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Acquaculture, AgroPolicy

Dr Ayyappan is credited with bringing Indian fisheries to a level of excellence in basic science and fish commercialisation

Dr Subbanna Ayappan, Former Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR), has been conferred with the Padma Shri for his unparallel contribution towards aquaculture. Dr Ayyappan is credited with bringing Indian fisheries to a level of excellence in basic science and fish commercialisation, unmatched anywhere in the world.

Dr Ayyappan completed B.F.Sc. (1975) and M.F.Sc. (1977) and obtained Ph.D. degree from Bangalore University in 1988. His specific areas of research are Fisheries, Freshwater Aquaculture and Aquatic Microbiology. He joined the Agricultural Research Service of ICAR in 1978.

He served as the Deputy Director General (Fisheries), Director, Central Institute of Fisheries Education, (Deemed University) Mumbai,
Director, Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar and Scientist, Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, in the ICAR system and has made significant research contributions to the National Agricultural Research System. He is the Founder Chief Executive of the National Fisheries Development Board. Dr Ayyappan has over 200 publications in reputed journals/proceedings and books. He also has two patents and one design in his name.

Dr Ayyappan is credited with bringing Indian

Agro Universities, Interaction

The webinar series aims to broaden the scope of training, education, and connectivity within the hemp community.

The USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Cornell University have recently announced the launch of a webinar series on hemp research that aims to broaden the scope of training, education, and connectivity within the hemp community.

“ARS solves agricultural challenges that affect all Americans,” said Zachary Stansell, USDA-ARS geneticist and acting hemp curator. “Hemp is rapidly emerging as a critical multi-use and economically significant crop, so this hemp seminar series is designed to increase the diversity, equity, and inclusivity of ARS’ mission while providing hemp-specific education, training, and networking opportunities to historically undeserved communities.”

The research team believes that by broadening the scope of training, education, and connectivity within the developing hemp community, they can create a more welcoming and inclusive environment for new hemp and empower hemp research by bringing diverse voices into the larger conversation.

“Training and educating new scientists from many different backgrounds is critical in order to achieve the most cutting-edge solutions to an array of issues producers face — from climate change to economic viability,” said Cornell University Crop Specialist Daniela Vergara.

Starting January 26, the webinars will occur every other Wednesday from 2 pm – 3 pm EST and include an interactive Q&A session. 

The webinar series aims to broaden the

Agro Universities, Live Stock

Discussions were held on to enhance the reach of the knowledge products developed under the project

The ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad recently organised a virtual launch workshop for the multi-institutional, trans-disciplinary Project on “Developing and Pilot Testing Specialized Knowledge Products on Human Wildlife Conflict Mitigation for Agriculture and Veterinary Sector in India” implemented in technical collaboration with GIZ, German Agency for International Cooperation.

Dr Ch Srinivasa Rao, Director, ICAR-NAARM, Hyderabad underlined the functional networks of the academy with diverse stakeholders that enhance the reach of the knowledge products developed under the project.

Dr Neeraj Khera,‎ Team Leader, Human Wildlife Conflict Mitigation Project, GIZ-India outlined the progress made under the National Project and the specific outcomes expected from the ICAR-NAARM-GIZ Study Component.

Dr G Venkateshwarlu, Joint Director, ICAR-NAARM, Hyderabad stated that the Project will serve as a platform for demonstrating the spirit of collaboration among the diverse stakeholders.

Dr SB Barbuddhe, Director, ICAR-National Research Centre on Meat, Hyderabad highlighted the importance of One Health being undertaken under the project.

Discussions were held on to enhance the

Agrotech, People

Abdul Khader Nadakattin has developed a machine to slice tamarind

Abdul Khader Nadakattin, a serial grassroots innovator from Dharwad, Karnataka, is amongst the 107 Padma Shri awardees announced for the year 2022 in the others (Grassroots Innovation) category.

Nadakattin is a serial innovator and his prominent innovations include a device to separate tamarind seeds, a ploughing blade manufacturing machine, a seed cum fertiliser drill, a water-heating boiler, an automatic sugarcane sowing driller, and a wheel tiller. All his innovations demonstrate principles of sustainability, cost-effectiveness, eco-friendliness, and most importantly social acceptance. His in-depth knowledge of agro-climatic conditions and soil characteristics has made him an inspiration to other farmers in the country.

He developed agri-technologies and implements which addressed a variety of needs for the local people while maintaining relevance with modern agriculture.

Owing to his portfolio of innovations related to tamarind, people started calling him ‘hunase huccha,’ which means tamarind maniac. It started with his success in growing tamarind with scarce but alkaline water and further graduated with experiments like the technique for harvesting tamarind from the tree and also the highly accepted machine to separate tamarind seeds. This inspired him to develop a machine for slicing tamarind. In furtherance of success with tamarind, he came up with innovations to address agriculture operations like deep ploughing, sowing of seeds, and also fuel-efficient water heating boiler.

Abdul Khader Nadakattin has developed a machine

AgroPolicy

The objective of the zaid conference is to review and assess the crop performance during the preceding crop seasons

Addressing the National Conference on Agriculture for Summer Campaign 2021-22 through video-conferencing, Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Kumar Tomar said that summer crops not only provide extra income but also create employment opportunities in between Rabi and Kharif for the farmers thereby increasing crop intensity. The government has taken new initiatives through various programmes for the cultivation of summer crops such as pulses, coarse cereals, nutri-cereals, and oilseeds. Though more than half of the cultivated area in the summer season is under pulses, oilseeds and nutri-cereals, the farmers with irrigation sources are growing rice and vegetables during the summer season. He highlighted that area under cultivation of zaid crops including rice has increased progressively 2.7 times from 29.71 lakh hectares in 2017-18 to 80.46 lakh hectares in 2020-21. 

The objective of the zaid conference is to review and assess the crop performance during the preceding crop seasons and fix crop-wise targets for the summer season in consultation with state governments. The minister assured full support to ensure the supply of critical inputs and facilitate the adoption of innovative technologies to enhance the production and productivity of the crops. The priority of the government is to increase the production of oilseeds and pulses where large imports are required. 

The minister also asked states to plan for their fertilisers needs and provide estimates to the centre so that the fertiliser department can provide sufficient fertilisers timely. He also suggested that states should increase the use of NPK and liquid urea and reduce the dependence on DAP fertilisers. 

Regarding training to the farmers, the minister asked Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) and Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) to jointly conduct the essential training for the small and marginal farmers so that new technology and knowledge reach the grassroots level. 

Kailash Choudhary, MoS for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare told the states that special focus is now given to increasing production of oilseeds and pulses and making the country self-reliant.

Addressing the States Secretary, the Department of Fertilisers said that adequate and timely availability of fertilisers would be ensured. He also gave the estimated availability of fertilisers for Kharif 2022. 

A presentation by Joint Secretary (Crops and Oil Seeds) highlighted the rainfall situation, region-wise live storage of water in major reservoirs, season-wise estimated area coverage under different crops, trend and area coverage under Zaid/summer, Existing support programmes for summer crops and State wise area projected for coverage under Zaid/summer crops 2022. 

During the conference ‘Working manual on Indian Seed Certification’ was released. Presentations on PM KISAN e-KYC and presentation on Farmers’ database were also made during the conference for the benefit of the states. 

The objective of the zaid conference is

Animal Health

BASF’s animal nutrition business to serve the growing demand for enzymes and thus support customers’ growth plans

BASF has expanded the production capacity of its enzymes plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Through the expansion of the existing plant, BASF has significantly increased the annual number of feasible fermentation runs. The larger production capacity enables BASF to meet the growing global demand from customers for a reliable high-quality supply of the BASF feed enzymes Natuphos E (phytase), Natugrain TS (xylanase and glucanase) and the recently launched Natupulse TS (mannanase). The expanded enzyme plant has already started production and larger quantities of BASF feed enzymes are now available.

“With this capacity expansion, BASF addresses the needs of our customers through investments and product innovation,” says Michael De Marco, BASF Vice President Global Business Management Enzymes. “This underlines our commitment to meeting the increasing demand of our customers around the globe.”

Focusing on the development of the feed industry, Daniela Calleri, BASF Vice President, Business Management Animal Nutrition, comments: “The market asks for more enzymes. Demand is expected to continue to rise in the coming years. This is where BASF wants to expand its position as one of the leading manufacturers of feed enzymes.”

BASF’s animal nutrition business to serve the

R&D

As part of Bayer’s Open4Ag initiative, Bayer’s Grants4Ag awardees retain all intellectual property rights to their research

Bayer announced its 2022 cohort of Grants4Ag grant recipients who were chosen to receive awards ranging from 5,000 to 15,000 Euros to help them complete research on challenges facing agriculture. 21 proposals make up this year’s Grants4Ag awardees with research goals including reducing agriculture’s carbon footprint, understanding social factors that influence innovation adoption, and improving the drought tolerance of plants in the face of more frequent extreme weather events.

“Bayer is the leader in agriculture research and development, but it’s very clear that given the complexity of the challenges farmers face around the world, we can’t solve every problem on our own,” said Phil Taylor, Open Innovation Lead for Bayer’s Crop Science Division. “We were thrilled at the quality of this year’s submissions and we’re looking forward to working with each of the grant recipients.”

As part of Bayer’s Open4Ag initiative, Bayer’s Grants4Ag awardees retain all intellectual property rights to their research, and in addition to financial support, successful researchers will also be paired with one of Bayer’s own scientists to provide project guidance as their research progresses. Through this commitment to partnership, and with support from innovation partnering platform Halo, Bayer received more than 350 proposals from researchers around the world during a five-week submission window this past fall.

“Bayer’s Grants4Ag programme is an amazing opportunity for my research, and I was very pleased to have been chosen as a grant recipient,” says Amy Lemay of Brock University. “Grants4Ag offers not only financial support, but also provides access to leading scientists at Bayer and mentorship opportunities that will help me to understand challenges and tactics that can further develop my research.”

As part of Bayer’s Open4Ag initiative, Bayer’s

Inputs

AgBiome’s research is focused on developing biological pest control solutions for the following crops: maize, sorghum, banana and yam.

AgBiome, the leader in developing innovative products from the Earth’s microbial communities, announced the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has continued their granted support, funding phase 2 research aimed to develop novel, efficacious, safe and low cost of production microbial pesticides (fungal control and nematicide) for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan African countries. AgBiome’s research is focused on developing biological pest control solutions for the following crops: maize, sorghum, banana and yam.

The overarching goal of this project is to leverage AgBiome’s scientific expertise, infrastructure, and previous success developing biological fungicides to develop microbial solutions that will benefit small-holder farmers in African countries.

AgBiome has successfully achieved milestones in phase 1 of this project, including:

  • Successfully developing microbial screening assays against the target diseases
  • Identification of 100 microbial strains with confirmed activity against one or more of the target fungal diseases and 25 strains prioritised for further evaluation.
  • Identification of 20 nematicidal bacterial strains able to control the root knot nematodes (RKN) on-plant and three lead strains prioritized for further evaluation.

In phase 2 of this research, AgBiome will focus on the evaluation of the strains prioritised in the phase 1 of the project under appropriate field conditions and select microbes with the best efficacy.

“Upon completion of phase 2, AgBiome will provide production-ready lead and backup strains with proven efficacy to control a spectrum of fungal diseases and nematodes in the key sub-Saharan African crops,” said Dave Ingham, Pre-product Manager at AgBiome.

AgBiome's research is focused on developing biological

Finance

The company recorded consolidated revenue of Rs 901.4 crore for the period ended on December 31, 2021, a growth of 29 per cent over PY of Rs 697.3 crore.

Delhi-based agro-inputs major, Best Agrolife Limited has announced its financial results for Q3FY22 on January 25, 2022 in their Board of Directors meeting.

Commenting on the results, Managing Director of BAL, Vimal Alawadhi said, “The current quarter’s performance would be sustainable in quarter 4 too, as the production will soon commence in its newly set up state-of-the-art formulation unit Seedlings India Limited where BAL’s new proprietary formulation ‘RONFEN’ will also be produced. Above all, the strategic alliances with premier customers including leading MNC’s are also being formed under which new businesses will commence with newly launched high value speciality products.”
 
The company recorded consolidated revenue of Rs 901.4 crore for the period ended on December 31, 2021, a growth of 29 per cent over PY of Rs 697.3 crore. Profit before tax was at Rs 91.3 crore, with a growth of 466 per cent over PY of Rs 16.1 crore and the profit after tax was Rs 66.6 crore, registering a growth of 464 per cent over PY of Rs 11.8 crore. EBITDA was at Rs 103.7 crore (11.5 per cent) with a growth of 628 per cent over PY of Rs 14.2 crore (2 per cent).

Moving ahead with their expansion plan BAL has now acquired Agrico Chemicals through a cash deal of Rs 10.22 crore. Agrico Chemicals is situated at Phase-1, SIDCO Industry Complex, IGC Samba, Jammu & Kashmir.

This acquisition is crucial for BAL in many ways. Other than increasing the company’s revenue by Rs 150 crore approximately this unit will also add formulation capacity of 8000 KL/MT per annum. The plant at Agrico Chemicals will be specifically dedicated to proprietary formulations like WG, SC, and EC.

The company recorded consolidated revenue of Rs

Company News, People

Mike served as Executive Vice President and CEO, Nutrien Ag Solutions.

UPL, a leader in global food systems and sustainable agriculture technologies, has announced that it is appointing Mike Frank as President and Chief Operating Officer UPL Crop Protection. Mike brings deep industry knowledge and extraordinary ‘end-to-end’ expertise, gleaned from his years at Monsanto and most recently at Nutrien, where he served as Executive Vice President and CEO, Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Jai Shroff, Group CEO of UPL, said, “Agriculture is one of the only systems on the planet that has the ability to reshape and reverse the effects of climate change. Mike’s global perspective, entrepreneurial style and hands-on approach, coupled with a deep understanding of global food security challenges and driving passion for environmental and economic sustainability, makes him an excellent cultural fit to take UPL to the next level.”

Mike Frank said, “I’m very impressed with UPL’s leadership in sustainability and the OpenAg ‘Reimagining Sustainability’ platform, which takes a unique approach at bringing together the various stakeholders in the food and agriculture ecosystem, focusing on helping farmers, advancing new and more sustainable technologies and feeding a growing planet. It’s an honour to join this dynamic team.”

UPL Group is re-imagining sustainability across the breadth of its operations, powered by its OpenAg purpose to create sustainable growth for all.

Mike served as Executive Vice President and

Interaction, Webinar

The webinar will provide a comprehensive overview from the perspective of government, trade and policy

India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA), the nodal body for India’s pulses trade and industry will be hosting its first webinar of 2022 on Rabi Outlook and Kharif Production 2022 under the aegis of ‘THE IPGA KNOWLEDGE SERIES’ at 5 pm on January 28, 2022. The webinar will provide a comprehensive overview from the perspective of government, trade and policy. The speakers will cover a wide range of topics including carry-forward stocks, price forecasts, impact of weather and expected production etc.

The webinar will be addressed by a panel of stalwarts, eminent government officials and industry experts like Dr SK Malhotra – Agriculture Commissioner, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Dr Shiv Sewak, Principal Scientist and Director Incharge, Indian Institute of Pulses Research (IIPR), VN Saroja – Chief Strategy Advisor, Agriwatch and Nirav Desai – Partner, GGN Research who will provide invaluable insights on their respective subjects and sectors.

The webinar will provide a comprehensive overview

AgroPolicy, Bee keeping

More than 600 participants from various divisions participated in the conference

National Bee Board (NBB) recently organised a national conference on bee keeping sector in collaboration with the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) & National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). More than 600 participants from government as well as the private sector, State Agricultural Universities (SAUs)/ Central Agricultural Universities (CAUs), Beekeepers and other stakeholders involved in beekeeping occupation, etc. attended the conference.

During the conference, Dr Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India spoke on National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM), a central sector scheme launched by the Government of India for the overall promotion and development of scientific beekeeping in the country. The implementation of NBHM will be proven a huge step in achieving the ‘Sweet Revolution’ in the country.

Likhi expressed that NBHM will help in filling gaps in infrastructural facilities for honey and linking marginal beekeepers in an organised way for dealing with adulteration in honey. NBB has launched Madhukranti Portal for traceability of honey and& other beehive products viz.; bee pollen, bee wax, bee venom, propolis, etc. NBHM has the aim to create a network of honey testing labs covering all parts of the country and for this 100 FPOs of beekeepers will be proved as the centre.

Dr NK Patle, Additional Commissioner (Horti.) and Executive Director (NBB) emphasized on implementation of the NBHM scheme effectively all over the country and to provide factual benefits to beekeepers and other stakeholders associated with beekeeping occupation.

Dr Balraj Singh, Coordinator, AICRP on Honey Bee & Pollinator, ICAR, New Delhi, mentioned that currently there are 25 AICRP centres in the country, which are actively involved in research in beekeeping/ pollination. ICAR is on the way to creating Pollinator Gardens under AICRP centres across India. The first such type of Pollinator Garden has been established at Govind Bhallabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.

Dr Arjun Singh Saini, Director General (Horticulture) spoke on the status and strategy for implementation of the Madhukranti Portal in Haryana. He informed that about 816 beekeepers with 1,29,652 honeybee colonies are registered on Madhukranti Portal from Haryana State.

Pankaj Prasad, Additional Managing Director and Unnikrishnan, General Manager from NAFED informed that NAFED is creating 65 clusters/ Farmers Producers Organisations (FPOs) of beekeepers/ Honey Processors. These 65 FPOs will be part of the honey corridor linking northwest to north-eastern regions.

Abhijit Bhattacharya, NDDB stated that NDDB has an approach of creating Honey FPOs in the line of Dairy Cooperatives for getting the benefit of infrastructural facilities available with Dairy Cooperatives/ Milk Unions.
Seema Bhatnagar, General Manager, TRIFED informed that TRIFED is already involved in promoting beekeeping in tribal parts of the country and procuring wild honey and has also exported to various countries honey worth Rs 115 lakhs during 2020-21.

A brief process of registration on the Madhukranti Portal was also demonstrated to participants/ beekeepers of this conference by Jai Prakash, Senior Manager, Indian Bank. Registration with Madhukranti Portal will help the beekeepers during the migration of bee colonies and also get insurance.

More than 600 participants from various divisions

Agro chems – Pesticides

The WBF has mustered its industry network to lobby the UK’s HSE on regulatory reform for biopesticides, with the publication of an open letter in this month’s official journal of the Society of Chemical Industry

The World BioProtection Forum (WBF) has taken the sector initiative to garner support from 30 leaders representing both academia and the bioprotection industry, who have together co-signed an open letter to the UK’s Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

The WBF and its broad network of supporters across the world see a positive opportunity, now that the UK can formulate its own regulations post-Brexit. British regulators are well placed to help devise and implement positive, forward-looking reforms. There is huge opportunity to bring in changes that enable environmentally favourable bioprotection products to be brought to market more quickly – thereby ensuring business viability and enabling the benefits of this green industrial sector to be obtained. It is hoped that a better and more tailored system can combine the necessary rigours of regulatory testing with a more appropriate evaluation system that is better suited to biological products, rather than subjecting biologicals to an evaluation process designed for chemicals.

The spread of co-signatories includes representatives from commercial entities such as Bioline Agrosciences (UK), Bionema (UK), Bioworks (USA), BTU-Center (Ukraine), Chestnut Bio (USA), Croda Europe (UK), Ecolibrium Biologicals (New Zealand), Eden Research (UK), e-nema (Germany), Farma-Chem (Greece), FluxTech (Romania), Gowan Company (USA), Lisk & Jones (UK), International Pheromone Systems (UK), Marrone Bio Innovations (USA), Koppert Biological Systems (The Netherlands), Oro Agri (The Netherlands), Russell Bio Solutions (UK), Russell IPM (UK) and Valto (The Netherlands), as well as several reputated academic institutions and non-profit organisations. Together, these organisations offer a powerful representation of the world bioprotection industry, and they call on the UK Government to take advantage of a unique opportunity to meaningfully support AgriTech as an economically and environmentally valuable sector.

The WBF has mustered its industry network

Agro chems – Pesticides, Horticulture

The move will help to combat increasing resistance and a wide range of insects and pests across horticulture

Syngenta Crop Protection has acquired two next generation bioinsecticides, NemaTrident and UniSpore, to combat increasing resistance and a wide range of insects and pests across horticulture and ornamentals, turf amenity and forestry, giving customers even greater choice.

Syngenta Crop Protection is acquiring the patents and trademarks for both NemaTrident and UniSpore, and the UniSpore registration dossier, and will have full global development and commercialisation rights for the assets. This is an important step in building a world-leading biologicals portfolio in Syngenta Professional Solutions, and opens the opportunity for expansion in biocontrol solutions for crop protection.

UniSpore is an innovation based on a naturally occurring microorganism (insect pathogenic fungus). It offers an exciting solution for vine weevil control in ornamentals, where growers across Europe have limited insecticide options. It is currently in the early registration process.

NemaTrident, a patented, insect pathogenic nematode solution, is an important addition to Syngenta Professional Solutions’ Turf portfolio and is particularly effective against leather jackets and other pests. The tri-component solution incorporates Nemaspreader, a biocompatible surfactant, that delivers market-leading efficacy. Already available to customers, NemaTrident is also used in horticulture and forestry to control several damaging insects.

Syngenta and Bionema have regular communications regarding novel formulations and new technologies.

The move will help to combat increasing