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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

The company recently announced the expansion of its SmartFresh Inbox in California with CDPR approval for a range of new crops

AgroFresh Solutions, Inc, a global agtech innovator that provides produce freshness solutions, and digital technologies that enhance the quality and extend the shelf life of fresh produce, recently announced the expansion of its SmartFresh Inbox in California with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s (CDPR) approval for a range of new crops. SmartFresh InBox offers powerful protection in a small, portable sachet, expanding the availability of SmartFresh technology for growers, packers and retailers who either don’t have an airtight room or require a more convenient option.

SmartFresh InBox, now registered in California on pome fruits (apples and pears), stone fruits (peaches and plums), kiwi and avocados, utilises AgroFresh’s industry leading SmartFresh (1-MCP) ethylene management technology to delay the ripening process and helps maintain post-harvest produce quality and freshness. SmartFresh InBox sachets are easy to apply and handle, offering effective protection against internal and external threats to freshness, resulting in increased shelf life and reduced levels of food loss and waste.

“California is the largest and most diverse fruit growing region in the US and our customers there need more flexible application methods and products to help preserve and protect the crops they oversee,” said Sarah Enescu, Commercial Business Director for AgroFresh.

The company recently announced the expansion of

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

This partnership will enable Samunnati to scale its outreach to FPOs with customised financial solutions at affordable interest rates, leveraging the vast resources available with SBI

Samunnati, India’s Open Agri Network has entered into the largest co-lending partnership in India aimed at the Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) space with SBI, India’s largest bank. The initial programme amount is Rs 100 Crores. 

This partnership will enable Samunnati to scale its outreach to FPOs with customised financial solutions at affordable interest rates, leveraging the vast resources available with SBI. The partnership will enhance the outreach for SBI channel credit to the under-served segment of small-holder farmers in the agriculture sector, by leveraging Samunnati’s outreach and nuanced understanding of the FPO sector. 

SBI and Samunnati has also entered into a non-financial MOU to develop the FPO Sector, to mainstream FPO as an asset class and increase awareness of this class of farmer-owned institutions in the Banking sector. 

Samunnati works with a growing network of 3000+ Farmer Collectives with a member base of over 6 million farmers with solutions spanning Agri Finance, Agri Commerce, and advisory services.  Speaking to the Founder & CEO of Samunnati, Anil Kumar SG said, “SBI’s pan-India presence and deep interest in Financial Inclusion of the small-holder farmers are enablers for helping an FPO avail an array of financial services. Our collective ambition is to make markets work for smallholder farmers by making available adequate, affordable and timely credit to the FPOs.”

This partnership will enable Samunnati to scale

The event emphasised on the need to take strong measures to increase the export and production of honey and generating employment for the beekeepers

In a bid to highlight the importance of beekeeping as part of the Integrated Farming System in the country, India Honey Alliance (IHA) in collaboration with the National Bee Board, hosted a webinar – ‘Hive to Home 4.0 – The Busy Bee’. It witnessed participation of experts from across the honey value chain and emphasised on the holistic development of the beekeeping sector and creating a more enabling environment for the bees and beekeepers. 

The session was moderated by Somit Mukherjee, Senior VP, Supply Chain-Dabur and the opening remarks were given by Namrata Khanna, Director, India Honey Alliance.

In his keynote address, Dr Naveen Patle, ED-National Bee Board (NBB) said that the country has achieved 21 per cent growth in export this year as compared to last year. He also stressed on the fact that while the country has more than 48 lakhs bee colonies, only 19 lakhs colonies are registered in the Madhu Kranti Portal. He urged that beekeepers should register themselves for better traceability and holistic growth of the beekeeping ecosystem. Dr Patle informed that the NBB has recently set up 8 mini labs in Gujarat and the organisation is in the process of creating many more such regional testing labs and mini-testing labs across the country.

The other experts pointed out that it is a very fragmented and unorganised sector and that the government along with the entire honey ecosystem should collaborate to take strong measures in increasing the export and production of honey, creating sustainable income and employment for the beekeepers. 

The event emphasised on the need to

UPL and Bunge will establish Orígeo, a new company providing end-to-end solutions to farmers in Brazil’s MAPITOBAPA macro-region

UPL Limited, a global provider of sustainable agricultural solutions and Bunge, a global leader in agribusiness, have announced a new partnership to increase productivity, profitability and sustainability for farmers in Brazil.

UPL and Bunge will establish Orígeo, a new company providing end-to-end solutions to farmers in Brazil’s MAPITOBAPA macro-region, drawing on its highly qualified technical team’s understandings of each producer’s needs from crop planning to harvest. Orígeo will combine Bunge’s expertise in financing, trading, and logistics matched with UPL’s comprehensive sustainable agricultural inputs, solutions, and services portfolio.

Orígeo’s offering will include seed, pesticide, biosolutions and fertiliser inputs; crop-planning assistance; agronomical advice; consulting on sustainability and regenerative and low carbon agriculture certification; agricultural financing solutions; and harvest marketing and logistics services. The company will also offer farmers digital agriculture services, including real-time information, recommendations and alerts using satellite-collected field data to improve decision-making and business efficiency.

Rossano de Angelis Junior, Bunge VP of Agribusiness in Brazil, stated, “Orígeo will work closely with the farmer, mapping needs, bringing solutions, and addressing business challenges. We want to simplify processes and make operations even more efficient so that farmers have more time to focus on what they do best – produce more and sustainably.”


UPL and Bunge will establish Orígeo, a

FICCI has said that GST Council should consider the agrochemical industry request favourably seeking reduction of the tax rate on agrochemical inputs for the farm sector from current 18 per cent to 5 per cent at the maximum

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) in a press conference held on June 22, 2022, has said that GST Council should consider the agrochemical industry request favourably seeking reduction of the tax rate on agrochemical inputs for the farm sector from current 18 per cent to 5 per cent at the maximum.

The 47th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will be held in Chandigarh on June 28 and 29.

Addressing the Press Conference on ‘Policy Landscape for a Flourishing Agrochemicals Industry’, organised by FICCI, R G Agarwal, Chair, FICCI Committee on Crop Protection and Chairman, Dhanuka Group said that high Goods and Service Tax (GST) on crop protection chemicals especially hurts small and marginal farmers by increasing their input cost and prompting them to use these essential ingredients in sub-optimal quantities to the detriment of farm output and their own financial health.

“A GST of 18 per cent on agrochemical is highly unjustified since they act as insurance to not only crop health but also increase their quality, yield and income of farmers. This high rate of 18 per cent is not justified and it should be brought down to a maximum of 5 per cent at par with fertilisers.”

Dr CD Mayee, a Former Agriculture Commissioner opined that Agrochemical industry acts as a backbone to our farmers and assures them of high yield with better quality produce while mitigating crop losses. In view of the climate changes and emerging threats of pest and disease there is urgent need to overhaul the regulatory system for introduction of new and innovative chemistries and technologies. There is also an urgent need to improve the enforcement mechanism, at several levels, to ensure the supply of high-quality agrochemicals to farmers on a sustainable basis.   

“This can be achieved with the cooperation of the private sector in addition to hiring adequate manpower and strengthening government laboratories, providing the latest analytical instruments, reference standards and making ISO17025 NABL certification mandatory as done under FSSAI Act as well as support from Quality Council of India or other independent organisations,” said Dr Mayee.

FICCI is organising its 11th Agrochemicals conference 2022 on the theme ‘Policy landscape for a flourishing Agrochemicals Industry’ on June 23 in New Delhi.

FICCI has said that GST Council should

This new in-house production capability of Indoxacarb is expected to improve the Company’s control over the availability, quality and cost of this important active ingredient

ADAMA Limited, a leading global crop protection company, announced that it has begun the in-house production of Indoxacarb, a key insecticide active ingredient (AI), with its new proprietary synthesis process providing a building block for ADAMA’s differentiated formulations. Producing this complex molecule with an innovative, cost-effective process is expected to improve ADAMA’s supply chain performance while opening access to a global market of approximately $200 million of Indoxacarb sales as of 2021.

“With its vast global market potential, we identified Indoxacarb as a key building block for ADAMA’s future differentiated product pipeline,” said Elad Shabtai, EVP Global Operations at ADAMA. “This new in-house production capability of Indoxacarb is expected to improve the Company’s control over the availability, quality and cost of this important active ingredient. Moreover, our Indoxacarb formulations deliver powerful solutions, thus combining our AI cost position with superior product features on the formulation side.”

ADAMA is targeting more than 15 countries with its self-produced Indoxacarb, including leading markets Brazil, India and the USA.

In addition to the potential sales of Indoxacarb, ADAMA expects to expand the production and sales of its proprietary active ingredient, Novaluron, due to increased demand, given that these two active ingredients are paired together in formulations to provide a highly effective solution against chewing pests in their early stages of development.

ADAMA’s Indoxacarb is now being manufactured in-house at its production facilities in Neot Hovav, Israel, and in India, requiring a dedicated production line with state-of-the art equipment.  

This new in-house production capability of Indoxacarb

The company is now fully prepared to remain ahead of the competition market and expand its compact tractor range with launch of 3 new models in up to 30 HP segment in Turkey

Solis Yanmar, the flagship brand of International Tractors Limited, has been significantly expanding its market presence not just in India but across the globe. The company is now fully prepared to remain ahead of the competition market and expand its compact tractor range with launch of 3 new models in up to 30 HP segment in Turkey. Equipped with proven Japanese technologies, the tractors will further raise performance bar in the local tractor market. The company also recently unveiled the Solis 75 HP CRDi tractor in the Izmir & Konya National fairs held in February & March 2022 respectively.

Solis Yanmar has a strong product offering in less than 100 HP segment with more than 10 models and 20+ variants for the Agricultural & Compact tractor category. Solis Yanmar has established a robust presence in entire Turkish market with 50+ dealerships & close to 100 sales points across the country. The company also has 200+ dedicated service centres linked to these dealers to serve its end customers.

Sharing his thoughts on the growing market performance, Raman Mittal, Joint Managing Director, Solis Yanmar, said, “We feel delighted to share that we are the fastest growing tractor brand in Turkey while strongly holding No 1 tractor exports brand position. The Turkish market has a huge demand for tractors between 30-90 HP making our Solis 50 & Solis 90 to be the star products for us. Our S26 model has 88 per cent market share in calendar year of 2021 and overall we have captured 8 per cent market share in Turkey. We also recently unveiled the 75 HP CRDi tractor in the Izmir & Konya National fairs held in February & March 2022 respectively which was much appreciated. We are now expanding our compact tractor range in up to 30 HP with launch of 3 new models with Japanese technologies to address the niche segment and take Turkish tractor market by a storm.”

The company is now fully prepared to

The signing of this MoU with TNAU marks NLI’s first partnership in the ‘agri-tech’ space in India

NEC Laboratories India (NLI), an entity of NEC Corporation India – a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation has recently announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) to create newer solutions to resolve agricultural issues using analytics and AI. The signing of this MoU with TNAU marks NLI’s first partnership in the ‘agri-tech’ space in India.

Through this co-creation partnership, NEC aims to create a solution which helps identify major crop disease and deficiency categories, and provide appropriate remedies via Agri experts. NLI will develop a mobile app with AI/ML capability, while TNAU shall provide expert guidance and assist in data collection activity to detect diseases in this collaboration. By combining the best of both parties, early detection of disease onset through artificial intelligence can be achieved, and farmers will be able to take remedial actions promptly.

Dr Subramanian, Director of Research said, “India is a predominantly agricultural economy, and farmers today face a wide array of problems in the field that need to be addressed instantly. With the signing of this MoU, the university intends to use AI for the early detection of pests and diseases, and it is our honour to be joining hands with NEC Laboratories India and the NEC Group. Their decades of deep-tech expertise and problem-solving capabilities for both critical social problems, as well as industrial challenges, makes them an ideal technology partner for this endeavour.”

The signing of this MoU with TNAU

The Kit is made in India and a patent has been filed for the same

Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar has launched Animal Vaccine and other Diagnostic Kits developed by the ICAR-National Research Centre on Equines, Hisar, Haryana on June 9, 2022.

The Ancovax Vaccine on Equines is an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Delta (COVID-19) Vaccine for Animals. The immunity induced by Ancovax neutralises both Delta and Omicron Variants of SARS-CoV-2. The Vaccine contains inactivated SARS-CoV-2 (Delta) antigen with Alhydrogel as an adjuvant. It is safe for dogs, lions, leopards, mice and rabbits.

“The Council’s scientists’ unparalleled contributions have made the country succeed not only in essential crops’ production; but, in the various fields of agricultural and allied sciences as well at the global level”, said Tomar, after launching the vaccine through video conferencing. “It is due to the untiring contributions of Scientists that the country stands self-reliant in developing its own Vaccines more rather than importing. This is really a big achievement”, he added.

The diagnostic kits launched today include CAN-CoV-2 ELISA Kit. It is a sensitive and specific nucleocapsid protein based indirect ELISA Kit for antibody detection against SARS-CoV-2 in Canines. There are no laboratory animals required for the preparation of the antigens. The Kit is made in India and a patent has been filed for the same. No other comparable kits for detection of antibodies in Canines are available in the market.

The Surra ELISA Kit is a suitable Diagnostic Assay for Trypanosoma evansi infection in multiple animal species.

The Equine DNA Parentage Testing Kit is a powerful genomic technology for parentage analysis. The Parentage among the Horses can be definitely established using Multiplex PCR Technology to compare allele sizes.

The Kit is made in India and

The Minister also mentioned the recent initiatives taken by the Ministry of Agriculture for increasing the use of digital technologies in agriculture

The 12th BRICS Agriculture Ministers Meeting was recently held virtually on June 9, 2022. The meeting was attended by the Ministers for Agriculture of China, South Africa, Brazil, Russia and India.

The Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Shobha Karandlaje, participated in the meeting.  The Minister highlighted various steps and initiatives undertaken by the Government of India in the field of agriculture and for welfare of the farmers viz. PM KISAN, PM FASAL BIMA YOJANA, Soil Health Cards, Natural Farming, formation and promotion of FPOs etc. 

Shobha Karandlaje emphasised on India’s resolve to fulfill the Sustainable Development Goals of ending hunger and step up production and productivity of agriculture through sustainable use of natural resources.

The Minister mentioned the recent initiatives taken by the Ministry of Agriculture for increasing the use of digital technologies in agriculture like Agri-stack and India Digital Ecosystem for Agriculture (IDEA).

The Minister highlighted the National Mission on Food & Nutrition with focus on development of nutri-cereals and bio-fortified varieties of crops and also highlighted importance of millets in food and nutrition security and climate resilience.

The Minister also mentioned the recent initiatives

An amount of over Rs 21,000 crores was transferred to more than 10 crore beneficiary farmer families

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently addressed the ‘Garib Kalyan Sammelan’ in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. This unique public event was organised in state capitals, district headquarters and Krishi Vigyan Kendras across the country to commemorate the completion of eight years of the government led by Prime Minister Modi.

On the occasion, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi also released the 11th installment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme. An amount of over Rs 21,000 crores was transferred to more than 10 crore beneficiary farmer families.

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar and Minister of Commerce and Industry, Textiles, Food & Consumer Affairs, and Public Distribution, Piyush Goyal participated in the programme from Delhi, in which a large number of farmers besides agricultural scientists were present.

The agriculture minister said that in the field of agriculture, concrete work has been done to raise the production and productivity of farmers, promoting use of technology and to ensure that farmers should get reasonable price for their crop. Earlier, wheat and rice were procured at MSP, Modi also started procurement of other farm produce including coarse grains. PM wants that farmer should move forward, their income should be doubled and that farmers adopt crop diversification, use of fertilisers and water is limited, the cost of farming should also come down, hence a campaign has been launched and crores of farmers are getting benefitted.

An amount of over Rs 21,000 crores

Wheat procurement in RMS 2022-23 has so far benefitted 17.50 lakh farmers with an MSP value of Rs 37,192.07 Crore

The Food Ministry has recently announced that the government of India has procured 184.58 lakh tonnes of wheat at an MSP value of Rs 37,192.07 crore so far in the ongoing 2022-23 rabi marketing year, benefitting 17.50 lakh farmers.

According to the ministry, 96.16 lakh tonnes of wheat have been procured in Punjab, 44.45 lakh tonnes in Madhya Pradesh, 40.97 lakh tonnes in Haryana, 2.84 lakh tonnes in Uttar Pradesh till May 29 of the current marketing year.

Upto May 29, 2022 a quantity of 184.58 LMT of wheat has been procured, benefiting about 17.50 Lakh farmers with MSP value of Rs 37,192.07 crore.

Paddy procurement under central pool is progressing smoothly in Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2021-22, in various procuring States/ UTs.

Upto May 29, 2022, a quantity of 810.05 LMT of Paddy (includes Kharif Crop 754.69 LMT and Rabi Crop 55.37 LMT) has been procured, benefiting 117.05 Lakh farmers with MSP value of Rs 1,58,770.64 crore.

The wheat procurement target has been revised downward to 195 lakh tonnes for the current year from the earlier 444 lakh tonnes due to a fall in wheat output and increased exports.

Wheat procurement in RMS 2022-23 has so