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Agrotech, Environment, Sustainability

EGA 2022 was hosted as an online hybrid event on 16th July by the esteemed jury, patrons, applicants and more than 500+ registrations.

Envirocare Green Awards 2022 was hosted as an online hybrid event on 16th July. Graced by the esteemed jury, patrons, applicants and more than 500+ registrations the event was a grand success. Rahul Deshpande – CEO – Envirocare Labs, shared the inspiring journey of how Envirocare Labs was awarded as the 1st Platinum rated Indian Green Building council (IGBC) within the Testing, Inspection and Certification sector – and how the team focus has been on energy management, waste minimization, water conservation while ensuring employee wellbeing and future readiness.

The true essence of “Analysis & Beyond “could be understood, with a contribution of over Rs 10 million under CSR, towards Zero Hunger, Quality Education and Providing Safe Drinking Water & Sanitation along with nation building activities under the PM Care Fund. Deshpande thanked the EGA Founder Chairman Dr Nilesh Amritkar for conceptualizing the coveted EGA event and expressed gratitude and pride for the incredible opportunity of being the “Knowledge Partner”

Dr. Nilesh Amritkar, the Founder Chairman of EGA, in a short address expressed his happiness on the progress of EGA as a Globally recognized award and encouraged the stakeholders to keep the flag high for the next 100 years and more.

Keynote sessions were curated and aligned towards establishing synergies within industry, academia, and regulators.

▪ Dr. Abhay Jere | Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) Ministry of Education, Govt of gave his insights on National Education Policy and its role in promoting Environment & Sustainability.

▪ Dr. Aparna Dhawan | Executive Director, TIC Council, India talked about Role of Testing Inspection & Certification for Sustainable Businesses.

▪ Imran Ustad | Associate Director, Sustainable Finance Solutions at Morningstar Sustainanalytics, India spoke about the sustainability linked financing for startups & MSMEs.

EGA 2022 award ceremony set a new benchmark of 500 + registration across 14 nations, making it a truly global event. An illustrious panel including 11 Jury | 11 Patrons | 8 Advisory members, evaluated the 46 applicants under 5 well-crafted categories, at 3 separate stages. In Large corporates category the special citation was awarded to Hyatt Centric and Winner Aarti Industries Limited and Hindustan Unilever. In private limited/ MSME category the special citation was awarded to Al Jaber & partners. The winner of MSME category was awarded to Harmony Planning Services and EnviroApps Inc. In Academia Category special citation was awarded to V. M. Salgaokar IIHE and the winner is MIT ADT university. In Individual category special citation was awarded to Vijaykumar Katti and the winners of individual category are Dr Sunil Kumar and Padmakar Nandusekar. In NGO’s Cooperatives category the special citation was awarded to Green Raichur, and the winners of this category are the Anonymous Indian Charitable Trust.

EGA 2022 was hosted as an online

AgroPolicy, India

For the first time, data collection for agricultural computations will be done on smart phones and tablets.

The Eleventh Agricultural Census (2021-22) was launched in the country by the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar. Speaking on the occasion, Tomar said that this computation will bring huge benefits in a vast and agricultural country like India. Tomar said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasis is being given on increasing farmers income. Besides there is a need to change their standard of living, organize small farmers in order to empower them, attract them towards remunerative crops and ensure the quality of the produce at par with global standards.

On the occasion, Tomar released the Handbook on Operational Guidelines for Census for the use of States/UTs, and launched the Data Collection Portal/App.

Agriculture Census is conducted every 5 years, which is being undertaken now after delay due to corona pandemic. The field work of agricultural census will start in August 2022. Agricultural Census is the main source of information on a variety of agricultural parameters at a relatively minute level, such as the number and area of operational holdings, their size, class-wise distribution, land use, tenancy and cropping pattern, etc. This is the first time that data collection for agricultural census will be conducted on smart phones and tablets, so that data is available in time. Most of the States have digitized their land records and surveys, which will further accelerate the collection of agricultural census data. The use of digitized land records and the use of mobile apps for data collection will enable the creation of a database of operational holdings in the country.

For the first time, data collection for

AgroPolicy, Dairy

Projects worth more than Rs 1,000 crores aims to boost rural economy and help in increasing income of local farmers and milk producers.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of multiple projects worth more than Rs 1,000 crores at Sabar Dairy at Gadhoda Chowki, Sabarkantha, Gujarat. These projects will empower local farmers and milk producers and increase their income. This will also give a boost to the rural economy in the region. The Prime Minister felicitated beneficiaries of Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme and top women milk producers.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said that “Today Sabar Dairy has expanded. New projects worth hundreds of crores are being set up here. Sabar Dairy’s capacity will increase further with the addition of a milk powder plant with modern technology and one more line in the aseptic packing section.”

Details of the Projects:

The Prime Minister inaugurated the Powder Plant at Sabar Dairy with a capacity of around 120 metric tonnes per day (MTPD).  The total cost of the entire project is more than Rs 300 crores. The layout of the plant meets global food safety standards. It is highly energy efficient with almost zero emission. The plant is equipped with the latest and fully automated bulk packing line.

The Prime Minister also inaugurated the Aseptic Milk Packaging Plant at Sabar Dairy. It is a state-of-the-art plant having capacity of 3 Lakh Litre per day. The project has been executed with a total investment of around Rs. 125 crores. The plant has the latest automation system with highly energy efficient and environment friendly technology. The project will help ensure better remuneration to milk producers.

The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of the Sabar Cheese & Whey Drying Plant Project. The estimated outlay of the project is around Rs. 600 crores. The Plant will manufacture Cheddar Cheese (20 MTPD), Mozzarella Cheese (10 MTPD) and Processed Cheese (16 MTPD). Whey generated during manufacturing of cheese shall also be dried at Whey Drying Plant, having capacity of 40 MTPD.

Sabar Dairy is a part of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which makes and markets a whole range of milk and milk products under the Amul brand.

Projects worth more than Rs 1,000 crores

Agro chems – Chemicals, Company News, Finance

The company has posted net profit / (loss) of Rs.22.6399 crores for the period ended June 30, 2022 as against net profit / (loss) of Rs.38.0630 crores for the period ended June 30, 2021.

Sharda Cropchem Limited has reported Consolidated financial results for the period ended June 30, 2022.The company has reported total income of Rs. 844.7811 crores during the period ended June 30, 2022 as compared to Rs 1437.1536 crores during the period ended March 31, 2022.The company has posted net profit / (loss) of Rs. 22.6399 crores for the period ended June 30, 2022 as against net profit / (loss) of Rs. 176.9742 crores for the period ended March 31, 2022.

Financial Results (Q1 FY2023) – YoY Comparison

The company has reported total income of Rs 844.7811 crores during the period ended June 30, 2022 as compared to Rs 629.1410 crores during the period ended June 30, 2021.The company has posted net profit / (loss) of Rs.22.6399 crores for the period ended June 30, 2022 as against net profit / (loss) of Rs.38.0630 crores for the period ended June 30, 2021.

The company has reported EPS of Rs 2.51 for the period ended June 30, 2022 as compared to Rs.4.22 for the period ended June 30, 2021.

The company has posted net profit /

Agrotech, Finance, Packaging & Labelling, Supply Chain

Akorn Technology will use the initial investment to scale up manufacturing and support customer trials on a broad range of crops.

Morocco based UM6P Ventures announces its investment in Akorn Technology, an innovator in edible food coatings. Their multifunctional natural coating platforms are made with upcycled, sustainable, and abundant non-GMO corn by-products and other plant materials that can double or triple the shelf life of food and deliver long-lasting, safe, tasty, and nutritious produce options for modern diets and lifestyles.

Akorn Technology has developed a multi-functional edible food coatings platform, leveraging a hybrid plant protein/lipid film technology, that prevents post-harvest loss and waste across a wide range of crops including tree fruits, citrus fruits, tropical fruits, stone fruits, and vegetables. This completely plant-based, patent-pending technology is already approved for use on a wide range of fruits and vegetables in both the U.S. and the European Union (EU). It substantially reduces post-harvest crop loss and food waste by slowing produce ripening speed, reducing moisture loss, maintaining firmness and color, and inhibiting bacterial and fungal growth. At the same time, it delivers superior flavor and texture and preserves the nutritional value of fresh fruits and vegetables.

“UM6P Ventures’ investments are based on the fundamental thesis of strengthening the capacity of Moroccan and African ecosystems to address major issues such as the global food crisis and climate change. This partnership-investment, like our other investments in Agrobioscience, will serve to build the skills and technical expertise of local talent and will benefit other initiatives or startups in this field,” said Yasser Biaz, CEO of UM6P Ventures.

Akorn Technology will use the initial investment to scale up manufacturing and support customer trials on a broad range of crops. In addition, short-term initiatives include running solution test pilots on local Moroccan crops including citrus, tomatoes, and other fruits to understand the impact, if any, of local climate conditions on their produce coating solution. Furthermore, Akorn Technology will leverage the surface coating expertise of UM6P and their labs to conduct these tests. They also intend to work with UM6P Ventures’ Agrobioscience industry partners to scale their manufacturing capabilities.

“Partnering with UM6P Ventures will allow us to bring this innovative technology platform to regions that could benefit most from our food coating solutions. By testing our products in unique regional climate environments and leveraging state-of-the-art UM6P nanotechnology labs, we hope to accelerate our time to market in regions that suffer disproportionately from food supply shortages globally,” said Anthony Zografos, CEO of Akorn Technology

Akorn Technology will use the initial investment

Agro chems – Chemicals, Agro chems – Pesticides, Company News, North America

Resicore XL herbicide is an innovative pre- and postemergence corn herbicide which offers application flexibility and increased crop safety.

Corteva Agriscience announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the registration of Resicore® XL herbicide. The improved Resicore XL herbicide formulation will be available for use in the 2023 growing season. Resicore XL is part of Corteva Agriscience’s broad portfolio of crop protection solutions designed to address customer needs.

″Resicore XL herbicide offers increased crop safety and the widest application window of any Corteva Agriscience corn herbicide — along with the proven, powerful weed control growers already know and love from Resicore herbicide, ″ said Kelly White, U.S. Product Manager, Corn Herbicides, Corteva Agriscience. ″We’re continuously looking for new, innovative solutions that meet the needs of today’s growers, and Resicore XL herbicide does just that. ″

Resicore XL herbicide builds on the success and proven weed control corn farmers have come to expect from predecessor Resicore herbicide — the most widely used residual corn herbicide in the United States in 2019 and 2020.

Resicore XL herbicide provides the flexibility needed to fit a wide variety of weed control and agronomic programs with the widest application window of any corn herbicide in the Corteva Agriscience portfolio. Resicore XL herbicide can be applied from preemergence through postemergence on corn up to 24 inches tall. Farmers also can customize their application rates for added application flexibility.

Resicore XL herbicide is an innovative pre-

Agro chems – Chemicals, People

Karlekar is a renowned technocrat in chemical arena and R&D expert with more than 35 years of rich experience in the agrochemical industry.

India’s leading Agrochemical company Best Agrolife Ltd announced the appointment of Pramod N Karlekar as the Managing Director of their subsidiary company Best Crop Science Pvt Ltd (BCSPL).   Karlekar is a renowned technocrat in chemical arena and R&D expert with more than 35 years of rich experience in the agrochemical industry. He holds an impressive track record of handling strategic leadership roles and business operations of many multinational companies & large Indian corporate houses.

“We feel fortunate to have Karlekar on board and we are sure that under his direction BCSPL will reach new heights. Karlekar’s proven leadership skills, superior management skills, strong customer focus, sharp commercial acumen, strategic business focus, and long experience of holding leading roles in the chemical industry will help the company to develop and execute winning growth strategies,” says Vimal Alawadhi, Managing Director of Best Agrolife Ltd (BAL).

A Chemical Engineer from UDCT- one of the top Indian Institute for Chemical Technology and a Management Graduate from Mumbai University, Karlekar has a diverse and enriching professional background. He has been associated at the apex level with many reputed organizations starting with Davy Powergas India – an engineering consultancy firm of global repute.

He promoted Sudarshan Farm Chemicals India Private Limited in 2018 with a view to develop chemical technologies for products not being manufactured by anyone in India thus far and assumed the position of its CMD. Now, he would be taking over the responsibility as Managing Director of BCSPL, while continuing to be the Chairman of Sudarshan Farm Chemicals.

While fulfilling his responsibilities for various commercial assignments mentioned above, he has also contributed to the cause of industry in the capacity of Director on the board of CropLife Asia and CropLife Africa- Middle East and also as Director on Crop Care Federation of India for over last two decades.

Karlekar is a renowned technocrat in chemical

AgroPolicy, Foodgrains, Schemes - Govt

The action plan of International Year of Millets -2023 focuses on strategies to enhance production, consumption, export, branding, etc.

Government plans to hold several programmes in the country and abroad for popularizing Millets and other nutri-cereals. Besides, all Ministries/Departments of the Government of India, along with the State Governments, will promote the nutri-cereals in coordination with the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) and Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE). This was stated by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, while chairing the meeting of Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on the subject ‘International Year of Millets’.

The Government has taken several steps for promotion of Millets. To create domestic and global demand and to provide nutritional food to the people. Over 500 start-ups are working in Millet value chain while the Indian Institute on Millet Research, has incubated 250 start-ups under RKVY-RAFTAAR. More than Rs 6.2 crores have been disbursed to over 66 Start-ups while about 25 start-ups have been approved for further funding.

The Government of India had proposed to the United Nations for declaring 2023 as International Year of Millets (IYoM). The proposal of India was supported by 72 countries and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared 2023 as International Year of Millets (IYOM) in March, 2021.

Addressing the meeting, Tomar said the Government of India has planned activities for grand celebrations of IYoM- 2023. The action plan of IYOM-2023 focuses on strategies to enhance production, consumption, export, branding etc. The Government has also launched PLI scheme for promotion of Millets, he said.

The Government has evolved the ‘Seven Sutras’ (themes) in the run-up to the IYOM, which will be rolled out by the concerned Ministry/Departments, – Enhancement of Production/Productivity (DA&FW/DARE), Nutrition & Health benefits (Ministry of Health/FSSAI), Value Addition, Processing & Recipe Development (Ministries of Food Processing Industries & Tourism), Entrepreneurship/Startup/Collective Development (Commerce and DA&FW), Awareness creation including Branding Labelling & Promotion (All Ministries), International Outreach (Commerce & Ministry of External Affairs) and Policy Interventions for Mainstreaming (Dept of Food & Public Distribution and DA&FW).

The action plan of International Year of

Agro Universities, R&D, Textile industry

The facility aims to facilitate the cotton quality assessment and reduce contamination level in Indian cotton.

Dr S.N. Jha, Deputy Director General (Agricultural Engineering), ICAR inaugurated the “National Laboratory for Assessment of Trash and Contamination in Cotton (NLATCC)” at the ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology, Mumbai, Maharashtra.

The Lab has been established for the quantitative evaluation of the trash and contamination in Cotton and has the capability of measuring the trash content of about 300 Samples per 8 Hrs. shifts as per standard methods. The facility aims to facilitate the Cotton quality assessment and reduce contamination level in Indian Cotton.

Delivering his address, Dr Jha stressed on the need for popularizing the technology developed by the Institute among the various stakeholders and students’ communities. The DDG also suggested the participation of the Cotton Sector Institutions in the various activities to be undertaken for the ICAR-CIRCOT Centenary Celebrations in 2024.

Dr Sujata Saxena, Director, ICAR-CIRCOT, Mumbai briefed about the various research activities, Skill & Entrepreneurship Development and Funding Support Programmes to the Agri-Start-Ups being carried out at the Institute.

Dr A.J. Shaikh, Former Director, ICAR-CIRCOT, Mumbai urged for undertaking more scientific research in the value-addition to Cotton Seed.

The facility aims to facilitate the cotton

Agro chems – Chemicals, Company News, Finance

Total revenues stood at Rs 297.1 crore in Q1 FY23 as compared to Rs 238 crore in Q1 FY22, registering a growth of 25 per cent Y-o-Y.

Anupam Rasayan India Ltd., one of India’s leading custom synthesis and specialty chemical players, operating revenues stood at Rs. 306.6 crore in Q1 FY23 as compared to Rs. 233.7 crore in Q1 FY22, a growth of 31 per cent Y-o-Y.

Total revenues at Rs 297.1 crore in Q1 FY23 as compared to Rs 238 crore in Q1 FY22, a growth of 25 per cent Y-o-Y. EBITDA (including other revenue) at Rs 84.5 crore in Q1 FY23 as compared to Rs 65 crore in Q1 FY22, a growth of 30 per cent Y-o-Y. Profit after Tax stood at Rs. 39.7 crore in Q1 FY23 as compared to Rs. 32.1 crore in Q1 FY22, a growth of 24 per cent Y-o-Y

 The company mentioned in the release that “Our focus on financial prudence and operational finesse has helped us keep our margins at sustainable levels. During the last financial year, our ability to ensure continuous supply to our customers has resulted in customers revising their volume guidance upwards for the current financial year along with the increase in price of these products.”

Total revenues stood at Rs 297.1 crore

AgroPolicy, Foodgrains

Aggregation of demand through GeM to bring down the cost of procurement for the government.

On the directions of Prime Minister, a review meeting of GeM (Government E-Marketplace) was held under the chairmanship of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. Buyers from over 50 Central Govt. Ministries and 50 CPSEs were invited for getting first-hand feedback of the Buyers.

 Goyal lauded the efforts being made by various Buyer organizations in increasing their procurements through GeM and emphasized that Hon’ble Prime Minister has set a target of 75 per cent procurement to be made through GeM by 15th of August and 100 per cent procurement to be made through GeM by the end of the current financial year.

The minister said that there was a need to keep a strict vigil on GeM procurement data and identify any deviant behaviours using Advanced Analytics and AI ML based tools so that immediate and strict action could be taken against any such deviant behaviours.

The Minister emphasized on the need to change in the perception that public procurement is a source of corruption. He said that GeM has brought about a sea change in the way public procurement is perceived by public at large. He expressed the hope that GeM will continue its engagement with all stakeholders and going forward will also focus on ease of doing procurement. He desired that GeM should be benchmarked against best in the class rather than being benchmarked against other Government systems.

 Goyal also expressed the hope that the kind of data being generated in GeM will certainly help government in improving transparency and efficiency in public procurement. The Minister said that aggregation of demand because of procurement happening through a single portal will help in reducing the cost of procurement also for Govt. Buyers. With collective wisdom and collective efforts of all stakeholders, GeM can well become the largest marketplace for public procurement in the world, he added.

Aggregation of demand through GeM to bring

Agro Universities, Agrotech, Start ups

The program invites applications from manufacturing startups and innovators engaged in healthcare and agriculture domains from 21st July’22.

 Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre, the technology business incubator at IIT Kanpur, is launching the NIRMAN Accelerator Program, supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The program will focus on the manufacturing startups engaged in healthcare and agriculture domains, to help them overcome the challenges from their prototype to market journey.

A total of 15 start-ups will be selected under the program, where they will be granted the opportunity to accelerate their product journey from lab to market. The best performing startups among the cohort of 15 startups will receive a cash award of up to INR 10 Lakhs.

Commenting on the launch of the NIRMAN Accelerator program, Prof. Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, Professor-in-charge, Innovation and Incubation, IIT Kanpur, said, “Our country has been facing tremendous challenges in the domain of manufacturing. We are in urgent need of innovators and startups working in the healthcare and agriculture domain to cater to some of the pertinent developmental challenges to uplift the status of manufacturing in India. I believe the NIRMAN Accelerator program comes with massive potential to harness and capitalize on startups working in the field. We welcome innovators and startups to apply.”

Dr. Nikhil Agarwal, CEO FIRST IIT Kanpur & AIIDE said, “SIIC comes with a vast experience of working with promising innovators and startups that can leverage optimum social impact. This collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology aims to revive the manufacturing domain in the country. I am certain the program will induce motivation among innovators to pursue manufacturing with the same passion and enthusiasm as SaaS, AI/ML. I urge more startups to apply.”

The 6-month-long program will be devised into four segments, namely – (i) Principles of Product Growth, (ii) Engineering Acceleration, (iii) Navigating the Compliance Puzzle, and (iv) Leading to next-stage growth. The program will offer Knowledge Workshops, One-on-one mentoring support, Diving deep for customized support for clinical validation, and Business and investor connect.

The program is accepting applications from 21st July 2022 to 5th August 2022.

The program invites applications from manufacturing startups

Agrotech, Company News, North America

The companies announced the signing of a definitive acquisition agreement on June 29, 2022, and have now satisfied all necessary conditions and regulatory approvals.

FMC Corporation, an agricultural sciences company, announced that it has completed the closing of its acquisition of BioPhero ApS, a Denmark-based pheromone research and production company. The companies announced the signing of a definitive acquisition agreement on June 29, 2022, and have now satisfied all necessary conditions and regulatory approvals.      

FMC Corporation is a global agricultural sciences company dedicated to helping growers produce food, feed, fiber and fuel for an expanding world population while adapting to a changing environment. FMC’s innovative crop protection solutions – including biologicals, crop nutrition, digital and precision agriculture – enable growers, crop advisers and turf and pest management professionals to address their toughest challenges economically while protecting the environment. With approximately 6,400 employees at more than 100 sites worldwide, FMC is committed to discovering new herbicide, insecticide and fungicide active ingredients, product formulations and pioneering technologies that are consistently better for the planet.

The companies announced the signing of a

Agrotech, Company News, India, Interaction

Renowned scientists committed to agri research would enlighten the young researchers about how research contributes to the enhancement of agricultural productivity

 The Science and Lab Solutions – Merck India announces a panel discussion on Emerging Trends and the Future of Indian Agricultural Research. The event is the next chapter of Merck’s flagship series Science 2 Solutions – an initiative to connect young researchers with leading stalwarts across the country. Nurturing a thriving community always comes first in advancing science, and Merck’s efforts to support future scientists.

Empirical evidence strongly suggests that agricultural research can improve people’s lives in developing counties. The session will focus on the emerging trends in Indian Agricultural research, to learn some critical lessons from these trends that can take Indian agriculture on a higher growth trajectory. As a global leader, Merck is leading the industry by taking an initiative that acts as a bridge that connects aspiring young researchers to learn about the best practices, understand the current research trends and help them find solutions in their areas of research.

Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and electronics. Around 60,000 employees work to make a positive difference in millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live.

Renowned scientists committed to agricultural research would enlighten the young researchers about how research contributes to the enhancement of agricultural productivity, output and quality, and much more. The panel comprises leading stalwarts from all over the country and as well as from across borders, including Dr Ajit Kumar Shasany, Director ICAR-National Institute For Plant Biotechnology, Dr C. Tara Satyavathi Project Coordinator, ICAR-All India Coordinated Research Project on Pearl millet, Prof. Ashwani Pareek, Executive Director National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute, Prof Utpal Nath, Associate Professor – Indian Institute of Science, Prof. Rajeev K. Varshney, Director State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, Food Futures Institute, Murdoch University and Dr Pankaj Joshi, Director Commercial Marketing – SLS Merck India.

Renowned scientists committed to agri research would