Connect with:
Thursday / November 7. 2024

logo
mobile-logo
HomePosts Tagged "Nitin Gadkari"
AgroPolicy, India, Interaction, Opinions

Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways Government of India

Bioenergy is a promise for the better future of India and indeed a win-win situation for our country. It has the potential to address several issues being faced by the country- from income to independence, savings to sustainability and employment to entrepreneurship. It has the potential to increase farmers’ income, make the nation self-sufficient in fuels with oil import substitutes, save the country’s huge funds, provide a sustainable alternative in the energy sector, grow employment prospects and provide entrepreneurship opportunities, particularly in the MSME sector. Let’s explore this further.

I have been observing and saying that we need to find alternative to fossil fuel. Oil import for fossil fuels like petrol, diesel and gas is currently costing our country Rs 18 lakh crore per year. Thus, the oil import Bill is a matter of serious concern for our economy. Finding alternatives to fuel imports to save the nation’s fund is paramount for our economy. If this huge amount being spent on oil import is saved, it can be utilised for the development of the country.

Secondly, fossil fuels pose serious threat to environment in terms of pollution they cause. This is a matter of serious concern as it could lead to increase in the respiratory and lungs related diseases. Reduction in pollution and moving towards sustainability is also possible by biofuels and bioenergy. One more cause for very serious pollution in parts of North India is burning stubbles in the farm after harvesting. Interestingly, stubble burning and bioenergy are complementary to each other. The stubbles can be used for bioenergy resolving three issues at a time – a) giving farmers income for waste which they are burning 2) converting the stubbles into biomass for different forms of bioenergy and 3) providing a solution to the problem of pollution caused by stubble burning.

Focusing on bioenergy development will also lead to farmers’ development. The condition of the agriculture sector in India is not satisfactory. Despite having surplus production of wheat, sugar, rice and corn, the agriculture sector is contributing only 12 to 14 per cent to the GDP of the country and the fact remains that almost 65 per cent of the population of the country is dependent on agriculture for livelihood. As a result, the rural population, particularly poor, unemployed and small farmers, has to face serious problems. To improve their condition, the agriculture sector’s contribution to the GDP should be more than 25 per cent and for that we need to go for the crop diversification – shifting our focus to energy crops.

Shifting to Viable Alternatives

Diversification of agriculture towards power and energy generation is the need of the hour. We have shifted our focus on the production of ethanol, methanol, Bio-CNG, Bio-LNG, Bio-bitumen and hydrogen (Green fuel). Alternative energy, green fuel, bio energy are very important for the development of the country.

To increase the use of alternate fuels, the government has launched various schemes like blending petrol with ethanol, producing first, second and third generations ethanol, allowing mixing lignin in bitumen etc. Recently the union cabinet has approved the production of ethanol from sugarcane, bamboo, B-molasses and C-molasses, foodgrains and broken rice and corn.

India is having surplus production of sugar, and the rate of sugar is less in the Brazil market. Hence, it is advisable to use surplus sugarcane for the production of ethanol. We have already started blending 15 per cent ethanol in petrol and very soon we will achieve the 20 per cent ethanol blending target. Automobile companies have started the production of cars fitted with flex engines which run fully on ethanol. Toyota has already produced flex engine cars and others like Tata, Suzuki are also about to launch flex engine cars. The flex engines generate 60 per cent of electric power and require 40 per cent of ethanol. If you compare the cost with petrol, the flex engine vehicles cost only Rs 25 per litre.

To read more click: https://agrospectrumasia.com/e-magazine

Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport &

Biofuel industry, India, Interaction, Sustainable Energy

Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister, Road Transport and Highways was speaking at the inaugural of International Conference and Exhibition on Bioenergy & Technologies 2024 in Dwarka, Delhi.

“Promoting the biofuel sector in India would benefit the country’s agriculture sector. Bioenergy sector is set to reach 50 per cent of fossil fuel in the next five years”, said Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister, Road Transport and Highways during the inaugural session of the India Bio-Energy & Tech Expo 2024.

Gadkari announced that 400 Ethanol pumps are starting in India, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Every year import of fossil fuel is 22 lakh tonnes.

He mentioned that it is not the problem with air pollution, but it is also a deep economic concern for the country. Today agriculture and allied industry share in GDP is 12 per cent, manufacturing 20-25 per cent, service sector 20-25 per cent. The promotion of the bioenergy sector will help to achieve a 5 trillion economy dream.

The 3-day event started from September 2, 2024, is organised by the Indian Federation of Green Energy (IFGE) and MMActiv Sci-Tech Communications, is an International Conference and Exhibition on Bioenergy & Technologies at Yashobhoomi – India International Convention & Expo Centre in Dwarka, Delhi. It represents a significant step in advancing the bioenergy sector and is supported by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India. Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Dr Pramod Chaudhri President, IFGE & Executive Chairperson, Praj Industries, Ravindra Boratkar Founder Member of IFGE and Managing director of MM Activ Sci -Tech Communication, were present at the inaugural session.

AgroSpectrum September 24 issue devoted to the bioenergy sector in India was published by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and dignitaries during the inaugural session.

 Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, stated that the government is making efforts to increase the use of biofuels in India. The target year for achieving 20 per cent ethanol-blending has been advanced by five years to 2025, and there are plans for 5 per cent blending of biodiesel in diesel by 2030. Additionally, oil companies have been directed to sell 20 per cent ethanol-blended petrol, and BIS specifications for higher ethanol blends (E12 and E15) indicate the government’s emphasis on biofuels and alternative energy sources.

IIT Delhi and IFGE signed an MoU for the Centre of Excellence at IIT Delhi for Bioenergy. The Biodiesel Association of India also facilitated awards to Indian Oil Corporation, Emami Agrotech, Blue Stone Energy, and Kem Energy.

The event will feature diverse exhibitors from the bioenergy, biofuel, biomass, CBG (Compressed Biogas) production, ethanol end users, technology providers, equipment, and machinery EPC industries.

Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister, Road Transport

Agrotech, Bamboo industry, Biofuel industry, India, Interaction

– Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Chief Patron, Agrovision

At the 14th Agrovision Summit, India’s Premier Agri Mega Event, held between November 24 and 27, 2023 at Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PDKV) Ground, Dabha, Nagpur, AgroSpectrum had the opportunity to interact with the stalwart politician and Chief Patron of Agrovision, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways. Gadkari shared his views and ideas to further the aspirations of India’s farmers and citizens alike. His zeal for the empowerment of farmers, focusing on innovations that can benefit the farmers and the agriculture sector at large has, as always, been profound. Edited excerpts:

Could you describe your experience at the recently held 14th Agrovision?

Like the previous 13 editions of Agrovision, the recent edition of this event has also contributed in many ways. Several initiatives were taken in the Agrovision on the technology and information front and efforts were made to ensure that they reach farmers. In the Vidarbha region, where 22 sugar mills had gone into liquidation, I am running three sugar mills. Farmers in Vidarbha are producing nearly 105 tonnes of sugarcane per acre. Our efforts are now to scale up the production to 15 quintals of Soyabean and 20 quintals of cotton per acre. The requirement of orange saplings across India is 2 crore and Vidarbha needs 50 lakh saplings of oranges. But the capacity of the local organisation is only 3 lakhs. We have taken initiative to increase the production of saplings through public-private partnership (PPP) mode & accordingly appointed 12 private agencies to produce disease free good quality saplings. Now they are producing 30 lakh saplings. Efforts are being made to increase it. The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) is setting up a Rs 537 crore mega milk processing plant in Butibori, Nagpur, which will have a capacity to process up to 10 lakh litres of milk per day. Its foundation stone was laid during the 14th Agrovision. This indicates that the NDDB is confident of procuring this much milk in Vidarbha. This is happening due to a conference on dairy development which we organise every year during Agrovision. In addition to the information and training for more and better-quality production, this year we have stressed value addition through processing and forming Farmers Producers Companies (FPCs) for marketing. Special sessions were organised for the same.

This Agrovision also saw some very interesting products like bamboo chip machines to make white coal, cars and bikes running totally on ethanol, biodiesel-based power generation sets and small tractors. What we were telling the farmers till now, has begun to bear fruit. Of course, we cannot be complacent and stop here. Our efforts to reach farmers with new information, new thought and new technology will have to continue. That work is now being done throughout the year by the Agrovision Foundation.

You have been talking about the diversification of agriculture towards the energy and power sector. How will it leverage the agriculture sector in India?

Yes, I keep speaking about this on every forum. I have been telling the farmers not only to be “Anna data”, a food provider, but also “Urja data”, an energy provider. Farmers can even supply bio-based Bitumen and aviation turbine fuel. It is possible with the diversification of agriculture towards energy, fuel and power. It is the current need of the country, considering its huge oil import bill worth Rs 16 lakh crore. It will also help farmers to get higher incomes. Their lives cannot change merely by growing wheat, rice and bajra as their prices remain the same, whatever quantity one produces. The surge in demand for ethanol, which is blended with petrol and diesel, will have transformative effects on India’s agricultural sector. Almost 65 per cent of the population relies on agriculture which contributes only 12 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This underlines the potential for the ethanol industry to revitalise the agricultural economy. With farmers’ engagement in energy generation, we will be able to produce energy worth Rs 10 lakh crore.

Bamboo can be used for making ethanol and it can create 10 lakh jobs. Moreover, Bamboo chip-making machines can be used to make white coal. During the recent Agrovision, I announced that we would buy bamboo from farmers at the rate of sugar cane. It is my dream to see an ethanol petrol pump being run by farmers.

What needs to be done to achieve the goal of making India a $5 trillion economy in future? What role can the agriculture sector play in it?

We are amongst the largest growing economies in the world. To realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of making our country a $5 trillion economy, we need tribal, rural and agriculture-centric research and innovation. There had been a migration of people from rural areas to urban centres. Nearly 90 per cent of people used to live in villages. That number has come down to 65 per cent. People have not migrated happily. They shifted because of the problems in villages. So, we need to change the face of villages by bringing prosperity to the rural areas through the diversification of agriculture to the power and energy sector.

While Ethanol can be extracted from biomass, we can create bio-CNG and LNG from agricultural waste. On the other hand, we should ensure value addition in agro crops by processing. Although I mentioned research and innovation, any research must be helpful and have some practical use. It should be more need-based, location and raw material availability-based to be useful for the farmers. With all these combined efforts, it is not difficult for the agriculture sector to contribute substantially to making India a $5 trillion economy.

To read more click on: https://agrospectrumindia.com/e-magazine

- Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road

Company News, Herbicides

Through the ‘Millionaire Farmer of India Award’ the primary objective is to acknowledge, inspire and elevate the profession of farming in India by recognising farmers

Mahindra Tractors, India’s leading tractor brand, celebrates the remarkable achievements of India’s successful farmers through a ground-breaking initiative called the ‘Millionaire Farmer of India Award’. The inaugural edition of the awards held at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in New Delhi witnessed the esteemed presence of Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road, Transport, and Highway, Government of India, Acharya Devvrat Governor of Gujarat, P Sathasivam – Former Chief Justice of India and Former Governor of Kerala, along with other dignitaries.

Through the ‘Millionaire Farmer of India Award’ the primary objective is to acknowledge, inspire and elevate the profession of farming in India by recognising farmers who through their unwavering efforts and innovative agricultural practices, have not only doubled their farm incomes but have also achieved millionaire status. These farmers have consistently adopted best practices, and integrated technology, attaining record levels of productivity and profitability from their farmlands over the years.

The 3-day event honours over 700 farmers, across 15 categories, at the district, state, and national levels, such as horticulturists, spice farmers, poultry, dairy etc. and includes prominent personalities from India’s agriculture industry. Mahindra also showcased a wide range of cutting-edge tractors and farm mechanisation solutions at the event.

Nitin Gadkari also flagged off the Kisan Bharat Yatra, a special roadshow covering 26,000 kilometres, over 4,000 touchpoints and engaging with over 100,000 millionaire farmers over a year.

Through the ‘Millionaire Farmer of India Award’

Dairy, India, Interaction, Live Stock

Conference aims to enhance the income and livelihood of dairy farmers in Vidarbha and explore the new opportunities in dairy sector.

Central India’s largest agricultural exhibition, Agrovision – 2023, an important vehicle for agricultural transformation in Vidarbha, is being organised from November 24 to 27 at PDKV Ground, Dabha, Nagpur. The theme of this year’s summit is “Sustainable Farming Through Skilling and Technology”. Agrovision India showcases the best of innovations, technologies, new products and services in the agricultural sector.

India is a global leader in the dairy sector, producing and consuming more milk than any other country. Dairy farming is a vital source of income and nutrition for millions of farmers in India. However, the demand for milk and milk products is growing faster than the supply, especially in urban areas. This creates a challenge and an opportunity for the dairy sector to increase its productivity, quality, and value addition.

One of the regions that has a huge potential and opportunity for dairy development is Vidarbha. However, the dairy sector in Vidarbha faces various challenges such as lack of awareness, infrastructure, market linkages, processing facilities, etc.

To overcome these challenges and to enhance the income and livelihood of dairy farmers in Vidarbha, several initiatives have been taken by various stakeholders such as government, NGOs, cooperatives, private players, etc.

Agrovision and Dairy Sector in Vidarbha

Agrovision Foundation’s Chief Patron, Nitin Gadkari has been a strong advocate and supporter of dairy development in Vidarbha. His vision is to make dairying a viable alternative for farmers in drought-prone regions like Vidarbha and Marathwada. To that end, Agrovision India – central India’s largest agri summit, organised by Agrovision Foundation, provides a platform for knowledge and technology transfer to farmers, and introduces businesses to the growth opportunity in the region.

Every year, Agrovision attracts lakhs of farmers from Maharashtra and adjoining states, as well as experts, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders from the agri domain. Agrovision India aims to educate, empower, and encourage farmers to adopt latest technologies and farm practices, as well as to create a platform for farmer-industry partnership.

Businesses in the dairy farming industry and food processing, should take a keen interest in Vidarbha region, as it is poised to be the next growth frontier. Favourable government policies, abundant availability of land, low cost of production, skilled workforce, committed investments by Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd., strong demand for milk and milk products, and central location makes it a lucrative market for dairy producers.

Nitin Gadkari, Agrovision Foundation’s Chief Patron said, “The plant would come up in the second phase of Butibori Industrial Estate. The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has granted in-principal approval for setting up the unit on 25 acres. The plant would generate 500 direct and over 2500 indirect jobs”.

Conference aims to enhance the income and

Agro Universities, Horticulture, India, IT

The website of ACC-2023 is designed for wide publicity across the globe for information, online abstract submission, and registration by the stakeholders. 

Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways formally launched the website of the Asian Citrus Congress-2023 (ACC-2023) in Nagpur. The union minister wished the ACC-2023 a grand success.

Dr. Dilip Ghosh, Director, ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute; President of Indian Society of Citriculture and Convenor of ACC-2023 was present during the launching ceremony.  The website of ACC-2023 (https://accindia2023.iscindia.org.in) is designed for wide publicity across the globe for information, online abstract submission, and registration by the stakeholders. 

Indian Society of Citriculture (ISC), in association with ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute, Nagpur; Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions, Thailand and Korean Society for Citrus and Subtropical Climate Fruits, South Korea is organizing the “Asian Citrus Congress-2023” on Advancing Citriculture for Agro-economic Prosperity from 28th to 30th October 2023 in Nagpur, Maharashtra.

The “Asian Citrus Congress-2023” which is first of its kind in the world and is expected to be attended by over 300 delegates from across the world, will discuss various aspects of Citriculture of different Asian countries at length.  This congress will provide an opportunity for all the stakeholders to share their knowledge at the common platform which could be a guiding principle for achieving the goal in a changing scenario.

The website of ACC-2023 is designed for

Acts & Schemes – Centre, AgroPolicy, Foodgrains, India, People, Vegetables

If FPOs are successful in making farmers wealthy and debt-free, a single farmer will not commit suicide in Vidarbha.

At a recent workshop organised for FPOs in Vidarbha at the 13th Agrovision exhibition, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways said, “Farmer’s Producer Companies (FPC) should work to make farmers prosperous, wealthy, debt-free, and happy. If FPOs are successful in making farmers wealthy and debt-free. In that case, a single farmer will not commit suicide in Vidarbha”.

Gadkari advised farmers to form companies to market and export their products.  Sharad Gadakh, Vice Chancellor of Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Agriculture University, Ravi Boratkar, Organising Secretary of Agrovision and Publisher of AgroSpectrum magazine, C D Mayee, Chairman, Advisory committee Agrovision, Ajay Kadu, General Manager, Agricultural Market Committee, Nagpur and other delegates were present at the conference. 

Gadkari said, “FPO is a power of Farmers; with the help of FPOs, farmers can sell their products, without depending on the government. FPO is the social economic transformation of farmers. Farmers should get training in the formation of FPO and market their products. Farmers should find their own market. Five thousand FPOs should be formed in Vidarbha for the development of farmers”.

Ajay Kadu advised farmers on forming FPOs. Till now 27 agro products in Maharashtra have received GI tags. 11 crops in Maharashtra including four from Vidarbha are part of the Maharashtra Agri-Business Network (MAGNET) Project. MAGNET-focused crops are Banana, Guava, Pomegranate, Sapota, Custard Apple, Strawberry, Orange, Sweet lime, Okra, Chilly (Green and Red), and floriculture crops. The state government collaborates with the Asian Development Bank for MAGNET. The Rs 1,000-crore project, which is aimed mainly at fruit and vegetable producers, aims to improve processing and minimise the losses in the perishables sector. Successful FPO owners were honoured by Gadkari.    

If FPOs are successful in making farmers

Acquaculture, AgroPolicy, Cold Storage, Environment, India, Interaction, Sustainability

India should develop fishing boats that can operate on methanol, ethanol, and electricity.

“The blue economy is the future and India’s blue economy should reach up to 60 lakh crores”, said Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister Road Transport and Highways in a conference on ‘Development of fisheries in Vidarbha region’ organised at the 13th Agrovision annual agricultural exhibition in Nagpur. Atul Patane, Secretory of Fisheries Department of Maharashtra, Dr Ashish Paturkar, Vice-chancellor Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University, Sunil Mendhe, Member of Parliament, President of Agro Vision Foundation, Organising Secretary of Agrovision and Publisher of AgroSpectrum Ravi Boratkar, Dr C.D. Mayee, Chairman, Advisory committee and other delegates were present for this conference.  

Gadkari emphasised the policy regarding ethanol and methanol-fuelled and electric fishing boats. India should develop fishing boats that can operate on methanol, ethanol and electricity. The use of these boats can help in reducing expenses and pollution. Like food-producing companies fish producing companies must be established in Vidarbha. The fishing economy of Vidarbha should grow wealthy and increase up to 50,000 crores rupees said Gadkari. He also gave instructions to the fisheries department to develop an aquarium of the international level in Nagpur.   

Secretory of the Fisheries Department of Maharashtra, Atul Patane said, “Fish tank management and commercial aquarium courses should start in Maharashtra which is having huge job potential. Fish farming in Vidarbha has a large potential. If the Government of Maharashtra creates basic infrastructure for fish farming in Vidarbha, it will grow at a large scale”.

Dr Ashish Paturkar, Vice-chancellor Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University said that like the marine water fishing act, the government must make a freshwater fishing act. Due to the lack of the freshwater fishing act lot of farmers are farming the banned fish which causes environmental harm. Maharashtra also should get processing and cold storage units for fisheries.       

India should develop fishing boats that can

Agro Universities, AgroPolicy, Agrotech, Environment, India, Interaction, Nature, Organic, Sustainability

With the help of Agrovision, a permanent market will be developed for organic farm products at the Convention Centre.

India’s first International Convention centre for Agriculture in the name of former Agricultural Minister Dr Punjabrao Deshmukh will be set up at the Grounds of Punjabrao Deshmukh Agricultural University in Nagpur. A proposal of 150 corers rupees has been sent to the Union Agriculture Ministry. Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister Road Transport and Highways announced this on Friday in Nagpur. He was speaking at the inaugural function of the ‘13th Agrovision’ central India’s largest agricultural exhibition in Nagpur. Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chauhan was the chief guest of the function. In the four days of Agro exhibitions around 450 stalls have been set up and a wide range of workshops on various topics will be held with the main conference. The theme of this year’s Agro Vision is ‘Food Fodder and Fuel’- Agriculture of the future.

Gadkari said, “Farmers from Vidarbha will get all the information about the training of the agriculture sector, at the convention center and farmers can take benefit of this and can increase their income. With the help of Agro Vision, a permanent market will be developed for organic farm products.”  He added.

Indian oil has launched two plants in Panipat one is producing ethanol and the other is a bio-bitumen plant from rice straw. The production capacity of the ethanol plant is 1 lakh liter and 150 tonnes of bio-bitumen per day. If India began producing 80 lakhs tonnes of bio bitumen from rice straw, there is no need to import bio bitumen.

Gadkari added this is a big change in northern India specifically Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh where the burning of rice straw causes pollution. Now instead of burning, rice straw will be used to produce ethanol and bio bitumen. The roadways department requires bio-bitumen, around 50 lakh tonnes of bitumen is manufactured in India, and we import 25 lakh tonnes of bitumen. Indian Oil setting up one more plant of bioethanol in Assam. Ethanol can be produced from bamboo, and farmers will become energy providers and will not remain food providers.   

Gadkari also informed that all vehicles belonging to the Indian Government which has completed 15 years will be scrapped, and a policy regarding this has been sent to the states. All states should apply the policy.

President of Agro Vision Foundation, Organising Secretary of Agro Vision and Publisher of Agro Spectrum Ravi Boratkar said, for the last 13 years Agro Vision exhibitions have been organised to educate and train farmers. Various workshops have been conducted during the four days of the Agro Vision exhibition. Farmers are being educated on Modern technology in farming, vertical farming, organic farming, poultry, and sericulture at Agro Vision.

Member of Parliament Krupal Tumani, MLA Samir Meghe, Pankaj Bhoir, Vice Chancellor of Punjabrao Deshmukh Agricultural University Dr Sharad Gadakh, SGM of State Bank of India Shantanu Pendasy, Shantanu Gupta from IOCL, Gitish Gandhi, C.D. Mayee and other delegates were present at the occasion.

With the help of Agrovision, a permanent

Acquaculture, Agrotech, Bamboo industry, Bee keeping, Dairy, Goat farming, India, Interaction, Poultry

 Interactive workshops to be conducted on Bamboo Production and Utilisation, Banana and Orange-Export quality production, Sericulture, Goat Farming, Poultry, Bee keeping and Fisheries, etc.

The 13th iteration of Agrovision, Central India’s largest and premier agricultural event will be held in Nagpur from November 25 to 28. This time around, Agrovision will focus on the Future Farming – feed, food, and fuel-integrated technology via research, among others. An integral aspect of Agrovision is the ‘Interactive workshops’ for farmers conducted through the 4-day event. These workshops are free of cost and are conducted by experts from research organisations like Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Indian Agricultural Research Institutes (IARI), agricultural universities, senior officers from various government departments and commercial sectors are invited to educate farmers on various agricultural challenges, new technology and new farming methods. 

The tentative workshops will be conducted on Safflower and Linseed cultivation and value addition, Turmeric and Ginger cultivation and Processing, Vegetable Seed Production, Bamboo Production and Utilisation, Banana and Orange-Export quality production, Sericulture, Goat Farming, Poultry, Bee keeping and Fisheries- opportunities for Vidarbha region at 13th Agrovision.

With increasing levels of global warming, mankind is facing the challenge of how to feed an expanding population worldwide and how to provide its energy demands without depleting the planet’s biological and natural resources. Sustainable food and energy production will lead to agriculture becoming a new global mega trend in the next decades. 13th Agrovision aims to answer this new challenge with its theme- Future Farming-feed, food, and fuel-integrated technology via research.

Agrovision is Central India’s largest agricultural event held in Nagpur every year. It provides a platform for knowledge exchange movement which is well attended by farmers from all across India. Started 12 years ago under the leadership of Chief Patron Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Agrovision is growing both in magnitude and stature with each successive edition. The movement of Agrovision was initiated with a goal of educating, encouraging and empowering farmers, to adopt new farm technologies, introduce them to allied agri business to increase their income and ensure them a decent livelihood support.

 Interactive workshops to be conducted on Bamboo

Agrotech, India, Interaction

The theme of the event is the Future Farming – feed, food, and fuel-integrated technology via research.

13th Agrovision, Central India’s largest agricultural event which will be held in Nagpur from November 25 to 28 will focus on the Future Farming – feed, food, and fuel-integrated technology via research.

With increasing levels of global warming, mankind is facing the challenge of how to feed an expanding population worldwide and how to provide its energy demands without depleting the planet’s biological and natural resources. Sustainable food and energy production will lead to agriculture becoming a new global mega trend in the next decades. 13th Agrovision aims to answer this new challenge with its theme- Future Farming-feed, food, and fuel-integrated technology via research.

Agrovision is Central India’s largest agricultural event held in Nagpur every year. It provides a platform for knowledge exchange movement which is well attended by farmers from all across India. Started 12 years ago under the leadership of Chief Patron Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Agrovision is growing both in magnitude and stature with each successive edition. The movement of Agrovision was initiated with a goal of educating, encouraging and empowering farmers, to adopt new farm technologies, introduce them to allied agri business to increase their income and ensure them a decent livelihood support.

workshops

An integral aspect of Agrovision is the Interactive workshops for farmers conducted through the 4-day event. These workshops are free of cost and are conducted by experts from research organisations like Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Indian Agricultural Research Institutes (IARI), agricultural universities, senior officers from various government departments and commercial sectors are invited to educate farmers on various agricultural challenges, new technology and new farming methods. 

The tentative workshops will be conducted on Safflower and Linseed cultivation and value addition, Turmeric and Ginger cultivation and Processing, Vegetable Seed Production, Bamboo Production and Utilisation, Banana and Orange-Export quality production, Sericulture, Goat Farming, Poultry, Bee keeping and Fisheries- opportunities for Vidarbha region at 13th Agrovision edition.

Conferences

One-day conference is being held during Agrovision every year on current issues of importance related to agriculture. The basic objective of the conference is to bring together policy makers, industry, agripreneurs, and experts from all over India to deliberate on the key issues leading to the formulation of recommendations. It provides an insight over the entire process which is beneficial for the businessmen, agri professionals and entrepreneurs.

The theme of the event is the

AgroPolicy, Agrotech, Allied Industry, Biofuel industry, India, Sugar industry

Nitin Gadkari , Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, while addressing the felicitation programme of National Cogeneration Awards 2022 in Mumbai gave out a few clarion calls for the agri sector. He said, “Over-production of sugar is a problem for the economy; we spend Rs 15 lakh crore” per year for import of petroleum products, hence we need to diversify the agriculture sector towards energy and power sectors”. 

The minister exhorted the industry of the crucial need to focus on alternative fuels with the help of futuristic technologies. “While 65 to 70 per cent of our population depends on agriculture, our agricultural growth rate is 12 to 13 per cent only; the sugarcane industry and farmers are a growth engine for our industry. And the next move should be cogeneration to increase revenue from sugar. The industry should produce less sugar and produce more by-products, embracing the vision for futuristic technologies and using the power of leadership to convert knowledge into wealth. This will enable the farmers to become not only food growers, but energy producers as well,” Gadkari said.

The minister highlighted that while our requirement was 280 lakh tonnes of sugar this year, the production was more than 360 lakh tonnes; this could be utilised due to the situation in Brazil.  However, we need to divert production towards ethanol as the ethanol requirement is very high. “Last year’s capacity was 400 crore litres of ethanol; we have taken a lot of initiatives to increase ethanol production. Now is the time for the industry to plan demand for ethanol, using technologies such as power generators run by bioethanol,” pointed out Gadkari.

The minister reminded the industry that there is scope of using harvesting technologies for cutting of sugarcane. “Harvesting machines can use ethanol as a fuel, making the circular economy possible.”

Gadkari said that the sugar industry faces many problems and that we need rationalisation of power purchase rates; some states are not giving rates as per the central government policy, this is one reason why the sugarcane industry is not economically viable. The minister also urged the industry to raise this matter at appropriate forums.

Nitin Gadkari , Union Minister for Road

AgroPolicy, Horticulture, Interaction, Trade

Nitin Gadkari, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister was addressing the Outreach Programme ‘Agriculture Produce and Vegetable Export Opportunities in Vidarbha’ organised by APEDA and Agrovision Foundation in Amravati.

There is a huge scope in increasing the export of agricultural produce such as fruits, flowers, vegetables from Vidarbha, but there is a need to adopt new technology and experimentation. Improving the quality of agricultural produce, fulfilling all safety criteria, good packaging is also essential. We have set export target of oranges from 500 Cr to 5,000 Cr in upcoming years with the help of organic farming of oranges and quality hybrids of oranges,” said Nitin Gadkari, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister. Gadkari was addressing the Outreach Programme ‘Agriculture Produce and Vegetable Export Opportunities in Vidarbha’ organised by APEDA and Agrovision Foundation at Rangoli Pearl in Amravati.

Gadkari said that all-out efforts will be made through ‘APEDA’ and ‘Agrovision’to increase exports from Vidarbha. Pravin Pote Patil, MLC,Tarun Bajaj, Director,  APEDA Members Anandrao Raut, Vibha Bhatia,  Dilip Ghosh, Ravi Barotkar, President of Agrovision Foundation, Manish Mondhe, Sridhar Thakare, Dinesh Suryavanshi and others were present.

Joint programme for increasing agricultural exports

 An agreement between ‘APEDA’ and Agrovision Foundation to implement a joint programme for increasing agricultural exports, was signed by Bajaj and Ravi Boratkar President of Agrovision Foundation on the occasion. Speaking further, Gadkari said that experimentation, adoption of new technology is necessary to increase agricultural exports in Vidarbha. It is necessary to increase the quality of the product for export. Good nurseries should be established everywhere, said Gadkari. He asserted the need for efforts to be made to start new and useful things like using drones for spraying fertilisers and medicines. Safety of products is considered an important parameter in the global market and if traces of pesticides are found in agricultural produce, the goods are rejected. Hence, it is necessary to increase the production and maintain the quality only during organic processing to avoid that, said Gadkari and thus advocated experiments to be done at various levels for that purpose.

Gadkari added that good orange nurseries have been developed in Vidarbha and asserted the need to develop more such nurseries. “An experiment is being done by bringing the best orange seedlings from countries like Spain and planting them. Branding is also taking place for the tasty tur dal, a speciality of saline belt,” Gadkari said.

Gadkari informed that a dry port has been started at Sindhi in Wardha district, which will speed up the process. Tarun Bajaj said that orange exports from Vidarbha are on the rise with Bangladesh now they are also exported to the United Arab Emirates. The country’s total export of agricultural products is Rs 4 lakh crore.

Nitin Gadkari, Union Road Transport and Highways

AgroPolicy, Biofuel industry, Sugar industry

Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister Road Transport and Highways was addressing the Sugar & Ethanol India Conference (SEIC) 2022 held in Mumbai.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari has given a clarion call to the sugar factories to make a shift to conversion of sugar into ethanol, in line with the realities of changing times and the needs of the nation. The Minister issued a warning to leaders of sugar and allied industries that if sugar production goes ahead as it does now, it will be harmful for the industry in times to come. Reminding them that as a country, we are rice-surplus, corn-surplus and sugar-surplus, Gadkari said that what is good for our future is to reduce production of sugar and increase production of ethanol.

The Minister was addressing the Sugar & Ethanol India Conference (SEIC) 2022 held in Mumbai. The conclave, organized by ChiniMandi, news and information portal for the sugar and allied industries, sought to bring together leading domestic & global industry experts to discuss the top challenges and risk response strategies in domestic and global sugar trade and the way forward to building a more innovative and sustainable Sugar & Ethanol sector in India.

The Minister explained how the economics of ethanol is superior to that of vehicles run by diesel or petrol. “We have issued advisory on flex engines; Toyota, Hundai and Suzuki have assured me that they will bring flex engines within six months. Recently, we launched pilot car run by green hydrogen. Toyota Chairman informed me that their car is flex – either 100 per cent petrol or 100 per cent ethanol and that Toyota cars of coming days will be run on hybrid electricity, which will generate 40 per cent electricity and run 60 per cent of the distance using 100 per cent ethanol. This economics will be highly advantageous in comparison to petrol.”

The Minister informed that Govt. of India has decided to open biofuel outlets for citizens to fill ethanol and that cars, scooters, motor cycles and rickshaws can be available on flex engine. “Prime Minister has inaugurated three ethanol pumps in Pune; however, no one has come so far to fill ethanol. However, Bajaj, TVS and Hero have launched motor cycles driven by flex engine; scooters and motor cycles are available on flex engines. They are ready to come up with auto rickshaws as well.”

The Minister exhorted all sugar factories who manufacture ethanol to open ethanol pumps in their factories and other areas. “This can bring in 100 per cent ethanol-run scooters, auto rickshaws and cars and thus increase ethanol consumption, reduce pollution, bring down imports and also provide jobs to people in villages.”

Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister Road Transport and