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Agro Universities, People

The Fellowship will be bestowed on Dr Singh at the Awards Ceremony of the Plenary Session of 119th Annual Conference of ASHS

Professor Zora Singh, an alumnus of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), has been elected as Fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) during the 59th Annual Class of Fellows. He was selected in recognition of his outstanding contributions to science, profession and industry of horticulture at state, national, and international levels. The Fellowship will be bestowed on Dr Singh at the Awards Ceremony of the Plenary Session of 119th Annual Conference of ASHS, slated to be held at Hyatt Regency O’Hare, Chicago on July 31, 2022.

Dr Singh who did his B.Sc. Agri. (Honours), M.Sc. and Ph.D. from PAU started his career as an Assistant Professor at PAU in 1988. A Foundation Professor of Horticultural Science at the School of Science, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Dr Singh has earned global recognition for expertise in production technology and post-harvest physiology of fresh horticultural produce, undergraduate teaching, and research training to domestic and global students. He has been instrumental in developing innovative production and post-harvest technologies; minimising losses during production and supply chain; ensuring improved productivity, delivery of high-quality horticultural produce to consumers and profitability to Australian horticulture growers.

Dr Singh has served as Foundation Professor Post-harvest Horticulture (2009–2018), Foundation Associate Professor (2001–2008) and Inaugural Curtin Research Fellow (1997–2001) at Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia. Besides, he has been a Visiting Professor (1995–1996), University of Bologna, Italy; a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (1992–1995), Murdoch University, Western Australia; and a Commonwealth Postdoctoral Fellow (1986–1987), Institute of Horticultural Research, East Malling, UK.

In addition, Dr Singh has guided more than five dozen Ph.D., M.Sc., M.Phil. and Honours students and international scientists. He has authored/co-authored more than 300 research publications, and served on the Editorial Boards of 13 International Research Journals, and Editorial Committees of more than 15 International Conferences.

A recipient of several awards and honours, Dr Singh has been decorated with Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation, Mitsubishi Corporation Western Australian Innovator of the Year Award, Curtin Commercial Innovation Climate‐Kic Prize, Outstanding Researcher in Post-harvest Horticulture Award by International Society for Horticultural Science, UP Hedrick Award by American Pomological Society, Pran Vohra Award of Indian Science Congress Association, UNESCO/ROSTSCA Young Scientist Award, Indian National Science Academy Young Scientist and Professor LSS Kumar Memorial Awards, Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s Jawaharlal Nehru Award for Outstanding Ph.D. research, and International Society for Horticultural Science Medal.

Dr Shammi Kapoor, Registrar; Dr AS Dhatt, Director of Research; Dr Ashok Kumar, Director of Extension Education; Dr Sandeep Bains, Dean, Postgraduate Studies; Dr MIS Gill, Dean, College of Horticulture and Forestry; and Dr TS Riar, Additional Director Communication, congratulated Dr Zora Singh for this prestigious accomplishment.

The Fellowship will be bestowed on Dr

Agro Universities, Environment, Live Stock

Releases two products – Transcare-Sheep and Transcare-Goat

The ICAR-National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Bengaluru, Karnataka organised the three-day International Australia-India Council Workshop on “Climate Change and Livestock Production: Current Scenario and Way Forward.” 

The Chief Guest, Dr Bhupendra Nath Tripathi, Deputy Director General (Animal Science), ICAR highlighted the effects of climate change on the livestock production and the emergence of new diseases in the livestock. Dr Tripathi also released the Springer Book on Climate Change and Livestock Production: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives during the occasion.

Releasing the two products – Transcare-Sheep and Transcare-Goat, the supplements to ameliorate the transport stress in small ruminants, the Guest of Honor, Prof Frank Dunshea, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Australia underlined the Indo-Australian Collaboration.

The Guest of Honor, Dr Surinder Singh Chauhan, Senior Lecturer, School of Agriculture and Food, The University of Melbourne, Australia briefed about the Australia-India Council Projects.

The Chief Guest of the valedictory ceremony, Prof S Abdul Rahman, Former Dean Veterinary College, Hebbal and Executive Director & Former President, Commonwealth Veterinary Association felicitated the participants with the Certificates.

Gopi Shankar, Director (Trade), State Government of Victoria, Australia based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India marked the presence as the Guest of Honor during the valedictory ceremony.

Earlier, Dr Raghavendra Bhatta, Director, ICAR-NIANP, Bengaluru delivered the welcome address. A total of 50 participants from the various States of the country participated in the workshop.

Releases two products - Transcare-Sheep and Transcare-GoatThe

Agro Universities, Seeds, Start ups

The last date for the receipt of the application is May 31, 2022

The Punjab Agri Business Incubator (PABI), Directorate of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), has invited applications for Cohort IV of Uddam (pre-seed) and Udaan (seed) from the agripreneurs/agristartups of Punjab and its neighbouring states (Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, and Jammu and Kashmir).

Giving details, Dr TS Riar, Principal Investigator, said that the last date for the receipt of the application is May 31, 2022. Applicants can apply online or offline. The application form and other related information can be downloaded from www.paupabiraftaar.co.in, he informed. Dr Riar said that PABI has produced several entrepreneurs (male and female), who are running their agri-businesses successfully in Punjab after acquiring training from PAU’s Skill Development Centre and availing facilities being offered under PABI. The training will help in becoming the youth financially independent, he added.

The last date for the receipt of

Agrotech, Environment

Solarig will help farmers to increase yield and crop quality

Agritech startup Brio Hydroponics has introduced India’s first three-layer, retractable, patented rain protection technology net house in collaboration with PIC-Plast, Israel, in an attempt to address the climatic challenge of the Indian farming sector.

Agritech major Brio Hydroponics aims to address the challenges of traditional farming. Its Patented Rain Protection Technology not only protects the farms from the rage of harsh weather but also helps in the conservation of water through rain harvesting systems while ensuring a consistent supply of water to the farms throughout the year.

As the exclusive partner of PIC-Plast in India, Brio Hydroponics will offer solutions that foster a nurturing environment for protected farming, built for climate resilience. The Solarig Net House Kit, patented technology of Pic-Plast, is best suited for net houses and hydroponic farms in the tropical climate typically experienced in India. Farmers will benefit from these retractable rain protection technology net houses as they are ideal for unpredictable climatic conditions; they protect farms from hail, sun, rain, and frost, support rainwater harvesting and enable the production of high-quality yields throughout the year.

Solarig will help farmers to increase yield and crop

AgroPolicy, Dairy

A potato processing plant was also inaugurated

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation a new dairy complex and potato processing plant at Diyodar, Banaskantha district, built at a cost of over Rs 600 crores. The new dairy complex is a greenfield project. It will enable the processing of about 30 lakh litres of milk, produce about 80 tonnes of butter, one lakh litres of ice cream, 20 tonnes of condensed milk (Khoya) and six tonne of chocolate daily. The potato processing plant will produce different types of processed potato products like french fries, potato chips, aloo tikki, patties etc, many of which will be exported to other countries. These plants will empower the local farmers and give a boost to the rural economy in the region.

The Prime Minister also dedicated the Banas Community Radio Station to the nation. This Community Radio Station has been established to provide farmers with key scientific information related to agriculture and animal husbandry. It is expected that the radio station will connect with over 5 lakh farmers of about 1700 villages. The Prime Minister dedicated to the nation the expanded facilities for the production of cheese products and whey powder at the Banas dairy plant in Palanpur. Also, the Prime Minister dedicated to the nation, organic manure and biogas plant established at Dama, Gujarat. The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of four gobar gas plants of 100 tonnes capacity to be established at Khimana, Ratanpura – Bhildi, Radhanpur and Thawar. Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendrabhai Patel was among those present on the occasion.

A potato processing plant was also inauguratedPrime

AgroPolicy, Horticulture, Oilseeds, Organic, Pulses, Trade

Narendra Singh Tomar stated that the centre and states would work together to ensure pesticide and seeds availability to reduce input costs for farmers

Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated National Conference on Agriculture for Kharif Campaign 2022-23 at NASC Complex, New Delhi. The minister expressed satisfaction that as per 2nd Advance Estimates (2021-22), total foodgrains production in the country is estimated at 3160 lakh tonnes which will be a record. The pulses and oilseeds production will be 269.5 and 371.5 lakh tonnes, respectively. As per third advanced estimates, horticulture production during 2020-21 is 3310.5 lakh tonnes which is the highest ever for Indian horticulture. 

The minister stated that the centre and states would work together to ensure pesticide and seeds availability to reduce input costs for farmers. He urged that there should be a strategy to replace urea with nano-urea. He declared that the government would continue to emphasise natural and organic farming. On exports, the minister said that while agriculture exports have increased, attention should be paid to quality products so that they can compete in international markets. Exporters and farmers both should benefit.

The objective of this conference was to review and assess the crop performance during the preceding crop seasons and fix crop-wise targets for the Kharif season in consultation with state governments, ensure the supply of critical inputs and facilitate the adoption of innovative technologies to enhance production and productivity of the crops. The priority of the government is agro-ecological based crop planning for diversion of land from excess commodities like rice and wheat to deficit commodities like oilseeds and pulses and high-value export earning crops. The government is giving high priority to crop diversification with a focus on self-sufficiency in oilseeds and pulses and the promotion of oil palm. Consultations with all the stakeholders like major states, researchers, industries and policy makers have been held to finalise a National Policy Frame Work for Crop Diversification Programme in the country. All states should work towards crop diversification for making agriculture sustainable, profitable and self-sufficient in deficit commodities. 

The conference set national targets for total food grain production set at 3280 lakh tonne for the year 2022-23 compared to expected production of 3160 lakh tonne during the current year. The target for production of pulses has been fixed at 295.5 and 413.4 lakh tonne in 2022-23. Nutri-cereals production has to be increased from 115.3 in 2021-22 to 205.0 lakh tonnes in 2022-23. The strategy would be to increase area through inter-cropping and crop diversification and productivity enhancement through the introduction of HYVs and the adoption of suitable agronomic practices in low yielding regions. 

Manoj Ahuja, Secretary (Agriculture and Farmers Welfare), said that the country is maintaining an increasing trend in food grain production from 2015-16. The total food grain production has increased by 25 per cent in the last six years from 251.54 to 316.01 million tonne. Oilseeds have followed the same trend and have shown a growth of 42 per cent from 25.25 million tonne in 2015-16 to 37.15 million tonne in 2021-22. India’s exports of agricultural products have grown by 19.92 per cent during 2021-22 to touch $50.21 billion ( Rs 376575 crore). The commodities like wheat, other cereals, rice (other than Basmati), soya meal, raw cotton, fresh vegetable, processed vegetables etc have registered the most positive growths. 

He said, “We have to accelerate the production and productivity of agriculture and horticulture sectors for ensuring food and nutritional security in the rural areas. The government has adopted several developmental programmes, schemes, reforms and policies that focus on higher incomes for the farmers. Action Plan for three years Seed Rolling Plan (2021-22 to 2023-24) for all oilseeds with allocation Rs 381.95 crore will produce a total of 14.7 lakh quintals of quality seed of new HYVs will be produced in next three years.” 

Making a detailed presentation on the strategies for crop management in Kharif season, Dr AK Singh, Agriculture Commissioner said that country has recorded all-time high food grains, oilseeds and horticultural production due to timely interventions of the government. Now, special focus is given to oilseeds, pulses and nutria-cereals. Post monsoon, rainfall has been more than normal and about 55.76 lakh hectares were under cultivation during summer. Following government policy, there has been a reduction in area under rice with a corresponding increase in pulses and oilseeds cultivation. The government has worked out the requirement of seed and fertilisers and will ensure their timely supply. 

Narendra Singh Tomar stated that the centre

AgroPolicy, Supply Chain, Trade

In the current sugar season 2021-22, cane price payment of more than ₹1,00,000 crores would be made by sugar mills to farmers

Sugar production in the current sugar season 2021-22 is expected to be 13 per cent higher than the previous sugar season. As per the revised estimates production of sugar in the current sugar season, 2021-22 is estimated to be about 350 Lakh Metric Tonne (LMT) (after discounting the diversion of 35 LMT of sugar to ethanol) against estimated domestic consumption of about 278 LMT. There was a carry overstock of about 85 LMT at the beginning of the sugar season 2021-22.

Even after likely export of about 95 LMT, the closing stock for the current sugar season at the end of September 2022 is likely to be more than 60 LMT. The availability of sugar in the country is sufficient to meet domestic requirements. As such, there will be smooth availability of sugar and the sugar prices in the domestic market are expected to remain stable at reasonable levels.

A virtual meeting in this regard was held under the chairmanship of Secretary (F&PD), Government of India with the State Principal Secretaries (Sugar) and Cane Commissioners/Directors (Sugar) of the State Governments to assess the area under cane cultivation, Sugarcane and Sugar Production for Sugar Season 2021-22 (October-September) as well as export of sugar and diversion of sugar for the production of ethanol.

The government is also encouraging sugar mills to divert excess sugarcane to ethanol which is blended with petrol, which not only serves as a green fuel but also saves foreign exchange on account of crude oil import. In the last three sugar season 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 about 3.37 LMT, 9.26 LMT and 22 LMT of sugar have been diverted to ethanol. In the current sugar season 2021-22, about 35 LMT of sugar is estimated to be diverted & by 2024-25 about 60 LMT of sugar is targeted to be diverted to ethanol, which would address the problem of excess sugarcane as well as delayed payment issue as farmers would get timely payment.

From Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2013-14 (Dec – Nov) to ESY 2020-21, about ₹53,000 crore revenue has been generated by sugar mills/distilleries from the sale of ethanol to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). In the current ESY 2021-22, more than Rs 18,000 crore revenue is expected to be generated by sugar mills from the sale of ethanol to OMCs.

In the previous sugar season 2020-21, out of cane dues payable of Rs 92,938 crores, about Rs 92,480 crores cane dues have been paid to farmers, as on 18.4.2022. Thus, 99.5 per cent of cane dues of the previous sugar season have been cleared. In the current sugar season 2021-22, out of total cane dues payable of Rs 91,468 crores, about Rs 74,149 crores have been paid to farmers as on 18.4.2022 which is more than 80 per cent. It is expected that in the current sugar season, cane price payment of more than Rs 1,00,000 crores would be made by sugar mills to farmers. An increase in export and diversion of sugarcane to ethanol has expedited cane price payments to farmers.

In the current sugar season 2021-22, cane

Agrotech, Finance

The fresh funds will be used to scale Eeki to hundreds of acres

Agri-tech start up Eeki Foods has raised Series A funding of $6.5 million led by General Catalyst (GC). Other key investors participating in this round include Avaana Capital; Better Capital; Irving Fain, CEO & Founder of Bowery Farming (a GC portfolio company with $2.3B in valuation); Subbu Palaniappan, Director & Head of Amazon Prime India; Srinivas Narayanan, former VP Engg at Facebook; Akhil Gupta, and Amit Kumar Agarwal, Co-founders of NoBroker.com.

“The fresh funds will be used to scale Eeki to hundreds of acres. This coming year, we will focus on building the team, technology and organisational scale to make this growth a reality. We are actively looking to establish partnerships with corporates, HNIs, and other retail farmers in Rajasthan, Delhi-NCR, and Maharashtra to build such farms across the country”, said Abhay Singh, CEO and Co-Founder, Eeki Foods and Amit Kumar, COO and Co-Founder of Eeki Foods.

The fresh funds will be used to

Agro chems – Pesticides, AgroPolicy, Agrotech

The two portals are Computerized Registration of pesticide (CROP) and the other for Plant Quarantine Management System (PQMS)

Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar launched two portals, one for the Computerized Registration of pesticide (CROP) and the other for Plant Quarantine Management System (PQMS). The new portals will benefit farmers, exporters as well as industrialists. 

Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DAFW), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, through the Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine & Storage (DPPQS), Faridabad has been catering to Indian exporters and importers of agriculture commodities and the Indian Pesticide Industry, through its two portals namely, CROP and Plant PQIS. Realising the need for quicker disposal of applications related to export/import of agricultural commodities and pesticides registration, a more coordinated integration with external systems and stakeholders, and to bring in greater transparency in the existing online system, DAFW today launched two redeveloped online portals. 

The PQMS portal will provide a transparent system with no physical touchpoints for the applicants and ensure convenience to the users, through the online system including e-payments and uploading of documents, online accreditation and renewal of treatment agencies/facilities and downloading of certificates. Similarly, the re-developed CROP portal will immensely help in ease of doing business and provide greater and timely Crop protection solutions to farmers of the country.

DAFW had engaged CGG, Hyderabad for design, development, technical support maintenance and hosting of seamlessly integrated e-Governance solution for Plant Quarantine Management System (PQMS) on new technology platform and also for hosting of e-Governance solutions of redeveloped Comprehensive Registration of Pesticides (CROP). 

The two portals are Computerized Registration of

Agro Universities, Poultry, Supply Chain

Discussions were held on the importance of the improved shelf-life, enhanced safety and regulatory compliance to meet the stakeholders’ requirements

The ICAR-National Research Centre on Meat, Hyderabad signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Jubilant Food Works, Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

Devendra Yadav, Vice-President & Head, Quality, Food Safety and Regulatory and Rakesh Kumar Gupta, DGM, Quality & Food Safety, Jubilant Food Works signed the MoU on the behalf of their respective organisations.

Dr SB Barbuddhe, Director, ICAR-NRC on Meat, Hyderabad underlined the importance of the improved shelf-life, enhanced safety and regulatory compliance to meet the stakeholders’ requirements.

The project is aimed to assess the existing Jubilant Chicken supply chain, developing packaging and processing interventions to increase the shelf-life of fresh and cooked chicken meat and benchmarking against regulatory standards.

The MoU is aimed at conducting the Contract Research “Studies on Extended Shelf Life of Chicken and Enhancing Post Cooking Quality and Safety”.

Discussions were held on the importance of

Agro Universities, AgroPolicy, Agrotech, R&D

Discussions were held on the implementation of the New Education Policy – 2022 in the agricultural education arena

“Our concerted efforts should be to make the self-dependent agricultural sector along with Aatma Nirbhar Bharat. This will help to strengthen the country’s economy,” said Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare. Tomar was addressing the inaugural session of the ‘Annual Conference of Vice-Chancellors of State Agricultural Universities & Directors of ICAR Institutes – 2022’ organised by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi at the National Agricultural Science Centre Complex, New Delhi.

He also underlined the implementation of the New Education Policy – 2022 in the agricultural education arena.

Tomar stressed providing the farmers with quality education to help them withstand the recent competitive world. The need for linking and attracting the youths to the agricultural sector was also emphasised in the Union Minister’s address. He asserted the Central Government’s aim and vision to reduce the farmers’ expenditure and provide them with prompt results. The Union Minister advised the council to have quality interactions with the retired/former staff members of the council that will benefit the young task force in their research. The importance of organic products in agricultural exports was underlined by him.

Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying emphasised attracting and linking the youths with the agricultural sector. The Union Minister applauded the ICAR’s pivotal role in enhancing the agricultural and allied sciences production of the country.

Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare stressed the need for promoting precision farming to a large extent. He urged the Council for enhancing the research in the arena of horticultural sciences. ‘Utilising the new Education Policy – 2020, the agricultural students can become a role model for the others,” said Choudhary. The minister accentuated providing vocational education to the farmers’ children on a priority basis.

Shobha Karandlaje, Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare also marked her presence as the Guest of Honor during the occasion.

Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR) asserted the Council’s commitment to providing quality agricultural and allied sciences services to the nation. The DG stated that the Council has enabled the unique management of Universities to decide the pathways for a brighter future. The effective implementation of the New Education Policy – 2020 by the ICAR was underlined by Dr Mohapatra. The need for developing such digital platforms that can enable the farmers to get in touch with the ICAR Institutes effectively was highlighted in the Director General’s address. 

Sanjay Garg, Additional Secretary (DARE) & Secretary (ICAR) delivered the welcome address.

Proposing the vote of thanks, Dr RC Agrawal, Deputy Director General (Agricultural Education), ICAR highlighted the various achievements made by the Agricultural Education Division of the Council. The dignitaries also released the various ICAR Publications and Products on the occasion.

The Vice-Chancellors of State Agricultural Universities; Deputy Directors General of ICAR; Senior Officials of ICAR and NAHEP along with the Heads of Krishi Vigyan Kendras and Agricultural Scientists participated in the conference.

Discussions were held on the implementation of

Agro Universities, Agrotech

The MoU is aimed at promoting Inter-Institutional Collaborative Research and academic engagements in the areas of common causes

The ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil & Water Conservation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.

The MoU is aimed at promoting Inter-Institutional Collaborative Research and academic engagements in the areas of common causes. Dr M Madhu, Director, ICAR-IISWC, Dehradun and Prof (Dr) Sangeeta Shukla, Vice-Chancellor, CCSU, Meerut signed the MoU on the behalf of their respective organisations.

Dr Madhu outlined the main objective of the MoU to stimulate and facilitate collaboration and promote the mutually interested common programmes that help advance the interests of scientific studies and societal development. He stressed that the national and international level collaborative programmes and engagements for enhanced outreach and awareness of technological outcomes and success stories would be aimed through the MoU.

Dr Sangeeta Shukla urged for active collaborations in the diverse fields of science and technologies, especially, between the Faculty of Science and Faculty of Agriculture of the CCSU, Meerut and ICAR-IISWC, Dehradun.

The MoU is aimed at promoting Inter-Institutional

Organic

The endeavour was to raise consciousness about the value of food grains, organic food

Pacific Mall DDN has organised a 7-day Organic Farmers Fest to celebrate the Baisakhi and the spring harvest season.

Many dignitaries like Akshay Konde, IPS, Superintendent of Police, Uttarakhand Police; Anil Kumar Sahni, General Manager, Uttarakhand Agricultural Produce Marketing Board; M S Yadav, Deputy Director, Uttarakhand Gramya Vikas Samiti (IFAD-REAP) were present at the event.

Through this fest, the endeavour was to raise consciousness about the value of food grains, organic food and why people should prioritise their health and adopt healthy food habits.

Abhishek Bansal, Executive Director, Pacific Group, said, “Watching people’s enthusiasm and excitement at the Organic Farmers Fest was an amazing feeling for all of us. The event saw a footfall of more than 1500 people. Everyone connected with the noble idea of the event, which was to celebrate the backbone of our country- farmers and collectively commemorate the Baisakhi festival.  I thank the organising team that had put a lot of hard work into organising the event and the people who attended, making the fest a spectacular success.”

The endeavour was to raise consciousness about

Nature, Sustainability

The agriculture carbon trading market in India is relatively at a nascent stage. With Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI)’s proposed collaborations with GrowIndigo India Ltd, to build a marketplace for trading in carbon credits for farmers, will give fillip to the carbon trading segment. Private players such as Agoro Carbon Alliance and nurture.farm have forayed into the carbon trading segment to enable Indian farmers to generate a sustainable income from carbon cropping and to create direct market linkages in India. Industry is hoping that with the government’s direct intervention in policy making for carbon trading and increasing awareness about the advantages of carbon farming farmers will pave a way for future growth of the carbon trading sector.

After the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) about disastrous consequences of environmental factors on Indian agriculture, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) will join hands with GrowIndigo India Ltd for the first time to build a marketplace for trading in carbon credits for farmers in the country. “GrowIndigo India Ltd”, which is a collaborative effort between leading agriculture firm Mahyco and Indigo Ag, is executing a project with the IARI and International Wheat and Maize Improvement Centre (CIMMYT). Both IARI and CIMMYT will provide research and science based support to this initiative.

Agri carbon trading market in India

The agriculture carbon trading market in India is relatively at nascent stage but it exhibits a fast pace of growth with forays of private players in the last two years. As per recent reports, India’s carbon trading market ranked as second-highest transacted volumes globally by generating 30 million carbon credits. India is the third-largest carbon emitter accounting for 2.46 billion metric tonnes. The agriculture sector contributes to 25 per cent of carbon emissions due to chemical fertiliser and pesticides, stubble burning, crop nitrogen and methane emission in livestock, etc. According to NITI Aayog India can benefit from carbon trading worth $50-60 billion by adopting sustainable farming and agro-ecological approaches. India has established the first exchange in Asia known as Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) to trade carbon credits. At present, companies that meet the UNFCCC norms will be entitled to sell carbon credits at this exchange platform.

Presently Grow Indigo (a subsidiary of Mahyco, India) and Indigo Ag are working in partnership with farmers of Punjab, Haryana, and Maharashtra to enable farmers earn carbon credits by assisting in sequestering carbon, covering nearly 1,000 acres. The farms are being geo-tagged and monitored using remote sensing throughout the crop cycle, and soil tests are being conducted at regular intervals to measure carbon credits. 

In India, with commercial operations across four continents, Agoro Carbon Alliance aims to decarbonise farming and restore carbon to the world’s soil by implementing technologically advanced carbon cropping practices. Agoro Carbon Alliance will enable Indian farmers to generate an additional, sustainable income from carbon cropping while maintaining or even increasing crop yields. Agoro Carbon puts Indian farmers at the centre of the solution by incentivising and enabling them to change practices and connecting them to the growing number of businesses that are looking to achieve their climate pledges. 

Agoro aims to foray into the next major planetary-scale agricultural revolution with farmers spearheading the approach locally. It will provide state-of-the-art digital connectivity to millions of Indian farmers, enabling hyperlocal and granular decision support mechanisms. The platform will further create direct market linkages and enable the discovery of the local grower globally.

While commenting on inputs required for the growth of the agriculture carbon trading sector in India, Prithviraj Sen Sharma, Managing Director, Agoro Carbon Alliance India, said, “Indian growers have great potential for carbon farming. In the current scenario, demonstration of carbon farming and regenerative farming practices has become a crucial area to work for the companies. To be able to convince and sensitise the small scale farmers about the advantages of carbon farming and its monetary benefits needs to be addressed. Sensitising the market about the importance of agriculture carbon credit trading is one of the steps required for the growth of the carbon trading sector. Industry needs more direct intervention from the Government in mobilising the change in the carbon trading sector.”

nurture.farm, a digital platform for sustainable agriculture, has become the first company to successfully generate and forward sell agricultural-related carbon credits in India. nurture.farm’s Alternate Wetting and Drying & Dry Seeded Rice (AWD-DSR) project covered 22,000 acres of rice paddy fields and involved over 2,500 smallholder farmers. 20,000 carbon credits were derived from this AWD-DSR project. Its benefits included 15 per cent to 30 per cent of water savings.

Another 120,000 credits are under process from the Crop Residue Management (CRM) Programme. The CRM Programme empowered over 25,000 farmers to prevent 420,000 acres of farmland being burnt, thereby preventing the generation of 2,135 tonnes of particulate matter, including PM 2.5 and PM 10 particulate matter.

nurture.farm’s AWD-DSR programme is now being submitted to a global validation agency, and in two quarters’ time to the Verified Carbon Standard (Verra) for final verification and credit generation. The CRM Programme will follow suit, with submission to the validation agency in the next quarter. nurture.farm has set a target to help Indian farmers generate one million carbon credits by 2023, thereby being the leading supplier of nature-based carbon credits in India.

Dhruv Sawhney, Business Head and COO of nurture.farm, said, “India is well-placed to pioneer agriculture-related carbon credit trading. As the first agriculture company to successfully generate and forward-sell carbon credits in India, we are unlocking new opportunities and outcomes for farming communities and setting the bar for our industry as a whole. Demand for credible carbon credits from the voluntary carbon markets can drive massive shifts to sustainable agricultural practices across India and the rest of the world. We look forward to working with more farming communities this year as we scale up our CRM and AWD-DSR programmes – making farmers more resilient by securing better yields, improved soil health, and enhanced livelihoods.”

nurture.farm is currently developing protocols for verifying traceable carbon credits through its online platform and will use block chain technology to trade credits on carbon markets. During the course of 2022, nurture.farm will also establish a common carbon credits registry and trading platform, which utilises a standardised methodology to simplify traceability and make verification easier.

During the last cropping season (Rabi), nurture.farm expanded the AWD-DSR programme across an additional 120,000 acres. The company plans to create more carbon credits by further extending its projects. In 2022, nurture.farm’s CRM Programme will cover at least one million acres, while it will scale up its AWD-DSR project to 180,000 acres.

Bayer has established a pilot project in 2021 across 10 states in India to help rice farmers adopt sustainable practices and get paid for the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions they avoided through carbon credits. Importantly, this initiative supports the expansion of regenerative agriculture, improves natural resource management and supports farmer productivity and livelihoods. The pilot has targeted around 3000 hectares across diverse states across the country. 

Bayer has started rewarding farmers in Brazil and the U.S. for generating carbon credits by adopting climate-smart practices – such as no-till farming and the use of cover crops – designed to help agriculture reduce its carbon footprint and GHG emissions. Bayer’s industry-leading carbon Initiative is the result of years of work validating a science-based approach and methodology to make this happen. It recognises the pivotal role growers and their land can play in helping to create lasting, positive environmental impacts. The initiative makes Bayer the first company to develop a transparent, science-based and collaborative approach to a carbon market in agriculture.

Long way to go 

The agriculture carbon trading market in India is relatively at a nascent stage. With IARI’s proposed collaborations with GrowIndigo India Ltd, to build a marketplace for trading in carbon credits for farmers will give fillip Carbon trading segment. Private players such as Agoro Carbon Alliance and nurture.farm have forayed into the Carbon trading segment to enable Indian farmers to generate a sustainable income from carbon cropping and to create direct market linkages in India. Industry is hoping that with the government’s direct intervention in policy making for carbon trading and increasing awareness about the advantages of carbon farming farmers will pave a way for future growth of the carbon trading sector.

Dipti Barve

dipti.barve@mmactiv.com

The agriculture carbon trading market in India