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4 AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Volume 02  |  Issue 05  |  July 2021

Publisher & Managing Editor Sub Editor TOP STORIES
Ravindra Boratkar
Nitesh Pillai Scan the NEOGEN,
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Dr C. D. Mayee extends animal
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Editor
Narayan Kulkarni CFO & Special Correspondent
[email protected]
Manasee Kurlekar
Executive Editor [email protected]
Dr. Manbeena Chawla
[email protected] Operation & Production

Assistant Editor Asmita Thakar
Dipti Barve [email protected]
[email protected]
Design
Koppert develops
MEDIA VISION biological
solution against
Circulation, Subscription green shield bug
and Media Enquiry

Sudam Walekar
[email protected]

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AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com AGRO EDIT 5

Give and ‘take-back’ policy

The government recently, shifted pulses unlike wheat or rice, pulses are consumed gradually.
imports from restricted to open category. Whenever farmers start getting good prices for their
Thereafter, the centre made it import duty produce the government intervenes through a policy
free. And now, it has imposed restrictions on change to reduce the prices.
stock limits applicable to wholesalers, retailers
and importers. In between, the government also Government’s reasoning for all its moves is “to
announced fresh minimum support prices for rein in the surging prices of pulses in retail and
pulses. Permissions for imports and exports of wholesale markets.” It estimates that the new
agri produce, many a time get entangled in rough Kharif harvest will start arriving in December and
weather as the farmers oppose them due to their bad by November end, the import consignments will be
timing which invariably, affects their business. The cleared, providing the farmers with reasonable rates
recent government order shifting pulses into open in December. But the fear is that since all these steps
category for imports is no exception. have been initiated at the beginning of Kharif, the
farmers may sow lesser quantities in anticipation of
Revising its 2017 policy which placed import of not getting above MSP prices. This may aggravate
pulses under quantity restriction, the commerce the situation. Major pulses exporting countries,
ministry opened up import of tur, urad and moong while welcoming the government’s move of opening
dals, in May 2021. Under the earlier quantity up imports have sought a detailed explanation from
restriction rules, the government used to decide the the government at the World Trade Organisation
import quantity or to permit only a few parties like as to why the quantity restrictions were lifted only
millers, traders and processors to import pulses. for a few months, and on what basis it reintroduced
But shifting the three dals from restricted to open them after the prescribed date. Actually, pulses
category will now permit anyone to import any imports is not a unique issue since India routinely
quantity. Import duty, which ranges from 30 to 60 imports about 10 to 15 lakh tonnes of pulses
per cent, has also been removed. However, open consisting mainly of tur, urad and moong. Our
import is allowed only till October 31, with clearance pulses consumption is about 2.5 crore tonnes and
of consignments being allowed till November 30, if production is approximately 2.15 crore tonnes. To
the billing is done before October 31. fill up the gap between demand and supply India
imports pulses from Myanmar, Mozambique,
The trading circles feel that the government has Zimbabwe and Canada.
contradicted its own policy of open import by its new
order that imposes restrictions on stocks. Due to the But the sudden move by the government to open
stock restrictions, import of large quantities won’t up the imports, removing any restrictions, and at
be possible. What the government has given by one the same time imposing restrictions on stocks has
hand has been taken away by another. baffled and dissatisfied the growers, traders and
importers. Considering the changing situation on the
Farmers and traders, both, feel that imports will price front, the government needs to take corrective
bring down the prices. Prices have already gone steps fast to stop the suffering of the farmers, traders
south by about 20 per cent since the last few weeks and importers. Otherwise it will strengthen the
from their peak in April. The prices which were farmers’ feelings as stated by one association of
much above MSPs, have now gone below the MSPs, growers that the government appeases consumers at
with market watchers fearing a further crash. the cost of farmers.

Naturally, this decision has not gone down Dr. Milind Kokje,
too well with farmers and traders as they will be Chief Editor
sufferers in case prices take a dive. Experts fear that
this move will have an effect for a longer period, as [email protected]

6 CONTENT AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

CONTENT COVER STORY
20

India’s Vet health industry guns for
post-COVID recovery

The India animal health market is currently witnessing strong growth. Animal health
refers to the regular monitoring of the health of domesticated animals or livestock. It
includes the development of veterinary drugs, pesticides, feed additives, pharmaceuticals
and biologics. Furthermore, it involves ensuring constant food supply and preventing
the outbreak of various zoonotic diseases. Effective practice of animal healthcare also
helps in reducing the chances of inter-species infection in a veterinary or a domesticated
situation. Major industries such as dairy in India are animal-dependent, owing to which
the government invests significantly for improving the animal healthcare practices.
According to IMARC Group, significant growth in the veterinary pharmaceutical industry
is one of the key factors driving the growth of the market in India. In line with this, the
rising prevalence of zoonotic diseases is also providing a boost to the market growth.
Additionally, the widespread adoption of feed additives, which aid in enhancing the overall
animal health while improving the quality of the produce, including milk, meat and eggs,
is creating a positive outlook for the market. India’s veterinary health market was well
placed for a stronger growth, but COVID-19 hit it quite hard. With the nation limping back
to normal, traders are expecting the business to show steady and positive growth.

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com CONTENT 7

CONTENT

SPEAKING WITH 26 29

“GM may be the most 16 Bringing down Disparities
powerful approach to GHG Emissions in veterinary
reduce edible oils import” with sustainable sector needs
cattle feed attention

Dr C D Mayee, 35

Chairman of Board,

AFC India Ltd.

“Dairy, Poultry & Aqua 31 Why Indian dairy farmers
turn focal point for must adopt Sex-Sorted
Semen Breeding
tremendous growth”
P. Kalarickal

VP Business Development,
STgenetics Texas

Kaushik Sinha, 38 J. F. Moreno

Commercial Director, CEO, STgenetics Texas
Cargill India
Geoinformatics to
33 transform Dairy
Health Management
“Demand for animal Dr Amandeep Singh,
protein calls for new
thinking, to create a Assistant Professor, Guru
sustainable industry” Angad Dev Veterinary and
Animal Sciences University
Rajeev Murthy,
Dr Parkash Singh Brar,
Head, Animal Nutrition & Health,
Asia, Royal DSM Director, Extension Education, Guru
Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal
40W E B I N A R Sciences University

Why future of India’s livestock
sector rests on OPU-IVF

REGULARS

Editorial.......................................05 Livestock news.........................13 Technology News.....................43
Your Views.................................08 Startups News..........................15 Academic News........................45
Policy News...............................09 Company News........................16 Agri-Inputs news.......................47
Finance News............................11 People News..............................42 Supply chain news...................49

8 YOUR VIEWS AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

TOP VIDEO

P M Parlewar,
Director MSME-
DI informs about
the cluster
development
scheme of
MSME for
agriculture
sector

Scan the QR Ranveer Feedback
Code  Nagaich,
Scan the QR Member, NITI Coverage of latest technologies
Code  Aayog speaks
Scan the QR about the inputs AgroSpectrum June 2021 issue has
Code  required for the highlighted the latest technologies in
growth of food water management in agriculture very
processing precisely. The information about weather
industry in India stations, use of AI technology in water
management was very useful for FPOs
Dr R K and modern farmers.
Shrivastava
CIMAP, explains Tushar Sawadekar, Pune
the importance
of medicinal Interesting interview
and aromatic
plants in food The interview with Biplab Paul on
processing Bhungroo technology published in June
industry 2021 was very interesting and informative.
The real picture of agriculture water
management issues in rural India was
aptly covered. Bhungroo technology will
definitely help the small scale farmers in
remote areas.

Suguna Kalshettiwar, Nagpur

Coverage on Agri-export

AgroSpectrum should publish a special
issue on the export of agriculture
produce such as GI tagged fruits, flowers,
horticulture produce. Information related
to government export policies, parameters
and test for exporting agri -produce to
Europe and US will be helpful for farmers
in this pandemic period.

Saurish Yewale, Mumbai

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com POLICY NEWS 9

Tomar USDA signs MoU with
Maharashtra
inaugurates
The United States Government through the United States
Indus Best Department of Agriculture (USDA) – Foreign Agricultural
Service and the Maharashtra Department of Agriculture signed a
Mega Food Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will ensure better food
security for Maharashtra and give Maharashtra’s farmers access to
Park at Raipur cutting-edge data from anywhere in the state. US Consul General
David J Ranz, and Government of Maharashtra (GoM) Agriculture
Union Minister for Food Secretary Eknath Davle publicly signed a joint statement at the
Processing Industries Mantralaya expressing their support for the MoU. The MoU will
Narendra Singh Tomar provide a framework for technical cooperation between the USDA
virtually inaugurated the Indus and Maharashtra’s Department of Agriculture in the development
Best Mega Food Park along of robust agricultural market information systems, along with
with Bhupesh Baghel, Chief potential collaboration in other areas. Through this MoU, USDA
Minister, Chhattisgarh, and will aid Maharashtra’s efforts to support farmers by enhancing
in presence of Rameswar Teli, agricultural value chains, facilitating agribusiness investment,
Union Minister of State for and developing resilient agricultural production systems through
Food Processing Industries. its Balashaeb Thackeray Agribusiness and Rural Transformation
Mega Food Park will ensure (SMART) Project, supported by the World Bank.
value addition, longer shelf
life for farm produce, better Dept of Fisheries takes up steps
price realisation for farmers, to protect freshwater habitats
excellent storage facility and
will provide an alternate market The Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal
for farmers in the region. The Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India have recognised
park will also provide direct and the urgency to protect various freshwater habitats while ensuring
indirect employment to about optimal utilisation of our national resources. In view of the
5,000 persons and benefit same, the schemes and programmes being implemented by the
about 25,000 farmers in the Department, aims at the growth of the fisheries and aquaculture
CPC and PPC catchment areas. sector, keeping the sustainability of the environment as the prime
The modern infrastructure for focus. As part of the Blue Revolution scheme, various environment-
food processing created at Park friendly technologies were adopted for safeguarding our aquatic
will benefit the processors and ecosystem. Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) were
consumers of Chhattisgarh supported; RAS technology is eco-friendly, water-efficient, and
and adjoining areas immensely
and prove to be a big boost is a highly productive intensive farming system, with zero
to the growth of the food environmental impact. Integrated Modern Coastal Fishing
processing sector in the state of Villages will be developed under Pradhan Mantri
Chhattisgarh. Matsya Sampada Yojana with an investment of
Rs 750 crore to leverage Blue economy with an
aim to maximise economic and social benefits to
coastal fishers while minimising environmental
impact through sustainable fishing practices.

10 P O L I C Y N E W S AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Government Ag Ministry launches
‘Seed Mini kit Programme’
hikes fertiliser
The Seed Mini kit Programme was launched by Union
subsidy Agriculture Minster Narendra Singh Tomar by distributing
Seed Mini kits (higher yielding varieties of seeds) to farmers.
Prime Minister (PM) Narendra The mini kits are being provided by the central agencies -
Modi chaired a high-level National Seeds Corporation Ltd (NSC), National Agricultural
meeting on the issue of Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED)
fertilizer prices. A detailed and Gujarat State Seeds Corporation and wholly funded by
presentation was given to the Government of India through the National Food Security
him on the issue of fertilizer Mission. The conversation with the farmers revealed their
prices. It was discussed awareness about the programme and the benefits of the mini
that the price of fertilisers kits which they promised to share with fellow farmers. 20,
is undergoing an increase 27,318 Seed Mini kits of pulses, about 10 times more than last
due to the rising prices of year, and more than 8 lakh Soybean seed mini kits and 74,000
phosphoric acid, ammonia, Groundnut mini kits are to be provided free of cost directly to
etc. internationally. The PM the farmers under the National Food Security Mission along
stressed that farmers should with free distribution of soybean seeds for intercropping and
get fertilisers at old rates in high potential districts in 41 and 73 districts respectively.
despite the international rise
in prices. A historic decision Centre announces national
was taken to increase the level Gopal Ratna Awards
subsidy for DAP fertiliser from
Rs 500 per bag to Rs 1200 per Union Minister for Fisheries, producer Company/ FPO.
bag, which is an increase of Animal Husbandry & He mentioned that eligible
140 per cent. Thus, despite the Dairying, Giriraj Singh farmers/dairy cooperative
rise in international market chaired a virtual programme societies/ AI technicians
prices of DAP, it has been organised on the occasion can apply for award online
decided to continue selling it at of World Milk Day. Every and portal for award will
the older price of Rs 1200 and year, the first day of June is open from July 15, 2021.
the central government has observed as World Milk Day. Winners for the award will
decided to bear all the burden The Minister announced the be announced on October 31,
of price hike. The amount of launch of the National Awards 2021.
subsidy per bag has never been for the Cattle and Dairy sector,
increased so much at once. the Gopal Ratna Awards. The
award has three categories
- i) Best Dairy farmer, ii)
Best Artificial Insemination
Technician (AIT) and Best
Dairy Cooperative/ Milk

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com F I N A N C E N E W S 11

Praj posts Rs 296.29 Cr Anupam Rasayan
revenue in Q4 FY21
secures orders
Pune based Praj Industries (Praj), a globally leading
engineering company with a bouquet of sustainable solutions worth Rs 540 Cr
for Bioenergy, Compressed biogas, Critical process equipment
& skids, Breweries, Industrial wastewater treatment and High to supply
purity water announced its unaudited financial results for
the quarter and full year ended March 31, 2021. In Q4 FY21 of specialty

consolidated income includes income chemicals
from operations stood at Rs 567.1 crore
(Q4 FY20: Rs 296.29 crore; Q3 FY21: Rs Anupam Rasayan recently
347.78 crore). PBT was at Rs 73.19 crore announced that the company
has bagged orders worth Rs 540
(Q4 FY20: Rs 31.67 crore; Q3 FY21: Rs crore from two multinational
38.78 crore) PAT is at Rs 52.0 crore companies dealing in the fields
(Q4 FY20: Rs 24.86 crore; Q3 FY21: of life sciences chemicals for
Rs 28.16 crore) For FY21 income supplying speciality chemicals.
from operations stood at Rs 1,304.67 The tenure of the contract is for
crore (FY20: Rs 1,102.37 crore) PBT five years where life sciences
is at Rs 113.11 crore (FY20: Rs related specialty chemicals
83.13 crore). PAT was at Rs 81.07 will be provided to them by
crore (FY20: Rs 70.43 crore).The the company. The company
stated that these new orders will
consolidated order backlog as on March 31, bolster its growth prospects and
2021 stood at Rs 1,748 crore (FY20 order backlog at Rs 1,083 allow it to diversify its product
crore), which comprised 85 per cent domestic orders and 15 offering. Additionally, it will
per cent international orders. produce the materials needed
for these two contracts in its
Hester Biosciences posts current multipurpose facilities,
Q4FY21 net profit at Rs 8.86 Cr which will aid in the ramp-up
of newly constructed capacity.
Leading animal healthcare company, Hester Biosciences The recently completed capex is
reported a standalone net profit of Rs 8.86 crore for the quarter a significant step forward in our
ended March 31, 2021 as against a net profit of Rs 5 crore in the goal to further strengthen our
corresponding period last year – a growth of 77 per cent. Net global footprint.
sales for the Q4FY21 was reported at Rs 63.16 crore, a growth
of 52 per cent as compared to net sales of Rs 41.43 crore in the
corresponding period last year. EPS for Q4FY21 was reported
at Rs 10.41 per share. The company can maintain healthy
margins; EBITDA Margin was reported at 32.62 per cent and
net profit margin at 14.03 per cent in Q4FY21. The board
of directors has recommended a dividend of Rs 10
per equity share (100 per cent) for
FY21, subject to the approval of the
shareholders. This dividend
recommendation is in line
with the company’s
dividend policy
to distribute a
minimum of 18 per
cent of the PAT.

12 F I N A N C E N E W S AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Kaveri Seeds posts Dhanuka Agritech
Rs 55.1 Cr revenue posts 24.71 % rise in
in Q4FY21 Q4 FY21 net profit

Agriculture company Kaveri seeds has posted Agrochemical Company Dhanuka Agritech has
its results for FY21. The revenue increased posted a growth of 24.71 per cent in its consolidated
11 per cent in FY21 on account of growth net profit at Rs 48.64 crore in the fourth quarter
in hybrid rice, maize and vegetable seed of 2020-21 fiscal on strong revenues. Net profit
segments, whereas cotton seed volumes fell stood at Rs 39 crore in the same quarter previous
2 per cent. The maize and paddy drove the financial year, according to a regulatory filing.
overall performance. The standalone revenue Net income rose on a consolidated basis by 20.34
stood at Rs 55.1 crore in Q4FY21, up 6 per per cent to Rs 284.30 crore in the fourth quarter
cent YoY. Operating loss increased to Rs 12.4 of 2020-21 fiscal from Rs 236.24 crore in the
crore in Q4FY21 v/s a loss of Rs 11.70 crore in same quarter previous financial year. Expenses
Q4FY20. The gross margin stood at 56.7 per remained higher at Rs 216.74 crore as against Rs
cent in Q4FY21 v/s 42.8 per cent last year. 185.92 crore in the said period. Revenue from
As a percentage of sales, employee cost/other operations increased 21 per cent to Rs 275.56
expenses increased to 34 per cent/45.2 per crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20. Profit before tax
cent in Q4FY21 v/s 26.8 per cent/38.7 per jumped 34.25 per cent to Rs 67.55 crore in Q4
cent in Q4FY20. It reported a net loss of Rs FY21 compared with Rs 50.31 crore in Q4 FY20.
14.3 crore in Q4FY21 v/s a net profit of Rs 9.4 The agrochemical maker recorded a 49 per cent
crore in Q4FY20. jump in net profit to Rs 210.56 crore for the year
ended March 2021 (FY21) as against Rs 141.34
crore in the year ended March 2020 (FY20).

BL Agro plans to invest Rs 150 Cr on
marketing in FY 2021-22

BL Agro Industries Limited, Rs 2500 crore edible company stated that to take the brand to the next
oils and food products company in India, is on an level through marketing and proper messaging,
aggressive expansion mode, with extensive brand it has earmarked a media budget of Rs 150 crore
endorsements, to reach out to its target audience. for the current year. With a vision to contribute
The company which recently launched TVCs for in nation’s agri-economy, it would be channelizing
its brands, Bail Kolhu and Nourish has rolled out its capacities through manifold approach to reach
its expansive marketing plans for the fiscal year out to the maximum audiences.
2021-22. The company would be investing in a
media mix, of mainline, digital and innovative
media vehicles lead by Television, to create brand
positioning resulting in consumer awareness and
demand of BL Agro’s products across India. The

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com L I V E S TO C K N E W S 13

Gopal Dairy opens Micro ATM payment centre

Anandpara Village Dairy Co-operative Society of Rajkot has installed
the first Micro ATM payment centre at the doorstep of milk producer
members. Rajkot District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union, Gopal

Dairy which is affiliated dairy union of Amul has taken
the initiatives and taken concrete steps to digitalise
the rural economy. Gordhanbhi Dhamaliya,
Chairman, Rajkot Dairy has virtually inaugurated
the Aadhar-based Amul Micro ATM facility for
the milk pouring members of Anandpara Village
society. He said that any member can visit the milk

society and withdrew the money through Amul Micro
ATM and get the payment immediately. It is a big relief for farmers as
members need not to visit bank incurring time and traveling cost. He
also mentioned that such type of transaction is safe during a pandemic
and there is no need for any type of credit or debit card as the entire
transaction is based on thumb impression.

Indian origin frozen NCDFI files plea
boneless buffalo meat against misbranding
is safe: APEDA of plant-based
products as milk
Agricultural & Processed Food Products
Export Development Authority (APEDA), A petition filed by the National Cooperative Dairy
Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that Federation of India (NCDFI) says that there are
all importing countries can safely procure many businesses who have been misbranding and
Indian origin frozen boneless buffalo meat. mislabelling their plant-based food or beverages
The buffalo meat exports from India are going extracted from soya, almond, and oats etc., as milk
on smoothly and there are no hurdles in the and other dairy items such as curd, paneer, and
supply chain. The buffalo meat is prepared yoghurt. The Delhi high court has urged the Food
and exported under OIE guidelines for any Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to
risk mitigation. Only boneless buffalo meat act on a plea by the NCDFI, alleging misbranding
is allowed for export from India which is and mislabelling of plant-based products as milk
safe and risk-free. India is one of the world’s products. The petition said as per the statutory
leading exporters of buffalo meat. Despite scheme of the Food Safety Act, 2006, and its allied
COVID -19 pandemic for over a year now, regulations, plant-based extracts/foods must not
India has been able to achieve its exports be classified as “milk” or any other dairy item
valued at $3.17 billion in the year 2020-21 as these do not qualify as milk, milk product or
which is at the previous year’s level of exports composite milk product. A food is considered
(2019-20). Top Indian buffalo meat importing “misbranded” if it does not adhere to an expansive
countries are Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, list of labelling requirements and norms which
Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the are focused on ensuring consumers are presented
Philippines and the UAE. with clear and accurate product information.

14 L I V E S TO C K N E W S AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Boehringer Ingelheim GCMMF receives Asian
India launches single Productivity Organization
shot poultry vaccine regional award

Boehringer Ingelheim India has launched its Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing
poultry vaccine VAXXITEK HVT+IBD. An Federation (GCMMF), Amul has announced
innovative recombinant vaccine, VAXXITEK that it has received Asian Productivity
HVT+IBD is a single shot vaccine, ensuring Organization (APO), Tokyo, Japan
life-long protection for all types of production regional award in recognition of enhanced
chickens, namely broiler, layer and breeder. productivity and efficient milk supply chain.
Designed to build and strengthen a stronger GCMMF, Managing Director, R S Sodhi
immune foundation in poultry, the vaccine has accepted the award on behalf of 3.6
enables better flock health and performance. million milk producers of Gujarat. GCMMF
VAXXITEK HVT+IBD protects against two major is the largest food product organisation of
immunosuppressive diseases - IBD (Infectious India and achieved a group sales turnover
Bursal Disease) and Marek’s Disease, both of which of Rs 53,000 crore ($7.3 billion) during the
are known to cause significant losses to poultry last financial year and aimed to achieved
businesses. With over 130 billion birds vaccinated Rs 1,00,000 crore ($14 billion) in the
globally, this is the first vector vaccine launched in next five year. The Tokyo-based Asian
the avian market. As the flagship poultry product Productivity Organization (APO), is an
of Boehringer Ingelheim, VAXXITEK HVT + IBD inter-governmental body of which the
is the largest selling poultry vaccine globally in Government of India is a founder member.
terms of revenue, contributing close to 26 per cent The APO invites nominations from National
of sales in the poultry franchise globally. In India, Productivity Organizations (NPOs) of
the poultry vaccine market accounts for around member countries and the regional awards
$120 million. are conferred every five years and each
country can nominate only one candidate
out of the all nominations.

India records decline of 10.88 %
in seafood export in 2020-21

The COVID pandemic and sluggish overseas markets cast their shadow over India’s
resurgent seafood sector as the country exported 11,49,341 MT of marine products
worth Rs 43,717.26 crore ($5.96 billion) during FY 2020-21, registering a contraction
of 10.88 per cent as compared to a year earlier. USA, China, and the European Union
were the leading importers, while frozen shrimp retained its position as the major
export item, followed by frozen fish. In 2019-20, India exported 12, 89,651 MT of
seafood worth Rs 46,662.85 crore ($6.68 billion), marking a decline of 6.31 per cent in
rupee terms and 10.81 per cent in dollar value in 2020-21. Frozen shrimp contributed
51.36 per cent in quantity and 74.31 per cent of the total dollar earnings. USA remained
its largest importer (2,72,041 MT), followed by China (1,01,846 MT), EU (70,133 MT),
Japan (40,502 MT), South East Asia (38,389 MT), and the Middle East (29,108 MT).

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com S TA RT U P  N E W S 15

CropIn joins European Carbon+ Farming Coalition

CropIn has joined the newly formed European focus on increasing the uptake of regenerative and
Carbon+ Farming Coalition to accelerate progress climate-smart agriculture practices, identifying
towards the carbon neutrality goals of the the roadblocks to adoption, and designing
European Green Deal. This initiative is catalysed solutions with economic, practical and ecological
by the World Economic Forum’s CEO Action benefits to the farmers. It will also work to develop
Group for the European Green Deal and is part financial tools to empower farmers in managing
of the emerging food and nature platform, 100 transition risk and recommend the right set of
Million Farmers: Transitioning towards Net-Zero, farmer incentives.
Nature-Positive Food Systems. The coalition will
be working towards decarbonising the European
food systems while maximising benefits such as
soil health and farmer resilience. CropIn as one of
the partners in the European Carbon + Farming
Coalition, will take a farmer-centric approach and

Egreens sets up ICL Group launches
platform for agritech
Rs 15 Cr agritech startups

early stage fund ICL, a leading global speciality minerals and
speciality chemicals company, has launched ICL
Egreens announced Rs 15 crore million Planet Startup Hub. The innovation platform
fund for early-stage, agri-tech startups in is expected to help propel innovative food tech
India. Egreens will focus on startups that and agri-tech startups to the marketplace and to
use innovative technologies and disruptive provide enterprises with an extensive network of
business models across the entire value support, including investment and mentorship.
chain of food production, storage and ICL Planet was created as an innovation catalyst
transportation. Among the business ideas serving early-stage, pilot-ready startups, as well
that Egreens will look into, the focus will as more mature, market-ready startups operating
include innovative market linkages, the within the agriculture and food tech domains.
use of AI and machine learning in farming The new startup hub will centre activities on two
practices and implementation of IoT (Internet core areas of competency. The first will focus on
of Things) across the supply chain. The new areas related to crop nutrition, such as organic
fund announcement comes close to the heels fertilisers, nutrient use efficiency, biostimulants,
of investment of Rs 15 crore in VegEase, micronutrients and nitrogen fixation. The
the in-house food retail brand of Egreens. second will focus on food tech startups active
VegEase is re-imagining the delivery of fruits in the areas of alternative proteins, natural
and vegetables with its cart-at-home model. ingredients, plant-based functional ingredients,
VegEase has re-introduced the aspect of and white biotechnology, which can demonstrate
choice in-home delivery of fresh fruits and a measurable positive environmental impact.
vegetables. VegEase will use the fresh infusion
of funds to diversify into the B2B space.

16 S P E A K I N G W I T H AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

“GM may be the most
powerful approach to reduce
edible oils import”

DR C D ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research
MAYEE, (CICR), Nagpur and Vice-Chancellor, Marathwada
Agriculture University, Parbhani, Maharashtra. He
Chairman of served as the Chairman of Central Insecticides
Board, AFC Board and Registration Committee (CIBRC), and
India Ltd. Co-Chairman of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal
Committee and many high-powered committees
Born on July 15, 1946, at Sakharkherda, in that carried out the most notable reforms in R&D,
Buldana district of Maharashtra, Charudatta biotechnology and agrochemical sector.
D. Mayee, a son of farmer having interests in
understanding diseases that are affecting plants, The Federation of Indian Chambers of
has taken up research as an area of specialisation Commerce (FICCI) awarded Prof (Dr) C D
mainly in Plant Pathology-Epidemiology and Mayee with an award for Distinguished Lifetime
Management, Oilseed Pathology and Cotton Contribution (Individual) in Agrochemical sector
Improvement at Indian Agricultural Research during the FICCI Chemicals and Petrochemicals
Institute (IARI), commonly known as the Pusa Awards 2021 held as part of India Chem 2021 in
Institute to weed out plant diseases. His research March, 2021.
activities were instrumental in carrying bio-efficacy
assessment of insect resistant Bt cotton, which Currently, Dr Mayee, an Adjunct Professor at
was approved by the Government of India in 2002. IARI, New Delhi is holding many key positions at
national and international organisations. He will
Dr Mayee is an accomplished plant protection be completing 75 years this month. AgroSpectrum
scientist, an epidemiologist who contributed spoke to Dr C D Mayee, Chairman of Board, AFC
enormously to the application of cutting-edge India Ltd. on various aspects like role of startups,
science and developing the disease prediction promoting agri exports, boosting edible oils seed
model and identification of hotspot of diseases production and on ban of some agrochemicals.
such as downy mildew in orphan crops grown in
semi-arid region. Dr Mayee left indelible mark in his Edited excerpts:
quest for integrated approach to the development
of plant protection R&D and agrochemicals In recent years many agritech startups
sector in India. In his illustrious career of over are providing facilities such as agri-
five decades he published over 200 scientific finance, risk management, climate
publications in journals of repute. resilience etc. What role startups
will play in boosting the growth of
Dr Mayee, served as a scientist-par-excellence agriculture sector?
and able science administrator in highest
capacities in both State of Maharashtra and In the last few years there has been a good
Government of India before his superannuation in pick up of the startups in agriculture. Though
2011. Dr Mayee served as Chairman Agricultural agriculture contribute mere 16 per cent to GDP,
Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB), Government it engages more than 50 per cent population
of India (GoI); Agriculture Commissioner, Ministry in the sector and is most unorganized sector.
of Agriculture and Framers’ Welfare, GoI; Director, The major problem is least involvement of
modern machineries and technologies along
with the gap of supply chain management. Given
the financial boost by the Government many
startups have emerged in the last 6 years. They
are acting as excellent platform for youth to get
engaged in agriculture. Several innovative ideas
have cropped up and the result is several new
innovations have been brought in agriculture.

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com S P E A K I N G W I T H 17

What can be done to boost the export Dr C D Mayee receiving the FICCI award
of agricultural products? for Distinguished Lifetime Contribution
(Individual) in Agrochemical sector from
Certainly, exporting agricultural goods is one Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State,
way of maintaining competitive prices and the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers,
benefit must go to farmers whose income can government of India.
certainly be enhanced. The classical case is of
grape exports from Maharashtra as exporting plantation products to $29.81 billion in 2020-21,
this fruit has certainly benefitted the growers. registering a steep increase by 28.36 per cent
However, doubling the export is easy said than from $23.23 billion in 2019-20.
done because there are hurdles in outcomes and
volatile global agriculture commodity market and We have excess of food grains.
trade dynamics. But on edible oil front we have to
import to bridge the gap I demand and
We need to put our house of export domestic supply. How can we boost
promotion in order. When I was APEDA board the local production of edible oils to
member till recently it was suggested that discontinue imports?
first we must identify the infrastructure gaps
for commodity specific exports at all ports, I think this is a very pertinent question. We
explore new possibility to establish a Greenfield have done remarkably wonders in the last 50
Airport exclusively for cargo purposes in years that from the situation of a ‘Begging Bowl’
proximity to agriculture production center and today we are a ‘Doner Bowl’. Alas! the edible oil
also create dedicated freight corridor for land sector and its dependent economy continues
locked states. Our export is also hampered to remain behind. I fully agree with you on
by dubious standards. Therefore, we need to that count but I must also point out that if we
identify products whose domestic standards decide to stop import by increasing our domestic
are not aligned with international standards production of all oilseed crops, it is possible.
including SPS and ISO standards. We have a What we need a strong policy support on similar
very strong base of research through some 76 lines given through ‘oilseed mission’ under yellow
State Agricultural Universities and more than revolution programme in eighties.
103 ICAR institutions devoted to commodity
research. If export bodies collaborate with such India’s yield of oilseed crops is nearly 1/3 or
research organizations they can develop crop, half of the world average. For example, Indian
medicinal and aromatic plants, livestock, fish soybean yields have been stagnant around 1200-
and all allied products needed for a specific 1250 kg per ha as against world average of 2450
geography. Also, we need to diversify our export
basket and also the destinations. Instead of
raw product export value added products are in
demand so need to concentrate on them.

Simultaneously, a serious thrust must focus
relentlessly cutting cost and prices to beat others
in international market. Farmers must treat
as world class producers of quality products
and that kind of incentives will certainly help
to achieve the target set in the export policy
of agricultural goods. We have witnessed the
worst period in the history in the last few years
still Indian agriculture has shown tremendous
resilience and is one of the least affected
sectors by Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent
lockdowns. Not only our agricultural productivity
rose so also our exports as shown by current
estimates. From April 2020 to March 2021, India
exported agricultural goods excluding marine and

18 S P E A K I N G W I T H AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

kg per ha or 3400-3500 kg per ha in Argentina, future technologies like gene editing need to be
US and Brazil. What is that these countries introduced.
have done to enhance yields? The question is
simple. They have used the genetic modifications An important area like crop protection,
technologies in soybean and canola (mustard). government as to ban some
Herbicide and insect tolerant soya are commonly agrochemicals and was to introduce
grown there for the last 20 years and we are also some new ones. What is the best way
importing the entire soya oil derived from GM forward for a country like India where
crop. We too consume our own Bt cotton oil as Bt the chemical will be affordable to
cotton seeds is grown on 95 per cent cotton area small farmers too?
of the country. After successful deployment of
the HT and Bt traits in soybean now Argentina, I am happy you raised the question because
Brazil, US and recently Canada have all approved my field of specialization in agriculture is
drought tolerant soya (HB4) as an additional plant protection. India is the second largest
trait. pesticide manufacturer in the world. It is also a
major exporter of these chemicals although we
The subdued supply of edible oils including consume just 1 per cent of the global use. Indian
soybean has greatly impacted the availability of pesticide consumption pattern is in variance
vegetable oils and disruption due to Covid-19 with the developed world because of differing
resulted in significant increase in edible oil prices agro-climatic and socio-economic situations.
at ground level. Nearly 20 to 52 per cent increase Apparently 27 pesticides comprising of 12
in edible oil has created a chaotic situation in insecticides, 8 fungicides and 7 herbicides are in
recent times. Unfortunately, the solution though the list of banning but imagine 134 formulations
appear logical is being avoided by policy paralysis based on these generic products used on 74 field
in respect of GM technology in India. India and horticultural crops go out of market in one
remains isolated from technological revolutions stroke reducing the choice for farmers.
in edible oilseed crops except cotton where the
insect resistant Bt cotton has played a significant Besides registered off-label use of many of
role in increasing cotton seed oil from 0.5 these formulations have been documented by the
million tons to 1.5 million tons within a decade of Ministry. In fact, large number of high value- low
introduction of the technology. volume crops like spices, condiments, vegetables,
fruits, flowers, nutri-cereals, minor pulses,
Thus, GM may be one of the options to reduce oilseed crops suffer heavy losses due to pests,
import of edible oil, it is the most powerful diseases and weeds. Unfortunately, many of them
approach. Fortunately, the scientific community are not covered under registered use of plant
in India is also well equipped to bring the protection chemicals but are using these products
technology. However, innovative business model for managing the pests without label claim. The
for investment in robust IP protection framework recent efforts of the CIB&RC to have grouping
to secure interest in technology providers of these crops grown in the country in line with
covering protection, breeding, biotechnology and codex classification and recognition of the group
MRL has been a laudable step approved by
Government for label expansion.

There are many issues that appear to have

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com S P E A K I N G W I T H 19

Brief profile

 Education- Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, Ph.D, 1968-72; Post
Doctoral, Alexander von Humbolt Fellow, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart (Germany)
1980-82 and 1986; Re-visited 1986.

 Achievements - Vice-Chancellor, MAU, Parbhani, 1997-2000; Director, Central Institute
for Cotton Research, Nagpur, 2000-2003; Agriculture Commissioner; Government of
India, New Delhi; 2003-2004; Chairman, Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board, New
Delhi; 2004-2011.

 Positions currently holding - Adjunct Professor IARI, New Delhi; Chairman,
Agriculture Finance Corporation Mumbai; Member, African Biosafety Network Expertise,
Burkina Faso; Executive Board Member, International Service for Acquisition Agri-Biotech
Applications, USA; Board Member of Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola
and Sher-E-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences And Technology, Srinagar,
J&K; and Gondawana University, Gadchiroli; Chairman, Science and Technology
Resource Centre (STRC), Gadchiroli and Member, Rajiv Gandhi Science and Technology
Commission, Government of Maharashtra; Vice President, National Academy of
Agricultural Sciences New Delhi and Director of Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation
Ltd. Mumbai.

 Awards and Honours - Prof. M.J.Narasimhan Academic Award, 1074; V.P. Gokhale
Award, 1998; Vasantrao Naik Krishi Award, 2002; Outstanding Team Research Award,
2003; Dr. B. Vishwanath Award, 2005; Life Time Achievement Awards, 2008, 2011, 2012,
2015; Lekhiram Memorial Award, 2009; Doda Raghav Reddy Award, 2010; Leadership
Award 2010; Amit Prabudh Manishi Award, 2012; IPS Recognition Award, 2012; Sasya
Suraksha Mahajani Award, 2012; Honoured with two civilian awards for social, cultural
and scientific activities in the City of Nagpur; viz., Global Nagpur And Sarathi Awards.
Sheti Sanman Puraskar by ABP MAZA Marathi Channel, 2016; Annasaheb Shinde
Puraskar in 2017 for agri contribution Dr A.P.Misra. Life Time Achievement Award -2017
by IIPS, New Delhi. Padmabhushan Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil National Award-2017 by
Rayat Shikshan Santha, Satara; D.Sc. (Honoris Causa), Rajendra Agricultural University,
Pusa Samastipur (Bihar), 2009; OUAT, Bhubaneshwar (Orissa), 2010 and Assam
Agricultural University, Jorhat (Assam), 2010; President Indian Phytopathological Society,
1997-98; SMPP, Udaipur, 2006-09, Doctor’s Krishi Academy, Lucknow, 2006-11; CRDA,
Hissar, 2010-11, Chief Editor, IPS New Delhi, 2004-06.

 Fellow: Maharashtra Academy of Sciences; Academy of Science, Engineering and
Technology and National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi.

 President: Indian Society for Cotton Improvement, Mumbai (2008 to date) and South
Asia Biotechnology Centre, New Delhi.

been neglected while proposing the draft order. done on ‘risk-basis’ which has been supported
Just because a pesticide is banned in Saudi by Codex Committee, a body constituted by FAO
Arabia, Mozambique, Syria, Palestine, Norway and WHO. It is good that the new pesticide bill
or UK does not qualify it to be banned in India. (PMB-2020) which was introduced in Rajya
Majority of the ones proposed for banning have Sabha on March 23, 2020 is now transferred
been in long use and there is no serious outbreak to the Parliament Standing Committee on
of resistance, resurgence or residue reported in Agriculture for review and examination as well as
them. Most of the countries in the world are in the process of banning pesticides is being kept on
disagreement with EU in banning pesticide on hold.
‘hazard-basis’ as against the usual International
norms of biosafety assessment of pesticides Dipti Barve

[email protected]

20 C O V E R S TO RY AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

COVER STORY

India’s Vet health
industry guns for
post-COVID recovery

The India animal health market is currently witnessing strong growth. Animal
health refers to the regular monitoring of the health of domesticated animals
or livestock. It includes the development of veterinary drugs, pesticides, feed
additives, pharmaceuticals and biologics. Furthermore, it involves ensuring
constant food supply and preventing the outbreak of various zoonotic diseases.
Effective practice of animal healthcare also helps in reducing the chances
of inter-species infection in a veterinary or a domesticated situation. Major
industries such as dairy in India are animal-dependent, owing to which the
government invests significantly for improving the animal healthcare practices.
According to IMARC Group, significant growth in the veterinary pharmaceutical
industry is one of the key factors driving the growth of the market in India. In line
with this, the rising prevalence of zoonotic diseases is also providing a boost
to the market growth. Additionally, the widespread adoption of feed additives,
which aid in enhancing the overall animal health while improving the quality of
the produce, including milk, meat and eggs, is creating a positive outlook for the
market. India’s veterinary health market was well placed for a stronger growth,
but COVID-19 hit it quite hard. With the nation limping back to normal, traders
are expecting the business to show steady and positive growth.

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com C O V E R S TO RY 21

The impact of the pandemic has get veterinary services delivered to farmers’
decimated many sectors across the doorstep, they failed to cover the entire spectrum.
world and India's veterinary health In the first phase of the lockdown, availability of
sector is no different, suffering feed, vaccines, medicines etc. was greatly affected
great losses due to the frequent lockdowns but in later stages they were put under essential
imposed across the nation. According to Praxis services hence making them more accessible.
Global Alliance, a research and advisory firm
with its headquarter located in Gurugram, “If we compare the losses of industries such
presently, India’s veterinary health market’s as tourism, restaurant businesses, import &
consolidated value is $1.6 billion which includes exports etc. then we can certainly say that we have
veterinary vaccines, pesticides, feed additives, received less hammering. On the brighter side,
pharmaceuticals and biologics. This sector was pandemic has forced many clinics and veterinary
well placed for a stronger growth, but COVID-19 hospitals to take a technological spin by providing
hit it quite hard. telemedicine, providing 24 hour consultation
services. So this way, the relationship between
India’s poultry feed industry witnessed a the vet, veterinary doctor and the owners has
massive drop of $2 billion during the lockdown been changed after the COVID-19,” stated Ohhun
and experts feel that it will take another year to Kwon, Director, A'alda Vet India.
get the business back to normal. Similarly, India’s
pet food market also experienced a shortage of Feed crisis
pet food owing to the embargo on imports, as
most of the pet food in India is imported. With According to a report by Research and
the nation limping back to normal, traders Markets, Indian animal feed market was worth
are expecting the business to show steady Rs 400.5 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach
and positive growth. The government is also a benchmark figure of Rs 898.5 billion by 2024
encouraging MSMEs and startups to join India’s with a staggering CAGR of 14.3 per cent during
veterinary health sector and expand its reach 2019-2024. Currently the poultry, aqua and dairy
with their innovative and creative solutions. industry accounts for the major share of the Indian
animal feed industry. India has catapulted itself
The global socio-economic impact of as the world’s third-largest egg producer, after
COVID-19 is unprecedented. This continuously China and US; while it is the fourth-largest chicken
mutating virus has not only claimed countless producer in the world after China, Brazil and US
human lives, but also caused hefty financial (as reported by Trade Promotion Council of India).
losses to many trades. Considering different However, like many other sectors, the animal feed
aspects of livelihood and food security in various sector also suffered from losses due to the outbreak
economies, this is more than just a health crisis, of pandemic. The shortage in the supply chain was
especially in developing countries like India. The mainly affected by issues such as unavailability of
Indian poultry farmers faced massive losses of Rs raw materials, shortage of manpower, decline in
130 billion due to the outbreak of the pandemic. demand, logistical issues etc.
Adding more pain to the agony, frequent
lockdowns and misinformation forced another Animal feed
huge chunk of farmers directly or indirectly
associated with poultry business to close their The Indian animal feed market reached
operations permanently. Similar trade losses a value of Rs 942.4 billion in 2020. Looking
were also observed in the meat and dairy sector forward, IMARC Group expects the market to
impacting around 70 million farmers associated grow at a CAGR of 12.5 per cent during 2021-
with the trade. 2026. India currently represents one of the
largest feed producers in the world. Animal
Apart from decline in trade, farmers also feed includes various raw, processed and semi-
suffered from issues such as availability of processed products that are fed to livestock.
vaccines, animal feed, access to regular medicines Some of the most common feeds include pasture
for animals, easy availability of veterinarians, grasses, cereal grains, hay and silage crops, and
para-professionals and community animal other by-products of food crops, such as brewers’
health workers. Though the government grains, pineapple bran and sugar beet pulp. These
Animal Husbandry Department tried hard to products are carefully formulated with the help of

22 C O V E R S TO RY AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Leading animal health companies nutritional additives, like vitamins and minerals,
to maintain the overall health of animals and
1. Alembic Pharmaceuticals Ltd. improve the quality of various end-products,
2. Alivira Animal Health Ltd. including eggs, meat and milk.
3. Alltech Biotechnology Pvt. Ltd.
4. Ashish Life Science Pvt. Ltd. There has been a rise in public concern
5. Ayurvet Ltd. regarding the safety of animal-origin food
6. Avitech Nutrition Pvt. Ltd. products due to the prevalence of food-borne
7. BASF India Ltd. bacterial infections, bovine spongiform
8. Bayer Animal Health encephalopathy (BSE) and dioxin contamination.
9. Boehringer Ingelheim India Pvt. Ltd. These concerns have prompted regulatory
10. Brilliant Biopharma Pvt. Ltd. organizations to inspect and improve feeding
11. Cargill India Pvt. Ltd. practices in the country.
12. Ceva
13. Chembond Chemicals Ltd. It was noted that raw materials used in the
14. Chr Hansen Pvt. Ltd. production of animal feed, like soybean meal,
15. Delacon Biotechnik GmbH sorghum and maize, are being diverted for the
16. DSM Nutritional Products (I) Pvt. Ltd. consumption of humans, leading to a shortage
17. Elanco India Pvt. Ltd. in the feed industry. Furthermore, the expensive
18. EW Nutrition South Asia Ltd. nature, and price and supply volatility of these
19. Exotic Biosolutions Pvt. Ltd. raw materials is encouraging industry players to
20. Globion India Pvt. Ltd. switch to sustainable and lower-cost ingredients
21. Guybro Chemical for livestock production. Some of these novel
22. Harshvardhan's Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. ingredients include insect meal and Distiller’s
23. Hester Biosciences Ltd. dried grain with solubles (DDGS). Besides this,
24. The Himalaya Drug Company currently has a separate set of livestock policies
25. Hipra India Pvt. Ltd. that focus on increasing the overall productivity.
26. ICC Impex India Pvt. Ltd. Some of the schemes that are acting in favour of
27. IDEXX Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. the animal feed market include E-Pashu Haat,
28. Indian Herbs Specialities Pvt. Ltd. Livestock Insurance Scheme, Rashtriya Gokul
29. Indian Immunologicals Ltd. Mission, and National Livestock Mission.
30. Indovax Pvt. Ltd.
31. Intas Animal Health Poultry feed
32. Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd.
33. Kemin Industries South Asia Pvt. Ltd. Poultry feed (especially the boiler feed)
34. MSD Animal Health dominates the Indian animal feed market
35. Natural Remedies Pvt. Ltd. growing at a CAGR of around 15 per cent during
36. Novus Animal Nutrition (India) Pvt. Ltd. 2015- 2020, according to a report by TechSci
37. Nurture Aqua Technology Pvt. Ltd. Research, a research based management
38. Optima Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. consulting firm. Few of the major players
39. Provet Pharma Pvt. Ltd. operating in the India poultry feed market
40. PVS Laboratories Ltd. include Amrit Feeds Ltd., Godrej Agrovet Ltd.,
41. Rossari Biotech Ltd. SKM Animal Feeds and Foods (India) Ltd.,
42. Stallen South Asia Pvt. Ltd. Suguna Foods Pvt. Ltd., and Prime Avian Feed
43. Tineta Pharma Pvt. Ltd. (India) Pvt. Ltd. However, the outbreak of the
44. Varsha Multitech virus has forced many feed manufacturing
45. Venky's (India) Ltd. plants to shut down their operations putting the
46. Vetline (Division of SIMFA Labs Pvt. Ltd.) country's feed processing units in doldrums.
47. Vetoquinol India Animal Health Pvt. Ltd.
48. Virbac Animal Health India Pvt. Ltd. As per the industry experts, from the past
49. Vital Therapeutics & Formulations Pvt. Ltd. one year, the demand for poultry feed has fallen
50. Zeus Biotech Pvt. Ltd. drastically (approximately 20-30 per cent) and
51. Zoetis India Ltd. this is mainly because farmers are now reluctant
52. Zydus Animal Health to raise birds after analysing the current scenario.
Source: INFAH
“Currently, our feed processing plants are
operating with 20-30 per cent of their total

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com C O V E R S TO RY 23

capacity and there are plenty of reasons for that “If we compare the losses of
such as shortage in demand, lack of availability of industries such as tourism,
raw material, reduced manpower etc. Outbreak restaurant businesses, import
of COVID-19 has made the situation very hostile & exports etc. then we can
and if it continues like this then it will become certainly say that we have
very difficult for us to bear our operational cost,” received less hammering. On
said Mohit Raja, Director, Raja Fat and Feeds. the brighter side, pandemic
has forced many clinics and
Poultry feed industry is currently operating veterinary hospitals to take a
below their capacity due to less demand and technological spin by providing
closure of broiler farms in the country, and this telemedicine, providing 24 hour consultation
industry is struggling to grow up again. Owing to services. So this way, the relationship between the
the less demand of feed, feed manufacturers are vet, veterinary doctor and the owners has been
forced to slash down their prices by almost 10-20 changed after the COVID-19”.
per cent. A quintal of feed, which used to fetch - Ohhun Kwon, Director, A'alda Vet India
around Rs 3,600 earlier, now costs Rs 3,100.
“Currently, our feed processing
Pet food market plants are operating with 20-30
per cent of their total capacity
Similar to the poultry feed market; country’s and there are plenty of reasons
pet food market also witnessed the repercussions for that such as shortage in
of COVID-19 in its trade. Since most of the pet demand, lack of availability
food is imported from other countries, frequent of raw material, reduced
lockdowns and lack of domestic manufacturing manpower etc. Outbreak
lead to a shortfall in the supply chain. In order to of COVID-19 has made the
address this issue, the Animal Welfare Board of situation very hostile and if it
India has started a credit facility given under the continues like this then it will become very difficult
Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development for us to bear our operational cost”.
Scheme (AHIDS) for setting up animal feed - Mohit Raja, Director, Raja Fat and Feeds
manufacturing facilities.
manufacturers but not sufficient enough to meet
“On an average, India requires 30,000 demand and quality. Pet food industry in India
tonnes of pet foods. In India, there are pet food is growing at a faster rate and the government is
taking measures to address the demand-supply
Key players in animal feed gap and assisting the private sector to invest
industry in setting up of animal feed plant under the Rs
15,000 crore worth AHIDF scheme,” said O P
• Suguna Foods Private Limited Chaudhary, Chairman, Animal Welfare Board of
• Japfa Comfeeds India Pvt. Ltd. India. Under the scheme, up to 90 per cent credit
• Venkateshwara Hatcheries Pvt. Ltd. is given at a lower rate from scheduled banks
• Anmol Feeds Pvt. Ltd. to the individuals, MSME (Micro, Small and
• Godrej Agrovet Limited (GAVL) Medium Enterprises), FPOs (Farmer Producer
• SKM Animal Feeds and Foods (India) Ltd. Organisations) and Section 8 companies for
• Cargill, Incorporated. infrastructure development.
• Kapila Krishi Udyog Ltd.
• Amrit Group, KSE Ltd. Currently, this sector is ruled by international
• Avanti Feeds Ltd. players such as Mars International India, Royal
• Uno Feeds Canine India, JerHigh, Eukanuba etc. with dog
• Growel Feeds Pvt. Ltd. food and supplies consuming the major market
• C P Aquaculture India Pvt. Ltd. share.
• Mulpuri Foods and Feeds Pvt. Ltd.
• The Waterbase Ltd. Pharma woes
• Grobest Feeds Corporation India Ltd.
The major animal diseases against which
Source: IMARC Group vaccines needed are Foot and Mouth Disease
(FMD), Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR)
(Goat and Sheep), Brucellosis, Swine Fever,

24 C O V E R S TO RY AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Indian Animal Health Industry as Venkys India, Hester and a few multinational
companies. The outbreak of the pandemic forced
The Indian Animal Health (AH) Industry has most of the companies to stop their operations
played a vital role in safeguarding the animal owing to the shortage of manpower, lack of
husbandry interests of the nation. The Indian availability of raw materials, logistical issues etc.
animal healthcare market is estimated to On the farmers’ front, they faced a lot of issues in
be around Rs 5,500 crore (2020) and is accessing medicines for pregnant animals, facilities
projected to be around Rs 6000 crore by for collection of semen for artificial insemination,
2021. The species share in AH market is 51 deworming medicines etc. Elaborating on the
per cent of livestock, 35 per cent of poultry, situation, Dr Rahul Srivastava, Vice President,
8 per cent of companion animals, 5 per Business Development, Hester Biosciences,
cent of Aqua and rest 1 per cent for other stated, “Due to the lack of availability of required
remaining animals. Though there are no medicines, ethno-veterinary medicines were
published data, Indian Federation of Animal adopted during lockdown. Earlier they were
Health Companies (INFAH) anticipates the primarily used in unorganised and smallholder
contribution of various categories of animal domains but during this pandemic, organised
health products as 39 per cent Nutritionals, farmers also considered low cost, locally available
20 per cent paraciticides, 17 per cent entho-veterinary medicines.”
antibacterials, 13 per cent biologicals, and
11 per cent from other categories. There are The pandemic has also halted the routine
nearly >50 major companies operating in vaccination programme which is run by both
Animal health market in India though the central and state government at intervals of
market is dominated by top 10 players. six months for Foot and Mouth Disease and
haemorrhagic septicaemia for both cattle and
Source: INFAH buffalos. This might lead to a huge difficulty
in controlling disease outbreaks in the near
Haemorrhagic Septicaemia (HS) and Black future. Furthermore, the sudden halt of a
Quarter (BQ) etc. and till date, only four surveillance programme for the livestock and
commercial companies Indian Immunological, poultry diseases undertaken by the National
Hester Bioscience, Brilliant and Biovet that Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease
manufacture these vaccines on mass scale. Poultry Informatics (NIVEDI) in Bengaluru, coupled
vaccine sector is dominated by companies such with the collection of serum samples for serro-
surveillance, would lead to a major setback in

Liv estoc k and poultry population in India

Species 19th Livestock Census 20th Livestock Census Growth rate
2012 (in millions) 2019 (in millions) (%) 2012-19
193.46
Cattle 190.9 109.85 1.4
0.06 1.06
Buffalo 180.7 0.39 -25
303.76 30
Yaks 0.08 74.26 1.26
148.88 14.12
Mithun 0.3 9.06 10.14
0.8 -11.95
Total Bovines 299.98 536.76 -48.05
851.81 4.82
Sheep 65.07 16.81

Goat 135.17

Pigs 10.29

Other animals 1.54

Total Livestock 512.06

Poultry 729.21

Source: DAHD

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com C O V E R S TO RY 25

Animal Husbandry in India “On an average, India requires
30,000 tonnes of pet foods.
In India, Anim7al Husbandry is making In India, there are pet food
a significant contribution to the national manufacturers but not sufficient
economy and socio-economic development enough to meet demand and
of the country. With >11 per cent of world's quality. Pet food industry in
livestock population, India stands first in India is growing at a faster
buffalo population, second in cattle and rate and the government is
goat population, third in sheep and fifth in taking measures to address
chicken world over with bovine population of the demand-supply gap and
303.76 million, 148.88 million goats, 74.26 assisting the private sector to invest in setting up
million sheep, 9.06 million pig, 0.25 million of animal feed plant under the Rs 15,000 crore
camels and 851.81 million poultry as per worth AHIDF scheme”.
20th livestock census (2019).
- O P Chaudhary,
India stands number one in world for Chairman, Animal Welfare Board of India
total milk production with an estimated milk
production of 187.7 million tonnes (2019- “Due to the lack of availability
20) with an average yearly growth of over 6 of required medicines, ethno-
percent and per capita milk availability of veterinary medicines were
around 394 grams per day (2018-19) which adopted during lockdown.
is higher than the world average. Poultry Earlier they were primarily used
industry which provides economic source in unorganised and smallholder
of animal protein has taken a quantum leap domains but during this
in the last few decades evolving from a near pandemic, organised farmers
backyard practice to a venture of industrial also considered low cost, locally
promotion. The egg production is 103.3 available entho-veterinary
billion (2018-19) with an annual growth rate medicines.”
of >7 per cent with per capita availability - Dr Rahul Srivastava, Vice President, Business
of 79 eggs (2018-19). Meat production Development, Hester Biosciences
including poultry is 8.1 million tonnes (2018-
19). India is the second largest producer of care even in the very hostile circumstances.
fish and the second largest producer of fresh The veterinary telemedicine being launched by
water fish in the world. AP government focuses on the diagnosis and
healthcare of livestock which is raised by farmers
Source: INFAH for agriculture and commercial purposes.

disease forecasting. COVID-19 has forced the Shift in business approach
government to go on an innovative drive in order
to expand its reach. Stretching on that, soon Animal husbandry in India has undergone
the animal husbandry department of Andhra magnificent changes over the years, thanks to
Pradesh (AP) is launching a telemedicine facility the adoption of innovative technologies used
for animals. This initiative is first of its kind and for prevention and cure of farm and companion
it is launched with the support of the central animals. There has been a paradigm shift in the
government. Since the disease diagnosis is very business approach of animal health companies
important for animals just like humans, the AP that have evolved from therapeutics to preventive
state government is implementing the Pashu to productivity enhancement and now to overall
Sanjivani programme and for that it has deployed healthcare of the animals.
108 ambulance services for animals in each
Assembly constituency. Through new approaches and paradigm,
the animal health industry has evolved and
With the help of this telemedicine facility, propelled the animal husbandry to new heights
many livestock farmers operating in the remotest of glory. India's surge to the top of milk and egg
region of the country can avail expert medicinal production reinforces the significance of Animal
Health Industry. The animal health industry is
working together and strengthening the Animal
Husbandry in the country.

Nitin Konde

26 G R E E N H O U S E G A S AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Bringing down GHG
Emissions with
sustainable cattle feed

Livestock produce significant amounts of methane as part of their normal digestive

processes. Some feed additives can inhibit the microorganisms that produce methane

in the rumen and subsequently reduce methane emissions. The amount of methane

emitted by livestock is primarily driven by the number of animals, the type of digestive

system they have and the type and amount of feed consumed. Ruminants are the

principal source of livestock methane emissions because they produce the most

methane per unit of feed consumed. Researchers have come up with techniques

to reduce livestock greenhouse gas emissions that may also increase livestock

productivity and resilience. These technologies are more likely to reduce the intensity

of emissions, rather than total emissions, and so opportunities to benefit financially

from creating offsets may be limited.

According to latest report of FAO (Food University of Arkansas Resilience Centre (UARC)
and Agriculture Organization) of the and many others have started investing in
United Nations, the livestock sector is a research and development of sustainable feed for
major contributor to climate change. It livestock.
is estimated that the sector emits about 7.1 giga-
tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2eq.), about 18 per Feed ingredient
cent of the total anthropogenic greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions. It is estimated that improving Royal DSM, a global science-based company
livestock productivity will reduce emissions per active in health, nutrition and sustainable living,
unit of livestock product by 20 to 30 per cent. has developed a feed ingredient to reduce enteric
methane formation in ruminants by over 30 per
By using different types of sustainable cattle cent on average. The ingredient is scientifically
feed ingredients, eco-friendly varieties of corn called 3-NOP and is considered a breakthrough
and other crops, seaweed based feed and cattle technology that inhibits methane formation in
wearables, methane emission from livestock can
be reduced to a large extent. Sustainable cattle
feed is expected to become the next generation
feed for the animal nutrition industry. Ten per
cent of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions
come from livestock, especially ruminants such
as cattle, which produce methane (CH4) as
part of their normal digestive processes. Use of
sustainable cattle feed is one of the effective ways
to reduce the environmental footprint of livestock
greenhouse gas. Considering the increasing
percentage of greenhouse gas emissions across
the world, major animal nutrition companies
and organisations such as Royal DSM, Syngenta
Seeds, Cargill, Sysco, University of California,

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com G R E E N H O U S E G A S 27

the rumen of cattle. A 2-year large-scale trial in 4 approaches to mitigating
beef cattle in Alberta, Canada has successfully livestock GHG emissions:
demonstrated that a novel feed ingredient,
developed by Royal DSM, can be included in • husbandry (animal breeding, feed
commercial feedlot diets to reduce methane supplements, improved pastures)
emissions by up to 80 per cent, without negative
effects on animal health and performance • management systems (stocking rates,
parameters and carcass characteristics. This biological control)
was the largest and longest trial for methane
reduction in beef to date. The trial alone already • numbers of livestock
reduced Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by • manure management
1473 tonnes CO2e.
Source: www.agric.wa.gov.au
The trial was conducted by a Canadian
Research Consortium consisting of Agriculture in cattle diets is effective at reducing greenhouse
and Agri-Food Canada, Feedlot Health gases and that the efficacy does not diminish
Management Services, Viresco Solutions, and over time," said Ermias Kebreab, professor and
DSM Nutritional Products, and with support Sesnon Endowed Chair of the Department of
from the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association. Animal Science and director of the World Food
Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) committed Center. Kebreab and Roque are building on
$1.5 million to this $3 million project through its their earlier work with dairy cattle, which was
Methane Challenge. The project was recognized the world's first experiment reported that used
for having positive implications for the province seaweed in cattle. In the new study, Kebreab and
due to the fact that 70 per cent of Canada’s Roque tested whether those reductions were
cattle production happens in Alberta. With sustainable over time by feeding cows a touch of
15,000 cattles included in the trial, it represents seaweed every day for five months, from the time
the largest single trial conducted on methane they were young on the range through their later
reduction technologies for ruminants. days on the feedlot.

Mark van Nieuwland, Program Director at Corn feed
DSM said, “We see the demand for low carbon
beef and dairy products increasing globally. Major agriculture companies are collaborating
We are therefore very proud that our methane for research and development of sustainable
reduction solution has proven to be highly animal feed. Syngenta Seeds, in partnership with
effective at scale and with this level of impact. the University of Arkansas Resilience Centre
This is the largest cattle trial DSM has ever (UARC), unveiled newly published research
contributed to with over 15,000 cattle tested. highlighting the potential for beef producers to
Our solution showcases DSM's purpose-led, reduce their environmental footprint by using
performance driven strategy. We are very grateful Enogen corn for feed from Syngenta Seeds.
also to ERA and the Alberta Cattle Feeders
Association for their generous financial support Enogen corn for feed, fed to cattle as grain
to make this trial a reality and to deliver true or silage, helps convert starch to sugar more
impact for the planet’s future”. efficiently, resulting in more readily available
energy for livestock. The purpose of the UARC
Seaweed based feed study was to evaluate the performance of Enogen
corn for feed – compared to conventional feed
Researchers from animal health universities corn – when used as an ingredient in their
across the world are also studying the feed operations. The life cycle assessment was
ingredients that can lower the level of greenhouse conducted by Drs Greg Thoma, Marty Matlock
gas emissions. According to new findings from and Martin Christy at the UARC.
researchers at the University of California, Davis,
a bit of seaweed in cattle feed could reduce The UARC findings indicate that
methane emissions from beef cattle by as much an improvement in feed efficiency – as
as 82 per cent. demonstrated in University of Nebraska-
Lincoln (UNL) feeding trials2 – results in
"We now have sound evidence that seaweed approximately 6 per cent improvement in the
four key environmental performance metrics of

28 G R E E N H O U S E G A S AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

beef production. The observed environmental "We now have sound evidence
performance improvement during the that seaweed in cattle diets is
backgrounding phase – as seen in Kansas State effective at reducing greenhouse
University (KSU) trials2 – was in the 3.5-5 per gases and that the efficacy does
cent range, which suggests Enogen corn for not diminish over time".
feed is an important potential technology for
mitigation of environmental impact in this phase - Ermias Kebreab, Professor
of beef production, as well. and Sesnon Endowed Chair
of the Department of Animal
Sustainable grazing practices Science and Director, World

Sysco and Cargill have announced partnership Food Center
with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
(NFWF) that will help ranchers in Texas, “Farmers and agribusiness
Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas and Colorado are looking for ways to drive
tackle the impacts of climate change and improve methane mitigation and change
grasslands and wildlife habitat by creating one of for our planet, while meeting the
the largest sustainable beef cattle grazing efforts challenge of feeding a growing
in the nation. population. By partnering with
ZELP, we are in a unique position
Through a public-private partnership, $5 to help significantly reduce the
million in funding from Sysco and Cargill will greenhouse gas emissions
accelerate the implementation of sustainable associated with livestock
grazing practices over the next five years across production”.
1 million acres in the Southern Great Plains, an
area responsible for approximately 30 per cent of - Delphine Melchior,
the beef produced in the United States. Sustainability and Quality Sector Director, Cargill’s

Cattle wearables Aqua and Animal Nutrition Business

In order to provide a solution for growing “We see the demand for low
methane emission concerns from livestock, carbon beef and dairy products
Cargill and ZELP (Zero Emission Livestock increasing globally. We are
Project) have jointly developed combining therefore very proud that our
technology in methane oxidation and data methane reduction solution has
processing to minimize the environmental impact proven to be highly effective
of dairy production while improving animal at scale and with this level of
welfare. impact. This is the largest cattle
trial DSM has ever contributed
Enteric methane is a natural by-product of to with over 15,000 cattle
cattle digesting feed, which is then released from tested. Our solution showcases DSM's purpose-
the mouth and nose. Using smart technology, led, performance driven strategy. We are very
ZELP developed a cattle wearable that neutralizes grateful also to ERA and the Alberta Cattle Feeders
part of this methane as it is exhaled. As much as Association for their generous financial support to
95 per cent of an animal’s methane emissions make this trial a reality and to deliver true impact
come from its mouth and nostrils. The ZELP for the planet’s future”.
technology, which easily attaches to regular
halters, captures and oxidizes those emissions. - Mark van Nieuwland,
Programme Director, DSM
“Farmers and agribusiness are looking for
ways to drive methane mitigation and change for director for Cargill’s aqua and animal nutrition
our planet, while meeting the challenge of feeding business.
a growing population. By partnering with ZELP,
we are in a unique position to help significantly By using different types of sustainable cattle
reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated feed ingredients, eco-friendly varieties of corn
with livestock production”, said Delphine and other crops, seaweed based feed and Cattle
Melchior, sustainability and quality sector wearables, Methane emission from livestock can
be reduced to a large extent. Sustainable cattle
feed will become the next generation feed for the
animal nutrition industry.

Dipti Barve
[email protected]

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com E D U C AT I O N I N F R A 29

Disparities in veterinary

sector needs attention

India has around 65,000 veterinarians while the requirement stands at 120,000, which
needs to be fulfilled immediately. The country also lacks well-equipped functional
laboratory facilities for quick diagnostics, shortage of high-tech ambulances for
animals is also a major issue especially in rural areas where it is of utmost importance.
The veterinary infrastructure in India’s rural areas requires more strengthening. The
Government of India has recently announced Rs 13, 343 crore for control of foot and
mouth disease (FMD) and brucellosis which are very common diseases. This could be
marked as a positive move which will further strengthen the veterinary sector.

Veterinary health sector focuses on Reason? One third of them either drop out or
prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of switch to the medical profession which offers
disease, disorder and injury in animals, better career opportunities”, reveals Dr Chandan
both domesticated and wild. In India, Kumar, Scientist and Course Coordinator,
animal medicines are mostly used by the livestock Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.
sector which includes poultry (eggs, broiler
meat), cattle (milk), fisheries (fish), and the meat Shortage of vets
industry handling goat meat, pork meat and
buffalo meat. Significant market led opportunities Unlike medical practitioners for humans,
have recently been observed for the livestock there are not many denizens that get attracted
sector as a result of globalisation and economic towards the veterinary stream leaving the animal
liberalisation policies initiated by the Government health sector in quandary. Since the demand
of India in 1991. As per the report by the for the veterinary courses is less, there are only
government of Tamil Nadu, livestock production 55 veterinary colleges in the country. Moreover,
is growing faster than any other agricultural sub- these colleges and institutions offer syllabus that
sector and by 2021, this sub-sector is predicted to teaches very less about wildlife at undergraduate
produce more than half of the total agricultural level. There are a very limited number of colleges
output in value terms in India. such as Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences
University, Wayanad, Madras Veterinary College,
However, despite the pharmaceutical sector Chennai etc. that offer post-graduation courses
attracting a lot of attention due to its high-profile on treating wild animals.
and lucrative nature, its cousin the animal health
sector failed to receive equivalent attraction by In October 2019, Ministry of Environment,
the government. There are certain shortfalls Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC)
in India’s veterinary sector that need to be highlighted this issue when they wrote to the
addressed in order to propel its growth. National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)
stating that in many tiger reserves of the country
“If we compare our veterinary sector with the there is a big shortage of veterinary doctors
western world, then we are way behind. There and they are banking on the services of local
are major issues that need quick attention if government veterinarians.
we want to enhance the growth of this sector.
For one, there’s a huge shortage of vets. India Elaborating further, Kunal Dev Sharma,
urgently requires 120,000 vets, but we have only Director, Max Vets Hospital stated, “In India,
65,000 to do the job. One major reason behind the scenario of veterinary wildlife is very bleak
this shortfall is that presently India has only 55 as the entire course structure revolves around
functional veterinary colleges, with an average the livestock. If someone wishes to learn more
of 60 students emerging from each institution. on veterinary wildlife then he has to opt for a
specialised course offered by limited institutions

30 E D U C AT I O N I N F R A AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

or he has to do it from abroad.” “In India, the scenario of
Another issue that is hampering the growth of veterinary wildlife is very bleak
as the entire course structure
India’s veterinary sector growth is the quality of revolves around livestock. If
practitioners. Unlike human medical institutions someone wishes to learn more
where students are selected after various on veterinary wildlife then he has
screening and competitive exams, veterinary to opt for a specialised course
colleges don’t have such a refined system in place offered by limited institutions or
hence a person with an average ranking can he has to do it from abroad.”
easily enroll for such courses.
- Kunal Dev Sharma,
Dr Sandeep Karkhanis, Managing Director Director, Max Vets Hospital
at Noveltech Feeds said, “It is very hard to find
quality veterinary professionals in India because “It is very hard to find quality
of their preferences. Most of the quality vet veterinary professionals in India
practitioners opt for government jobs as they feel because of their preferences.
that this is the most secure position. The one who Most of the quality vet
joins the private sector doesn’t stick long because practitioners opt for government
most of the time they are just there before they jobs as they feel that this is the
land into a coveted government vet job.” most secure position. The one
who joins the private sector
Rural vet infrastructure requires doesn’t stick long because most
enhancement of the time they are just there
before they land a coveted government vet job.”
There is a lot of disparity between urban and
rural veterinary infrastructure which is a major - Dr Sandeep Karkhanis, MD, Noveltech Feeds
concern. According to the 19th livestock census,
the population of India's livestock has declined “There are major issues that
by 3.33 per cent and the population of indigenous need quick attention if we want
cattle has decreased by 8.94 per cent. These to enhance the growth of this
figures reveal that immediate attention is needed sector. For one, there’s a huge
so that veterinary infrastructure can be elevated in shortage of vets. One major
these areas. The condition of veterinary hospitals reason behind this shortfall is
in rural areas is very poor and in general, one that presently India has only 55
veterinary hospital handles at least 4-5 villages. functional veterinary colleges,
Dilapidated buildings, limited staff, unavailability with an average of 60 students
of needed medicines, delayed services etc. force emerging from each institution.”
the animal keepers to go to private hospitals - Dr Chandan Kumar, Scientist and Course
putting extra burden on owners’ pocket.
Coordinator, JNU, New Delhi
Uttar Pradesh, one of the biggest states of the
country, has a large cattle population but yet, the (IVRI) set up its first multi-specialty veterinary
state has on an average one veterinary hospital hospital in Bareilly, UP. This hospital is equipped
for 21000 animals. As a result of the shortage of with facilities such as minor OT, delivery
medical facilities, many animals lose their lives. room, X-ray, Ultrasound, CT scan, screening
laboratories, Endoscopy, Dialysis unit, seminar
“Most of the veterinarians also need to room, ICU etc. Similar setups are required to be
perform non-clinical administrative work that installed at various district levels so that poor
includes organising training camps for farmers, farmers can get benefitted by them.
distribution of fodder, preparing health certificates
for animals etc. this reduces their clinical practices Absence of such facilities and unavailability
and puts extra pressure on them. It is necessary of veterinary professionals, force owners to go to
to free veterinary hospitals from all other duties para-vets. These para-vets are not fully trained
other than health check,” said Dr Kumar. so the possibility of them giving erroneous
medication to the animal is more which might
There is also a strong requirement of a multi- prove fatal to the animal. According to Indian
specialty veterinary hospital at district level. Veterinary Education Act 1984, a para-vet can
In 2018, Indian Veterinary Research Institute only give basic treatment.

Nitin Konde

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com S P E A K I N G W I T H 31

“Dairy, Poultry & Aqua turn focal
point for tremendous growth”

KAUSHIK nutrition industry are playing a crucial role in this
SINHA, transformation by bringing in the best nutrition
technology and farm management practices for
Commercial Director, dairy, poultry, and aqua farming industries in
Cargill India India. Additionally, the industry is trying out
innovative business models i.e. partnerships or
Cargill that set up its operations in India integration options, that can bring higher efficiency
back in 1987, has businesses in refined to the value chain. At Cargill Animal Nutrition, we
oils, food ingredients, grain and oilseeds, produce innovative solutions including on-farm
cotton, animal nutrition, industrial expertise, value added feed products and nutrient
specialties, and trade structured finance. analysis to support animal health and performance.
The Animal Nutrition business of Cargill Over the last decade, we have seen significant
provides animal feed and premix and improvement in farm productivity and farmer’s
nutrition for aqua, dairy and poultry. income as a result of these initiatives. We believe
It markets animal feed and premixes the industry will play a leading role in the global
under the brands such as Provimi, food value chain.
Purina, Citura and Cargill. Kaushik
Sinha, Commercial Director, Cargill How is Cargill contributing in compound
India, shares his views on the status of feed for the dairy cattle sector?
animal nutrition industry in India with
AgroSpectrum. Edited excerpts; Cargill is a global leader in nutrition technology.
We use our expertise in nutrition technology to
What is the status of the animal design the right solutions for Indian dairy cattle
nutrition industry in India? based on local farm management, feeding practices
and weather conditions. Our dairy feed solutions
The animal nutrition industry in India is are well known in India to provide the best results
seeing rapid growth and transformation, as the in animal health and milk productivity.
dairy, poultry and fisheries industries’ in India
get increasingly organised and complement Only about 10 per cent of the farmers in India
conventional agricultural output. The government are using compound feed. Our biggest focus and
and industry associations are collaborating to contribution area is farmer education on the role
develop product quality and food safety standards. of farm management and nutrition in increasing
Animal feed manufacturers, suppliers, and milk productivity. Each year, we provide training to
exporters in India are hiring professional talent, 100,000 farmers through farm visits and organise
adopting better management practices, to set the farmer group meetings in the villages. We have
foundations for the next phase of growth. Indian adopted more than 500 farms where our dairy feed
and foreign organisations in the animal health and consultants spend significant time. A lot of dairy
nutrition and farm management best practices gets
passed on from these model farms to entire villages
or blocks.

We also share our technical expertise, our
proprietary tools for ingredient analysis and
feed formulation and specialised micro-nutrition
solutions with other dairy feed companies in India.
This helps us multiply our farmer reach and also
help raise the standards of the overall dairy feed
industry in India.

32 S P E A K I N G W I T H AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

What is the role of sustainability in dairy field consultants each (veterinary doctors,
animal feed? para-vets, and AI technicians). Each of these field
experts serve at least 50 farms. This way we are
The animal nutrition industry is playing a able to network and communicate with 10 lakh
very critical role in sustainability. The dairy feed farmers in India. There is significant opportunity to
industry is already using food roughages remaining increase market coverage through digital adoption
after harvesting of food grains (rice straw, wheat and value chain partnerships. Preventive health
straw, jowar straw, etc.) and converting them into segments like vaccines, nutrition supplements
milk protein. There is scope for increasing usage and immune boosters have big opportunities for
of ingredients that are a by-product or processing growth. Economic value from preventive health of
waste from the food processing industry. These animals is being understood a lot better by farmers
might be of high nutritional value and might after the pandemic.
otherwise be wasted for lack of application. India
produces more than 40+ million metric tonnes What is the impact of the current
(MTs) of feed every year across Dairy, Poultry and pandemic on the animal nutrition
Aqua industries. If we are able to increase feed industry in India?
efficiency by 2.5 per cent, we would have saved a
million MTs of food ingredients and the resources The pandemic posed a very difficult time
required to grow it. Animal feed is 20 per cent more for all of us, i.e., our employees, our customers,
efficient than it was 20 years back. distribution partners and in general the
communities we serve. Our industry’s collective
At Cargill, all our efforts support Cargill’s effort during the pandemic was to minimise the
large-scale focus on sustainability. We embed impact to livelihood and business interests of small
sustainability in our business from product marginal farmers, distribution network partners
development onwards and continuously evaluate and SMEs serving this industry. India is a very
and bring in new ingredients into our feed resilient country and we believe that the country
formulations that optimises feed efficiency and will bounce back to emerge stronger than before.
maximizes economic returns for the producers.
How would you envisage the future of
What are the growth plans and the veterinary health industry in India?
strategies of the company in 2021-22?
We estimate the animal health industry to
As the global leader in the food and agriculture continue to grow at 6 per cent to 8 per cent in this
sector, we play a critical role in the food system. decade. Producers will continue to see economic
We are committed to ensure all new products and value in farm application of preventive health,
services from our premix and nutrition business immunity boosters and therapeutic solutions.
include a sustainability advantage within the animal
agriculture value chain. Starting right from the However, we might see some consolidation
way we source agricultural materials, innovate among veterinary health players in time to come.
new products and technologies, to ensuring animal There are too many players operating in each
wellbeing and human health, we believe the work we market, and too many similar products on offer
do is helping create a sustainable future. We are just to customers. There is overcapacity in sales and
getting started and have a long way to go! We see marketing resources too. Market coverage and
significant opportunities for growth and contribution high cost to serve are the key challenges for
in all three areas we operate in, i.e., Dairy, Poultry the veterinary health industry in India. These
and Aqua. Dairy allows us to touch the lives and challenges can be solved through technology
livelihood of the maximum number of farmers and adoption. We might see the emergence of digital
consumers in India. Hence, we are most confident platforms that can connect all players in the value
about this segment to grow, and it is primarily the chain. AI (Artificial Intelligence), interactive
focus of our strategic growth objectives. diagnostic tools can help doctors do farm
diagnostics remotely in future. We certainly believe,
What are the opportunities in the digital tools and technology can help disrupt and
veterinary health industry? transform the industry in a positive way.

We have a specialised dairy health team of 200 Dipti Barve
field representatives, who collaborate with 100
[email protected]

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com S P E A K I N G W I T H 33

“Demand for animal protein
calls for new thinking, to
create a sustainable industry”

RAJEEV What is the status of the animal
MURTHY, nutrition industry in India?

Head, Animal Much like other sectors, the livestock industry
Nutrition & Health, has been adversely affected by the continuous
Asia, Royal DSM nationwide lockdowns brought by COVID-19
which led to loss of consumption and supply.
Royal DSM is a global, purpose-led,
science-based company active in However, the animal nutrition sector has
Nutrition, Health and Sustainable definitely matched pace with the industry
Living. DSM’s purpose is to create changing requirements over the years
brighter lives for all. DSM addresses brought about by improvements in genetics
with its products and solutions some and management practices. At DSM, we are
of the world’s biggest challenges continuously working to transform the animal
while simultaneously creating nutrition and health industry in India and
economic, environmental and societal beyond. With the use of our science & innovation-
value for all its stakeholders – based solutions, we are making the sustainability
customers, employees, shareholders, of animal farming possible by improving the
and society at large. DSM and its lifetime performance of farm animals, reducing
associated companies deliver annual food loss and waste, reducing emissions from
net sales of about €10 billion with livestock, reducing our reliance on marine
approximately 23,000 employees. resources, making efficient use of natural
The company was founded in 1902 resources, and helping tackle antimicrobial
and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam. resistance.
Rajeev Murthy, Head, Animal
Nutrition & Health, Asia at Royal DSM Recently DSM launched intelligent
speaks about the status of animal sustainability service Sustell.
nutrition industry in India and growth How will it be useful in improving
opportunities in animal nutrition the environmental footprint and
sector with AgroSpectrum. Edited profitability of animal protein
excerpts; production?

With the population in India projected to
rise to over 1.64 billion by 2050, the demand
for animal protein is also expected to increase
rapidly. This calls for new thinking, new
technologies, and new business models to create
a more sustainable industry that can feed the
growing population, sustainably and responsibly.

To achieve this meaningfully, we launched
Sustell, a holistic animal protein sustainability
service that measures and provides real data-
based, independent guidance and solutions
at farm-level for profitably improving the
sustainability of animal protein production. It is

34 S P E A K I N G W I T H AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

designed in recognition that every supply chain Balancius enables broilers to produce more food
and every farm is different, and therefore the from the same amount of feed, improving their
impact of an intervention will vary the footprint profitability while reducing the environmental
on a case-by-case basis, requiring a tailor made footprint and making farming more sustainable
environmental footprint assessment and plan of with less waste. Having aligned our agenda closely
improvement. It not only provides a credible and with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals,
validated data-driven analysis of environmental we’re focusing our passion and expertise on 6
sustainability performance of animal protein key sustainability platforms in Animal Nutrition
production; it also gives a clear intervention & Health, which seek to support the livestock
advice to further improve sustainability and value chain and address the challenges facing
business performance. This leads to real action our planet: Improving lifetime performance of
and results that make a positive difference. farm animals; Reducing food loss and waste;
Reducing emissions from livestock; Making
By doing this, we underline our strategic efficient use of natural resources; Reducing our
initiative “We Make it Possible” which drives us to reliance on marine resources; and Helping tackle
lead a robust transformation in sustainable animal antimicrobial resistance. We are continuously
protein production and create brighter lives for all. collaborating with our customers and partners
to transform the animal nutrition and health
Royal DSM has successfully industry worldwide so that we can create
completed the trial feed ingredient sustainable food systems within the planetary
which reduces methane emissions in boundaries. With our recent acquisition of the
beef cattle in Canada. How will it boost Erber Group’s Biomin and Romer labs, we have
sustainable cattle feed practices? also strengthened our portfolio to offer additional
performance solutions. Thus, we look ahead at FY
Methane release forms a major chunk of 2021-22 to consolidate our leadership position in
anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas (GHG) that the animal nutrition sector.
contribute to climate change. With our novel
feed ingredient, Bovaer, we are able to reduce the What are the opportunities in the
enteric methane in ruminants by an average of animal nutrition industry in India?
30 per cent. The scientific 3-NOP ingredient is a
significant breakthrough technology in promoting On the consumer front, the increasing demand
sustainable cattle feed practices. of animal protein within the food and beverage
industry is also driving growth for us. With Indian
The 2-year large scale trial in beef cattle market getting more globalised and consumers
has effectively exhibited how Bovaer helps being more aware, the industry will grow stronger
reduce methane emissions in Canada. It was and transform to produce animal protein more
further identified that it can be incorporated in sustainably.
commercial feedlot diets to lower the emissions
by 80 per cent with no negative effects on animal What is the impact of COVID-19
wellbeing, carcass traits and performance pandemic on the animal nutrition
indicators. It’s also the most sizable trial effective industry in India?
till date for methane reduction in beef, which
reduced the GHG emissions by 1,473 tonnes The global pandemic wreaked havoc across
carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). We believe industries. The initial stages of the lockdown
that this provision of protein to meet the current hit the animal nutrition industry in India with
demands while balancing the environmental costs an acute demand shrink. With restrictions on
will redefine animal farming. exports and border disruptions, supply chains
were impacted.
What are the growth strategies and
plans of the company for FY 2021-22? However, the industry was resilient and
ensured production was not impacted. With these
Year-on-year, we have significantly accelerated changes, the industry was able to maintain pace
our solutions to the market that underpin our with the current challenges.
purpose to create a sustainable future for animal
farming. Sustainability shall always remain Dipti Barve
embedded in our DNA. Our recent launch,
[email protected]

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com T E C H N O L O G Y 35

Why Indian dairy farmers
must adopt Sex-Sorted
Semen Breeding

P. KALARICKAL J. F. MORENO

VP Business CEO, STgenetics
Development, Texas
STgenetics Texas

The sex pre-selection of the offspring using flow cytometry was proven possible in
rabbits in 1989. Since this breakthrough, the technology has been slowly adapted to
produce gender-selected offspring in several species including cattle, horses, pigs,
goats and sheep. The benefits of sex-sorted semen are considerable. The exceptional
qualities of SexedULTRA sex-sorted semen have resulted in field conception arates
equal to or better than those of conventional semen under similar conditions, and a
female gender ratio of calves born of over 93 per cent.

It has been calculated that by 2050 global from external sources is eliminated. Similarly,
milk production will increase to 1,075 × 106 it has been demonstrated that, by increasing the
tonnes (liquid milk equivalent; 62 per cent proportion of heifer calves born at the expense of
increase relative to 2005) (FAO, 2017). This heavier male calves, the incidence of dystocia is
increase will require marked improvements in reduced in 1st-calving heifers by approximately
production efficiency, as arable land resources 20 per cent, reducing losses in production,
are not increasing. To meet the world’s increasing fertility, cow and calf mortality, increased culling
demand for milk production, it is necessary and veterinary and management costs. It has
to substantially increase the number of elite also been suggested that gestation of a female
females, which can best be achieved by shifting calf could result in increased milk production,
the sex ratio in a straw of semen. In addition, especially if the daughter pregnancy occurs at
producing only female calves has proven to help the first parity. Another important reason for
farmers save resources that would have been incorporating sex-sorted semen in any dairy
shared with unwanted males. system in India is to reduce animal welfare issues
due to abandoning of unwanted males, since
Studies in cattle have demonstrated that many states have now banned slaughtering of
the use of sex-sorted semen facilitates faster, cattle.
more profitable herd expansion in seasonal,
pasture-based dairy herds. The use of sex-sorted In the past ten years, STgenetics has made
semen also offers benefits in terms of improved a significant investment in Research and
biosecurity since, if all replacements can be Development, which has resulted in an overall
generated on-farm, the need to buy animals improvement of the methods and technology

36 T E C H N O L O G Y AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

used for sperm sex- sorting. The current dose present comparable fertility to that of

method, with the trade name SexedULTRA, was conventional semen (102 per cent relative heifer

developed as a system to remove the main sperm fertility compared to conventional). These initial

stressors and retain cells in a benign environment field trials confirmed that the deleterious effects of

throughout the sex-sorting process. This method the previous methods of sperm sorting had been

accommodates changes in pH, temperature, and greatly alleviated, and that fertility rates are now

tonicity, and includes modified extenders that equivalent to those of conventional semen.

take into account the low dose required for sex- In a meta-analysis on the long-term usage

sorted semen. The method also removes dead, of sex-sorted semen, conception rates were

dying and damaged sperm cells, which helps estimated at STgenetics partnering herds for

increase the fertility of the sex-sorted semen, conventional and sex-sorted semen in Holstein

even at a low sperm numbers. and Jersey, and in heifers and cows, between the

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scwermoimenthfiseinrGnumieplsretrtmdeorcatdyehnseoisGnfefeedrnaatfeiolgti9litlcroy1siwicI.min0untpglerptrotunhevaerertmeSioceenaxenaestnld,GUtwtmeLhfTecebrRHhmeAnaiclealccaelfnrtapcaeetrntorriavtoftigdeoeseinrnosdofaetr8rght,ep0redu0icrs0fiuutisybelp.ptleoudrpmrufe/rlas,oetircmooennpsd1oow,f0rXitt6h-e3oodr,v5Yetr-0hs9p0a0etrpcmaearl9v0inpgserbceetwn
m2e0th1o9d a(nFdiginusermein3a)t.ed at 4.0 million per Another recent technology development is the

Figure 1

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between the years 2015 and 2019.

STgenetics established its subsidiary in India, Inguran Sorting Technologies LLP (ST In

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com T E C H N O L O G Y 37

Fbirgeuerdes 2of cattle and buffaloes (Figure 4).

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lalabbooraratotroireise.s.

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InagvuarilaanblSeofrotirnpgrToedcuhcntoivloegaiensimLLaPls(eSnThIanndciain),g productivitfyeratnildityecaonndogmenicdgerropwutrhit.y sex-sorted semen

ihnas20e--s1-t8-a-b-a-nl-i-ds-h-r-ee-d-g-it-sh-t-re-er-e-e-ds--ts-ae-t-ve-e---or-af--l-t-ph-a-e-t--ea-n-rttss.eSxT-sIonrdtiinag product has the potential to accelerate herd
expansion, minimise waste production, improve

laboratories; the first laboratory located in Pune animal welfare, and increase profitability

Maharashtra in association with BAIF, the second compared with non-sorted conventional semen.

one at Rishikesh Uttarakhand in association While producing over 90 per cent females, the

with ULDB, and the third laboratory at Bhopal number of unproductive male calves will also be

in association with Madhya Pradesh Livestock reduced to less than 10 per cent. The reduction of

and Poultry Development Corporation. In these male calves will have a significant positive impact

laboratories, ST India has already produced about on the environment and socio-cultural factors. It

1.3 million doses of sex-sorted semen from eighteen will also leave more feed available for productive

different breeds of cattle and buffaloes (Figure 2). animals enhancing productivity and economic

The average in vitro female purity of growth.

38 G E O I N F O R M AT I C S AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Geoinformatics to transform
Dairy Health Management

DR AMANDEEP DR PARKASH
SINGH, SINGH BRAR,

Assistant Professor, Director, Extension
Guru Angad Dev Education, Guru
Veterinary and Animal Angad Dev Veterinary
Sciences University and Animal Sciences
University
The field of geoinformatics has a very
support system of the country. The collective
promising future in the dairy sector and efforts of ISRO and Indian Meteorological
Department (IMD) in conjunction with the
has the potential to lead the next white Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare have
led to development of satellite based monitoring
revolution in the country. and advisory systems.

Smart technologies are the need of the hour Present Applications of
to cater to the ever increasing population Geoinformatics
of the country. With India spearheading
in space technology, many vital services Geoinformatics are being increasingly used
required for development lie in the hands of for smart dairy management and a new buzzword
satellites. Be it navigation, communication, i.e. precision dairy farming has been developed
defence, health, agriculture, etc. the reliance through the same in due course of time. Precision
on satellites and their applications has been dairy farming is the principal means by which
increasing day by day. The stalwart in space sensors are subjected in the dairy production
research and development in India i.e. Indian and management. The animal needs are defined
Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been by sensors and automatically delivered to the
credited for making satellite applications handy individual dairy animals by different applications.
for use in agriculture and allied sectors. The Precision dairy management employs
current operations which are being undertaken emerging technologies such as Information and
by the use of satellites in agriculture and allied Communication Technologies (ICT), Geospatial
sectors are (i) horticultural crop inventory and technologies such Geographic Information System
site suitability for expansion in under-utilized (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS), General
areas, (ii) crop assessment using medium and Packet Radio Services (GPRS) and Remote
high resolution satellite data, (iii) field data Sensing (RS). Dairy herders are using GIS based
collection with field photos using mobile app, maps, GPS devices, mobile phones and the web for
(iv) crop cutting experiments based on satellite monitoring the movements of herds, monitoring
derived crop vigour information. Watershed animal behaviour, herd management and for
management and irrigation system analysis accurately pinpointing outbreaks of livestock
is also being done by the use of GIS and RS. diseases. Precision Dairy Monitoring Technologies
All the above initiatives provisioned rural (PDMT) are those technologies that help in
development (including agricultural and livestock monitoring health of a dairy animal, time of
development), communication, education, insemination for effective conception, forecasting
training, etc. and strengthened the extension parturition process, managing herds, etc. and

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com G E O I N F O R M AT I C S 39

are currently trending amongst commercial remote sensing techniques i.e. large animals
dairy farmers. These systems, therefore, have which are affected by disease, or insect attack
the potential to reduce labour and management can be detected by RS techniques much before
costs whilst increasing milk yield. All the above human eyes see them. The movement of disease
functions can be achieved by the use of smart causing vectors and their density can be tracked
technologies like smart collars, automatic feeders, by the help of RS. The migration of disease
GPS based pedometers, GPS based virtual fences, causing vectors which may include arthropods,
GIS guided cameras for body score estimation, etc. bats, birds, wild animals, etc. can be traced and
Research and development in the field of Internet timely countermeasures can safeguard health of
of Things (IoT) have created many opportunities the animals.
and applications for monitoring animals and
have been speeding up the development of Projection for the future
PDMT systems. While using the internet, all the
applications can be linked to a central server and From the above discussion, it is evident that
hence management becomes easy. A single person geoinformatics play an important role in dairy
sitting in front of the computer can manage a development. Although the stated applications
herd of a thousand dairy animals. Geospatial have been used in developed countries but can
technology as a method can be used to maximize be replicated in India as well by reducing the
the farm efficiency and hence productivity. expenditure to be incurred on them or subsidising
their procurement. There is not an iota of
Several applications of the geospatial doubt that geoinformatics have the potential to
technology like mapping forage stock, feed revolutionise dairy health management along
forecaster, individual cattle database, fuel with extension delivery in developing countries
consumption for field operations and farm inputs like India. It can be used for geo-tagging the
database for handheld computers with GPS resource persons, breed tracts, elite animals,
navigation can further aid in managing dairy project areas, areas in which project has already
production and health. These information tools completed, successful farmers, commercial
not only enhance the decision making process but and scientifically managed farms, so that their
also help in understanding the land-use patterns, linkages may increase and people which are
management of farm staff, operations and other willing to start their livestock enterprise may
managemental operations in dairy farms with visit them for having practical experience.
increased precision that result in better monitoring Further, the areas with high productivity and
of the farm resources. GIS can be used to produce areas with low productivity can be mapped and
maps of disease incidence, prevalence, mortality, interventions which are being pursued for higher
morbidity on farm, region, or national levels and productivity can be replicated in the areas with
has been included in decision support systems low productivity by making husbandry oriented
for control of infectious diseases in animals. maps. Disease monitoring and surveillance can
Advanced digital tools like chips and sensors are be prompted along with reporting epidemics
becoming more popular and standard equipment in less time. As far as collection of data is
for management of dairy farms and animals reared concerned, data can be approximated by using
in them. These tools are placed in proximity to the the principles of geoinformatics and artificial
animal for monitoring and recording data through intelligence. Trends and projections related to
GPS. By analyzing the recorded data, the farm livestock population, density, milk production,
manager interprets not only the current state of productivity, waste production, etc. can be done.
the individual animal’s physiological and health Development and implementation of Web-GIS
status but also warns the manager even before any based Livestock Information Management System
problem occurs in the animal. (WGLIMS) is very much essential to collect,
analyse, model, visualise and disseminate data
RS techniques have a unique capability of available on livestock in India. By employing
recording data in visible as well as invisible (i.e. geoinformatics and its applications, advantages
ultraviolet, reflected infrared, thermal infrared can be sought not only in time and costs, but also
and microwave etc.) part of the electromagnetic in a more comprehensive and tactful manner in
spectrum. Hence, the phenomenon, which cannot resourceful and agrarian countries like India.
be seen by human eye, can be observed through

40 W E B I N A R AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Why future of India’s

livestock sector rests

on OPU-IVF
Over the years the Ovum Pick-Up-
In Vitro Fertilization (OPU-IVF) time the calf is born and from their crossbred
has gained traction in the animal animals we produce different indigenous like Gir
husbandry industry. The technology and Sahiwal,” concluded Dr Zawar.
has helped overcome some challenges that
animal breeders have been facing. This has Dr UC Sharma, President, Veterinary Council
helped farmers both with the breed of animals of India, Madhya Pradesh emphasised the
that they can have and also the produce that the need for penetration of Assisted Reproductive
cattle can provide. At a recently held national Technology (ART) among the small scale dairy
webinar entitled ‘OPU-IVF and Embryo Transfer farmers. He said “we need to convince the dairy
Technology: Future and Impact on Livestock farmers about the importance of ART. Madhya
Improvement in India’, experts examined the Pradesh state animal husbandry department and
challenges and advantages of this revolutionary veterinary universities are working together to
technique. spread awareness about germplasm and ART
among the dairy farmers. We need to increase
OPU-IVF technology has come a long way the productivity of every cattle for which we need
over the years but there is still a need for more to achieve the best germ-plasm.” He informed
information and awareness to percolate to all about the various schemes of the government
stakeholders involved. Dr Shyam Zawar, CEO, JK to bolster the growth of dairy farming. Madhya
Trust, Thane, Maharashtra opened the discussion Pradesh Government has started 'Gopal Puraskar
with , “IVF is an expensive technique, an (Award)' scheme which honours the highest milk
extension of education by visiting farmers, telling capacity cattle to encourage the dairy farmers.
them success stories and the cost per pregnancy List of the highest milk capacity animals has been
has to definitely come down. Today we are made under this scheme.
averaging five embryos per ovum pick up (OPU),
which is almost an international standard.” Dr Sharma said “by using the best germ-
plasm from farmers in ART, we can multiply the
He continued, “The small limitation that number of milk capacity cattle. We also need
comes with IVF is freezing of embryos, we must
try and get better rates for frozen IVF embryos,
which is gradually improving. There are 31
ET-IVF labs, which are in various parts of the
country, funded by the Rashtriya Gokul Mission.
Satellite mobile labs for each district which have
been recommending the DHD with one aspirator
and two embryologists. With the help of the
satellite mobile lab a big building isn’t needed.”

“Farmers around our area who are
maintaining crossbred animals are not interested
in having cows and raising them. So, we started
using their recipients for transferring the IVF
embryos from the farm to almost 200 km. We
pay them Rs 10,000 for establishing a pregnancy,
Rs 5,000 in the fifth month and Rs 5,000 at the

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com W E B I N A R 41

to make ART affordable so that it can be used “The small limitation that comes
by small scale dairy farmers. There is a need to with IVF is freezing of embryos,
make a road map for transferring the ART to we must try and get better rates
the grass root level in India. Dairy farms under for frozen IVF embryos which is
government which are not working so well should gradually improving and there
be handed over for ART implementation.” are 31 ET-IVF labs which are
in various parts of the country,
Prof. (Dr) AK Misra, Chairman, Agricultural funded by the Rashtriya Gokul
Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB), New Delhi Mission.”
commented, “We have been the largest producer
of milk since 1998. In 1970 it was 17 million - Dr Shyam Zawar,
tonnes and today it is close to 200 million tonnes, CEO, JK Trust, Thane, Maharashtra
a phenomenal progress. When we talk of average
production it is about 2000 litres and developed “Using the best germ-plasm
countries like the US average is about 10000 from farmers in ART, we can
litres, and Israel is even more. When we talk of multiply the number of milk
the challenges that we are facing, there are four capacity cattle. We also need
pillars of animal husbandry: breeding, feeding, to make ART affordable so
healthcare and management. Our situation that it can be used by small
as far as all these four pillars are concerned is scale dairy farmers. There is
miserable. We don’t even have dry fodder to a need to make a road map
feed our animals, not to talk about green fodder for transferring the ART to the
concentrate and so many other things.” grassroots level in India.”
- Dr UC Sharma, President, Veterinary Council of
He further stated, “We don’t have enough
bulls and bull mothers to breed our animals. To India, Madhya Pradesh
produce more animals we have to use some kind
of technology. Today we say that our production “Our ingenious breeds are very,
system is a population driven production system. very important. Our indigenous
We have 10 million buffaloes and 92+ million breeds are distinctly divided
plus cattle. The situation has to change in the into milch, dual purpose and
coming days and we have to increase the average dwarf breeds. Be it Sindhi,
productivity of the animals. Sahiwal, Tharparkar, Gir, Kankrej.
Their production is very good,
“We all know that there are a limited number we should focus on these
of animals that can be classified as elite animals, breeds. These breeds are far
which can be used as bull mothers of the bulls. more adaptable as compared
There is a need to multiply these animals at to the cross-breeds. They are far more efficient
a much faster rate. The Government of India converters of the feed and fodder, their fed
has also realised its potential that this can do percentage is much more than cross-bred or other
wonders in this country. When Rajiv Gandhi was exotic animals.”
our Prime Minister, he had launched a national - Prof (Dr) AK Misra, Chairman, ASRB, New Delhi
mission using the Department of Biotechnology,
National Mission of Embryo Transfer Technology very good, we should focus on these breeds.
for producing elite animals,” added Prof. Misra. These breeds are far more adaptable as compared
to the cross-breeds. They are far more efficient
He continued, “In OPU-IVF there is no converters of the feed and fodder, their fed
hormonal treatment. The ovary is checked for percentage is much more than cross-bred or
the number of follicles developed in the ovary other exotic animals.”
and the follicles are aspirated. This technology
is far more economic and efficient as compared “We must start valuing our animals. We can
to conventional technology. Our indigenous very well push our animals from a level of 2000
breeds are very, very important. Our indigenous litres to easily 4000 litres in the next two-three
breeds are distinctly divided into milch, dual generations. We also need to concentrate on
purpose and dwarf breeds. Be it Sindhi, Sahiwal, exotic animals instead of crossbred animals. If
Tharparkar, Gir, Kankrej. Their production is there are resources to feed to exotic animals, why
not go for exotic animals,” concluded Prof. Misra.

Prabhat Prakash & Dipti Barve

42 P E O P L E N E W S AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Omnivore appoints Dr Harsh Kumar
Bhanwala as Senior Advisor

Omnivore, India’s leading agritech venture capital firm, has announced the
appointment of Dr Harsh Kumar Bhanwala as a Senior Advisor effective from
June 1, 2021. As a Senior Advisor, Dr Bhanwala will mentor Omnivore’s
portfolio companies, advise on new investments, and help develop the
fund’s rural fintech investment strategy. From 2013 to 2020, Dr Bhanwala
was Chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
(NABARD), the Government of India’s apex development bank, which oversees
all aspects of agricultural credit as well as the supervision of regional rural
banks and cooperative banks. Prior to leading NABARD, he was the Chairman
& Managing Director of the India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL),
Senior Vice President at IL&FS Water, and the Managing Director of the Delhi
State Cooperative Bank. He began his career at NABARD and worked there for
almost three decades. Dr Bhanwala earned a B.Sc. in Dairy Technology from
the National Dairy Research Institute - Karnal, an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad,
and a PhD in Management from Maharshi Dayanand University.

UPL appoints Ashish Rallis India
Dobhal as Regional appoints Subhra
Director for India Gourisaria as CFO

Agro-chemical Agrochemical

major UPL Ltd has major, Rallis

appointed Ashish India has

Dobhal as Regional announced that

Director for India. the board of

Dobhal takes Rallis India has

over from Sameer appointed Subhra

Tandon, who has now Gourisaria as the

been appointed as chief financial

Regional Director for officer (CFO) and

ASEANZ (Australia, Key Managerial

Southeast Asia and New Zealand). Dobhal was Personnel (KMP)

previously the Head of UPL's agro-formulation of the company

business. He has a rich experience of over 20 from June 15, 2021 on the superannuation of

years in the field of agri-business. Ashish Dobhal Ashish Mehta, the current CFO, from June 14,

has been part of UPL journey since more than 17 2021. Gourisaria has over 17 years of experience

years. He has worked in different countries like in business finance, financial strategy, P&L

Japan, China, Taiwan, Middle East, Sri Lanka, management, controllership and handling

Bangladesh etc. He has taken many challenges financial operations in multi-geographical

upfront and has turned them into success businesses. Gourisaria was till recently the

consistently. He is seen as someone who takes up general manager-finance, home care (South

challenging assignments and delivers. With the Asia) at Hindustan Unilever (HUL). Rallis

help of digital and fintech initiatives, he will be India is a subsidiary of Tata Chemicals and a

playing a pivotal role in more than doubling UPL’s part of Tata Group. It is one of India's leading

business in India in a short time frame. agro sciences companies.

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com T E C H N O L O G Y N E W S 43

ICAR-NRCM develops P-MART tech for hygienic
meat production
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research
(ICAR)-National Research Centre on Meat has been commercialised. Having the potential
(NRCM), Hyderabad has recently designed and to revolutionize the small-scale meat production
fabricated an innovative Portable Meat Production scenarios in the country, the technology can also be
and Retailing Facility (P-MART) for the hygienic promoted in resource-poor countries. It consists
meat production from the small ruminants. The of Lairage, Slaughtering, Cutting & Packaging, and
P-MART’s operation has been validated and also Retailing units. The units are equipped with pest
a patent application has been filed. The developed killers, wall-mounted fans, exhaust fans and water
technology has been transferred to entrepreneurs storage facility to ensure hygienic production and
for up-scaling so as to make the facility available to for operators’ comfort.
stakeholders. The P-MART is a user-friendly, low
cost, portable, mobile, environment-friendly and
animal welfare compliant facility for hygienic meat
production from sheep and goats. The technology

ICAR-IISR bags ICAR-CMFRI
patent for Black provides Sea Cage
Pepper micronutrient farming tech
formulation to Tamil Nadu
fishermen
The ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research
(IISR), Kozhikode, Kerala has recently received The implementation of the demonstration
the Patent (No. 367654) for the Micronutrient of Open Sea Cage Farming Technology of
Formulation for Black Pepper. To overcome Marine Fishes along the Gulf of Mannar and
the micronutrient deficiencies and meet the Palk Bay by the Mandapam Regional Centre
physiological and metabolic requirements of the of ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research
spice crops, the institute developed crop-specific Institute (CMFRI), Tamil Nadu succeeded
designer micronutrient foliar formulations for the in enabling the fishermen beneficiaries
major spices (Black Pepper, Ginger, Turmeric, and under the institute to reap a rich harvest of
Cardamom). It also successfully field-tested and Cobia after 7 months of farming. The Cage
commercialized the crop-specific micronutrient Farming was a part of the Second Phase of
formulations for the major spices. The technology the Demonstration Project funded by the
has been developed by the team including Dr V National Fisheries Development Board.
Srinivasan, Dr R Dinesh and Dr S Hamza. Over Under the project, the institute provided the
the years, the technology has reached the farmers beneficiaries with a total of 40 fabricated
in about 8 per cent to 10 per cent of the cropped high-density polyethylene (HDPE) cages
area. It increases the yield by 10 per cent to 25 per along with the fingerlings of Cobia and Asian
cent and improves the health and vigor of vines. Seabass. The fishermen installed the cages in
It is water-soluble and compatible with common Munaikadu, Mandapam, Maraikayarpatnam,
straight or complex fertilizers and increases the Nalupanai, Chinnapalem and Sippikulam
bulk density of the produce. villages and stocked the Fish Fingerlings in a
phased manner.

44 T E C H N O L O G Y N E W S AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

NEC, Kagome ICAR signs MoU with DIC
to provide tele agriculture
jointly to advisories to farmers

enhance its Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Ministry of
Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Digital India Corporation
CropScope agri- (DIC), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology
have signed MoU to facilitate farmers by providing location-
ICT platform specific ‘Demand-Based Tele Agriculture Advisories.’ It aims to
integrate the existing Interactive Information Dissemination
NEC Corporation has System (IIDS) platform of DIC with the proposed Kisan Sarathi
announced the enhancement programme of ICAR and its implementation through the ICAR
of CropScope, its agricultural network to reach a large number of farmers across the country.
ICT platform, which it has been ICAR and DIC have agreed to collaborate to develop and
operating jointly with Kagome deploy ICT platforms to establish and operate a multi-media,
Co, Ltd. since April 2020. multi-way advisory and communication system for supporting
New functions to improve various agricultural activities at the local level. IIDS would
farming have been added to be deployed at ICAR which is a push-and pull-based system
the strengthened platform, and wherein agriculture-related information can be pulled from the
stable yields have already been farmers using mobile phones. IIDS gives an option to farmers
achieved through verification to receive individual needs-based information for only those
in a variety of environments. services to which they have subscribed.
CropScope consists of a
service that uses sensors Bionema launches
and satellite photographs to patented biocontrol kit for
visualize the growth status of agriculture and turf pests
tomatoes and the condition of
soils, as well as a service that Bionema Ltd, a leading biopesticide technology company,
provides farming advice using has been granted a UK patent for a unique pest control
artificial intelligence (AI). The solution that provides safe and sustainable protection from
AI capitalizes on a wealth of larval insect pests. This is a particularly timely innovation,
know-how from experienced when leatherjackets and chafer grubs – both of which can be
cultivators, enabling it to controlled by beneficial nematodes in spring and autumn–
provide guidance on the
optimum amount of water, are currently devastating golf courses,
fertilizer and the best time racecourses, football pitches and
to apply them. This platform cricket grounds, causing millions
enables tomato producers, of turf damage. The leatherjacket
regardless of skill level, to pest population, in particular, has
stabilize their harvests and increased significantly in the last
reduce cultivation costs, while few years. Chemical pesticides
implementing environmentally have traditionally been widely used
friendly farming. to provide the crop yields necessary
to feed a rapidly expanding global

population, and control pests in sports turf
and open green spaces. However, these toxic pesticides have
poisoned our soils - impacting our own health and that of our
planet. The kit provides biological control of immature larval
insects which can act as pests to plants, including agricultural,
horticultural, turf and amenities and forestry.

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com A C A D E M I A N E W S 45

ARIES study to IIT Ropar
accurately estimate black
carbon over Himalayas develops IoT

Accurate estimation of black carbon (BC), the second most device for safe
important global warming pollutant after CO­2, will now be
possible using optical instruments in the Himalayan region. transportation
Thanks to a parameter called the mass absorption cross-section
(MAC) specific to the Himalayan region that scientists have of perishable
estimated. It will also improve the performance of numerical
weather prediction and climate models. Scientists at the products
Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES),
an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Indian Institute of Technology,
Technology (DST), Government of India, in collaboration with Ropar (IIT Ropar) in Punjab
scientists from the University of Delhi, IIT Kanpur and Space has recently developed a
Physics Laboratory, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) first-of-its-kind IoT device
have made extensive observations of black carbon and elemental – AmbiTag that records real-
carbon and estimated monthly and wavelength-dependent time ambient temperature
values of MAC over the central Himalayan region for the first during the transportation of
time. According to the ARIES team, these higher resolutions perishable products such as
multi-wavelength and long-term observations used in calculating meat, dairy etc., among others.
MAC will help improve the performance of numerical weather That recorded temperature
prediction and climate models. further helps to know whether
that particular item transported
NMPB, CSIR-NBRI from anywhere in the world is
collaborates to boost still usable or perished because
production of medicinal plants of temperature variation. The
device has been developed under
The National Medicinal Plant Board (NMPB) and the National Technology Innovation Hub –
Botanical Research Institute (CSIR-NBRI) signed a memorandum AWaDH (Agriculture and Water
of understanding (MoU), for extending joint collaborative efforts Technology Development Hub)
to boost the cultivation and production of medicinal plants and and its Start-up ScratchNest.
AWaDH is a Government of
herbs in India. The MoU will India project. From -40 to +80
facilitate the development of degrees in any time zone for a
Quality Planting Material (QPM) full 90 days on a single charge.
of medicinal plants and herbs Most of the similar devices
identified by NMPB, help in the available in the international
establishment of their nurseries for market record data only for the
QPM, development, promotion, duration of 30- 60 days. Besides
conservation and cultivation of the appropriate medicinal plants in perishable items including
different agro-climatic zones, including the threatened medicinal vegetables, meat and dairy
plant species and plants for the high-altitude regions. Through products it can also monitor the
this collaboration, NMPB will support CSIR-NBRI in carrying out temperature of animal semen
the potential medicinal plant species with high commercial value during transit.
for the Germplasm collection/conservation and establishment of
nursery and seed banks/gene banks. The outreaches of NMPB
and its implementing agencies like State Medicinal Plants Boards
(SMPB’s), Regional-cum-facilitation Centres will work together
under the ambit of this MoU.

46 A C A D E M I A N E W S AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

University of Milan wins KeyGene DNA-Day contest

Valentina Ricciardi, a PhD student at the Department downy mildew more quickly, thus helping to reduce
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences of the need to use fungicides in protecting grapevines
the University of Milan, has won KeyGene’s DNA- against this important disease. Mgaloblishvili is
Day contest. KeyGene scientists will isolate high- the first-ever Vitis vinifera variety found to have
quality, high molecular weight (HMW) DNA from resistance against the imported American pathogen
the Georgian grapevine variety Mgaloblishvili to that is causing Downy Mildew in European grape
be used for long-read sequencing of the genome. varieties. The Georgian cultivar possesses a unique
Ricciardi hopes that obtaining the genome mechanism of resistance, based on pathogen
sequence of Mgaloblishvili will help her in finding recognition, ethylene signalling pathway, and both
genes that can contribute to resistance against structural and chemical defences.

PAU organises Plant disease
training camp on surveillance necessary
seed treatment for to protect global food
basmati rice supply: Study

Experts of Farm Advisory Service Centre (FASC) Plant diseases don’t stop at national borders
of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) recently and miles of oceans don’t prevent their
organised a training camp on seed treatment in spread, either. That’s why plant disease
Basmati rice in an adopted village Kot Mohammad surveillance, improved detection systems,
Khan of Tarn Taran district, under the scheme and global predictive disease modeling
“Farm Advisory Service Scheme”. More than are necessary to mitigate future disease
40 farmers participated in the initiative. Dr outbreaks and protect the global food
Parminder Kaur, DES (Plant Pathology) at PAU supply, according to a team of researchers
demonstrated how to do seed treatment and root at the McGill University in Canada, in a
dip treatment of basmati rice with Trichoderma new commentary published in Proceedings
harziamum to avoid foot rot disease, which of the National Academy of Sciences. The
sometimes causes huge losses in basmati. She researchers say the efforts from a wide
also distributed Trichoderma harziamum to the range of scholars – so-called convergence
farmers. She explained the different activities science – are needed to prevent plant
being conducted by FASC experts and stressed to disease pandemics. That means economists,
farmers to adopt the new technologies invented engineers, crop scientists, crop disease
by PAU. She told the farmers to cultivate specialists, geneticists, geographers, data
recommended varieties of PAU which are resistant analysts, statisticians and others working
to diseases and insect pests. together to protect crops, the farmers
growing crops and the people fed by those
crops. Modeling and forecasting disease
spread can help mobilize mitigation
strategies more precisely to stop pandemics.

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com A G R I I N P U T S N E W S 47

UPL scales up TAFE announces free
tractor rental scheme to
its ProNutiva support small farmers

Groundnut TAFE - Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited, a member of
the Amalgamations Group, in a continuing effort to support
programme in the Government amidst the second wave of the COVID surge,
announced its free tractor rental scheme to support small
Gujarat farmers of Tamil Nadu during this critical cropping season.
The free tractor rental scheme would cover approximately
UPL Ltd., a global provider 1,20,000 acres and will benefit around 50,000 farmers. It will
of sustainable agriculture be available from May 2021 through July2021 across Tamil
products and solutions, has Nadu. TAFE will offer its 16,500 Massey Ferguson and Eicher
announced the scaling up of tractors and 26,800 implements on a “free-of-cost” rental
its ProNutiva Sada Samrudh basis to small farmers owning 2 acres or less. Farmers can
Groundnut programme in rent or hire tractors or farm implements using TAFE’s digital
Gujarat. The programme platform on the TN Government’s Uzhavan app or the toll-
aims to increase the free helpline 1800-4200-100.The scheme will be implemented
productivity and enhance with the support of the Agriculture Department of Tamil Nadu
the quality of groundnut and their district officials.
crop by applying sustainable
agronomy practices Mahindra records sale of
including proper training, 22,843 tractors in India
technology interventions during May 2021
and farm mechanization.
The programme is expected Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.’s Farm Equipment Sector (FES),
to benefit over 1 million
groundnut farmers across has announced its tractor sales numbers for May 2021, which
the state in the next three
years with enhanced yields indicate a clear growth path in the upcoming season. Domestic
and income and generate
employment opportunities sales in May 2021 were at 22843 units, as against 24017 units
for the local youth. Gujarat
is the largest producer of during May 2020.Total tractor sales (Domestic + Exports)
groundnuts in India. As a
part of the programme, UPL during May 2021 were at 24184 units, as against 24341 units
will also provide sanitization,
employment, spraying service for the same period last year. In the exports market, company
for white grub in the villages
and provide an access to its have sold 1341 tractors with a growth of 314 per cent over last
mobile application – nurture.
farm. The unique application year. Company mentioned that while state specific lockdowns
not only provides stage wise
crop advisory with details and localized restrictions continue, it is heartening
related to farming, sowing and
also a scanner to identify fake to see the COVID cases reducing sharply. Because of
products which have infiltrated
the market. this, farmers start preparing their land

for upcoming Kharif crop season.

A bumper Rabi harvest, record

procurement, food prices holding up,

gradual opening up of mandis and

expectations of a normal monsoon

will pave the way for growth in the

upcoming season.

48 A G R I I N P U T S N E W S AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

IFFCO launches Nano Urea Liquid
for farmers across the world

World’s 1st Nano Urea Liquid was introduced for the farmers across the
world by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) at its 50th
annual general body meeting held online-offline mode in India recently.
The Nano Urea Liquid is indigenously developed after many years of
dedicated and sincere research of IFFCO’s Scientists and Engineers through
a proprietary technology developed at Nano Biotechnology Research Centre,
Kalol. The production of IFFCO Nano Urea Liquid will commence by June
of 2021. The commercial rollout will start soon thereafter. IFFCO Nano
Urea Liquid is now included in Fertiliser Control Order (FCO, 1985) on the
basis of multi- location and multi-crop trials undertaken under National
Agriculture Research System (NARS) at 20 ICAR research institutes, State
Agriculture Universities and KVKs on 43 crops.

Sonalika records In the month of May 2021, sentiments across segments,
8876 tractors India’s fastest growing tractor industry has also
tractor brand Sonalika got impacted leading to
sales in May 2021 Tractors has sold overall sluggish demand. Overall, it
8876 tractors in May 2021 has recorded 8876 tractors
with 14.1 per cent overall sales in May’21 amidst
market share. Company has the state wise lockdowns
mentioned that it continued and restricted dealership
to remain connected with operations. Since the
farmers through every inception of the 2nd wave of
possible avenue to address pandemic, the company has
their queries - be it new undertaken slew of initiatives
tractors or service related. that has been rolled out to
As state wise lockdowns support the society as well
continue to disrupt economic as farmers to win over the
activities and customer’s challenging situation.

Aragen Life Sciences partners with
FMC Corporation

Hyderabad-headquartered Aragen Life Sciences of discovery and development is a testimony to
has partnered with FMC Corporation. Through the trust and confidence that FMC has in Aragen
this collaboration, Aragen will support FMC’s – and it will look forward to driving several more
global discovery and development needs, success stories for its partner.
including discovery chemistry, discovery biology,
and chemical process development. Aragen Life
Sciences has mentioned that the partnership
is focussed on accelerating FMC Corporation’s
agrochemical pipeline. The company noted that
it has been its privilege to assist FMC, one of
the global leaders in crop science, accelerate its
R&D, through this long-term partnership. The
expansion of this collaboration through all facets

AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com S U P P LY C H A I N N E W S 49

Goyal reviews storage plan for essential commodities

Union Minister for Ministry of Consumer Affairs, India (FCI)-545, Central Warehousing Corporation
Food & Public Distribution, Railways & Commerce & (CWC)-422, State Warehousing Corporation (SWCs)
Industry, Piyush Goyal recently reviewed the storage 2245, National Seeds Corporation Limited (NSC),
plan for essential commodities in the country. He National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing
informed that Expression of Interest (EOI) has been Federation of India (NAFED), National Cooperative
called for the development of cold chain facility for Consumers' Federation Of India Limited (NCCF)-73,
perishable commodities, including onions through CONCOR-60+, cooperatives- 2000+, warehouses
private entity. He mentioned that the modern, cost-
efficient storage infrastructure at the grassroots with state governments, Haryana State Co-
level and at the block level is great way to operative Supply and Marketing Federation
increase farmers' income. In India, warehouses Limited (HAFED) -100+, Highway Logistics
are spread over different undertakings and Park (under process) -35, Inland Waterways
authorities at 20,433 locations. They include Complex-8, Ports-200+ Airports (cargo)-25,
Railway Goodsheds-7400, Agricultural Produce where warehousing infrastructure of required
Market Committee (APMC) Principal & sub- type and size can be developed, upgraded or
market yard- 7320, Food Corporation of modified converted for safe storage of
essential commodities.

Bijak launches The agritech B2B marketplace Bijak that connects sellers and
network buyers PAN India has launched logistics services in Maharashtra
and Uttar Pradesh (UP) with an aim to provide easy trading of
of logistic commodities across the country. The agri-traders of these states
services in UP & can avail this service directly through the Bijak application for
interstate and intrastate trading. The service ensures affordable
Maharashtra and timely dispatch of the commodities. With the launch of its
new service, Bijak aims to target 25,000 traders in Uttar Pradesh
and Maharashtra. Bijak is currently present in 27 states and 916
regions and trades over 110 commodities through its platform.
The motive of Bijak is to bring flexibility, convenience, cost-
effectiveness and market linkages to all sellers and buyers in the
agri supply chain. Aligning to the company’s vision, Bijak has
taken a step forward to facilitate transparent trading and offer
services such as credit, payments/escrow, and logistics.

Mother Dairy initiates research
programme on eco-friendly packaging

Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt Ltd (MDFVPL), few dairy products. MDFVPL started its plastic waste
country’s leading milk and milk products major, collection and recycling/co-processing initiative
has reiterated its commitment towards a cleaner in Maharashtra in FY2018-19 under the Extended
environment; and announced that it has initiated Producer Responsibility (EPR) programme and
a research programme on eco-friendly packaging scaled up the initiative on pan-India level for MLP
and has introduced paper trays for curd cups as a in FY2019-20. Company has collected & recycled/
replacement of plastic trays which will eliminate co-processed 7,284 MT of post-consumer used
usage of approx. 100 MT of plastic. The
company has replaced all plastic spoons plastic waste in the country till March 2021.
with wooden spoons and eliminated The overall volume includes both
plastic straws provided along with a Multi-Layered Plastic (MLP) and Single
Layered Plastic (SLP) waste.

50 S U P P LY C H A I N N E W S AGROSPECTRUM | JULY 2021 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Fertilizers Tamil Nadu exports
4.5 MT ‘village rice’ to
Minister flags Ghana & Yemen

off Nano Urea In a major boost to India’s non-basmati rice exports potential,
two consignments 4.5 MTs of patented ‘village rice’ sourced
dispatch to from Kumbakonam, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu by a
startup Udaya Agro Farm was exported to Ghana & Yemen via
Karnataka air and sea routes. Enriched with protein, fibre, and a variety
of minerals, ‘village rice’ is sourced directly from farmers of
Union Chemicals and Thanjavur, also known as rice bowl of Tamil Nadu. APEDA
Fertilizers Minister D V
Sadananda Gowda flagged assisted Udaya Agro Farm plans to increase
off Nano Urea dispatch to volume of exports of ‘village rice’ in the
Karnataka. The minister coming months. During the 2020-21, the
also promised IFFCO to shipment of non-basmati rice witnessed
award land to start a Nano an impressive spike. The non-basmati rice
Urea production unit near exports were Rs 35,448 crore ($4796 million)
Bangalore Airport. Earlier during April-March, 2021 against Rs 14,400
IFFCO had requested Gowda crore ($2020 million) reported during April-
to award land for a plant in March, 2020 period. The exports of non-
Karnataka where Nano Urea
and Nano DAP could be Basmati have witnessed a growth
produced for the Southern of 146 per cent in rupee terms
parts of India. IFFCO had and 137 per cent $ terms in
earlier dispatched Nano Urea 2020-2021.
shipments to the states of
Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and West Bengal, Bihar
Kashmir. The stocks were sold export 16 varieties of
within half an hour. IFFCO mangoes to Bahrain
is already in the process of
construction of its plants at In a major boost to mango exports potential from the eastern
its Kalol unit in Gujarat and region, 16 varieties of mangoes including three GI certified
also at Aonla and Phulpur in Khirsapati and Lakshmanbhog (West Bengal), Zardalu
Uttar Pradesh in Phase- I by (Bihar) are being exported to Bahrain. The fruits have been
year 2021-22. The total annual sourced from farmers in Bengal and Bihar by Agricultural
production capacity would be and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority
initially 14 crore bottles of 500 (APEDA) registered exporter, DM enterprises, Kolkata and
ml, which will further be raised imported by Al Jazeera group, Bahrain. Recently, India
to 18 crore. has shipped a consignment of 2.5 metric tonnes (MTs) of
Geographical Indication (GI) certified Banganapalli and other
variety Survarnarekha mangoes sourced from farmers in
Krishna & Chittor districts of Andhra Pradesh to South Korea.