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Agri Genomics, Animal Health, Dairy, India, Live Stock

Study will help in improving the breeding and management of native cows leading to increased productivity and sustainability in the Indian cattle industry

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal researchers successfully unraveled the genetic makeup of four native Indian cow breeds – Kasargod Dwarf, Kasargod Kapila, Vechur, and Ongole. This is the first time that the genome has been sequenced for these Indian cows.

The details of the genome sequencing study have been published in the preprint server bioRXiv, in a paper co-authored by Vineet K. Sharma and his research scholars Abhisek Chakraborty, Manohar S Bisht, Rituja Saxena, Shruti Mahajan, and Joby Pulikkan.

The genome is like a blueprint or a set of instructions for building and running an organism, like a plant or animal. It is made up of tiny units called genes, which contain the information needed for the organism to grow, develop, and function properly. Just like how a blueprint for a building contains information about how to build it, the genome contains all the information an organism needs to live and survive. By understanding the genome, scientists can learn important information about the organism, like how it might be related to certain diseases or traits.

Native Indian cows have special abilities that help them survive in tough conditions in India, such as being able to eat poor-quality food and being resistant to certain diseases. Previous studies have looked at certain traits of Indian cows, like how well they can handle hot weather, their size, and their milk type. But, because the complete genome of these unique Indian cow breeds was not known, it was difficult to understand the reasons why they have certain traits.

IISER Bhopal researchers used high-throughput sequencing techniques to read and understand the genome of four native Indian cow breeds. By doing this, the key aim is to get clues on how these cows are adapted to the Indian climatic conditions.

Speaking about the research, Vineet K. Sharma, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, IISER Bhopal, said, “We have identified a specific set of genes in the native Indian cow breeds that showed sequence and structural variation compared to the genes of the Western cattle species. This may provide valuable insights into how Indian breeds adapt to tropical conditions.” Kasaragod Dwarf Conservation Society helped in sample collection from the Kapila Gaushala in Kerala.

The genome structure can be used to improve the breeding and management of these cows, leading to increased productivity and sustainability in the Indian cattle industry. Sequencing the genome of these native Indian cow breeds can also help in understanding the genetic differences between them and other breeds, which will be a valuable resource for future studies and genetic improvement.

Further, Vineet Sharma, added, “Genome sequencing can help to preserve the genetic diversity of these native breeds, which is important for maintaining a healthy and resilient herd.”

Another remarkable achievement of this study is the draft genome assembly of the world’s smallest cow breed, Vechur. The researchers also identified the genes that showed sequence variation within dwarf and non-dwarf Bos indicus cattle breeds.

Study will help in improving the breeding

AgroPolicy, India, Supply Chain

 Govt will also facilitate setting up of a large number of multipurpose cooperative societies, primary fishery societies and dairy cooperative societies.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget 23 speech announced that Government will implement a plan to set up massive decentralised storage capacity. This will help farmers store their produce and realize remunerative prices through sale at appropriate times. The government will also facilitate setting up of a large number of multipurpose cooperative societies, primary fishery societies and dairy cooperative societies in uncovered panchayats and villages in the next 5 years.

For farmers, especially small and marginal farmers, and other marginalised sections, the government is promoting cooperative-based economic development model. A new Ministry of Cooperation was formed with a mandate to realise the vision of ‘Sahakar Se Samriddhi’. To realise this vision, the government has already initiated computerisation of 63,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) with an investment of ` 2,516 crore. In consultation with all stakeholders and states, model bye-laws for PACS were formulated enabling them to become multipurpose PACS. A national cooperative database is being prepared for country-wide mapping of cooperative societies.

 Govt will also facilitate setting up of

AgroPolicy, Foodgrains, India, R&D

The institute will be supported as the Centre of Excellence for sharing best practices, research and technologies at the international level

The finance minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman in her Union Budget for 2023 speech has announced that India is envisioned to become a global hub for Shri Anna or Millets, with the country being the largest producer and second largest exporter of millets.

To make India a global hub for millet research, the Indian Institute of Millet Research (IIMR) in Hyderabad will be made into a Centre of Excellence.

“The institute will be supported as the Centre of Excellence for sharing best practices, research and technologies at the international level,” the Minister said.

The FM listed out various millets such as Jowar, Ragi, Ramdana, Cheena, Sama, Bajra, Kutu, Kangni etc., and stated that they have various health benefits.

Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR) is a premier agricultural research institute engaged in basic and strategic research on sorghum and other millets under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). IIMR coordinates and facilitates millets research at national level through All India Coordinated Research Projects on Sorghum, Pearl Millet and Small Millets and provides linkages with various national and international agencies.

According to analytics firm CRISIL, “The setting up of a Centre of Excellence for Millets, which have high nutritional content, will help increase the share of gross sown area under millets, which today stands at a mere 3% of total gross cropped area.”

The institute will be supported as the

AgroPolicy, Finance, India, Schemes - Govt, Start ups

The fund is aimed at building innovative and effective agritech solutions for farmers to improve access to market linkages and yields.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced in her Union Budget 2023 speech that an Agriculture Accelerator Fund will be set up to encourage agritech start-ups. An Agriculture Accelerator Fund will be set up to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs and agri startups in rural areas.

Sitharaman said that the fund is aimed at building innovative and effective agritech solutions for farmers to improve access to market linkages and yields.

“The fund will aim at bringing innovative and affordable solutions for challenges faced by farmers. It will also bring in modern technology to transform agricultural practices, increase productivity and profitability,” said the finance minister.

The fund is aimed at building innovative

AgroPolicy

Digital Public Infrastructure will help develop farmer-centric solution for crop planning

Nirmala Sitharman , Union Finance Minister announced in the Union budget2023 that Digital Public Infrastructure will be built that will help develop farmer-centric solution for crop planning and storage. A digital public infrastructure for agriculture will be built as open source, open standard and interoperable public good that will help develop farmer-centric solution for crop planning, the Minister said.

Finance minister also said, “An Agriculture Accelerator Fund will be set up to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs. Agri accelerator fund will be set up to encourage agri startups in rural areas.”

Digital Public Infrastructure will help develop farmer-centric

AgroPolicy

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented Union Budget 2023 in the parliament today. Government has announced several initiatives for agriculture sector in the budget. FM announced that the agriculture credit target will be raised to Rs. 20 lakh crores with a focus on animal husbandry and fisheries.

  Sitharaman also said that now, to make India a global hub for Shree Anna Research, the Indian Institute of Millet Research in Hyderabad will be made into a centre of excellence.

The Budget allocation for Ministry of Agriculture and FW was increased to Rs 1.24 lakh crore in FY 2022-23. Further, institutional credit for the agriculture sector scaled Rs 18.5 lakh crore in December 2022, up from Rs 16.5 lakh crore in January 2022.

The Govt had also extended the concessional institutional credit availed through Kisan Credit Cards at 4 per cent interest per annum to animal husbandry and fisheries sector as well in order to help them meet their capital needs.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented Union

Agrotech, Company News, India, IT, Start ups, Sustainability

Application now available for global agribusinesses to digitise, automate, and make data-driven decisions for improved efficiency, productivity, and sustainability

Cropin, a leading agtech company known for creating the first industry cloud for agriculture, has announced that its farm digitisation software, Cropin Grow, is now available on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace. The AWS Marketplace is a digital catalog that allows customers to easily find, purchase, and deploy third-party software and services to build solutions on the AWS platform. With Cropin Grow now available on the AWS Marketplace, agri-industry players and governments worldwide will be able to accelerate their digital transformation efforts and use data to reimagine agriculture.

Cropin Grow is designed to be a powerful tool in a connected and digitally enabled agriculture ecosystem. The platform, developed over a decade of innovation, aims to use technology to solve real-world problems in agriculture, such as connectivity issues, climate change, supply chain disruptions, food waste, and food security. By making every farm asset traceable, predictable, and sustainable, Cropin Grow empowers industry stakeholders to manage risks, increase productivity, maximise revenue and profit, and optimise resources. This platform is used by enterprises, governments, and development agencies to deliver value to all participants in the food value chain. It also uses AWS services such as Amazon Elastic Container Service (EKS) for Kubernetes and Amazon Relational Database Service to help accelerate the roll-out of new capabilities and features, and operate and scale databases in the cloud, Amazon OpenSearch Service to increase operational excellence, and Amazon SageMaker to quickly and easily build and train machine learning models.

Commenting on the development, Kunal Prasad – Co-Founder & COO, Cropin said, “Today, agribusinesses are rapidly transforming their business models and legacy systems. They are accelerating digitisation and adopting climate-smart agriculture practices to address challenges faced by the agri-ecosystem today. As a trusted digital transformation partner for our customers for over a decade, we are committed to enabling this shift and playing our part in evolving the global food system. The listing of Cropin Grow on AWS Marketplace is a key milestone in making our solutions accessible to more users. I am confident that the agri-ecosystem will immensely benefit from this development.”

Sunil PP, Alliances and Channel Lead – Public Sector, AWS India and South Asia, added, “The AWS Marketplace helps customers to discover, buy and deploy software solutions from AWS partners easily. Customers benefit from the speed, business agility, and cost-effective options, while AWS partners gain a new sales channel. We’re pleased to see Cropin Grow on the AWS Marketplace and are excited for its potential to unlock new value and create an overall positive impact for agri organisations globally”.

Application now available for global agribusinesses to

Agro chems – Chemicals, Company News, Finance, India

Q3 PAT at Rs 30.61 up 101 percent from Rs 15.23 crore last year.

Best Agrolife Ltd. the leading agrochemical company in India, declared financial results for Q3FY23 in its Board of Directors meeting. The company showed significant Year on Year growth for the quarter ending & 9 months ending 31st Dec 2022.

Consolidated Key Highlights-Q3 & 9 Months ending FY23

  • The company recorded revenue of Rs 327.8 crore, a YoY growth of 41 percent as against Rs 232.5 crore in Q3 FY22. On 9 months basis revenue grew 65.5 percent (Rs 1492 crores as against Rs 901 crore in 9 Months last year) Q3 EBITDA at Rs 58.1 crore up 79 percent from Rs 32.43 crore last year. On 9 months basis EBITDA at Rs 306.5 Crores up 196 percent from last year of Rs 103.7 cr.
  • Q3 PAT at Rs 30.61 up 101 percent from Rs 15.23 cr last year. 9 Months PAT at Rs 200.6 cr up 202.2 percent from last year of Rs 66.4 cr.

Commenting on the performance for the quarter and period ending December 2022 Vimal Alawadhi, Managing Director, Best Agrolife Ltd. (BAL) said, “We are glad to share that despite being a lean season BAL successfully managed to remain consistent with its performance in the third quarter of this financial year. While the company has shown growth with a positive outlook across all the business segments during this period. We are fully focussed on our global export expansion which will start reflecting in our revenue growth soon. The company is set to introduce new and exclusive patented products like Ronfen and other different segment products which will scale up our growth further in the next financial year.”

It is important to note that BAL recently obtained registration for the indigenous manufacturing of Cyhalofop-butyl and Propaquizafop Technical u/s 9(3) along with several crucial technicals.

Q3 PAT at Rs 30.61 up 101 percent from

Agro Universities, Award, India, People, R&D, Sugar industry

Retired as Coimbatore ICAR Sugarcane Breeding Institute Director, Dr Bakshi currently works as a consultant in various sugar mills and also works for cane farmers’ welfare.

Gurugram-based eminent agro scientist & plant breeder Dr. Bakshi Ram, has been conferred upon with Padma Shri Award on this 74th Republic Day. He has developed a sugarcane variety CO -0238 which has been a game changer for the sector. This has benefitted immensely the sugarcane growers by increasing their income from sugarcane cultivation and also the sugar industry in terms of getting better industrial yield and volumes.

Dr Bakshi Ram is best known for developing sugarcane variety CO-0238, which occupies over 70 per cent of the sugarcane area in Northern India. Retired as Coimbatore ICAR Sugarcane Breeding Institute Director, Dr Bakshi currently works as a consultant in various sugar mills and also works for cane farmers’ welfare.

Retired as Coimbatore ICAR Sugarcane Breeding Institute

Company News, Finance, India, Logistics, Supply Chain

Profit After Tax (PAT) increased to Rs 3.74 Crores in Q3 FY22-23 from Rs 0.83 Crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Snowman Logistics records 49 per cent growth in revenue in third quarter of FY22-23 EBITDA increased to Rs 25.14 Crores from Rs 19.40 Crores, registering a 30 per cent growth for the same period in the previous year and PAT increased to Rs 3.74 Crores from Rs 0.83 Crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

During the quarter that ended December 31, 2022, Snowman Logistics Ltd recorded revenue of Rs 109.39 Crores as against Rs 73.40 Crores for the same period in the previous year, registering a growth of 49 per cent.

EBITDA increased to Rs 25.14 Crores from Rs 19.40 Crores, registering a 30 per cent growth for the same period in the previous year and PAT increased to Rs 3.74 Crores from Rs 0.83 Crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Speaking about the quarter’s performance, Sunil Nair, CEO, of Snowman Logistics Limited said, “We expect to continue the momentum and grow from here. Our efforts towards offering services and solutions to complex and challenging operations are gaining traction and we hope to add some new businesses to our kitty soon.”

Snowman Logistics is a leading player in integrated temperature-controlled logistics services, catering to the varied cold chain logistical requirements of its clients, on a pan-India basis. With 43 strategically located warehouses, having a total pallet capacity of 1,29,924 across 17 cities including the key markets of Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata, Snowman caters to various services and segments like dairy products including butter and cheese, canned food items, poultry, and meat, seafood, healthcare, and pharmaceutical products.

Profit After Tax (PAT) increased to Rs

AgroPolicy, Agrotech, Company News, India, Opinions, Supply Chain

Private capital needs to be made to work harder and create meaningful assets for the country.

The startup ecosystem has grown tremendously in the past few years. However, if one peels the layers, one notices an anomaly. Private capital naturally flows into sectors where big payouts are possible, even if highly risky, or where returns can be captured fast. This has resulted in considerable capital inflows into frothy sectors such as gaming, crypto, stock trading, and the like. Even in relatively deeper sectors such as food, the capital that has flowed into high-speed last-mile delivery is an order of magnitude greater than what has gone into food logistics/supply chain. It has now become critical to ensure that private capital (both domestic and international) flows into sectors of national importance. Private capital needs to be made to work harder and create meaningful assets for the country. Given this, the time has come for the Government to put its thumb on the scale, by incentivising private capital to flow into sectors of national importance such as food and Agri, healthcare, and education, and if required, disincentivising its flow into sin sectors/frothy sectors.

There have been requests to rationalise long term capital gains tax by private equity investors. This provides one opportunity for the government to send the right signals – e.g., differentiated LTCG Tax for sectors of national importance vs the others. Direction of India’s infrastructure investment funds to expand their horizons beyond hard infrastructure investments alone, and into technology investments related to the infrastructure sectors e.g. logistics and supply chains, health tech and edtech, as well as creation of new government vehicles (e.g. sovereign wealth funds, AIFs) directed towards these spaces will be another welcome measure. These, coupled with capital gains tax breaks for such vehicles, will help accelerate equity investments into sectors such as these.

 Encouraging domestic capital inflows into sectors of national importance:

In addition to the above, it is important to encourage the flow of domestic capital into sectors of national importance. Domestic capital has been relatively risked averse. Given this, incentivising them to place calculated bets on sectors such as these will accelerate development of these sectors, while also providing better returns to investors, and ensuring that the ownership of these assets is more domestic than global. Creative means may be explored for this. For e.g., if the mandatory CSR program for corporates can be modified to treat investments into AIFs focussed on sectors such as food, education and healthcare, as deemed CSR, this will make CSR funds work harder and more efficiently, and also provide the possibility of an upside to company treasuries, rather than being dissolved as a grant.

Single window for access to schemes and subsidies:

Today, central and state governments offer a range of schemes and subsidies. However, navigating to these subsidies is non-trivial for companies. A single window portal that enables access to these will help companies take advantage of schemes better and achieve the objective of these schemes.

Private capital needs to be made to

Agro chems – Chemicals, Agro chems – Pesticides, Company News, India, R&D

GSP’s Chlorantraniliprole (CTPR) products Helipro and Ballot works through injections, contact, ovi-larvicidal, larvicidal on chewing pest insects.

Ahmedabad based agrochemical company, GSP Crop Science has launched CTPR (chlorantraniliprole) under the brand name Helipro and Ballot.  After the efforts of their Research and Development team, GSP Crop will now manufacture and sell CTPR under the ‘Make in India’ initiative to benefit the farmers and customers, at large.

GSP Crop Science, recently got a go-ahead from Delhi High Court to sell and manufacture CTPR in India, after which GSP has officially launched its Chlorantraniliprole (CTPR) products Helipro and Ballot that works through injections, contact, ovi-larvicidal, larvicidal on chewing pest insects.

Chlorantraniliprole (CTPR) provides an effective and long duration of insect control with its unique mode of action in crops like sugarcane, rice, soybean, pulses and vegetables by controlling all Lepidoptera and other species. It is also toxic to insect eggs, larvae and pupae on contact. CTPR has an excellent bottom-up intake and transportation in plants and effectively penetrates plants from root to stem.

Bhavesh Shah, Managing Director of GSP Crop Science said, “GSP is delighted to provide the Indian market with CTPR (Chlorantraniliprole) under the brand name Helipro and Ballot. We can very proudly say we are one of the very few companies who will be selling this market. Our aim is to provide our hardworking farmers with the right product with the price they deserve with the best quality possible.”

GSP’s Chlorantraniliprole (CTPR) products Helipro and Ballot

Agro Universities, Finance, India, Seeds

20054 farmers from 11 states register for ICAR-IIWBR online Seed Portal during 2022-23

During 2020 under Covid 19, a global pandemic situation, an online Seed Portal (iiwbrseed.in) was developed by ICAR-IIWBR, Karnal to provide seed of recent wheat & barley varieties to farmers. The seed portal was designed and executed through IIWBR website in the September. During 2022-23, a total of 20054 farmers were registered from 11 states (Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Himanchal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan) within four days.  An amount of Rs 1.20 crores were generated by selling of more than 2000 quintal seed of IIWBR varieties to the farmers during October 2022.

During 2020-21 to 2022-23, 37278 farmers were registered and 26862 farmers collected truthfully labled (TL) seeds of DBW 327 (Karan Shivani), DBW 332 (Karan Aditya), DBW 303 (Karan Vaishnavi), DBW 187 (Karan Vandna) DBW222 (Karan Narendra), DDW 47, DWRB 137 and DWRB 137. During this period, revenue generation worth Rs 192.30 was generated through sale of TL seed. Total revenue generation through breeder and TL seed was Rs 12.61 crore.

The interested farmers submit the desired information (name, village, mobile number, district and state, upload soft copy of Aadhar card, select variety, quantity of seed) for registration. The farmer gets OTP on mobile to complete the registration process. The farmers are grouped state-wise and district-wise. The registered farmers are informed at least one week in advance about date and time of seed collection through bulk SMS to facilitate hassle free seed distribution. On an average, daily 3000 farmers collect seed as per the schedule.  All the payments are made in digital modes viz., QR code, net banking or card swipe).

ICAR-IIWBR, Karnal generally open the Farmer Seed Portal (iiwbrseed.in) in the last week of September till the availability (5-10 days) of seed every year.

20054 farmers from 11 states register for

Agrotech, India, Start ups

Garuda Aerospace will manufacture over 25,000 drones in the next 15 months and will revolutionize the agricultural sector.

India’s drone startup company, Garuda Aerospace, unveiled the first-ever carbon-neutral drone at the Indian Sustainability Lounge of the World Economic Forum 2023, which was being held from January 16 to 20 in Davos, Switzerland.

Garuda Aerospace will manufacture over 25,000 drones in the next 15 months and will revolutionize the agricultural sector. The agricultural Green Revolution 2.0 began after Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off 100 Kisan drones in 100 villages across India. This led to job opportunities for youth across India.

“It’s such a privilege to present Garuda Aerospace’s DGCA approved Made in India Carbon Neutral Drones and the ESG goal of impacting 1 billion Indians positively through drone technology at Davos 2023,” said CEO of Garuda Aerospace, Agnishwar Jayaprakash. 

Among other agendas of the WEF, start-ups and investments are the key ones. The launch of a sustainable drone which is carbon-neutral is also in line with WEF’s climate action goals. He spoke at an impactful panel discussion and highlighted progressive government policies and how the startup community is transforming India into a ‘Global Drone Hub’ by 2030.

Garuda Aerospace will manufacture over 25,000 drones