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Agro Universities, AgroPolicy

Promoting animal husbandry in the North-Eastern states emphasized

The 25th Virtual Regional Committee Meeting – covering regions of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Islands was organized by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi on October 8, 2020 at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi.

Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare applauded the ICAR’s initiative in resolving the various problems being faced here. He also stressed on the collaborative efforts of the agricultural scientists, farmers’ hard work and organizing such meetings, the Council can achieve the target of doubling the farmers’ income by 2022.

Appreciating the agricultural scientists’ Lab-to-land concept, Rupala urged to strengthen the Krishi Vigyan Kendras for effective resolution of the problems related to seed planting and seed replacement in the region itself. He also urged for promoting the practices of animal husbandry in the North-Eastern states.

Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare underlined that with regard to the reviews of the previous work plans and recommendations made in the Regional Committee Meetings held after every two years, the future action plans / guidelines for the farmers and agriculture are prepared.

Promoting animal husbandry in the North-Eastern

Agro chems – Pesticides, R&D, Seeds

A safe alternative to chemical pesticides

The Institute of Pesticide Formulation Technology (IPFT ), under the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals ,Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers in collaboration with Indian council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) – National Research Center on Seed Spices (NRCSS), Ajmer, Rajasthan has successfully developed new Aqueous Suspension formulation technology of bio-pesticide based on entomo-pathogenic fungus Verticillium lecanii.

Jitendra Kumar, Director IPFT said that this bio-pesticide formulation has been found very effective in controlling various insects in seed spice crops (fenugreek, cumin, and coriander). The formulation has good shelf life, safe to user & environment and it may be effectively used for controlling different agricultural insects especially in seed spice crops. Patent application for the formulation has been filed.

According to a statement provided by IPFT the seed spices crops suffer major losses due to various insects. For controlling the insects, large amounts of synthetic chemical pesticides are used in these crops, resulting in higher levels of pesticide residues in seed spices, this leads to risks for human health and environment. This bio-pesticides may be used as a safer alternative to chemical pesticides to minimize pesticide residue problem. Besides, it may be used as key input for crop protection from insects pest in organic agriculture and Integrated Pest Management.

 

 

A safe alternative to chemical pesticidesThe Institute

Dairy, E-commerce

The company has invested in developing cold chains for milk right from the source to factories where the product is processed.

Agribusiness major, ITC will focus on the eastern regional markets of the country for its new dairy business vertical, a company official said.

According to a PTI report, The Company is now offering its dairy products in the two eastern markets of West Bengal and Bihar.

 

“We are to focus on eastern markets of the country for our new dairy business. However, plans are there to expand the range and footprint also,” said Sanjay Singhal, COO of Dairy and Beverages Business of ITC as quoted by PTI

 

Singhal said that the company’s dairy business is receiving good response in West Bengal where is market share is growing. ITC launched its dairy products in the state two years ago, a year after Bihar. 

“India is the largest milk producer in the world and there is a good scope for penetration of pouch milk in these markets,” he was further quoted by PTI as saying.

 Presently, ITC’s dairy range includes milk, paneer, curd, ghee and milk shakes.

He said that the company has invested in developing cold chains for milk right from the source to factories where the product is processed. According to him, the company’s food products are also available on the ITC store and other e-commerce platforms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The company has invested in developing cold

Agro chems – Pesticides, AgroPolicy

During this year alone around 140 samples have been drawn from all the districts of Kashmir

Administrative Department, Horticulture Department Kashmir has recently launched a campaign of sampling of pesticides throughout Kashmir.

Director Horticulture Kashmir Ajaz Ahmad Bhat has directed Insecticide Inspectors to collect pesticide samples and ensure that the establishments dealing in the sale of insecticides and pesticides are operating as per law and are having relevant papers as well. The Inspectors were directed to ensure that the establishments dealing in sale of insecticides and pesticides are operating as per law and are having relevant papers as well.

Director Horticulture stated, “During this year alone around 140 samples have been drawn from all the districts of Kashmir and results of almost all the samples were satisfactory.”

During this year alone around 140 samples

Agro chems – Pesticides, E-commerce, Europe, R&D

The new end-to-end offering also includes cannabis-optimized reagents

UK-based PerkinElmer Inc., a global leader committed to innovating for a healthier world, has recently launched the cannabis industry’s first fully-automated liquid handling sample preparation and LC/MS/MS analysis workflow for pesticide residue testing of cannabis and hemp flower samples. The new end-to-end offering also includes cannabis-optimized reagents and sample prep consumables as well as proprietary cannabis SOPs and cloud-based tracking and reporting software. With the workflow, in house and contract labs can increase pesticide analysis throughput with improved data quality, decrease laboratory waste, reduce the likelihood of operator error and slash sample prep times to 2 hours from 6-8 hours when performed manually.

The workflow begins with an integrated microbalance that captures and communicates sample ID and weight data. A multi-step, sample preparation procedure is then executed automatically by PerkinElmer’s new liquid and sample handling system, the Janus® G3 420 Workstation. The new One Pesticide420 TM Reagent Kit provides calibration and quality control reagents as well as all the sample preparation consumables needed for consistent implementation of the new application-dedicated SOPs.

After the sample preparation is complete, the sample is analyzed on PerkinElmer’s industry-leading QSight® 420 LC/MS/MS instrument in sync with regulatory frameworks.

Finally, full sample traceability and instrument connectivity is delivered with PerkinElmer’s new cloud-based SimplicityLab420 TM software. This software supports easy batch creation and method transfer, regulation-ready reporting, integration with LIMS systems and remote workflow monitoring.

The new end-to-end offering also includes cannabis-optimized

AgroPolicy, Agrotech

Dr Ashish Kumar Bhutani, CEO, PMFBY was addressing a webinar on AI & Digital Applications in Agriculture, organized by FICCI and German Agribusiness Alliance. 

 

 

Dr Ashish Kumar Bhutani, CEO, PMFBY and Joint Secretary (Credit), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Govt of India said that the government is putting up a common data infrastructure of all the farmers in the country.

“PMFBY, PM-Kisan, the Soil health Card, are all being integrated through a common database along with land record details over the period of time. This will act as a one stop shop for data, including access to finance by farmers, start-ups, and researchers for developing new apps, so that the benefits reach the grassroots,” he added.   

Elaborating on the PMFBY (Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna), he said that since its launch, the scheme has been a radical shift in the way crop insurance is implemented in the country. It is the third biggest program in the world after the US and China’s programs. “Technology is the way forward for implementation of the program.

 While highlighting the initiatives of the government, Dr Bhutani said that the biggest challenge is to increase the production by 50 percent over the next 20-30 years with limited scope of increase in the farming area. “The entire focus has shifted to using technology for managing the food security and other aspects of agriculture. AI can be effectively used in soil monitoring, predictive data analytics and improving supply chain inefficiencies. The National e-Governance project on agriculture, which has been revisited this year, has given focus on using information technology, AI, Machine Learning etc.” 

 Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Agriculture Production Commissioner & Principal Secretary, Govt of Tamil Nadu said that the state was one of the first in the country to adopt AI and implement it in farmer welfare programs. “The impact and utility of Digitization and AI are perhaps, more beneficial in the agriculture sector than any other sector. The young farmers are taking to digitization in a big way,” he added.

Prof Dr Engel Friederike Hessel, Commissioner for Digitization, Head of Directorate Digital Innovation, Federal Ministry of Food & Agriculture, Germany highlighted various initiatives adopted by the country using AI, which has brought a radical change in the agriculture sector. She said that digital technologies in the agricultural sector includes a high-performance and secure broadband infrastructure which is vital for rural areas. “We have already started put in place the autonomous driving mechanism in our system and AI can further help in resource efficiency,” she added.   

 Rajesh Raghavan, MD & Country Manager-India, Husqvarna India Pvt Ltd said that Artificial Intelligence is a game changer to the agrarian community and can play pivotal role in both the demand and supply aspects of agriculture. AI and allied digital applications can contribute to a sustainable precision farming from crop selection to crop monitoring, thereby improving the profitability of the farming community, he added. 

Nitesh Bansal, SVP & Global Head of Engineering Services, Infosys stressed that advanced technologies such as IoT, Blockchain, AI & Robotics help agri-businesses gain insights on soil, water, weather and other conditions to help growers monitor crop health, reduce harvest losses and maximize yield.

 TR Kesavan, Chairman, FICCI National Agriculture Committee & Group President, TAFE Ltd said that AI and digital technologies can connect farmers and markets thereby reducing on-farm and post-harvest wastages and ensuring demand. “Predictive agriculture, transparency, traceability and targeted, matrix-able & measurable process provides resilience in case of pest infection, diseases or natural calamities.

 Julia Harnal, Chairperson, German Agribusiness Alliance & Vice President Global Sustainability and Governmental Affairs Agricultural Solutions, BASF SE said that digital technologies today are changing the face of agriculture, they have the potential to secure income for farmers and to make agriculture more resilient to climate change and future crises”. 

 “AI will play a crucial role in bringing efficiency and sustainability in Agribusiness models”, said Ashok Varma, Partner and Head Social Sector Advisory Practice, PwC.

 

 Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General, FICCI emphasized that digital technologies hold enormous potential for agricultural sector and going forward, improving digital literacy among farmers and Identifying effective channels for dissemination of AI solutions among farming communities will be crucial.

 

 

Dr Ashish Kumar Bhutani, CEO, PMFBY was

Agro chems – Fertilizers, AgroPolicy

DV Sadananda has launched POS 3.1 software, SMS gateway & home delivery of fertilizers for farmers in Andhra Pradesh

Indian chemicals & fertilizers minister DV Sadananda Gowda has recently announced the launch of POS 3.1 software, SMS gateway and home delivery facility of fertilizers (RBK) for farmers in Andhra Pradesh. DBT system was launched on 1 March 2018 on a pan India basis and this has been working very well since its inception, commented DV Sadananda.

The system enables us to know and monitor the availability of fertilizer on a real-time basis at State, District and at the retail outlet. The entire fertilizer subsidy for the last two years has been disbursed through this system. This surely is a measure of the robustness of the DBT system.

Under the POS 3.1 version, keeping in view of the prevailing pandemic conditions, a contactless OTP-based authentication option has been introduced. The farmer will be able to purchase fertilizer without touching the fingerprint sensor.

Minister said SMS Gateway will periodically send SMS to the farmer about the availability of fertilizer at the retail outlet from where he last purchased the fertilizer. Further, on purchase of fertilizer SMS will be sent to his mobile indicating the quantity purchased and the amount paid by him.

DBT 2.0 initiative was launched during July 2019 and since then many more improvements have been made in the system which are being launched as a part of PoS 3.1 Software. The improvements involve two modes of authentication and Re-registration of devices under PoS.

 The State Government has launched 10, 641 Rythu Bharosa Kendralu (RBKs) in all gram panchayats to provide farmers with quality inputs and allied services. Under this system, farmers after biometric authentication can order fertilizers from RBK (Rythu Bharosa Kendra) in their village and fertilizer will be delivered at their doorstep.

DV Sadananda has launched POS 3.1 software,

Acts & Schemes – Centre

The Bills were needed to complete reforms in the agriculture sector that have been due for the past 30 years

Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance, GoI recently said that the three farm Bills passed in Parliament would benefit farmers and bring about great reforms in the agriculture sector. 

After interacting with farmers at Gannavaram, Andhra Pradesh, Sitharaman said that the Bills were needed to complete reforms in the agriculture sector that have been due for the past 30 years. She mentioned that restrictions on farmers were withdrawn and farmers can now sell their produce at any place. 

The Minister further stated that private players would enter the market ensuring the minimum support price (MSP) and farmers would be free to sell their produce outside agriculture market yards, if they get a better price. She concluded by saying  that the Bills passes would not weaken primary agriculture markets. 

The Bills were needed to complete reforms

Agro chems – Fertilizers, Agro Universities, R&D

Aimed at providing low cost bio fertilizer technology and reducing input costs

The ICAR-Directorate of Groundnut Research, Junagadh, Gujarat virtually inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Om Laboratories, Junagarh, Gujarat (Licensee) and Agrinnovate India Limited (Facilitator) to transfer the bio-fertilizer formulation ‘NutMagic’ on non-exclusive basis developed at the ICAR-DGR, Junagadh, Gujarat today. The MoU was signed on the occasion of the Directorate’s 41st Foundation Day celebrations.


As per the MoU, the technology will be formally transferred to the M/s Om Laboratories on payment of one time licensing fees (Rs 4 Lakhs + GST) after the completion of the other codal formalities. The venture is a significant step forward in making the low-cost bio-fertilizer technology available to the needy groundnut farmers for reducing the input cost and improving the productivity vis-à-vis income of the farmers and their livelihood.

NutMagic is a consortium of beneficial bacteria of groundnut comprising of plant growth promoting Rhizobacteria ((PGPR: Pseudomonas gessardii BHU1, Pseudomonas putida S1 (6)); phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB: Enterobacter cloacae BM8; Bacillus sp.) and competitive strains of groundnut rhizobia (Sinorhizobium americanum NRCG4 and Rhizobium sp. NRCG9) recommended for both the irrigated and Rainfed groundnut production system after thorough multi-location evaluation. 

Aimed at providing low cost bio fertilizer

Agrotech, Finance, Schemes - NABARD

Krishitantra aims to optimize fertilizer application for farmers

Hyderabad-based Krishitantra, a soil-tech platform has recently announced that it has raised $1 million in its seed round of funding from agritech-focused venture capital investor Omnivore and Nabventures. Nabventures is anchored by Nabard (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development).

Krishitantra was co-founded in 2017 by Sandeep Kondaji, Dr Vishnuprasada Bhat, and Anand Bellan Raman. The company has developed a highly portable IoT device, branded as Krishi RASTAA, that generates soil test results within 30 minutes, precisely analyzing macronutrients, micronutrients, pH, organic carbon, EC, and microbial counts. Krishitantra will primarily use the funding to fuel its local and foreign expansion.

Krishitantra aims to optimize fertilizer application for farmers, increasing crop yields, reducing the cost of cultivation, and improving soil health. 

Moreover, the company believes it can have a major impact reducing greenhouse gas emissions while promoting sustainable agriculture and soil conservation.

Krishitantra’s clients include farmers, FPOs, agribusiness companies, soil testing labs, and other agritech startups. While currently focused on the Indian market, Krishitantra also plans to enter select Southeast Asian countries in the near future.

Omnivore was founded by Mark Kahn and Jinesh Shah in 2010. Omnivore is investing out of its second fund, which marked the final close at $97 million (Rs 679 crore) last year. Its investments from the new fund include agri-tech startups Fasal and Clover and aquaculture platform Aquaconnect. 

Krishitantra aims to optimize fertilizer application for

AgroPolicy, IT

The app would connect more than 10,000 farmers, 50 FPOs and 1,000 verified agricultural traders.   

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched a mobile app to facilitate timely sale of agriculture products, particularly fruits and vegetables, by promoting buyer-seller network.

Sonowal said that the ’’Kisan Rath’’ app, developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), would be a new vehicle for boosting agri-business by opening up markets across the country for farmers of Assam so that they can get the best price for their produce.

Officials working in the Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation (APART) project would provide training to farmers and other stakeholders on using the app which is functional in three languages – Assamese, Hindi and English.

“The app will help farmers emerge stronger in the competitive market and prove a boon for growers of perishable fruits and vegetables due to reduction in wastage of their produce,” the chief minister said.

The ’’Kisan Rath’’ app would connect more than 10,000 farmers, 50 farmer producer organisations and 1,000 verified agricultural traders.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been working to double farmers’ income to give them a life of dignity and various central government schemes have strengthened the agricultural ecosystem in the country, he said.

The Assam government has also implemented several state schemes in a bid to make agriculture more productive and remunerative, Sonowal said.

Source- PTI

The app would connect more than

Acts & Schemes – Centre, AgroPolicy

Now India’s premium cotton would be known as ‘Kasturi Cotton’ in the world cotton trade

Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Minister of Textiles and Women & Child Development launched the first ever brand & logo for Indian Cotton on 2nd World Cotton Day on October 7, 2020 through video conferencing. Now India’s premium cotton would be known as ‘Kasturi Cotton’ in the world cotton trade. The Kasturi Cotton brand will represent whiteness, brightness, softness, purity, luster, uniqueness and Indianness. 

Speaking on this occasion, Irani said, this is a much awaited moment that today the Indian Cotton has been endowed with a brand & logo. This event becomes more important as the 2nd World Cotton Day is being celebrated world over today.

Irani said that to ensure sustainability, integrity and end-to-end traceability of the organic products, a certification system based on comparable international standards verified through internationally acceptable institutional system is required to be put in place. Accordingly, Ministry of Textiles through APEDA under Ministry of Commerce and Industry has prescribed a certification system for organic Cotton which will be introduced in phases in the entire textile value chain. Similarly, prescribing a certification system for non-organic cotton has also been taken up with APEDA so that usages of cotton can be suitably augmented. 

Now India’s premium cotton would be known

Foodgrains, India

Resolution over GI claims expected on Nov 25, 2020

In a significant development in India’s ensuing Basmati GI litigation, the Supreme Court of India, a three Judge bench headed by Justice Nageshwar Rao, issued a notice in the Special Leave Petitions filed by the Madhya Kshetra Basmati Growers Association Samiti (MKBGA) and the State of Madhya Pradesh.

In the interim, the Supreme Court of India has also restrained the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) from taking coercive action against the Petitioners according to the GI registration granted in favour of APEDA over Basmati. The Supreme Court has said that there are aspects that need to be introspected upon and has listed the matter for final disposal on November 25, 2020.

The Petitioners have submitted that APEDA has claimed GI territories/areas in an unscientific, overbroad and vague fashion to the detriment of the brand Basmati. APEDA had claimed these areas on the ground that they form part of the Indo-Gangetic Plain and that there was a “popular perception” that these areas were the only traditional basmati growing areas. The Petitioners are separately aggrieved of exclusion by APEDA of 13 districts of the State of Madhya Pradesh, which, according to the Petitioners, are traditional basmati growing areas for the past many decades. The Petitioners have separately filed proceedings for inclusion of 13 districts of the State of Madhya Pradesh. These proceedings are currently pending adjudication before High Court of Madras.

Resolution over GI claims expected on Nov

Agro Universities, R&D, World

It will promote CGIAR platform to develop an agriculture system that enhances farmers’ livelihoods and mitigates the impact of climate change 

 

Top officials of Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) led by its Vice Minister, Le Quoc Doanh, discussed the future directions of the research collaboration between MARD and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in a virtual meeting on 18 September 2020. Dr. Doanh acknowledged the fruitful 60-year partnership between IRRI and Vietnam, specifically on sharing rice varieties, providing capacity building, and expanding support to climate change and resource management.

 

IRRI was represented by Jim Godfrey, IRRI Board of Trustees (BOT) chair, Matthew Morell, IRRI Director General, former MARD Minister Cao Duc Phat and current member of the IRRI Board, and Dr. Yurdi Yasmi and Dr. Bjoern Ole Sander, the institute’s regional representative for Southeast Asia and country representative to Vietnam, respectively.

 

“I expressed my gratitude to Vietnam’s strong support for and collaboration with IRRI that has contributed significantly to the development of the rice sector in the country,” said Dr. Godfrey who acknowledged the importance of the relationship between the two during the meeting that discussed the One CGIAR reform. “I look forward to the same level of commitment under the new CGIAR platform.”

One CGIAR, which started on 1 October 2020, would place the 15 CGIAR Centres under one governance to enable its partnerships, knowledge, assets, and global presence to reach greater integration and impact in the face of the interdependent challenges facing today’s world.

 

“CGIAR is concerned with developing an agriculture system that enhances farmers’ livelihoods and adapts to and mitigates the impact of climate change,” said Dr. Morell. He stressed that under One CGIAR, CGIAR centres working in Vietnam will be an integrated system for collaboration and resource sharing to address climate-related risks such as salinity intrusion and drought. IRRI has asked MARD to make Vietnam’s position clear on the One CGIAR process in terms of its commitments and the support.

Source- IRRI

It will promote CGIAR platform to develop