Connect with:
Thursday / April 24. 2025

logo
mobile-logo
HomeStandard Blog Whole Post (Page 613)
R&D

The announcement of this second hemp research and cultivation facility underscores Arcadia’s commitment to rapidly transition its expertise as a leading science-driven company and genetics innovator in food crops

Arcadia Specialty Genomics™, a division of crop innovation and agricultural food ingredient company Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. has announced plans for a new sun-grown hemp cultivation and agronomic research facility in Imperial County, California. The company has been licensed to produce hemp seed and cultivate hemp and will generate its proprietary seed lines and flower for cannabidiol (CBD) oil extraction. Plantings are scheduled to begin October 1.

With this license, Arcadia Specialty Genomics expands its technology platform for the research and cultivation of hemp to a second state. In April, the company opened its first sun-grown facility in Hawaii, capitalizing on the islands’ unique climate and geographic advantages. Similar to Hawaii, which allows up to three growing cycles per season, Southern California’s temperate winter climate offers unique and favorable conditions for hemp cultivation. The sun shines in Imperial County more, on average, than anywhere else on the U.S. mainland.

“From an agricultural perspective, hemp is decades behind other crops in terms of improved plant genetics, and that starts at the seed level,” said Matthew Plavan, president and CEO of Arcadia Biosciences. “It’s very difficult to purchase a batch of uniform CBD hemp seed, resulting in unpredictable outcomes for both growers and buyers. Our goal is to reduce these risks by developing a proprietary line of U.S.-grown, genetically superior hemp seeds for the commercial market, and we’re pleased to expand our research in hemp agronomics and seed production here in our home state of California.”

The announcement of this second hemp research and cultivation facility underscores Arcadia’s commitment to rapidly transition its expertise as a leading science-driven company and genetics innovator in food crops such as wheat and soy into the production of hemp seed, flower and extracts such as CBD.

“Quality hemp seed is in extremely short supply; however, strong demand for hemp seed has driven higher prices without commensurate yield benefits. Until improved genetics are introduced to the market, we believe the scalability of the hemp extract industry will be constrained,” said Plavan. “Our team of agronomic scientists and researchers are the best in the business, with a proven track record of improving plants and commercializing food ingredients using non-GM techniques. We’re ideally positioned to help hemp growers – and CPG buyers – benefit from more resilient, productive and genetically superior hemp seed, flower and extract.”

The announcement of this second hemp research

Agrotech

This marks the 30th certification for EFI, which partners with growers and retailers to create a more transparent food chain, safer food and healthier places to work

Equitable Food Initiative (EFI )announced that Rouge River Farms, which specializes in tray-packed and year-round sweet corn, now has all of its U.S. operations EFI certified. In May 2018 Rouge River Farms was the first company on the East Coast to earn an EFI certification, and now the company completes its nationwide EFI certification effort.

This marks the 30th certification for EFI, which partners with growers and retailers to create a more transparent food chain, safer food and healthier places to work. Rouge River Farms’ operations in Florida, Georgia and Virginia have now met more than 300 rigorous standards to earn EFI certification, based on independent assessment conducted by third-party certifier SCS Global Services.

“Through EFI’s workforce development and certification program, Rouge River Farms has demonstrated its commitment to the principles of the Ethical Charter on Responsible Labor Practices,” stated Bonnie Holman, sustainability program manager in SCS’s food and agriculture division. “Accountability, increased transparency and responsible labor practices are the guiding principles of the charter, which is why SCS has endorsed this industrywide effort. Companies like Rouge River Farms should be applauded for their leadership in these arenas.”

Rouge River produces the only EFI-certified sweet corn, which is available featuring EFI’s Responsibly Grown, Farmworker Assured® label in select Costco Wholesale locations east of the Mississippi River. Farmworkers receive a bonus from each Rouge River sweet corn purchase made at Costco.

“EFI is so much more than an audit. It is a holistic approach that transforms the way workers interact. I have seen how EFI can make a company better,” remarked Margaret Stuart, senior compliance manager at Rouge River Farms. “After the EFI Leadership Team training, I saw an increase in productivity among the workers in our facility. I saw their behaviors and expectations of one another change, and saw that they were taking more pride in their work.”

In its first four years of operation, EFI has worked with 21 grower-shipper companies on 64 farm locations, covering 38 produce commodities and impacting more than 33,000 farmworkers.

This marks the 30th certification for EFI,

Agro Universities

The Department of Farm Machinery and Power engineering and JDIPL will collaborate for integral exposure and training to the students

The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana has entered into an agreement with tractor giant John Deere (India) Pvt Ltd (JDIPL), Pune, for developing learning centre in the premises of PAU’s College of Agricultural Engineering.

Under the MoU, the Department of Farm Machinery and Power engineering and JDIPL will collaborate for integral exposure and training to the students, which will give them wider learning opportunities by complementing their ongoing theoretical curriculum.

Representative from the PAU Registrar Office, Dr Shammi Kapoor, Dean, College of Basic Sciences and Humanities and Sandeep Joshi, Director, Asia technology Innovation centre, JDIPL, signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organizations.

Joshi, in his remarks, hailed his company’s long term and fruitful engagement with PAU primarily in the area of talent acquisition. “The industry academia relationships are much needed, which bring a great value to the aspiring students in the area of agriculture. Through developing of the learning centre, we wish to take this relationship to the next level,” Joshi remarked.

Dr Ashok Kumar, Dean, College of Agricultural Engineering, PAU, while welcoming the representatives from JDIPL, highlighted the extensive placement drive undertaken by the company at PAU every year. “As our regular visitors and knowledge partners in precision agriculture,” Dr Ashok Kumar called for further strengthening of ties between the two organizations.

“Linkage with industry is the need of the hour,” shared Dr G.K. Sangha, Dean Post Graduate Studies, PAU. She also sought collaboration for engaging post graduate and doctorate students in research and training through scholarship based programmes. Dr Shammi Kapoor while congratulating the audience said the learning centre; through its hands on training is a great way forward to make students ready for the job market and is a great opportunity for PAU and JDIPL to focus on problem solving based research which could also benefit faculty.

Later, Dr Manjit Singh, Head, department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering proposed the vote of thanks. Also present during the occasion were, Dr Gursahib singh Manes, Additional Director of Research, PAU, Dr S.S. Chahal, Director, IPR Cell, PAU, Dr Vishal Bector, Assistant Professor, faculty members, Chandrakant Turare, Regional Training Delivery Manager, John Deere, and representatives from JDIPL.

The Department of Farm Machinery and Power

Agro Universities, Water

Both the Institutes have agreed upon to share the technical knowledge

The ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun and the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Dehradun.

Through the MoU, both the Institutes have come together on a common platform for sharing the scientific knowledge and disseminating it to the common people for the skill development in the respective jurisdiction areas of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, etc.

Both the Institutes have agreed upon to share the technical knowledge in the field of research, extension, capacity building and education and disseminate it jointly with the mutual consent to the farmers, NGOs, SHGs, Forest Department and weaker sections of the society.

Dr. P.R. Ojasvi, Director, ICAR-IISWC and Arun Singh, Rawat, Director, FRI, Dehradun signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organizations.

Rawat mentioned that the MoU will lay emphasis on both the organizations taking advantage of each other’s strength in the field as well as research expertise. This will generate the synergy in the combined efforts of both the organizations.

Dr. Ojasvi stated that the joint effort for disseminating the scientific knowledge would certainly benefit the different stakeholders by making them skilled and independent in the society. He mentioned that the joint activities will be helpful in the livelihood improvement of a common man.

Both the Institutes have agreed upon to

Live Stock

Collaborative project on Backyard Poultry Genomics

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have launched the collaborative project on “Backyard Poultry Genomics” at the ICAR-Directorate of Poultry Research, Hyderabad.

Dr. Habibar Rahman, Regional Representative, South Asia briefed about the project’s genesis and importance. He also highlighted the native chicken breeds’ importance and their improvement for the rural poultry farmers’ benefit.

Roma Oli, Senior Administrative Officer, ILRI stated about the modalities and logistics in the execution of ILRI funded projects. She also deliberated the ILRI’s role in enhancing the food security through the adoption of scientific programmes across the Globe.were present during the inauguration.

The project is being executed by Dr. Olivier Hanotte and Dr. Dessie Tadelle (ILRI, Nairobi); Dr. T.K. Bhattacharya, Dr. R.N. Chatterjee, Dr. S.P. Yadav, and Dr. Chandan Paswan (ICAR-DPR), Hyderabad and Dr. Anil Rai, and Dr. A.R. Rao (ICAR-IASRI).

Dr. R.N. Chatterjee, Director, ICAR-DPR, Hyderabad briefed about the native chicken’s role in uplifting the socio-economic and nutritional status of the rural people across the country.

Collaborative project on Backyard Poultry GenomicsThe Indian

AgroPolicy

Emphasized on the need for keeping the farmers’ interest during the whole process

Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & DG (ICAR) has launched the AGRI UDAAN®, Food and Agribusiness Accelerator 3.0 at the ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad.

Dr. Mohapatra wished AGRI UDAAN 3.0 a grand success in which scaling up of innovative enterprises is envisaged.  He emphasized on the need for keeping the farmers’ interest during the whole process.

Harkesh Kumar Mittal, Adviser, Member Secretary, National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board & Former Secretary, Technology Development Board, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India stressed upon taking the timely action on the knowledge for the good entrepreneurs.

While highlighting the Entrepreneurial ecosystem in Telangana, Jayesh Ranjan (I.A.S.), Principal Secretary, Departments of Industries & Commerce (I&C) & Information Technology, Electronics and Communications (ITE&C), Government of Telangana urged for taking the maximum benefit from the State Government’s policies.

Hemant Songadkar, Chief General Manager, Off Farm Development Department, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mumbai briefed about the NABARD’s efforts to promote the entrepreneurship for the rural development. He also emphasized on the need for convergence and networking for a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Dr. P. Appa Rao, Vice-Chancellor, University of Hyderabad mentioned that the Incubators of UoH are ready for co-working with all the prominent stakeholders like NAARM’s TBI a-IDEA.

Dr. Ch. Srinivasa Rao, Director, ICAR-NAARM briefed about the ICAR-NAARM’s activities and a-IDEA. He also outlined the detailed timeline and plan for AGRI UDAAN 3.0.

 

Emphasized on the need for keeping the

Agrotech

The yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) offers interesting market opportunities in predominantly food applications

Bühler has developed a string of technologies and capabilities to offer total rearing and processing solutions for the insect industry. “Our proposition to the market is to support the industry through solutions that produce and process a range of insect species,” says Andreas Aepli, CEO Bühler Insect Technology Solutions. The first industrial black soldier fly plant has already opened in June this year. Bühler is now in the execution of a new facility for a second species, the yellow mealworm. 

Livestock production, especially the pig industry, is under enormous pressure because the already tight margins continue to decline – in particular in Europe. While retail prices for pork have remained broadly stable, farm gate prices for pigs have plunged to levels where many producers are struggling to break even. Furthermore, production costs are on the rise, since grain prices have increased substantially, and feed makes up 75% of the cost to produce pig meat. That is why the number of pig producers, who have already de-stocked or are leaving the industry completely, is rising. These producers are now looking for alternative but more sustainable businesses, in which they can leverage their animal farming skills.

First project for the new species

A first project has been started in the Netherlands with a farmer who already worked on the concept of producing yellow mealworm in an old pig farm. Bühler will now support the project and design, installation and commissioning of a complete mealworm production facility in a 2,300 square-meter facility. “With this project we will set the bar on modularized mealworm production in an automated and hygienic way,” says Andreas Aepli, CEO Bühler Insect Technology Solutions. 

“Our technological solutions can be readily integrated into existing farms, but larger-scale facilities can also be realized. Once the first plant is completed and producing profitably in the Netherlands, it will offer livestock farmers an alternative option for gaining a sustainable business with attractive margins.

Yellow mealworm as an alternative

The yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) offers interesting market opportunities in predominantly food applications. They have a great nutritional value which includes proteins, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fibers. Thus, they are already used in various food products with very attractive marketing concepts. While the mealworm market has shown significant growth in the last years, the global market size is predicted to even exceed its current growth rate. In addition, mealworm farming could offer a new and stable production and commercialization outlook for farmers.

Another interesting aspect of mealworm farming is the resource use. Mealworms can grow on for instance wheat bran and rice husks, by-products that many existing Bühler customers produce and could get increased value out of.

Globally, the pressure on protein is rising fast as the worldwide population is expected to rise to nearly 10 billion by 2050. The global supply of protein is under pressure due to land erosion, ocean depletion and climate change. Alternative proteins are in high demand and innovative sources such as algae, funghi, single-cell bacteria as well as insects are on the rise. Insects offer one of the biggest potentials as they can be produced anywhere in the world and can be used almost directly as a high-quality source of nutrition and protein.

The yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) offers interesting

AgroPolicy

These grants are a part of the Walmart Foundation’s commitment made in September 2018 to contribute $25 million (about Rs 180 crore) over the next five years to improve farmer livelihoods in India

FICCI Aditya Birla CSR Centre for Excellence together with Walmart.org organized a summit on ‘Strengthening Agri Systems: Road to supporting smallholder farmers and boosting incomes’ recently.

The summit included leaders in the government, trade organizations, nonprofits, suppliers, retailers and others who are leading initiatives throughout all areas of the agriculture supply chain from farm to fork and engaged key stakeholders across the sector to address the barriers faced by smallholder farmers and farmer producer organizations (FPOs).   

The event was inaugurated by Rameswar Teli, Minister of State for Food Processing Industries. Delivering the event’s keynote address Mr Teli said, “I laud Walmart for its Rs 180 crore ($25 million) commitment towards strengthening the Indian farm sector. The private sector is playing a strong role in aiding development in the agriculture and food processing sectors. These will play a major role in the Government’s vision of doubling farmer incomes by 2022.”  

Vivek Aggarwal, Joint Secretary (Crops & IT) & CEO-PM KISAN, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India said, “All stakeholders, across the private and public sectors, must work together to enable better prices for farmers and help them access markets across India. This will necessitate the intervention of private sector players and for India’s FPO movement to prioritize remunerative prices for the farming community.” 

Deepening its commitment to improve farmers’ livelihood in India, the Walmart Foundation has announced $4.8 million (about Rs 34 crore) in grants to Digital Green and TechnoServe to enable programs that help smallholder farmers have access to agriculture technology, training on sustainable farmer methods, enhanced access to formal markets, and skill and capacity building for farmer producer organizations (FPOs). 

These grants are a part of the Walmart Foundation’s commitment made in September 2018 to contribute $25 million (about Rs 180 crore) over the next five years to improve farmer livelihoods in India. Separate from this commitment, Walmart India also announced it would grow its direct sourcing from farmers to 25 per cent of produce sold in its Cash & Carry stores by 2023. 

Kathleen McLaughlin, Walmart Foundation President and EVP, Chief Sustainability Officer of Walmart said, “Today’s grant announcement builds upon the Walmart Foundation’s efforts to increase economic

opportunity for smallholder farmers and their families while promoting sustainable farming practices and the empowerment and inclusion of women.”

“The work being accomplished by our grantees and their partners is inspiring. We hope the Walmart Foundation’s commitment, alongside the work of Walmart and Walmart India’s direct farm sourcing teams, will help drive real momentum in sustainable agriculture development in India and we encourage others to join us in our commitment.”  

The event also included participation by senior leadership from Walmart India and Flipkart Group. 

These grants are a part of the

Pulses

Beginning with its own proprietary, non-GMO pea seed, PURIS utilizes its network of over 400 U.S. farmers to grow the peas, which not only provide economic benefit to the farmers but also help regenerate the soil

Cargill has invested an additional $75 million in PURIS, the largest North American producer of pea protein. The investment enables PURIS to more than double its pea protein production using an existing 200,000 square-foot facility in Dawson, Minn. 

This investment will position PURIS to keep up with the ever-increasing demand for its category leading pea proteins, starches and fibers all grown and produced through its unique vertically integrated and transparent supply chain. This is more than a pea protein facility. This is the future of food. The Dawson facility will not only support PURIS farmers in the U.S. with a crop that regenerates their land and that is sustainable because it provides soil health advantages but will also support the growing demand for great tasting plant-based products in the market place.

“As consumer demand increases for plant-based proteins, we want to make sure that Cargill, with our partner PURIS, can deliver on that demand with great tasting, sustainable and label-friendly pea protein for customers in North America and across the world,” said Laurie Koenig, Cargill texturizers and specialty lead. “This investment also provides significant support to the local economy with approximately 90 new jobs and a new revenue stream for Midwest farmers.” 

Consumers continue to fuel demand for great tasting, label-friendly, alternative proteins to meet their individual nutritional needs while food and beverage manufacturers, in ever increasing numbers, are turning to pea protein for its functional and nutritional attributes. The launch of new pea-protein-based food and beverage products grew at a very healthy 19 percent CAGR globally from January 2016 – December 2018, according to Innova Market Insights.

PURIS offers non-GMO and organic pea protein options that are renowned for their proprietary, high-quality, clean flavor. Its non-major food allergen and vegan features check all the boxes consumers are looking for in label-friendly products across multiple food and beverage categories.

Beginning with its own proprietary, non-GMO pea seed, PURIS utilizes its network of over 400 U.S. farmers to grow the peas, which not only provide economic benefit to the farmers but also help regenerate the soil. PURIS purchases the peas the farmers grow and turns the crops into pea ingredients, including pea protein, pea starch and pea fiber.

“While this is an important step in our growth for many reasons, one that resonates personally for me is to move ever closer to the vision my father had in 1985. A vision that plant-based nutrition would propel us to a better future for both people and our planet.  With this investment, those possibilities are becoming realities which in turn inspires us to create what’s next for plants, people, planet and PURIS,” said Lorenzen.

PURIS will now own and operate three facilities in North America solely focused on pea protein production: Turtle Lake, Wis.; Oskaloosa, Iowa; and Dawson, Minn. With engineering complete on the Dawson facility, construction to retrofit it for pea production will start immediately, with an anticipated operational start date of late 2020.

“I am excited that Cargill and PURIS are investing in the potential of Greater Minnesota communities like Dawson,” said Governor Tim Walz. “Repurposing an existing facility for a new pea protein plant is an excellent example of the smart, sustainable innovation that has kept Minnesota on the forefront of the food production industry.”

Beginning with its own proprietary, non-GMO pea

Start ups

Growing at the rate of 25% year on year, India currently hosts more than 450 start-ups in the Agritech sector

As digitization expands its horizons and permeates into sectors beyond IT services, the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) today unveiled its findings for India’s Agritech sector in its report titled, “Agritech in India – Emerging Trends in 2019”. The emergence of B2B start-ups as key revenue generating segment; maturing Agritech stakeholder ecosystem; evolving public private partnerships; sustained growth for Agritech start-ups in India and emerging business opportunities are some of the noteworthy findings being showcased in the report.

Growing at the rate of 25% year on year, India currently hosts more than 450 start-ups in the Agritech sector. Over the recent years, the Agritech sector in India has witnessed some of the global and sector focused funds directly investing in Agritech startups. According to the report, as of June 2019, the sector has received more than USD 248 mn funding, a massive growth of 300% as compared to the previous year. With the recent rise in funding, 48% Agritech CEOs, as per the NASSCOM Agritech CEO survey, believe to have the next Agritech unicorn in coming 3 years.

Sharing her thoughts, Debjani Ghosh, President NASSCOM, said, “India’s agriculture sector is advancing steadily towards its digital transformation and the start-up ecosystem is playing a critical role here, bringing innovation and disruption in much-needed areas. Adoption of technology in agriculture has always needed a structured institutional focus and technology firms are trying to break into the agricultural landscape using newer business models. The findings of the report are a testimony to the potential of the Agritech industry and the opportunities that India presents in the agriculture and farming landscape.

With more and more local farmers accepting the innovative start-up solutions, there has been a considerable shift witnessed from B2C to B2B startups. Corporates and investors are playing a vital role in supporting this with over USD 200 mn investment in B2B start-ups in the past 18 months, making it as a key revenue generating segments in the overall Agritech sector. This has enabled creating better access to market, faster technology adoption and bring domain specific product development support to the industry. Indian companies are increasingly looking at global markets to expand with focus on regions like South East Asia, Europe, Africa and South America. According to the report in the last 5 years, more than 5 global Agritech companies have ventured in India, as compared to more than 25 Indian Agritech companies with global presence.

New emerging areas like market linkage, digital agriculture, better access to inputs, FaaS and financing are attracting large traction. These technology adoptions are enabling numerous agritech startups to bring forth farming-related advanced technological mechanisms to help local farming become a sustainable and profit-yielding enterprise.

With public private partnerships and government support, several Indian states have established progressive Agritech policies. However, certain measures such as setting up of catalytic or micro funds (ranging USD 2 to 14 mn ) to spur innovation, offer support in terms of incubation, acceleration, and catalytic funding, opening of incubation centres, curriculum changes in agriculture universities, building of a transparent data sharing policy, and engaging with start-ups in larger projects, needs to be implemented by state governments to further enhance the use of futuristic technologies and support the growing Agritech sector in the country.

Realizing the vision of make in India, for the world, it is estimated that by 2020 the Agritech sector to be at the center-stage of innovation and will lead India’s journey towards overall transformation. Therefore, to achieve this goal, it is imperative that the ecosystem needs to focus towards driving innovation, data collaboration, easy working capital and providing digital infrastructure to enable real time access to farmers across the country. NASSCOM will continue its drive towards catalysing emerging tech start-ups, and work with the ecosystem to build category leaders and support start-ups to create not only for India but also scale up and build for the world.

Growing at the rate of 25% year

Agrotech

Tilda is expected to contribute approximately $200 million in net sales

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., a leading organic and natural products company with operations in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East providing consumers with A Healthier Way of Life™, has completed the strategic sale of Tilda®, a premium basmati and specialty rice brand, to EBRO FOODS S.A. for a purchase price of $342 million in cash.

The purchase price reflects an adjusted EBITDA multiple of 13.5x, based on estimated fiscal year 2019, which the Company will report on August 29, 2019. Hain Celestial expects to use a portion of the proceeds to pay down debt and is evaluating distribution alternatives for the remainder to maximize value to shareholders.

“We are pleased to complete the strategic sale of Tilda, which is consistent with our transformational plan to simplify our portfolio, strengthen our core capabilities and expand margins and cash flow,” commented Mark L. Schiller, Hain Celestial’s President and Chief Executive Officer. 

“Tilda has been a strong business for us, primarily in the United Kingdom, and under new strategic ownership, we expect the brand to continue to thrive. We believe this transaction represents a significant premium to a majority of other European food and global rice and pasta industry transactions over the last several years. In addition, this divestiture will enable us to reduce our exposure to marketplace disruption associated with the uncertainty of Brexit and additional future potential foreign currency fluctuations.”

Tilda is expected to contribute approximately $200 million in net sales and $25 million of adjusted EBITDA for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019.

 

Tilda is expected to contribute approximately $200

Live Stock

The Area Specific Mineral Mixture (ASMM) and Sheep and Goat Mineral Mixtures (SGMM) have been commercialized

The ICAR-National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology (NIANP), Bengaluru’s two Technologies – the Area Specific Mineral Mixture (ASMM) and Sheep and Goat Mineral Mixtures (SGMM) have been commercialized.

The ASMM technology was earlier commercialized to Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), Bengaluru; Nandi Agro Vet. Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru and the Totgars Co-operative Sale Society Ltd., Uttar Kannada, Karnataka. The impact of the technology has been estimated to be about Rs. 419 crores.

The ICAR-NIANP has been granted the patent on Mineral Mixture as “Nutrients for Small Ruminants” (Patent No. – 294494).

The Sheep and Goat Mineral Mixture technology was earlier commercialized to Nandi Agro Vet. Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru; Kamdhenu Feeds, Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh and Shakthi Feeds, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.

Now, both the ASMM and Sheep and Goat Mineral Mixture technologies have been commercialized to Sri Vijayarathna Industries, on non-exclusive basis through the Agrinnovate India, New Delhi on 17th and 24thAugust 2019, respectively at the ICAR-NIANP, Bengaluru.

Dr. Raghavendra Bhatta, Director, ICAR-NIANP and Smt. Chakka Padma, Proprietor, Sri Vijayarathna Industries, Challakere, Karnataka signed the Memorandum of Agreement for the licensing to manufacture and sell the formulation in the presence of Dr. Sudha Mysore, CEO, Agrinnovate India and the Agrinnovate team.

The Innovators of the technology, Dr. N.K.S. Gowda and Dr. D.T. Pal, Incharge, ITMU; Dr. Atul Kolte, AO and AF & AO, NIANP were also present on the occasion.

 

The Area Specific Mineral Mixture (ASMM) and

Foodgrains

Agreement accelerates global commercialization of Arcadia’s high fiber resistant starch wheat technology

Arcadia Biosciences, Inc.  a leader in science-based approaches to enhancing the quality and nutritional value of crops and food ingredients, has announced a binding term sheet agreement with Arista Cereal Technologies and Bay State Milling Company for commercialization of its high fiber resistant starch wheat in key wheat markets, including North America, Europe and parts of Asia

Under the terms of the binding agreement, Bay State Milling will become the exclusive commercial partner for Arcadia’shigh fiber wheat in North America under Bay State Milling’s HealthSense™ brand portfolio, while Arista receives exclusive rights under Arcadia’s intellectual property in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Japan and South Korea. Arcadiawill continue to market its high fiber wheat under its GoodWheat™ portfolio of specialty wheat ingredients in other international markets. The agreement resolves an intellectual property dispute between the three companies over Arcadia’s high fiber wheat. The agreement earns Arcadia royalties for sales of its wheat varieties in North America by Bay State Milling, plus additional considerations. 

“We are pleased to have entered into an agreement with Arista and Bay State Milling that will accelerate commercialization of our high fiber wheat in key wheat markets – and capture revenue in 2019 and beyond,” said Raj Ketkar, president and CEO of Arcadia Biosciences. “Bay State Milling is an excellent partner for North America, bringing its strengths in milling, identity preserved supply chains and technical support of customer food companies.”

“We continue to see tremendous opportunity for high fiber wheat flour – particularly in the United States, where consumers are increasingly mindful about the nutrition their food delivers,” said Peter Levangie, president and CEO of Bay State Milling. “As a result, our customers – food manufacturers – also are looking for ingredients with added nutritional value from natural sources. We are excited to add Arcadia’s high fiber wheat to the HealthSense brand and bring it to customers to help close the fiber gap and improve consumer health in North America.”

Eric Vaschalde, CEO of Arista Cereal Technologies, added, “We are pleased to have reached an agreement that resolves our ongoing patent dispute and puts our focus on successfully bringing high fiber wheat to market across our wide platform. After decades of research and development, Arista focused its initial market development in North Americawith its partner, Bay State Milling. This agreement not only bolsters Bay State Milling’s commercial opportunities, but it also enhances the global intellectual property for all parties to the agreement.”

Arcadia’s high fiber wheat delivers multiple times the resistant starch as traditional wheat and significantly higher amounts of dietary fiber than traditional wheat flour. Because of its high fiber content, consumer product goods companies, food manufacturers and food service retailers can reduce the need to add other sources of fiber in their formulation and simplify their ingredient labels.

In 2015, the global flour market was valued at $200 billion and is estimated to reach a value of $270 billion by 2022. The United States Department of Agriculture reported the total value of wheat production in the U.S. was $9.7 billion for 2018. Wheat contributes about 20 percent of the total dietary calories and proteins worldwide, according to a 2013 paper published in Food Security. Arcadia’s high fiber wheat can provide additional, proven health benefits for consumers who want to continue to enjoy the wheat-based foods they love

 

Agreement accelerates global commercialization of Arcadia’s high

Text Blog

Soil fertility relates to the capacity of soil to support agricultural plant growth.

Soil fertility and sustainable agriculture experts know that most soils today need their health and endurance restored. Soil fertility relates to the capacity of soil to support agricultural plant growth. But if this were indeed the case anywhere at all – especially the sustained and consistent bit measured over a few decades, then the level of inputs added to the soil that agriculture requires across the world today! 

On the other hand, for millennia, soil grew life, more soil, and more life in perpetual cycles, all over the planet. Without any external help!

Factors like cultivation, grazing, composting, soil remineralization, fertilizer priorities, fossil humates, soil conservation, green manuring, soil testing, and visual soil assessment all play a crucial part in establishing fertile soils.

 

Nutrients in the soil

Plants need nutrients just like people do. Plants depend on carbon, moisture, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and a bunch of trace minerals. Each of these is cyclic in nature – the water cycle which ensures there are enough of them everywhere, and similarly, there’s a carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, phosphorus cycle and so on. 

Additionally, to provide for this living carbon in the soil, the conditions need to be right. Sunlight falling directly on the ground, and the lack of organic matter on and in it destroy the habitat in which these thrive. Keeping the soil covered is absolutely critical for healthy, fertile soils! Our farming methods – clearing the land of all vegetation, tilling and more recently, dosing it with harsh chemicals in large quantities – all contribute to the living constituents of the soil that help keep these processes and cycles going.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture too, good healthy soil is 45% minerals, 5% carbon, 25% water and 25% air! This is likelier to be soil in sync with these numbers, and stay healthy as well. 

 

Raising soil fertility

What commonly referred to as fertility is not a point in time measurement of a few things, but a process that keeps the ecosystem ideal for easy growth of plant life. And soil’s innate ability to support plant life, it has to be considered as over a period – if it supports this less and less innately, the fertility reduces. 

There are natural processes that sit at the intersection of these various cycles that keep the soil “fertile” and moisture-rich. In a sense, fertility can be described in terms of the health of these processes in the soil itself! 

Fertility is something the forest both nurtured over eons and depended on for its own sustenance and growth. It is something that was inadvertently disrupted and destroyed as humans started farming about 12000 years ago, and accelerated a century ago as the world acquired superpowers and scaled energy through oil. 

 

Cultivating soil

This is where the ecosystem of bacterial colonies, nematodes, larger insects and various fungi – most notably mycorrhizae – play a significant role. There are millions of these around root ecosystems and strike a symbiotic relationship with the roots and play a variety of different roles that are unearthed only to an extent today. All of these life forms, in turn, need other forms of carbon in the soil, as well as a diverse set of roots producing sugars and carbs for them. They also burrow and loosen the soil, helping absorb and retain moisture to greater depths. And having moisture in the soil is excellent for plants!

Obviously, great soil needs to have the moisture as well as all the macronutrients and micronutrient. What is more important is that these need to be in a form that the plants can use. And the cycles that make these available and replenish in various forms are in motion.  

Fertility is what nature had created as its method to grow and sustain life in a variety of conditions, and that can be achieved again. Even in severely degraded landscapes. A helping hand is what nature needs, and it will do the rest!

 

Sameer Shisodia, Co-founder & Chief Farming Officer, Beforest

Soil fertility relates to the capacity of