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Agrotech

XAG’s drone technology steps into Ecuador’s cacao gardens to spray timely after rains, protecting cacao fruit from yield loss with trustworthy effect

To facilitate sustainable, local cacao production, XAG agricultural drone is adopted by cacao growers in Ecuador and provides relief to labour shortage during the busy season.

XAG’s drone technology steps into Ecuador’s cacao gardens to spray timely after rains, protecting cacao fruit from yield loss with trustworthy effect. Ecuador is the top spot of high-quality cacao beans, the major ingredient of single-origin chocolates.

XAG’s local partner, Megadrone, dispatched an agricultural service team to manage a 180-hectare cacao farm in Guayaquil, the second largest city of Ecuador. Drone was used as an alternative spraying tool to cope with the increasing labour costs.

During the operation, the XAG P Series Agricultural Drone was equipped with a full tank of foliar fertilisers and fungicides. It took off from the slope and flew over clusters of bushes to precisely spray on the cacao trees.

“What’s more, XAG’s agricultural drone can be easily operated by most people. Before launching the drone, the pilot just plans the flight path and sets up parameters on mobile app. This is convenient to learn even for our elderly workers,” said by the farm owner.

XAG's drone technology steps into Ecuador's cacao gardens to

Company News

The report cements the company’s commitment to high standards around transparency, sustainability, and social responsibility

ADAMA Limited, a leading global crop protection company, has recently issued its 2021 ESG report. The publication of this report cements the company’s commitment to high standards around transparency, sustainability, and social responsibility.

Ignacio Dominguez, CEO of ADAMA, said, ” ADAMA chooses to put ESG values in the centre of its activity and to integrate sustainability into every aspect of the business – products, manufacturing, operations, and people. Our investment in novel formulation technologies to deliver superior products with enhanced biological performance is resulting in better solutions for farmers and a favourable sustainable footprint, ultimately benefiting all our stakeholders. We’ll continue to listen to farmers and deliver what they need to succeed, making sustainable agriculture part of the solution.”

Michal Arlosoroff, EVP, General Legal Counsel, Company Secretary, Chief Corporate Communication & Chief Sustainability Officer, stated, “As an agrochemical company, we have an even greater obligation to put ESG at the forefront of our operations. We take this commitment seriously and I am proud of the results and progress that we have made in our ESG journey, including reducing our carbon footprint; improving safety; and reducing our products’ environmental impact through a combination of efforts across the whole business.”

2021 ESG highlights:

  • Outperformed regulatory requirements while growing production volumes. 
  • Funded $60 million toward greener manufacturing operations.
  • Increased portfolio of biological products. 
  • Invested 2.9 per cent of total profit in social responsibility. 
  • Promoting diversity and inclusion. 
  • Retained employees’ rate at 87 per cent in 2021.

The report cements the company's commitment to

AgroPolicy, Trade

IBSM aimed at boosting exports of Apricots and other agri products from Ladakh

Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) in collaboration with Union Territory of Ladakh has recently organised an International Buyer Seller Meet (IBSM). 

IBSM aimed at boosting exports of Apricots and other agri products from Ladakh.

Eighteen entrepreneurs from UTs of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir displayed a range of Apricots and other Agri Products. Twenty buyers from India, USA, Bangladesh, Oman, Dubai participated in this event. 

More than 30 producers of Ladakh Apricots and other agro products and stakeholders from UTs of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir participated to interact with the importers and exporters providing platform to growers, entrepreneurs from UTs of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir to display their products and facilitate B2B interactions. 

APEDA, under its initiative to boost exports from Himalayan Region is encouraging States and UTs to harness their potential of agricultural produce exports. A platform will be created for the buyers to get the products directly from the producer group and the processors.

IBSM aimed at boosting exports of Apricots

Agro chems – Pesticides, Company News

Flupyrimin is a novel insecticide with unique biological properties and residual control, effective against major rice pests

UPL Limited, a global provider of sustainable agricultural solutions, has announced that it would launch new insecticides in India containing the patented active ingredient Flupyrimin to target the most damaging rice pests. The launch will coincide with the Kharif crop sowing season, typically starting in June, with rice the most important crop sown at this time. 

Flupyrimin is a novel insecticide with unique biological properties and residual control, effective against major rice pests such as brown plant hopper (BPH) and yellow stem borer (YSB). Extensive demonstration trials have shown that Flupyrimin protect rice yields from YSB & BPH damage and boost crop health, further supporting farmers’ economic resilience and productivity. Flupyrimin is also effective on pest populations resistant to existing insecticides.

Mike Frank, President and COO at UPL, said, “Flupyrimin is a breakthrough technology promising a leap forward in pest management for rice growers. With market access maximised through UPL’s wide-ranging distribution channels and differentiated branding strategy, the introduction of Flupyrimin in India marks another fundamental milestone of our collaboration with MMAG under our OpenAg vision.”

Flupyrimin is a novel insecticide with unique

Company News

The ADAMA Eagle Eye enables the collection of highly accurate data layers of crop fields to optimise the management of field trials and demo plots

ADAMA has recently introduced ADAMA Eagle Eye, a drone analytics farming platform, in partnership with Agremo, a leading aerial analytics provider.

The ADAMA Eagle Eye enables the collection of highly accurate data layers of crop fields to optimise the management of field trials and demo plots. It is a digital platform that uses AI to perform analytics from drone imagery, allowing ADAMA agronomists and experts to virtually visit the field, collect 3-D images, crop health data and document the progress of our field trials. This knowledge allows ADAMA’s product development and marketing teams to provide better accessibility to crop information for industry professionals and growers across the world.

ADAMA Eagle Eye analysis reports take the guesswork out of crop progress and significantly help the ADAMA team and growers to better understand what is going on in their fields. The software extracts critical information on plant populations, weeds, stress, pests, disease, drought, field arable area, and more, from a drone map to provide field and crop reports. The additional data layer helps ADAMA to make smarter decisions about pipeline projects, providing vital insights using visual data points. In addition, the report helps to provide more focused discussions with growers to deliver optimal solutions.

The ADAMA Eagle Eye enables the collection

Company News

Sonalika Tractors has registered a dominating best ever May sales with 12,615 units which was powered by stupendous 42.1% growth

Revolutionising the tractor industry with its heavy duty tractor portfolio, Sonalika Tractors has further reinforced its FY’23 platform for an electrifying year ahead. Sonalika has continued to register yet another dynamic performance in new financial year and clocked its highest ever May overall tractor sales of 12,615 units. The extraordinary performance includes stupendous 42.1 per cent growth over the 8,878 tractor sales recorded in May 2021 as the demand for advanced tractors continues to see uptick across the industry.

Speaking on the staggering performance, Raman Mittal, Joint Managing Director, ITL, said, “It feels invigorating as all our concerted efforts have resulted in another electrifying performance by Sonalika in May 2022. With a record 42.1 per cent growth, we have registered our highest ever May sales of 12,615 tractors. Sonalika truly believes in addressing specific farmer requirements and deliver dynamic tractor performance as well as affordability for farmers’ peace of mind. Favourable factors such as consistent increase in MSP by government, improved rabi crop procurement and now the timely arrival of monsoon in the country will set up viable platform for agriculture activities to flourish in FY’23.”

Sonalika Tractors has registered a dominating best

People

Deere has announces senior leadership changes including Ryan Campbell as President, Worldwide Construction & Forestry; Raj Kalathur as CFO

Deere & Company has announced that its Board of Directors elected Ryan Campbell as President, Worldwide Construction & Forestry and Power Systems effective May 31, 2022. He is succeeding John Stone, who has elected to leave the company.In his new role, Campbell will be leading the Construction & Forestry team to increase the adoption of precision technology in earthmoving, forestry and roadbuilding applications, as well as delivering a broad range of electric and hybrid-electric product models – all with a goal to boost economic value and sustainability for customers. Campbell will additionally be leading the company’s commitment to deliver viable low/no carbon alternative power solutions via Deere’s Power Systems group.

“Ryan’s record of success and proven leadership skills make him highly qualified to ensure we will make continued progress executing our smart industrial strategy and in serving our construction, forestry and power systems customers at the highest level,” said John C May, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Deere also announced the election of Raj Kalathur as the company’s Chief Financial Officer. He will retain his present duties for John Deere Financial and have continued oversight for information technology. His areas of responsibility as CFO include accounting and reporting, treasury, taxes, internal audit, strategy and business development, sustainability, and investor relations.

Prior to assuming his current role, Kalathur was President, John Deere Financial and Chief Information Officer (CIO) where he led the team responsible for ensuring that John Deere equipment customers throughout the world have ready access to competitive financing. Under Kalathur’s leadership, the John Deere Financial loan portfolio has grown to over $50 billion. In addition, Kalathur served as CIO and successfully helped lead the company’s digitalisation journey.

Deere has announces senior leadership changes including

Agro chems – Chemicals, Company News

Zorvec Encantia specifically targets late blight, a detrimental pathogen currently compromising local potato growth

Corteva Agriscience has launched Zorvec Encantia, a new fungicide that specifically targets late blight, a detrimental pathogen currently compromising local potato growth. The solution, based on Zorvec active, is the first member of a novel class of fungicides, which effectively utilises a unique biochemical mode of action, and has no cross-resistance with existing fungicides.

“Zorvec Encantia is here to change everything in terms of effectiveness, protection and productivity, and will be a great ally for South Africa’s potato producers during all stages of cultivation and in challenging climatic conditions,” says Stephan Marais, Product Manager at Corteva Agriscience. “After more than a decade of research, we have created a novel chemical with an unrivalled level of consistency and control, especially when it comes to management, allowing for lower operational costs and overall improved efficiency.”

Zorvec Encantia produces multiple effects on a pathogen’s life cycle for better efficacy and duration of control and protects leaves as they grow and expand, enhancing the protection of new foliage even if they have not been treated.

Zorvec Encantia, now available for purchase, features a favourable environmental profile and is effective on target organisms at very low use rates and has no harmful effects on beneficial species.

Zorvec Encantia specifically targets late blight, a detrimental

Agrotech, Inputs

The company has achieved a historical milestone of 13,000th tractor roll out in FY’22, just two years after its grand Indian market debut

Solis Yanmar is one of the world’s leading tractor brands that delivers pioneering technologies for supreme customer satisfaction and remains synonymous with toughness, durability as well as performance. Following an extraordinary approach to ensure ‘Future is now’ for farmers, Solis Yanmar has proudly achieved a historical milestone of 13,000th tractor roll out in FY’22, just two years after its grand Indian market debut.

Since its inception, the flagship brand of International Tractors Ltd. has continued to capitalise on 100 years of Japanese technology to remain 100 years ahead and has been expanding its dominance in the toughest of advanced agriculture markets. Solis Yanmar already has been No1 tractor brand in 7 European countries.​

Speaking on the new milestone achievement, Raman Mittal, Joint Managing Director, Solis Yanmar, said, “It gives me immense pleasure to share that all our hard work over the last few years built a strong platform for us to achieve historical milestone of 13,000th tractor roll out in just two years of Indian market presence. Our joint venture with Yanmar continues to be fruitful and we are well positioned to capitalise on the 100 years heritage of Japanese technology and will keep innovating for 100 years ahead.”

The company has achieved a historical milestone

Agrotech

The facility will have demonstration units for mushroom production, food processing & value-addition and poultry production

Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR) inaugurated the Technology Demonstration Facility at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Khordha, Odisha on March 10, 2022. Ajaya Kumar Dash, Head, KVK, Khordha briefed about the new facility. The facility will have demonstration units for mushroom production, food processing & value-addition and poultry production. It will also be used for imparting the skill training to the farmers and farm women.

The DG was accompanied by Dr Joykrushna Jena, Deputy Director General (Fisheries Science); Dr BP Mohanty, ADG (Inland Fisheries), ICAR along with Dr SK Swain, Director, ICAR-CIFA, Bhubaneswar and other Senior Officials of ICAR-CIFA and KVK, Khordha.

While interacting with the farmers and farm women in the Exhibition organised at the KVK, Khordha, Dr Mohapatra urged the KVK for facilitating the Self-Help Groups to improve their marketing skills and organise them to form as collectives like Farmers’ Producers’ Organisations to scale-up their operations. Underlining the Government of India’s target of creating 10,000 FPOs by 2025, the Director General emphasised that the KVKs would play a key role in mobilising the farmers and providing technical support.

During his interaction with the Scientists and Staff Members of ICAR-CIFA, he urged for focusing on the outreach & effective communication of the scientific research to the stakeholders and reorienting the research priorities for bringing out innovations that can enhance the farmers’ income.

The facility will have demonstration units for

Uncategorized

Istem was launched in the UK market in 2021 and has already been awarded a 3-star Superior Taste Award by the Brussels International Taste Institute

Syngenta Vegetable Seeds has been nominated for a prestigious Fruit Logistica Innovation Award for the second consecutive edition of the industry’s premier event, spotlighting the company’s leadership and innovation in high-demand segments, from tomato to water melon, sweet pepper to sweet corn. Syngenta’s unique Istem cauliflower is shortlisted – two years after YOOM tomato won the gold award.

Istem is high-yielding and appeals to consumers with its sweet, nutty curds individually held on top of tender, succulent stems. Eaten whole there is no food waste. It is quick to prepare, and can be eaten raw or cooked, from baking to barbecuing, steaming to stir-frying. It’s also a healthy choice – high in fiber and immune-boosting vitamin C.

Istem was launched in the UK market in 2021 and has already been awarded a 3-star Superior Taste Award by the Brussels International Taste Institute.

Lotfi Bani, Istem project manager in Europe commented, “We have the capability to use agile, science-based agronomic solutions to create sustainable crops, while anticipating consumer preferences and market trends. The Istem exemplifies this. It not only cuts food waste, it also offers consumers a great-tasting, healthy, convenient choice.” 

Istem has a bright future. Extensive trials are planned in 2022 across Europe, Africa, Middle East, North America and Australasia, preparing for it to launch in new markets very soon.

When growers were coming under pressure from the devastating new Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV), Syngenta fast-tracked its research to respond to this threat. Its teams’ speed and precision brought growers disease-resistant varieties such as Lansor and Barosor. Both varieties allow farmers to maximise marketable produce, even when ToBRFV is present. Syngenta has also bred spinach varieties to resist foliar disease Stemphylium.

Istem was launched in the UK market

Bee keeping

NBHM has the aim to create a network of honey testing labs covering all parts of the country and for this 100 FPOs of beekeepers will be proved as the centre.

National Bee Board (NBB) has organised a National Conference on Beekeeping Sector in collaboration with National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED), Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) & National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) on January 24, 2022. More than 600 participants from Government as well as the private sector, State Agricultural Universities (SAUs)/Central Agricultural Universities (CAUs), Beekeepers and other stakeholders involved in beekeeping occupation, etc attended the conference.

During the conference Dr Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India spoke on National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM), a central sector scheme launched by Government of India for overall promotion & development of scientific beekeeping in the country.

Likhi expressed that NBHM will help in filling gaps in infrastructural facilities for honey and linking marginal beekeepers in an organised way for dealing with adulteration in honey. NBHM has the aim to create a network of honey testing labs covering all parts of the country and for this 100 FPOs of beekeepers will be proved as the centre. He suggested including honey FPO beekeeping society/cooperative/firms for better sustainability in the honey sector.

NBHM has the aim to create a

Agrotech

This programme represents a comprehensive solution designed specifically to combat nematodes

Netafim USA, a subsidiary of Netafim Limited has announced its partnership with Bayer to create the Precise Defense programme. This programme represents a comprehensive solution designed specifically to combat nematodes, an invisible but devastating threat to the health and productivity of almond trees. Precise Defense delivers a powerful one-two punch by utilising Netafim’s precision drip irrigation technology to deliver VelumÒ One Nematicide and other crop protection products directly to the root zone. This delivery method maximises residual efficacy through uniform application rates and significantly reduces the amount of water used to irrigate almond trees.

Growers who purchase a complete Netafim Dual Line Drip Irrigation System from an authorised dealer and purchase two annual applications of Velum One from an authorised dealer are qualified to earn a $40 per acre rebate. Over a three-year trial, Velum One treated trees returned an average yield increase of 18.1 per cent, or 292 pounds per acre.

“Netafim’s cutting edge drip irrigation systems improve irrigation uniformity and have the ability to reduce the amount of water needed to grow a pound of almonds by 20 per cent. In addition, our systems provide an efficient and effective delivery solution for Velum One and other crop protection chemicals,” said Mike Hemman, President and CEO, Netafim USA.

“The Precise Defense programme is a best-of-both-worlds partnership that addresses today’s almond growers’ most pressing concerns and now incentivises them to voluntarily adopt better solutions to combat climate change. By participating in the Precise Defense rebate program and investing in a drip irrigation system, growers can feel confident they have the tools to mitigate nematode damage, maintain, and use water more efficiently.” said Chuck Bates, Vice President of Products and Agronomy, Netafim USA.

This programme represents a comprehensive solution designed

China, Environment, Nature

Alibaba Group targets 50 pr cent carbon intensity reduction for Scope 3 by 2030

Alibaba Group Holding Limited has announced a pledge to achieve carbon neutrality in its own operations by 2030 and introduced a Scope 3+ target, a pioneering initiative aiming to facilitate 1.5 gigatons of decarbonisation across its business ecosystem by 2035. Details about its goals, including thinking and definition of the newly introduced concept of Scope 3+, are shared in the inaugural Alibaba Carbon Neutrality Action Report. Alibaba aims to provide updates annually with progress verified by accredited auditors.

“We aspire to be a force for positive, innovative change in society. Our ESG strategy is predicated on our mission to be a good company that will live for 102 years and it is the vital foundation for Alibaba’s future development,” said Daniel Zhang, Chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group. “We will leverage our unique influence as a platform operator to mobilize actions and behavioural changes among consumers, merchants and partners in China and around the world with our newly proposed Scope 3+ target of reducing 1.5 gigatons of carbon emissions by 2035.” 

Alibaba Group is committed to carbon neutrality for Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, and has set a 50 per cent carbon intensity reduction target for Scope 3 by 2030 using 2020 levels as baseline. Alibaba Cloud will bear responsibility for a higher Scope 3 target and aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 in all three scopes. 

Alibaba will adopt a systematic and science-based approach to plan and manage decarbonisation initiatives. It includes leveraging energy-saving and efficiency-improving technologies to reduce emissions; actively transforming the energy structure with progressive use of renewable’s; and exploration of carbon removal initiatives. As a general principle, the company prioritises carbon reduction over removal, and removal over offset. 

Alibaba Group Holding Limited has announced a