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Agro Universities, Agrotech, India

 MoU will focus on empowering local farming communities of FPOs by increasing business and trade opportunities in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh

ICAR- Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoU) with Flipkart India Private Limited to enable market access for FPOs and SHGs by procuring quality produce directly from the farmers. 

Dr C. V. Ratnavathi, Director, ICAR-IIMR and Giridhar Perab, Associate Director, Flipkart, Shri Girish Nair, South Zone Head, Flipkart, Dr Srinivas Babu and Dr Sangappa, Scientists of ICAR-IIMR participated in MOU agreement signing.

Through this partnership both the parties will focus on empowering local farming communities of FPOs by increasing business and trade inclusion opportunities for small and marginal farmers of FPOs in four states (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh) where ICAR-IIMR is acting as CBBO. It will create a shared value for all stakeholders and provide better marketing linkages, remunerative prices to small and marginal farmers of FPOs.

ICAR-IIMR in collaboration with Flipkart aims to enable market access to FPOs, by engaging small and marginal farmers with groceries private label business for sourcing requirements and training, capacity building initiatives of FPOs. This shall help, assist and develop, provide knowledge and understanding in regard to quality of produce, quantity, documentation, pricing and licenses requirements and aspects to be part of the ecosystem for the small, marginal farmers of FPOs.

ICAR-IIMR will support Flipkart’s engagement with the FPOs, by providing infrastructure support for training and capacity building activities in the implementation and engagement of the program with their available resources.

 MoU will focus on empowering local farming

Company News, Finance

Company plans to accelerate the commercial deployment of its next-generation product portfolio into new North American markets.

Toranto based Vive Crop Protection announced the close of its USD $26 million Series C investment round. The round was led by Emmertech with participation from the Cibus funds, and existing investors Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), Export Development Canada (EDC), and Urbana Corporation. Vive has also secured debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) to provide both working and growth capital in support of their continued expansion.

Vive will have a second close in the next quarter to accommodate top-tier investor groups still completing diligence – all strategically focused on next-generation agriculture technology. Vive will leverage its newest funding to accelerate the commercial deployment of its next-generation product portfolio into new North American markets while advancing its research and development pipeline.

“The investment by Emmertech, the Cibus funds, and existing investors, and the debt financing provided by Silicon Valley Bank underscores our success in delivering innovative solutions to farmers,” said Darren Anderson, Chief Executive Officer, Vive Crop Protection.

Kyle Scott, Managing Director of Conexus Venture Capital & Emmertech, says, “We are thrilled to be backing Vive’s outstanding team and the trust they’ve built among farmers with solutions that are efficient, sustainable, and profitable. We look forward to supporting Vive with their R&D infrastructure and entrance into global markets.”

Alastair Cooper, Head of Venture at the Cibus funds, said, “Our investment underlines our commitment to disruptive companies like Vive who place innovation at the core of their business model. As agriculture continues to embrace new technology, we believe Vive products will become increasingly important for maximizing on-farm efficiency and sustainability.”

Graeme Millen, Managing Director and Climate Tech & Sustainability lead in Canada for Silicon Valley Bank, says, “Vive’s unique technology exemplifies the power of next-generation solutions to create sustainable yet profitable outcomes for stakeholders. This approach aligns with SVB’s role as an active partner for high impact Agtech companies and we’re excited to support Vive’s important mission.”

Vive’s proprietary Allosperse® technology is a nanoscale, polymer-based delivery system that improves the targeting and performance of both synthetic and biological active ingredients, enhancing farmers ROI and sustainability profile.

Company plans to accelerate the commercial deployment

AgroPolicy, Agrotech, Company News, Oilseeds

The collaboration will bring new opportunities and growth in building oil palm plantation in Assam, Manipur and Tripura.

Godrej Agrovet, one of India’s largest diversified agribusiness companies, today announced that it has signed three MoUs (Memorandum of Understand) with Assam Manipur and Tripura state governments for development and promotion of oil palm cultivation in the region under the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) scheme.

In August 2021, Government of India had launched the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEOOP) with planned outlay of Rs 11,040 Crore. Under this mission, Government has envisaged to raise area under cultivation of oil palm to 10 Lakh hectares by 2025-26 and 16.7 Lakh hectares by 2029-30 with special focus on the North East region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

As part of the MoU signed, Godrej Agrovet will be allotted land across the three states for promotion and development of sustainable palm oil plantations in the region. The collaboration will bring new opportunities and growth in building oil palm plantation in these three states and would help to provide the required support to the farmers.

Balram Singh Yadav, Managing Director, Godrej Agrovet Limited, said, “With more than thirty years of experience in oil palm business, Godrej Agrovet has been working and educating farmers from North East on sustainable palm oil plantation processes. Currently, we have around 65,000 hectares under palm oil cultivation across the country, which we plan to increase to 1 lakh hectares in the next few years. We are confident that the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) along with active participation of responsible organisations such as Godrej Agrovet will lead to bridging the gap in India’s oil mission.”

Sougata Niyogi, CEO – Oil Palm, Godrej Agrovet Limited, added, “We have been invested in promoting and developing north east as a growth market for palm oil cultivation for over a decade. According to industry estimates, these states have utilised less than 1% of its potential. These states promise huge opportunity for growth and improving income of the farming household. With our processing plant in Mizoram, we are prepared to sustainably serve the demand of the north east markets. With active support of the state governments, we can develop 15000 hectares in four North Eastern states in the next five years.”

The collaboration will bring new opportunities and

Agro chems – Chemicals, Agrotech, Company News, India

BAL also received the registration for indigenous manufacturing of another crucial pesticide Kresoxim Methyl Technical u/s 9 (4) in the RC meeting.

Best Agrolife Limited, a leading player in the Indian agrochemical industry, has been granted registration for the indigenous manufacturing of Pyroxasulfone technical u/s 9(3) by Central Insecticides Board & Registration Committee in the 440th meeting. With this Best Agrolife Limited (BAL) will become the first Indian agrochemical company to manufacture Pyroxasulfone Technical in India. BAL also received the registration for indigenous manufacturing of another crucial pesticide Kresoxim Methyl Technical u/s 9 (4) in the same RC meeting.

 Pyroxasulfone is a novel pre-emergence herbicide for wheat, corn, and soybean. Wheat is the primary cereal crop in India. The total area under the yield is about 29.8 million hectares in the country. While the area harvested for corn across India in 2021/2022 was 9.7 million hectares the Kharif acreage under soybean in the 2021 Kharif season was 120 lakh hectares. Pyroxasulfone controls the problematic weeds in these crops and ensures their better quality and higher yields. It acts by inhibiting the biosynthesis of very long-chain fatty acids in plants. As compared with other commercial herbicides it has lower application rates and higher efficacy against broadleaf weeds.

The market size of Pyroxasulfone is approximately Rs 450 crore at present and its demand will increase further in the coming years. Until now India was dependent on other countries for Pyroxasulfone. However, now under the Government of India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, it will be manufactured indigenously and will be easily available to the farmers. This will prove to be highly beneficial for them as they will get a high-quality product at a better price.

“This new development is of paramount importance for our company and we strongly believe it will play a decisive role in achieving our goals. Our company is focused on developing cost-effective and sustainable crop solutions which benefit farmers across multiple crops and our comprehensive product portfolio is a testimony to that. With these new pesticides in our product portfolio we will be able to contribute more to efficient global food production in the future,” said Mr. Vimal Alawadhi, Managing Director – Best Agrolife Limited.

BAL also received the registration for indigenous

AgroPolicy, India, Seeds

Eminent seed production experts of the country are participating in this three-day conference.

The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the 11th National Seed Congress-2022 at the Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Agriculture University in Gwalior.

On this occasion the newly constructed auditorium of the University was named after the late Dattopant Thengadi. Simultaneously the State Academy of Agricultural and Allied Sciences (SAAS) was launched. The efforts of NAAS at the national level and SAAS at the regional level will further accelerate the activities of agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry science and promotion of related research and education.

“Now that the climatic conditions are changing, this challenge has to be dealt with. Now there should be self-sufficiency in pulses and oilseeds also. For this the government is working in mission mode, but along with policies and funding, the invention of seeds should be such that it increases productivity and takes the country towards self-reliance. Agricultural scientists have a huge responsibility in this, and they need to do more work,” said Tomar.

In this event, deliberations will be held on the new experiments in the field of improved seed production in the country, keeping in view the future requirements and a policy will be framed on the strategy of improved seed production, especially of oilseeds and pulses. Eminent seed production experts of the country are participating in this three-day conference.

Initially the Vice Chancellor Prof. S. Koteshwara Rao delivered the welcome address. Dr. R.C. Agrawal, Deputy Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research; Ashwini Kumar, Joint Secretary (Seeds), Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and other dignitaries also addressed the gathering. In the programme, the Registrar, Anil Saxena along with the University officials, scientists of Krishi Vigyan Kendras, farmers and students were present on the occasion.

Eminent seed production experts of the country

AgroPolicy, Agrotech, Company News, India, R&D

Jharkhand became the first state to implement blockchain in the country which is being used to track seed distribution.

In a significant development which would revolutionize agriculture in the country, Directorate of Agriculture, Jharkhand and global blockchain technology company, SettleMint, India jointly announced the successful launch of seed distribution to farmers based on blockchain technology. In the two years of operations in India, SettleMint has made significant progress and took rapid strides towards the enablement of blockchain adaption in India. The successful implementation of blockchain based seed distribution to farmers in Jharkhand is a testimony to that effect.

Jharkhand is 1st state to implement blockchain in the country which is being used to track seed distribution. The blockchain platform tracks seed supply distribution-from issuing of supply orders from the Directorate of Agriculture, placing of seed demand by District Agriculture Officer, tracking seed distribution from empanelled government seed producing agency to distributors, retailers, LAMPS/PACS, FPOs and finally to the farmers. The move to implement blockchain is aimed at bringing transparency and authenticity of seeds which the farmers receive under the seed exchange scheme and other schemes. The state is committed to onboard all stakeholders, i.e., supplies, distributors, and farmers, invest in their training and adoption of technology.

It is envisioned to implement blockchain technology for tracking distribution of seeds, inputs, implements etc under all the schemes being implemented by Directorate of Agriculture like State Seed Distribution Scheme, NFSM, PMKSY, NHM. This will play a crucial role in the transparent execution of schemes while doing away with middlemen as it enables traceability, real time monitoring and efficient management of the schemes. “It is the utmost priority of this government to make quality seeds available to the farmers at the right time, along with filtering of middlemen, identification of the beneficiaries and creation of farmers’ database.” Jharkhand Agriculture Director Nesha Oraon said.

Shahzad Fatmi, CEO, SettleMint India, said, “We are delighted to partner with Jharkhand as it become the first state in the country to distribute seeds through blockchain technology. Blockchain is proving to be a game-changer in the agricultural sector. It is revolutionizing agrarian supply chains by making them more transparent and traceable.”

Jharkhand became the first state to implement

Agro chems – Chemicals, Company News, India

 The campaign is an acknowledgment of the tremendous hard work of farmers and it celebrates their enormous contribution.

Agri-input major Dhanuka Group has launched a unique brand campaign ‘India Ka Pranam Har Kisan Ke Naam’ to mark the 42nd foundation day of the company. The campaign is dedicated to acknowledging the sweat and toil of the hardworking farmers of India and celebrates their contribution in nation building.

“From ‘ship-to-mouth’ syndrome of the 1960s to a net exporter of food grains, we have a lot to be proud of. It is primarily due to the tireless efforts of our farmers that we are in such a sweet position in comparison to some other nations that are undergoing severe food shortages amidst the global turmoil,” said R. G. Agarwal, Chairman, Dhanuka Group.

The campaign “India Ka Pranam Har Kisan Ke Naam” highlights the journey of our farmers and salutes them for their tireless work. Indian farmers battle many adversities year on year to ensure that enough food is produced to feed not only the entire nation but also export to other countries.

“Our campaign India Ka Pranam Har Kisan Ke Naam is an acknowledgment of the tremendous hard work of our farmers and through this campaign we salute them for their enormous contribution,” Agarwal said.

The Group has also launched a new TVC as a part of this special campaign, which will be displayed throughout the country. The campaign is being promoted on print, television and digital platforms across the country.

“Right since our inception, we at Dhanuka have been at the forefront of contributing our best for the betterment of our farmers. We work with an aim of provide products that enable farmers to protect their crop, increase the yields and profits,” Agarwal said. Around 60-70 per cent of India’s population is involved in agriculture and allied activities and the progress of the nation depends on their wellbeing. Dhanuka has released this campaign at a time when the country is celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate the 75th Independence Day of the nation. “On the march towards Amrit Kaal, we salute our kisan and jawans – to acknowledge and strengthen their potential of which has provided security to our beloved nation by all means.”

 The campaign is an acknowledgment of the

Acquaculture, AgroPolicy, Agrotech, IT, Live Stock

The online marketplace will help the fish farmers and stakeholders to source the inputs such as fish seeds, feed, medicines, etc.

Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, launched the Online Market Place feature “Aqua Bazar” in the “MatsyaSetu” mobile app during the 9th general body meeting of the National Fisheries Development Board. The app was developed by the ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (ICAR-CIFA), Bhubaneswar, with the funding support of the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Hyderabad through the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY). The online marketplace will help the fish farmers and stakeholders to source the inputs such as fish seeds, feed, medicines, etc., and services required for fish culture as well as farmers can also list their table-size fish for sale. The marketplace aims to connect all stakeholders in the aquaculture sector.

While addressing the gathering, Parshottam Rupala, Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying, stated that capacity building of fish farmers should be given top priority. Intensive training courses should be organized and exposure visits should be organized for the farmers.

ICAR-CIFA and NFDB have developed this digital platform to bring all the stakeholders to one place. Through this platform, any registered vendor can list their input materials. The listed items will be displayed in the marketplace based on geographical proximity to the app user. The listings are categorized into the following major categories; fish seeds, input materials, services, jobs, and table fish. Every listing will contain detailed information about the product, price, available quantity, supply area, etc. along with the seller’s contact details. The needy farmers/stakeholders can contact the vendors and fulfil their procurements.

 The feature also allows the fish farmers to list their grown table-size fish/fish seeds for sale with an option to indicate the date of availability along with the price offer. Interested fish buyers will contact the farmers and offer their prices. It will certainly help the farmers to receive more business enquiries from buyers or buyer agents who procure fish, paving the way for increased awareness about the market situation and better price realization of farmers’ produce.

The online marketplace will help the fish

AgroPolicy, Horticulture, India, Trade

The meet was attended by farmers/FPOs, exporters and officials from JDGFT, KAPPEC, UAS, etc.

In a first of its kind initiative, a “Buyer Seller Meet on Dragon Fruit” was organised by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Bangalore Regional Office in collaboration with University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore and KAPPEC, at the GKVK Campus, Bangalore to promote export of Dragon Fruit.

Delivering the keynote address, Dr M. Angamuthu, Chairman APEDA said that more stakeholder’s interaction will be done in future and a Reverse Buyer Seller Meet will be organized for promotion of Dragon Fruit and value-added products in order to boost exports. He pointed towards the collaboration with I.I.H.R. for standardization of fruit parameters and value-added products to help the industry. The Meet was attended by Farmers/FPOs and Exporters. Officials from JDGFT, KAPPEC, UAS were present during the event. Dr S. Rajendra Prasad, Vice-Chancellor, UAS(B) inaugurated the event.

APEDA has taken number of export promotion activities and initiatives, by way of development of virtual portals for organizing Virtual Trade Fairs, Farmer Connect Portal, e-office, Hortinet Traceability system, Buyer Seller Meets, Reverse Buyer Seller Meets, product specific campaigns etc. APEDA has been closely working with the state government for creating infrastructure and promotion of export from the state.

The meet was attended by farmers/FPOs, exporters

Agrotech, Company News, R&D

Brazil represents a great opportunity for BVT to further market a foliar and soil-applied version of CR-7

Canada based Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. has announced that the Company has been granted a patent for BVT’s Clonostachys rosea CR-7 microbial strain (CR-7) in Brazil for use as a biological control agent in agriculture.

The Brazil patent grant (Patent Number BR112016005139-4) recognizes the unique properties of BVT’s proven CR-7 strain. It covers the use of CR-7 in any application method, in any formulation (solid or liquid), for yield improvement, and for disease control.

Brazil represents a significant market opportunity for BVT across specialty and row crops. It has a vast diversity of fruit and vegetable crops and is also the largest soybean producer in the world, with an estimated 140 million tonnes grown annually on about 100 million acres. It is also the world’s largest soybean exporter, with annual exports estimated at 90 million tonnes.

“We are making significant advancements in soybean seed treatment in the United States, and extending the work into Brazil is the next logical step in scaling our business,” said Ashish Malik, CEO of BVT. “Brazil also represents a great opportunity for BVT to further market a foliar and soil-applied version of CR-7, and we are continuing to evaluate the opportunities for the bee vectoring process despite a more limited commercial pollination services industry compared to the United States.”

Malik also added that BVT’s inroads into Brazil are ground breaking. It’s rare for their authorities to allow a company to patent naturally-occurring microbial strains. The fact that we have been granted a patent for CR-7 speaks to how compelling and proprietary our technology really is. Having a patent-protected product paves the way for significant market entry opportunities with business partners in Brazil. It’s a key part of our strategy to strongly position BVT to capture global market share.”

BVT has had over 65 patents granted and currently has more than 35 pending in all major agricultural regions worldwide, including North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Brazil represents a great opportunity for BVT

Company News, Finance, North America

The funding will enable company’s delivery of the first-ever externally applied RNA for crop protection

US based GreenLight Biosciences, a public benefit corporation striving to bring effective and safe solutions to make food clean and affordable for everyone and dedicated to developing health solutions for every person on our planet, announced a private placement of approximately $109 million.

The financing includes participation from new and existing institutional investors, including S2G Ventures, BNP Paribas Ecosystem Restoration Fund, Continental Grain Company, Cormorant Asset Management, the Cummings Foundation, Fall Line Capital, the FTX Foundation, Insud Pharma, Morningside Venture Investments, Rivas Capital, Sigmas Group, SymBiosis and certain directors and executive officers of GreenLight.

“GreenLight’s RNA platform has continued to prove its value as our research and development addresses a wide range of solutions to the world’s challenges,” said Andrey Zarur, CEO of GreenLight. “We are grateful for the support, conviction, and trust of our returning investors. We are also delighted to welcome new investors who have decided to join GreenLight in our mission to feed the world and keep it healthy.

“This funding enables our delivery of the first-ever externally applied RNA for crop protection. In coming months, we anticipate EPA approval and launch of Calantha™, our solution for control of the Colorado potato beetle. Later this year, we plan to make a regulatory submission of our solution targeting varroa mites, which are decimating honeybee colonies around the globe.

“In recent months, we have manufactured mRNA at scale with Samsung Biologics and launched partnerships to develop vaccines with the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health and with The Serum Institute of India.” GreenLight will be working to develop vaccines for COVID and shingles in the coming months.

Matt Walker, a Managing Director at S2G Ventures and member of GreenLight’s Board of Directors, said, “This capital infusion from new and existing investors is not just a vote of confidence in GreenLight’s team and technology platform, but also in its commercial progress and growing pipeline of opportunities in human and plant health.”

The funding will enable company’s delivery of

Agro chems – Pesticides, Agrotech, Company News

From 2023, UPL will co-distribute Oro Agri’s Orange Oil bioprotection formulation and company will use its global distribution network to access new markets.

UPL Ltd, a global provider of sustainable agricultural solutions, announced a new collaboration with Oro Agri, a Rovensa company, for the co-distribution and further development of Orange Oil, a biosolution effective against a wide range of pests and diseases.

Orange Oil was developed by Oro Agri as a residue free biosolution with fungicidal, insecticidal, and acaricidal functions, as well as excellent adjuvant properties. Already registered in over 30 countries and with more than 140 crop and pest combinations, Orange Oil now joins Natural Plant Protection – NPP’s biosolutions portfolio, further enabling farmers to embrace more sustainable agriculture.

From 2023, UPL will co-distribute Oro Agri’s 60 g/L solo Orange Oil bioprotection formulation. Oro Agri will continue to supply existing customers directly while UPL will use its global distribution network to access new markets and build a wider customer base. UPL and Oro Agri will also collaborate to develop, register and market new and existing Orange Oil formulations to offer growers around the world access to the latest, most effective, and sustainable crop protection biosolutions. The agreement is part of UPL’s OpenAg® commitment to build a collaborative global network within the industry and beyond.

Eric van Innis, CEO of ROVENSA said, “This collaboration agreement with UPL will allow the rapid development of one of our flagship products across the globe, maintaining our distribution in markets where we already have presence and strengthening our footprint in new potential markets, optimizing the combined regulatory and intellectual property of both UPL and Rovensa. Both parties share the same mission: contributing to feed the planet through sustainable agricultural inputs for a well-balanced agriculture.”

Mike Frank, President and COO at UPL, said: “We look forward to collaborating with Oro Agri to evolve Orange Oil with more applications, combining our expertise to benefit growers. Orange Oil will join our ProNutiva® programme, working in synergy with NPP’s other biosolutions and UPL’s conventional inputs to improve farmers’ efficiency and profitability while reducing environmental impacts.”

From 2023, UPL will co-distribute Oro Agri's

AgroPolicy, Finance, Schemes - Govt

It will ensure sustainability of credit flow in the agriculture sector as well as ensure financial health and viability of the lending institutions.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved to restore Interest Subvention on short term agriculture loans to 1.5 per cent for all financial institutions. Thus, Interest Subvention of 1.5 per cent will be provided to lending institutions (Public Sector Banks, Private Sector Bank, Small Finance Banks, Regional Rural Banks, Cooperative Banks and Computerized PACS directly ceded with commercial banks) for the financial year 2022-23 to 2024-25 for lending short term agri-loans up to Rs 3 lakh to the farmers.

This increase in Interest Subvention support requires additional budgetary provisions of Rs 34,856 crore for the period of 2022-23 to 2024-25 under the scheme.

Increase in Interest Subvention will ensure sustainability of credit flow in the agriculture sector as well as ensure financial health and viability of the lending institutions especially Regional Rural Banks & Cooperative Banks, ensuring adequate agriculture credit in rural economy.

Banks will be able to absorb increase in cost of funds and will be encouraged to grant loans to farmers for short term agriculture requirements and enable more farmers to get the benefit of agriculture credit.  This will also lead to generation of employment since short term agri-loans are provided for all activities including Animal Husbandry, Dairying, Poultry, fisheries.

Farmers will continue to avail short term agriculture credit at interest rate of 4 per cent per annum while repaying the loan in time.

Keeping in view the changing economic scenario, especially increase in the interest rate and lending rates for the financial institutions especially Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks, The Government has reviewed the rate of Interest subvention provided to these Financial Institutions. It is expected that this will ensure adequate credit flow in agriculture sector to the farmer as well as ensure financial health of lending institutions.

To address this challenge, Government of India has proactively decided to restore Interest Subvention on short term agriculture loans to 1.5 per cent for all financial institutions.

It will ensure sustainability of credit flow

Agro Universities, AgroPolicy, Agrotech

The unit creates new livelihoods and better market access opportunities through value-added groundnut and millet to smallholder farmers in Anantapur

Kakani Govardhan Reddy, Minister for Agriculture & Cooperation, Marketing, Food Processing, Government of Andhra Pradesh, India, inaugurated a secondary processing unit (SPU) set up by ICRISAT-Walmart in Mudulapuram village. The unit creates new livelihoods and better market access opportunities through value-added groundnut, millet, and other nutritious products.

The SPU is approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and is expected to benefit over 6,000 smallholder farmers in Anantapur district. The facility which has a built-up area of 1,000 square meters, is operated by the women-led Rythu Nestham Food Producer Company Ltd (RNFPCL).

RNFPCL was established with support from ICRISAT and the Accion Fraterna Ecology Centre (AFEC) and includes farmers from nine FPOs across eight sub-districts (mandals) of Anantapur district. The facility is equipped with five processing lines, which will produce highly nutritious millet- and pulse-based ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat formulations such as traditional khichdi and upma mixes, high oleic groundnut products comprising of nutrition bars (chikki), cookies, snacks and savories, and healthy cold pressed groundnut oil.

“Our government’s priority is to make agriculture more viable and profitable for farming communities. This women-led food processing unit will boost sustainable farming and market access for local agricultural communities, provide employment to women and youth and create new opportunities for community-managed industry through the development of more food processing units.

“We congratulate Walmart Foundation, Flipkart, ICRISAT and AFEC on this initiative, and look forward to more such collaborations in the future,” said Govardhan Reddy.

“The entire infrastructure of the unit will ensure improved livelihoods and better opportunities for smallholder farmers. The launch of this SPU in the district will bring synergy between agriculture and the food processing industry,” said S Nagalakshmi, IAS, Collector and District Magistrate Anantapur, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

The unit creates new livelihoods and better