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E-commerce, Finance, Live Stock, Start ups, Trade

The round was led by Singapore-based Vertex Growth Fund, along with existing investors 3one4 Capital, Bertelsmann India Investments, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, and Sistema Asia Fund.

 Banglore based  gourmet meat start-up Licious, the fresh meat and seafood brand, has received a Series E funding round of $30 million. With the current round of fundraising, Licious has achieved the rare feat of attracting the highest funding in the industry, which puts them at the driver’s seat for transforming the way India experiences meat. 

The company, over the last four years, has been elevating the industry standards across sourcing, production and customer experience while positively impacting lives of livestock farmers and fishermen through creating quality benchmarks, providing training and economic stability.

 The funds raised through Series E will be deployed towards expanding presence in a greater number of Indian cities, augmenting capabilities in existing markets, strengthening omnichannel presence and powering new product launches, especially in the ready-to-eat category.

 It will also focus on upgrading the Indian meat and seafood ecosystem by bolstering technological intervention, expanding its pool of employees and training them on niche skills that the industry needs.

 “We are elated to see our marquee investors instill faith in our vision,” said Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, co-founders, Licious. “The results and the overall industry impact that we have been able to achieve demonstrates the increasing maturity of the market and that it is at the cusp of a major transformation,” they said.

 

“We are not just aiming at achieving success as a business but creating an unprecedented and consistent experience for all our stakeholders,” Gupta and Hanjura said.

“The fact that 92 per cent of the Indian meat and seafood industry is still unorganized, indicates the huge, underserved community that exists, as well as the opportunity that this sector has to offer,” they added.

 Gupta and Hanjura said, “The traditional meat and seafood industry are in dire need of tech intervention, quality standardization and a skilled talent pool.” 

Tam Hock Chuan, managing partner, Vertex Growth, stated that Licious was building a company and brand that was synonymous with the freshest meat and meat products.

 “We are confident that the team’s capabilities and technologies it has established across its entire supply chain will achieve this and allow Licious to deliver value to consumers in India,” he added. 

“Licious is leading the transformation of the traditional meat and seafood industries to become the premier brand of choice,” said James Lee, managing partner, Vertex. 

“The market opportunity is exciting, fuelled by India’s favourable economic trends like rising per capita income and urban consumption trends. We are privileged to support the team as they expand and advance on their mission of bringing the best meat possible to consumers,” he added. 

The current meat and seafood market is estimated at $40 billion. Licious is present in seven cities and processes more than 17,000 orders a day. This 2,000-employee strong company is touted as the fastest-growing consumer brand in India and is all set to be India’s first consumer unicorn brand.

 “The company has clocked in a healthy growth rate of 300 per cent y-o-y (year-on-year) and aims to reach a target of Rs 1,000 crore by 2023,” said the company.

The round was led by Singapore-based Vertex

E-commerce, Seeds, Trade

The demand for several instant food ingredients including sweet corn, has propelled the demand for sweet corn seeds in the value chain.

According to the latest Report of www.seedworld.com, demand of sweet corn seeds is expected to grow exponentially and is projected to create an absolute dollar opportunity of $216 million during forecast period 2019–2029. Growing vegetables seeds market is projected to propel the growth of sweet corn seeds market across the globe. Global sweet corn seeds market accounts for around 6% of the vegetable seeds market and is projected to grow at a higher rate at 5.6% as compared to vegetable seeds market, during the forecast period.

Increasing demand  from processed food industry 

Steady increase in urbanization and growing penetration of organized retail, has led to constant increase in demand for fast foods such as noodles and soups. Manufacturers of such products have responded proactively to this consumer trend by introducing various instant food brands to populate retail shelves. This has consequently augmented the demand for several instant food ingredients including sweet corn, which has further propelled the demand for sweet corn seeds in the value chain. 

Key Takeaways of the Global Sweet Corn Seeds Market : 

Hybrid certified sweet corn seeds

Hybrid certified sweet corn seeds segment accounts for more than 60% market share and is expected to indicate a rising growth curve in sweet corn seeds market during period of forecast 2019 – 2029. This can be attributed to the increased cultivation of sugary varieties of sweet corn which are produced with the help of hybrid certified sweet corn seeds.

Yellow sweetcorn seeds

Yellow sweet corn seeds category is a major contributor to global sweet corn seeds market and is projected to grow 1.6X over period of forecast 2019 – 2029, owing to increased consumption of yellow sweet corn in United States, Europe and Asian countries in the past-half decade.

North America and Europe sweet corn seeds market together hold more than half of market share. However, South Asia and East Asia are projected to grow at a higher CAGR than the global average.

South Asia sweet corn seeds market to hold more than 10% market share in terms of value and likely to gain 300 BPS over forecast period 2019 – 2029.

  Strategic Expansion of Market Players to Point to Further Consolidation

Syngenta AG is the market leader and has plans to export sweet corn seeds to different regions directly from company’s breeding and production facilities. The company has recently received export approvals from Europe and positive scientific inputs from European Safety Authority in 2018. Moreover, company has received approvals for export of its new products to 15 countries such as Brazil, China, and Australia which will help to increase its share in global sweet corn seeds market.

 

Vilmorin & Cie has been focusing on expansion through acquisition where company has acquired AdvanSeed from Denmark in August 2018. AdvanSeed focuses on breeding, production and sales of vegetables seeds including sweet corn seeds which has helped the company to increase its market share in the global sweet corn seeds market.

The demand for several instant food ingredients

Agrotech, IT, Start ups

Strengthening Programs with Data. Good agriculture starts with good information. The rapid growth in the number of smartphones throughout the world, particularly in rural areas, offers the possibility of making more agricultural knowledge accessible to small-scale farmers. Support for these small-scale farmers improves their productivity and income and also encourages the introduction of sustainable farming methods.

These apps support organizations to increase their impact.The apps are built from a farmer perspective with practical advice that is easily applicable to their crops. Data is gathered and used to make predictions and support management decisions of farmers and affiliated companies.

Customized advices on cultivation pop up daily. They are based on individual information provided by the farmer (size of the field, type of variety, season, irrigation method etc.) and real-time weather data. All recommendations were prior tested and approved through participatory technology development with farmers.

The app provides the users, with practical support. This entails:

  1. Pest and Disease Management: Based on pictures provided by the farmer, pests and diseases in the field can be identified. However, compared to similar products or apps, the Smart Farming App focuses on preventing diseases before they break out instead of acting when it is too late. This is done –based on weather data and planting date – through guidance on effective, preventative and sustainable pesticide use.
  2. Irrigation: No more wasting of water – the app calculates individual irrigation needs, based on the farmer’s input and on hourly weather forecasts for the upcoming five days.
  3. Pre-Sowing: Which varieties are suitable for my field? How can I determine the correct spacing for my sowing? Ask the app!
  4. Fertilization: Based on calculations of nutrient requirements of the crop at the targeted yield, an individual fertilizer schedule will be provided.

SmartFarming support programs on closing yield gaps, nutrition, certification, better farming practices, sustainability, value chain improvement and more. We make sure farmers have the best agronomic information in the palm of their hand enabling you to effectively reach thousands and strengthen your (training) programs with data. If you are a farmer or extension agent SmartFarming is your reliable source for problem identification, problem control, future problem prevention and better crop yield. Our tool guides you with proactive information on all steps needed for the highest yield. SmartFarming is a dynamic tool changing based on the recommendations of a community of plant science experts and farmers at a local and global level.

Vision 2020

SmartFarming currently have tailor-made solutions for potato, coffee and cotton in India. Commissioned by international partners. And executed by local users directly working with farmers on a regular basis. SmartFarming dreams of a service that serves millions of farmers and hundreds of agricultural businesses with smartphone solutions that make agriculture more sustainable and raise living standards. 

Strengthening Programs with Data. Good agriculture starts with

Agro chems – Fertilizers, E-commerce, R&D, Trade

The new-generation fertilizers will be sold in the market under its brand – ’AGRO’

 

 

In  order to encourage  the use of high-grade agri-inputs, the Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation (GAIC) has launched imported water-soluble fertilizers in Ahmedabad.

The state agency, which promotes agro-based industries in Gujarat, has already imported 300 tonnes of water-soluble fertilizers from China.

GAIC’s role will be to import, package and sell the imported water-soluble fertilizers to the farmers through its network of dealers across the State. The new-generation fertilizers will be sold in the market under its brand – ’AGRO’. It also plans to launch customised grades of stage-specific and crop-specific fertilizers.

GAIC Chairman Madhu Shrivastav launched the water-soluble fertilizers at an event held in Ahmedabad on Thursday. He emphasised on the need for precision agriculture and use of high-grade agri-inputs for improving the yield and quality for better remuneration.

“Gujarat has become a frontrunner State in terms of area under drip irrigation system. The use of water-soluble fertilizers will be the next step for precision agriculture and to produce fruits and vegetables matching global standards. We are confident that farmers will give good response to our latest offering,” he stated.

The water-soluble fertilizers that were launched include, AGRO MKP, AGRO NOP, AGRO MAP, AGRO NPK, AGRO CN, AGRO SOP.

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

The new-generation fertilizers will be sold in

Agro Universities, R&D

 The project aims to assure the higher prices to the farmers than the Minimum Support Prices (MSP). 

 

 

 

The ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology, Mumbai launched a Pilot Project for trading of the seed cotton on the basis of lint realization or Ginning Percentage (GP) in recent. The project has been launched in association with the major Cotton Mandi of Central India that is, Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), HinganghaCt, Wardha, in Maharashtra.

 The Pilot Project is being implemented under the leadership of Dr. P.G. Patil, Director, ICAR-CIRCOT, and Mumbai through the Institute’s Ginning Training Centre at Nagpur. 

Conventionally, the seed cotton is traded irrespective of the lint percentage that is a major price deciding component. With an aim to empower the farmers with the additional benefits, the ginning percentage in the project will be determined on laboratory model ginning machines supplied by the ICAR-CIRCOT before auction in the APMC. The premium rates are offered over and above 34% ginning percentage. One percentage increase in GP will fetch minimum additional premium rate of Rs. 100/-per quintal.

Around 200 farmers were present during the launching of the Pilot Project.

 The project aims to assure the higher

E-commerce, R&D

In dryland or under irrigation, FibreMax Cotton seed brings high yield potential and good fiber quality potential.

 

 Over the past year, as part of the BASF Agronomic Performance Trial (APT) program, growers have been testing cottonseed varieties on their farms to help meet some of their most difficult challenges. BASF announced at its second annual APT Summit this week the advancement of one new FiberMax cotton seed variety for the 2020 season – FiberMax 2202GL. 

“In dryland or under irrigation, FM 2202GL brings high yield potential and good fiber quality potential, even under pressure from Verticillium wilt,” says Kenny Melton, Western Region agronomic manager with BASF. “With good tolerance to drought and outstanding Verticillium wilt tolerance, this new variety will be an excellent fit in the High Plains.”

 In addition to the advancement of FM 2202GL, BASF wants to remind growers of the three new Stoneville cotton seed varieties released in mid-2019: ST 4990B3XF, ST 5610B3XF and ST 4480B3XF.

“We’ve seen some really great performance in the 2019 season with all three varieties, both across the Cotton Belt and in more regional-specific areas,” says Scott Asher, Eastern Region agronomic manager at BASF.

As growers enter the 2020 season, selecting varieties with good seed quality and early season vigor are important considerations to help ensure a strong start to the season.

 “ST 4990B3XF is a variety that we see fitting a broad footprint across the Cotton Belt,” says Asher. “It has shown strong performance on the high-producing ground in the Delta, across to the Mid-Atlantic and down to the Southeast. It’s also performed well in the Rolling Plains of Texas and on irrigated ground in Oklahoma.” Asher says for growers on high-production ground, the variety is easy to manage in terms of growth and development, even under intense management on these acres. ST 4990B3XF also provides the strong emergence and early-season vigor growers have come to expect from Stoneville varieties, which is crucial when planting early or when establishing a stand under stressful conditions.

 “ST 4990B3XF is a variety that we see fitting a broad footprint across the Cotton Belt,” says Asher. “It has shown strong performance on the high-producing ground in the Delta, across to the Mid-Atlantic and down to the Southeast. It’s also performed well in the Rolling Plains of Texas and on irrigated ground in Oklahoma.”

Asher says for growers on high-production ground, the variety is easy to manage in terms of growth and development, even under intense management on these acres. ST 4990B3XF also provides the strong emergence and early-season vigor growers have come to expect from Stoneville varieties, which is crucial when planting early or when establishing a stand under stressful conditions.

 

For those in the full-season, non-irrigated areas of the Southeast where limited moisture can often occur, ST 5610B3XF has demonstrated the yield stability a grower is looking for under those stressful conditions. The variety has also shown the ability to produce a good stalk under difficult and dry conditions, but has also responded well to management when more favorable conditions occurred.

 

“With its plant type, boll type and maturity, ST 4480B3XF is suited well for the shorter growing season areas of West Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas,” says Melton. “However, in testing it has also performed well in the Northern Delta, especially in areas where late planting occurred and its early maturity helped to produce a successful crop.”

In dryland or under irrigation, FibreMax Cotton

R&D

ADAMA and Tel Aviv University Collaborate to Establish a First-of-a-Kind Research and Teaching Center for the Development of Innovative Crop Protection Solutions

ADAMA Ltd. leading global crop Protection Company and Tel Aviv University (“TAU”) launched a unique research and teaching program on active substance delivery and formulation, an innovation and growth driver in the worlds of agriculture and crop protection. The innovative study program will be taught at The ADAMA Center for Novel Crop Protection Delivery Systems at Tel Aviv University.

The collaboration between ADAMA and TAU will combine the worlds of industry and academia, training advanced degree research students of chemistry, life sciences and engineering in the delivery and formulation of active crop protection substances, a field in desperate need of more experts.

Dr. Elad Shabtai, VP Innovation, Development, Research and Registration at ADAMA, explains that to date, specialization in delivery and formulation could only be acquired by people already working in the industry and could not be studied as a profession, or experience acquired, in academic institutions anywhere in the world, leading to a growing shortage of experts in the field.

ADAMA will also be investing in a world-class research laboratory that will be established in the School of Chemistry, where the program’s research and experiments will be carried out. ADAMA will award scholarships to 25 students from a range of disciplines such as chemistry, materials engineering, plant sciences and others, who will earn their advanced degrees with specialization in delivery and formulation. Students will have access to ADAMA’s state-of-the-art laboratories to conduct experiments and will receive practical training from the Company’s research people.

This initiative is also tied to ADAMA’s vision for the next generation of crop protection formulations. These products are anticipated to deliver better efficacy to control crop disease, combat resistances and enhance farm yields and food supply while requiring less usage of crop protection active ingredients thus reducing their footprint on the environment and in the food chain.

Chen Lichtenstein, President and CEO of ADAMA says, “ADAMA recognizes that its success in the competitive global market relies on research and development capabilities as a driver of strategic growth. The international delivery and formulation research center we are inaugurating at Tel Aviv University will enable us to together train the finest researchers in the field, thus preparing them to join the ranks of the agrochemical industry for the benefit of the development of groundbreaking products that deliver a response to the challenges currently facing world agriculture.”

“This collaboration will contribute significantly to the advancement of research and teaching in the spheres of chemistry, food, agriculture and crop protection, which will be a great boon for Israel,”
says Prof. Ariel Porat, TAU President.

Prof. Roey Amir of the School of Chemistry and Head of the ADAMA Center for Innovative Crop Protection Solutions at TAU added, “In the past few years there has been a demand for the development of smart agriculture, which will help minimize quantities of crop protection substances while enhancing their efficacy through novel delivery systems, similar to what is currently taking place in biomedical research. Establishment of the Center will enable us to work, together with ADAMA, on training the future generation of scientists who will lead the field in Israel and worldwide.”

ADAMA and Tel Aviv University Collaborate to

Acts & Schemes – Centre, E-commerce, Oilseeds, Trade

An importer will require license for import the RBD Palm Oil and RBD Palmolein as per imposed restriction.

 Considering repeated demands from solvent processors to protect the interests of domestic refiners, the Centre on Wednesday placed restrictions on the imports of refined palm oils.

The Central government on Wednesday imposed restrictions on imports of refined palm oil.

According to a notification of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), “import policy” is amended from “free to restricted” for refined bleached deodorized palm oil and refined bleached deodorized palmolein. The decision applies to RBD Palm Oil and RBD Palmolein imports under the HS code of 15119010 and 15119020 category.

What is Imposed restriction?

Putting the commodity in restricted category means an importer will require license for import the RBD Palm Oil and RBD Palmolein. India imports about 70 per cent or 16 million tonnes of its annual 24 million tonnes of edible oil requirements. The Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) President Atul Chaturvedi issued a statement thanking the government on the decision.

 Current Oil Import Scenario

India, the world’s largest importer of vegetable oils, buys nearly 15 million tonnes annually. Of this, palm oil comprises 9 million tonnes and the rest 6 million tonnes is soybean and sunflower oil.

Indonesia and Malaysia are the two countries which supply palm oil. Malaysia produces 19 million tonne of palm oil in a year, while Indonesia produces 43 million tonne, the trade data showed.

 

 

 

 

An importer will require license for

Agro chems – Pesticides, E-commerce, Trade

Acquired three insecticide brands will help the company to generate an additional revenue of about Rs 50 crore annually.

Agro-chemical firm Crystal Crop Protection Ltd  has recently  stated that it has acquired three insecticide brands from US-based Corteva  Agriscience, which will help the company to generate an additional revenue of about Rs 50 crore annually.

The company has seven manufacturing plants in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Haryana. It posted a net profit of about Rs 130 crore over a turnover of around Rs 1,400 crore during the last financial year. 

“We have acquired three premium insecticides brands Dursban, Nurelle-D and Predator brands in India from Corteva Agriscience”, said Ankur Aggarwal, MD Crystal Crop.This is Crystal’s fifth acquisition in last two years and is part of the company’s strategy to diversify product portfolio and widen its market presence, he added.

Startegic Aquisistion

“This acquisition is a part of Crystal’s strategy to add value to its business and ensure growth for all its stakeholders. We believe such strategic acquisitions would improve our competitiveness, further help in diversifying our product portfolio and thus strengthen our market presence across India,” Aggarwal said.

Aggarwal also added that these three brands would give Rs 40-50 crore revenue annually.

 Corteva Agriscience is a major American agricultural chemical and seed company. Originally an agricultural unit of DowDuPont, it later became one of the major stand-alone agricultural organizations in the world.

About CrystaI Crop

In 2018, Crystal acquired a specialty chemicals manufacturing facility at Nagpur from Cytec India. After that it acquired Indian grain sorghum, pearl millet and fodder sorghum seeds business from Syngenta India, followed by the acquisition of four brands namely Furadan, Splendour, Affinity Force and Metcil from FMC India Limited.

Crystal also bought three brands from Syngenta, namely Tilt, Proclaim and Blue Copper. In 2016, it had signed an agreement with Germany’s BASF SE to acquire the brand Bavistin for use in India.

Crystal Crop Protection had acquired Hyderabad based company Rohini-Seeds and Rohini Bioseeds and Agritech in 2011.

 

Acquired three insecticide brands will help the

E-commerce, Machinery - Pre-harvesting, Machinery – Post-harvesting, Trade

The company has observed a 132.5 per cent growth in exports by shipping 2,358 units, and secures a market share of 32 percent, during the month under review. 

Sonalika Tractors, one of the world’s leading integrated tractor manufacturing com witnesses an uprising growth in its sales. The company’s domestic sales grow 20.7% to 7,320 units in the month of December, 2019. The homegrown brand Sonalika tractors freighted 6,066 units in the same month last year. 

Raman Mittal, Executive Director of Sonalika Group sharing the tales of their spectacular growth journey said, ” The overall market share of 14.7 per cent along with volume growth of 20.7% is an indication of the improving consumer sentiments and our strong foundation of market activations, strengthening channel presence and new product launches, Together with our channel partners and employees, we shall continue to achieve new milestones of market share in the times ahead.” 

“With the onset of the new year, we anticipate a positive consumer demand and industry to rebound on the back of rising alternate usage of tractors, ease of finance availability coupled with government’s rural thrust,” Mittal further added.

The company has a global presence in 120 countries and some of its most demanded categories across the world are Sikander series, MM series, and DI/RX series.

The company has observed a 132.5

Agrotech

Cocoa for Generations is how Mars intends to step-change efforts, lead the way and invite others to partner with them in a new approach to increase farmer income, protect children and preserve forests today, and crack the code on a model of modern sustainable cocoa farming for tomorrow

Global demand for cacao is expected to grow at an annual rate of approximately 5% for the foreseeable future.   In the past, increasing demand has been met by increasing the total acreage under cacao cultivation.   However, this approach has come at a high cost in terms of deforestation and environmental degradation. As part of its Cocoa for Generations strategy, Mars Incorporated has committed to meeting  its future cacao needs through a 100% sustainable supply-chain.   

Cocoa for Generations is how Mars intends to step-change efforts, lead the way and invite others to partner with them in a new approach to increase farmer income, protect children and preserve forests today, and crack the code on a model of modern sustainable cocoa farming for tomorrow. Achieving a 100% sustainable supply-chain  will not be an easy task – especially since the cacao crop will increasingly compete  with other crops such as oil palm and rubber for available farmland.  Improved agronomic practices will help achieve this goal, but alone will not be sufficient.  

The key will be to significantly increase the  genetic potential of cacao to produce higher yields and improved quality on the same or even less farmland.  With this goal in mind,  Mars has engaged Nature Source Improved Plants (NSIP) in a collaborative project to accelerate the development of new cacao varieties with higher yields, increased disease resistance and improved quality. 

Nature Source Improved Plants (NSIP)  is an advanced optimization analytics company located in New York, USA and Chiapas, Mexico; and dedicated to the conservation,  evaluation and utilization of natural genetic resources to deliver  high performing plant materials and creating value and efficiency through innovative and  sustainable cutting-edge technologies for the global community. 

Cocoa for Generations is how Mars intends

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

ProJini Agchem Ltd., a new company focused on developing a platform technology to develop novel pesticides with new modes of action. 

 

 The Bayer Trendlines Ag Innovation Fund (“the Fund”), set up by Bayer CropScience LP (“Bayer”) and The Trendlines Group Ltd. (“Trendlines”) (SGX: 42T) (OTCQX: TRNLY), announced the establishment of ProJini Agchem Ltd. (“ProJini Agchem”), a new company focused on developing a platform technology to develop novel pesticides with new modes of action. 

Pesticides are the main tools the farmer uses to control pests. Pests (insects, diseases and weeds) cause up to 40% yield loss in agriculture, according to FAO estimations [1]. The pesticide market in 2018 reached an estimated US$55B in annual sales [2].

 Current solutions are insufficient, due to increased resistance, as well as regulatory pressure. Additionally, despite the investment of billions in R&D per year by agchem companies, innovative solutions based on novel modes of action is limited. 

ProJini Agchem is developing a solution focused on new type of molecular targets: protein-protein interactions. While such interactions are at the core of any organism, it is very challenging to develop inhibitors for such systems via conventional approaches due to their spatial and chemical characteristics.  The platform, developed by scientists Maayan Gal, PhD and Itay Bloch at the Migal Galilee Research Institute Ltd., leverages a combination of computational-biophysical methods to tackle this significant challenge. ProJini Agchem received an exclusive license to use this platform to develop novel pesticides with new modes of action. 

“Discovering new active ingredients and modes of action remains a top objective for agriculture in the future” said Axel Trautwein, Head of Small Molecules, Crop Science division of Bayer. “Establishing ProJini Agchem with Trendlines is a prime example of how our ’open innovation’ model works in Crop Science R&D, with the aim of supporting farmers to always achieve better standards in protecting their harvests”,  said Allen Christian, Head of Open Innovation and Strategic Partnerships, Crop Science division of Bayer.

 “The need to develop new crop protection technologies to enhance food security is of high importance. Not only are known pesticides ineffective due to resistance, they are also of environmental concern. ProJini Agchem has risen to the challenge of developing new modes of intervention to provide the market with novel, more effective crop protection methods,” says Steve Rhodes, Chairman and CEO of Trendlines. Because protein-protein interactions are species specific, we expect the company to discover targeted pesticides that will be less harmful to the environment.  ProJini Agchem is the third company established by the Fund and boosts Trendlines’ growing ag-bio sector of portfolio companies.”

The Bayer Trendlines Ag Innovation Fund 

The Bayer Trendlines Ag Innovation Fund was established in April 2016 as a collaborative partnership between The Trendlines Group and Bayer to invest in agricultural technologies. The partnership agreement includes a US$10 million investment from Bayer. Bayer’s decades of experience in agricultural science, innovation and regulatory affairs, alongside Trendlines’ specialization in investing in innovative, early-stage medical and agricultural technologies, form the base of this strong alliance. 

About The Trendlines Group

Trendlines is an innovation commercialization company that invents, discovers, invests in, and incubates innovation-based medical and agricultural technologies to fulfill its mission to improve the human condition. As intensely hands-on investors, Trendlines is involved in all aspects of its portfolio companies from technology development to business building. Trendlines’ shares are traded on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX: 42T) and in the United States as an American Depositary Receipt (ADR) on the OTCQX (OTCQX: TRNLY).

 

About Bayer

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to benefit people by supporting efforts to overcome the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development, and the Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2018, the Group employed around 117,000 people and had sales of 39.6 billion euros. Capital expenditures amounted to 2.6 billion euros, R&D expenses to 5.2 billion euros.

ProJini Agchem Ltd., a new company focused

Acts & Schemes – Centre, AgroPolicy, Agrotech

The participant farmers were assessed and certified as Group Farming Practitioners under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, under the Skill India Mission.

 

Agriculture Skill Council of India (ASCI) has been recently felicitated by the World Record Union as one of the top 20 record holder achievers for the year 2020 for the incredible record on the theme of “Maximum Number of Farmers assessed on a single day”. Editors of seven countries Record Books have participated – India, Indonesia, Nepal, Vietnam, USA, and UK & Bangladesh. The Record was also selected to be placed in the Indonesian Record Museum (Largest record museum in world) as a part of World Record Holders’ meet which recently held at New Delhi.

 

This record was created on World Skill Day – 15th July 2019 wherein Agriculture Skill Council of India (ASCI) undertook to create an Asia and National Record under India & Asia Book of Records simultaneously.  There is no previous record in any of the national record books where “Maximum Number of Farmers assessed on a single day”.

 

The record was created when in a single day in 4 districts at 19 locations in Maharashtra, 3000 Farmers from 33 villages from 11 Blocks were assessed which included men, women and youth from various social categories. Majority of the candidates participated in the event were women who were assessed, post-training, thus empowering women and providing them an opportunity to become decision makers.

 

 

The feat was an attempted to mark the fourth year of the National Skill Development Mission which was launched on the 15th of July 2015 by the Government of India (GoI). The participant farmers were assessed and certified as Group Farming Practitioners under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, a flagship program of the Government of India under the Skill India Mission.

 

Agriculture Skill Council of India has embarked on several other initiatives with state governments Pan India, to improve the livelihoods of farmers, farm and wage workers, self-employed and extension workers engaged in various agriculture segments.

The participant farmers were assessed and certified

Agrotech

The pain points are many from outdated farming practices, to lack of scientific innovation and poor policymaking

For decades, agriculture has been a cornerstone of the Indian economy. Once an agrarian economy Indian markets driven mostly by massive urbanization and buttressed by a growing middle class have now matured beyond agriculture. However approximately 70 per cent of India’s rural households still depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood. Furthermore, India’s agricultural exports account for about 12-13 per cent of India’s exports.

While the agricultural revolution of the 60’s addressed India’s food security, modern demands from this sector far exceed simple self-sufficiency. And herein lies the problem. India’s farm productivity has largely stagnated. Agriculture’s contribution to India’s GDP has reduced over the years, from 50 per cent in 1950 to 17.3 per cent in 2016. From being the largest contributor to the country’s GDP, agriculture is now in real danger of becoming an also-ran or worse still an Achilles heel in a growing economy.

The pain points are many from outdated farming practices, to lack of scientific innovation and poor policymaking. As policy-makers and funding agencies wake up to this challenge, the need of the hour is to increase agricultural productivity through focused research and need-driven innovation.

For instance, Bengaluru based Sea6energy Pvt Ltd, a young bio-energy company, is working on developing an end-to-end solution to replace fossil fuels and fossil fuel derivatives in our daily lives including in agriculture. Sea6 Energy is guiding its efforts towards low-cost, large scale cultivation of red seaweed on the ocean and developing salt water based biotechnological processes to produce a plethora of 100 per cent natural and organic value-added products from red seaweed. For example, an agricultural biostimulant, a plant immunity booster, animal and human food additives, bioplastic and other such applications of the seaweed isolate phycocolloids. They have commercialized two products as of now and both have shown tremendous capabilities in increasing farm productivity and improving disease resistance.

Another startup FIB-SOL Life Technologies, based out of IIT-Madras, has developed low-weight biodegradable and low-cost biofertiliser technology. The product is a water soluble, nano-fibre based mesh which can be embedded with beneficial microbes that boost soil quality parameters. The technology can be easily diversified to support fertilisers, pesticides and biostimulants. The simplicity and affordability of the solution means immense potential for integration and impact.

Indian farmers usually do not wear any protective gear while spraying chemical-based pesticides in fields. This exposes them to harmful toxins, especially neurotoxins, causing severe health impacts and even death in extreme cases. Bengaluru based Sepio Health Pvt Ltd has developed a protective gel that when applied on skin can can neutralize toxins in pesticides, insecticides and fungicides. Once deactivated the chemicals do not cause harm to internal organs like brain and lungs even if absorbed topically. The group has also developed an active mask to deactivate pesticides.  

All three of these exciting startups are from C-CAMP which is home to over 150 startups in life sciences including agriculture. However, despite these success stories, we are yet to see a boom in the agriculture innovation sector. This could be because, agri-related problems are not clearly articulated or discussed in socio-scientific circles to attract innovator or even market attention. Even the technology advances that have happened have not been properly integrated on the ground. This situation thus poses a tremendous scope for science-driven innovations in agriculture and actual implementation of these solutions.

In August 2018, Department of Information Technology & Biotechnology, and Department of Agriculture, Govt. of Karnataka launched a Centre of Excellence for Agri-Innovation, in collaboration with C-CAMP. The CoE is a concerted effort to galvanize the agriculture innovation arena in India in the same vein as the healthcare domain and bring about transformational changes in the agro-economy of the country. The Centre’s activities have kicked off with a six-month Agri-immersion scheme to identify critical gaps in agriculture spanning the whole agri value chain. The program will identify key sectors/pain points in agriculture by bringing innovators on the same table as farmers and other stakeholders in Agriculture.

 

Dr Neelanjana Janardan, Senior Program Manager, Center for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), Bengaluru

The pain points are many from outdated