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HomePosts Tagged "agriculture news" (Page 4)
Environment, Finance

This investment is part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI)

The US Department of Agriculture has announced a $9 million investment in new Cooperative Extension and USDA Climate Hubs partnerships to bolster climate research and connect and share climate-smart solutions directly with the agricultural community.
 
“The Cooperative Extension system and the USDA Climate Hubs have unmatched capacity to reach agricultural, Tribal and undeserved communities, as well as educators and students, and our nation’s farmers directly,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
 
This investment is part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), the nation’s leading competitive grants programme for agricultural sciences. This new AFRI program area provides effective, translatable and scalable approaches to address climate change through regional partnerships, including the USDA Climate Hubs, and further extends outreach through organisations such as the Cooperative Extension Service.
 
“These new NIFA-funded projects will work toward net-zero emissions in agriculture, working lands and communities adapted to climate change, training a diverse workforce that can communicate and incorporate climate considerations into management and climate justice that is appropriate for unique US agronomic conditions,” said NIFA Director Dr Carrie Castille.

The initial six funded projects include:

  • University of California (Davis) 
  • Pennsylvania State University 
  • Montana State University 
  • Ohio State University 
  • The Desert Research Institute Native Climate 
  • The USDA Caribbean Climate Hub 

This investment is part of the National

AgroPolicy, Interaction

Discussions were held on training of fish farmers on sustainable practices in Andhra Pradesh

Dr Poonam Malakondaiah, IAS, Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Cooperation, AHDD & Fisheries, Government of Andhra Pradesh recently visited the ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, Barrackpore, Kolkata for an interface meeting on “Encouraging Fish Culture Technologies in Large Water Bodies with Special Emphasis on Enclosure Culture in Andhra Pradesh”. Dr Malakondaiah was accompanied by K Kanna Babu, Commissioner of Fisheries, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

In her address, Dr Malakondaiah underlined the state activities and Ventures of the Fisheries Sector like Farmer Field Schools in collaboration with state universities and the establishment of a Fisheries University at West Godavari District. She also highlighted the two major areas of concern for the fisheries in Andhra Pradesh, viz., training of farmers on sustainable practices and focusing on the quality of produce rather than quantity. Dr Malakondaiah stressed on the long and sustainable partnership with the ICAR-CIFRI for the development of Inland Fisheries Sector in Andhra Pradesh.

Babu underlined the possibility of partnership with the ICAR-CIFRI in future for promoting the cage culture in the Reservoirs of Andhra Pradesh. He also expressed his concern regarding the low domestic consumption of fishes in Andhra Pradesh even though the State leads in aquaculture production.

Earlier, delivering the welcome address, Dr BK Das, Director, ICAR-CIFRI, Barrackpore, Kolkata briefed the dignitaries about the Institute’s activities and achievements. 

Discussions were held on training of fish

Logistics, Supply Chain

The MoU will further expand Jammu & Kashmir-Dubai collaboration and Jammu Kashmir-LuLu Group partnership.

The Jammu and Kashmir government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Dubai-based Lulu group to set up a food processing and logistics hub in Srinagar on January 6, 2022.

The MoU was signed in Dubai in the presence of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and LuLu Group Chairman MA Yusuff Ali.

This agreement was signed by J&K Principal Secretary (Industries & Commerce) Ranjan Prakash Thakur and LuLu Group Executive Director Ashraf Ali MA at Dubai.

Commenting on the occasion, Manoj Sinha said the MoU with the LuLu group will further expand Jammu & Kashmir-Dubai collaboration and Jammu Kashmir-LuLu Group partnership.

“Relations between India and the UAE are long-standing and deep-rooted. People-to-people contact and trade have seen momentum in the recent years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” the Governor said.

“The world-famous GI tagged saffron has been launched at LuLu Hypermarket, which I see as a major step towards boosting Jammu Kashmir and Dubai partnership. LuLu Group is already importing apples from Jammu Kashmir and with saffron, we are adding Kashmir’s finest spice to the basket. I am certain this new beginning will take our trade to unprecedented levels,” he added.

The MoU will further expand Jammu &

Agrotech, R&D, Singapore

The new facility will help Shiok Meats scale-up production of cell-based crustacean meat products

Black & Veatch has recently collaborated with Shiok Meats for the conceptual design and layout of their first-of-a-kind advanced R&D facility for cultivated seafood, officially opened by Singapore’s Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, Grace Fu in November 2021.

The new facility will help Shiok Meats, the world’s first cultivated crustacean company, scale-up production of cell-based crustacean meat products, targeting commercialisation by 2023.

“Building the Mini Plant is a big milestone for us. Our production facility, which is due in the next 18 months, will be an extension of this Mini Plant in terms of engineering design and foundation. This new facility allows us to scale the cultivated seafood production gradually and strategically to ensure a comprehensive manufacturing model and top-notch products,” said Dr Sandhya Sriram, Group CEO & Co-founder, Shiok Meats.

David Ziskind, Director of Engineering at Black & Veatch NextGen Ag, commented, “Innovation and sustainability are core to our engineering and construction solutions as we help companies bridge the gap between science, research and development, engineering, and commercialisation to bring new food products to market, at scale. We’re excited to support Shiok Meats in their scale-up efforts to create better and more sustainable food by leveraging biotechnology to enhance global food security.” 

The new facility will help Shiok Meats

Finance

The first tranche of $750M was raised in March and April 2021.

UPL Limited a global leader of crop protection products and sustainable agricultural solutions has announced, has raised a second tranche of $700 million sustainability linked loan (SLL) on December 31, 2021, with a reduction of interest cost by 35bps and an opportunity for a further reduction of 5bps on achievement of sustainability indicators agreed with the banks.

The first tranche of $750 million was raised in March and April 2021. Of the $1.45 billion, the debt maturity for $1.25 billion gets extended by two years to FY 2026 (against FY2024 earlier).

In 2021, the company was ranked as the highest performing top tier, global crop protection company amongst its peers by Sustainalytics for the second year running. UPL also recorded strong performances in the most recent Dow Jones Sustainability Index (61 per cent improvement on 2018 score) and FTSE Russell (68 per cent higher than industry average).

UPL is on a mission to re-imagine sustainability across everything it does – developing and distributing solutions that secure our future whilst safeguarding the environment.

The first tranche of $750M was raised

Supply Chain

Experts will guide on supply chain management and agri- value chains in the workshop

The 12th AGROVISION, India’s Premier Agri Summit, scheduled from December 24-27, at Reshimbagh Ground, Nagpur, will initiate a free workshop on “Food processing and Supply chain management in agriculture”.

As Agriculture witnesses new innovations & technology, it becomes important to understand the Value Chain & Supply Chain involved in Food Processing & Agriculture. In the workshop at Agrovision 2021, the experts will guide the farmers on food processing and supply chain management in agriculture.

Agrovision has completed 11 years of its march and brought about a profound impact on the farm economy of Central India.  Agrovision was conceived in the year 2007 to create a common platform for the farmers, industry, and government and bring together every important entity in agriculture to create a better future for the farmers. The vision of Agrovision is to create a more knowledgeable, practical and a smart famer.

Farmers from in and around Vidarbha and adjoining states will be participating in the event this year. Apart from this, there will be free interactive workshops for farmers. Conferences on current issues in agriculture and allied agri sectors will be held. Around 400 exhibitors are likely to participate in the event.

The exclusive media partner is Agro Spectrum India along with BioSpectrum India and Nufoods Spectrum India. MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications is the organiser of the event.

Experts will guide on supply chain management

Agro Universities

The total grant of these projects amounts to approximately Rs 40 lakhs.

The Department of Processing and Food Engineering (PFE), Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), has been granted two research projects entitled “Development of the Hermetic System for Safe Storage of Agricultural Produce without Using Hazardous Chemicals” and “Development of Sensor Platform for Rapid Detection of Adulteration in Turmeric Powder” by the Society of Mission Tandrust Punjab (SMTP) under the chairmanship of Anirudh Tewari, IAS, Chief Secretary, Punjab.

The research projects were submitted by Dr Mahesh Kumar, Head, Department of PFE; Dr Gagandeep Kaur, Dr Preetinder Kaur and Dr Maninder Kaur, scientists from PFE; Dr DK Sharma, Senior Entomologist; and Dr Derminder Singh, Professor of Electrical Engineering. The first project aims at developing and evaluating cocoon based flexible storage system that would make available pesticide free grain storage system and hence prevent health and environment hazards. The second proposal targets to develop mechanisms for rapid detection of different adulterants in turmeric powder and create and evaluate a sensor platform for rapid detection of different adulterants in turmeric powder. The total grant of these projects amounts to approximately Rs 40 lakhs.

The PAU Vice Chancellor DK Tiwari, IAS Financial Commissioner, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Director of Research Dr Ajmer Singh Dhatt and Dean, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology Dr Ashok Kumar congratulated the scientists for their achievements.

The total grant of these projects amounts