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HomePosts Tagged "Latin America"
Nature, Soil Health, Sustainability, World

The funds will enable FAO to upscale national and regional capacity building in soil assessment and sustainable soil management worldwide

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) welcomed an additional $3 million contribution from PhosAgro, Russia’s leading phosphate-based fertiliser producer, to support the efforts of the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) to help more farmers implement soil-improving management measures and boost the capacities of national soil laboratories in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Near East.

With this top-up, FAO plans to distribute an additional 1 200 Soil Doctor’s Testing Kits – special kits for assessing soil condition – to certified Soil Doctors and trainers. Around 5,000 farmers will then be trained and supported to adopt sustainable soil management practices by 2026.

The three-year project also envisages promoting reliable and accurate soil and fertilizer testing through the Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN) and the consolidation of the International Network on Soil Fertility and Fertilisers (INSOILFER), promoting efficient and environmentally friendly practices consistent with the International Code of Conduct for the Sustainable Use of Management of Fertilizers. Another major activity under the project is the application of ecosystem-based solutions to remediate on-farm soil pollution through the International Network on Soil Pollution (INSOP).

For the first time, PhosAgro funding will also support the implementation of measures for the recarbonisation of agricultural soils (RECSOIL). This initiative will allow farmers to boost productivity, enhance resilience and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

The contribution agreement was recently signed by Maria Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director-General, and Alexander Sharabaika, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of PhosAgro.

The funds will enable FAO to upscale

Acquaculture, Company News, Live Stock

eFishery’s entry into the Indian market includes an expansive reach with over 1,000 acres of ponds

Southeast Asia’s leading aquaculture company, eFishery, announced the completion of its commercial pilot in India, marking a significant milestone in its global expansion journey. The Indonesia-headquartered firm kicked off the pilot project in March of this year, successfully acquiring over 1,000 acres of ponds under contract and distributing more than 3,000 metric tons of feed. This achievement brings the firm closer to expanding its footprint to five new Indian states by the end of 2024.

Moreover, the pilot project also signals a broader expansion beyond Southeast Asia with a deliberate, one-country-at-a-time approach to sustainability and impact assessment. Beyond India, eFishery is eyeing opportunities for one or two countries in Asia and Latin America within a year while continuing to export shrimp products overseas. The company’s global expansion strategy also focuses on tapping into diverse markets, offering a comprehensive ecosystem to farmers, and creating a “Digital Co-Op” model that provides access to high-quality inputs, IoT technologies, production SOPs, and guaranteed market off-take, ultimately empowering farmers.

Gibran Huzaifah, eFishery CEO and co-founder explained that India is a key part of eFishery’s overall growth strategy, which also includes expanding the company footprint in Indonesia and growing in export markets.

eFishery's entry into the Indian market includes

Animal Health, Company News, Live Stock, Poultry, World

The high degree of homology with local strains makes MEFLUVAC™ H5 PLUS 8 the vaccine of choice

Kemin Industries will launch the MEFLUVAC H5 PLUS 8 vaccine in partnership with ilender in Latin America to assist in building immunity against the highly pathogenic Avian Influenza.

Kemin Biologics, the global veterinary vaccine division of Kemin, will debut the new vaccine in Peru at the event and roadshow starting on October 30 in the Peruvian cities of Lima, Trujillo and Chincha. At this event, policy and distribution stakeholders, along with customers from the poultry meat and layer industries, will gather to discuss vaccinology and risk management programs. The industry leaders will focus on the importance of addressing major pathogens that compromise animal performance and food security for the growing population.

“We are excited to introduce our technology and best practices to empower the poultry industry in Peru and Latin America to mitigate the growing threat of highly pathogenic Avian Influenza,” said Dr Ricardo Neto, Technical Service Manager, Kemin Biologics. “The high degree of homology with local strains makes MEFLUVAC™ H5 PLUS 8 the vaccine of choice.”

The high degree of homology with local

Agrotech, Company News, R&D, World

Dole incorporates Pelican Spray to advance smart farming and sustainability goals

Pyka, maker of autonomous electric aircraft for crop protection and cargo transport announces the successful completion of the first trial phase with Pyka’s Pelican Spray aircraft.

Upon receiving delivery of the aircraft in late 2022 in Dole Fresh Fruit’s operation in Honduras, combined personnel from both companies began flight operations and spray efficacy testing at Dole’s Isletas Farm. Pyka’s autonomous electric aircraft performed with excellence, demonstrating ease of operation and effective crop protection.

As a next step, the use of Pelican Spray will be extended to larger areas of Dole’s banana plantations and supplement Dole’s existing fleet of agricultural spray planes. Subsequently, the partners will expand the Pelican Spray service to additional operations in Latin America. This autonomous electric aviation technology is a tremendous opportunity to optimise spray operations, reduce chemical usage through greater spray precision, minimise environmental impact, and contribute to Dole’s sustainability goals.

“Dole is an internationally highly respected brand whose farming practices set industry standards for fruit and vegetable production across the globe,” says Volker Fabian, Chief Commercial Officer of Pyka. “With their commercial operations spanning multiple geographical locations, Dole will demonstrate the value of Pyka’s product on an even larger scale than we have seen to date.”

“We are excited to partner with Pyka in order to be on the forefront of technological advancement for the aerial application industry,” says Patricio Gutierrez Carvajal, Regional Director of Innovation, R&D at Dole Tropical Products. “This product addresses a market-wide need for a safer, cleaner, and more precise method of spraying crops by air. As a company, Pyka embodies the values of quality, innovation and environmental focus that align with Dole’s corporate mission.”

Dole incorporates Pelican Spray to advance smart

Horticulture, New Zealand, Supply Chain, Trade

This year’s mango exports to New Zealand surpassed 100000 kilogrammes, with the possibility of further imports by the end of the month

According to New Zealand’s Ministry of Primary Industries, mango imports from India to New Zealand have tripled this year compared to last year. In 2022, New Zealand imported less than 30000 kilogrammes of mangoes from India, but this year’s figure has already surpassed 100000 kilogrammes, with the possibility of further imports until the end of the month.

Mango season in India typically starts in April and ends in July after the onset of monsoon rains. The increase in the volume of mango imports from India can be attributed to the resumption of services at the Maharashtra Agricultural Marketing Board vapour heat treatment facility in Mumbai, which is one of two facilities licensed to treat mangoes for export to New Zealand.

The suspension of mango exports from Mumbai to New Zealand in July 2020 was lifted in May this year following a virtual audit in February and an in-country audit in April. Mangoes imported into New Zealand must comply with the Import Health Standard and the bilateral agreement between the two countries. The facility in Mumbai has treated approximately 87407 kilogrammes of mangoes in the past three months, which accounts for about 80 per cent of total mango imports from India to New Zealand. However, despite the improvement in trade figures, mango exports from India to New Zealand still lag behind those from Latin America, with Peru leading the pack at 65.7 per cent of overall mango imports to New Zealand, followed by Mexico at 15.3 per cent, Australia at just under 10 per cent, and India at 6.9 per cent. Australia has been overtaken by South and Central American nations as the country’s largest source of mango.

This year's mango exports to New Zealand

Company News, Finance, World

Significant cost mitigation actions were initiated, reducing previously expected operating expenses in the second half by $60 to $70 million.

FMC Corporation provided an update for its expectations on the second quarter and full-year 2023 outlook1. Revenue in the second quarter is now expected to be between $1.00 billion and $1.03 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $185 million to $190 million. The revised guidance is driven by substantially lower-than-expected volumes due to an abrupt and significant reduction in inventory by channel partners, which only became evident towards the end of May and continued through the remainder of the quarter in North America, Latin America and EMEA.

Based on current channel dynamics, the Company is revising its full-year financial outlook, with revenue now expected to be $5.20 billion to $5.40 billion. Adjusted EBITDA for the full year is now expected to be $1.30 billion to $1.40 billion.

“Towards the end of May, we experienced unforeseen and unprecedented volume declines in three out of our four operating regions, as our channel partners rapidly reduced inventory levels,” said Mark Douglas, FMC president and chief executive officer. “Our full-year revenue outlook and adjusted EBITDA have been revised to reflect these channel dynamics and their impact on volumes, as well as the benefit from improved input costs and the significant operating cost mitigation actions we have already implemented.

“Even as we manage through this market contraction and significant inventory reduction by our channel partners, on-the-ground consumption of our products remains strong and at similar levels to last year,” Douglas said.

Information in this news release is preliminary and excludes the outlook on adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow, which will be updated at the second quarter 2023 earnings call. FMC will announce its second quarter 2023 earnings on Wednesday, August 2, 2023, after the stock market close with a webcast conference call on Thursday, August 3, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. ET. 

Significant cost mitigation actions were initiated, reducing

Agrotech, Company News, India, R&D

Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) plans to procure 2,500 drones for spraying its products, nano urea and nano DAP (Diammonium Phosphate).

IoTechWorld Avigation Pvt Ltd announced that it has emerged as a leader in the IFFCO drone project and secured a large contract from major cooperative IFFCO to supply 500 drones, which will be primarily used to spray nano liquid urea and DAP.

Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) plans to procure 2,500 drones for spraying its products, nano urea and nano DAP (Diammonium Phosphate). IFFCO also plans to create 5,000 rural entrepreneurs, who would be trained for spraying via drones.

Gurugram-headquartered IoTechWorld, the manufacturer of India’s first DGCA-type certified drone ‘AGRIBOT’, has been Co-Founded by Deepak Bhardwaj and Anoop Upadhyay. IoTechWorld Avigation is also backed by leading agritech company Dhanuka Agritech Ltd.

“We are indeed privileged to receive the single biggest order for the purchase of Krishi-drones from IFFCO. The company will deliver 500 drones to IFFCO by December 2023,” said Upadhyay.

He further said that since IoTechWorld’s inception, the endeavour has been to promote technological innovation in the field of agriculture, and the company is the pioneer of Krishi-drones in the country.

Elaborating on the large supply order from IFFCO, Co-founder Bhardwaj said the drone market is rapidly growing, and there has been tremendous demand from various companies, including fertiliser and pesticides companies as well as from rural entrepreneurs, including farmers.

“Our AGRIBOT (Krishi drone) has been specially designed and programmed for fertilisers. The order from IFFCO is a testament to our strength in the agri-drone segment. We aim to help farmers and Agri Entrepreneurs in the Implementation of made-in-India Nano Urea and Nano DAP newly launched by IFFCO,” he said.

Besides IFFCO, IoTechWorld Avigation has partnered with agrochemical company Syngenta and has undertaken 17,000 KM of drone yatra in various parts of the country.

“We are expecting 5-6 times more demand in the current fiscal compared to last year, with a target of selling more than 3,000 drones in this fiscal year. We are also exploring opportunities for exports. The Government’s recent decision to liberalise the export policy for drones opens up a gamut of opportunity, and there is a huge demand in overseas markets,” Upadhyay added.

The company is also in discussion for exporting drones in regions like SAARC, South East Asia, Latin America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Oman, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Philippines, Nepal, and Africa, which are the focus countries of IoTech export sales.

The company is also extensively focusing on creating awareness about the benefits of using drones in agriculture. IoTech has also set up several small pilot training organisations where people are trained to fly drones.

Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) plans

Finance, Horticulture, World

The investment aims to significantly ease the availability of finance and access to targeted cooperatives at a 9.9 per cent interest rate ceiling

Heifer Impact Capital (HIC), announced a joint investment of $420,000 with Heifer Labs and Heifer Mexico to improve financial access for smallholder coffee farmers in Mexico through the EthicHub Regenerative Finance (ReFi) platform.

The revolving credit facility will pilot more-efficient dissemination of loan funds to qualifying coffee cooperatives participating in Heifer International’s Beyond Coffee II Project in Chiapas, Mexico. The investment will be facilitated through the EthicHub ReFi platform, a pioneering web-based platform serving smallholder farmers for whom traditional finance solutions have historically been less accessible and available. In Mexico, less than 6 per cent of farmers have access to credit in the traditional finance sector.

Devised as an innovative and more-targeted way to strengthen access and timely availability of capital to smallholder coffee farmers, the investment will address shortcomings hindering access to finance, such as high transaction costs, long lead times to approval and disbursements, fixed collateral requirements and other well-known barriers to credit.

The revolving credit line is designed to provide working capital directly to coffee cooperatives during the harvest season. As only 1.5 per cent of financial products are channelled to the rural sector, smallholders often struggle to access financing, which is often not aligned with farmers’ productive conditions. The credit facility will remain open for other purposes to secure financing and is intended to demonstrate the viability of using this financing instrument to provide more ready and efficient access to capital to pre-selected cooperatives in Chiapas.

“Smallholder farmers are the backbone of the agricultural industry in Latin America, and they face significant challenges in accessing sector-specific and efficient financial instruments,” said Jorge Barrigh, Heifer Impact Capital’s regional director for the Americas. “Our investment with the EthicHub ReFi platform enables us to address very specific challenges that for too long have represented obstacles to an efficient and streamlined capital delivery system all the way to the last mile in rural Latin America.”

The investment aims to significantly ease the availability of finance and access to targeted cooperatives at a 9.9 per cent interest rate ceiling, competitive with the average interest rate in Mexico. In a bid to implement a more integrated solution that addresses shortcomings beyond interest rates, this solution also seeks to simplify and open the black box of costs and processes that often delay timing in approvals and delivery of resources.

The investment aims to significantly ease the

Company News, Foodgrains, India, Sustainability

UPL will supply technical expertise and selected agriculture inputs, while the Republic of Guyana will provide a suitable land parcel of 200 acres

UPL, a leading provider of Sustainable Agriculture Solutions, announced a collaboration with the Republic of Guyana to establish a 200-acre ‘Millets Model Farm’.  Jai Shroff, Group CEO of UPL group and Zulfikar Mustafa, Agriculture Minister of the Republic of Guyana, signed an MOU in Georgetown, Guyana with an aim to assess the adaptation of various millet varieties for growing and consuming in Guyana.  The signing of the MoU coincided with the visit of an Indian delegation to Guyana led by S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs of India.

In this partnership, UPL will supply technical expertise and selected agriculture inputs, while the Republic of Guyana will provide a suitable land parcel of 200 acres in Guyana and local farm operations will be done by the Republic of Guyana. 

Millets, also known as super food, are climate-smart, sustainable, rich in heritage, and highly nutritious food resources. In comparison with rice, millet production requires half of the water per acre as compared with rice, making it a water conservation crop that can also withstand other climatic conditions like droughts, floods, heat stress, erratic rainfalls, etc., than other crops, saving food loss, enhancing small farmers resilience.  

Sagar Kaushik, President, Global Corporate & Industry Affairs from UPL, said, “We are delighted to partner with the Republic of Guyana as the first country in Latin America to explore millet cultivation potential in Guyana, which will also benefit Small Holding Farmers.”

Explaining the initiatives further, Kaushik Said, said, “UPL is paving the path for millet cultivation and making important strides toward its vision of a food-secure world through this collaboration. This is a win-win situation for both Guyana and UPL. UPL’s expertise and technical know-how will play a crucial role in ensuring the success of this initiative, which can provide a sustainable livelihood to smallholding farmers globally.”

UPL will supply technical expertise and selected

Agrotech, Company News, North America, R&D

Biome Makers, a global AgTech leader, announces a strategic partnership with DISAGRO®, the largest provider of agriculture solutions in Latin America, based in Guatemala. DISAGRO® is aligning itself with technology providers, like Biome Makers, to bring the latest innovative technology to market and help recover soil health.

This licensing agreement between DISAGRO® and Biome Makers will enable Biome Makers to expand its reach to 11 new Latin American markets, including Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Dominican Republic, and Belize, ensuring that the standard for soil health analysis, BeCrop®, is accessible and available to all stakeholders. 

BeCrop® technology is the first digital soil technology platform with the largest global database of 10M taxonomic references of soil microorganisms, delivering a functional crop-specific analysis of the soil microbiome. The technology decodes soil biology and provides user-friendly data-fueled insights about farmland’s underground bioactivity.

This agreement will elevate DISAGRO®’s reach in soil health and analytics with a new and improved wet lab, which will open in 2023. Positioning a physical lab in Latin America will provide quicker results and enable growers and advisors to make better agronomic decisions in the field.

“At DISAGRO®, we encourage innovation in agriculture by delivering the most cutting-edge technology in the world to our customers. That is why the alliance made with Biome Makers and the integration of BeCrop® technology to AgritecGEO® services reaffirm our commitment to improving conditions and information for optimizing resources, precise task execution, and greater knowledge of the crops,” states Estuardo Jara, DISAGRO Marketing Corporate Director.

Biological soil testing and analysis is a sustainable farming practice. DISAGRO® hopes to provide further insights for growers into adopting regenerative agricultural practices that positively impact soil health on the farm.

“Biome Makers is inspired by the work DISAGRO® does for the farming communities in Latin America. This partnership is a huge step to providing advanced biological soil analytics to growers in the region, empowering them to optimize inputs, saving time and money, and ultimately improving the health of their farmland, crop quality, and yield,” said Adrian Ferrero, CEO and Cofounder at Biome Makers.

Biome Makers, a global AgTech leader, announces

Company News

The alliance is supported by the global partner Bayer, and the local partners AMSA (Agroindustrias Unidas de México) and Yara

Founded in 2018 by Bayer, IFC and Netafim, the Better Life Farming (BLF) Alliance has been launched in Latin America starting with the opening of the first BLF Centre in Córdoba, Mexico in February 2022. The Alliance is supported by the global partner Bayer, and the local partners AMSA (Agroindustrias Unidas de México) and Yara. It brings together global as well as local private and public organisations to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and their communities in low- and middle-income countries. Assessment studies are underway for further expansion plans of BLF in Latin America, Africa and Asia in 2022 to help unlock full potential of smallholder farmers.

“The concept of Better Life Farming is to build partnership ecosystems that are able to address farmers needs by providing advanced agronomic solutions, good agricultural practices, on-farm training, market access to help farmers grow their farms into commercially viable and sustainable farming businesses, rather than just a means to thrive”, said Dr Lino Dias, Vice President of Smallholder Farming at Bayer’s Crop Science division.

The initiative seeks to facilitate agricultural capacity building in rural areas across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It acts as a last-mile delivery solution to provide smallholder farmers access to high-quality agricultural inputs, services, and training needed to enable local farmers’ capacity building and connection to the food value chain.

Today, BLF already reaches more than 600.000 smallholders in India, Bangladesh and Indonesia. The alliance has successfully operated more than 1.600 BLF Centres in 2021, thanks to the vast number of motivated local agri-entrepreneurs including many women, committed to making a difference in their communities.

The alliance is supported by the global

Agrotech, Finance

Bayer grew sales by double-digit percentages at herbicides, fungicides, and soybean seed & traits on a currency- and portfolio-adjusted basis

In the agricultural business (Crop Science), Bayer increased sales by 11.1 per cent (Fx & portfolio adj.) to 20.207 billion euros. The division grew sales significantly across all regions, especially in Latin America and Asia/Pacific. At Corn Seed & Traits, sales were up 9.2 per cent thanks to increased market share in North America and Latin America, as well as to higher prices worldwide. Bayer grew sales by double-digit percentages at Herbicides (15.4 per cent), Fungicides (13.8 per cent) and Soybean Seed & Traits (14.9 per cent) on a currency- and portfolio-adjusted basis. The main drivers were price increases for glyphosate-based products at Herbicides, and higher Fox Xpro volumes in Latin America at Fungicides. Soybean Seed & Traits benefited from higher volumes and prices, particularly in North America and Latin America.

EBITDA before special items at Crop Science increased by 3.6 per cent to 4.698 billion euros, resulting in a margin of 23.2 per cent. The growth in earnings was mainly driven by higher prices and volumes as well as contributions from ongoing efficiency programs. By contrast, earnings were diminished by a largely inflation-fueled increase in the cost of goods sold, as well as by negative currency effects of 387 million euros.

Bayer sees encouraging steps regarding glyphosate litigation in the US.

Bayer grew sales by double-digit percentages at

Agrotech

With this partnership Cropin continues to grow its focus on enabling agri-businesses in the Latin American region adopt and drive digitisation across their operations

Cropin, a global ag-ecosystem intelligence provider, has announced its strategic partnership with Heaven Sprout Foods, a distributor and exporter of plant-based solutions. With this partnership Cropin continues to grow its focus on enabling agri-businesses in the Latin American region adopt and drive digitisation across their operations.

Cropin’s globally adopted digital solutions combined with Heaven Sprouts’ market know-how will help agri-businesses in the region accelerate their digital transformation journey. The partnership would encourage adoption of advanced tech solutions to empower the ecosystem and support the sustainable development of Latin-American farming communities.

Speaking about the partnership, Cropin’s CRO Jitesh Shah said, “Along with Heaven Sprouts Foods, we look forward to doing our part in enabling technology-led agriculture in Latin America. We believe that by collaborating with a regional innovator like Heaven Sprouts Foods, we can improve agricultural practices and positively impact livelihoods and the environment at large. The experience and the knowledge of the region they bring to the table make them a great partner for Cropin to accelerate digital transformation in this sector.”

Cropin’s unique suite of products will ensure an all-inclusive, sustainable, and productive agriculture in Latin America, focusing on low carbon emissions through farming practices and a climate-smart approach. This partnership will expand opportunities for both social and economic development of the agri-ecosystem in the region.

With this partnership Cropin continues to grow