Connect with:
Friday / March 14. 2025

logo
mobile-logo
Home2022 (Page 85)
Machinery - Pre-harvesting, Machinery – Post-harvesting

Exports for the month stood at 1651 units

Mahindra & Mahindra’s Farm Equipment Sector (FES), part of the Mahindra Group, announced its tractor sales numbers for March 2022.
Domestic sales in March 2022 were at 28112 units, as against 29817 units during March 2021.

Total tractor sales (Domestic + Exports) during March 2022 were at 29763 units, as against 30970 units for the same period last year.
Exports for the month stood at 1651 units.

Hemant Sikka, President – Farm Equipment Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra said, “We have sold 28112 tractors in the domestic market during March 2022. Record procurement of Kharif acreage, a substantial increase in exports of agricultural products like wheat, sugar and cotton will help improve the financial position of the farmers leading to better cash flow in the rural market to help boost tractor demand going forward. Acreage of Kharif crop has already crossed last year’s levels, which augurs well for agri incomes. This will get a further boost with an early forecast of a normal monsoon. In the exports market, we have sold 1651 tractors, a growth of 43 per cent over last year.”

Exports for the month stood at 1651 unitsMahindra &

People

Kumar is an MBA in Agribusiness from Symbiosis Institute of International Business

Syngenta India has appointed Susheel Kumar as the Managing Director and new country head of the company. Kumar is an MBA in Agribusiness from Symbiosis Institute of International Business and a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Operations and Related Sciences from Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University.

Kumar hails from Haryana and has a marketing strategy background. He has been associated with Syngenta for almost twelve years. Recently, he has completed an international assignment in Switzerland, where he contributed to the global strategies of the company as well as projects for commercial excellence.

Kumar is an MBA in Agribusiness from

Agro Universities, Bee keeping

The objective of this conclave is to create awareness about the production of other high-value beekeeping products

A National Conclave on Production of Bees Wax was organised by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Gujarat in collaboration with the National Bee Board (NBB), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The conclave was supported by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) & Tribal Co-Operative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED). The objective of this conclave is to create awareness about the production of other high-value beekeeping products viz. bee wax, bee pollen, royal jelly, propolis, bee venom, etc.

Dr Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, said that beekeeping, besides pollination support, also provides extra income and creates employment opportunities for rural/ landless farmers and beekeepers. NDDB, NAFED & TRIFED have been identified as implementing agencies under NBHM for implementing beekeeping activities through a cluster-based approach by making Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs) on beekeeping.

Abhijit Bhattacharjee, GM, NDDB informed that NDDB is always committed to bringing policies/ schemes beneficial to farmer/ milk producers with the aim to uplift the economy of rural farmer/ milk producers. NDDB has a wide approach that the economy of Indian farmers/ milk producers will only increase if farmers/ milk producers will utilise the resources present in their local area and do not import resources from outside.

Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB, Anand suggested that engaging beekeepers in multiple streams of income through diversified activities is important for building economic resilience. Scientific beekeeping is one such activity that can provide additional income not only from honey production but through the production of other beehive products. He informed that NDDB is promoting beekeeping by using dairy cooperative channels present in the country and creating FPOs by organising beekeepers with the support of NBB.

Dr Prabhat Kumar, Horticulture Commissioner, DA&FW advised beekeepers to work in the field of value-added products in beekeeping to get more financial benefits and uplift their economy.

Dr NK Patle, Executive Director, National Bee Board (NBB) has briefed about the central sector scheme entitled National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) and practices aspects relating to beekeeping. He invited beekeepers to avail the facilities available under NBHM and adopt beekeeping in a scientific manner to get additional income through honey & other beehive products. He assured full support to beekeepers across the country under the NBHM scheme.

Dr Balraj Singh, Project Coordinator, Honeybee and Pollinators (HB&P), IACR said that in India, beekeeping is mainly practised for the production of honey only and therefore there is a need to create awareness about the diversification of beekeeping for the production of various other beehive products.

Dipenkumar C Patel, Progressive Beekeeper & Director, One Bee Organic, Gujarat introduced the participants to different types of honey, various bee products, its collection methods and types of equipment/machinery used.

Jaswant Singh, Tiwana Bee Farm, Ludhiana, Punjab inform that their firm is involved in the production of all kinds of bee products and equipment/machinery. His firm is involved in the production of Comb Foundation Sheets (CHS) from bee wax.

Jai Prakash, Senior Manager, Indian Bank has informed that to address the issue of adulteration in honey & other beehive products, National Bee Board has launched online registration and developing a blockchain /traceability system of the source of honey and other bee products. He showcased the procedure of online registration on Madhukranti Portal and requested all beekeepers/ other stakeholders to come forward and register themselves on this portal.

The objective of this conclave is to

Agro Universities, AgroPolicy

According to Narendra Singh Tomar, the new building will help in advancing the research on the cashew crop

Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare virtually inaugurated the Silver Jubilee Building of the ICAR-Directorate of Cashew Research, Puttur, Karnataka.

Tomar underlined the cultivation of cashew in around 11.25 Lakh ha area having an annual production of 7 lakh tonnes. He stated that the area under cashew in the country is the second-largest in the world. Tomar accentuated that India is the second-largest country in the production of raw cashew nuts in the world. Highlighting the ever-increasing consumption of cashew in the country, he also stressed the need for setting a goal to fill up the gap between its production and consumption. Adopt the ways for strategic planning to enhance the export of cashew instead of its import was also emphasised by Tomar.

“There is a need to enhance the cashew’s production and its productivity by bringing more area under the cashew cultivation,” stressed Tomar. He urged exploring the possible suitable areas for its expansion. The release of 26 varieties, the development of Virtual Software and the Mobile App ‘Kaju India’ by the ICAR-DCR, Puttur for apprising the farmers about the latest developed varieties and technologies were underlined by the Union Minister. The large scale employment opportunities generated by cashew processing, which involves around 95 per cent of farmers along with the cashew processing units providing employment to about 15 Lakh people were highlighted by Tomar.

The Union Minister regarded the New Silver Jubilee Building as a new dimension in the council’s vision of empowering and benefiting the agricultural community which will help in advancing the research on the cashew crop. He stated about the council’s efforts of enabling the farmers to connect with it through technological advancements. This, he said, is beneficial to a large extent for the farmers.

According to Narendra Singh Tomar, the new

Agrotech, Bee keeping, Sustainability

Four R&D trials are being conducted to gather further disease and nut rot data and to determine the nutmeal quality

Bee Vectoring Technologies International announced that it is conducting 10 almond trials in the 2022 growing season, which started during the almond bloom period (mid-February to mid-March) and will continue through harvest in the Fall. The locations are throughout California’s Central Valley, including in Bakersville, the Fresno area, and Northern California. This is the second year for BVT almond trials as farmers require multi-year data under local conditions for proof of efficacy.

The California almond market is important to BVT because of its huge market potential, and California almond pollination is believed to be the largest single pollination event worldwide. Valued at over $6 billion, almonds are California’s largest non-dairy crop in the state, with over 1.2 million acres in production. Almond growing is big business and the sector has key sustainability objectives: the Almond Board of California has committed to increasing the adoption of environmentally-friendly pest management tools by 25 per cent by 2025.

Four R&D trials are being conducted to gather further disease and nut rot data and to determine nutmeal quality. Four grower demonstrations are being used to collect harvest yield and nutmeal quality data to allow farmers to evaluate BVT in stage one of the new customer sales adoption cycle. Some of the trials are with large and influential companies in the almond growing community. Across the eight trials, four varieties of almonds are being treated with BVT’s proprietary Vectorite with CR-7 (Clonostachys rosea CR-7) biological fungicide, applied with bee vectoring.

Two further spray trials are being conducted with the University of California Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology. This is the second year CR-7 has been included in the research programme, spraying it on almond trees at bloom to assess control of brown rot blossom blight (Monilinia laxa) and jacket rot (Botrytis cinerea).

BVT’s precision agriculture system helps growers meet this goal. The 2022 trials will grow awareness and provide proof of concept that BVT technology controls key fungal pathogens in almonds in a manner consistent with the objectives of the Almond Board.

“California almonds use over 2 million bee colonies for pollination every year,” said Collinson. “When a nut grows, it’s because of a bee-pollinated flower. So why not have those bees do double duty – and carry biological fungicides to those flowers? BVT is a natural fit with almonds – and the California market is a massive opportunity for the Company.”

For trials to be useable, the disease has to be present, which isn’t the case every year, particularly in dry windy seasons. Several seasons and multiple sites may be required to demonstrate effectiveness for disease control. At a minimum, the yield data obtained will be extremely valuable in initiating the sales process with almond growers.  

Four R&D trials are being conducted to

AgroPolicy, Environment, Sustainability

The project will be executed in collaboration with Andhra Pradesh government promoted Rythu Sadhikara Samstha

Govt of Odisha is set to roll out a climate-resilient natural farming programme in tribal-dominated areas of five districts in a step toward sustainable agriculture. The project will be executed in collaboration with Andhra Pradesh government promoted Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS), to implement natural farming, they said.

The project, covering 3.15 lakh hectares of farmland, will be rolled out from 2022-23 fiscal with an investment of around Rs 312 crore over five years. A cluster approach will be adopted for the scheme, to be undertaken through women’s self-help groups (WSHGs) in Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Rayagada and Koraput districts.

The WSHGs will be trained for crop diversification, initial preparation of bio-inputs and pre-monsoon sowing. They will be assisted in the establishment of common facility centres for cleaning, grading, segregation and storage.

The project will be executed in collaboration

Agrotech, Sustainability

The report shares insights into sustainability transformation as the company drives action across its four strategic priorities of advancing soil health and soil carbon sequestration through smart solutions

AGCO, a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of agricultural machinery and precision ag technology, has recently released its 2021 Sustainability Report.

“In 2020, we established AGCO’s sustainability strategy and have made meaningful progress in 2021 against our goals,” said Eric Hansotia, AGCO’s Chairman, President and CEO. “These early results have confirmed that our commitment to precision agriculture innovation places us on the right path to addressing sustainability.”

The report shares insights into sustainability transformation as the company drives action across its four strategic priorities of advancing soil health and soil carbon sequestration through smart solutions; decarbonising our operations and products; elevating employee health and safety; and prioritising animal welfare in food production. It represents a significant step forward in measuring and demonstrating our progress against our goals and commitments set in 2020, including:

  • Completing a global climate risk assessment and disclosing against the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework in inaugural TCFD report.
  • 13 per cent reduction in GHG emission intensity (scope 1 and 2)
  • 52 per cent renewable electricity use, up from 40 per cent and 32 per cent renewable energy use, up from 27 per cent.

“Our 2021 Sustainability Report shows AGCO is committed to accelerating progress in sustainability into our design, manufacturing, and distribution of smart agricultural solutions across the entire value chain,” said Roger Batkin, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief ESG Officer, and Corporate Secretary.

The report shares insights into sustainability transformation

Agrotech, Horticulture, Start ups, Supply Chain, Trade

The combined entity will foray into growing its export business with multiple crops and new regions

AgroStar has acquired Mumbai-based INI Farms, exporters of F&V crops like bananas and pomegranates from India. AgroStar has acquired 100 per cent of INI Farms through a combination of cash and stock. Through this acquisition, AgroStar will provide additional value to its large network of farmers by making their products available to quality-conscious consumers around the globe. This acquisition provides a scaled presence to AgroStar in the USD 300B+ agri output market.

Following this acquisition, AgroStar will provide market linkage solutions for the domestic and export markets to its large network of farmers. In addition, INI Farms’ customer base of global retailers will get access to a wider basket of F&V products. AgroStar will also provide access to great quality inputs, tech-based farm interventions and solutions designed to increase yields to INI Farms’ network of farmers across multiple states. Pankaj and Purnima along with the entire INI Farms team will continue to operate and scale the’ Kimaye’ brand across more countries and many more crops.

The combined entity will foray into growing

R&D, Water

Transitioning from traditional irrigation to drip irrigation systems decreases water use and has less of an impact on humidity

Irrigated agriculture areas have expanded greatly throughout the Indo-Gangetic plain, and water use has consequently increased, contributing to an increase in summer wet-bulb temperature. A study in the AGU journal Earth’s Future, by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, looks into improved water savings and reduction in moist heat stress caused by efficient irrigation.

The researchers used observations and simulations from the Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) model to examine the impact of efficient (drip) irrigation on moist heat stress and water savings over the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Irrigated area has increased more than 20 per cent over the Indo-Gangetic Plain during the 1970-2005 period.

The study highlights:
From 1970 to 2005, irrigated agricultural areas in the Indo-Gangetic plain grew by 20 per cent.
Greater irrigation use has increased humidity, leading to higher wet-bulb summer temperatures and greater heat stress, and contributing to declines in groundwater.
Heat stress is a primary hazard for agricultural workers.
Transitioning from traditional irrigation to drip irrigation systems decreases water use and has less of an impact on humidity.
The irrigation expansion partly contributed to the rise of 0.46 °C (P-value < 0.05) in the summer (April-May) season wet-bulb temperature over the Indo-Gangetic Plain, which is a measure of moist heat stress.

Transitioning from traditional irrigation to drip irrigation

Agrotech, Company News

The new manufacturing line will help the company stay closer to customers, improve the response times, and also provide new job opportunities 

Eaton Fluid Power, a member of Danfoss Group, has launched an all-new production line for hydrostatics at its state-of-the-art facility in Pimpri, Pune, to cater to the demand of the local agriculture sector. Danfoss is the first organisation to have the manufacturing capability of hydrostatics transmission solutions in India.

The addition of this new hydrostatics line will help improve the energy efficiency and sustainability quotient of applications where these solutions are deployed. The fast return on investment and operational efficiency offered by the product also makes it well suited for the Indian market. This new state-of-the-art assembly line and test stand are MES integrated and high on safety. The digitalisation capabilities, size and accessibility benefits of the product are also its highlight.

The new manufacturing line will help the

Agro chems – Fertilizers, Agro chems – Pesticides, Agrotech, Sustainability

Rhizo-Flo is a unique and leading soybean inoculant designed to deliver high concentrations of viable and effective cells and ultimately improve yields

AMVAC and BASF are pleased to announce a collaboration to develop Rhizo-Flo granular soybean inoculant as an exciting addition to the expanding SIMPAS-applied Solutions portfolio.

Rhizo-Flo is a unique and leading soybean inoculant designed to deliver high concentrations of viable and effective Bradyrhizobium cells and ultimately improve yields. When Rhizo-Flo inoculant is utilized, the Bradyrhizobium sp multiplies, penetrating the soybean plant root system to form nodules that allow the soybean plant to fix nitrogen. As growers strive to push soybeans to higher yields, Rhizo-Flo inoculant is another important tool the grower has available to achieve yield objectives and improve bottom-line results.

Rhizo-Flo would join a growing portfolio of SIMPAS-applied Solutions (SaS), which are products prescriptively applied with patented SmartCartridge container technology and using the SIMPAS application system to address unique agronomic needs. Across the SaS portfolio are insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, micronutrients, and solutions for soil health and fertilizer efficiency. 

“AMVAC is excited to collaborate with BASF to develop Rhizo-Flo for use as a SIMPAS-applied Solution that can be applied with the SIMPAS system,” said Jim Lappin, Director of SIMPAS Portfolio and Alliances at AMVAC. “SIMPAS gives growers the flexibility to apply exactly what’s prescribed, precisely where it’s needed.”

Rhizo-Flo is a unique and leading soybean

Agro chems – Fertilizers, Agrotech, Sustainability

To invest in cutting-edge technology to make farming more sustainable

Proman, an integrated energy company and one of the world’s top ten nitrogen fertiliser producers, announced a new strategic partnership with CropX, a global pioneer in digital farm management systems.

CropX technology provides farmers and industry experts with the data and information they need to increase farming sustainability through conserving resources across the value chain and increasing crop yields, resulting in a more sustainable food production environment.

The investment underlines Proman’s commitment to actively supporting innovative technology solutions that can improve agricultural sustainability at a time when it is crucial for global food security and nutrition.

David Cassidy, CEO, Proman said, “We look forward to contributing our expertise as a fertiliser producer to this initiative and supporting CropX’s vision to utilise technology to boost farmer productivity and incomes, improve food security, and strengthen the resilience of the global food production systems. With food security becoming an increasingly pressing global issue, we believe that Digital Agro technologies have the potential to significantly increase agricultural productivity and support more sustainable agriculture around the world.”

Tomer Tzach, CEO, CropX said, “We are fortunate to partner with such an incredible global leader in nitrogen fertiliser. Using technology to precisely manage fertiliser application is the next frontier, and companies such as Proman and CropX will lead the way. We are excited that Proman sees the great value in our fertiliser management capabilities, which are an important part of the growing suite of decision tools that CropX offers to help farmers grow more with less.”

To invest in cutting-edge technology to make

Agro Universities, Seeds

As many as 52 farmers and scientists of the development departments participated in the webinar organised by PAU
The Department of Vegetable Science, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), organised an online webinar on “Hybrid Seed Production of Vegetable Crops” under the guidance of Dr Tarsem Singh Dhillon, Head, Department of Vegetable Science, in which as many as 52 farmers and scientists of the development departments participated.

In his remarks, Dr Dhillon highlighted the scope and importance of hybrid seed production of vegetable crops. “Vegetable cultivation is of immense importance in today’s era for vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates,” he added.

Dr Salesh Kumar Jindal, Senior Vegetable Breeder, explained the activities like identification and maintenance of male and female flowers in tomato and chilli for successful production of hybrid seeds in detail.

Dr Satpal Sharma, Principal Vegetable Breeder, shed light on the activities like identification and maintenance of male and female flowers in muskmelon for successful production of hybrid seeds.

Dr Jagdish Singh, Soil Chemist, Regional Research Station, Gurdaspur, imparted knowledge about soil health management under vegetable crops. He shared experiences about sowing methods and fertiliser practices of different vegetables.

As many as 52 farmers and scientists

Allied Industry, Environment

Enlist herbicides were granted a seven-year amended registration in January and are the first products to complete the EPA’s new ESA Protection risk assessment process

Corteva Agriscience has announced that many growers will have reinstated access to Enlist One and Enlist Duo herbicides for the 2022 growing season. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued updated supplemental labels for the herbicides that remove geographic restrictions for two listed species, the American Burying Beetle and the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake. Enlist herbicides were granted a seven-year amended registration in January and are the first products to complete the EPA’s new Endangered Species Act (ESA) Protection risk assessment process.

“Corteva Agriscience is working on behalf of our customers to see as many labelled-off counties reinstated as possible while still protecting listed species and their habitats,” said Susanne Wasson, president, Crop Protection Business Platform for Corteva Agriscience.

The updated supplemental labels remove geographic restrictions for Enlist One and Enlist Duo herbicides in 128 counties where American Burying Beetle is found, as well as six counties where Enlist Duo was restricted due to the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake.

The Enlist weed control system includes Enlist herbicides, Enlist Ahead, Enlist E3 soybeans, Enlist cotton and Enlist corn. The comprehensive system offers multiple herbicide modes of action to control tough weeds and is centred around 2,4-D choline with Colex-D technology, which provides key benefits including near-zero volatility, reduced potential for off-target movement and physical drift, and improved handling characteristics when applied pursuant to label instructions.

Enlist herbicides were granted a seven-year amended registration in