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Agrotech, Animal Health, Company News, Live Stock

IIL’s intended new facility, in Genome Valley Phase 3, will add another 300 million doses/annum of FMD vaccine to its capacity.

Hyderabad-based Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL) announced that the company will invest about Rs 700 Crores to set up a new animal vaccine manufacturing facility in Genome Valley, Hyderabad – the “Vaccine Hub of the World”, to meet the vaccine security of the nation against economically important diseases such as Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) and other emerging diseases. The facility will create total employment for around 750 people.

IIL, a subsidiary National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) is already one of the largest manufacturers of FMD vaccine in the world and is the leading supplier of FMD vaccine to the Government of India’s National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP). IIL is investing in a new greenfield project for the establishment of a Veterinary Vaccine Facility for manufacturing of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine and other animal vaccines. The facility is intended to be a state-of-art fully integrated biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) for Drug substance (DS) production and respective fill-finish.

IIL’s intended new facility, in Genome Valley Phase 3, will add another 300 million doses/annum of FMD vaccine to its capacity. The existing facility in Gachibowli already has a capacity of 300 million doses. Production is scheduled to commence in the 3rd year.

All of these activities will be located in Genome Valley, which is India’s first organized cluster for Life Sciences R&D and Clean Manufacturing activities, with world-class infrastructure facilities in the form of Industrial / Knowledge Parks, Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Multi-tenanted dry and wet laboratories and incubation facilities. It is home to more than 200 companies with a scientific workforce of about 15,000 professionals including presence of the marquee global names like Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Ferring Pharma, Chemo, DuPont, Ashland, United States Pharmacopeia, Lonza amongst many others including other vaccines manufacturers like Bharat Biotech, Biological E, etc.

Dr. K. Anand Kumar, Managing Director, IIL mentioned, “IIL is on an aggressive growth path and this third vaccine facility in Hyderabad will ensure self-sufficiency for our nation in the field of vaccines and thereby saving the exchequer and farmers several thousands of crores”.

IIL’s intended new facility, in Genome Valley

Acts & Schemes – Centre, AgroPolicy, India, Trade

The AEFC will be developed as a platform to provide instant services and guidance on agri-export, and develop capacities and address the need of agri-exporters

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned an agri-export facilitation centre (AEFC) at Jodhpur under its Farm Sector Promotion Fund to create an ecosystem and facilitate export of agri commodities from Rajasthan. AEFC will be implemented by South Asia Biotechnology Centre, Jodhpur in collaboration with local organization, FPOs, aggregators, processors and agri exporters from Rajasthan.Jodhpur

The AEFC will be developed as a platform to provide instant services and guidance on agri-export, train, mobilize and empower key stakeholders to harness the agriculture sector, develop capacities and address the need of agri-exporters, facilitate visits of experts and create interface with key stakeholders in agri-export sector for improving ecosystem of agri-export from Rajasthan.

 The AEFC was inaugurated by Baiju N Kurup, Chief General Manager of NABARD, Rajasthan RO, Jaipur in the presence of B K Tripathy, General Manager of NABARD, Rajasthan RO, Jaipur and Shri Manish Manda, District Development Manager (DDM), Jodhpur; Dr MY Honnur, Deputy Director of the Spices Board of India; Dr D Kumar, Dr Bhagirath Choudhary and Dr Neha Bulchandani of South Asia Biotechnology Centre, Jodhpur.

“AEFC is set up to create ‘one stop shop’ to discuss the potential of agriculture export, make a knowledge repository, develop export protocols, liaise with different export promotion bodies and enable FPOs, processors and exporters to navigate the complexity in agri export from Rajasthan”, said Baiju N Kurup, Chief General Manager of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).

 Dr Bhagirath Choudhary of South Asia Biotechnology Centre appreciated the initiative on agri-export as Rajasthan offers tremendous opportunity in high value spices, millets, guar gum, edible oilseeds and aromatic and medical plants.

“AEFC will incubate potential agri- entrepreneurs, hand hold FPOs and agri exporters and facilitate business opportunities in conjunction with the spices Board, APEDA and RSAMB to achieve the objectives under Agriculture Export Policy 2018 and Rajasthan Agro-processing, Agri-business & Agri-export Promotion Policy, 2019”, said Dr Choudhary.   

The AEFC will be developed as a

Agrotech, Animal Health, India, Interaction, Poultry

Soyabean meal is the dominant protein supplement used in poultry diets. But soybean production brings with it significant sustainability concerns, as it’s associated with destruction of natural grasslands and deforestation. Thus, from a sustainability perspective, replacing soybean meal with an alternative option must be analysed in detail. In conversation with AgroSpectrum, Narendra K Pasuparthy, Chief Farmer, CEO & Founder, Nandu’s shares his opinion on this matter.

What is the way forward for sustainable meat production in India & the related challenges?

India has been one of the early adopters of sustainable meat/poultry farming. The challenge is to get all stakeholders on board and scale up the eco-friendly, innovative practices at the industry level in the world’s second-fastest-growing processed meat and poultry market.  Once the industry starts seeing the economic value to sustainability, it’s possible to take simple but transformative steps – such as investing in solar energy and smart automation – to help reduce the poultry industry’s carbon footprint as well as empower farmers and consumers to make better choices.

Another pressing issue would be the exploitation of land to produce soya for poultry feed. Growing soya is extremely time consuming and resource intensive. 70 percent of the livestock farming costs goes into procuring animal feed, where the price and the quality are highly unstable. Hence, to tackle this issue, soya feed can be replaced with certain kinds of insect protein which is equally nutritious as poultry feed.

How is Nandu’s addressing these challenges?

As a leading hyperlocal, fully-integrated and omnichannel meat brand, Nandu’s has always been a step ahead in adopting sustainable technologies. We started with making our poultry production sustainable by adopting Solar Power. All our farms are powered by electricity generated from solar Photo – Voltaic panels which have been laid on the roof of the poultry house. These panels serve a dual role of forming an insulated roof that also produces electricity. We also generate biogas from poultry litter, thereby capturing methane, a deadly greenhouse gas, that could have escaped into the atmosphere causing global warming.

We have also seen significant value in embracing ecologically and economically sound chicken feed solutions. But the question is, can the Indian poultry industry reduce its dependence on soybean and pave the way for environmental consciousness and responsible consumption? Through our sister concern Feedwerkz, we were able to find a sustainable replacement for soybean in poultry feed. Urban organic food surplus is used to produce insect protein from black soldier fly (BSF) larvae. And the results have been remarkable! By replacing soy protein with insect protein, we not only bring down the cost of production of chicken, but also make a significant impact on the environment.

We also have our innovative eco-friendly packaging for all our home delivery orders, which has been a game changer in smart sustainable solutions that cater to the needs of consumers as well as the planet.

                                                                                                          By Manbeena Chawla

                                                                                                           manbeena.chawla@mmactiv.com

Soyabean meal is the dominant protein supplement

Horticulture, India, Supply Chain

Indian spices exports crossed $4 billion in last 2 years, covering more than 180 countries

World Spice Organisation (WSO), a non-profit technical partner for the All India Spices Exporters Forum (AISEF), concludes the 2-day National Spices Conference 2022 in Mumbai. The conference witnessed the presence of over 300 delegates, including 100 farmers, along with other key government and industry stakeholders.

This was a one-of-its-first kind conference organised by the World Spice Organisation in collaboration with GIZ and IDH-the Sustainable Trade Initiative.

D Sathiyan, Secretary of the Spices Board, spoke, “Indian spices exports crossed $4 billion in the last 2 years, covering more than 180 countries. The spice exports contribute around 10 percent of the agri exports and about 40 percent of the horticulture sector exports. India’s exports form only 15 percent of total spice production and balance is consumed in the domestic market. “

“According to international trade projections, demand for spices is poised to grow at a CAGR of 6.5 percent in the next decade, indicating the huge opportunity for exports” he further adds. 

Ramkumar Menon, Chairman of the World Spice Organisation, spoke, “It was overwhelming to witness such an amazing turnout at our first National Spice Conference. The topics discussed were relevant and will help regulate the spice trade for both Indian and international markets. As the theme for the conference was “Food Safety,” we at the World Spice Organisation would like to emphasise how Indian Farmers and other stakeholders in the supply chain should work towards ensuring food safety. 

The conference was attended by FSSAI, Spice Board and National Research Organisation like IISR and senior executives from leading spice-related firms. 

Indian spices exports crossed $4 billion in

Agri Genomics, World

The study offers a new perspective on the evolution of flowering plants

An international team of researchers including Florian Etl and Jürg Schönenberger from the University of Vienna, Stefan Dötterl and Mario Schubert from the University of Salzburg, and Oliver Reiser and Christian Kaiser from the University of Regensburg, succeed in providing evidence for an important hypothesis on the evolution and diversity of animal pollination.

The hypothesis states that insect flower pests can become useful pollinators during the course of evolution. Botanists call this “antagonist capture”, meaning that plants are able to turn a harmful insect into a pollinator through evolutionary adaptations in their flowers or inflorescences. This theory has now been confirmed for the first time in Syngonium hastiferum, an aroid plant (arum family, Araceae) from Costa Rica.

While all other members of the genus Syngonium studied so far are pollinated by nocturnal beetles, Syngonium hastiferum is exclusively pollinated by a hitherto unknown diurnal plant bug species. Interestingly, plant bugs also occur as flower visitors in beetle-pollinated aroids, but only as pests that eat pollen and flower tissue and thus damage the plants without pollinating them.

The study offers a new perspective on the evolution of flowering plants and the spectacular diversity of their flowers and their pollinators by providing the first evidence that pest insects can become efficient pollinators through changes in the flowers. 

The study offers a new perspective on

Company News, Finance, India, Start ups

The company aims to utilise the funds for their SNIPR Biologicals registrations and advancing the discovery platform

Tech-focused VC fund, Inflexor Ventures, is leading the Pre-Series A round of Rs 9 Crore in Agbiotech startup, BioPrime Agrisolutions (BioPrime). The current round of funding also saw participation from its existing investor, Omnivore. Inflexor has invested in 10 companies so far since November 2020, from its Fund II, companies including Atomberg, GramCover and Kale Logistics.

The company aims to utilise the funds for their SNIPR Biologicals registrations, advancing the discovery platform, building a strong IP portfolio, increasing production capabilities, and expansion.

“Bioprime works to transform the way we grow crops making food more nutritious, and residue-free while restoring soil health using cutting-edge technologies and approaches, always keeping sustainability at our core. At Bioprime we are focusing on discovering fundamental aspects of plant communication, developing novel biologicals based on trait-modifying microbes and physiology-modulating molecules.”, said Renuka, CEO of BioPrime Agrisolutions.

“We believe that the stellar founding team of BioPrime is well equipped to solve the complex food security problem brought to the forefront by climate change. The IP-led, high-throughput biomolecule discovery platform will facilitate faster market access. Such a technology platform fits well with Inflexor’s investing thesis of backing impactful, pure science companies from the Indian deep tech ecosystem.”, said Pratip Mazumdar, Partner at Inflexor Ventures.

“BioPrime is our first investment under the OmniX Bio initiative, which backs early-stage agrifood life science startups. We started OmniX Bio with the knowledge that innovations in agrifood life sciences can be the most effective weapon to combat climate change. BioPrime is an excellent example of an invention designed to improve human and planetary health alongside farmer incomes and we are delighted to back them” said Jinesh Shah, Partner at Omnivore Partners.

The company aims to utilise the funds

Cold Storage, Supply Chain, Sustainability

Haryana and the University of Birmingham have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop Haryana Centre of Excellence on crop post-harvest management and sustainable cold chain during the global summit organised by the Centre for Sustainable Cooling (CSC) in Birmingham.

The agreement builds on the Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-chain (ACES) developed with the Government of Rwanda and UN Environment Programme at the University of Rwanda.

The Haryana Centre of Excellence will conduct state-of-the-art applied research and provide capacity building and training, an innovation and business hub and technology testing/demonstration centre. It will connect experts, investors, agri-food business, farmer cooperatives, and energy or logistics providers to deliver sustainable cooling.

It also follows an MoU signed earlier this year with Telangana for a Telangana Centre of Excellence. The UK and UN Environment technical assistance programme is funded by DEFRA.

The summit was opened by the Rwandan High Commissioner, Johnston Busingye and Jai Prakash Dalal, Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Government.

“The The UK-Haryana Centre for Post-harvest & Cold Chain will be a big leap towards developing and demonstrating post-harvest technologies that will enhance the shelf life of perishable produce. The centre will not only cater needs of farmers but also researchers and entrepreneurs,” said Dalal during his address at the global summit.

Toby Peters, CSC Director and Professor of Cold Economy at the University of Birmingham and Heriot-Watt University, commented, “We must now figure out how to provide the globally connected cold-chains for a well-functioning society in an efficient, affordable, equitable and sustainable manner. Temperature-controlled supply chains networks are complex, requiring coordination across multiple-stakeholder countries and continents. We need to understand the interplay with renewable energy, climate friendly refrigerants.”

“We must also understand the impact and opportunities of radical new innovations – refrigeration cycles, drones, blockchain and Internet-of-Things (IoT) – as well as the food innovations such as alternative proteins, vertical farming which will dramatically change how we produce, distribute and consume food,” Peters further added.

Brian Holuj, UN Environment’s Project Manager for the Centres, added, “With the ACES hub taking shape in Kigali and major progress at its first “spoke” in Kenya, we are delighted to expand our collaboration with CSC to include the development of this new Centre in Haryana. There is a tremendous opportunity for cross-fertilisation among the best minds in Africa, India, the UK and beyond as we tackle critical cold-chain needs.”

CSC is responsible for a series of multinational and multi-partner cold-chain research programmes across UK, EU and internationally to explore system approaches on how to meet cold-chain needs and facilitate uptake of innovative systemic solutions at scale and increase awareness among policy makers about the importance of a sustainable, equitable and resilient cold-chain system globally.

Haryana and the University of Birmingham have

Company News, India, Machinery – Post-harvesting

India’s tractor export brand, Sonalika Tractors has recorded the highest ever monthly sales of 18,619 tractors and captured an estimated 15 per cent market share with 26.2 per cent growth in September 2022. The company has also recorded the highest ever monthly production of 15,563 tractors including a record daily production of 702 tractors rolled out during the month.  

During the hiring spree announced by the company for ITI students in July 2022, Sonalika has so far recruited over 2000 students as channel partner workforce across India.

Sharing his thoughts on these developments, Raman Mittal, Joint Managing Director, International Tractors Limited, said, “Festive season brings in exciting times which are full of positivity. We are delighted to receive an overwhelming response for our customised tractor range and also stepped up our production. We are excited to have clocked highest ever monthly sales of 18,619 tractors with 15 per cent market share (est.) and have grown by 26.2 per cent thereby beating industry growth (est 18.9%). Moreover, we also ramped up to record highest ever production of 15,563 tractors to meet festive demand.”

“Alongside, our unique initiative of hiring ITI students has also seen an aggressive response at pan-India level as already 2,000+ students have been on-boarded across Sonalika channel partner workforce. Thank you all stakeholders for your trust in brand Sonalika, as we feel proud to be a strong 14 lakh farmer family now,” Mittal further added.

India's tractor export brand, Sonalika Tractors has

Company News, India

Bayer CS has identified clusters in 10 states and will aim to assist smallholder farmers with business planning, identification of key enablers, creation of market linkages and knowledge transfer.

Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC) and Bayer CropScience Limited have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form and promote 50 specialised Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). In collaboration with SFAC, Bayer CropScience Limited has identified clusters in 10 states and will aim to assist smallholder farmers with business planning, identification of key enablers, creation of market linkages and knowledge transfer, while working to establish 50 Farmer Producer Organizations.

SFAC’s partnership with Bayer CropScience Limited will help strengthen grower collectivisation and support farmer collectives to evolve as profitable and self-reliant business entities. Bayer CropScience Limited is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies providing sustainable farming solutions and has conceptualized an initiative with key value chain partners to build capacities of FPOs in India.

SFAC has emphasised the importance of collectivisation and FPOs important role in it. FPOs play a big role in building socio-economic resilience of the farmers, leveraging economies of scale in production and marketing. Value Chain organisations like Bayer has an important role to play in achieving the project’s objective. Its vast experience and outreach will certainly benefit the ultimate primary stakeholder.

Speaking on this milestone occasion, Simon-Thorsten Wiebusch, Country Divisional Head – Crop Science Division of Bayer for India, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka, said, “India is a nation of smallholder farmers. Collectivization in the form of a vibrant and strong network of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) will not only improve farmers’ incomes but also supports the building up of a robust food value chain network to aid India’s food security, supporting food quality improvements and export potential. We as Bayer, are grateful to the Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC) for giving us this opportunity of forming 50 FPOs. It brings to life and makes tangible our global commitment of empowering 100 million smallholder farmers by 2030 and providing them necessary resources to enhance their productivity and livelihoods and at the same time also contribute to the development of the Indian agricultural ecosystem.”

The MoU is aligned towards achieving the goal of the Central Sector Scheme launched by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India (“DA&FW”) of forming and promoting 10,000 Farmer Producer Organisations.

Bayer CS has identified clusters in 10

Acquaculture, Agrotech, Animal Health, Company News, India

Farmed shrimp industry expected to grow by 11 per cent against a global growth rate of 5.6 per cent

Indian Immunologicals Ltd (IIL) has forayed into Aquaculture Health Segment with the launch of its products to serve the growing need in farmed shrimp and fish in the country. IIL’s foray into aquaculture segment will be in multiple phases comprising of multiple products including vaccines. IIL as a one health company produces multiple types of vaccines for multiple species such as Human, cattle, ship and goats, pigs, and companion animals.

Speaking at the launch function held at Hyderabad, Managing Director of IIL, Dr K Anand Kumar, “IIL is committed to introducing products including vaccines that will significantly reduce the usage of antibiotics in the aqua health industry”.

 Dr. Priyabrata Pattnaik, Deputy Managing Director of IIL added “IIL with its strong R&D team, has all the technological capabilities to manufacture vaccines for aqua health management”.

Aquaculture segment is comprised of fish and shrimp. Shrimp farming has been a huge success in India. The farmed shrimp industry is expected to grow by 11 per cent against a global growth rate of 5.6 per cent. India has established itself as the second largest farmed-shrimp producer in the world. India’s global market share in shrimp business is 14 per cent. India’s annual shrimp production is around 600,000 metric ton that aggregates to more than $3 Billion with a CAGR of 32 per cent since 2010.

India’s shrimp industry primarily includes two species, White leg Shrimp and Black Tiger Shrimp. Approximately 40 per cent of shrimp is exported to the US followed by approximately 30 per cent to Vietnam and nearly 15 per cent to European Union. The export market strictly demands antibiotic free products.

Total fish production in India in 2018 was estimated at 6.24 million metric tons (MMT). The growth in the fish farming sector mainly comes from the freshwater aquaculture sector. Though India holds the second position in the world for freshwater fish farmed production, freshwater fish farming in India is still based on traditional methods – large ponds, no water exchange, no draining, and no bottom sediment removal – that often lead to conditions that promote disease. Many fish farmers are tempted to use high dose of antibiotics to treat such disease, that ultimately leads to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). IIL as a one health company, through its foray into aquaculture health segment intend to play a role in minimising use of antibiotics, ultimately protecting our environment and health.

Farmed shrimp industry expected to grow by

Agro Universities, India, Live Stock

Registered indigenous breeds now totals 212

ICAR-NBAGR has registered ten new breeds of indigenous livestock species in the country. These breeds are -Kathani cattle (Maharashtra), Sanchori cattle (Rajasthan) and Masilum cattle (Meghalaya); Purnathadi buffalo (Maharashtra); Sojat goat (Rajasthan), Karauli goat (Rajasthan) and Gujari goat (Rajasthan); Banda pig (Jharkhand), Manipuri Black pig (Manipur) and Wak Chambil pig (Meghalaya). Accession numbers were also assigned to these breeds by the Bureau.

 Earlier, Breed Registration Committee (BRC) in its 10th meeting held on August 31, 2022, approved the registration of these livestock breeds of different states. After including these breeds, total number of registered indigenous breeds are 212, including 53 for cattle, 20 for buffalo, 37 for goat, 44 for sheep, 7 for horses & ponies, 9 for camel, 13 for pig, 3 for donkey, 3 for dog, 1 for yak, 19 for chicken, 2 for duck and 1 for geese.

Newly registered breeds include the following:

  • Kathani is dual-purpose cattle. It is distributed in mainly Vidarbha region of Western Maharashtra. The Kathani cattle possesses good draft ability, suited to marshy land for paddy cultivation.
  • Purnathadi buffalo is distributed in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state. Milk yield ranges from 353 to1533 kg in a lactation. Milk fat percentage ranges from 6.5 to11.5.
  • Sanchori is a medium sized, good milk producing cattle. It is distributed in Jalore district of Rajasthan. Average daily milk yield is about 9 kg with 2769 kg milk in a lactation.
  • Masilum is a small sized but well-built and sturdy cattle of Meghalaya. It is well adapted to the hill ecosystem. 
  • Sojat is a large sized dual-purpose goat; reared for both meat and milk purpose. Sojat is mainly distributed in Pali, Jodhpur, Nagaur and Jaisalmer districts of Rajasthan. Average adult weight is about 60.0 kg in males. Average milk yield in female is about 1 kg per day.
  • Karauli is a medium to large sized goat, reared for meat and milk. It is distributed in Sawai Madhopur, Kota, Bundi, and Baran districts of Rajasthan.
  • Gujari goat is a large sized, dual-purpose breed of Rajasthan.
  • Banda pig is native of Jharkhand, mainly reared for pork and manure. Animals are black coloured, having short and erect ear. These animals are having medium to short bristle on neck with a long and concave snout. 
  • Manipuri Black is native pig of Manipur state, mainly reared for meat.
  • Wak Chambil is a small sized pig with round and pendulous belly. It is mainly distributed in Garo Hills of Meghalaya.

Registered indigenous breeds now totals 212ICAR-NBAGR

Agrotech, Company News, Europe, Sustainability

The collaboration will be used in asparagus and winegrowing

Huawei and Dronetech, Austria’s largest drone service provider announce new applications resulting from their collaboration in 5G smart farming.

The two companies provided an update on their pioneer project that started last year, and introduced how their 5G and IoT technologies can advance sustainability in agriculture. They also hosted a panel made up of digitalisation and agriculture experts discussing how technology innovation, and 5G particularly, can promote sustainable farming amid rising global concerns for food security.

The two companies announce that their collaboration is entering the second phase called “Digital Sky”, where Huawei will provide cloud computing services on top of 5G and Dronetech’s drones will survey the land and objects to capture images. 

“The project of Huawei and Dronetech with drone use in asparagus and winegrowing is the first in Austria and here we want to analyse plant growth with real-time image recognition. By doing so, we want to improve the harvest, the output and the quality of the products,” said Andreas Reichhardt, Director-General of Directorate-General VI – Telecommunications, Postal Services and Mining at the Austrian Ministry of Finance. 

The collaboration will be used in asparagus

India, R&D

The new facility will come up on 1.25 acre land at total cost of about Rs 5 Cr

Dr T R Sharma, Deputy Director General (Crop Science), ICAR lays the foundation stone of the new building of ICAR-IISR, Lucknow Biological Control Centre at Pravaranagar (Maharashtra). 

The proposed building and facilities of Biological Control Centre is constructed on about 1.25 acre land with the total cost of about Rs 5 crore, which is sanctioned by the Government of Maharashtra under RKVY scheme.

A Discussion on the ongoing research projects and experiments in the sugarcane fields and the research work and outreach activities of the centre for the benefit of sugarcane farmers of the Maharashtra also took place. 

Dr T R Sharma said that in view of the increasing demand for sugar and ethanol in the country, sugarcane farmers need to obtain high production of sugarcane by using modern technology developed and advocated by the ICAR-Indian Sugarcane Research Institute. Dr Sharma also advocated the use of bio agents for the management of pests and diseases in sugarcane.

The new facility will come up on

China, Country, Horticulture, R&D

The World Agricultural Centre (WAC), a new global hub for agricultural research, has opened its doors in Harbin, the capital city of China’s northeastern province Heilongjiang. The WAC builds on the legacy of the International Agricultural Technology Innovation Center (IATIC),  a part of Heilongjiang’s effort to build itself into an international hub for agricultural innovation.

Global Headquarters of DBN officially settled in the “World Agricultural Center”, and introduced a number of international institutions such as the International Black Soil Research Institute of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, the International Agricultural Economic Research Center, and the International Agricultural Think Tank, and will be built as the permanent site of the annual World Agricultural Economic Forum here. As a result, China’s agricultural field will work together to build the world’s agricultural science and technology innovation highland, and promote world agriculture to China, and Chinese agriculture to the world.

Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences and DBN recently held a global introduction conference for high-end agricultural talents. Liu Di, Dean of Heilongjiang Academy of Agriculture Science, and Zhang Lizhong, Vice Chairman of DBN Group, signed an agreement and jointly issued an announcement regarding the introduction of high-end agricultural talent in China, concentrating on corn, rice, soybeans, horticulture, and potatoes, as well as economic crops, edible fungi, and other planning.

The World Agricultural Centre (WAC), a new