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Agrotech

The new partnership will promote Evonik’s agribusiness capabilities and help to leverage its innovation in the area through better connections to the regional agribusiness ecosystem

Evonik has recently entered into a technological cooperation agreement with the AgTech Garage innovation centre in the Piracicaba Technology Park, in the state of Sao Paolo. The new partnership will promote Evonik’s agribusiness capabilities and help to leverage its innovation in the area through better connections to the regional agribusiness ecosystem.

“We are committed to developing innovative and sustainable solutions for the South American agricultural market. This partnership with AgTech Garage will help us to strongly connect with large companies and startups to promote and develop new technologies for the agricultural industry through open innovation”, said Diego Abreu, Global Marketing Head of Evonik Interface & Performance’s agricultural market segment.

AgTech Garage is one of the world’s main innovation hubs specialising in agrobusiness, promoting initiatives that connects startups, producers, investors, academics, scientists, and other stakeholders to develop technological solutions that contribute to a more sustainable, competitive, and socially inclusive agribusiness across the entire value chain. With established partnerships and the support of leading companies, AgTech Garage’s network provides an innovation dynamic: open, connected, collaborative and agile.

The new partnership will promote Evonik's agribusiness

AgroPolicy

Narendra Singh Tomar has said that the GOI wants to realise the vision of all-round and balanced development in the country

The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar has said that the Government of India wants to realise the vision of all-round and balanced development in the country. Tomar said that it is the belief of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that if the strength of the Northeast will increase, then the country’s strength will consolidate and with this strength the nation will move forward.

Further, Tomar launched the Honey Testing Laboratory at Dimapur, Nagaland, which will help beekeepers and processors for testing the honey produced. He also visited the Bamboo Museum and Organic AC Market. During these events, the Agriculture Minister of Nagaland G Kaito, Chief Secretary J Alam, Central Horticulture Commissioner Prabhat Kumar, other senior officers and distinguished people, farmers and scientists were present.

“The Northeast Region cannot be overlooked when it comes to all-round development. Therefore, through the schemes-programmes, funding and institutions of the government, it is our constant endeavour that the northeastern region should not depend on anyone, but should stand on its own feet and be able to contribute its fullest to the country’s development.” said Tomar, at an event organised at the North-East Agri Expo, Chumaokedlma.

Narendra Singh Tomar has said that the

Company News, Finance

Arya.ag records over 3X growth on its digital agri-lending book in the last 6 months

Arya.ag, India’s largest and fastest-growing integrated grain commerce platform, today announced crossing the distinct milestone of reaching the Rs 500 crore book outstanding on its embedded fintech platform, Aryadhan.

This feat is propelled by Arya.ag’s indigenously built digital capabilities, which have been customised for simplified and optimum use by smallholder farmers and farmer producer organisations (FPOs). With immediate access to finance, farmers, FPOs, and other stakeholders in the value chain can tide over any liquidity requirements and fend off any distressed sale scenarios after harvest.

Arya.ag’s technology stack built on IoT, analytics, AI, and ML enables minimal transaction costs and lower interest rates for borrowers while expediting the turnaround time (TAT) for loan disbursements. Today, Aryadhan is the largest NBFC in Warehouse Receipt Finance (WRF), distinguished by its deep outreach to farmers and FPOs. Its unique phygital model is especially relevant in near farm locations where banks are largely averse to lending citing risk considerations.

Arya.ag’s value proposition continues to find increased relevance with Agri stakeholders. The platform saw a sharp rise in its loan book from INR 142 crore in December 2021. Having disbursed over Rs 1200 crore so far, the platform has managed to maintain immaculate asset quality with near-zero NPA levels.

Recently, Arya.ag further consolidated its bouquet of digital lending offerings by introducing industry-first and revolutionary Insta-Loan and Insta-Release products. Arya.ag’s Insta-Loan allows a farmer to avail a loan instantly against her stored commodity at her discretion from the comfort and convenience of her home. The Insta-Release product enables farmers to have immediate access to their stocks upon payment of loans for further sale. Today, in a market that is adapting to digital solutions, 98 per cent  of all of Arya.ag’s loans are released digitally.

Arya.ag records over 3X growth on its

Finance, Sustainability

Company invests in new technologies to reduce emissions

Evonik Venture Capital has invested in two sustainability funds: Azolla Ventures I and the Chrysalix Venture Capital’s Carbon Neutrality Fund. Both companies are looking into CO2 reduction technologies, with Azolla focused on North America and Chrysalix globally. This is Evonik’s venture capital arm’s first investment using the new €150 million Sustainability Tech Fund. All parties have agreed to not disclose the amount of the investment.

“By working with Azolla Ventures and Chrysalix, we gain an early insight into pioneering technologies for CO2 reduction worldwide. This also helps us to achieve our own sustainability goals,” said Dr Bernhard Mohr, head of Evonik Venture Capital.

The current fund focuses primarily on start-ups in North America whose innovations have the potential to make a significant contribution to reducing emissions.

Evonik has set a goal of significantly reducing the direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions of its own production and processing operations by 2030. Both Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions are to be reduced from the current 6.5 million tonnes to 4.9 million tonnes.

The company’s ambitions are strengthened by the new Sustainability Tech Fund. This fund focuses on investments in six technology fields: circular economy, alternative raw materials, future mobility, hydrogen economy, renewable carbon and clean energy. With the Sustainability Tech Fund, the total fund volume of Evonik Venture Capital increases to €400 million.

Company invests in new technologies to reduce

Agrotech, Biofuel industry, India, Start ups

The company aims to widen its digital toolkit and launch its operations in North India by the end of FY22.

Pune based BiofuelCircle, India’s first and one-of-its-kind online marketplace designed for biomass and biofuels has announced $0.75M in their second round of Seed funding. The funding was co-led by Spectrum Impact, Better Capital, Dr Shridhar Shukla and others. BiofuelCircle started as a bootstrapped company and has raised US$ 1.75 Million since inception.

Launched in July 2021, BiofuelCircle is a Pune based digital platform for green fuels, creating a farm-to-fuel ecosystem and currently operates in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. The company aims to address the challenges around bioenergy supply chain and make a positive impact on not only the environment by reducing greenhouse emissions but also on the rural community by providing economic value, clean energy and increased job opportunities.

Commenting on the announcement Suhas Baxi, Co-founder and CEO, BiofuelCircle said, “We are delighted to close the second round of funding and look forward to expanding our business with the fresh funds that we have raised. We aim to widen our digital toolkit and launch our operations in North India by the end of this year. Clean energy is of utmost importance to our country right now and we aim to contribute towards making bioenergy supply chain more reliable and predictable.”

BiofuelCircle’s digital platform currently serves 400+ active members, caters to 50+ biomass-based products. The company has set up a three-sided e-marketplace connecting buyers and sellers along with service providers for transportation, warehousing, and other supply chain services. BiofuelCircle has created a digital ecosystem to cater to the diversity of participants where businesses from industrial and rural sectors can transact fairly.

Dr. Shridhar Shukla, Co-Founder and Chairman, kPoint Technologies, added, “BiofuelCircle has built an intelligent marketplace catering to small and large participants in this diverse and time-sensitive business model connected by a vast supply chain. The solutions provided by them have proved their social acceptance, ease of use, and delivery of direct business benefits which would have been impossible otherwise.”

Vaibhav Domkundwar, CEO & Founder, Better Capital said “We are glad to be a part of BiofuelCircle’s journey and are positive that their solutions will evolve the sector at large. Their vision of ease of doing business, especially for rural participants by increasing the market reach and providing the option of price discovery is something we look forward to.”

Talking about the environmental challenges and increasing use of bioenergy in India Mirik Gogri, Sustainability Investor, Spectrum Impact, shares “We are excited to invest in BiofuelCircle as it provides a marketplace solution to increasing adoption of Bio-Energy in India. For optimum utilization of the agricultural waste, the supply chain for this segment needs to be optimized and that’s where BiofuelCircle is making a difference.” 

The company aims to widen its digital

Agrotech, Company News

Due to strong farmer interest, AOS expanded the opportunity to participate in phase two of the program to 100 percent of its Brazilian grower base.

Alliance One International, LLC has announced the phase two results of the partnership of its Brazilian subsidiary (“Alliance Once Brazil”) with Bayer Crop Science, which was formed with the goal of providing quality maize seeds and agronomic support to smallholder tobacco farmers in Brazil. Following the completion of the 2021 growing season, participating farmers reported a 15 per cent average increase in maize yield compared to the 2020 growing season.

“Due to strong farmer interest, we expanded the opportunity to participate in phase two of the program to 100 percent of our Brazilian grower base,” said Helio Moura global agronomy director for AOI. “We distributed 5,700 bags of Bayer maize seed to our contracted farmers as well as provided fertilizer and additional agronomic guidance related to maize production. As a result, farmers reported that they experienced improved crop quality and yield, in turn, increasing the farmers’ bottom lines.”

Through the partnership, Alliance One Brazil’s goal is to help its contracted farmers diversify their income by strengthening the quality and yield of a crop that is complementary to tobacco. Farmers that participated in phase two of the program earned an average of $270 more per hectare of maize when compared to the prior crop.

“Alliance One Brazil’s contracted farmers produced an additional 5.150 metric tons of maize this past crop year, which is primarily sold for use in animal feed,” said Moura. “Given the threat of a global food crisis, it is increasingly important to help our farmers scale production in order to help offset shortages and high costs.”

In response to the positive results of the program’s second phase, Alliance One Brazil is evaluating the inclusion of additional crops as part of the program and AOI is assessing the potential to expand the program to other countries within its footprint. 

“We are very excited about the future of this program and its potential to improve farmer livelihoods not only in Brazil but around the globe,” said Alex Strohschoen, president of AOI. “As we enter the 2022 growing season, we plan to introduce the program to our contracted farmers in Argentina, where a significant portion of our grower base could benefit from improving the quality and yield of their maize crops.”

Due to strong farmer interest, AOS expanded

Company News, Machinery – Post-harvesting

Mahindra’s Zaheerabad plant has adopted TPM since inception and exports to over 60 global markets, with the U.S. being a key export market.

  Mahindra Tractors’, part of Mahindra’s Farm Equipment Sector, the world’s largest tractor manufacturer by volume, proudly rolled-out its 300,000th Telangana-made tractor from the company’s tractor manufacturing facility in Zaheerabad.

Mahindra’s 300,000th Telangana-made tractor was rolled-out in the presence of  K. Taraka Rama Rao, Hon’ble Minister for IT, Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Industries & Commerce, Telangana State, Jayesh Ranjan – Principal Secretary, Industry & Commerce and IT, Govt of Telangana, along with Zaheerabad Constituency’s Bheemarao Basawantrao Patil, Member of Parliament & K. Manik Rao, Member of Legislature.

Commenting on the milestone, Hemant Sikka, President – Farm Equipment Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. said, “Rolling-out our 300,000th Telangana-made tractor from our Zaheerabad facility is a significant milestone for all of us at Mahindra and for the state of Telangana. Besides being a hub for a wide range of products for the Indian market, the plant also caters to over 60 markets, including advanced markets like the U.S., Japan and Brazil. In line with the agri agenda of Telangana we thank our colleagues in Telangana and the state government in helping us achieve this feat. Going forward we will roll-out our new light-weight K2 tractor series from this facility.”

Established in 2012, Zaheerabad is Mahindra’s youngest and largest tractor manufacturing plant in terms of capacity. It is the only tractor manufacturer in the state of Telangana and has invested close to Rs. 1,087 crores at its facility in Zaheerabad, employing over 1,500 workers with a capacity of over 100,000 tractors per year on a 2-shift basis.

Having rolled-out its first tractor from its Zaheerabad facility in 2013, Mahindra’s Zaheerabad facility crossed it’s 100,000th unit production mark in 2017 inclusive of exports. This was followed by crossing it’s 200,000th unit in 2019.

With the flexibility to roll-out over 330 different tractor variants ranging from 30 to 100 HP, Mahindra’s Zaheerabad plant has adopted TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) since inception and exports to over 60 global markets, with the U.S. being a key export market.

Mahindra’s Zaheerabad plant has adopted TPM since

Allied Industry, Company News

The new herbicide provides a new level of broad-spectrum weed control in the critical growth stage of sugarcane, ensuring strong establishment of the crop for a better yield

FMC India, an agricultural sciences company, announced the launch of Austral herbicide, a new pre-emergent herbicide for sugarcane crop. Austral herbicide provides a new level of broad-spectrum weed control in the critical growth stage of sugarcane, ensuring strong establishment of the crop for a better yield.

Austral herbicide’s unique dual mode of action offers a weed free condition during the critical crop-weed competition period in sugarcane. This innovative proprietary product solution forms a layer of protection on top of the soil, inhibiting weeds to germinate during the critical crop growth phase, resulting in higher numbers of healthy tillers and thereby higher yields in sugarcane.

FMC India President Ravi Annavarapu said, “At FMC, we are driven by a strong R&D pipeline, committed to bring the latest global technologies and introduce novel and sustainable solutions to address Indian farmers’ challenges. The introduction of Austral herbicide for sugarcane farmers is a testimony to our commitment of enabling better yield through technology-driven, scientific solutions. We are confident that Austral herbicide will help sugarcane farmers improve their income through effective weed protection for a superior harvest.”

Austral herbicide will be available in 500g and 1kg packs at leading retail stores across the country for the coming season. 

The new herbicide provides a new level

Agrotech, Company News, North America, R&D

Both companies expect that trials, which are taking place in the Midwestern US, will begin to yield data in November 2022, ahead of the 2023 growing season.

 In a move designed to provide additional, efficacious solutions for growers of traditional row crops, leading ag bio companies Certis Biologicals and Novozymes are jointly developing their technologies as solutions for highly effective control of fungal disease. Field trials are currently underway that will test combinations of Certis Biologicals’ innovative biofungicide active ingredient with new Novozymes actives recently registered for use in the marketplace.

“The biopesticide expertise and leadership of Certis, together with the innovation of Novozymes, is a powerful partnership that will bring new solutions to row crop growers at a time when effective crop protection is more crucial than ever,” said Amy O’Shea, Certis Biologicals President & CEO. “Growers need innovative solutions, and we are proud to be part of bringing those solutions to the marketplace with Novozymes.”

“The recent US EPA registration of Novozymes LCO Promoter technologies opens a gateway for new collaborations with innovative, first mover partners like Certis Biologicals,” said Jason Ward, Head of North America, BioAg Commercial Operations at Novozymes.

Both companies expect that trials, which are taking place in the Midwestern US, will begin to yield data in November 2022, ahead of the 2023 growing season.

“We believe that the power of our innovative biofungicide technology combined with Novozymes innovations will bring a level of biological efficacy to row crops that is unseen in the market today,” said Rob Gibson, Certis Biologicals Global Portfolio Manager. “Our technical experts anticipate significant protection against spot, rust and blight when foliar applied. Through soil application, we have witnessed control against Rhizoctonia, Fusarium and Pythium. This level of protection in a single solution will consistently deliver value back to the grower.”

“Novozymes BioAg has hundreds of trial results across many years and crops documenting LCO Promoter yield increase. LCO is an ideal premix solution delivering consistent yield increases across a wide range of labeled crops, for instance, 4 to 6 bushels in corn. LCO is highly compatible with most crop protection formulations and is effective at low dosages resulting in unchanged use rate for the existing crop protection product,” said Adam Kayser, BioAg Technical Agronomist at Novozymes.

Both companies expect that trials, which are

Agro chems – Fertilizers

Dr Mandaviya asked MFL to search for opportunities to shift to nano urea production which will change the face of fertiliser usage in India tomorrow

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilisers, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya visited Madras Fertilisers Limited (MFL) in Chennai on June 26, 2022. He reviewed the progress of the Company and understood challenges and elaborated on the opportunities and also directed the company to work towards the fulfilling needs of our farmers.

Union chemicals and Fertiliser Minister further said that he has also brought in the vision 2027 which envisions inclusion of phosacid plant, installation of granulator to produce DAP, installation of RLNG based captive power plant of 20 MW, installation of additional NPK stream to make total NPK production of 5LMT and diversification into trading different fertilizer products.

Dr Mandaviya asked MFL to search for opportunities to shift to nano urea production which will change the face of fertiliser usage in India tomorrow.

Furrther, Dr Mandaviya congratulated the team for having achieved a milestone in their journey towards the collective effort of Atmanirbharta in fertilisers. He also stated that MFL has successfully supplied over 32 per cent of the state of Tamil Nadu requirements of neem coated urea of 4.5 LMT in Kharif 2022, while it has produced and supplied nearly 82 per cent of Puducherry’s Kharif requirement of 7300 MT. 

Dr Mandaviya asked MFL to search for

North America, People

Boeck has been a key part of the Syngenta Seeds business that has completed a significant turnaround and return to profitability

Syngenta has recently announced the appointment of Eric Boeck as Regional Director, North America Seeds, responsible for leading the field crops strategy for the region.

Boeck most recently served as the Head of Marketing for Syngenta Seeds in North America. Joining the company in 2018, he brought more than 20 years of agribusiness experience to Syngenta from past roles in sales, marketing and digital agriculture at DuPont Pioneer/Corteva Agriscience. Boeck has been a key part of the Syngenta Seeds business that has completed a significant turnaround and return to profitability. Seed advisors and agriculture retailers played a key supporting role in driving the turnaround in the US, and Boeck’s team was instrumental in working closely with these groups over the past four years.

The move is part of a series of recently announced leadership transition plans, which include Jeff Rowe, President of Syngenta Seeds, assuming leadership of Syngenta Crop Protection, and Justin Wolfe, the current Regional Director for North America Seeds, becoming the global leader for the Seeds business. These transitions will be effective July 1, 2022.

“It’s not possible to execute the type of turnaround we saw in our Seeds business without focused, committed leadership across the board, and the continuity shown by these leadership moves is further evidence of that,” said Wolfe.

Boeck has been a key part of

Horticulture

Tomar said that the Central Government and the State Governments are working together for the development of the North East Region including Nagaland

The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar, has recently visited the Central Institute of Horticulture in Nagaland and inaugurated a farmer’s workshop and exhibition. Speaking on the occasion, Tomar said that the Central Government and the State Governments are working together for the development of the North East Region including Nagaland.

“The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, wants that there should be holistic and balanced development and the benefits of the government’s schemes should reach the eligible people including farmers right down to the grassroots level, which will improve their standard of living. The Central Government is dedicated towards this and will continue to do so. For the development of Northeast, the Central Government will continue to walk step by step and shoulder to shoulder with the States. It is necessary to transform agriculture into advanced farming for the benefit of the farmers in the country including the Northeast,” he said.

In the programme organised by the Central Institute of Horticulture (Medziphema, Dimapur), the chief guest Tomar said that if the Central and State Governments work together, then its results are bound to be good, and this is what is happening now.

“The North-East Region has been a victim of neglect for a long time and due to its remoteness, it became difficult to get the benefits of schemes here, but after becoming the Prime Minister, Modi has constantly paid attention to get enough funds for the development of the North-East, ensured the Union Ministers visit this region regularly, the Prime Minister himself also came here several times so that the problems of the region continue to be resolved by the Government of India,” he said.

Tomar said that the Central Government and

Horticulture, Transportation

SpiceXpress transported four times the quantity carried as compared to 26 tonnes of lychee, transported to various destinations within the country In FY 2021

Gurugram based SpiceXpress, the logistics platform of SpiceJet, has carried 100 tonnes of lychee from Darbhanga in Bihar to various parts of the country this season, which is about four times the quantity carried as compared to the last year.

Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet, said, “We have transported 100 tonnes of lychee from Darbhanga to various parts of the country till date. Timely transport of fresh produce is essential to minimise post-harvest loss and ensure availability in markets across the country. We are happy that through our cargo network, fresh produce are being transported timely and efficiently, helping the farming community maximise profits and access more markets across the country.”

It has been SpiceXpress’s constant endeavour to support the farmer community by helping them transport their perishable items safely, conveniently and in the shortest possible time.

Last year, SpiceXpress had transported 26 tonnes of lychee to various destinations within the country. SpiceXpress has been transporting farm and agro products such as shrimps, fish seeds, fresh fruits and vegetables to various domestic and international destinations to help farmers with timely access to markets and boost the export of agro products from the country.

SpiceXpress is continuously expanding and strengthening its cargo network on both domestic and international routes. It offers a real-time 24×7 end-to-end track and trace feature for domestic cargo.The airline also operates a dedicated air cargo service under the brand name SpiceXpress offering safe, on-time, efficient and seamless cargo connectivity across India and on international routes.

SpiceXpress transported four times the quantity carried

Agro chems – Chemicals, Company News, India

 The model aims to benefit 25,000 soybean farmers in the Latur, Osmanabad & Beed districts of Maharashtra in the first year.

Bayer, a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of healthcare and agriculture, announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in India with ADM, a global leader in sustainable human and animal nutrition. The partnership will enhance sustainable value offerings to soybean farmers in the Latur, Osmanabad & Beed districts of Maharashtra and expand further to Karnataka, subsequently. 

In India, ADM’s principal business is processing of oilseeds into edible oils, animal feeds and feed ingredients and human nutrition ingredients. ADM has a large network of farmers in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, through Krishi Vikas Kendras’ (KVK) network of 50+ crop-development and procurement centers. The centres are staffed by agronomists who offer local farmers training in best agricultural practices, as well as procurement services. ADM’s Sustainability Program creates opportunities for small landholding farmers to get training in socioeconomic and environmental sustainability principles and third-party audits, through the European organization, ProTerra Foundation. 

Bayer aims to reach twenty-five thousand soybean farmers in ADM’s network in the first year. During the period, Bayer will provide a specialized schedule of crop management prepared in consultation with ADM and agricultural universities for all the crops in the working area as and when required. It will also develop a crop protection package for all crops of soybean & pulses by providing legally permitted, non -hazardous crop protection chemicals as allowed under sustainable crop production principles. ADM will provide Bayer with details regarding the partner farmers & area of operations. Bayer will follow a Seed to Market approach with the inclusion of sustainability elements such as complete package promotion of seed treatment, pesticides, and agronomic advisory along with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices. It will also demonstrate good agricultural practices on demo plots & conduct field visits for extending practical experience to farmers. The MoU will be valid for a period of three years. 

Speaking on the partnership, Simon-Thorsten Wiebusch, Country Divisional Head – Crop Science  Division of Bayer for India, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka, said, “In contrast to cereal production, India is  far from self-sufficient in edible oil production, importing nearly 60% of its domestic edible oil  requirement. Increasing the yield of soybean cultivation sustainably is essential to reduce import dependency and increase the income for soybean farmers to increase the attractiveness of the crop. 

Speaking on the same, Amrendra Mishra, MD Oilseeds Country Manager India, said, “This partnership is aimed at training the farmers to adapt responsible agricultural practices and progressively enhance the level of compliance to sustainable standards of agricultural production. Together, Bayer and ADM are making a tangible, positive impact at the field level by partnering with farmers to not only focus on environmental security, but also on food security.” 

 The model aims to benefit 25,000 soybean