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Agrotech, Dairy, India, Live Stock, Poultry, Start ups, Sustainability

This event brought together entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts to share their ideas, network

The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Govt. of India organised a grand start-up Conclave in order to promote the existing and emerging startups in the livestock, dairy and animal husbandry sectors at the Marriott Convention Centre, Hyderabad in close collaboration with the National Dairy Development Board, Startup India, CII and the Animal Husbandry Department of Telangana.

Parshottam Rupala, Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India graced the event with his presence as Chief Guest in the august presence of Dr Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Minister of State of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Dr L. Murugan, Minister of State of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and T. Srinivas Yadav, Minister for Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Cinematography of Telangana.

This event brought together entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts to share their ideas, network, and learn from each other. It provided an excellent opportunity to showcase innovative ideas and products and network with fellow entrepreneurs and stakeholders. The event featured keynote speeches by prominent industry leaders, interactive sessions, panel discussions, and presentations by successful start-ups.

Addressing the Conclave, Parshottam Rupala stated that Agriculture diversification through animal husbandry is one of the primary drivers of growth in rural incomes and higher public investment in the Livestock Sector is the need of the hour. The Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (MoAHD) stands committed to working with all stakeholders to further boost growth in the livestock sector and thereby making animal husbandry more remunerative to farmers and entrepreneurs engaged in the Livestock Sector.

Dr Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Minister of State of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying also addressed the gathering and highlighted the importance of the livestock sector and Major Challenges of the Livestock Sector in India viz. lower productivity and emerging diseases. The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying is dovetailing and synergising efforts with other Ministries and stakeholders in order to overcome all these challenges and promote entrepreneurship, technology interventions, digitalisation, innovative ideas etc.

This event brought together entrepreneurs, investors, and

Agrotech, Company News, Machinery – Post-harvesting, North America, Sustainability

Sabanto’s autonomous technology was recently installed on the supported Kubota M5 tractor platform

Sabanto announced the delivery of two autonomous tractor units to the 45th Civil Engineer Squadron at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida. These units will aid the ground maintenance measures around the base. This technology allows one operator to supervise multiple tractors, addressing labour shortages and helping to alleviate a backlog of tasks.

“We are excited to provide our technology not only to the United States Air Force but also to the United States Space Force,” said Eddie Brown, Sabanto’s Vice President of Government Products & Services. “Expanding our market within the Department of Defense represents a big step for Sabanto.”

Sabanto’s autonomous technology was recently installed on the supported Kubota M5 tractor platform and is being used to automate airfield mowing operations using Sabanto’s state-of-the-art path planning technology.

“Automating our mowers will allow for the reallocation of labour hours to tackle other base priorities,” said Andrew C. Johnson, Captain, USAF. “By maximising our labour hours, we will be able to complete more tasks in-house to support the space launch mission, our mission partners, and the base populace.”

“Sabanto is thankful for the opportunity to serve Patrick Space Force Base. We are looking forward to opportunities to advance Sabanto’s technology to better support our military partners,” said Cory Spaetti, Sabanto’s Vice President of Products.

Sabanto has proven, through extensive field testing, its ability to automate a variety of field operations over significant acres, leveraging a fleet of smaller 60 and 90-horsepower tractors. The company’s advanced software has also been pivotal in deploying multiple systems for multiple days of non-stop operation.

Sabanto's autonomous technology was recently installed on

Agrotech, Europe, Sustainability

The WBF and PGPR’s shared interests in advancing sustainable agriculture led them to enter an engagement whereby the two parties will work together for mutual benefits.

The World BioProtection Forum (WBF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Asian PGPR Society for Sustainable Agriculture, under which both parties have committed to working together to help advance knowledge in biologicals for sustainable agriculture.

The MOU is consistent with the WBF’s focus on Innovation through Collaboration. The organisation is founded on the principle that collaboration between the biocontrol industry and academia in the agriculture will connect different stakeholders who can work together to ensure the successful development and commercialisation of biocontrol products.

Biological agriculture for the management of pests, diseases and plant health is a fast-growing segment of Agriculture, and biological solutions offer safe and sustainable alternatives to chemical pesticides. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are root-colonising bacteria that exert beneficial traits on plant growth and development. In addition to plant growth promotion, PGPR are also used for controlling several plant pathogens, enhancement of nutrient up-take, and in rhizomediation. Therefore, they can act as biofertilisers, biostimulants and biofungicides, playing a range of important roles in sustainable agriculture.

The Asian PGPR Society for Sustainable Agriculture is an academic organisation engaged in encouraging research, education, and the dissemination of knowledge on the importance of PGPR. Its international and regional association meetings provide an opportunity for PGPR researchers to meet and discuss common interests.

The WBF is engaged in encouraging collaboration between the biocontrol industry and academia, while working to secure a regulatory framework that supports sustainable agriculture. The organisation’s annual event helps to connect different stakeholders who can work together to ensure the successful development and commercialisation of biocontrol products.

The WBF and PGPR’s shared interests in advancing sustainable agriculture led them to enter an engagement whereby the two parties will work together for mutual benefits, including the support of each other’s annual conferences, and the joint organisation of future training programmes and meetings related to activities of mutual interest.

The MOU was signed during a closed meeting in Auburn, Alabama, USA, on 23rd February 2023, between Dr Minshad Ansari, Founder and Chairman of the WBF, and Professor MS Reddy, Founder Chairman of the Asian PGPR Society for Sustainable Agriculture.

“In the context of increasing international concern for food and environmental quality, the use of PGPR for reducing chemical inputs in agriculture has important potential,” said Professor MS Reddy. “There is an active and growing group of researchers working on fundamental and applied aspects of PGPR. The challenge lies in applying and commercialising these bacteria for sustainable agriculture.”

Dr Minshad Ansari added “Industry, academia, policy makers and other stakeholders are all interested in finding alternatives that enable sustainable agriculture. We try to connect those people and encourage them to work together for the successful development and commercialisation of novel biological products – we encourage them to Collaborate to Innovate.”

The WBF and PGPR’s shared interests in

Agrotech, Finance, India, Start ups

The partnership enables the companies to provide smart risk-cover solutions for farmers to ensure financial safety and resilience against weather irregularities.

Bengaluru based nurture.farm, India’s leading agri-tech organization, has scaled its weather protection cover offering by partnering with SWAL Corporation Ltd. The product offering is a part of nurture.farm’s flagship resilience program ‘Kavach’.

Weather Kavach is a risk cover offering for farmers to protect them against weather irregularities. It is a flexible cover option where farmers can opt-in for any sum assured value, and claims are disbursed in the event of excessive rain, heat waves or rain deficit. The advantages of the Weather Kavach product offering includes an index-based trigger, shorter disbursal window, and direct transfer of the claim amount to the farmer’s bank account. Since its launch, nurture.farm has successfully offered Weather Kavach to more than 100,000 farmers and sold more than 1 Million Weather Kavach in less than 12 months.

Through this partnership, SWAL Corporation Ltd is offering Weather Kavach, at no additional cost, to all its farmers who purchase Wuxal & Delma products. While Wuxal provides nutrients to the crop, Delma protects it from various diseases that can be triggered due to wild fluctuations in temperature during critical growth stages. With the likely possibility of higher temperatures predicted for February & March and the harvest window for Rabi crops around the corner, the partnership couldn’t have come at a better time. To avail of Weather Kavach, the farmers must download the nurture.farm app, scan Wuxal and Delma products on the app, and avail it at no additional cost.

Dhruv Sawhney, COO & Business Head at nurture.farm said, “Globally, 2022 was the fifth warmest year on record. As per reports, scientists have warned that 2023 could be a comeback year for El Nino, pushing temperatures by over 1.5 degrees celsius compared to the average temperature a century ago. As per the reports published in the US scientific journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” (PNAS), each degree Celsius increase in global temperature can on average reduce global yields of wheat by 6 per cent, rice by 3.2 per cent, maize by 7.4 per cent, and soybean by 3.1 per cent . Furthermore, the global rise in temperature increases the risks of floods, drought, extreme heat waves, and water shortages, and could possibly push millions into poverty. Despite knowing the pitfalls, and suffering agricultural losses every year, less than 20 per cent of farmers opt-in for risk-cover products owing to the lack of trust, education, and high premium costs.”

nurture.farm is partnering with SWAL Corporation Ltd., an organisation that is paving the way for other many organisations to follow by helping us drive change, increase adoption, build for farmer resilience, and truly make agriculture sustainable, viable, and climate-smart. 

Pramod Tiwari, Head of Marketing at SWAL Corporation Ltd, said, “For over 10 decades, SWAL has been committed to its farmers by offering them quality agri-solutions that are efficient, improve yield quality & quantity for ensuring better farm profitability. Our teams have been working with the farmers, helping them select the right inputs, imparting technical know-how, educating them about innovative farming practices, and delivering access to technology and advisory throughout the cultivation windows”.

The partnership enables the companies to provide

AgroPolicy, Foodgrains, India, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Trade, World

MoU to help promote millets and value-added millet products in international markets

In a move to harness the export potential of millets to the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCCs), the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) which works under the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lulu Hypermarket LLC.

APEDA aims to promote millet products and value-added products around the world in association with Lulu Group, which is an international retail hypermarket chain that operates stores and shopping malls across Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, India and the Far East.

As per the agreement, the Lulu Group will facilitate promotional activities for millet products and enable the country to display millets and its value-added products, ready to eat products in international retail chains by sourcing it from Farmer Producer Organisations, Farmer Producer Companies, women entrepreneurs and startups.

APEDA will facilitate manufacturers to send various samples of millet products to Lulu Hypermarkets, which will be showcased at its various stores. APEDA, in association with Lulu Group, will also provide assistance in the labelling of the products in accordance with the requirement of different importing countries.

As a part of its series of events for the promotion of the International Year of Millets (IYoM) 2023, APEDA is organising export promotion activities for millets in 16 International Trade Fairs, including Gulfood 2023.

India has exported millets worth $ 46.05 million from April-November 2022-23 and the UAE is the major importing country of Indian millets. The signing of the MoU will facilitate APEDA’s strategy to promote the export of millets and its value-added products in West Asian countries to achieve the overall set target of USD 100 million for the export of millets and its value-added products by 2025.

The MoU was signed between Dr Tarun Bajaj, Director of APEDA and Salim VI, the Chief Operating Officer of LuLu Group in presence of APEDA Chairman Dr M Angamuthu, Consul General of India Dr Aman Puri and M.A. Yusuff Ali, the Chairman & Managing Director of Luu Group.

Speaking on the occasion, APEDA Chairman M Angamuthu said, “It’s a good opportunity to boost our exports as India has very distinctive traditional varieties of millets which are loved by health-conscious people. The export of millets will help in increasing the income of farmers.”

APEDA has also planned to organise millet promotional activities in South Africa, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Sydney, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States of America by facilitating the participation of different stakeholders from India in some of the significant food shows, Buyer Seller Meets and Road Shows.

MoU to help promote millets and value-added

AgroPolicy, Finance, India, Schemes - Govt, Sustainability

Through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to the bank accounts of more than 8 crore beneficiary farmers across the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi transferred the 13th instalment of about Rs 16,800 crore under the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme of the Government of India, through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to the bank accounts of more than 8 crore beneficiary farmers across the country. Thousands of farmers were present in this huge programme at Belagavi in Karnataka, while crores of farmers and others joined online. Chief Minister of Karnataka, Basavraj Bommai, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of State for Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs, Pralhad Joshi and Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Shobha Karandlaje and other elected representatives were also present on the occasion.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Modi said that today the whole of India has got a big gift from Belagavi. Another instalment of PM-Kisan has been transferred to the farmers of the country. With just one click, more than Rs. 16,000 crores have reached the bank accounts of crores of farmers across the country. Such a huge amount has been transferred in a moment, with no middleman, no cut-commission and no corruption, this is Modi’s Government, every bit is yours, and it is for you. There are 80-85 per cent of small farmers in India, now these Small Farmers are a priority of the government. About Rs. 2.5 lakh crores so far has been deposited in the accounts of these small farmers. Of this, more than Rs. 50,000 crores have been deposited in the accounts of our sisters and mothers. The Prime Minister said that since 2014, the country has been continuously moving towards a transformational change in agriculture. We are associating agriculture with modernity. In 2014, the budget for Agriculture was Rs. 25,000 crores, whereas this time our Agricultural Budget is more than Rs 1.25 lakh crore. We are connecting more and more farmers with Kisan Credit Cards. Our government has always kept the interests of sugarcane farmers paramount. In this year’s budget, an important decision has been taken related to sugarcane farmers. We have launched the PM Pranam Yojana for the farmers, through this, the States that reduce the use of chemical fertilizer will get additional help from the Centre.

Through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to the

Agrotech, Company News, Environment, North America, R&D, Sustainability, Vegetables

The new smaller-sized GrowPod is built into a 20-foot-long insulated shipping container and can be customised to include well-designed features

Advanced Container Technologies, announced it is now shipping a new smaller-sized GrowPod – a specially designed, transportable controlled environment farm.

Some of the world’s largest and best-known resorts are now using controlled environment farms to provide their restaurants and patrons with premium food that not only is free from chemicals, herbicides and pathogens but also can be picked at the peak of flavour and freshness for quality that is better than organic.

The new smaller-sized GrowPod is built into a 20-foot-long insulated shipping container and can be customised to include well-designed features such as a 5-tier / 5-channel growing system with a hand sink, nursery, and prep area. The GrowPod also features a secure entry door with an air curtain, stainless steel worktops, commercial grade flooring and NSF-rated walls, and complete environmental control – accessible through a cloud-based mobile application.

Today, many Caribbean resorts import much of their produce from Miami or from local farmers. But there are limitations to this practice: The trip from Florida doesn’t fare well for food freshness, and there is only a limited supply from local farmers. On some islands, more than 90 per cent of the food consumed there is imported.

“We wound up throwing away 40 per cent of the produce, especially the more sensitive greens because of the state they arrived in,” said Robin Jance, food and beverage director of one popular resort.

To solve this problem, some resorts are investing in hydroponic farms like GrowPods.

Using a GrowPod hydroponic modular container, resorts can grow certain types of leafy greens and microgreens. Now, rather than importing these items, resorts can purchase seeds and let them germinate in the nursery for a few weeks, then transplant the seedlings into the vertical cultivation area where they mature in four to five weeks, depending on the crop.

“It’s a protected environment so the resort doesn’t have to worry about too much sun or rain or heat or insects, said Doug Heldoorn, CEO of ACTX. “And since the container is a closed-loop system, water doesn’t evaporate – unlike a typical garden or farm, which provides a significant reduction in water usage over conventional farming.”

With GrowPods, resorts can incorporate a farm-to-fork concept at their restaurants, and offer guests the cleanest, most delicious food possible.

The new smaller-sized GrowPod is built into a 20-foot-long

Agrotech, Company News, Europe, R&D, Sustainability

The flexible far-red option allows growers to have the far-red on or off depending on crop variety, production stage, or at a specific part of the day. 

Heliospectra AB (publ) expands product portfolio and MITRA platform with MITRA Flex, the market’s first available wireless controlled flexible far-red light. The new solutions offer customers three spectra in one without losing power, making it perfect for customisable and application-based growing, such as end-of-day or end-of-production light treatments with far-red, or to ensure a healthy crop year-round also in low light seasons.

MITRA Flex allows growers to use targeted crop strategies with its flexible far-red by combining three spectra in one – PAR, PAR plus Far-Red, and Far-Red Only – without losing power. In addition, the flexible far-red option allows growers to have the far-red on or off depending on crop variety, production stage, or at a specific part of the day. 

In addition, to further adapt to each crop and plant growth stage, MITRA Flex comes with wireless dimming and can be connected to Heliospectra’s light control system helioCORE for dynamic DLI control, dimming and to create grow-zone strategies for different varieties or areas. 

“MITRA Flex application-driven approach supports our mission to Redefine Natures Potential and optimise crop performance and production for growers. Combining that with our SMART software and a robust wireless communication protocol, growers can gain not only faster production and more healthy crops using the far-red, but gain substantial energy savings by not using the lights when not needed,” says Bonny Heeren, CEO, Heliospectra.  

The flexible far-red option allows growers to

Company News, Foodgrains, Sustainability, World

The Nutrient Gap Initiative aims to improve access to essential nutrients for 50 million people by 2030

Bayer announces the expansion of one of its signature sustainability programs, the Nutrient Gap Initiative, to now improve access to both nutritious food and safety net supplementation.  The program initially aimed to expand access to essential vitamins and minerals to 50 million people in underserved communities by 2030, with a focus on nutritional supplementation, a critical tool to build a safety net for malnutrition in these communities. On the occasion of the initiative’s second anniversary, the company is evolving the program to also help close the nutrient gap through the most fundamental source: food, namely fruits, vegetables and grains. 

“As a global leader in both agriculture and nutritional supplements, Bayer is uniquely positioned to help all people get access to proper nutrition. The roots of malnutrition are complex and far from one-size-fits-all, so we’re drawing on competencies from across our company to fight it. We want to remove the barriers to a healthy diet for those who need it most,” said Heiko Schipper, President of the Consumer Health Division of Bayer AG and Member of the Board of Management.

“For people in underserved communities, access to nutritious food is a challenge due to the cost and local availability of fresh produce and grains. As part of our critical work for food security and smallholder farmers, The Nutrient Gap Initiative will help improve the livelihoods of people who do not have access to vitamins and minerals, leveraging also our Better Life Farming Centres,” said Rodrigo Santos, President of the Crop Science Division of Bayer AG and Member of the Board of Management. 

Smallholder farmers are the backbone of many food systems, but their communities are often suffering from malnutrition and a lack of health services. Building on the existing strong infrastructure of the Better Life Farming centres, smallholder farmers will become a key audience for The Nutrient Gap Initiative. The Better Life Farming Centres, predominantly in Asia Pacific, provide smallholders in remote rural regions access to essential agricultural products, a key pillar of Bayer’s Smallholder Initiative which aims to impact 100 million smallholders in low-and-middle-income countries by 2030. Bayer will pilot the expansion of services offered with access to nutritional solutions and education given that food security cannot be achieved without health equity.

The Nutrient Gap Initiative aims to improve

AgroPolicy, Climate, Environment, India, Organic, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Trade

Currently, Sikkim grows organic farm produce worth Rs 8 crores and it will grow up to Rs 8000 crores gradually by 2030

Sikkim is India’s first 100 per cent organic farming state and the government is planning to export agricultural organic produce from Sikkim, currently, Sikkim grows organic farm produce worth Rs 8 crores and it will grow up to Rs 8000 crores gradually by 2030, said Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Textiles and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, at the Asia Economic Dialogue in Pune.

Pune International Centre (PIC) a Pune-based think tank and Ministry of external affairs has organised Asia economic dialogue a three days conference. Experts from various fields participated in the forum.

Goyal said that to Sikkim make organic farm products export hub, the government plans to set Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Agricultural Processed Food Products Export Authority (APEDA) unit in Sikkim.

He said, “While the developed world is the largest contributor to climate change, they are preaching to us today about what we should be doing despite us being only 2.5 per cent of contributors to carbon emissions. The government has focused on addressing climate change as a responsible global citizen. We are promoting circular economies so that we recycle our waste. We are among the top five performing nations in addressing climate change goals. We are also promoting products like sustainable textiles.”

Currently, Sikkim grows organic farm produce worth

Acquaculture, Agrotech, India, Interaction

It will bring together political leaders, policymakers, government officials, associations, exporters, and heads of global businesses to provide a forum for discussion on the future of fisheries.

Fishtech 2023 a “Sustainable Blue Revolution: Nutritional Security and Exports” event which comprises of Exhibition, conference and workshops aims to promote development and leverage of opportunities in the fisheries sector. Fishtech 2023 will be held on March 2 and 3 at CIDCO Exhibition & Convention Centre in Vashi, Navi Mumbai.

FISHTECH 2023 will evolve around fisheries business opportunities in the different regions of Maharashtra and will be a regional hub nationally as well as internationally. It will concentrate on establishing a partnership between states and regions to promote seamless development and leverage of opportunities in the fisheries sector. The objectives of the event are to bring together stakeholders from the different parts of the Maharashtra region, public sector enterprises, and the private sector in the fisheries sector. Such a gathering will ensure the start of a dialogue that will lead to development and problem solving in a variety of fields.

Highlights of FISHTECH 2023

FISHTECH 2023 will bring together political leaders, policymakers, government officials, associations, exporters, and heads of global businesses to provide a forum for discussion on the future of fishing with a more representative and diversified audience.

  • Conferences; Sustainable Fisheries Development, Challenges/ Opportunities, innovation & technology, Harvest and Post-Harvest Management etc.
  • Panel Discussions; Impact of Climate Change on Fisheries and Business Development in the     Fisheries Sector etc.
  • Workshops; Fish Farming, Fish Processing and Preservation, Government Policy Awareness etc.
  • Exhibition; Industry, Companies, Startups and Government bodies.
  • Fisheries Technology for growing Fish Farming and Fish Processing
  • Networking Opportunities

It will bring together political leaders, policymakers,

AgroPolicy, India, Seeds, Supply Chain, Trade, Vegetables

No restrictions or prohibitions on the export of onions from India

The central government says there is no ban on the export of onions. India exported $523 million worth of onions from April to December last year, an increase of 16.3 per cent from a year ago.

According to the statement, the government has not restricted or prohibited the export of onions. The extant export policy of onions is ‘Free’. Only the export of onion seed is ‘Restricted’, which is also permitted under Authorisation from DGFT.

India exported, $48 million in onions in April, in May, $ 31.9, in June $ 36, July $ 50.1, August $ 49, September $50.7, October $ 40.8, November $ 45.9 and in December $ 52.1.

No restrictions or prohibitions on the export

Agrotech, Company News, India, Supply Chain

Partnership aims to provide Indian farmers with access to premium products and solutions via a unified platform.

Bayer, a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of agriculture and healthcare, has entered a Memorandum of Understanding with WayCool, one of India’s largest Food and Agritech companies, as a strategic partner to deliver end-to-end holistic solutions to smallholder farmers in India. The strategic collaboration aims to provide Indian farmers with access to premium products and solutions via a unified platform and personalized advice, with the goal of establishing and implementing a sustainable crop production model. Through Bayer’s Better Life Farming Centers and Farmer Producer Organisations, smallholder farmers will be able to access timely crop advisory, transfer of good agricultural practices and WayCool’s full stack services.

The collaboration between Bayer and WayCool aims to expand their network of farmer partners and facilitate the establishment and implementation of a sustainable crop production model. By providing customized services at the Better Life Farming Centers, the partnership will bring economic benefits to all stakeholders and enable farmers to achieve optimal price realization of their output. It represents a strategic alliance to create a sustainable and prosperous future for farmers in India.

Bayer and WayCool have identified three key focus areas to support the farming community in India through their strategic collaboration. The first is a phydigital platform that offers one-stop solutions, the second is the economic benefits derived from the Food Value Chain partnership, and the third is the use of Bayer’s Better Life Farming Centers and Farmer Producer Organisations. WayCool’s farmer engagement business arm, “Outgrow,” will leverage a digital application to provide farmers with solutions and services, while the on-ground network will be mobilized through WayCool’s Outgrow Network Partners across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, as well as Bayer’s Better Life Farming Centers across the country. Further, WayCool will provide market linkages to help smallholder farmers get better prices for their produce.

Speaking on the partnership, Simon-Thorsten Wiebusch, Country Divisional Head – Crop Science Division of Bayer for India, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka, said, “Digitization of the complete value chain is a key enabler of advancing agriculture in India and a primary goal of the Crop Science Division at Bayer. To be able to offer these services to an expanded smallholder farmer base across the country and delivering greater value to them through a capable partner like WayCool will only bring us a step closer to this critical objective.”

Commenting on the MoU, Sanjay Dasari, Co-founder, WayCool, said, “As India progresses towards climate-smart agriculture, and achieving food security, the problem of rising temperatures and pest infestation is a significant challenge for farmers today in crop cultivation. This often leads to a loss in yield and productivity. Recognizing this pain point, we are extremely happy to partner with Bayer and aid the Indian farming community in this fight. Together we hope to support the creation of efficient and climate resistant food ecosystems, in line with our vision to transform the food-supply chain from farm to fork.”

Partnership aims to provide Indian farmers with

Agrotech, Company News, North America

For the first and second carbon crops, Carbon by Indigo farmers were paid $30/credit, a 200 per cent increase over the original guaranteed payment rate.

US based Indigo Ag, the premier sustainability partner of the agriculture industry, announced the completion of its second carbon crop, consisting of more than 110,000 agricultural carbon credits. Issued by one of the world’s most trusted carbon registries, the Climate Action Reserve, Indigo’s second crop of credits was produced by U.S. farmers enrolled in its industry-leading carbon farming program, Carbon by Indigo.

The second crop of credits represents more than 110,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions sequestered or abated by farmers. The credits were produced by nearly 430 farmers across 22 U.S. states, including existing and new farmers and new fields in their operations. The second carbon crop demonstrated the program’s growth and durability, as Indigo’s carbon program realized a roughly 5x credit growth from its inaugural crop. Carbon by Indigo Farmers Produce the Highest Quality Agricultural Carbon Credits Available on the Voluntary Market.

For the first and second carbon crops, Carbon by Indigo farmers were paid $30/credit, a 200 per cent increase over the original guaranteed payment rate.

With sustainable agriculture gaining momentum as a vital tool to combat climate change, the need to scale nature-based solutions is at an all-time high. Indigo’s first carbon crop – issued in June of 2022 and consisting of more than 20,000 credits – established the company as the first to ever generate verified, registry-issued agricultural carbon credits at market scale. This second carbon crop further demonstrates the repeatability of this process, the potential for exponential growth, and the appeal to both farmers and buyers. It also reinforces the ability of farmers, and the agriculture industry broadly, to have a real, measurable, and durable impact on one of the world’s largest carbon sinks.

“Our second crop of soil-based carbon credits signifies the enormous growth and potential for farmers to sequester more carbon in the soil while increasing their own profitability, with 75 per cent of the credit revenue going directly back to farmers,” said Ron Hovsepian, president & CEO of Indigo Ag. “The verified credits produced by the Carbon by Indigo program represent significant and immediate environmental benefits. We are incredibly excited about the strong demand we are seeing from companies looking to high-quality offsets as part of their climate roadmaps.” 

Indigo’s growing network of global partner companies, including many long-term buyers, have committed to purchasing Indigo’s verified agricultural carbon credits in advance of this new carbon crop.

Indigo Ag is the only company producing verified, registry-issued soil carbon credits at scale, rewarding farmers for adopting sustainable farming practices that benefit the environment and their operations. The Carbon by Indigo program includes removals and abatement of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The credits are measured, verified and issued under the most rigorous scientific standards, making them the highest quality agricultural carbon credits available on the voluntary market. The program’s economic and agronomic incentives for farmers establish long term viability for the program.

For the first and second carbon crops,