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Agribusiness, Company News, Farm Mechanisation, Finance, India

This marked a substantial growth of 23 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year, where 10,464 tractors were sold.

India’s leading tractor manufacturer, Sonalika Tractors has announced that company has achieved a market share of 16.3 per cent in November’23, recording the highest overall growth of 23 per cent, surpassing industry growth estimates of 2 per cent.

This impressive accomplishment underscores the company’s commitment to delivering excellence in farming operations. The month of November2023, Sonalika Tractors reported robust overall sales, with the sale 12,891 tractors. This marked a substantial growth of 23 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year, where 10,464 tractors were sold. The company’s ability to surpass industry growth estimates of 2 per cent showcases its resilience and competitiveness in the market.

Sonalika Tractors has surpassed the 1 lakh tractor sales mark for the seventh consecutive year, spanning from FY’18 to FY’24. This consistent performance highlights the brand’s enduring popularity among farmers and its ability to meet their evolving needs.

Raman Mittal, Joint Managing Director, International Tractors Limited, said, “This achievement reflects our commitment to providing rightly priced, technologically advanced tractors with convenient access through our extensive dealer network.”

This marked a substantial growth of 23

Carbon Farming, Collaborations, Company News, Finance, India

This project ensures the continued care of trees beyond the support period of the BHGY project by aiding smallholder farmers in securing additional financial support from carbon markets.

Transform Rural India (TRI), in collaboration with Intellecap and ACORN (Rabobank), launched a pioneering Carbon Credit Finance Project benefiting over 100,000 farmers in Jharkhand.

This initiative targets all farmers in the state who have received support under the Birsa Harit Gram Yojana since 2018, facilitating their integration into the Rabobank ACORN platform. Predominantly women, these farmers have cultivated fruit orchards and local timber trees plantations across 100,000+ acres of rural land, with backing from the Government of Jharkhand under the Birsa Harit Gram Yojna (BHGY) of MGNREGA. These farmers will receive benefits for carbon removal over the next 15-20 years.

This project ensures the continued care of trees beyond the support period of the BHGY project by aiding smallholder farmers in securing additional financial support from carbon markets. Remarkably, this comes with no risk to the farmers or any required investment from them or the government. The project’s design inception began in December 2022, with the collaboration of implementation partners in support of the Jharkhand government.

Santosh K. Singh, Managing Director- Agri and Climate, Intellecap said, “We are committed to increasing smallholder farmers’ income and transitioning them to climate smart agriculture. By supporting Climate finance, specifically carbon finance, the project enables this transition to profitable and climate resilient agriculture practices. We also are looking at the ecosystem that is needed for achieving this and the platform works with government agencies, investors and corporates to help smallholder farmers.”

The project is founded on the principle of fair payment to farmers, wherein 80 per cent of the generated carbon credit revenue will be directly transferred to the farmers’ accounts. In addition to carbon credits, the partners will explore avenues to provide additional benefits to farmers through the Government of India Green Credit platform and other global biodiversity platforms. The project aims to ensure the proper maintenance of plantations, boost the income of smallholder farmers, and create local employment opportunities. Data collection and onboarding of BHGY farmers have already commenced, with over 150 farmers from the Bero and Angara blocks of the Ranchi district is under onboarding process. This project has got support from the Government of Jharkhand & Rural Development Department (GoJ).

Ashok Kumar, Director, Farm Prosperity, Transforming Rural India Foundation said, “At TRIF we are excited about this pioneering Carbon Credit Finance Project with ACORN and Intellecap to support over 1 Lakh women smallholder farmers with support from the Jharkhand Govt. This will ensure an increase in income of smallholder farmers as well as support the state’s active role in developing a climate action plan and taking necessary steps to tackle climate change. This project aims to be the guide and champion of smallholder farmers from Jharkhand for climate/ carbon finance.”

Earlier this year in January, Intellecap and Transform Rural India Foundation (TRIF) had developed the climate action platform to increase farmers’ income and build the resilience of their agricultural practices against the different aspects of climate change.

This project ensures the continued care of

Company News, People, World

He will join the company’s senior management Operating Committee and will continue to report to Andrew Sandifer, executive vice president and CFO

FMC Corporation, a leading global agricultural sciences company, announced that its board of directors has elected Patrick (Pat) Day as vice president, of Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), effective January 1, 2024.  He will join the company’s senior management Operating Committee and will continue to report to Andrew Sandifer, executive vice president and CFO.

“Pat is a highly valued finance business partner with extensive knowledge of FMC’s commercial and functional operations,” said Mark Douglas, president and CEO.  “He brings to the role a deep knowledge of our finance processes, strong business acumen and exceptional analytical capabilities.  He will serve as a key finance leader for the company’s restructuring initiatives.”

Day joined FMC in 2013 as director, of Finance Transformation, a role in which he served as a leader of the company’s One Finance program.  He moved to the FMC European Innovation Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2016 after being named regional finance director for FMC’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa region.  In 2020, Day returned to FMC’s headquarters in Philadelphia to assume the role of global FP&A director.  Before FMC, he spent six years each with Deloitte Consulting and United Technologies Corporation in a variety of Finance and Finance Transformation roles. 

He will join the company's senior management

R&D, Sustainability, World

The data shows the urgent need for improvement, as well as the potential for shared learning

“The state of food systems worldwide in the countdown to 2030”, published today by The Food Systems Countdown to 2030 Initiative (FSCI), provides the first science-based monitoring to guide decision-makers as they seek the wholesale transformation of the global agriculture and food systems. This transformation is needed urgently both to reduce the environmental impact of these systems and to mitigate the impact of climate change on them. The overarching objective is that all people – especially the most vulnerable – have equitable access to healthy diets through sustainable and resilient agriculture and food systems.

The UN Food Systems Summit catalysed agriculture and food system action, though policymakers often lack the data required to drive critical decisions. The FSCI is filling that gap, having identified an indicator framework composed of 50 indicators that monitor agriculture and food systems at a global level, using existing data to enable immediate action. Repurposing existing data, rather than carrying out time-consuming new research, means policymakers have quick access to relevant information.

Following this first global baseline, the FSCI will track agriculture and food systems annually until 2030, updating the framework as needed where new indicators or better data emerge.

Agriculture and food systems play a vital role in meeting all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), yet the SDGs are insufficient to monitor these systems. The FSCI fills this gap.

Agriculture and food systems transformation is essential if countries are going to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions. Yet this is still an emerging conversation: agriculture and food systems only played a small part in climate negotiations at COP27. They featured more strongly at the recent COP28 where over 150 countries signed the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action and committed to incorporate agriculture and food systems into their climate plans by 2025 – very encouraging progress.

The data shows the urgent need for

Agrotech, Award, Company News, India, Start ups, Supply Chain

It is a testament to the company’s unwavering commitment to innovation, resilience and delivery of unparalleled value within the swiftly evolving technological landscape.

FarMart, a leading global food supply platform, announced its exceptional placement in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India 2023. The company’s ranking among India’s top 50 fastest-growing IT enterprises highlights its sustained growth and ground-breaking innovation over the last eight years.

FarMart’s successive achievement in securing a prominent position in this year’s Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India after ranking #1 in fastest growing company in Deloitte Tech Fast 50 2022 is a testament to the company’s unwavering commitment to innovation, resilience and delivery of unparalleled value within the swiftly evolving technological landscape.

Alekh Sanghera, Co-founder and CEO of FarMart, expressed elation at this achievement, remarking, “Ranking top 5 in the prestigious Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India, for two consecutive years is a testament to our relentless pursuit of pioneering innovation within the food-tech domain. This recognition mirrors the dedication and innovative solutions our exceptional team has contributed to building a robust food economy. This accolade inspires us to persist in pushing technological boundaries, delivering impactful solutions, and shaping a progressive future in an age-old industry.”

Peeyush Vaish, Partner and TMT Industry Leader, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP, commended FarMart’s exceptional performance, stating, “Making the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India ranking is a testament to a company’s commitment to technology. With its work in agri and food tech, FarMart has proven that its leadership has the vision, determination, and ability to adapt and grow in a fast-changing environment.”

It is a testament to the company's

AgroPolicy, Foodgrains, India

Manufacturers/traders may consider lifting FCI rice under OMSS which may be sold to the consumers with a reasonable margin.

In order to review the domestic price scenario of non-basmati rice, Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution, Sanjeev Chopra convened a meeting in New Delhi with the leading Rice processing industry representatives.

It was discussed in the meeting that the domestic prices of rice are increasing despite a good crop this Kharif, ample stocks with FCI and in the pipeline and various regulations in place on Rice exports. The rice industry needs to ensure that the prices in the domestic market need to be brought down to optimal levels and efforts at profiteering dealt with strictly. The Annual Inflation Rate of Rice is hovering around 12 per cent for past two years and is cumulating over the years which is a cause of concern.

During the meeting, it was discussed that the benefit of lower prices has to be passed on expeditiously to the end consumers. The leading Rice Industry Associations were advised to take up the issue with their members and ensure that the retail price of Rice is reduced with immediate effect. There are reports of a sharp increase in the margins being availed by wholesalers and retailers which needs to be tempered. Besides, it was suggested that where there exists a wide gap between the MRP and actual retail Price, the same needs to be brought down to a realistic level in order to safeguard the interest of the consumers.

FCI informed the Rice processing industry that sufficient stock of good quality Rice is available which is being offered under OMSS at a reserve price of Rs. 29/Kg. It was also suggested that manufacturers/traders may consider lifting FCI rice under OMSS which may be sold to the consumers with a reasonable margin.

The Department of Food & Public Distribution closely monitors and reviews the prices of Rice in the country and steps in whenever any intervention is required to ensure affordability of Rice which forms an important part of the diet. The Indian consumers thus can expect to pay less for Rice in the coming days.

Manufacturers/traders may consider lifting FCI rice under

Agrotech, Company News, Digital Technologies, India

Data connectors for OEMs to further improve farmer and industry connectivity

Sonata Software, a leader in Modernisation Engineering, announced its collaboration with Bayer, one of the Top 150 Global 2000 companies with business interest in pharmaceuticals, consumer healthcare products, agricultural chemicals, seeds and biotechnology products. As part of the partnership, Sonata will allow Bayer to develop new AgPowered Services for Microsoft Azure Data Manager for Agriculture that enable retrieval and integration of in-field activity data by working with leading manufacturers of farm machinery.

According to a recent announcement from Bayer, one of agriculture’s biggest technology challenges is a lack of data interoperability. Farmers have seen advancements in the ability to connect data between on-farm systems, but solutions allowing them to connect to services and opportunities beyond the farm have been largely unavailable. Companies and organizations supporting agriculture and related industries have also lacked the infrastructure and capabilities needed to best serve their customers.

This initiative will enable Enterprise users of Microsoft Azure Data Manager for Agriculture to have an integrated, one-stop solution to connect key data sources for farm machinery data in the industry, thus bringing down the cost of technical investment that companies are facing today.

Furthermore, organizations can rely on the same system to connect to additional data sources, such as in-field sensors, and weather and satellite imagery, and incorporate data-driven insights and recommendations from the suite of AgPowered Services into their customer-facing solutions. Azure Data Manager for Agriculture provides B2B customers a ‘one-stop shop’ to connect to farm machinery data, weather, imagery, and insights from AgPowered Services.

Data connectors for OEMs to further improve

Agribusiness, Agro chems – Chemicals, Company News, India

The new plant will be the company’s third Indian facility for active ingredients in agrochemicals.

 Tokyo-based agrochemical manufacturer, Sumitomo Chemical plans to develop its new agrochemical plant in the western part of Gujarat. The Japanese company will obtain about 50 acres of land in the western state of Gujarat and aim to complete construction around 2027. The initial investment is expected to be over 5 billion yen ($35 million). The total amount will exceed several tens of billions of yen in the mid- to long-term as the plant gradually expands.

The new plant will be the company’s third Indian facility for active ingredients in agrochemicals. If the entire site is utilised, the company’s annual production capacity is expected to increase 80 per cent in India.

The company’s agrochemical business in India generated sales of about $430 million in the fiscal year ended March 2023. The Company aims to achieve a sales volume of $500 million by fiscal 2025.

The new plant will be the company's

Agribusiness, Finance, Funding, Horticulture, India, Start ups

The funds will be utilised to drive Vegrow’s reach across India and fortify its global network.

Vegrow, a B2B fruit marketplace, has raised $46 million in primary and secondary funding. The new funding round was led by GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. The round saw participation from existing investor Prosus Ventures, and continued support from Matrix Partners India, Elevation Capital, and Lightspeed. The funds will be utilised to drive Vegrow’s reach across India and fortify its global network, mentioned the company.

Prosus Ventures believes Vegrow operates in an attractive sector and is creating a superior demand and supply experience. The founding team has demonstrated strong execution capabilities and a focused approach to profitability. Buoyed by the future growth outlook, Prosus Ventures has increased its ownership in the company. It looks forward to the next phase of growth.

Vegrow has established a presence in the fruits segment in India, a large, unorganised market poised for tech-led disruption due to its fragmented and localised operational structure. It is characterized by the involvement of multiple intermediaries facilitating transactions. Vegrow’s advantage is the depth of its multi-channel demand stack and its use of technology for demand-supply matchmaking.

The company said that it maximises farmers’ income by accurately grading produce and efficiently matching it with the most suitable demand channel. This creates a virtuous cycle, attracting more farmers through competitive pricing as well as more buyers who seek consistency in both price and quality.

Praneeth Kumar, Co-founder, Vegrow said, “The company’s strategy marks a significant advancement in the efficiency and reliability of the fruit ecosystem. Over the past year, Vegrow has experienced a remarkable fivefold increase in revenue and achieved operational profitability.”

“At Vegrow, we distinguish ourselves from conventional operations, by creating an organizational ethos centered on agility and experimentation. Through the extensive utilization of data and technology, we provide valuable insights and optimize supply chain challenges, such as reducing perishable inventory wastage to only one-fourth of industry average, and consistently achieving industry-leading profit margins,” said Vegrow Co-founder, Mrudhukar Batchu.

The funds will be utilised to drive

Agribusiness, Company News, Finance, Singapore, Sustainability

The SLL reflects the company’s ongoing commitment to sustainability and responsible business practices and includes key annual sustainability performance targets.

Singapore based Rivulis Pte. Ltd. announced that it has amended its existing US$250,000,000 committed credit facility, which was finalised in June 2022, to convert it into a sustainability-linked loan (SLL). The SLL process was led by HSBC and ING and includes participating banks: Leumi Bank (Israel), State of India and First International Bank of Israel.

Since its inception, Rivulis has maintained a steadfast focus on the conservation of scarce water resources, avoidance of land degradation and increased crop yields for growers, thereby being an enabler of sustainable agriculture. The SLL reflects the company’s ongoing commitment to sustainability and responsible business practices and includes key annual sustainability performance targets. The tangible targets relate to the reduction of the company’s carbon footprint and to the circularity of resources. They include the company’s Full Circle Sustainability program where Rivulis collects and recycles used drip lines and drip tapes from growers’ fields for use in its products. Additionally, Rivulis plans to use renewable energy to power its manufacturing plants where practical and during this year has already installed solar panels for its plants in Greece and Spain.

Eran Ezra, Rivulis CFO, explained: “The SLL stands as a testament to our commitment to driving meaningful change through our sustainability initiatives, by leading the mass adoption of micro irrigation, responsible business practices and creating a more sustainable future for everyone.”

The SLL reflects the company’s ongoing commitment

Agribusiness, Agrotech, E-commerce, Supply Chain, World

The Online Wholesale Market, functioning as a nationwide platform allowing unrestricted 24/7 transactions, stands as a pivotal endeavour aligned with the Yoon Seok Yeol administration’s national agenda

South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs have held the opening ceremony for the Online Agricultural Wholesale Market. This market constitutes a pioneering initiative leading the digital transformation of agricultural product distribution.

At the ceremony, Chung Hwang-keun Minister of Agriculture underscored the unprecedented nature of the world’s first online agricultural wholesale market, articulating the Ministry’s aim to cultivate the market to a scale of KRW 3.7 trillion by 2027. He emphasised the overarching goal of reducing wholesale distribution costs by KRW 700 billion and ensuring that these economic gains mutually benefit producers and consumers.

The Online Wholesale Market, functioning as a nationwide platform allowing unrestricted 24/7 transactions, is a pivotal endeavour aligned with the Yoon Seok Yeol administration’s national agenda (71-2. Digital Innovation in Agricultural Produce Distribution). Its official commencement follows ten months of preparatory efforts since establishing a joint public-private task force in February.

To ensure the early settlement of the Online Wholesale Market, the Ministry will prioritize quality management of traded products. First, seller eligibility requirements include an annual transaction volume of over KRW 5 billion for producer groups and corporations. Detailed quality information, encompassing sweetness, acidity, colour, and size, will be provided alongside basic information. 

The Online Wholesale Market, functioning as a

Agribusiness, Agrotech, Farm Mechanisation, India, Machinery – Post-harvesting

Company ramps up production of the new Swaraj 8200 Smart Harvester at new plant in Pithampur.

Building on its rich legacy of introducing India’s first indigenously developed harvester, Swaraj Tractors, a division of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., recently launched its next generation Swaraj 8200 Smart Harvester for the Indian farmer. Introduced in the kharif season, the harvester delivered excellent results in harvesting crops like paddy and soya bean. With the successful debut of this harvester, the company is looking forward to a healthy demand for this product in the upcoming rabi season.

The Swaraj 8200 Smart Harvester is a result of many years of technology development at Swaraj’s R&D facility in Mohali, supported by Mahindra & Mahindra’s Harvester R&D facility in Finland, Europe. The company has built a dedicated harvester plant in Pithampur in anticipation of strong growth of its harvester products. The plant includes state-of-the-art machinery for manufacturing parts, a modern paint shop, dedicated assembly lines and test facilities.

Delivering real-time information on harvested acres, live location tracking, road kilometres travelled and fuel consumption, Swaraj’s Intelligent Harvesting System empowers better decision-making, operational efficiency and maximized profits for customers.

Kairas Vakharia, Senior Vice President & Business Head, Farm Machinery, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. explained that “Swaraj has been the pioneer in harvesting technology in India and the new 8200 Smart Harvester builds on this legacy by setting a new technology benchmark. By virtue of its Intelligent Harvesting System, the company’s service and product support team provides 24×7 monitoring of the harvester’s performance and health leading to unmatched standards of customer support.”

The company’s customer support goes beyond the conventional, with health alerts and personalized assistance through a dedicated relationship manager and app-based video calling, ensuring prompt on-farm service. The Swaraj 8200 Smart Harvester is available through Swaraj’s pan-India tractor dealer network.

Company ramps up production of the new

Agrotech, Collaborations, Company News, Digital Technologies, Europe, Soil Health

This collaboration unites the Syngenta’s premium portfolio of professional turf solutions with the state-of-the-art cellular, wireless soil sensor technology from Spiio.

Syngenta, a global leader in agricultural innovation, announced a collaboration agreement with Spiio, whose precision soil sensor technology and agronomic data is used by turfgrass professionals, irrigation experts, municipal parks and recreation departments, tree care companies and landscaping professionals.

This collaboration unites the market-leading expertise of Syngenta and its premium portfolio of professional turf solutions with the state-of-the-art cellular, wireless soil sensor technology from Spiio. Together, they will help golf courses evolve toward a future of precision agronomy and data-driven decision-making that complements the existing range of tools and services from Syngenta.

“We are excited to collaborate with Spiio to bring this sustainable innovation, initially focused on the golf industry,” said Mike Parkin, global head of Syngenta Professional Solutions. “Our combined strengths in technology and agronomy will enable turf managers to make smart agronomic decisions for a better golfing experience for their players, while providing hyperlocal soil data to complement existing weather and modelling services provided by Syngenta. This solution aligns with our vision of creating a more sustainable future for golf.”

The cellular, wireless Spiio sensors continuously monitor the soil moisture, temperature and salinity and stream data to a cloud platform, allowing turf managers to create more precise agronomic programs across the course. The Spiio technology simplifies hyperlocal data collection and analysis without time-consuming, manual measurements. It also complements existing Syngenta tools including precision weather forecasts, disease and insect models, as well as turf growth models.

“Once customers can access Spiio sensor data from their phone across the entire property, they can quickly identify areas of concern and receive notifications and agronomic alerts before conditions become critical. They can also track specific data trends over time and provide greater efficiency with better reporting and strategic planning,” said Henrik Rosendahl, CEO of Spiio. “By collaborating with the Syngenta agronomic and research teams, we’ll be poised to create even more robust agronomic algorithms and recommendations in the future.”

The impact of this collaboration extends beyond golf to other professional turf and landscape industries including lawn care, sports turf and tree care.

This collaboration unites the Syngenta’s premium portfolio

Company News, Finance, India, Investments, Schemes - Banks

Cropnosys plans to use the capital for scaling up its manufacturing capabilities and bolstering its products suite.

Kotak Strategic Situations lndia Fund ll (“KSSF I1”), managed by Kotak Alternate Asset Managers Limited(“KAAML”), announced an investment of Rs 375 crore in Cropnosys (India) Private Limited (“Cropnosys”).

Cropnosys is an emerging agrochemical player focused on niche high value technicals. It has long standing relationships with some of the world’s largest agrochemical formulators. Over the years, Cropnosys has carved its space as a reliable, cost competitive and high-quality agrochemical technical player focused on complex and niche products.

With this funding, the Company plans to scale up its manufacturing capabilities and bolster its products suite. Cropnosys is also focused on bringing to market its unique portfolio of organic biofertilizers.

Rahul Shah, Partner, Kotak Strategic Situations Fund at Kotak Alternate Asset Managers Limited said, “We are delighted to partner with Cropnosys to fund their next phase of growth. India has emerged as the leading exporter of agrochemicals globally on the back of its strong manufacturing ecosystem, proven track record and cost competitiveness.”

Cropnosys plans to use the capital for