021-22.

To further promote and for holistic growth of the horticulture sector in the country, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has provided an enhanced allocation of Rs. 2250 Crore for the year 2021-22 for ‘Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture’ (MIDH), a centrally sponsored scheme. The Ministry is implementing MIDH with effect from 2014-15, for realizing the potential of the horticulture sector covering fruits, vegetables, root and tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic plants, coconut, cashew and cocoa. The allocation is significantly higher than the previous year allocation. This allocation has been communicated to the States/UTs for preparing Annual Action Plans.

Government intervention in the horticulture sector has led to the situation wherein horticulture production has surpassed the agriculture production in the country. During the year 2019-20, the country recorded its highest ever horticulture production of 320.77 million tonnes from an area of 25.66 million hectares. As per the 1st Advance Estimates for 2020-21 the total horticulture production in the country is 326.58 lakh MT from an area of 27.17 lakh ha.

MIDH has played a significant role in increasing the area under horticulture crops. Area and production during the years 2014 – 15 to 2019 – 20 has increased by 9% and 14% respectively. Moreover, the mission has boosted best practices to be followed in farms which have significantly improved the quality of produce and productivity of farmland. The initiative of MIDH has not only resulted in India’s self-sufficiency in the horticulture sector but also contributed towards achieving sustainable development goals of zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, no poverty, gender equality etc.

However, the sector is still facing a lot of challenges in terms of high post-harvest loss and gaps in post-harvest management and supply chain infrastructure. There is tremendous scope for enhancing the productivity of Indian horticulture which is imperative to cater to the country’s estimated demand of 650 Million MT of fruits and vegetables by the year 2050.  Some of the new initiatives like focus on planting material production, cluster development programme, credit push through Agri Infra Fund, formation and promotion of FPOs are the right steps in this direction.

Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture’ (MIDH)