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Company News, Water, World

Revolutionising irrigation for growers with autonomous execution

Source.ag, the provider of AI solutions for fruit and vegetable growers, launched Source Irrigation Control: an autonomous irrigation solution that intelligently adjusts irrigation strategy execution in response to changing weather conditions and plant data.

The newest addition to Source.ag’s product suite helps growers scale operations and improve irrigation management while decreasing the need for manual intervention and the time to adapt to new seed varieties or locations. The grower sets the irrigation targets, and Source Irrigation Control does the rest. Using AI models fed with weather forecasts and plant data to predict water and nutrient uptake, this new market innovation saves resources and growers’ time. Growers can set irrigation targets to suit their preferred cultivation strategy, combining their cultivation knowledge with Source.ag’s data science capabilities. 

Source Irrigation Control’s data-driven irrigation solution offers growers multiple benefits in terms of crop quality, resource management, and business growth opportunities. The system predicts the water and nutrient uptake of plants and then applies its findings to a proactive irrigation plan that promotes root growth and healthy root development. Because AI is used to assess and clean sensor data which then updates growers’ unique irrigation models regularly, growers are free to spend their time on other value-added activities. The reduction in manual intervention means growers can manage many more hectares, allowing them to quickly scale operations. Equally, the system’s adaptability makes coping with new circumstances, climates, or seed varieties easier and more cost-effective.

Revolutionising irrigation for growers with autonomous executionSource.ag,

Company News, Sustainability, World

Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) score places UPL as the highest-performing agrochemical company globally and in the top 1 per cent of chemical companies worldwide

UPL Ltd. a global provider of sustainable agricultural solutions has achieved a score of 76 in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) powered by S&P Global Switzerland, outperforming the industry average of 24 and placing the company as the highest-performing agrochemical company globally and in the top 1 per cent of chemical companies worldwide.

This achievement demonstrates UPL’s continued commitment to sustainability and harnessing the decarbonisation potential of the agricultural industry. This year, the UN initiated SBTi and has validated and approved UPL’s Science Based Targets. Over the last 3 years, UPL has reduced its carbon emissions by 21 per cent, its water consumption by 40 per cent, and its waste levels by 57 per cent. UPL has also partnered with renewable energy companies to establish hybrid solar-wind energy power plants and increase its renewable energy usage to 30 per cent.

Jai Shroff, Chairman and Group CEO of UPL Group, said: “As we advance our mission to Reimagining Sustainability for farmers and food systems, we are taking bold steps to reduce our environmental impact, strengthen our social responsibility initiatives, and improve our governance practices – and we are proud that DJSI has recognised this. We remain focused on breaking new ground for our industry and look forward to progressing our sustainability initiatives as we get closer to our 2040 carbon-neutral commitment.”

Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) score places UPL

AgroPolicy, Sustainability, World

The 154-country study makes a case for true cost accounting to guide policy

Our current agrifood systems impose huge hidden costs on our health, the environment and society, equivalent to at least $10 trillion a year, according to a ground-breaking analysis by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), covering 154 countries. This represents almost 10 per cent of global GDP.

According to the 2023 edition of The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA), the biggest hidden costs (more than 70 per cent) are driven by unhealthy diets, high in ultra-processed foods, fats and sugars, leading to obesity and non-communicable diseases, and causing labour productivity losses. Such losses are particularly high in high- and upper-middle-income countries.

One-fifth of the total costs are environment-related, from greenhouse gas and nitrogen emissions, land-use change and water use. This is a problem that affects all countries, and the scale is probably underestimated due to data limitations.

Low-income countries are proportionately the hardest hit by hidden costs of agrifood systems, which represent more than a quarter of their GDP, as opposed to less than 12 per cent in middle-income countries and less than 8 per cent in high-income countries. In low-income countries, hidden costs associated with poverty and undernourishment are the most significant.

The report makes the case for more regular and detailed analysis by governments and the private sector of the hidden or ‘true’ costs of agrifood systems via true cost accounting, followed by actions to mitigate these harms.

There have been other attempts at measuring the hidden costs of agrifood systems, producing similar estimates as FAO. The new FAO report, however, is the first to disaggregate these costs down to the national level and ensure they are comparable across cost categories and between countries.

For the first time, FAO will dedicate two consecutive editions of The State of Food and Agriculture to the same theme. This year’s report presents initial estimates, while next year’s will focus on in-depth targeted assessments to identify the best ways to mitigate them. Governments can pull different levers to adjust agrifood systems and drive better outcomes overall. Taxes, subsidies, legislation and regulation are among them.

The report urges governments to use true cost accounting to transform agri-food systems to address the climate crisis, poverty, inequality and food security. It notes that innovations in research and data, as well as investments in data collection and capacity building, will be needed to scale the application of true cost accounting, so it can inform decision-making transparently and consistently.

The 154-country study makes a case for

Agrotech, Company News, Water, World

This 3-year, $3 million partnership will equip farmers, conservation planners, and sustainability experts across North America with innovative tools to enhance drought resilience, improve soil health, and encourage sustainable water use

The Soil Health Institute (SHI) and Cargill are coming together to advance the implementation of regenerative agriculture practices through the promotion of water stewardship within agricultural supply chains. This 3-year, $3 million partnership will equip farmers, conservation planners, and sustainability experts across North America with innovative tools to enhance drought resilience, improve soil health, and encourage sustainable water use.

“Climate change-induced extreme weather events, including drought, heavy precipitation, and elevated temperatures, have dramatically intensified operational risks for farmers and the broader food, fibre, fuel, and beverage sector,” said Wayne Honeycutt, president and CEO of SHI. “Through this partnership, we’re expediting the adoption of regenerative systems by offering stakeholders practical insights to assess improvements in water storage and availability resulting from changes in on-farm practices.”

Recent SHI research has demonstrated that increases in available water holding capacity (AWHC) associated with soil organic carbon gains from soil health practice implementation can lead to twice as much water storage in the topsoil compared to previous estimates. This important finding, currently available as a set of mathematical equations, provides a scientifically robust framework to measure the impact of soil health management on water storage. Continuing efforts supported by this partnership will make this data more accessible to farmers and sustainability experts, enabling farmers to estimate how many more inches of water their soil can capture during the growing season due to improved soil health.

Ashley McKeon, director of regenerative agriculture at Cargill, affirmed, “We strongly believe that regenerative agricultural practices can play a pivotal role in mitigating the impacts of climate change and water stress on our agricultural systems, which is why we are committed to advancing regenerative agriculture across 10 million acres of agricultural land in North America by 2030. Building on more than five years of partnering with the Soil Health Institute, we are empowering farmers and stakeholders across the agricultural value chain with the tools they need to make informed decisions that contribute to a more sustainable and resilient future.”

This 3-year, $3 million partnership will equip

Company News, Foodgrains, Seeds, World

Approval is a major milestone on the path to the commercialisation of crops that give off optical signals – detectible from as far away as space – when under attack from pathogens or short of water or nutrients

InnerPlant, the company creating a new category of seed technology that unlocks data and makes global farming more efficient and sustainable, announces the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) approved multiple Regulatory Status Review (RSR) requests.

The RSR approvals include:

InnerPlant’s first commercial product, a soybean fungal sensor currently undergoing field testing with farmer trials scheduled for 2024 and on track for commercial launch in 2025

An always-on soybean that emits a constant signal is used in the crop development process to calibrate and refine detection capabilities

“USDA approval confirms our due diligence around the safety of our technology and reduces the time and complexity of our commercial development cycle,” explains Randy Shultz, PhD, InnerPlant’s Senior Vice President of R&D, Commercialisation. “And it’s an encouraging proof point as we continue working toward global regulatory approvals.”

InnerPlant engineers crops to produce safe and long-studied proteins when under attack from pathogens or when short of water or specific nutrients. The proteins emit optical signals – detectable from as far away as space – that show farmers exactly what kind of help plants need within 48 hours of stress onset, which is as much as two weeks before stress is visible in the field.

Historically, farmers lacked early actionable data and broadly apply agrochemicals as a preventative measure. However, studies show that farmers lose as much as 40 per cent of yields or $220 billion worldwide due to pathogens in spite of overapplication that sees as much as 30 per cent or $250 billion of pesticides wasted – negatively impacting air, water and soil.

InnerPlant’s new category of seed technology delivers traits that tap directly into plants’ physiology and provide farmers with actionable data that is both early and specific to particular stresses in a scalable and economical way.

Approval is a major milestone on the

Biofuel industry, Company News, Sustainability, World

The initiative will harness leading-edge data and analytics to support the development of camelina as a sustainable renewable fuel feedstock

EarthDaily Agro, a division of geospatial analytics company EarthDaily Analytics, has been selected by leading renewable fuel developer Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiary Sustainable Oils, Inc. to support the work to increase the adoption of camelina in the renewable fuels marketplace through their Climate-Smart Camelina Project.

The multi-year contract is made possible by a $30 million U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Climate-Smart Commodities Grant, which was awarded to Global Clean Energy for the purposes of developing camelina as an ultra-low carbon renewable fuel feedstock and building associated climate-smart renewable fuels markets. The initial project will focus on the Western U.S., with plans to expand to other regions of the world deemed suitable for camelina production. Because camelina has not historically been a widely cultivated crop, EarthDaily Agro will produce the first full-cycle economic viability and production yield dataset to serve as the basis for mainstream cultivation and renewable fuel production.

“Global Clean Energy and Sustainable Oils are recognised leaders in the expanding renewable fuels industry, and EarthDaily Agro is proud to partner with their innovative mission to bring new solutions to the industry,” said Dave Gebhardt, General Manager of EarthDaily Agro. “By collaborating with EarthDaily Agro, Global Clean Energy and Sustainable Oils join a growing roster of agribusiness leaders harnessing the power of Earth Observation and geospatial analytics to cultivate leading-edge business intelligence.”

“As the renewable fuels industry continues to expand, optimizing the efficiency of our production is critical for meeting growing camelina demand,” said Kevin Monk, Sustainable Oils’ Vice President of Ag Technology. “Geospatial analytics and data processing from EarthDaily Agro equip our company to make informed cultivation and commercialisation decisions to continue advancing camelina as a high-potential, low-carbon renewable fuel feedstock.”

EarthDaily Agro’s satellite-derived, scientific-grade geospatial data provides Global Clean Energy and Sustainable Oils with leading-edge change detection, yield trend modelling, carbon indexing and crop cycle detection. Through the technology, EarthDaily Agro supplies informed guidance to help current camelina growers maximise yields, as well as economic and agronomic feasibility information to increase camelina adoption among additional growers. In 2024, EarthDaily will launch a new Constellation providing enhanced data for vegetation, water, atmosphere and soil to its ag customers such as Global Clean Energy.

“With the ability to grow on otherwise idle acres, camelina can produce renewable fuel feedstock without causing land use change — and worldwide, more than 100 million camelina opportunity acres exist,” Monk said. “This climate-smart fuel alternative has the potential to energize the growing renewable fuels sector, simplify global supply lines for critical commodities like renewable diesel, reinforce domestic energy supply chains, and provide additional revenue for farmers.”

The initiative will harness leading-edge data and

AgroPolicy, India, Water

The two ministers exchanged perspectives on their respective regions, Ukraine and Indo-Pacific

S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister held wide-ranging discussions with his Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen during which new agreements were signed in the field of agriculture and water as well as on mobility.

According to a tweet by S. Jaishankar, the two sides also noted the progress in the I2U2 – India, Israel, US, UAE bloc – as well cooperation in multilateral forums.

The main pillars of the Strategic Partnership are Agriculture, Water, Defence & Security which are taking our ties forward. New agreements in water & agriculture underline the potential to do more.

Both ministers discussed cooperation in high-tech, digital & innovation, as also connectivity, mobility tourism, finance, and health. Also noted was the progress in I2U2 and cooperation in multilateral forums. The two ministers exchanged perspectives on their respective regions, Ukraine and Indo-Pacific.

The Israeli Minister in a tweet said he had held an excellent meeting with EAM Jaishankar, and the two sides are expanding cooperation in the fields of cyber, agriculture and water.

The two ministers exchanged perspectives on their

Agrotech, Company News, World

This is the first step on a journey to more sustainable rice sourcing

Riviana Foods Inc., America’s leading rice company, announced Success Rice will partner with a group of farmers in Arkansas who are committed to sustainable rice farming. Working with SAI Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA), a toolset for farms and companies in agricultural value chains to help assess, improve, and verify on-farm sustainability performance, Riviana Foods can support the farmers’ engagement in sustainable farming practices. The company has committed to purchasing rice from these farmers (using a mass balance approach) in an amount that is equal to the volume of its Success white and brown rice consumption. This is the first step on a journey to more sustainable rice sourcing.

“We consider sustainable agricultural practices to be essential, not only from a good stewardship standpoint but also as a fundamental business principle,” said Erica Larson, Director of Marketing at Riviana Foods. “To ensure a better future, it is crucial we prioritise support for farmers who engage in sustainable practices.”

In utilising the insights provided through the FSA partnership, Riviana Foods can advance sustainable agriculture through focused farm support. By working with a group of local Arkansas farmers known as a Farm Management Group, Riviana Foods manages this group as their Farm Management Group Coordinator. These farmers grow rice that will be sourced by Riviana Foods and implement FSA Silver-level practices to create a sustainable operation that produces verified sustainably grown rice. The Farm Management Group can ensure their farming practices allow their farms to thrive through various means, like identifying clean and sustainable sources of renewable energy, soil management, water management, and air quality and emissions, to name a few. All of this is possible through the FSA acting as a governance mechanism, so that Riviana Foods has a third party verifying the Farm Management Group’s commitment to sustainability.

Supporting sustainable farming efforts is part of the Success Rice’s Growing for Tomorrow initiative. It’s also part of Riviana Foods’ five pillars of sustainability, which focus on reductions around Waste, Energy, Emissions, Water and Packaging.

This is the first step on a

Finance, Schemes - NABARD, Water

The Saurashtra-Narmada Avataran Irrigation Yojana or SAUNI Yojana has been launched to divert one million acre-feet of flood waters from Narmada to the Saurashtra region

Under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned Rs 3,245 crore for irrigation and rural drinking water supply projects in Gujarat for 2021-22.

“This is the highest allocation for loan assistance to projects in the state,” said a senior NABARD official. Compared to the Rs 2,989 crore sanctioned in 2020’21, the sanctioned amount under RIDF for 2021-22 was 8.5 per cent more.

The irrigation projects to receive sanction for 2021-22 are two packages of SAUNT Link 3 projects worth Rs 336 crore. The Saurashtra-Narmada Avataran Irrigation Yojana or SAUNI Yojana has been launched to divert one million acre-feet of flood waters from Narmada to the Saurashtra region.

The Link 3 of SAUNI will connect 28 reservoirs of Rajkot, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Morbi and Surendranagar with a 66-kilometre water project.

The other irrigation projects to receive sanction include a Rs 194-crore lift irrigation project in the tribal district of Dahod, Rs 273 crore Panam reservoir based lift irrigation scheme, Rs 114 crore Panam high-level canal-based lift irrigation scheme and Rs 231 crore Vaghrech recharge project. These irrigation projects will increase the irrigation facilities by 75,112 hectares.

The Saurashtra-Narmada Avataran Irrigation Yojana or SAUNI

Agro Universities, Sustainability, Water

Various schemes and subsidiaries of the department of soil conservation related to drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation were discussed

Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Ludhiana under the aegis of the Directorate of Extension Education, PAU & ICAR ATARI Zone-1 recently organised a seminar on water conservation through adoption of various resource conservation technologies on May 24, 2022.

The programme was organised under the guidance of Dr Ashok Kumar, Director of Extension Education, PAU, Ludhiana to sensitise farmers for saving water. “Little effort goes a long way and we as a progressive community must learn from other communities in world already facing severe water scarcity,” he added.

Dr GS Makkar, Deputy Director (Trg), KVK Ludhiana apprised that about 40 farmers, officers from Department of Soil Conservation and representatives of Jain Irrigation participated in the seminar for deliberations on micro irrigation technology and direct seeded rice. Dr Makkar added that KVK Samrala is organising a series of programmes on water conservation to give a clear and loud message to all stakeholder on saving water. He informed that KVK has drip irrigation system installed on 3.5 acres and recently sprinkler irrigation system is installed on two acres.

Er Lovepreet Singh, SCO, Samrala discussed various schemes and subsidiaries of the department of soil conservation related to drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation. He stressed on active adoption of drip irrigation technology to save the vital natural resource.

Rajat Chowdary and Jagdish Kumar from Jain irrigation system discussed the concept, design and installation of micro irrigation system i.e. drip irrigation and micro sprinkler system at farmer’s field.

Dr Harshneet Singh, Assistant Professor (Soil Sci.) emphasised the need of soil testing before going for DSR in their field. He also discussed the detailed agronomic practices for DSR with special emphasis on the management of weeds and iron deficiency.

Er Karun Sharma, Assistant Professor, FM&PE discussed the scope of modification of zero till drill/ happy seeder for direct seeding of rice where the farmers don’t have access to the lucky seed drill.

Field demonstration on working of sprinkler irrigation, maintenance of its assembly, distribution of literature on micro irrigation system, direct seeded rice and soil testing were the main attractions of the programme. 

Dr Devinder Tiwari, Assistant Professor (Ext. Edu.) motivated farmers to come up for this noble cause and proposed a vote of thank to activate participation of all participants.

Various schemes and subsidiaries of the department

Agrotech, Allied Industry

Both companies have partnered to create sustainable change through unique drip irrigation technology

PepsiCo India and N-Drip, manufacturer of an innovative gravity-powered micro-irrigation system, have announced a partnership, as a lead-up to World Water Day 2022, to help farmers in India adopt game-changing technology in water efficiency. The technology has already been introduced in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Rajasthan with an aim to improve water efficiency levels across thousands of hectares in the country by 2025. This is part of a global partnership between PepsiCo and N-Drip aimed at increasing water efficiency across 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) around the world by 2025.

N-Drip’s high-efficiency irrigation system is powered by gravity and harnesses the water-saving benefits of high-pressure drip irrigation, but with low energy, operating and maintenance demands—making it more accessible to all types of farmers and nearly all types of crops. Farmers using N-Drip routinely achieve significant water savings, see larger crop yields, and reduce the need for expensive fertilizess. In addition, by converting from flood irrigation to N-Drip’s drip irrigation system, carbon (CO2) emissions are reduced by as much as 83 per cent and methane emissions by as much as 78 per cent.

Speaking about this development, Pratap Bose, Agro Director, Supply Chain, PepsiCo India, said, “Being an agri centric company at heart, PepsiCo India over the last 30+ years has been working towards increasing efficiency across its agri supply chain to reduce water usage by providing alternates to flood irrigation practices. The collaboration with N-Drip is another step in that direction. We are excited to partner with them as they are committed to solving the problem of water shortage by providing a robust alternative to flood irrigation. The initial response to the pilot project has been quite encouraging. We are already seeing improved crop yields, reduced fertiliser usage, and an average reduction of 39 per cent water consumption compared to flood irrigation in states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Rajasthan.”

This new innovative technology not only applies to potato cultivation but also to other crops such as vegetables or maize.

Both companies have partnered to create sustainable

Agro chems – Fertilizers, AgroPolicy, Seeds, Sustainability, Water

Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare inaugurates the fair

Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare inaugurated the Farmers’ Fair organised by the Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh at the Santha Village of Morena District, Madhya Pradesh today. The fair was organised under the Farmer FIRST Programme Project.

The Union Minister urged the small and marginal farmers for making the Farmers’ Producers’ Organizations (FPOs) that can revolutionise the agriculture sector of the country. Tomar expressed his concerns on the major irrigation water-related problems like majority of farmers in Chambal Region use flood-irrigation resulting in low yield, quality of produce, decreasing water table and soil quality. The adaptation of the improved methods of irrigation through border strip, furrow, pressure irrigation with fertigation for improving the yield, income and water productivity was stressed in the Union Minister’s address.

Tomar accentuated on reducing the cost of production with direct seeding, bed planting, water management technologies, stopping the burning of farm residue and utilising for soil water storage and improving the soil quality and safer environment.

Prof Surapaneni Koteshwara Rao, Vice-Chancellor, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Gwalior emphasised promoting the integrated farming system, protected cultivation, vegetable production, processing and value-addition and agro-based enterprises for higher profit. Prof Rao also urged for developing the aggregation modules for the farmers on commodity and community-based group farming linked with the Farmers’ Producers’ Organizations that can help in increasing the farmers’ prosperity.

More than 1,000 farmers, rural youths, senior officials and the various dignitaries attended the fair.

Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture

Agro Universities, Agrotech, R&D, Trade, Water

The laboratory carries out tests for heavy metals and other trace metals in water complying with BIS and a variety of fresh and processed food products for compliance

The Punjab Horticultural Post-Harvest Technology Centre (PHPTC) at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has recently been granted NABL Accreditation in accordance with ISO17025:2017 for analysis of trace metals (including heavy metals) in water wide accreditation certificate number TC- 10329. The quality control laboratory of PHPTC is equipped with sophisticated equipment such as an inductive coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer (ICP-MS) and microwave digestion system (MDS) for heavy metal analysis.

Dr BVC Mahajan, Director, PHPTC, emphasised that the authentication of a testing report is a major challenge faced by the farmers, exporters, entrepreneurs and various food industries all over India. Owing to this, FSSAI is emphasising the food testing laboratories all over India to get NABL accreditation. NABL’s accreditated report from a laboratory signifies authentication of quality and its technical competence, he added. The reports issued by NABL accredited laboratories are acceptable internationally, catering to the export requirements of industries and exporters. This laboratory is funded by Punjab State Mandi Board to provide testing services to farmers, entrepreneurs, government and private institutions, he informed. The laboratory carries out tests for heavy metals and other trace metals in water complying with BIS and a variety of fresh and processed food products for compliance with the requirements laid down by FSSAI under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, he told.

The other testing services such as estimation of quality attributes in fresh and processed food products, portability of water including biochemical and microbiological parameters are also provided by the laboratory. The centre is also creating awareness among the farmers and new entrepreneurs regarding accreditated testing of water and food in its training programmes, he said.

Dr Ritu Tandon, Quality Manager of the laboratory, told that with the increasing pace of industrialization, heavy metals (Arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and chromium) are getting accumulated and have started becoming an integral component of the food chain through drinking and irrigation water. She informed that heavy metals monitoring in drinking and irrigation waters is the need of the hour as these metals have a deteriorating effect on human and animal health. The ICP-MS is a highly sensitive and accurate instrument for analysing all heavy metals and other nutritional elements in water and food, she added.

Dr Swati Kapoor, Technical Manager and Dr Pooja, Deputy Technical Manager of the laboratory, highlighted the criticality of analytical operations of the equipment to generate the authenticated results. The detailed list of test parameters and their charges can be accessed on the website of PHPTC.

The laboratory carries out tests for heavy