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Jon Parr, President, Global Crop Protection, to retire in September 2022 after 35 years of service

Syngenta Group has announced succession plans for its leadership team. Jeff Rowe, currently President, Global Seeds, will take over the leadership of Syngenta Crop Protection, effective July 1, 2022. His former role will be assumed by Justin Wolfe, currently Regional Director North America Seeds.

Jon Parr, President, Global Crop Protection, will retire on September 30, after a 35-year tenure at the company, including the last seven years as head of the global crop protection business.

“During Jon’s tenure, Syngenta Crop Protection has grown back into the global market leader and has become a leader in biologicals and innovation,” said Syngenta Group CEO Erik Fyrwald.

Jeff Rowe was instrumental for the successful turnaround of the Seeds business, with outstanding growth and return to profitability. Most recently, he has spearheaded Syngenta Group’s efforts into regenerative agriculture and soil health.

Justin Wolfe’s leadership and focus on strong commercial execution were key to significant business growth and market share gains in North America.

With increasing ambitions for Syngenta Group’s Vegetable Seeds and Flowers business, Matthew Johnston will continue in his current global role as Head of Vegetable Seeds and Flowers.

Under Jon Parr’s leadership in the past seven years, the Syngenta Crop Protection business grew 50 percent.

Jon Parr, President, Global Crop Protection, to

Agro chems – Chemicals, Organic

ICL has signed a long-term agreement with IPL to supply Polysulphate through 2026, with a renewal option

ICL, a leading global specialty minerals company, recently announced that it has signed a long-term agreement with India Potash Limited (IPL) to supply Polysulphate through 2026, with a renewal option. The five-year term is for an aggregate amount of 1 million metric tons, with quantities increasing for each year of the agreement. Each shipment will be a minimum of 25,000 tons and equally distributed across the calendar year, with prices and payment terms to be fixed between IPL and ICL from time to time.

The availability of Polysulphate is expected to help boost the Government of India’s organic agriculture program. Polysulphate is available in its natural state and is mined, crushed, screened and bagged, with no additional chemical separation or other industrial processes – unlike blended or compound fertilisers – and has the lowest carbon footprint available globally. Polysulphate is a cost-effective answer to crop nutrition, as it contains four key plant nutrients: sulfur, potassium, magnesium and calcium, which are steadily available to plants along the crop cycle.

ICL has signed a long-term agreement with

Horticulture, R&D

It aims at providing a larger market for domestic Wine producers in Maharashtra.

The ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu has licensed and transferred the Banana Wine and Vinegar Making Technology to the Surachita Agro Producer Company Ltd., Solapur, Maharashtra.

In her address, Dr. S. Uma, Director, ICAR-NRC for Banana, Tiruchirapalli emphasized that converting the ripe Bananas into alcoholic beverage will not only help to reduce the fruit wastage in the supply chain; but, also enable the doubling of farmers’ income by tertiary processing, create jobs and enhance investment opportunities.  Ratnadeep Mohan More, Chief Executive Officer, Surachita Agro Producer Company Ltd., Solapur accentuated that the technology from the ICAR-NRC of Banana will be used to produce Banana Wine and Vinegar that will provide the consumers with the options to choose only Grape Wine or Apple Cider Vinegar for consumption. He stressed that the over-matured Bananas at the field and produce rejected during the export finds a new way for further utilization.

Dr. P. Suresh Kumar, Principal Scientist, ICAR-NRC for Banana, Tiruchirapalli & Inventor of the Technology briefed that in a recent move that is aimed at providing a larger market for domestic Wine producers, the State Governments like Kerala and Maharashtra are revising their state Policies to utilize the native grown crops. The Banana is a good choice for Wine production because of its high concentration of polyphenols and antioxidants with high sugar content, Banana wine does not require additional sugar.

Dr. K.N. Shiva, Principal Scientist, ICAR-NRC for Banana & Co-inventor of the Technology underlined that the Banana Wine can be produced by the fermentation without addition of alcohol or synthetic flavors. Similarly, in place of synthetic Vinegar, Banana Fruit based Vinegar has good market potential.

It aims at providing a larger market

Agro chems – Chemicals, Company News, India, Sugar industry

This is part of the shift in the company’s business model to sustainable agriculture

Agrochemical major, UPL signed an MoU with Shreenath Mhaskoba Sugar Mill in Pune for a sustainable sugarcane production programme and reach 4,000 farmers in 70 villages. Globally, biosolutions is Rs 4,000 crore business and in India, this is Rs 400 crore business. This is part of the shift in the company’s business model to sustainable agriculture. The company has plans to launch 30 new products in the next 24 months.

As part of these initiatives, UPL announced the commercial launch of their patented Zeba Technology for sugarcane farmers. According to Shroff the Zeba Technology would lead to a 20 per cent savings in water and reduce the use of fertilisers which would reduce the overall costs for the farmer and improve their production and income. The sugarcane crop requires the major consumption of resources like water, inputs, electricity, labor, and fuel. Despite high consumption, the return on investment to each stakeholder is low with a poor yield.

The company had been working on several pilots with farmers and they had seen savings of 600 crore litre of water and 500 MT urea of fertilisers while increasing yield by 15 per cent over 10,000 acres of land through optimum utilisation of natural resources and use of the Zeba Technolgy.

Company has mentioned that it is in process of talking to five to six sugar mills and hoped to add them to the programme in the next 30 days. The target was to scale up and reach a million acres in two to three year.

This is part of the shift in

Agrotech, Packaging & Labelling, R&D

 These films are much thinner as compared to the other protein or plastic films are better alternative to isolated protein films

 A research group from the physical sciences division of Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), Guwahati, have developed ultra-thin heteroprotein films with excellent thermal, mechanical and pH stability which can pave the way for expanding applications of thin films in biomedical and food packaging industries. These films are much thinner as compared to the other protein or plastic films. They are soft and thin and have the advantage of being more flexible than the other films.

In the recent past, several modifications of these protein films with the help of suitable heteroprotein complexes were reported by different research groups. These complexes were usually developed from bulk solutions.

A research group from the physical sciences division of Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), Guwahati, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology, has successfully developed ultrathin monolayer protein films consisting of two globular proteins: bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme (Lys). They used the technique called using Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique which gives the films thickness in the order of nanometer. His research work is led by Dr. Sarathi Kundu, Associate Professor, along with Raktim J. Sarmah, SRF, a Ph.D. student developed a monolayer heteroprotein film – the first one using this technique. They explored the different structures and morphologies of this complex films at variable pH conditions to explore its stability and related properties.

Films of such protein complex of BSA and Lys can be useful for fabricating highly stable biodegradable thin films of different protein complexes for expanding its applications in the area of thin-film technology. Diverse physicochemical methods such as parameter alteration or incorporation of different fatty acids or polyol moieties (glycerol, starch, gelatin, etc.) into this protein complex can make the film free standing for diverse applications. This research work was recently published in the esteemed journal of Food Hydrocolloids under the reputed Elsevier publishers.

 These films are much thinner as compared

Cold Storage, Finance, Start ups

The new funding will be used for expanding our product range, manufacturing capacity and boosting exports.

Climate-smart deeptech startup Ecozen announced that it has raised Rs 54 crore of additional funding as the first tranche of a planned Rs 200 crore Series C round. The new funding round was led by Dare Ventures, the venture capital arm of Coromandel International, with participation from existing investors Caspian and Hivos-Triodos Fonds (managed by Triodos Investment Management) through equity. Northern Arc, UC Inclusive Credit, Maanaveeya, and Samunnati also participated with debt funding. Early investors in Ecozen include IFA and Omnivore.

Ecozen develops climate-smart deeptech solutions and core technology stacks to deliver a sustainable future, including motor controls, IoT, and energy storage. Applying these technology stacks to the agricultural sector, Ecozen has revolutionized cold chains (Ecofrost) and the irrigation industry (Ecotron), substantially improving the income of 100,000+ farmers and enabling the generation of over 1Bn units of clean energy(kWh).

Ecozen sees a significant opportunity in applying its technology stacks and introducing climate-smart solutions for sectors beyond agriculture, notably electric vehicles. The company expects the market size for its innovative technology stacks in India will grow to USD 25 billion by 2025. In the coming years, Ecozen will launch multiple products which build on its deeptech expertise in thermal energy storage, motor controls, IoT, and analytics.

Commenting on this latest fundraise, Devendra Gupta, CEO and Co-Founder of Ecozen, said, “We are thrilled to partner with Dare Ventures and other new and existing investors, as we accelerate our growth and bring climate-smart deeptech solutions to new sectors of the economy. The new funding will be used for expanding our product range, manufacturing capacity and boosting exports. Expanding beyond India and beyond agriculture will enable us to expand our market potential multifold and grow exponentially while ensuring sustainability.”

Commenting on their investment, Sameer Goel, Director, Dare Ventures Ltd. and Managing Director, Coromandel International Limited, said, “We are focused on businesses with positive and long term on the ground impact and Ecozen through its innovative deep tech products is well aligned with our vision. With a keen focus on sustainability, we believe their core technology stack will significantly impact sectors beyond agriculture as well.”

The new funding will be used for

Agrotech, Nature, Start ups

The THRIVE Global Impact Challenge seeks innovative start-ups advancing a net-zero future for agriculture.

On the hunt for the most innovative, global companies creating the biggest impact in driving toward a net-zero future for agriculture, SVG Ventures|THRIVE – and partner ICL Planet Start-up Hub – have launched the Global Impact Challenge.

The urgency of the climate crisis is more apparent than ever, and disruptive innovation is key to creating a more sustainable, prosperous, inclusive, healthy and equitable future.  The world is already feeling the effects of climate change on a global scale and combating this crisis requires urgent and immediate attention.  It is, by far, the defining issue for current times.  THRIVE is passionate about playing a significant role in spurring the collective change needed to tackle this crisis, which led to the creation of the Global Impact Challenge.

The THRIVE Global Impact Challenge is a global search for the most innovative startups who are advancing a net-zero future for agriculture. The Challenge will focus on three core themes, each central to supporting the transition to net-zero.

The Challenge themes, which align with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, are focused on the following areas:

Soil health and biodiversity

Increasing food security

Reducing and offsetting GHG emissions

The launch event was hosted in Tel Aviv, Israel in partnership with ICL Planet Startup Hub, THRIVE’s headline partner for the Challenge.  Additional premium partners for the challenge include Bayer, BASF, Driscoll’s, Kubota and Valmont.

“Climate action is a task for all of us and disruptive innovation is key to accelerating global efforts towards a net-zero future for agriculture,” says John Hartnett, Founder and CEO of SVG Ventures|THRIVE. “We believe entrepreneurs hold the key to a sustainable future.”

“At ICL Planet, we are committed to creating responsible solutions for humanity’s sustainability challenges in the global food and agriculture markets,” notes Hadar Sutovsky, ICL, VP External Innovation and GM of ICL Planet. “By partnering on this challenge, we can create sustainable solutions and a secure future for communities around the world.” Applications are now open and will be accepted through September 15, 2022. Six companies will be selected to attend the THRIVE | Forbes Global Sustainability Summit in November of 2022 and to pitch their solution for the opportunity to secure a spot in THRIVE’s award winning Global Accelerator Program.

The THRIVE Global Impact Challenge seeks innovative

Company News, Finance, Start ups

 WRMS will use the fresh capital to develop and implement the yield guarantee solution to improve the resilience of 100,000 smallholder farmers in India against climate risks.

 InsuResilience Solutions Fund (ISF), managed by the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management (FS), and financed by KfW Development Bank, signed a grant agreement with Weather Risk Management Services (WRMS), an agriculture risk management company, and INGEN Technologies, a data provider of weather stations, to co-fund the project development and implementation of the yield guarantee solution. The project aims to improve the resilience of 100,000 smallholder farmers in India against climate risks and incentivize smart agricultural risk management practices, as well as to scale up the yield guarantee solution for crops such as cotton, chili, paddy, wheat and potato.

Weather Risk Management Services (WRMS) offers SecuFarm – the world’s first smart and sustainable farming solution for smallholders to provide them with farm level yield guarantee and an assured income. The solution guarantees farmers a benchmark yield provided they follow the Package of Practice (PoP) shared with them on the SecuFarm app. If the actual yield is still below the benchmark yield due to any extreme weather attack or crop disease, the farmer is compensated by WRMS, in proportion to the shortfall. This innovative concept allows incorporation of the necessary farm level risk reduction measures in the insurance product design offered by insurance companies and incentivizes smart and sustainable farming practices. This in turn allows to offer premium discount or a higher guaranteed yield to farmers who take the necessary farm level risk management measures. Fees for the yield guarantee are paid by the farmers (without subsidies). On this agreement, Anuj Kumbhat, Founder & CEO, WRMS said, “At WRMS, our aim is to build resilience of smallholder farmers by giving those equal opportunities to thrive. With this new association with InsuResilience Solutions Fund, we are now ready to further ramp up our SecuFarm services to the next level and support the smallholders to our maximum extent. With support of ISF, our focus will be on reaching out to over 100,000 smallholder farmers and building digital SecuFarms to create a larger economic, social and environmental impact”.

 WRMS will use the fresh capital to

Interaction, Opinions

Amidst the unfortunate and humbling realities of the Russia- Ukraine war, Indian farmers find new markets and better prices for their produce. India’s support to various countries for averting a food crisis during this time will play a critical role in establishing a solid foundation for long-term trade relations.

By January 2022, the world economy was looking forward to scripting a stronger recovery. However, the Russia-Ukraine war escalated global uncertainties to a whole new level. In the integrated, globalised economy, the warring nations have severely hurt many countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia with no geopolitical interest in the conflict. Many of these nations are
developing, with strong import dependencies on Ukraine and Russia. Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of some of the key food products to the world. Ukraine accounts for 40 per cent of global seed oil exports (especially sunflower oil), fuelling high inflation in cooking oil in India and around the world. Ukraine also contributes 13 per cent of corn exports, and additionally, Russia exports 14 per cent of fertilisers. But nations are getting impacted the most due to a shortage of wheat exports, a staple and essential food grain around the world. Both countries collectively share over a quarter of total wheat exports globally. Some economies import 75 per cent of their wheat consumption from these two countries. This is creating a significant problem, especially for resource deficient nations.

The Global Response to the Wheat Crisis

Ukraine and Russia cumulatively were expected to export 14 million tonnes of wheat from March to June, which has completely halted. As a result, the world is looking toward India to support the affected nations by exporting as much wheat. India stands eighth amongst the top 10 exporters of wheat. Barring Ukraine and Russia, it is preceded by the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Argentina. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), wheat inventories in Canada and the USA are affected by reduced harvest in FY2022. While Australia has already exhausted its maximum shipment capacity, Argentina largely focuses on inflation challenges at home. Another major factor is that wheat is a winter crop in many countries, unlike India, where it is a summer crop.

At the forefront of addressing the Global Food Crisis

Amidst the unfortunate and humbling realities of the Russia -Ukraine war, India finds herself in an important position staring at some potential opportunities. This time it is to address an evolving humanitarian and food crisis, especially concerning the shortage of wheat. Although India holds a lower spot in the wheat export rankings, we are at the forefront of addressing the International Food Crisis. Despite some unique challenges at home, the Indian government again heeds its guiding spirit, “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” or “The World Is One Family”. India has repeatedly echoed and promoted this cultural ethos by exhibiting its magnanimous support to countries worldwide in the hour of need and as a principal and leading virtue in addressing and resolving the international crisis. Apart from the global scenario, several domestic factors are helping India export wheat to other countries. First, the strong and visionary statesmanship at the Centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi allows India to take necessary measures to maximise the opportunity. With an annual production of over 107 million tonnes, India happens to be the world’s second-largest wheat producer. Although 80 per cent of the wheat produced is consumed domestically, we have consistently recorded bumper crops. Hence, the government is storing wheat under a mammoth public stockholding programme for its food security purposes, which also feeds into various food programmes.


Benefits from Wheat Exports
India’s prudent and visionary move to capitalise upon the opportunity has several benefits for the country and, most importantly, our farmers. The following are some of the key benefits for India in investing its resources to mitigate the wheat crisis.

Farmers – the biggest beneficiaries

The price of wheat is rising globally due to International shortages, and it is the farmers who will benefit
the most. For the first time, Indian farmers are getting access to international markets. They will be selling wheat to trading companies and private players well above the minimum support price.
The opportunity positions them well for a bumper earning for their produce which they duly deserve.

Digitalised trade

Due to technological advancements and global uncertainties, international trade depends upon the digital medium to conduct trade. Consequently, Indian players and farmers are receiving requests digitally. Moreover, it brings greater transparency to the system, with stakeholders knowing what they will get. It also creates avenues to strengthen the entire value chain, from cultivation to purchase to
exports, by adopting resilient food systems.

International learnings

As various markets open for India, all the players in the value chain are up for tremendous learning. The quality, grade, and type of food crop accepted in various countries; their trading regulations,
policies, and trends; unique challenges and demands; and so on. As India envisions boosting its exports incrementally, the experience of selling to newer markets will prove invaluable in designing future export strategies.

Export Strategy at Play
Having taken a micro-level account of the country’s wheat reserves, the Central Government has reassured the people and stakeholders of having healthy volumes, even after exporting wheat. The rumours hinting toward shortages within the country have been dismissed unanimously by all key government bodies and agencies. As of April 1, India sits on 18.99 million tonnes of wheat reserves in government godowns, which is more than 2.5 times of minimum operational-cum-strategic reserve requirements. The Centre holds enough grain reserves to be distributed through the Public

Distribution System (PDS) and other food programmes
India has already exported a record 1.4 million tonne of wheat in April. The Government is further keen on taking all necessary steps to make the most of the opportunity. Major wheat importers like Egypt have already agreed to import from India. Additionally, the government is sending trade delegations to over nine big wheat importing countries as it endeavours to meet its grain export targets for the fiscal year. The Centre is also making substantial efforts to educate the wheat farming community across Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The focus is to ensure that high- grade, export quality wheat is shipped to other nations to make a strong statement about Indian wheat in the global market. Equally important has been the role of the private sector players like Agribazaar, which is the first amongst private companies to finalize an export deal facilitated electronically. As per the agreement, the electronic mandi will be exporting 50,000 metric tonnes of
wheat worth Rs 125 crore to Turkey. Last but not least, this opportunity of shipping wheat to other countries is not merely a trade opportunity. The impact of the Ukraine and Russia wars will be long- term. India’s support to various countries for averting a food crisis during this time will play a critical role in establishing a solid foundation for long-term trade relations. The opportunity will help us capitalise on newer markets and boost our exports and strengthen India’s leadership position in the world.

Amidst the unfortunate and humbling realities of

Interaction, Opinions, Sustainability

Indian agriculture needs to adapt innovations to become sustainable and profitable for farmers. There are multiple challenges facing Indian agriculture including climate change, water stress, and deterioration of soil health, price volatility and farmer’s lack of motivation to continue farming. Climate risks are more pronounced in the form of high temperatures, flash floods, delayed / erratic monsoon, shifting cropping patterns, depletion of water table, nutrient deficiency in the soil adversely impacting productivity and farm incomes.

There are estimated to be about 150 million farmers in India with the majority of them (more than 85 per cent) owning less than two hectares of farmland. A farmer with average land holding of about one hectare earns gross income of about Rs 120,000 to meet his personal, family and occupational needs. Farmers are often left with little surplus for productive investment in new age solutions.
As demonstrated by about 1300 plus agritech startups, innovations can go a long way in improving farm economics with improved yield, reduced cost of inputs and empowering farmers to de-risk against commodity price fluctuations, monsoon failures, yield loss etc. The growing breed of agri-entrepreneurs is working towards improving farmer access to markets, quality inputs, institutional credit, and insurance to derisk farming.

Indian startups are building models to derisk farming through following six interventions:

Demand driven and tech enabled aggregation and distribution of farm produce from point of collection to consumption (examples:Bigbasket, Innoterra, WayCool, Suri Agrofresh, Agrowave, Hesa, DeHaat, SuperZop, Agribolo, SMP Agro, Licious, Captain Fresh, Numer8, AquaConnect, Mango Dairies, Oxecart, Greenikk, Krishi Sahyog, Agrigator). Majority of models are B2B targeted at
institutional buyers, modern trade, Horeca, though direct to consumer models (D2C) are also picking up especially during pandemic.

Building near-farm storage, warehouse and processing units to reduce food loss with access to post-harvest finance and market linkage through digital and physical modes (examples: Our Food, S4S Technologies, Agri Bazaar, Arya.ag, Origo, Ergos, Promethean, Inficold, Whrrl). Micro-warehousing and farm level processing is likely to gain momentum with increasing demand for value added foods.

Optimise the use of agricultural inputs and enable delivery to farmers based on farm and crop diagnostics (examples: Agrostar, BigHaat, Behtar Zindagi, Unnati, Gramophone, Freshokartz, Plantix, Hesa, EF Polymer, Bharat Rohan). The last mile delivery and need for multiple compliances to store and sell agri inputs are some of the bottlenecks to scale.

Reduce labour cost and dependence through mechanisation through the pay-per-use model and innovative mechanical tools (examples: Sickle innovations, Distinct Horizon, Kamal Kisan,
Mera Tractor, Cellestial Tractors, Tractor Junction, Khetibadi, Flybird, Toolsvilla). There is a huge opportunity in building smart affordable multipurpose mechanical tools at one end and on the other end to build high end robotics and computer vision models to bring efficiency in doing multiple farm operations.

Farmer advisory and data driven crop monitoring / precision farming to reduce cost of production and crop loss: Farm advisory using data collected from the farm on soil, crop and weather using AI/ML tools is becoming mainstream, though monetisation of such models are still evolving (examples: SatSure, RMSI, CropIn, Mantle Labs, Stellapps, Krishi Tantra, AgRisk, Skymet) Agri fintech to reduce the cost of capital and make insurance available to farmers: Data and digitisation is the precursor to innovative farmer and value chain financing models which typically enables farmer KYC, onboarding, and digital tools for risk assessment. Many of these models continue to be phygital. Some of them are now building and distributing insurance products. (Examples: Samunnati, Agrifi, Jai-Kisan, GreyMatter Technologies, IBISA, Gramcover).

These models have been catalytic in improving farm economics to the tune of Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 per hectare, depending on the crop through reduction in input, labour, water cost and improving incomes through buyer discovery and value addition. With the number of agritech startups likely to touch 10,000 in the next few years, it is possible that almost 80-90 per cent of farmers in India will have access to these solutions in time to come.

Indian agriculture needs to adapt innovations to

Finance, Interaction, Opinions, Warehousing

Agriculture commodities business is a high volume and low margin business and is often accompanied by moderate to high level of risk. The economic returns of warehousing activity are highly vulnerable to the Production Risk, Market Risk and Regulatory Risk. The utilisation of the warehousing space largely hinges on the Production of Crop, Expected Price Outlook of Agri Commodity, Export Prospects, Domestic Demand, Government Procurement and Regulatory Guidelines. Here’s a closer look at the current scenario and some measures that could help mitigate the risks involved.

Agri warehousing business is fraught with high degree of Operational Risk, Quality Risk, Quantity Risk, Market Risk and Regulatory Risk therefore it requires constant monitoring and surveillance. One of the biggest challenges in Agri warehousing business emanates from the fact that numerous warehouses are spread across the remote parts of the country, which are not economically viable due to underutilisation and increased cost of construction driven by high land price, surge in cement and steel price. At the same time, warehouses situated at remote locations are exposed to the fraud risk because of the movable nature of the Agri commodities. Additionally, the commodities kept in the remote warehouse locations are further vulnerable to the risk of theft, burglary and also prone to the delayed remedial action in the event of fire, flood or natural calamity related incidents.

Agriculture warehousing being predominantly an unorganised and low-cost sector, professional practices, systems and procedures are still at nascent stage making it challenging for organised, professional players to survive because low entry barriers which has brought down margins with increased risks and created an adverse Risk to Reward ratio in the business. Agriculture being a seasonal activity, the harvested Agri commodity stored in the warehouse, which is utilised over the period that blocks significant working capital of the producer. Traders or Processors, who in turn necessitates these entities to avail finance against the value of these underlying Agri commodity from the financial institutions. Agri commodity finance has transformed in the last few years and with the advent of Collateral Management Business because of which banks and other financial institutes have ventured into this business aggressively. Commodity Finance products got impetus in 2004-05 and was mainly driven by 2-3 large private sector banks and now this business has spread across more than 50 financial institutions and banks. Commencement of Future Trading has further paved the way for demit funding for banks/financial institutions and now with the introduction of option in Exchange and with the setting up of National E-Repository Limited (NERL), which is a national level market infrastructure institution that records and stores Warehouse Receipts in an electronic form (e-NWRs), under the aegis of Warehouse Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA), will further play important role in deepening the Agri commodity business. However, this is yet to get fillip.

The loans against Agri commodities are typically short term and self-liquidating in nature. The collateral manager guarantees the banks about the quality and quantity of the Agri commodities, provides price information required for margin call and also aids in disposal of the commodities, if necessary. The last few years of subdued agricultural growth and economics has increased counterparty risks with rising incidents of fraud, especially for all players in the collateral management business. This industry is manpower intensive and the industry due to its low-cost profile and less organised nature, has a significant challenge in attracting talent with the right skills, integrity and value systems especially at field level. The banks and financial institutes transfer the risk of quality and quantity of underlying commodity through the Collateral Management (CM) agreement by paying services charges to the Collateral Manager. Therefore in the event of any short fall incident arising on account of infidelity of employees, liability to make good losses to the bank /financial institution sometimes crystallises on the CM agencies.

CM business is fraught with high degree of operational risk

Additionally this industry is manpower intensive and CM companies remain dependent on the effective supervision of storage and monitoring of inflow and outflow of commodities and the risk reward ratio is very slender therefore this business requires constant monitoring and surveillance.

Another challenge in providing CM services emanates from the logistics complexities of securing numerous warehouses spread across the remote parts of the country and safe custody of commodity as usually commodity is stored in the warehouse/cold storages owned by the third party therefore possibility of undue influence of the warehouse owner/cold storage owner cannot be totally ruled out.
In Agri commodity finance business downward volatility of prices erodes the margin of the client and in such a situation delayed disposal of the commodity may snowball into financial loss to the financial institution/ company.

Further, transfer of risk to the insurance company is limited due to the reduction in the quantum of sum assured coupled with surge in the insurance premium cost.

• Extensive risk profiling of client based on the past antecedent of the client, analysis of financial standing.
• Exposure capping based on the client rating, commodity concentration and geography concentration.
• Continuous streamlining of the operating process and issuing detailed standardised operating process and ensuring its adherence to ensure the security of the underlying commodity.
• Several levels of audit checks based on the risk profile of warehouses/godowns.

The current collateral management processes in India are evolving and now shifting more towards technology-driven monitoring which plays an important role in the management of the thinly spread structures. The system not only ensures that the issuance and release of the warehouse receipt are centralised, but also keeps all relevant personnel updated in real time on the status of the collateral. The use of CCTV cameras is also an important element to initiate corrective action and downsize the likely quantum of risk.

Agriculture commodities business is a high volume

Interaction, Sustainability

In the face of climate change, farm risk management has taken several new turns. The increased implementation of technology in agriculture paved the way for several new avenues in risk management. The importance of drones came to light and farmers regained confidence in farming while these new avenues offered problem solving solutions. Naveneet Ravikar, Chairman & Managing Director, Leads Connect Services, expounds how risks in farming can be mitigated with technology, especially by using drones. Edited excerpts:

What is Leads Connect’s role in farm risk management?
Farm risk management has always been one of the most important components of services which we provide. The company has capabilities and experience of delivering end-to-end services
for farm risk management. There are various aspects of farm risk management beginning from crop health monitoring and stress estimation, claims settlement and risk assessment, disease
and pest identification to pre-harvest and post-harvest yield assessment.Our team uses advanced and cutting-edge technologies for assessing and quantifying risks associated with agritech spectrum. In addition, the focus has always been on timely assessment of risks with accuracy and precision. This helps in identifying pertinent measures for mitigating risks. We have presence in more than 100 districts across India for projects relating to the aspects of risk management. Moreover, the company has huge experience in delivering crop cutting experiments (CCE) and risk management projects/services.

The company is now fully equipped with cutting edge technologies, advanced frameworks such as machine learning and DeepTech, SpaceTech analytics and drones-as-a-service (DrAAS) for performing studies and delivering services on different dimensions of agritech. Besides association with nodal agencies of government, corporates and other organisations for addressing the challenges of the agricultural system; the team has performed numerous pilot studies on construing the dynamics of agri-risk management in different parts of India. These studies have helped us to develop robust and consistent frameworks for developing agritech solutions.

What risk management approach is best suited for Indian farmers when it comes to climate as a risk factor?
Climate change disasters are now a reality. This is now not anymore just a point of discussion. Regions across the globe are being hit and badly affected by different disasters. Impact of climate change disasters are far reaching and long term. Moreover, these paralyse the social, physical and natural system services. Besides adverse impact on the livelihoods and ecosystem, natural disasters threaten the sustainability of the economy. Agricultural sector has been the worst hit by climate change and is completely vulnerable to the perils of climate change. It is therefore absolutely necessary to implement climate resilient measures for strengthening the prospects of agricultural sustainability. As far as risk management is concerned for Indian farmers, steps can be taken in following directions:

• Crop management practices significantly vary in different parts of India. Thus, it is very important to adopt management practices according to the agro-ecological conditions of the region.

• Complexities are deep rooted and dynamic in Indian regions. Henceforth, implementation of smart technologies is an absolute necessity for deciphering the intricacies of agro-ecosystem.

• India is also now facing the heat of climate change. Considering its demographic dynamics and topographical complexities, it is very likely that the threat of climate change will only escalate in the near future. Therefore, it is necessary that Indian farmers must adopt climate resilient approaches such as climate resilient seeds, modern irrigation methods, etc.

• Adoption of climate smart technology is now a must in the agricultural sector.

• It is now absolutely necessary to use drones for accurate monitoring of farm health and for identification of crop stress / diseases / pests. Technology in agriculture, these days, is used extensively to mitigate risks.

Can you elaborate this with examples?
Technology is definitely a key in developing effective solutions for agricultural challenges. Specifically, there would be a huge role of technology in developing effective solutions for agriculture in following dimensions:
• Accurate and precise monitoring of farm health.

• Real time alerts and advisory.

• Crop yield simulation and prediction.

• Impact Time bound claim settlements.

• Assessment of advisories on increasing the
yield.

• Automation of crop cutting experiments.

• Crop disease identification.

• Fraud monitoring and mitigation.

• Seamless on-boarding of farmers into the digital system. This will help in increasing the transparency in the system.

• Enabling farmers through Fintech measures farmers in digital platforms. This will bring transparency in the system.

• Generating scenarios in the context of AgriValue chain analytics.

Drones are used extensively these days and data generated from their application is redefining agriculture. Can you justify this statement and share some facts about the use of
drones in risk management?
There is no ambiguity in the fact that drone analytics has potential in confronting the challenges of agriculture. Drones for risk management are instrumental in following dimensions:
• Availability of high-resolution data from drones helps in accurate and precise monitoring.

• Drone data can also be used to generate accurate thresholds. These thresholds can further be used for upscaling the agricultural studies.

• Drone analytics can be very important in fraud mitigation while settling the claims. • Drone data can be significant in identification of crop diseases and pests.

• UAV analytics can become a game changer for addressing the issues of irrigation monitoring. This can be a strong step towards precision farming.

• Drones can also be used for fertiliser and pesticides spraying.

Anusha Ashwin

In the face of climate change, farm

Agrotech, Interaction, Sustainability

Weather Risk Management Services (WRMS), an agriculture and dairy risk management company that is working
towards risk-reducing strategies. The company leverages data, technology and financial innovation to develop risk management solutions that help farmers enhance productivity, gain a secure income, and practice sustainable farming. Headquartered in Gurugram, WRMS is a pioneer in smart and sustainable farming in India. It was founded by Sonu Agarwal, Anuj Kumbhat and Ashish Agarwal as an endeavour to empower farmers in overcoming the most daunting agrarian challenges. The company has received investments and grants from luminaries like UPL, ILO and the Ford Foundation. Foreseeing the immense potential in this sector, Anuj Kumbhat, Founder & CEO, WRMS, shared his insights on numerous strategies and opportunities in the farm risk management sector. Edited excerpts;

How farm risk management strategies can make the agri industry profitable?

Risk is an integral part of the agriculture sector. Each day, farmers are confronted with different types of risk, like production risk, price or market risk, financial risk, institutional risk, etc. In India, agriculture risks are exacerbated by a number of factors, ranging from climate variability and change, frequent natural disasters, uncertainties in yields and prices, weak rural infrastructure, imperfect markets, and lack of financial services. Risk-reducing strategies are often used in combination with one another, because no single strategy can cover all of the risks likely to be encountered. Farmers need to consider the risks simultaneously and adopt an integrated approach for better farm management. They need to recognise the advantages and disadvantages of each risk management option, both individually and in combination. Individual farmers should select an appropriate strategy based on their goals, attitudes towards risk, and their personal and financial situations.

5 farm risk management strategies that can make the agri industry profitable:

1. Enterprise diversification: It is a self- insuring strategy used by farmers to protect against risk. Income from different crops and livestock activities does not move up and down in perfect connection, so a low income from one activity is likely to be offset by a higher income from another.

2. Financial leverage: It is the use of borrowed funds to help finance the farm business. Debt levels that are higher than net worth are generally regarded as hazardous. The best amount to be leveraged is determined by a number of criteria, including farm profitability, loan costs, risk tolerance, and income uncertainty.

3. Vertical integration: It maintains ownership or control of a commodity throughout two or more stages of production and/or marketing, lowering the risk associated with the quantity and quality of
inputs and outputs.

4. Hedging: It means using futures or options contracts to mitigate the risk of a negative price shift before a cash sale or purchase of a commodity.

5. Contracting: By ensuring pricing, market outlets, or other terms of trade in advance, contracting can reduce risk. Marketing contracts, or simply forward contracts, define the price, quality, and quantity of product to be provided. Production contracts are contracts that outline the production procedures to be employed and/or who delivers the inputs.

What are the opportunities in farm risk management in India?
Access to data-driven, digitally-enabled agriculture ecosystems is leading to a revolution in the agritech sector in India. The incorporation of farm management software, drones, smart irrigation systems, predictive data analytics, integrated warehousing, and marketplace platforms in Agritech are addressing some of the key challenges faced by growers, financers, and governments. Despite the multitude of technological advancements in the sector, smallholder farmers do not seem to prosper. They remain unable to take full advantage of the tech solutions provided to them, and as a result, these solutions fall short of their envisioned impacts and outcomes.

With farmer digital adoption increasing, the option of evaluating credit scores on the basis of data available, the setting up of a federal agri stack, and the introduction of the government-launched Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) have been important steps towards the evolution of the insurance landscape. However, the accumulation of large-scale data also calls for appropriate privacy and security regulations, which are currently a work in progress in India. While federal initiatives like the proposed agri-stack are a great start to collecting farm-related data in one place, the long-term impact also needs to be factored in by agencies and the government working in the agri sector. The need of the hour is the digitisation of the agriculture sector. The sector needs multiple startups, intermediaries, and agencies who can build interesting and viable solutions. We need more data, more digitisation, more risk assessment models and delivery channels that can reach out to farmers efficiently at an affordable cost.

What are your contributions in farm risk management?
Through our services, we improve farmers’ confidence and improve income stability through the adoption of practices that can minimise farmers’ risk and ensure a higher yield. By optimising agriculture processes and providing market access to the farmers, we are playing a role as a catalyst in increasing their income. The impact of our services is very positive, and a large number of farmers have benefited so far. WRMS has left an indelible footprint on the lives of a number of farmers till date by minimising their crop loss risk to a large extent. Also, WRMS through its smart and sustainable farming platform, SecuFarm offers a smart and sustainable farming solution that provides a guaranteed income to the farmers. When farmers enroll in the SecuFarm service, they receive timely weather-related nformation on the SecuFarm app to plan their crop protection and irrigation based on crop health and soil condition, which helps them optimise water use. Also, they receive customised solutions for the optimised use of agro-chemicals. The app also educates farmers on various crop diseases through vernacular audio-visual content and connects them with agri experts who answer all their crop-related queries, besides providing them solutions within 24 hours.

Through the SecuFarm app, farmers can access real-time data about their farm and crop conditions that is generated through IoT sensors, automated weather stations, satellites, and drones, and get real-time responses to tackle pests, diseases, and weather risks. WRMS is the only company that offers farm level risk management using Risk Pricing Models and provides integrated risk management and regulatory services that help financial institutions, insurers, input farming companies, and corporates understand, quantify, and manage their risk associated with weather— earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and other weather events—and crop yields.

How can WRMS bring revolution in the agri industry?

WRMS is on a mission to revolutionise the farming sector by allowing farmers to dive into the world of latest technology in the agri space without worrying about the risks involved as the company offers them 360-degree income protection. With our flagship platform SecuFarm, we offer farm-level yield assurance to smallholder farmers and bring them on the path to sustainable farming. The app helps farmers achieve more productive and sustainable farming, thus uplifting their socio-economic status. With the help of SecuFarm app, smallholders get secured incomes as the process involves land analysis and further classification of sustainable agriculture practices to adopt in order to enhance the produce quality with well calculated data analytics backed with high-end technologies.

In case a farmer doesn’t get the expected and predicted produce result, he’s compensated as per the land area. Such a smart initiative ensures that smallholders have enough finance to support their livelihoods no matter the post harvest results. SecuFarm leverages its multi- disciplinary capability across smart farming, modern data science, and insurance solutions. The idea is to drive smallholders towards digital farming practices. We are also an industry leader in Climate Outlook and Weather Forecasting Services and build resilience against vagaries of weather. WRMS helps farmers foresee weather-based risks within a smaller time frame and adopt the right practices to mitigate the risk. We foresee & estimate long-term climate-related risks and identify the markets/geographies exposed to minimum risks. WRMS identifies business models vulnerable to climate risk in a time horizon of the next 10 to 25 years.

What are your plans for the next 5 years?
The company is seeking investments to expand WRMS SecuFarm to a million farmers in a 3–4-year timeframe. Our mission is to secure 1 million farms by the year 2026. We will continue to focus on technology implementation and risk management advisory services. Along with this, we will work towards enhancing the quality of our offering, which includes multidisciplinary capabilities spanning data analytics, technology, and finance, to address and resolve complex agrarian challenges. We are also seeking partnerships with like-minded organisations working with smallholder farmers and FPOs so that we can reach the deepest pockets of the country where a farmer is sowing a seed in the hope of a good yield.

How is SecuFarm, a one-stop platform for all the farmers?
SecuFarm is the world’s first smart and sustainable farming solution that provides a guaranteed income to the farmers. It enables farmers to overcome the most difficult agrarian challenges, such as insufficient rainfall, acidic soil, insufficient soil nutrients, and traditional farming practices. SecuFarm is created by leveraging our multi-disciplinary capability across smart farming, modern data science, and insurance solutions. When farmers enroll in the SecuFarm app, their farm is geo-tagged for farm level monitoring. Our team monitors their farms using drones, satellites, and IoT sensors to give them accurate and timely information on the weather forecast, crop health, pest attack, soil nutrients, irrigation requirements, and more. Through the SecuFarm app and SMS,
farmers receive timely alerts and advisories. As farmers follow our Package of Practices, they get a higher benchmark yield, which is also better in quality. This increases the market demand for
their product and gets them good returns. And if their yield is below the assured yield, they get timely compensation. Thus, the farmer is never at risk with SecuFarm.

Using satellites and IoTs, WRMS monitors the situation on the ground and responds in real- time, with the goal of helping farmers overcome the most difficult agricultural obstacles. The WRMS Automatic Weather Station (AWS) helps in generating weather forecasts using grid-level data. The Automatic Pest Monitor (APM) helps monitor all kinds of pests and provides the pest density remotely by attracting the pest and capturing the image. Whereas an Automatic Soil Moisture (ASM) sensor provides real-time analysis of the soil health (soil moisture, physical properties, structure, and nutrient content of soil) of a particular area. AI technology and deep learning are applied to historical data of weather, yields, etc. to provide estimated values of present data wherever other sensors are unable to capture real-time data.

Pooja Yadav

pooja.yadav@mmactiv.com

Weather Risk Management Services (WRMS), an agriculture

Biostimulants, Company News

Field trials consistently demonstrate a 15 per cent yield improvement in fruits and vegetables

BioConsortia, Inc. and The Mosaic Company  have entered into a new agreement to distribute BioConsortia’s new microbial biostimulant in Asia. The new biostimulant BEC69 is branded as ZAFFRE™ in North America, and is expected to provide growers with significant value by optimizing root conditions to help the plant use available nutrients in the soil. It is based on naturally occurring, beneficial bacteria that colonize the roots of plants, stimulate growth, and increase crop yields.

ZAFFRE has demonstrated a high level of consistency in field trials in the United States on a wide range of crops, both as a drench and as a seed treatment. Key fruit and vegetable crops such as tomatoes and beans have repeatedly demonstrated yield increases averaging 15% over multiple seasons of study. The biostimulant has also repeatedly shown positive impacts on germination of high value vegetable seeds in both stressed and optimal conditions. ZAFFRE can be used alongside BioConsortia’s nitrogen fixing microbial products.

Kim Nicholson, Mosaic Vice President of AgTech and Innovation, Strategy and Growth, stated, “Effective biostimulants are a powerful tool in our strategy to provide growers with plant nutrient products that help them increase their yields and profits, while caring for their soils and the environment. We are excited to see the potential of BEC69 in China and other Asian markets where our local sales and marketing teams are developing a strong business.”

Marcus Meadows-Smith, CEO, BioConsortia added, “Mosaic has proven to be a strong partner, and is growing and innovating in the areas of plant nutrition and soil health. We are proud that Mosaic will be introducing this product to their customers in Asia, as ZAFFRE has already demonstrated high consistency and potency in the USA.”

Field trials consistently demonstrate a 15 per