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Agrotech

The eligibility criteria for the PLI scheme for drones and drone components includes an annual sales turnover of Rs 2 crore for drone companies and Rs 50 lacs for drone components manufacturers

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has opened the application window for those manufacturers of drones and drone components, who may have crossed the PLI eligibility threshold for the full financial year.

The final list of PLI beneficiaries is expected to be released by June 30, 2022 after detailed scrutiny of their financial results and other specified documents. 

Earlier on April 20, 2022, MoCA has published a provisional list of 14 PLI beneficiaries based on the financial results submitted by PLI applicants for the ten-month period. These include five drone manufacturers and nine drone component manufacturers. 

The eligibility criteria for the PLI scheme for drones and drone components includes an annual sales turnover of Rs 2 crore for drone companies and Rs 50 lacs for drone components manufacturers; and value addition of over 40 per cent of sales turnover.

The PLI scheme for drones and drone components was notified on September 30, 2021. Under the scheme, a total incentive of Rs 120 crore is spread over three financial year which is nearly double the combined turnover of all domestic drone manufacturers in FY 2020-21. The PLI rate is 20 per cent of the value addition which is one of the highest among other PLI scheme.

The eligibility criteria for the PLI scheme

Agrotech

The permanent injunction restrains Udragon from manufacturing, using and selling any product which contains a specific patented intermediate chemical used to make chlorantraniliprole

FMC Corporation, a leading global agricultural sciences company, announced the Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court in Zhejiang Province, China, granted FMC a permanent injunction against Hangzhou Udragon Chemical and Zhejiang Udragon Bioscience. The Court found Udragon infringed on FMC’s patent for a key intermediate chemical used in the manufacturing of chlorantraniliprole by conducting field trials, attending trade fairs and distributing samples of products manufactured using FMC’s patented intermediate.

The permanent injunction restrains Udragon from manufacturing, using and selling any product which contains a specific patented intermediate chemical used to make chlorantraniliprole, FMC’s leading insect control active ingredient.

Michael Reilly, FMC executive vice president, general counsel and secretary said, “The principles decided by the Court are also significant for future infringement actions where defendants attempt to rely on the so-called ‘Bolar exemption,’ a legal exemption in the pharmaceutical industry, to avoid infringement of valid intellectual property in the agrochemical segment.” 

FMC has invested heavily in the research, development and commercialisation of chlorantraniliprole, a proprietary, breakthrough technology designed to control a wide variety of destructive insects that can destroy a farmer’s crops and dramatically lower food production.

The company maintains an extensive patent estate for its proprietary chlorantraniliprole technology, including patents that cover active ingredient composition of matter, manufacturing processes, intermediate chemicals, formulations and other areas protected by intellectual property laws in the US, China, India, and other important agricultural markets throughout the world.

The permanent injunction restrains Udragon from manufacturing,

Agro chems – Chemicals

BAL had received the patent for Ronfen, which covers the composition of Pyriproxyfen 8 per cent, Diafenthiuron 18 per cent, and Dinotefuran 5 per cent in a unique suspension concentrate formulation

Best Agrolife Limited (BAL), one of the fastest-growing agrochemical company in India, has recently made two major announcements. The Central Insecticides Board & Registration Committee granted the registration for the indigenous manufacturing of the company’s much-awaited patented ternary insecticide to BAL u/s 9 (3) in the 437th RC meeting.

The company will launch it by the brand name Ronfen. BAL had received the patent for Ronfen, which covers the composition of Pyriproxyfen 8 per cent, Diafenthiuron 18 per cent, and Dinotefuran 5 per cent in a unique suspension concentrate formulation, in August last year. With this BAL has become the first Indian agrochemical company to manufacture this first-of-its-kind, three-way insecticidal combination that effectively controls the entire sucking pest complex in various stages in one shot.

Other than Ronfen, the leading agro-inputs company has also been granted the registration for the indigenous manufacturing of Dinotefuran 15 per cent + Pymetrozine 45 per cent WG along with technical manufacturing of Pyrithiobac Sodium u/s 9(4) TIM category in the same RC meeting. The company has decided to launch it with the brand name AxeMan.

“Sucking pests pierce plant parts, suck the plant sap which in turn results in minute white, brown, or red spotting on the leaves, fruits, or stems of the plant. It may also cause curling leaves, deformed fruit, general wilting, browning, and drying of the entire plant. Until now, safeguarding their crops from the sucking pests was a very costly business for the farmers in India and across the globe as they had to spend their hard-earned money on various pesticides. Motivated by a strong sense of urgency and eyeing the opportunity, our R&D team worked on developing a revolutionary one-shot solution for all the sucking pests and innovated Ronfen.” said Vimal Alawadhi, MD Best Agrolife Limited.

“Ronfen was under extensive scale field trials for the last two years. Due to its incredible power on the entire sucking pest complex Ronfen was much awaited by the farmers in India and abroad,” he added further.

On the other hand, AxeMan, with its dual mode of action, helps in protecting the rice crop from the devastating pest BPH which develops high resistance against all agrochemicals.  AxeMan provides healthy and vibrant tillers at the reproductive stage and helps in the long-duration control and resistance management of BPH in paddy.

BAL had received the patent for Ronfen,

Company News, Sustainability

The company is working directly with farmers around the world on initiatives that protect, regenerate, and restore the land

Cargill is working directly with farmers around the globe to focus on advancing nature-positive agriculture production and farmer-centric approaches to sustainably.

Nature-positive production focuses on limiting the destruction and depletion of land by evolving the techniques proven to increase volume and efficiency, while adopting regenerative agriculture practices that prioritise land sustainability. By doing so, farmers can feed more people and address climate change.

These practices include planting cover crops and implementing reduced- or no-till farming to help sequester carbon in the ground, build soil resilience and improve water quality. One way Cargill is helping make these practices more tenable for farmers is through RegenConnect, a voluntary market-based programme that pays farmers per ton of carbon captured in their soil.

“If we’re going to succeed in sustainably transforming our food and agriculture system, we have to help farmers take a nature-positive approach,” says Pilar Cruz, Cargill’s Chief Sustainability Officer. “That’s why we’re working directly with farmers around the world on initiatives that protect, regenerate, and restore the land. This is how we will make a meaningful difference, one field and one farm at a time.”

Another way Cargill is helping farmers make sustainable agriculture economically feasible is by ensuring they receive a premium for sustainably sourced crops. Through the Triple S (sustainability sourced and supplied) soy program in South America, Cargill provides customers in Asia, Europe and North America certified deforestation-free soy from farmers in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.

These programmes demonstrate how scaling sustainable agriculture requires removal of the financial and market access barriers that still exist in farming.

The company is working directly with farmers

Inputs

The global agriculture equipment market is expected to grow from $163.4 billion in 2021 to $295.3 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 6.8 per cent during the forecast period 2022-2030

As per the report published by The Brainy Insights, the global agriculture equipment market is expected to grow from $163.4 billion in 2021 to $295.3 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 6.8 per cent during the forecast period 2022-2030.

Agriculture equipment is a must for farming these days as there is a shortage of labour and the labour-intensive works from land development to harvesting and threshing need to be done by machinery.

One of the major restraints of the agriculture equipment market is the lack of skilled labour for operating the technologically advanced equipment. Several farmers are reluctant on purchasing these equipment as they don’t have the proper skill for using this equipment. This is restraining the growth of the market.

There are several organisations and government bodies which are providing loan to farmers at low-interest rates or at no interest rates which is an opportunity for the growth of the market. The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic affected the market growth as several manufacturing units shut down which resulted in a shortage of raw materials and components and delayed production of the agriculture equipment.

The global agriculture equipment market is expected

Company News

Wide range of world-class, high quality, fruits, vegetables, staples and dairy products will be available under one roof

Bengaluru-based ‘Namdhari’s Group’ have increased its presence in Bengaluru with the Simpli Namdhari’s store in Whitefield. Spread across an area of around 7,000 square feet, a variety of farm-produced residue-free and high-quality fruits, vegetables, staples and dairy products will be available under one roof.

Simpli Namdhari’s is the only 100 per cent vegetarian omnichannel retailer in India with a seed to plate concept. The store also houses a well-equipped kitchen, which churns out a variety of ‘Simpli Good Food’ for customers. 

“We have planned out a strategic growth path, which would include additional production facilities, R&D centres and retail outlets over the next five years. Our ultimate aim is to make ‘premium’ produce accessible and available to the common man,” said Gurmukh Roopra, CEO, Namdhari’s Group.

The company plans to extend beyond the state of Karnataka in the coming few months. 

Wide range of world-class, high quality, fruits,

Agro chems – Fertilizers, Agro Universities

This MOU includes joint working on drone technology and demonstrations of agri-drones for spray of fertilisers & agrochemicals

R G Agarwal, Chairman, Dhanuka Agritech Limited and Dr J S Sandhu, Vice Chancellor, Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University (SKNAU) Jobner signed a MOU on March 24, 2022 between Dhanuka Group & SKNAU, Jobner, Jaipur, Rajasthan for working together for trials, verification of new technology & transferring the same to a large number of farmers.

This MOU includes joint working on drone technology and demonstrations of agri-drones for spray of fertilisers & agrochemicals. Also training of farmers, scientists and other agriculture stakeholders on new technology will be done.

Dhanuka Agritech Limited has earlier signed MOUs with G B Pant University of Agriculture & Technology (GBPUAT), Pantnagar; CCS Haryana Agricultural University (CCSHAU), Hisar; Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), Telangana; University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Raichur; Maharana Pratap Horticultural University (MHU), Karnal & Lovely Professional University (LPU), Phagwara, Punjab.

R G Agarwal delivered a presentation titled “Smart agriculture with Precision Plant Protection; Agri-business Entrepreneurship Development & How to increase farmer’s income” as a special invitee, panelist & speaker in the Platinum Jubilee Celebration of the Indian Phytopathological Society & its 8th International Conference 2022 (hybrid) on “Plant Pathology: Retrospect and Prospects” being held from March 23-26, 2022 at SKN Agricultural University, Jobner, Jaipur.

R G Agarwal explained the large opportunities available to increase Indian GDP from Agriculture sector. Dhanuka Group has always believed in working in PPP mode with the Government & Agricultural Universities to benefit our farmers.

Agarwal during his presentation announced an annual award of Rs 50,000 for 5 years for the best pathology scientist who will be decided by the jury to be appointed by the Indian Phytopathological Society. This award will be known as the Dhanuka Scientists Award & will be handed over in the annual function of the Society.     

This MOU includes joint working on drone

Agrotech, Supply Chain, Warehousing

Agri Reach is capable of establishing industry-standard warehouse operations anywhere across the country within 24 hours

Sohan Lal Commodity Management Private Limited, India’s leading Post Harvest Management Group (SLCM Group) has recently announced the receipt of ‘Patent Certificate’ from the Patent Office, Government of India for its application titled “Methods for Real Time Data Management” filed on December 16, 2013. SLCM Group is the only company in the Indian Agriculture sector that has registered a technology patent in the Agri Logistics (Warehousing) segment till date that is spanning 75 years post-Independence.

Agri Reach, SLCM Group’s proprietary solution, allows real-time monitoring and management of crops. Under the umbrella, the invention offers a diverse set of services such as audit receipts, quality control, and surveillance. Agri Reach is capable of establishing industry-standard warehouse operations anywhere across the country within 24 hours.

Commenting on this achievement, Sandeep Sabharwal, Chief Executive Officer, SLCM Group, said, “Observing the increasing pace of technology penetration, I had the vision of ‘Phygitalising’ the warehouse management system over a decade ago. With a dedicated team of professionals, we created ‘Agri Reach’ – a system that enables effective warehousing solutions agnostic of infrastructure, geography, and crops. With firm belief in our innovation and a passion to improve Indian agriculture, we applied for the patent 9 years ago. Today, it gives me immense pleasure to say that our patent application has received its accreditation from the Government of India. This brings us one step closer to revolutionising agriculture at the ground level.”

The impact of Agri Reach implementation across the business verticals of SLCM Group has resulted in remarkable growth, which is considered as an industry benchmark. In 2017, SLCM Group was handling Assets Under Management (AUM) worth Rs 1010.9 Crore per day. In comparison to this, the current outstanding AUM handled by the company per day has a net worth of Rs 5322.75 Crore (as on March 20, 2022).

Agri Reach is capable of establishing industry-standard

Agrotech, Finance

Insta-Release aims to empower farmers with quick access to their farm produce for value optimisation upon repayment of loans

Arya.ag, India’s largest and fastest-growing integrated grain commerce platform, has recently announced another industry-first, Arya’s Insta-Release – One Click Loan Repayment and Commodity Discharge. Leveraging its technology stack, Arya.ag has been able to optimise its release process to happen within seconds – which otherwise by current industry standards takes over 24 hours to a week.

Agricultural market prices are quite dynamic. The platform’s Price Intelligence mechanism combined with immediate access to the farmers’ stocks – loaned and otherwise, enables them to make prompt & informed decisions on commodity sales. With Arya’s marketplace search engine that connects sellers to buyers across the country and its embedded logistics service, users can now seamlessly reach buyers in no time.

The launch of innovative Insta-Release services aims to empower farmers to immediately optimise their farm produce upon repayment of loans. Insta Release leverages Arya.ag’s pioneering integrated digital platform and allows the farmer to gain complete control of her farm produce immediately upon repayment of loans – all this at just click of a button. Apart from convenience, the Insta-Release offering drives home transparency, efficiency and ease of Arya.ag’s integrated service offerings to farmers.

To release stocks, registered customers can log on to their dashboard, choose how many bags of funded or non-funded bags they wish to release. Once they select the quantity, the platform instantly generates details of the rent and loan outstanding accrued against those bags. A user can pay instantly on the platform to receive the Release Order in a matter of seconds.

Anand Chandra, Arya.ag’s co-founder, said, “Our endeavour at Arya.ag is to align the supply and demand in a secure yet mutually beneficial proposition. We recognise that reduced turn-around-time and lower transaction costs benefits all stakeholders; however immediate payments benefit small-hold farmers, and immediate delivery of stocks is critical for buyers”.

 Arya.ag’s Insta-Release leverages AI, ML, IoT to deliver an enriching experience to end-users. Instant loans, online payments and instant release of commodities ensures that agri-commodity becomes a powerful tool in the hands of the producer.

Insta-Release aims to empower farmers with quick

Animal Health, Finance

The funds will be utilised to support the growth momentum of the Company

Provet Pharma Private Limited, headquartered in Chennai, one of the fast-growing animal health care companies in India, raises an undisclosed amount from N+1 Capital, one of India’s largest revenue-based growth capital funds. The Company will be using this fund to support its expansion plans of all its operating verticals. Devansh Shah, Bilanz Capital Advisors is the advisor to the deal.

With its highly regarded leadership, business strategy and execution capability, the Company has managed to achieve its mark in the Animal Healthcare industry. Despite the micro and macro level challenges in the recent years, the Company has been growing by an astonishing CAGR of more than 40 per cent while its EBITDA margin is outpacing the revenue growth by growing more than 90 per cent CAGR.

Speaking on the fundraising, Dr Muthu Selvan, Co-founder and Managing Director of the Company, said that the Indian Animal Health Care industry is growing at a CAGR of around 10 per cent and the Company is focusing majorly on the products well suited to dynamic market requirements. He also highlighted the fact that the industry is shifting towards the usage of non-antibiotic feed additives and the product portfolio of the Company has been already built to ride on this shift with more innovative and conceptual products in the pipeline. 

“Provet has built a strong sales and distribution network pan India since its inception. It is a preferred partner to many mid to large firms in the poultry and aquaculture space. The Company’s products are well established in the industry. We are impressed by the Company’s growth potential and are excited to partner with Provet,” said Ashish Singla, Managing Partner, N+1 Capital.

The funds will be utilised to support

Acquaculture

This partnership is an important signal of the companies’ long-term commitment and confidence in Chile and the future of the salmon industry in the country

Multiexport Foods SA, a pioneer and leader of salmon farming in Chile, has announced that Cargill, the global food and agriculture company, has agreed to purchase 24.5 per cent of the shares of Salmones Multiexport SA (Multi X), the subsidiary of Multiexport Foods SA. In turn, Mitsui, a shareholder of Multi X since 2015, will increase its shareholding by 1.13 per cent, to 24.5 per cent.

Multiexport Foods SA maintains control of Multi X with 51 per cent of the total shares. The transaction is subject to certain regulatory approvals and the fulfillment of conditions agreed by the parties.

This partnership is also an important signal of the companies’ long-term commitment and confidence in Chile and the future of the salmon industry in the country.

“Adding Cargill as a new partner of Multi X will be a strategic and decisive step in the next stage of development of the company and its purpose to win over the world’s consumers with high-quality, value-added, sustainable products sold under our brands ‘Multi X’, ‘Arka’ and ‘Latitude 45’,” said José Ramón Gutiérrez, Chairman of Multiexport Foods SA.

Tim Noonan, managing director for Cargill’s seafood business commented, “This partnership is an important next step in the development of our seafood strategy and will leverage our capabilities across the value chain, including consumer insights, culinary innovation, value-added processing know-how, risk management, and fish nutrition and health solutions. As a result, we hope to provide more customers and consumers with access to Multi X’s high-quality portfolio of private label and branded salmon products.”

This partnership is an important signal of

Agrotech

The ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal has recently organised national webinar on “Agritech innovations to leap forward sustainable management of soil and environment”

The ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh has recently organised national webinar on “Agritech innovations to leap forward sustainable management of soil and environment”.

Delivering the inaugural address, the Chief Guest, Dr Suresh Kumar Chaudhari, Deputy Director General (Natural Resource Management), ICAR highlighted the importance of the scientific management of soil and water using the agri-innovations like Sensors, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Artificial Intelligence and Cloud-based Solutions. The nature-based solutions for reducing the reliance on the high input agriculture were also stressed by the DDG.

Dr Ashok K Patra, Director, ICAR-IISS, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh underlined about the ICT based Agritech innovations in doubling the farmers’ income.

Dr Praveen Pankajakshan, VP Data Science & AI, Cropin (India) delivered the Keynote Address on “Crop Mapping using AI & Remote-Sensing for Eco-Agriculture and Sustainability (CARES)”. The ways in which the Cropin is dealing with the issues like crop diversity, soil restoration, climate smart agriculture, carbon storage using prediction models and identification of crop pests & diseases were stated by Dr Praveen.

Dr Sara Malvar, Senior Research Software Development Engineer, Microsoft, Brazil and Tusher Chakraborty, Software Engineer – II, Microsoft, India also delivered the keynote address on “FarmBeats and Terra Vibes: Empowering farmers with affordable digital agriculture and earth observation solutions”.

The ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal

AgroPolicy, Trade

The export of maize increased nearly six-fold, taking the total value of shipment to $1593.73 million in the last three years despite logistical challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak

The export of maize has touched $816.31 million in the first ten months of current fiscal 2021-22 (April-January), already exceeding the $634.85 million achieved during the last financial year.

From an exports realisation of $142.8 million in 2019-20, the export of maize increased nearly six-fold, taking the total value of shipment to $1593.73 million in the last three years despite logistical challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

“The significant rise in agri-exports is seen as a testimony of the government’s commitment to increase farmers’ income through creating requisite infrastructure and improving value chains on boosting exports of agricultural and processed food products,” Dr M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA said.

Neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal are the major importers of maize from India. Bangladesh has imported maize worth $345.5 million in the current fiscal (April-January), while Nepal has imported maize worth $132.16 million during this period.

With initiatives of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry to explore and diversify new markets, Vietnam has emerged as a major destination for export of maize. India exported maize worth $244.24 million to Vietnam in the first ten months of current fiscal (April-January 2021-22). Other prominent importing countries are Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Taiwan, Oman, etc.

The export of maize increased nearly six-fold,

Supply Chain

Cargill’s ranking reflects the company’s leadership and innovation on animal welfare

Cargill has announced that it has received a Tier 2 ranking in the newly released Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) report, the leading global measure of company performance on farm animal welfare.

This is the sixth year in a row that the annual BBFAW report ranked Cargill in Tier 2 out of six tiers total. Only 16 of the 150 global companies rated in BBFAW’s report are in Tiers 1 or 2, which BBFAW defines as reserved for companies that have made animal welfare integral to business strategy.

“We are proud of our continued high ranking in this year’s BBFAW report, as well as the work we’re doing every day to advance animal welfare within our operations, with our customers, along our supply chains and across the industry,” said Nick Wolfenden, Cargill’s global sustainable animal welfare director.

Animal welfare is a crucial issue for consumers, food manufacturers, protein producers, and farmers and ranchers worldwide. Cargill collaborates with numerous organisations to help advance animal welfare across all species in its business and incorporates these advances through continuous improvement efforts both internally and with supply chain partners.

Cargill’s ranking reflects the company’s leadership and innovation on animal welfare, as well as a data-driven approach to comprehensive reporting across its animal protein operations and supply chains worldwide.

Cargill’s ranking reflects the company’s leadership and