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Rabi foodgrain output may surpass previous year record

by admin
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Wheat sowing area has increased by 4 per cent so far this rabi season to 325.35 lakh hectare, while pulses acreage grew 5 per cent to 154.80 lakh hectare on better monsoon rains. The paddy coverage was down marginally to 14.83 lakh hectare so far this rabi season from 15.47 lakh hectare in the corresponding period of the previous year. 

The country’s rabi foodgrains production including wheat in the ongoing 2020-21 crop year is expected to be better than the previous year’s record of 153.27 million tonne, according to Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. 

Sowing of rabi (winter) crops is underway. The rabi sowing begins from October immediately after the harvest of kharif (summer) crops. Wheat and mustard are major rabi crops. The crop year runs from July to June. 

Speaking to PTI, Tomar said the country’s agriculture sector performed well during 2020 as foodgrains production rose to a record in the kharif season with farmers working hard despite the COVID-19 pandemic and proving their relevance. 

“This year, we hope better foodgrain production in the rabi season than last year (same season),” he said. 

For the 2020-21 crop year, the Centre has set a target of a record foodgrains output of 301 million tonne, out of which it expects 151.65 million tonne to come from the rabi season. 

Further, the minister said progress to be made in the recent government initiatives including two new farm laws on marketing, formation of 10,000 FPOs (Farmer Producers Organisations ), Rs 1 lakh crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, will also benefit farmers and boost the sector. 

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Agriculture Industry

Canada to Showcase AgTech Expertise at Agro & Food Tech 2020

by Industrial Outlook
written by Industrial Outlook

Canada will participate at the Agro & Food Tech 2020 virtual event taking place between October 16–22, to explore collaboration opportunities with Indian businesses. Members of the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service will be present online at the virtual Canada booth to facilitate business interactions between leading Canadian and Indian companies. 

Canada and India enjoy a mutually beneficial trade relationship in the agriculture sector to the tune of CAD1.6B annually. The Canada-India bilateral trade relationship is focused on a variety of commodities including grains, pulses, tea, coffee, spices and seafood. Canada’s focus on innovation and strong regional expertise are providing cutting-edge answers to the world’s agricultural needs through novel technologies that are revolutionizing one of the largest and oldest global sectors.

High Commissioner of Canada to India, Nadir Patel said: “Canada is globally recognized for its excellence in Agtech. We are the fifth-largest agricultural exporter in the world with $56 billion in sales. This is a great opportunity for Canadian companies to learn about the exciting developments and plans for transformation in India’s Agtech industries. Key areas of interest include farm management platforms, crop protection, irrigation, water management, post-harvest, movement of goods from farm to consumer, pest management, remote sensing, the Internet of Things, machinery and robotics. I look forward to further collaboration and new synergies from the first-ever Virtual CII Agro & Food Tech: India International Food & Agri Week 2020”. 

The Government of Canada, through the High Commission of Canada in India and additional trade offices across India, is undertaking several AgTech initiatives in India. For example:
 
·  In February of this year, the High Commission hosted a trade delegation to India to promote technology partnerships in agriculture and agricultural supply chains. Four Canadian companies visited Mumbai and Bangalore to meet with potential Indian research and development partners. This initiative was part of the Canadian International Innovation Program (CIIP) that supports industrial R&D collaborations between Canadian SMEs and companies in key markets, including India.
· On October 6 and 7, 2020, the High Commission collaborated with the Economic Diplomacy section of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Indo-Canadian Business Chamber (ICBC) holding webinars featuring expert discussions on nutritional security, protein consumption, sustainable farming practices and cold storage logistics, amongst other agriculture-related topics.

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Agriculture IndustryChemicals Industry Updates

Agrochemicals Market Growth and Trend in India

by Industrial Outlook
written by Industrial Outlook

Agrochemicals are specialty chemical products which include fertilizers, pesticides, soil conditioners, liming & acidifying agents and hormones, used in agriculture, floriculture and horticulture to enhance crop productivity. The product is used for increasing crop growth & yield, killing pests & weeds and controls parasites and infectious diseases in animals. Additionally, hormones are routinely administered in animals to upsurge their growth and productivity, for instance, bovine growth hormone is given to cows for enhancing milk production. The function of agrochemicals is to manage an agricultural ecosystem. Agrochemicals as the name suggests has widespread use in the agriculture industry. Most of the applications of the agrochemicals revolve around agriculture.  

The major driver is that the global population is currently at more than 7 billion and still increasing. It is possible that the food demand increases in the forecast period. Additionally, scarcity for land and water is allowing the people to use fertilizers and pesticides which will help to grow multiple crops in a certain area. In contrast, due to the rising environmental hazards from these fertilizers and pesticides it is anticipated that it is possible to foresee a decline in the usage of fertilizers and pesticides in the forecast period. By over using the land for agricultural productivity, land loses essential nutrients which are pivotal in the growth of a crop. This is the key driver for the nitrogenous fertilizers market’s increasing growth rate. The global crop output is diminished due to the pest attack and diseases caused by them. There is an opportunity to develop in fertilizing technology to boost farm production with increasing government investments in the agriculture sector to improve the crop yield. Secondly, bio-pesticides are new age crop protection products manufactured from natural substances like plants, animals, bacteria and certain minerals and they are eco friendly and easy to use.

Insecticides segment held around 55 % share followed by fungicides and herbicides contributing 18 % and 16 % share of the agrochemicals market in India. India’s capability in low cost manufacturing, the availability of technically trained resources, seasonal domestic demand, overcapacity, better price realization, and a strong presence in generic pesticide manufacturing are the major factors boosting the insecticide segment growth.

Cereals and pulses, fruits and vegetables are estimated to grow at 2 % per annum, and 4 % per annum contribute to the overall agricultural growth. Cereal & grains is forecasted to dominate throughout the forecast period.

Cereal & grains are traditional diets of Indian population. Total food grain production in the country is expected to reach a record 277.49 million tones crop year. Vegetable & fruits being the second largest segment is analyzed to gain growth in future years. Demand for processed food is rising with growing disposable income, urbanization, a young population and nuclear families. The objective of the report is to present a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, industry-validated market data and projections with a suitable set of assumptions and methodology.

Current market trends in the industry

Key challenges facing the Indian agrochemical market

  • High cost involved in the research and development of a new agrochemical molecule
  • Controversies over genetically modified seeds
  • Lack of effective distribution systems
  • Rising demand for organic products
  • Marketing of spurious products

Key opportunities for Indian agrochemical market

There is a scope for increasing the usage of agrochemicals by Indian farmers by conducting workshops and special training programs. The export potential of agrochemicals can be increased by taking advantage of the low cost of production. Increasing the market for generic players is another strategy to increase the market as many agrochemical molecules have gone off patent recently. It is much expected from the manufacturers that they take into consideration the current trends like integrated pest management, organic farming etc. and broaden their product portfolio to match the requirements of its consumers.

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Agriculture IndustryNews Room

A novel algorithm for enhanced crop productivity

by Industrial Outlook
written by Industrial Outlook

Microbes always exist in communities. They are also used in commercial applications. In industries like probiotics and biofuels, co-cultivations of these microbes are performed under controlled conditions for improved yield and productivity of the given product. These co-cultures are designed randomly based on hit and trial methods.

To quickly ascertain the right combination and to understand how these microbes interact with in a co-culture, researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have developed and demonstrated an effective method.

The study applies computer-based modelling to develop novel algorithms to identify metabolic interactions between bacteria. This understanding may help in identifying the perfect combination for a co-culture.  

“There is no rational way to identify the co-culture to begin with. This is a more rational way of designing the co-cultures. We will extend the applications to plants productivity too. The purpose is to enhance the crop yield in lesser time,” Smita Srivastava, associate professor, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras, said.

The research shows that many metabolites act as messengers between the microbes. These messengers are critical to define how bacteria associate with one another and what combination is best suited for co-cultures. The interactions also play a significant role in a wide variety of applications ranging from probiotic design to biofuel production.

According to the researchers, one of the applications is focused on the agriculture industry. It might be able to get certain metabolites which may be utilised by the plants for its growth. “How the plant can interact with certain organisms which are known in nature to live with the plant when we try to exploit that in reactor system, it will help in over producing that product from the plant,” Srivastava said.

The team plans to extend the findings of this study to investigate interactions in the human gut. Their work was also a part of a recent collaborative project with Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A-STAR), Singapore, where their approach provided insights into the metabolic underpinnings of how the gut recovers following antibiotic treatment.

The algorithm is based on the popular computer science area called network theory, where the interactions between different elements define their associations. “Here, we systematically navigate through the metabolic networks to identify the possible metabolites that can be exchanged between the bacteria. We then define the associations based on these metabolic exchanges,” Karthik Raman, associate professor, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras, said.

These metabolites define the kind of relationship between the bacteria.  The team devised a new metric called ‘Metabolic Support Index (MSI)’, which helps to quantify the benefits that an organism receives in a microbial community.

The research work has been published in Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal. The research team comprises Smita Srivastava, Karthik Raman and Aarthi Ravikrishnan. 

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Agriculture IndustryNews Room

Centre launches pilot project to reduce emissions from agriculture

by Industrial Outlook
written by Industrial Outlook

The Union government on July 28, 2020, launched the Green-Ag Project in Mizoram, to reduce emissions from agriculture and ensure sustainable agricultural practices. Mizoram is one of the five states where the project will be implemented. Other states include Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttarakhand.

The project is designed to achieve multiple global environmental benefits in at least 1.8 million hectares (ha) of land in five landscapes, with mixed land use systems. It aims to bring at least 104,070 ha of farms under sustainable land and water management. The project will also ensure 49 million Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) sequestered or reduced through sustainable land use and agricultural practices.

The Green-Ag Project is funded by the Global Environment Facility, while the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation, and Farmers’ Welfare (DAC&FW) is the national executing agency. Other key players involved in its implementation are Food and Agricultre Organization (FAO) and the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).

The pilot project is supposed to end on March 31, 2026, in all states, including Mizoram, where the project covers 145,670 ha of land in two districts — Lunglei and Mamit. It aims to cover 35 villages and includes two protected areas — the Dampa Tiger Reserve and the Thorangtlang Wildlife Sanctuary.

“This project becomes unique for its site selection. The landscape has revenue villages and community land in close conjunction with national parks and protected areas,” Alka Bhargava, additional secretary of DAC&FW and a member of National Project Steering Committee (NPSC) of Green-Ag Project, said. 

She added that sustainable agriculture was the main component of the project and given the unique advantage of Mizoram in terms of agro-climatic conditions, water availability and a hard-working population, the state could produce niche products like passion fruits and provide them to the entire country, besides exploring export markets too.

FAO – India Representative, Tomio Shichiri, emphasised that the Green-Ag project would help local people take advantage of the rich agro-biodiversity  present in their landscape for sustainability of agriculture and livestock production practices, promotion of secondary agriculture, establishment of green value chains and thereby enhancing their incomes.  

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