AgroSpectrum May 2022

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4 agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Volume 03  |  Issue 3  |  May 2022

Publisher & Managing Editor Sub Editor Top stories
Ravindra Boratkar
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agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com Agro Edit 5

Agri Export Feats

It looks like there’s no stopping the pace million tonnes of wheat stocks in the government
and scale of Indian agri growth considering warehouses. This is to be added to the current
the highest ever agriculture export and year's wheat harvest, which according to the
employment generation. agriculture ministry is expected to record 111.32
million tonnes.
Indian agriculture exports reached $50 billion
this year, the highest ever till now. Agriculture Hence, the warehouses need to be emptied.
also absorbed 11 million additional workers in the Going by the stocks we have and our annual
last three years, most during the pandemic. Just a production, India will be able to establish itself as
year and a half back, when all other sectors of the a dependable wheat supplier. India’s wheat export
economy had shown a negative growth rate amidst has already grown a lot. In this year’s record export
and because of the pandemic, the agriculture of $ 50 billion of agri products, wheat accounts for
sector had saved the situation by clocking 15 per over $2 billion. The previous year it was merely
cent growth rate. Its employment generation is also $60 million. In percentage terms, India’s share in
significant considering that the rest of the sectors global export of wheat has increased from mere 0.3
lost 15 million jobs. per cent in 2019-20 to 5 per cent 2021-22.

The current achievement of the record export is The current Russia-Ukraine war has been an
after a gap of over seven years. In 2013-14 India’s unexpected opportunity for India in establishing
agriculture export was the highest, worth $43 itself as guaranteed wheat suppliers. Although
billion. Thereafter it kept slipping to $10 billion the countries in conflict were strong wheat
less by 2016-17. Credit for the jump once again suppliers, the ongoing war has affected supplies
and that too highest ever goes to the Ministry from both. One good news is that Egypt has
of Commerce, along with farmers, agri input added India to the list of countries from which it
businesses and agri policy makers. However, the purchases wheat. But the exporters are still wary
lion’s share of the credit goes to the ministry for about starting actual exports due to some issues,
identifying and successfully tackling the issues including sanitary and phytosanitary measures
hampering exports. imposed by Egypt since 2019s.

A disconnect between production and export To make matters worse for the overall wheat
possibilities and lack of acquaintance with export- export from India, the restrictions imposed by the
oriented production were two main challenges World Trade Organisation (WTO) against India
over which the commerce ministry had to work. It is a major dampener. Some countries had moved
even reached village level farmers to appraise them the WTO against India and the outcome of the
about these two points. On another level, it worked dispute settlement was against Indian interests.
with the state governments explaining to them that Hence, India’s exports are carefully scrutinised by
export is not only the centre’s subject but the states the WTO.
need to contribute in varied ways, particularly
removing infrastructure bottlenecks and logistics Simultaneously, lacking international quality
constraints. All its efforts have paid rich dividends. standards, traditional methods of cleaning and
overuse of pesticides are also coming in the way of
But the amount of export we have achieved exports. India claims that WTO is looking into it
is still not enough. Going by our production and and hopes that the issue will be resolved soon. If
storage we need to export more. India is, now, and when that happens, there will be ‘no mountain
making efforts to push wheat for export as we too high’ for Indian agri exports to scale.
have much more than the required stocks of
wheat. As against the required quantity of 7.46 Dr. Milind Kokje,
million tonnes, we had on April 1, 2022, 18.99 Chief Editor

[email protected]

6 Content agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Content

Cover 17

Envisioning India as
Global Drone Hub

Today, satellite-driven technology, big data analytics and digital solutions are helping
farmers in many countries including India to make better and more informed cropping
decisions. Drones have become one among the most promising emerging technologies.
However, the benefit quotient of these airborne unmanned tech can be expedited by some
swift and pragmatic governmental interventions. According to a report published by Allied
Market Research, the global agriculture drones market size was valued at $0.88 billion in
2020, and is projected to reach $5.89 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 22.4 per cent
from 2021 to 2030. Keeping these stats in mind, let's delve deeper.

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com Content 7

Content

27

Can Drones Bring
Indian Agri
'Bundles of Joy'?

23 30 Are Drones Beneficial to the
Agro-allied Sector?
How the Versatile Drone is
Integral to Indian Agri 32 Can Russo-Ukraine Conflict
Benefit Indian Agri Exporters?
25 Is Agro Drone Takeover
Imminent? 35 Technologies for
Re g u l ar s Sustainable Cotton
Production
Editorial.....................................................05
Your Views...............................................08 - Dr Y G Prasad
Policy News.............................................09
Finance News..........................................11 Director, ICAR-Central
Livestock news.......................................13 Institute for Cotton Research
Startups News........................................15 (CICR), Nagpur

People News............................................40
Academic News......................................42
Technology News...................................44
Agri-Inputs news.....................................46
Supply chain news.................................48

Let's Talk Agri..........................................50

8 your views agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

TOP VIDEO

Dr R.S. Paroda, Volume 3 Issue 2 April 2022 150
Chairman, TAAS &
Former Secretary, Why FARM MECHANISATION is
DARE & Director CRUCIAL to AGRI BOOM
General, ICAR
speaks about "The market for carbon credits could be worth
role of youth upward of $50 billion in 2030"
in sustainable - Suhas Joshi, Head,
agriculture Sustainability & Business Stewardship,
South Asia, Bayer Group – 28

Scan the QR Prof Prabhu Impact of Russia-Ukraine Crisis on Agri Commodities of India- 17
Code  Pingali, Director, Brave New World of Carbon Farming - 25
Tata-Cornell Inst. Can Sustainability Breathe New Life into Agriculture? - 32
Courtesy- ICAR for Agriculture and Is the Indian Livestock Sector Sustainable? – 39
Nutrition explains
Scan the QR about the lessons Feedback
Code  learnt by Indian
agriculture from Informative article on
Courtesy- ICAR Green revolution carbon farming

Scan the QR Sanish The article on carbon farming “Brave,
Code  Sadanandan, New World of Carbon Farming” published
Central Buyer at in AgroSpectrum April 22 issue was
Courtesy- FICCI Lulu Int. Shopping very informative and useful. Small-scale
Mall Pvt Ltd farmers and FPOs in India will definitely
informs about get the benefit of carbon credits in future.
brand listing in
international Sahil Phulambre, Mumbai
markets for
coconut product Useful information on ag-tech
manufacturers.
The article “Technologies for Sustainable
Agriculture” written by Usha Zehr,
CTO, Mahyco Seeds Pvt Ltd was very
interesting and useful. The information
about new technologies for sustainable
agriculture will be beneficial for budding
entrepreneurs in agri industry and modern
farmers.

Sameera Harkare, Pune

New columns for
budding agripreneurs

AgroSpectrum should start a special
column for budding agripreneurs for the
information about the latest trends in
agri industry, government schemes for
agritech startups and experiences of agri
industry experts on business models in
agri industry.

Dibakar Ghosh, Bangalore

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com pPoolliiccyy nneewwss 9

Govt exempts duty on cotton imports till Sept 30

The Government of India has decided (AIDC) on raw cotton. The Central
to exempt all customs duty on the Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
import of cotton to lower the price (CBIC) notified the exemption
of cotton in the public interest. This from Customs duty and Agriculture
exemption would benefit the textile Infrastructure development Cess for
chain- yarn, fabric, garments and import of cotton. This notification
made-ups and provide relief to the has come into effect from April 14,
textile industry and consumers. The 2022, and will remain in force up to
industry has been demanding the removal of 5 per and inclusive of September 30, 2022. Removal of
cent of Basic Customs Duty (BCD) and 5 per cent of import duty on raw cotton should have a salutary
Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess effect on cotton prices in India.

Cabinet extends Govt launches hi-
applicability of NIP-2012 tech online portals -
for 3 units of HURL CROP & PQIS

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’
chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar launched
given approval for the proposal of the Department two portals, one for the Computerised
of Fertilisers for extension of applicability of New Registration Of Pesticide (CROP) and the
Investment Policy (NIP)-2012 for the three units other for Plant Quarantine Management
of Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL) System (PQMS). The new portals will
namely Gorakhpur, Sindri and Barauni. HURL, benefit farmers, exporters as well as
incorporated on June 15, 2016 is a Joint Venture industrialists. The PQMS portal will provide
company by Coal India Limited (CIL), NTPC a transparent system with no physical
Limited (NTPC) and Indian Oil Corporation touchpoints for the applicants and ensure
(IOCL). HURL is reviving the erstwhile Gorakhpur convenience to the users, through the online
and Sindri units of FCIL and Barauni unit of system including e-payments and uploading
GFCL by setting up new gas based Urea Plants of documents, online accreditation and
with the installed capacity of 12.7 Lakh Metric renewal of treatment agencies/facilities and
Tonnes Per Annum each (ILMTPA). The cost of downloading of certificates. Similarly, the
three HURL Urea projects is Rs 25,120 crore. re-developed CROP portal will immensely
GAIL is supplying Natural Gas to these three units help in ease of doing business and provide
of HURL. All three units have various unique greater and timely crop protection solutions
features like state-of-the-art blast proof control to farmers of the country. Department of
rooms equipped with DCS (Distributed Control Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DAFW),
System), ESD (Emergency Shutdown System) and Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers
Environment Monitoring Systems. Welfare, through the Directorate of Plant
Protection, Quarantine & Storage (DPPQS),
Faridabad has been catering to Indian
exporters and importers of agriculture
commodities and the Indian Pesticide
Industry, through its two portals namely,
CROP and Plant Quarantine Information
System (PQIS).

10 Pyo luirc yv ineewwss agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Centre extends timeline for completion of
ethanol projects

The Central Government has decided to extend the thereby improve the liquidity position of the sugar
timeline for disbursement of loans for completion mills enabling them to clear cane price arrears of
of ethanol projects up to September 30, 2022, in the farmers, notified different interest subvention
respect of all the schemes notified during 2018- schemes for sugar mills and distilleries during
2021. The move will facilitate project proponents 2018-2021. The government is extending financial
to complete the projects and to avail of the assistance in the form of interest subvention at 6
benefits of interest subvention. The government to per cent per annum or 50 per cent of the rate of
increase the production of ethanol and its supply interest charged by banks, whichever is lower, on
under the Ethanol Blended with Petrol (EBP) the loans to be extended by banks for five years
Programme, especially in the surplus season and including a one-year moratorium.

NBB sanctions 2 new Odisha to roll out
beekeeping projects climate-resilient
to PAU natural farming prog
in tribal districts
The National Bee Board (NBB), Ministry of
Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government Government of Odisha is set to roll
of India (GOI), has sanctioned two new projects out a climate-resilient natural farming
in Apiculture to the Department of Entomology, programme in tribal-dominated areas of
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, five districts in a step towards sustainable
under the National Beekeeping and Honey agriculture. The project will be executed
Mission (NBHM) scheme of the GOI. This in collaboration with Andhra Pradesh
information was shared by Dr DK Sharma, Head government promoted Rythu Sadhikara
of the department. According to Dr Pardeep Samstha (RySS), to implement natural
Kumar Chhuneja, Incharge of the Apiculture Unit, farming. The project, covering 3.15 lakh
the new projects included ‘Facilitating honey bee hectares of farmland, will be rolled out from
health through diagnosing and managing various 2022-23 fiscal with an investment of around
diseases of Italian honey bees’ and ‘Development Rs 312 crore over five years. A cluster
of quality queen bees of Apis mellifera.’ Dr Sharma approach will be adopted for the scheme, to
disclosed that earlier also, PAU was sanctioned be undertaken through women’s self-help
two projects in succession by NBB, the previous groups (WSHGs) in Sundargarh, Keonjhar,
being on Queen Bee rearing and supplies, followed Mayurbhanj, Rayagada and Koraput
by a mega project of Integrated Beekeeping districts. The WSHGs will be trained for
Development Centre/Centre of Excellence in the crop diversification, initial preparation
year 2016-17 which had bee- disease diagnosis of bio-inputs and pre-monsoon sowing.
and bee breeding as the components. They will be assisted in the establishment
of common facility centres for cleaning,
grading, segregation and storage.

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com Fpi noalni ccye nneewwss 11

DMCC plans Rs 90 Cr GrowiT raises
capex in Gujarat
Rs 3 Cr in seed
Mumbai-based Dharamsi Morarji Chemical Company (DMCC)
plans to invest about Rs 90 crore for ramping up its volumes funding
and expansion capacities at Dahej facility in Gujarat. DMCC
will be investing Rs 50 crore for adding incremental capacity in Surat-based protective farming
agritech platform GROWiT
the bulk chemicals segment has raised Rs 3 crore in seed
at Dahej facility. While the funding through a close
commercial production has network of investors. The
started, the company expects round was led by Mehul Shah
to ramp up the production from IVY Growth. Coppermint,
to optimum utilisations by Gaurav Singhvi (Co-founder,
the end of the first quarter WFC), Rajeev Goel (Sagar Life
of FY23. The company aims Sciences), Sunay Shah (Mahati
to invest Rs 20 crore in a Electrics), Rohan Desai (CEO,
dedicated speciality chemical Triumph Capital), and Mukul
plant at the Dahej facility. Goyal (Tapi Capital) are some
The plant is expected to begin commercial production by the of the investors that joined in
fourth quarter of FY22. The company will use this facility for the round. The platform plans
manufacturing products under contract. DMCC plans to invest to make use of these funds by
Rs 20 crore for expansion to manufacture intermediates for investing in its research and
the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industry. This project is marketing processes that will
expected to complete by the first quarter of FY23. ultimately enable GROWiT
in expanding its customer
Licious raises $150M in Series base and produce standard
F2, led by Amansa Capital quality cost-effective protective
farming materials and
Bengaluru-based Licious, India’s largest tech-first, fresh products. The fund will also
be utilised for strengthening
animal protein brand, announced their Series F2 fund raise the GROWiT App, which is
designed to assist farmers
of $150 million. This round of fundraise comes just 6 months with a better understanding of
protective farming practices
after the company became the first D2C unicorn in the and products.

country. Series F2

is led by Singapore-

based Amansa

Capital, along with

Kotak PE & Axis

Growth Avenues

AIF – I. Existing

investors have also

participated in the

round along with prominent angel investors including Nithin

& Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha, BoAt’s Aman Gupta and Haresh

Chawla, Partner, True North. The funds raised through

Series F2 will be utilised for investment in technological

intervention that will help category development and improve

overall customer experience. The company will also invest in

strategic acquisition and widening and deepening the brand’s

reach. Licious built India’s first farm to fork model with its

proprietary tech-driven supply chain and introduced global

standards of meats and seafood for Indian consumers.

12 Fpyionluairnccyveineenwwesws s agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Valley Culture Omnivore launches $130M
venture fund focused on
raises Rs 2 Cr agritech, climate sustainability

funding Omnivore, India’s leading agritech venture capital firm,
announced the launch of its third fund, with a target corpus
Dehradun-based agritech of $130 million (Rs 1000 crore). The new fund will continue
startup Valley Culture has to invest in early-stage startups developing breakthrough
raised funds worth Rs 2 technologies for agriculture, food, climate, and the rural
crore from TMRW Network. economy. Omnivore generally invests in Seed, Pre-Series A,
The agritech startup works and Series A rounds, with follow-on capital for future growth.
with farmers from across the Originally founded by Jinesh Shah and Mark Kahn in 2010,
state, ensuring fair prices and Omnivore pioneered agritech investing in India, and over the
supplying pure, traditional past decade has backed over 35 startups which are making
and wholesome farm produce farming more profitable, resilient, sustainable, and climate-
to the world. Valley Culture proof. Omnivore is targeting a first close of the new fund by
works with over 4000 September 2022 and a final close by June 2023. With this new
farmers across the state of fund, Omnivore expects to make 25 to 30 new investments over
Uttarakhand of which the the next four years, continuing to fund entrepreneurs building
majority are women giving the future of Indian agriculture and food systems. Omnivore
hope and a lifeline to more Fund 3 will have a sharper focus on catalysing climate action
than 600 widows. Founders in agriculture, backing startups addressing both climate
Shikha Prakash and Robin mitigation (reducing India’s GHG emissions) and climate
Nagar plan to build a complete adaptation/resilience (securing a future for India’s farmers).
Farm to Fork ecosystem, to
help Himalayan farmers get TraceX raises $1M in
better prices, build market pre-series A round
linkages and direct access
to customers. Also, they are Bangalore-based TraceX Technologies has raised $1 million in
steadfast and determined to pre-series A funding led by NABARD backed NABVENTURES
promote a healthy lifestyle by Fund. The round also saw participation from Paipal Ventures,
reviving the traditional foods an early stage family office investment fund, and angel
of Uttarakhand. The startup investor Sunil Kumar. The newly raised capital will be used
targets Rs 100-crore turnover towards scaling up operations across geographies in India and
in the next 18 months. international markets, enhancing the technology platform,
foraying into other value chains and building high-performance
teams across functions. TraceX is the next-generation digital
agriculture platform led by a block chain-powered traceability
platform that enhances supply chain visibility to build trust
and maximise long-term value for businesses. TraceX’s block
chain-enabled proprietary platform digitises the end to end
process of the supply chain. All agents/players of the supply
chain can seamlessly add, view, and exchange information.

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com l i vfeipnsoatlnoicceyk nneewwss 13

Govt calls for creation ICAR-NRC on
of animal disease free Meat, Hyderabad
zones for boosting signs MoU with
meat products Jubilant Foods

Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister for Fisheries, The ICAR-National Research Centre on
Animal Husbandry, in a bid to boost exports Meat, Hyderabad signed the Memorandum
of value-added meat products has called on of Understanding (MoU) with the Jubilant
stakeholders to work towards creation of region- Food Works, Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Dr SB
specific animal disease free zones in the country. Barbuddhe, Director, ICAR-NRC on Meat,
Rupala, while inaugurating the National Business Hyderabad underlined the importance of
Meet on promoting exports of value-added meat the improved shelf-life, enhanced safety
products organised by APEDA in New Delhi on and regulatory compliance to meet the
March 25, 2022, said that even in the case of stakeholders’ requirements. The project
a single outbreak of disease amongst poultry is aimed to assess the existing Jubilant
birds, the entire country is referred to as ‘disease Chicken supply chain, developing packaging
affected’. Rupala also recommended to the and processing interventions to increase
livestock industry to leverage the schemes of the the shelf-life of fresh and cooked chicken
Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Animal meat and benchmarking against regulatory
Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund standards. The MoU is aimed at conducting
and the National Livestock Mission for setting up the Contract Research “Studies on Extended
animal farms for their rearing in order to produce Shelf Life of Chicken and Enhancing Post
good quality meat and thereby quality value- Cooking Quality and Safety”.
added products.

DAHD unveils ‘One Health’ pilot project
in Uttarakhand

The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying implementation of the One Health Support Unit.
(DAHD), Government of India has launched Some of the key activities to be undertaken as
a pilot project in the state of Uttarakhand to part of the pilot project include institutionalising
implement the One Health Framework by One the mechanism for the data collection on
Health Support Unit. The key objective of the disease outbreaks, prevalence, management,
unit is to develop a national One Health roadmap and development of targeted surveillance
based on the learnings of the pilot project plan, integrating the network of laboratories,
implementation. The inter-ministerial One developing and implementing communication
Health committee under the chairmanship of the strategy across sectors and integration of the
Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government data with the digital architecture of the National
of India has been established to lead the Digital Livestock Mission.

14 lyfiovnuearsntcvoei ecnwkesnwesw s agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

India, Singapore “Dairy industry must
hold East Asia constantly adapt to
Summit workshop changing scenarios”
on IUU Fishing
Sunil Chhatrapal Kedar, Minister for Animal
Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Husbandry, Dairy Development, Sports &
Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Youth Welfare, government of Maharashtra
Government of India and the Government of recently inaugurated the special edition of India
Singapore, recently organised a virtual East International Dairy Expo (IIDE), organised
Asia Summit (EAS) Workshop on Illegal, by Koelnmesse India. The expo encapsulated
Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing dairy and dairy technology, for dairy farming,
co-chaired by India and Singapore Food processing, packaging, distribution and products.
Agency (SFA). The workshop was attended by Kedar mentioned that the significance of the
eight EAS member countries, four knowledge dairy sector to the Indian economy cannot be
partners, officials of the Department of underestimated. It is a subtle indicator of a
Fisheries, the Government of India, Fisheries healthy economy. Looking at the perishability of
officials of different States/UTs and other dairy products, the dairy industry must always
invitees. The technical session, focussed on embrace change and constantly adapt itself to
regional collaborations in combating IUU the changing technologies as well because it’s
fishing, was chaired by Singapore Food only then that we’ll be able to achieve the desired
Agency. The knowledge partners, namely, result. The minister exhorted the dairy industry in
the Bay of Bengal Programme Inter- general and in Maharashtra particularly to adopt
Governmental Organization (BOBPIGO), new ideas and the latest technologies and march
the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial on the path of grand success.
Research Organization (CSIRO), the
Southeast Asian Fisheries Development
Center (SEAFDEC) and the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) shared the
regional efforts and the groundbreaking and
continuous efforts being taken to combat
IUU fishing.

ARI develops new diagnostic tool to boost
shrimp cultivation

Scientists have developed a handy diagnostic tool probiotics, disease resistance, quality control of
that detects an aquaculture pathogen known as the water, seed and feed, immuno-stimulants and
White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV). The peptide- affordable vaccines play an important role in
based diagnostic tool by scientists of Agharkar enhancing the production. Technologies for early
Research Institute (ARI), an autonomous institute and rapid detection of pathogens on the field will
of the Department of Science and Technology help fish and shell-fish farming which provides
(DST) has been granted a patent, as an alternative significant export revenue to the country which is
biorecognition element. Infection caused by the a leading supplier of shrimp to the US.
WSSV to the shrimp Penaeus vannamei results in
a huge loss of crop. This high-value super-food is
susceptible to a wide range of viral and bacterial
pathogens and the probability of occurrence of
infections is rather high. Improved nutrition,

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com l i vsetpsaotrloticukyp nneewwss 15

nurture.farm introduces AgroStar
weather–based financial
protection for farmers acquires INI

Leading agritech startup nurture.farm and Digisafe insurance Farms
brokers announced their partnership on offering KAVACH
– a weather-based cash guarantee programme launched for AgroStar has acquired
nurture.farm farmers. Farmers using the startup’s services Mumbai-based INI Farms,
exporters of Fruits &
can enrol in the programme. Vegetables (F&V) crops like
As a pilot, the farmers of bananas and pomegranates
Maharashtra and Madhya from India. AgroStar has
Pradesh can buy this coverage acquired 100 per cent of INI
at a nominal fee. KAVACH Farms through a combination
offers farmers a cashback up of cash and stock. Through
to Rs 500 per acre against this acquisition, AgroStar will
unseasonal rainfall. Highly provide additional value to
customised as per local its large network of farmers
weather data, the KAVACH will transfer payouts directly to a by making their products
farmer’s bank account if rainfall breaches a pre-set limit. The available to quality-conscious
farmers would not need to be intimate for claims. Instead, consumers around the globe.
the payouts will be automatically triggered based on the IMD This acquisition provides a
weather data. The company mentioned that through KAVACH, scaled presence to AgroStar
we have defined the parameters of cash out so that farmers will in the over $300 billion agri
benefit based on localised weather. The automatic payouts, output market. Following
which happen timely within a week of the rainfall breach, this acquisition, AgroStar
will be a game changer. We wish to extend this to 3, 00,000 will provide market linkage
farmers this year. solutions for the domestic
and export markets to its
Agrizy raises $4M in seed large network of farmers. In
funding led by Ankur Capital addition, INI Farms’ customer
base of global retailers will
Bengaluru-based ag-tech startup, Agrizy has raised $4 million get access to a wider basket of
in a seed round led by Ankur Capital. This round also saw F&V products. AgroStar will
participation from Omnivore and notable angels like Rajesh also provide access to great
quality inputs, tech-based farm
Yabaji (CEO, BlackBuck), Zetwerk’s Co- interventions and solutions
founders Srinath Ramakkrushnan, Amrit designed to increase yields to
Acharya, Rahul Sharma, and Vishal INI Farms’ network of farmers
Chaudhary among others. The funds raised across multiple states.
will be utilised to build strong business and
engineering teams, develop a suite of digital
services for the processed agri marketplace
and ramp up customer traction in targeted
value chains across various locations in India. The startup will
use the funds to build out the product and accelerate business
in targeted value chains. This will support agri processors with
innovative technology solutions, for effective utilisation to
execute the trade through Agrizy’s logistics partners. The team
comes with a good mix of operations, finance, and logistics
experience at high-growth startups like Blackbuck, Bizongo, and
Zoomcar, as well as deep ties to the agri processing domain.

16 sytoaurrtvuipe wn esw s agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Arya.ag launches PAU invites applications
from agripreneurs, startups
first Insta-Release working on seeds

services for The Punjab Agri Business Incubator (PABI), Directorate of
Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU),
farmers has invited applications for Cohort IV of Uddam (pre-seed) and
Udaan (seed) from the agripreneurs/agri startups of Punjab and
Arya.ag, India’s largest and its neighbouring states (Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal
fastest-growing integrated Pradesh, Chandigarh, and Jammu and Kashmir). PAU
grain commerce platform, mentioned that the last date for the receipt of the application
has recently announced is May 31, 2022. Applicants can apply online or offline. PABI
another industry-first, has produced several entrepreneurs (male and female), who
Arya’s Insta-Release – One are running their agri-businesses successfully in Punjab after
Click Loan Repayment and acquiring training from PAU’s Skill Development Centre and
Commodity Discharge. availing facilities being offered under PABI. The training will
Leveraging its technology help in becoming the youth financially independent.
stack, Arya.ag has been able
to optimise its release process Mahindra Group increases
to happen within seconds – stake in Carnot to 69%
which otherwise by current
industry standards takes Mahindra Group has increased its stake in Carnot Technologies,
over 24 hours to a week. an ag-tech startup, to approximately 69 per cent. The group has
With Arya’s marketplace also affirmed its commitment to its vision of making Krish-e, the
search engine that connects group’s farming as a service vertical, India’s largest ecosystem of
sellers to buyers across the digital products and solutions. As part of the round, an attractive
country and its embedded ESOP pool for future employees has also been created. Mahindra
logistics service, users can mentioned that this investment signals its strategic commitment
now seamlessly reach buyers to Carnot. They have been at the forefront of building for Bharat
in no time. The launch of and innovating specifically for farmers. Since its last investment
innovative Insta-Release in late 2020, Carnot has been its partner in leading the digital
services aims to empower product and technology vision for Krish-e. Carnot Technologies
farmers to immediately is a startup founded by IIT Bombay alumni which developed the
optimise their farm produce leading agriculture IoT platform Simha (rebranded to Krish-e
upon repayment of loans. Rental) which now has over 25,000 tractors, harvesters and
Insta Release leverages Arya. sprayers working on over 3 million acres of land each season.
ag’s pioneering integrated The platform is protected by 5 patents and was awarded the
digital platform and allows Qualcomm Design in India award for $100K by then Union
the farmer to gain complete Minister for Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad.
control of her farm produce
immediately upon repayment
of loans – all this at just
click of a button. Apart from
convenience, the Insta-
Release offering drives home
transparency, efficiency and
ease of Arya.ag’s integrated
service offerings to farmers.

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com s tpaorlti cu ypCnoevwesr 17

Envisioning
India as Global

Drone
Hub

Today, satellite-driven technology, big data analytics and digital solutions are helping
farmers in many countries including India to make better and more informed cropping
decisions. Drones have become one among the most promising emerging technologies.
However, the benefit quotient of these airborne unmanned tech can be expedited by some
swift and pragmatic governmental interventions. According to a report published by Allied
Market Research, the global agriculture drones market size was valued at $0.88 billion in
2020, and is projected to reach $5.89 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 22.4 per cent
from 2021 to 2030. Keeping these stats in mind, let's delve deeper.

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Even though the Agri-drone sector in in digital space and precision agriculture is the
India is at a very nascent stage, the need of the hour.
future looks promising as there are
many key players like Bayer, CropLife There is an immediate need for the
India, BharatRohan, Dhanuka, among other agricultural sector to adopt leading-edge digital
players, entering the Indian market to expand and precision agriculture technologies to improve
the use of drone technology. Recently, the farm productivity and democratise access to
Government of India has introduced new rules market information for all farmers in India.
and regulations pertaining to drones which has Drone technology can potentially revolutionise
made operations easier for the drone companies. the farming industry through need-based precise
The policy on Kisan Drones will significantly and focused application of crop inputs.
boost the Agri Drone Industry in India with
grants, subsidies, and research opportunities. As pointed out by Rishabh Choudhary,
Co-Founder & CTO, BharatRohan, “We have a
Apart from its advantages and benefits, the population of 1.3 billion people which is projected
drone industry faces bigger concerns like labour to reach 1.6 billion by 2050 and we must find
shortage, proper training of operators, use of ways to meet the increased food demand
Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and without modifying natural resources. Still, an
cost aspect which restricts the industry from average Indian farmer loses 20-25 per cent of
adopting this technology. All these concerns his crop due to pests, diseases, and various other
call for looking at this technology in a more ecological factors. Precision agriculture can help
comprehensive way. farmers make better informed decisions while
helping them with sustainable farming practices
Can drone industry flourish in India? and increase their profit per acre. Drones are very
versatile and can help us understand the state
According to a report by the Federation of of crops at centimetre level precision with high
Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry efficiency and low cost and can also help farmers
(FICCI) and global consultancy firm, EY, Indian spray chemicals at a much faster pace.”
unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market is
expected to touch $885.7 million by 2021, while He further said, “Rise in venture capital
the global market size of drone is pegged at funding for the deployment of drones in the
$21.47 billion. Currently India is the 5th largest agriculture industry and surge in adoption of
importer of drones. In the past few years, use of precision farming solutions by the farmers
drones in agriculture has gained a lot of attention drives the growth of the agri drone industry. The
increase in the automation industry in farming

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and agriculture provides abundant growth Drones are very versatile
opportunities for drone’s application in the equipment that can help us
agriculture sector.” to understand the state of
crops at centimetre level
Adopting drone technology precision with high efficiency
and low cost and can also
With the market for agricultural drones help farmers spray chemicals
reaching a whopping $1.3 billion globally, the at a much faster pace.”
purpose of adopting drone technology is to focus
on accurate and reliable information. For which, Rishabh Choudhary,
industry players and the government of India Co-Founder & CTO, BharatRohan
are working keenly towards drone adoption
technology in the country. We should now look into how
all stakeholders can work
As mentioned by Choudhary, “Recently the together to help develop
Government of India came up with new Drone a Conducive Ecosystem
rules and regulations which has made operations for Drone Applications in
easier for the Drone companies and Policy on Agriculture. The objective for
Kisan Drones will significantly boost the Agri every stakeholder should be
Drone Industry in India with grants, subsidy market development through
and research opportunities provided by the farmer awareness, successful demonstrations
government. Agri drones will be the future of and evolving innovative business models. There
India. Drone startups can use this opportunity will be plenty of scope for improving market
to accomplish better technological capacities. It share later.”
is also a pushing for public-private partnerships
for high-tech farm services in which drone Asitava Sen,
technology will be a major player. All these efforts Chief Executive Officer, CropLife India
would not just encourage farmers to switch to
digital and mechanised farming but also boost spraying insecticides and nutrients. The
growth in the agribusiness sector and create more proposed drones-as-a-service (DRaaS) model
employment opportunities for youth.” has capabilities to revamp and boost India's
fragmented drone industry for new business and
In another initiative, the Union Finance employment avenues. In her budget speech, the
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed minister spoke about the Drone Shakti scheme,
extensive use of drones in agriculture, including encouraging drones as a service in our country.
Undoubtedly, drones have evolved from defence-
only equipment to multi-purpose equipment,
which can be used for several sectors like
governance, farming, logistics, to name a few.

Furthermore, the Drone Federation of India
(DFI) has recently granted interim approval to
477 pesticides for drone usage, to fast track agri-
drone adoption in India. For this, each pesticide
needs to be approved by the Central Insecticide
Board and Registration Committee which would
take 18-24 months. The registered pesticides will
include insecticides, fungicides, and plant growth
regulators (PGRs), for commercial use through
drones for two years.

How cost effective is it?

The first and foremost issue that is faced
by this industry is the cost aspect of drones. As
highlighted by Navneet Ravikar, Chairman &
Managing Director, Leads Connect Services,
“Possibilities of a phenomenal thrive in the Agri-

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Drone industry is imminent regardless of the Synergen DRT helps to
challenges it may face due to the requirement of control drift and volatility
change in the mindset of the stakeholders. First of fine droplets during
and foremost, the issue is regarding the cost application and helps
aspect of drones. There is apprehension that this improve the coverage and
may either discourage or create doubts in the penetration of the actives in
minds of the farmers.” the leaves, boosting biological
performance as well as making drone spraying
Managing cost-aspect of drones more sustainable and environmentally friendly.”
Fabio Caravieri, Head of Marketing, Industrial &
Consideration of cost aspects should now be Consumer Specialties, Clariant
in the context of long-term returns. Especially
when there is a looming threat of climate change Drone manufacturers must
and shrinking arable land on agricultural put farmers' interests on
productivity. priority when they discuss
their business models.
Intervention of technology is now However, we are yet to be
indispensable to increase agricultural fully self-sufficient in drone
productivity, which will certainly help in manufacturing.”
recovering the cost of implemented technologies. Navneet Ravikar, Chairman & Managing
Director, Leads Connect Services
There is a need to work on possibilities where
financial assistance can be given to farmers a 7 to 15-day interval. Thereby replacing the
or Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) for guesswork of traditional practices with scientific
adopting advanced technologies. The government advisory. Hyperspectral imaging is a tool that
has already announced a huge subsidy on drones helps them detect minuscule colour changes
being purchased by FPOs. occurring in a plant when it is infested by a pest
or a disease.”
Boosting agri-drone industry
The startup has recently raised seed funding
To boost the agri-drone industry in India, investments in a round led by Upaya Social
many key players have stepped up with initiatives Ventures and Acumen Fund, to expand its drone-
that have helped farmers exponentially. Delhi- based crop monitoring in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
based agritech startup BharatRohan Airborne
Innovations has helped 3600 mint farmers in Furthermore, with the central government
Uttar Pradesh to save around Rs 3620 per acre. giving impetus to ‘Kisan Drones’, drone startups
Choudhary said, “BharatRohan is currently as well as large industry players like Mahindra
serving 20,000 acres of the land owned by Farm Equipment Sector and CropLife are putting
farmers spread across Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan together their agri drone strategy.
and Gujarat. We incentivise farmers who
implement our sustainable crop advisories to There has been an exceptional collaborative
farmers associated with industrial buyers who and consultative fast paced policy making
are looking for traceable farm produce and process led by the Government with
ingredients. We have thorough experience in stakeholders’ involvement, preceding the Budget
working with crops like Sugarcane, Japanese announcements for Krishi Drones. CropLife India
Mint, Paddy, Potato, and some seed spices and was closely involved in development of the drone
pulses.” application Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
and Guidelines for use of Drone application for
He further pointed out, “By using drone crop protection, as part of the expert committee
technology, we can optimise wastes as Agri set up, and shared best practices across Asian
drones enable optimum usage of all the resources countries.
in the field. We use UAV/Drone based hyper-
spectral imagery for agri-advisory and drone Sharing his insights on this, Asitava Sen,
based digital soil testing. We deploy advanced Chief Executive Officer, CropLife India said, “The
remote sensing tools like drones equipped government is already playing a facilitator's role
with Hyperspectral Cameras to monitor the with progressive policies, subsidy schemes and
agriculture crops of the subscriber farmers on production-linked incentives to make India a
major hub for drones.”

He further said, “We should now look into

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PLI Calculation for a Drone Manufacture (Sample Year FY 2021- 22)

Claim year Sales - net of Purchase - net of Value addition PLI rate (%) PLI due
GST (Rs crore) GST (Rs crore) (Rs crore) (Rs crore)

FY 2021-22 100 60 100-60 = 40 20% 40 x 20% = 8

Source: Ministry of Civil Aviation

Estimated Payout schedule of PLI for Drones and Drone components

Claim year Sales - net of Purchase - Value PLI rate PLI Disbursement year
GST (Rs crore) net of GST addition (%) due (Rs
(Rs crore) (Rs crore) crore) FY 2022-23
FY 2023-24
FY 2021-22 200 120 80 20 16 FY 2024-25

FY 2022-23 400 240 160 20 32

FY 2023-24 900 540 360 20 72

TOTAL 1500 900 600 20 120

Source: Ministry of Civil Aviation

how all stakeholders can work together to help in 2020 and is expected to hit $5.89 billion by
develop a Conducive Ecosystem for Drone 2030, registering a CAGR of 22.4 per cent from
Applications in Agriculture. The objective for 2021 to 2030.
every stakeholder should be market development
through farmer awareness, successful One of the leading global suppliers of specialty
demonstrations and evolving innovative business chemicals for agriculture, Clariant has recently
models. There will be plenty of scope for launched DropForward: a focused approach to
improving market share later.” providing precision application with adjuvants
and co-formulants. The company is offering its
Not only this, but Prime Minister Narendra customers Synergen DRT: the first solution to
Modi has recently launched Kisan Drones at come out of its DropForward concept.
100 places across the country from Manesar. “I
am sure this launch will not only prove to be a “Synergen DRT helps to control drift and
milestone in the development of the drone sector volatility of fine droplets during application and
but will also open endless doors of possibilities. helps improving the coverage and penetration
I am also told that Garuda Aerospace has set a of the actives in the leaves, boosting biological
target of making one lakh ‘Made in India’ drones performance as well as making drone spraying
in the next two years. This will generate new jobs more sustainable and environmentally friendly,”
and new opportunities for several youngsters. I said Fabio Caravieri, Clariant’s Head of
congratulate the team of Garuda Aerospace,” said Marketing, Industrial & Consumer Specialties.
PM Modi.
Further, Bayer has partnered with innovative
According to the PM, the Kisan Drone is now drone startup, General Aeronautics and
the beginning of a new age revolution in this conducted several in-house and external R&D
direction. trials with universities and central research
institutions to generate data to make drone-based
In another step towards realising a collective services available to farmers.
vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat, the Central
Government has also approved the Production- Another leading firm ADAMA and Agremo, a
Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for drones and leading aerial analytics provider, have announced
drone components. an expansion programme of the ADAMA Eagle
Eye, a drone analytics farming platform powered
Global scenario by Agremo and operated by ADAMA.

According to the report published by Allied Dispelling doubts, instilling confidence
Market Research (AMR), the global agriculture
drones’ market was estimated at $0.88 billion The most relevant measure that is required
from the industry is to make use of drones cost

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Pros & Cons of agricultural drones

by Prof. Parameswar K Iyer,

Department of Chemistry,
Dean Public Relations Branding and Ranking, IIT Guwahati

For any new technology to be embraced, especially among farmers, it
takes a while. Like the Green revolution, Agri-Drone technology also takes a
while to be picked up. Institutions like FPOs, Common service centres and
KVKs play a huge role in getting farmers to adopt drone technology. There is
also a huge push from the Government of India towards drones. The budget
has focused on Kisan Drones for crop assessment, digitisation of land records and spraying of
insecticides and FPO subsidies will certainly help leverage the technology.
Drones can drastically change the way we practice agriculture. Crop intelligence and crop
protection solution using drones and AI. Crop intelligence-based drone or satellite imaging creates
inspection and surveillance for farmers to identify any crop stress in real-time and take corrective
actions. Crop protection is done using spraying drones. It covers fields faster and efficiently across
all corners. Further crop protection drones can be used for multiple purposes from direct seeding,
fertiliser application and pollination. With climate change at our doorstep, it is important that we
adopt smart technologies for our food security.
The drone market at present and at large has a single purpose drone that might hinder the
path but with evolving designs and fuel technologies, multi-purpose drones will alleviate those
obstacles. Once the demand picks up and economies of scale are reached, drones will be cost-
effective. Apart from that, drones eliminate the shortage of labour, optimising inputs such as
pesticides and fertilisers and thus making the entire process.
Most of the inputs necessary for leveraging drone technology is already in place. Agriculture
comes under green zone for drones, most of the regulatory compliances and SOPs are already in
place. The Make in India and PLI scheme has also boosted the technology. Parts needed are also
indigenously manufactured. Market access and design research and development is something
that needs more penetration.
Drones have an immense potential to revolutionise the agriculture sector. It can help in
removing obstacles like land records, crop assessment, crop monitoring, spraying, Nano-urea,
direct seeding, integrated pest management and help the nation realise the dream of doubling the
farmers income.

effective for farmers. technologies can be incorporated seamlessly.
Ravikar said, “It is important to understand In addition, this is also very important to
understand that flying drones across regions can
that the success of the drone industry is also be cumbersome and time consuming. Therefore,
dependent on the conviction of farmers that robust smart drone survey frameworks need
using drones will not create a huge financial to be developed. Besides making the process
burden for them. So, in the truest essence, drone of data collection easy and seamless, smart
manufacturers must start putting farmers on drone surveys can be instrumental in threshold
priority when they discuss their business models analysis, and such analysis is necessary for
on the table. However, we are yet to be fully self- upscaling things.”
sufficient in drone manufacturing. Sum it up, we
have a long way to cover to provide cost effective Besides this, the government needs to create
methods using drones.” a positive outlook for imports and provide policy
support for 'Make in India' drones.
He added, “Also, the growth of the agri-
drone industry is dependent on encouraging Pooja Yadav
frameworks where multi and inter disciplinary
[email protected]

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Drone technology is all the rage right now because of its numerous
applications, and future possibilities in farming. Initially, unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs) were used by the military, but other industries quickly
leveraged the wide range of applications for UAVs. Drones encourage farmers
to overcome a wide range of obstacles and reap numerous benefits from
precision farming in addition to enhancing overall performance. Human error
and inefficiency in traditional farming methods leave a $1.3 billion market void
that UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) can fill. Let’s explore further.

Drone technology is being used to eliminate the recent trends of using drones to improve
any ambiguity or guesswork and overall farming operations. Rashtriya Krishi
instead focus on accurate and reliable Vikas Yojana – Remunerative Approaches for
information. Young budding entrepreneurs Agriculture and Allied Sectors Rejuvenation
in India's agro sector have been enticed by (RKVY-RAFTAAR) is a groundbreaking

24 cy o uv errv i e w s agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

initiative from the Ministry of Agriculture and drone. Research into developing lighter, longer-
Farmers' Welfare (MoA&FW) to further support lasting batteries for agricultural drones needs
these startups. It aims to improve agricultural to be accelerated by the government in order to
and allied sector infrastructure to encourage increase their operational flexibility."
agribusiness and agripreneurship by facilitating
financial aid and cultivating a business incubator He further said, "At the very first time, the
system. farmers give us a very confused look when we
brief them about our innovative solutions. But
Elaborating further on the benefits of these as they get used to our products and services
flying machines, Devan Chandrasekharan, then it is a smooth ride for them. This is a very
Founder and Managing Director, Fuselage important aspect of our business to make farmers
Innovations said, "We at Fuselage Innovations aware of the benefits that this technology brings
address the need to increase the efficiency to them and for that, we provide free services to
and sustainability of the farming business them on an initial stage."
by deploying the most advanced solution for
mapping and diagnostics of farmland through Enhancing the skill set of the farmers
dedicated Unmanned Aerial Vehicles/drones.
Our vision is sustainable agriculture and As mentioned earlier, operating drones
food security through universal digital access require a different set of skills and to attain
to agronomy knowledge and best farming these, proper training is required so that these
practices." flying machines can be operated at an ease. But
unlike in the past, now most of the farmers are
"Doing current projects, we realised that the technically sound therefore; these farmers can
idea we have put forward has a huge impact on be trained easily. Concurrently, it will create
the agricultural sector. By adopting our drone enormous job opportunities as more of the youth
farming method, we have been able to increase will join the agro sector and with their knowledge
the crop yield of the farmers by 35 per cent and and skills, this technology can revolutionise this
reduce the utilisation of agricultural resources by entire domain.
up to 70 per cent. Yield loss could be minimised
by being able to detect the disease earlier and To meet the growing demand for drones in
for that, our FIA spectra UAV is best suited for agriculture, the newly established Kaushalya
this job," he added. Currently, the company – The Skill University (KSU) in Ahmedabad
is working with 220 farmers in Kerala on a has established its School of Drones, which
consolidated area of about 10000 acres. The will enrol and train 20,000 children from
firm is providing its services to these farmers on rural backgrounds and farming families. The
a regular basis and in future, it is planning to university has come up with the idea of "trainer
expand its services to pan India level. entrepreneurs" as a solution to the lack of
available drone technology trainers. It has taken
Hurdles blocking the growth the university five years to put together a road
map that includes input from civil aviation,
As operating drones requires a specialised set flying schools, drone federations, drone startups,
of skills, there's a lot of potential for creating jobs and industry leaders. Drone flying skills, drone
in rural areas by offering training in this area. assembly and maintenance, value-added services
A total of around 2.1 million new rural jobs are such as data analysis and artificial intelligence
expected to be created as a result of these cutting- application, among other things, are all part of
edge technologies. But still there are a number the curriculum at KSU's 'School of Drones,' which
of issues that need to be addressed in order for will be established in the near future.
adoption to be successful.
Using the infrastructure of the university,
Highlighting one major issue, Mrinal Pai, Co- these trainers whose remuneration will be linked
Founder, Skylark Drones said "In addition to the to their performance, will be paid by the state
advantages, the use of drones in agriculture has government through university in case of free or
some limitations. Due to their larger payloads, subsidised training. More the trainees, the more,
drones can fly for 20-60 minutes on a single the trainers earn with the university fixing the
charge. This results in a smaller area covered rates.
per charge and a higher operating cost for the
Nitin Konde

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It’s a perfect time as the
policy framework is in place;
India should look into how
all stakeholders can work
together to help develop
a Conducive Ecosystem
for Drone Applications in
Agriculture and specifically
Agrochemical Spraying.

Drone technology is becoming more rapid progress in adopting drones for use in
widely available for use in the agriculture and prioritised both regulatory and
agricultural sector. There are many structural developments to speed up the adoption
companies working to make the of drones powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
technology more accessible to Indian farmers With precision agriculture, farmers can increase
and ready for use in agricultural production, their overall productivity, quality, and yield
even though the technology is still in its infancy by making better use of water, fertiliser, and
in India. If one wants to keep a close eye on his pesticides.
seeding operation, drones are a great option.
Sharing his thoughts on this technology,
With this technology one can get an overview Asitava Sen, Chief Executive Officer, CropLife
of plant growth and population density so that India said, "Drone technology has proved to be
it can be used to guide replanting decisions, viable in other Asian countries with smallholder
pruning operations and yield predictions. farms. In Japan drone technology has been in use
For example, weather data can be used to for over 30 years. As per a study by the Food and
evaluate the growth of plants and the effects of Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
environmental stressors such as disease. High- (FAO); in China alone, the number of agriculture
resolution multispectral and hyperspectral drones is estimated to have doubled between
imaging images can be used to determine the 2016 and 2017, reaching 13,000 aircrafts and
fertility status of crops, allowing experts to 30 million hectares of crop land was sprayed by
provide precise fertiliser and water application drones in 2019."
advice and reduce waste. Despite this dazzling
picture, there are numerous obstacles to the Drones are 20 times more efficient and their
growth of the agro drone industry in India. viability will be defined by various business
models, adopted to make it sustainable throughout
Countries like China and Japan have made the year. As seen in other countries, cost per

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hectare will come down; with increasing adoption Organisation (FPOs), custom hiring centers, rural
and usage of the technology. It is proven for any entrepreneurs, startups and individual farmers.
new technology such as mobile phones; costs come
down significantly with enhanced usage over a The latest policies and liberal Production
period of time. Though this technology is reaping Linked Incentives (PLI) announced by the
benefits to the agro sector, there are various Government will also help ‘Make in India’ drones
steeplechases such as connectivity, pricing, flight and cost of drones will come down over a period
hours, hostile weather conditions etc. that need to of time through indigenisation.
be addressed to fully embed this technology into
the Indian agriculture sector. "Drone deployment for agrochemical spraying
although new in India but imminent. It is
Beefing up connectivity affordable for farmers, helps in superior produce,
and a major tool for food security in the country.
Drones communicate using radio waves on “Kisan Drones” will usher in Digitalisation of
specific radio frequencies which are handled by Indian Agriculture and Rural Entrepreneurship
telecom equipment (approved by the Ministry in the country," said Sen.
of Telecommunication) and during Visual line
of sight, internet connectivity is not required Hostile weather condition
for completing its mission; although the same
is product specific. The data (photo/video taken We all know that bad weather can have a
during flight, flight coordinates, etc.) collected by huge impact on flights, whether it's a plane,
the drones can later be transferred further once a helicopter, or a drone. Drones, on the other
internet connectivity is resumed. hand, can be affected by a wide range of weather
conditions, including:
Elaborating further on the topic, Sen said, • High winds: Drones can be blown off course
"93 per cent of Indian villages have 3G or 4G
connectivity; and India has the second-largest by strong winds, making them difficult to
online market in the world. In light of these facts, control during takeoff, flight, or landing,
it is just a matter of time, when the digital divide leading to an accident.
will be narrowed thus allowing smooth operation • Water damage: Damage to the drone's
of all digital technologies, including drones; and electrical components can be caused by
not to forget the fact that the demand will push precipitation getting inside and causing it to
the boundaries of supply." malfunction and crash.
• Cold temperatures: The drone's range and
High capital cost flight time can be significantly reduced and
even halved in the winter.
Despite painting a vibrant picture, the drone • Low visibility: Fog can reduce the ability of a
technology has to cross one major hurdle that is drone's camera to gather visual data, resulting
affordability if it wants to capture the nerve of in wasted time and money.
this sector. In India, most of the farmers have All these factors also needed to be considered
a small portion of land so they cannot invest if the country wants to implant these flying
heavily in technology. So the best opted solution machines into the agriculture system.
for these farmers would be custom hiring models Recently, the government has allowed Interim
and this basic pesticide spraying service on rent Approval for application of already approved
is going to be a major game changer. crop protection formulations through drones. All
approved insecticides, fungicides, PGR and bio-
"We have developed technology that is pesticides formulations have been allowed for
affordable for farmers and can assist them in spray through drones for a period of two years;
increasing their yield and decreasing their costs," subject to certain conditions. This is indeed a
said Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO, remarkable development and a critical milestone.
Garuda Aerospace. It’s a perfect time as the policy framework is in
place; India should look into how all stakeholders
The Government has already announced can work together to help develop a Conducive
drone subsidy schemes through the Agriculture Ecosystem for Drone Applications in Agriculture
Infrastructure Fund covering around 40 per and specifically Agrochemical Spraying.
cent to 100 per cent of the drone cost; for
Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Farmer Producer Nitin Konde

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com p o l i c yCnoevwesr 27

After receiving a nod from the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for conducting drone trials
in agriculture, many agri companies are raring to go and make Drones a
mainstay for farmers, with big and small land holdings, alike. Currently Bayer
CropScience, Mahindra & Mahindra and Coromandel International have
already begun drone trials for crops such as paddy, corn, sugarcane, wheat,
vegetables, fruits and hot peppers in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Real-
time agronomic advisory to farmers, enhancing farm productivity and fostering
sustainability are but a few promising deliverables of the versatile drones.

In August 2021, the MoCA and regulator Academy, Gujarat's Blue Ray Aviation, Tractors
DGCA allowed 10 organisations, including and Farm Equipment Limited, Mahindra &
state governments and private companies, Mahindra, Bayer Crop Science, and Indian
to use drones for a year. Those given Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune.
permission include - Karnataka, National
Health Mission (Mumbai), Gangtok Smart In December 2021, the Government had
City Development project, Steel Authority of released SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures)
India's (SAIL) plant at West Bengal's Burnpur, for drone regulation for pesticide application.
Hyderabad's Asia Pacific Flight Training It covered important aspects like statutory
provisions, flying permissions, area distance

28 Cy o uv errv i e w s agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

restrictions, weight classification, overcrowded "Drone applications are
areas restriction, drone registration, safety operating in other 'small
insurance, piloting certification, operation plan, farmer' countries in Asia
air flight zones and weather conditions. and have the potential to
deliver significant value to
Traditionally it has been the farmer who smallholders in India, as well
sprays his crops physically. Even with hired as for the economy and the
manual labour, this is a costly and time- planet."
consuming affair. In the manual spraying method,
a farmer generally spends a considerable amount - D Narain, CEO and
on labour charges, more water and a higher Managing Director, Bayer CropScience Ltd
quantity of chemicals. With drones, it takes only
a few minutes to spray fertilisers and permitted “Drones are especially suited
pesticides on one acre as opposed to 5- 6 hours for a country like India with
earlier. Also crops at any height can be effectively small landholding farmers,
reached, as drones ensure comprehensive and since other modes of aerial
equal distribution of fertilisers and pesticides. application aren’t viable here.
Drones can support more targeted applications While bringing in an element
of insect, weed and disease-control products. of precision, drone spraying
This ensures correct dosage and also limits the will also help farmers
risk of accidental exposure to chemicals. Besides, mitigate the issue of labour unavailability
drones also offer real-time agronomic advisory during peak season and decrease the time to
to farmers, enhancing farm productivity and spray. These trials are our first steps towards
fostering sustainability. embracing this next-gen technology”

Bayer conducted its first drone trial at its - Sameer Goel, Managing
multi-crop breeding centre in Chandipa, near Director, Coromandel International Limited
Hyderabad. The on-ground event, showcasing
a field demonstration on the use of drones in “Mahindra & Mahindra
agricultural operations. Bayer has partnered with is already making drone
innovative drone startup, General Aeronautics services accessible and
Pvt Ltd and conducted several in-house and affordable through Krish-e,
external R&D trials with universities and central our Farming-as-a-Service
research institutions to generate data to make business. New business
drone-based services available to farmers. Based models like drone rentals are
on the initial achievements of drone farming, providing drone services in
growers may be able to explore the technology's India, opening many possibilities for the future.”
capabilities in aiding paddy, corn, sugarcane,
wheat, vegetables, fruits and plantation crops and - Hemant Sikka,
harvests in the future. Bayer has been working President, Farm Equipment Sector
closely with the Government of India, Ministry
of Agriculture and Ministry of Civil Aviation, Mahindra & Mahindra
industry bodies, regulators, policymakers and
drone manufacturers over the last few years to support and food security.
introduce a conducive policy framework for the D Narain, CEO and Managing Director, Bayer
implementation of drone technology in Indian
agriculture. CropScience Ltd said, "Drone applications are
operating in other small farmer countries in
Based on the initial achievements of drone Asia and have the potential to deliver significant
farming, growers may be able to explore the value to smallholders in India, as well as for the
technology’s capabilities in aiding paddy, economy and the planet".
corn, sugarcane, wheat, vegetables, fruits and
plantation crops and harvests in the future. Such Aligning itself with the Government of India’s
innovations can shape the roadmap of sustainable intent to promote drone use in agriculture,
farming in India, while spurring smallholder Coromandel International Limited, the country’s
second largest phosphatic fertiliser player and
part of Murugappa Group, conducted its first
drone trials in Hyderabad.

Commenting on the trials, Sameer Goel,
Managing Director, Coromandel International
Limited said, “The guidelines issued by the Union
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
to make drone technology affordable to the
stakeholders in the agricultural sector is indeed a

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com p o l i c yCnoevwesr 29

major boost towards promoting precision farming the overall cost of farming, improving crop output
in the country. Drones are especially suited and consequently the farmer’s income.
for a country like India with small landholding
farmers, since other modes of aerial application Drone tech adoption
aren’t viable here. While bringing in an element
of precision, drone spraying will also help farmers Promotion of drone design, development, and
mitigate the issue of labour unavailability during manufacturing in India, specifically for Indian
peak season and decrease the time to spray. These farming conditions will further help develop and
trials are our first steps towards embracing this boost adoption of the technology in the rural and
next-gen technology.” agri sector. Apart from releasing new regulations,
the Government has also announced the PLI
The drone industry has gone through a (Production Linked Incentive) scheme for drone
paradigm shift in the last few months and the manufacturers to promote India as a drone hub.
agri industry is one of the few industries to have The government has also allocated Rs 120 crore
received approvals to operate drones for farming over next three financial years under PLI scheme,
operations, with new government regulations banning import of drones (component import is
making deployment, design, development and allowed) to promote the domestic production of
manufacturing of drone technology easier. drones, also making licences to operate drones
easily available across the country.
For drone technology to flourish, the
government’s emphasis on drones for farming To promote drone applications in agriculture,
operations can greatly benefit farmers, with the Government has included drones under
promotion of drone usage from crop assessment the SMAM (Sub Mission on Agriculture
to agrochemical/fertiliser spraying. Drones can Mechanisation) scheme. Under the scheme,
be flown easily in green zones with almost all CHCs, village level entrepreneurs, FPOs will
agricultural areas falling in the green zone. get the subsidy of 40 per cent up to Rs 4 lakh.
Also CIB&RC (Central Insecticides Board
New business opportunity & Registration Committee) has rolled out
guidelines for registration of agrochemicals for
Also the AgTech sector is abuzz with drone spraying. The Ministry of Agriculture and
increasing flow of growth capital into startups Farmers Welfare has also released the SOPs for
that play across the value chain from market spraying of agrochemicals and fertilisers.
linkage to financing to precision farming to
mechanisation services. A fast-growing startup After receiving approval from the Ministry of
ecosystem is bringing new business models that Civil Aviation (MoCA) and regulator Directorate
seek to address several legacy challenges in the General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for conducting
industry. Mahindra & Mahindra has started drone trials in agriculture, agriculture companies
conducting drone-based agricultural trials, are hoping for an increase in penetration of drone
precision spraying on paddy, hot pepper crop in technology in the agriculture sector. Companies
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. are trying to promote drone technology by
making drone services accessible and affordable
While informing about drone trials Hemant through providing access to equipment rentals
Sikka, President, Farm Equipment Sector, and precision farming solutions to small-scale
Mahindra & Mahindra said, “Mahindra & farmers. Currently Bayer CropScience, Mahindra
Mahindra is already making drone services & Mahindra and Coromandel International
accessible and affordable through Krish-e, our Limited have started drone trials for crops such
Farming-as-a-Service business. New business as paddy, corn, sugarcane, wheat, vegetables,
models like drone rentals are providing drone fruits and hot pepper in Telangana and Andhra
services in India, opening many possibilities for Pradesh. Since drones offer real-time agronomic
the future.” advisory to farmers, enhancing farm productivity
and fostering sustainability, it has paved a way to
Sikka also added that a new business vertical, new business opportunities in the agri industry in
Krish-e provides digitally enabled services, India.
across the complete crop cycle affordably and
accessibly to farmers and includes advisory, Dipti Barve
access to equipment rentals and precision farming
solutions. These are all focused on bringing down [email protected]

30 Cy o uv errv i e w s agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Are Drones Beneficial to the
Agro-allied Sector?

As the recent introduction of drones in the agriculture sector is
considered to be a viable and an intelligent stroke by the industry, its
embedment into the agro-allied sector is also measured as a blooming
move to further strengthen this sector. With the help of these Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), operations such as monitoring livestock, mapping
of agricultural land, monitoring fish farms, measuring animal health data
etc. could be done with minimum human intervention. The involvement
of drones in the agro-allied sector will not only enhance the production
but it will also cut down the investment cost.

For ranchers who are already strapped be monitored to gauge the level of an animal's
for time, the ability to keep tabs on the distress, as the productivity of an individual
whereabouts and health of their cattle animal is directly correlated to the level of stress
is a valuable financial asset. Every year, that animal is experiencing.
the Indian cattle industry loses millions because
of health issues in cows. Sick cows are less likely Highlighting few more concerns on this
to eat and move around as a result of this, their technology, Mehal Kejriwal, Co-Founder, Happy
calves growth gets impacted, reduces their ability
to reproduce, and ultimately decreases the value
of their carcasses.

Drone sensors with high-resolution infrared
cameras can detect a sick animal and take
immediate action as a result, making it possible
to monitor and manage large flocks of livestock
using drones. As a result, precision dairy farming
will soon be impacted by drones. Apart from
that, drones are already being used extensively
to monitor livestock in Australia and Israel.
The number of cattle heads can be detected and
counted using UAVs or drones. Any time of day
or night, a drone can fly around the cattle shed
or field and take photos or record videos. Cattle
numbers or any other farm activity can be easily
checked or visualised using these images.

Due to the fact that animals are unable
to communicate as clearly as humans, some
considerations must be made. It is difficult to
predict how livestock will react to drones in
their environment. Stress hormone levels could

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Milk said, "A number of studies have found that agriculture and agro-allied industry, Smit
close-proximity of drone flights have an effect Shah, President, Drone Federation of India,
on animal behaviour. Drones are known to fly at said, "In the wake of the government's recent
lower altitudes, making them a potential threat announcements of new policies and incentives
to livestock. Drones have been shown to have an to promote the production of 'Made in India,'
effect on wildlife in numerous studies. For small- drones, India stands to gain as a major drone
scale farmers in India, drone technology appears manufacturing hub. The ban on finished drone
to be of limited use due to a lack of fodder and imports is a positive development that will aid
pasture land. There are still some questions the domestic drone manufacturing industry.
about technical expertise, such as how to handle Drone engines and batteries can still be imported
and process the data captured by the UAV and without any restrictions for local manufacturing.
how long it can fly for in the air (between 10 and It's time for all players to work together to
30 minutes)." expand the market, rather than focusing on
market share."
Drones for land survey and mapping
Data from underwater habitat
In order to infuse technology in mapping the
state land, Drone-as-a-service (DRaaS) has been A drone can be used to perform human
authorised by the Government of Karnataka to tasks in a similar way to a robot. Fish farming
survey 1.4 lakh sq kms of the state's geography to operations in the ocean require highly-skilled and
update land records, the first such exercise since highly-risked workers to keep an eye on. While
the last British mapping in 1935, according to an human intervention is costly, drones can dive
order issued by the state. underwater multiple times for net inspection
and the health of fish farms, thereby reducing
The total area of Karnataka is 1.91 lakh sq the need for human intervention. Fish farms
kms. In 2018, the Survey of India (India's central can now be analysed using sensors, which have
engineering agency in charge of mapping and been introduced by a number of companies.
surveying) began survey work in five districts Farmers can inspect the health of aquatic
namely Ramanagara, Tumakuru, Belagavi, Uttara organisms without putting themselves in various
Kannada, and Hassan, covering 51,000 sq kms. hostile conditions thanks to live video streaming
Earlier this month, the government issued an provided by drones. Aside from drones, big-data
order that covers the remaining 26 districts analysis can help identify patterns and alert
where the survey work will be carried out at an farmers to potential maintenance issues. It is
estimated cost of Rs 287 crore. Thirteen districts possible to identify potential threats to fish stock
are surveyed in each of the two rounds of the and the environment before they have a negative
survey work. impact on the entire farm.

Only ten drones have been allotted to Sensor advancements have opened up a
Karnataka by the Survey of India. An individual number of new avenues for fish farming. There
drone can cover an area of about 3 sq km per are a variety of sensors needed for the above-
day. It is impossible to complete the project on mentioned drones and robots in addition to video
schedule with current drone deployment. The capture. These include sensors for underwater
revenue department has stated that the Survey navigation as well as sensors for water pH and
of India will not be able to cover 40,000-50,000 other data collection. It is important for fish
sq kms in the next two years. The survey will be farmers to keep the water at the correct pH,
conducted using drones, and the government will temperature, and level of oxygen. These kinds
issue tenders for the work. An expert from the of parameters can be studied by installing
Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications biosensors in drones. The heart rate and
Centre (KSRSAC) will provide assistance for metabolism can also be monitored with the help
handling orthorectified imagery generated by of today's advanced sensors. Farmers can easily
drone surveys. It is the process of converting create an ideal environment for their aquaculture
images into a form suitable for maps by removing with the help of this data and improve their
the sensor, satellite/aircraft motion and terrain- yields.
related geometric distortions from raw imagery.
Nitin Konde
Owing to multiple usage of drones in

32 Aynoaulryvsi esw s agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Can Russo-
Ukraine Conflict
Benefit Indian
Agri Exporters?

The Russia-Ukraine turmoil has had and in future will have a lot
of repercussions on the global food sector. Many developing and
developed nations could be impacted by it, including India. However,
this unfortunate chaotic situation could turn out to be a silver lining for
Indian exporters. Let's see if that is possible and how.

Be it natural calamities, or war between the Russia-Ukraine war which is now going
different nations, the first thing which on for the second month has not only taken its
comes to one’s mind is the disruption toll across various sectors around the world,
of trade which in some ways lead to the however, the main worry remains on the import
food crisis in certain parts of the world. Though of food grains to various countries

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com p o l iAcnyanleyws iss 33

including India. The government is keeping a
According to the Food and Agriculture close watch on the situation
and whatever steps are
Organization (FAO), prices of wheat, corn and required to be taken it will take
cooking oils have all increased to record high action
soaring prices. Food commodities are likely to
expose several million people to hunger as the - Piyush Goyal, Union
supply of key staple crops such as wheat, corn Commerce Minister
and sunflower could be affected.
It is an "opportunity" for Indian
FAO states that countries like Australia, exporters as the new wheat
Argentina, India and the US could make up for crop will be available early
a portion of the grain shortfalls from Ukraine from March 15 onwards when
and Russia. However, the FAO’s preliminary compared to other global
assessment is that, due to the war, 20 per cent wheat producers
to 30 per cent of wheat, corn and sunflower seed
crops will either not be planted or go unharvested - Sudhanshu Pandey, Union
during Ukraine’s 2022-2023 season. Food Secretary

Lingering crisis website, the prices of six edible oils — groundnut
oil, mustard oil, vanaspati, soya oil, sunflower oil
According to the United Nations, the war has and palm oil — have risen between 9 per cent and
led to a giant leap in food prices last month to 56 per cent at all-India levels in the last one year
another record high. Ukraine is a major producer and with the war in full swing, the price will head
of cereals such as maize and wheat which have north.
risen sharply in price too. The UN says that
the war in the Black Sea region spread shocks However, according to the All India Edible Oil
through markets for staple grains and vegetable Merchant Federation, the import price of edible
oils. The Food and Agricultural Organisation oil has seen around 12 to 15 per cent corrections
of the UN warned last month that food prices in the last two to three weeks and will be reflected
could rise by up to 20 per cent as a result of the in the retail market in the coming month.
conflict in Ukraine, raising the risk of increased
malnutrition across the world. Piyush Goyal, Commerce Minister,
Government of India said, “Sunflower oil imports
The world's wheat projection has been cut have been affected as it largely came from
for 2022 from 790 million tonnes to 784 million Ukraine, it has a smaller proportion in our edible
tonnes, because of the possibility that at least oils basket. But, whenever there is a situation
20 per cent of Ukraine's winter crop will not be like this it has an impact all over the world and
harvested because of direct destruction. almost all edible oil prices in the entire world
have shot up today because of the Russia-Ukraine
The India story war.”

The pandemic followed by the political Crisil in its report mentions that the supply
imbalance between Ukraine and Russia has disruptions caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict
resulted in the advent of inflation, resulting in could lead to a supply shortfall of at least 4-6 lakh
rising costs for critical commodities such as tonnes of crude sunflower oil for India next fiscal.
cooking oil and largely the food sector. India The report further mentions that Russia's major
imports around 90 per cent of sunflower oil from banks are severed from the SWIFT system after
Russia and Ukraine, hence, the crisis is likely to it invaded Ukraine and the resultant sanctions
impact prices and supply in the country. imposed by the US and European nations.
Although trading of food products with Russia
A report from Reuters states that the has not been prohibited, trade settlement has
Government of India has halted sunflower oil become difficult, leading to supply disruptions.
imports from the Black Sea region as about
3,80,000 tonnes of sunflower oil shipments from An opportunity for Indian exporters
the region are stuck at ports amid the Russian
invasion of Ukraine. Amidst the crisis, the Russia-Ukraine war
created an unlikely opportunity for some of the
As per the Department of Consumer Affairs

34 Aynoaulryvsi esw s agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Some facts least 4-6 lakh tonnes of crude sunflower oil
for India next fiscal: Crisil
 Australia, Argentina, India and the US  20-30 per cent of wheat, corn and
could make up for a portion of the grain sunflower seed crops will either not be
shortfalls from Ukraine and Russia--FAO planted or go unharvested during Ukraine’s
2022-2023 season
 World's wheat projection has been cut  GoI has has halted sunflower oil imports
for 2022 from 790 million tonnes to 784 from the Black Sea region as about
million tonnes--UN 3,80,000 tonnes of sunflower oil shipments
from the region are stuck at ports
 The import price of edible oil has seen
around 12 to 15 per cent corrections -- All
India Edible Oil Merchant Federation

 There could lead to a supply shortfall of at

Indian agri-exporters who trade in wheat, maize, the Russia-Ukraine war and the crisis has only
millet and processed foods. Since the war began, deepened, especially after the COVID-19 crisis.”
Indian wheat has been in huge demand among
European countries. It may be noted that Ukraine "The government has maintained dialogue
is the top wheat exporter in the world and Russia with shipping companies and those who operate
and Ukraine together have a 25 per cent share in containers. The government is keeping a close
the global wheat market. watch on the situation and whatever steps are
required to be taken it will take action," he said.
Says Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey,
“Wheat exports from India, the world's second- The Government of India is waiting for things
biggest producer of the grain, have picked up to stabilise. The Department of Commerce
after global prices surged due to Russia's war is holding regular consultations with all
against Ukraine, and total shipments from the stakeholders to ensure the availability of essential
country have already touched a record of 6.6 imports and to find alternate destinations for our
million tonnes this fiscal so far.” exports.

He added, “It is an "opportunity" for Indian “Our position is quite comfortable,” says Food
exporters as the new wheat crop will be available Secretary Pandey while mentioning the case of
early from March 15 onwards when compared to edible oils for which India is heavily dependent
other global wheat producers.” on imports and for sunflower oil amidst the
Ukraine crisis.
Not only wheat but sugar exports are also
expected to touch 7.5 million tonnes in the 2021- What does the future behold?
22 marketing year (October-September), much
higher than 2 million tonnes in the last year No one knows till when will this war go on.
buoyed by strong global prices. The likely disruptions in agricultural activities in
both countries will lead to an escalation of food
Agricultural and Processed Food Products insecurity globally when international food and
Export Development Authority (APEDA) input prices are already high and volatile. Many
mentions, a ban on Russian flights to Europe countries are likely to be affected by this war.
has also resulted in an opportunity for Indian
exporters of processed foods like say nuts, fruit India seems to be well prepared to mitigate
juices, confectionery, pulses etc. the crisis. Though there has been a lot of hue and
cry on how India overcomes challenges when
Govt’s initiative certain situations arise, be it sanctions from the
US and other developed countries, the country
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal during one can handle the crisis in a better way when it
of his speeches in Rajya Sabha said “Indian wheat comes to strategies like food protectionism.
exports are set to cross 70 lakh metric tonnes
this year from merely 2 lakh metric tonnes two Sanjiv Das
years ago. Many ships and containers have been [email protected]
blocked in several European countries following

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com S u s tpaoi nlai cbyl enaegwrsi 35

Technologies for Sustainable
Cotton Production

- Dr Y G Prasad,

Director, ICAR-Central
Institute for Cotton
Research (CICR), Nagpur

Cotton harvesting is one of the major operations which consumes about
40 per cent of human labour utilised in cotton production. Research efforts
are underway in the public as well as the private sector to bring out cotton
harvesters suitable for Indian conditions. India produces 36 million bales
(170 kg each) of cotton annually from 13 million hectare area cultivated
across 11 states with a productivity of about 460 kg lint per ha. Cotton is an
important foreign exchange earner besides providing livelihood to 6 million
farmers directly and another 40-50 million people involved in processing and
trade indirectly. But, is the present technological advancements in agriculture
impacting cotton production for the better?

Ever since its introduction in 2002, Bt- Short duration cotton varieties/hybrids
cotton technology has been widely
adopted by farmers covering >94 per Currently cotton hybrids of longer duration
cent of the cotton area at present. The (>180 days) hybrids are cultivated with wider
technology has been responsible for substantially spacing to accommodate between 5000 and 7000
increasing the cotton area from about 8.0 to 13 plants/acre in shallow to medium deep soils
million ha and enhancing productivity from 300 in rainfed areas. These hybrids suffer moisture
kg lint/ha to 560 kg lint/ha by 2013. Since then stress due to their late maturity after cessation of
stagnation in productivity has been witnessed due monsoon rainfall, are input intensive and suffer
to several factors that include increased frequency damage due to pink bollworm after November.
of extreme weather events and outbreak of pests Alternatively, short duration varieties/hybrids
and diseases since 2015. ICAR-Central Institute for sown in time with the onset of monsoon, under
Cotton Research (CICR), Nagpur and the All India high density planting (29000 plants/ac) with
Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Cotton canopy management have a narrow flowering
at Coimbatore focussed on development of resilient window of 20-30 days that enables the crop to
practices and technologies that improve cotton escape late season pink bollworm damage. Soil
productivity and address sustainability. moisture becomes available adequately during
the short flowering and boll formation window for

36 Syuosutravi ni eawb lse a g r i agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

developing bolls. A number of short duration (<160 High density planting with pneumatic planter
days) varieties /hybrids suitable for HyperDense
phase system (HDPS) are now available in the quite useful for spraying cotton which can cover
public/private sector. ICAR-CICR released 9 Bt- large areas in shorter periods thus reducing cost of
varieties that are tolerant to American bollworm operation. Cotton harvesting is one of the major
and sucking pests (jassids) and are being promoted operations which consumes about 40 per cent
under HDPS with canopy management in of human labour utilised in cotton production.
shallow to medium deep soils in rainfed areas of Research efforts are underway in the public as
Maharashtra. The varieties come with lower seed well as the private sector to bring out cotton
cost, are less input intensive and thereby have harvesters suitable for Indian conditions. A two-
lower cost of cultivation and higher gross margins row cotton picker from the private sector is on the
for farmers. anvil for single picked cotton with suitable access
on custom hiring basis. Production technology
Better soil health and higher system for mechanical picking of cotton including seed
returns with intercropping of short duration compact cultivars, canopy and
nutrient management and chemical defoliants is
Legume intercropping provides a wide range being standardised in PPP mode.
of ecosystem services in terms of improving soil
health, supporting beneficial insects for natural Drones for pesticide spray application
pest control, thereby reducing the need for
frequent insecticide applications. Cultivation of Cotton harbours a number of insect pests
legume intercrops in between rows in high density and diseases. Presently chemical pesticides are
systems or in crop rotation reduces the need for applied either by manual/ power/ tractor mounted
repeated weeding and can facilitate conservation sprayers. Pesticide applications directed against
agriculture with multiple benefits. Remunerative late season pink bollworm in cotton with excessive
intercrops that gave additional gross income when tall growth led to pesticide exposure and poisoning
intercropped in cotton include black gram (Rs to workers in the past. Remote controlled drones
19630/ha), groundnut (Rs 30844/ha) and soybean are being used in several developed countries
(Rs 45007/ha). Second crop of wheat and gram is in precision agriculture covering large areas in
possible in irrigated tracts with adoption of short a short span of time and with minimum labour
season cotton is kharif under high density planting requirement. In India, use of drones is picking
with higher system returns with double cropping. up steadily. Several Indian companies are now
Cotton rotated with pigeon pea and soybean gave manufacturing drones to facilitate delivery of
higher productivity due to improved soil fertility pesticides, fertilisers and other chemicals to
and soil health. enhance agricultural productivity. Spraying with
drone technology improves the pest control by
Mechanisation increased canopy coverage of the sprayed chemical
thus requiring less frequent applications, reduced
Cost of human and animal labour is becoming drift hazards and contamination of soil and water
costlier year after year in cotton cultivation. These bodies. Certain aspects like standardisation of
two components contribute to about 40 per cent height and speed of the drone above crop canopy,
of total cost and 60 per cent of operational cost. doses of spray chemical, uniformity of spraying,
To increase the income from cotton cultivation, canopy coverage and deposit, drift losses and bio-
curtailing these costs is necessary which can be
achieved through mechanisation of various farm
operations such as sowing, weeding, spraying and
cotton picking. Pneumatic planters are available
that can complete the sowing of one ha in two
hours-time and especially enable high density
planting. Tractor-mounted inter-row cultivators
and rotary type weeders are available which can be
used for early interculture and weeding operations.
Self-propelled high clearance sprayers and aero-
blast sprayers are available which are found to be

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com S u s tpaoi nlai cbyl enaegwrsi 37

efficacy on the control of target pests and diseases result, water application efficiency at field level is
needs to be evaluated and standardised. Recently, decreased to the extent of 70 per cent as compared
the Government of India has released standard to pressurised irrigation systems where application
operating procedure for use of drones for the efficiency is 90 per cent.
purpose of spraying pesticides on agriculture crops.
Adopting drip irrigation is one of the ways to
Nutrient Expert System manage water efficiently. Drip irrigation along with
poly mulch will further improve water use efficiency
Soil fertility depletion is a major cause of by reducing water losses and arresting weed
concern for cotton farming. Fertiliser use in cotton growth. Average seed cotton yield under drip cum
has increased substantially over the years after the mulch with fertigation is >30 q/ha. Dada Laad, an
introduction of Bt-cotton. In the north zone states, innovative farmer from Jaffrabad, Jalna district,
it is between 125 and 182 kg/ha. Fertiliser use is Maharashtra integrated the technologies of removal
over 200 kg/ha in Gujarat and Maharashtra in the of monopodia, de-topping, higher plant density,
central zone and in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil drip and polymulch to achieve seed cotton yield
Nadu in the south zone. levels of 65-75 q/ha with an additional income of
Rs 1.7 to 2.6 lakh per ha compared to conventional
Delivering essential plant nutrients, based method planting and cultivation.
on crop growth stages is one of the management
strategies to improve productivity of cotton Organic cotton production
under rainfed conditions. Nutrient Expert is a
decision support system (DSS), which consists of India is the largest producer of organic cotton
quantitative evaluation of the fertility of tropical in the world, contributing 51 per cent of world’s
soils (QUEFTS) model for fertiliser prescriptions produce. India is the largest exporter of organic
and developed with the principles of site-specific cotton in the form of lint cotton, yarn, and
nutrient management (SSNM) and offers 4R garments. Lint and yarn are exported to China,
(right source, right rate, right time and right Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand and Pakistan
place) nutrient prescriptions to farmers aimed at while organic cotton garments are exported to the
bridging the yield gaps along with targeted yield USA, European Union and other countries. ICAR
and by improving the overall farmer profitability has released 27 non-GM cotton varieties/ hybrids
while minimising environmental hazards through (during 2019-21) which include six desi arboreum
improving the nutrient use efficiency (NUE) of cotton varieties. Desi cotton varieties are free from
cotton (Figure 1). On-station and on-farm field the problem of GM contamination as these varieties
trial experiments conducted for two seasons are not crossable with the Bt varieties/ hybrids.
(2018-2020) with commercial Bt hybrid (BG- This is a big advantage in terms of the organic
II) cotton resulted in highest seed cotton yield certification process.
with NE (3300 kg ha-1). NE can be a potential
nutrient management strategy to enhance cotton Naturally coloured cotton
productivity under rainfed conditions.
Raw cotton fibres, yarns, fabric have to
Drip cum mulching technique undergo a series of chemical processes to convert
into finished products. Cotton processing
In India, cotton is grown in arid and semi-arid industry is considered as one of the major
regions under various soil type regimes ranging environment polluting sectors. Textile industries
from fine clay to coarse textured soils. Entire cotton are mandated to implement green processes
area in the states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan due to the introduction of new eco labels and
is irrigated. In Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh 55-60 stringent environmental norms for effluents by the
per cent of cotton area is irrigated. In southern government.
states irrigated cotton area accounts for 15-30 per
cent of total cotton area. In Maharashtra most of The growing number of green buyers/ sourcing
the cotton is grown under rainfed conditions and worldwide is also driving the industries to adopt
only about 3 per cent of cotton area is irrigated. eco-friendly sustainable methods for processing.
In flood/surface irrigation methods, a substantial Naturally coloured cotton (NCC) production is
amount of irrigation water is lost through deep one of the ways for eco-friendly fabric production.
percolation and surface evaporation. With the Currently NCC is cultivated on a smaller scale in
Dharwad region of Karnataka, Coimbatore region

38 Syuosutravi ni eawb lse a g r i agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

CICR naturally coloured cotton variety constituting cotton stalks and other plant parts
including roots, leaves, burrs, etc., are produced
of Tamil Nadu, Vidarbha region of Maharashtra annually in the country. Majority (70-80 per cent)
and Guntur region of Andhra Pradesh under the of these wastes are burnt in the field. Currently
patronage of Research Institutions. ICAR-CICR tractor mountable shredders / slashers are
registered a genetic stock of brown colour cotton available which will uproot and chop the cotton
known as Vaidehi 95. ICAR-CIRCOT, ICAR-CICR stalks into small pieces which will decompose in the
and Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth fields itself and add to soil fertility. Bioconversion
(PDKV), Akola jointly worked on seed production of cotton stalks into valuable bio-enriched compost
and lint value addition of Vaidehi 95. For the first at on-farm level is also possible which can bring
time, ICAR-CICR has released a dark brown colour down the dependency on inorganic fertilisers
cotton hirsutum variety (16301 DB variety) in for sustainable cotton production and promote
2021 which will soon be promoted for commercial entrepreneurship.
cultivation in the ensuing season.
E-Kapas network
ELS cotton
Using modern advancements in ICT and mobile
India is importing about 10-15 lakh bales of phone technology, ICAR-CICR executed a novel
extra-long staple cotton to meet the domestic extension mechanism called “e-Kapas network”
requirement. At present ELS cotton is produced for effective knowledge transfer to cotton growers.
in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, parts The programme covered more than 1.5 lakh
of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya farmers across 11 cotton growing states involving
Pradesh in limited areas. Earlier ‘Suvin’ was the 18 centres including State Agricultural Universities
longest and finest variety of ELS cotton released (SAUs) working on cotton through mobile- based
by CICR which is a landmark barbadense variety. advisory services with ICAR-CICR, Nagpur as lead
Other varieties and hybrids released by the public centre. The advisories are being provided in local
sector include MCU 5, Surabhi and DCH 32. languages as voice messages on a regular basis on
Several ELS quality hirsutum cotton hybrids have cotton production, protection technologies, weather
been released by the private sector for commercial and market information. ICAR-CICR issues weekly
cultivation. advisories in English, Hindi and regional languages
for the benefit of farmers and all stakeholders
CICR has released non-Bt, early maturing ELS in the cotton value chain. CICR has developed a
cotton varieties (CCB 51A and CCB 143 B) with ‘’Cotton mobile App” to cater to the information
increased productivity (1300-1500 kg seed cotton and knowledge transfer needs of the farming
yield/ha) with good quality fibre. Best management community and agricultural extension workers.
practices for further enhancing productivity of ELS
cotton have been evaluated and developed which Technological integration
will contribute to spread of ELS cotton production
with renewed interest catering to the increasing Sustainability of cotton production depends
demand from stakeholders of the textile industry. on how we integrate all the technologies directed
towards much needed increase in cotton
Residue management of cotton stalks productivity and reduction in cost of cultivation
especially in rainfed areas. Government support
About 30 million tonnes of cotton waste is required to promote these technologies in the
form of policy incentives, subsidizing machinery,
access through custom hiring and promotion
of entrepreneurship. Exciting opportunities,
partnerships and value chains are emerging in
the field of production, marketing, processing and
value addition of specialty cottons (organic, desi,
naturally coloured and ELS cotton).

(Inputs from Dr AR Reddy, Principal

Scientist, ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton

Research (CICR), Nagpur)

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com Pa rt npeorl i cCyo nnteewnst 39

Patents received by
Dr.Mahalaxmi Wankhedkar

1) Herbal insect Repellent composition and process of
preparation- 2004

2) Sprayable synergistic Polyherbal Insecticidal
Compositions and a Method for Preparation thereof - 2004.

3) Miraculous Energy Park- 2021

In India, farmers continue to suffer the relentless Plant Protection products using state-of-the-art
attacks of whiteflies, Cutworms, Leafhoppers, Nano-technology which are 100 per cent herbal,
Brown plant hoppers on food crops. Many control more than hundreds of harmful species and
farmers have lost half of the crop because of most importantly, the products are certified by the
attacks of the pests as well as insects. Ultimately relevant authorities and have been patented. The
insects and pests are hitting hard, the productivity patented herbal products aim to increase plant life.
and profitability of the farming. In such a situation, It controls the population of insects on farms and
Bio pesticides derived from natural materials such damages their larvae and eggs. Most importantly,
as animals, plants, bacteria, and certain minerals these products are human friendly and safe as the
work very well as plant protectors. compositions are made from naturally available
Dr Mahalaxmi Wankhedkar, a Mumbai-based herbs and devoid of harmful chemicals. Products
artist and scientist has come up with unique are ‘herbal’ in nature and have shown very positive
Synergistic Polyherbal Insecticidal Compositions results at various crops. The products have been
for plant protection. She has completed Ph.D. certified by R. K. DEWAN & CO. for spray able
in NATUROVEDA in 2021. As founder of AMO Synergistic Polyherbal Insecticidal Compositions
Artwork OPC Pvt Ltd, Dr Mahalaxmi has received and a Method for Preparation. The Patent office has
three patents for her products in Herbal insect granted patents to compositions of Polyherbal. The
Repellent composition; spray able synergistic cost benefit ratio and efficacy of the products have
Polyherbal Insecticidal Compositions and a Method already been confirmed at cotton farms.
for Preparation and Miraculous Energy Park- 2021.
She has been awarded many times for Science & While informing about the Polyherbal composition,
Art Exhibitions in Maharashtra. She has received Dr Mahalaxmi Wankhedkar said, “It’s a unique blend
awards from great scientist Dr Anil Kakodkar, of chelated mineral mixture, probiotics and medicinal
Speaker of Parliament Manohar Joshi, President of plants extracts and juices along with Eucalyptus
SME and by Chandrakant Salunkhe for achieving globulus, Azadirachta indica, Vitex Negundo, Ocimum
2 patents from the Government of India in Jagtik Sanctum, Hydnocarpus laurifolia and Vitamins”.
Marathi Chamber of Commerce in Mumbai 2006.
Besides her patent work, Dr Mahalaxmi worked She also added that it controls pests as well
on Environmental, Eco Friendly research, paintings as insects and fungi, enhances the growth of crops
and projects. She is currently working on ‘City and has been tested on growing plants. A study
Beautification’ projects with 'healing' as an objective. was conducted on various insects like cotton ball
worms and at the end of the three week cycle, the
Truly herbal approach cotton ball worms were reduced to 75 per cent and
favourable results were achieved with other insects
Amo Artwork OPC Pvt Ltd has introduced like Whiteflies, Cutworms, Leafhoppers, Brownplant
hoppers, Red Palm Weevil, among others.

40 pyeoouprlvei enwe ws s agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

NBHC appoints Deepak L Kaku as CFO

National Bulk Handling Corporation (NBHC) Karnataka & Tamil Nadu. Kaku will be
has announced the appointment of Deepak L based in Mumbai and will be focusing on
Kaku as its new Chief Finance Officer (CFO). Finance & Strategic Initiatives. In addition,
He takes over the reins from Vinod Kumar he will closely work with the leadership team
Garg who has decided to continue as Business members to implement NBHC’s strategy to
Head & SVP for Micro Agri Commodities
Lending (Commodity Lite) & Banking achieve business expansion and profitable
Correspondent Businesses of growth, followed by enhancing the
NBHC. He would further oversee managerial efficiencies in Accounts
the banking relationships for the & Finance, designing and executing
collateral management business and financial strategies, and driving
will also lead the Asset Management value creation through strategic
businesses in the States of Uttar business partnering and technology
Pradesh / Uttarakhand, Gujarat, leverage. Kaku is a qualified chartered
accountant.

IPGA appoints Bimal Pramod Chaudhari
Kothari as Chairman bags Holmberg Award

India Pulses and Grains Dr Pramod Chaudhari,

Association (IPGA) Founder and Executive

announced on April Chairman, Praj

14 the appointment of Industries was bestowed

Bimal Kothari as the with the coveted 2022

new Chairman with William C Holmberg

immediate effect while Award for his exemplary

Jitu Bheda steps down contributions during

as the current chairman. the recently concluded

Bheda was appointed Advanced Bioeconomy

the Chairman of IPGA on April 25, 2018. Kothari Leadership Conference (ABLC) 2022 at

takes over as the third chairman of the association Washington DC, USA. In his acceptance speech,

after Pravin Dongre and Bheda. Kothari, one of Dr Chaudhari said, ''the award comes for the first

the key founding members of the association, has time to India at a time when we are celebrating

been the Vice-Chairman of IPGA since 2011 when the 75th year of Independence, which gives me

it was formed. immense joy.''

Susheel Kumar joins Syngenta India as MD

Syngenta India has appointed Susheel Kumar as the Managing Director and new
country head of the company. Kumar is an MBA in Agribusiness from Symbiosis
Institute of International Business and a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Operations
and Related Sciences from Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural
University. Kumar hails from Haryana and has a marketing strategy background.
He has been associated with Syngenta for almost twelve years. Recently, he has
completed an international assignment in Switzerland, where he contributed to
the global strategies of the company as well as projects for commercial excellence.

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com ppeoolpi clye nneewwss 41

Suguna Foods appoints Vignesh Soundararajan as MD

Suguna Foods, India’s largest University and an Advanced Diploma in
poultry conglomerate, announced Management Accounting – Chartered
the appointment of Vignesh Institute of Management Accountants
Soundararajan as its new Managing (CIMA) – London, UK. In 2013, he
Director effective from April 1, joined Suguna Foods as a Management
2022. In his new role will lead the Trainee and now has risen to the level of
Farm, Feed & Process Food Division the Managing Director of Suguna Foods.
of Suguna Foods operations in With a close to a decade of experience,
India. In addition to this, he will he has trained extensively in many
also power the company’s expansion within the domains and has gained a solid understanding
poultry segment and focus on strengthening of all the business functionalities. As part of his
the footprints of the brand across the nation. role – Executive Director, he launched Delfrez,
The current Managing Director and co-founder Suguna Foods’ retail division, which catapulted
G.B Sundararajan will continue to be associated the retail segment in South India. He contributed
with Suguna Foods as part of the Board. He to the company’s transformation by fostering
holds an MBA degree from IESE BUSINESS innovation, bridging technology and positioning
SCHOOL, Barcelona, Spain, BCom from Christ the brand to have a stronger consumer impact.

AgNext appoints Obituary
Nitin Kochhar as CBO
Balaji Hatcheries’
Mohali-based agritech founder Sundar Naidu
passes away
startup AgNext

has announced the

appointment of business

veteran Nitin Kochhar as

its Chief Business Officer Uppalapati Sundar Naidu,

(CBO) to drive business Founder of Balaji Hatcheries,

expansion in domestic passed away on April 28, 2022.

and international He founded Balaji Hatcheries

markets. Kochhar is a in 1972 which revolutionised

business leader with over 16 years of experience in the poultry industry in

building and scaling businesses across sectors such Andhra Pradesh, besides

as edtech, e-commerce and logistics, among others. generating employment

He will play a critical role in the development and for thousands. Naidu has

expansion of AgNext’s business verticals, as the been conferred with many

company continues to see accelerated demand awards for his contributions to the poultry sector.

for its offerings. Prior to joining AgNext, Kochhar He is the founding trustee of Dr BV Rao Institute

was working with WhiteHat Jr. as CBO and of Technology, Pune. aHe has served as a lifetime

building new channels to drive the growth of the invitee member of 'Neck', a permanent invitee

organisation for global expansion. He has worked member of the AP Poultry Federation, a member

with India’s leading companies like ITC Limited, of the International Poultry Science Association,

Flipkart, Shopclues, Rivigo, among others. With and a member of the National Egg Council. Naidu

his technology-first mindset to build businesses completed his bachelor's degree in Veterinary

at scale, Kochhar is a seasoned business leader Sciences from the Bombay Veterinary University.

who has been associated with multiple industry He had served as a government veterinarian in

domains and successfully managed diverse teams Chittoor, Anantapur, and Krishnagiri (Tamil Nadu)

to build a performance driven culture. districts. He has worked closely with many farmers.

42 Aycoaudrevmiieawnsews agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Erisha Agritech, ICAR-SBI scientists
conferred with Water
ARAI to jointly Sustainability Award

develop powertrain A team of scientists from ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute,
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu recently received the TERI-IWA-
systems UNDP Water Sustainability Award – 2021 (Winner). The
scientists have developed a user-friendly, simple device –
Erisha Agritech, a Rana “Soil Moisture Indicator (SMI)” employing the participatory
Group Company, has entered action research approach which helps the farmers in assessing
into an agreement with the soil moisture levels while scheduling irrigations, thus,
The Automotive Research ensuring considerable saving of the irrigation water. The SMI
Association of India (ARAI), usage was found to conserve the water resources, increase
towards the design and farm profits and save electricity and labour, thereby, leading
development of advanced towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by
powertrain systems and 2030. The award was conferred by The Energy and Resources
components for electric Institute (TERI) in partnership with the International Water
vehicles, and hydrogen Association (IWA) and UNDP (United Nations Development
fuel cells developed under Programme) to recognise the exceptional efforts towards
Erisha Agritech Private achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related
Ltd. A memorandum of to water. The scientists including Dr K Hari, Dr D Puthira
understanding (MoU) was Prathap, Dr P Murali, Dr A Rameshsundar, Dr B Singaravelu
inked to this effect between and Dr Bakshi Ram received the Award in the Category of
the two companies. Erisha “Excellence in Water Use Efficiency in the Agricultural Sector”
Agritech Private Limited is from Bharat Lal, Secretary, Lokpal of India; Shoko Noda,
India’s fastest growing agri- UNDP Resident Representative in India, UNDP and Dr Vibha
equipment and machinery Dhawan, Director General, TERI.
company, and has brought
to the market a wide range of PAU’s Food Science and
agricultural tractors, combine Technology dept receives
harvesters, implements and Rs 58 lakh R&D grant
other equipment and machines
of latest technology and energy The Department of Food Science and Technology, Punjab
efficiency. Meanwhile, ARAI Agricultural University (PAU), has been granted an amount of
is a leading automotive R&D Rs 58 lakh, under the scheme ‘Fund for Improvement of S&T
organisation in the country set Infrastructure (FIST)’ funded by the Department of Science
up by the automotive industry and Technology (DST), New Delhi, to strengthen the research
with the Government of India. facilities in the Department of Food Science and Technology,
The company mentioned that PAU. Dr Poonam A Sachdev, Principal Food Technologist
the concept of design and the (Vegetable) informed that they have received the first
development of advanced instalment of Rs 40 lakh for the procurement of equipment.
powertrain systems and
components for EVs, and also
hydrogen fuel cells we would
work on would actually be
propelled to a whole new level
with the agreement.

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com A capdoelmi ciya nneewwss 43

BCIPL partners with PKC to ICAR organises
launch WEnyan programme
tech exhibition
BASF Chemicals India Private Limited (BCIPL) has signed an
agreement with the Pune Knowledge Cluster (PKC), an initiative in ‘Mallinath
facilitated by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA),
Krishi and
to launch WEnyan, a research
scholarship programme for Pashu Mela’
women in Maharashtra.
WEnyan is a holistic Narendra Singh Tomar, Union
scholarship programme where Minister of Agriculture &
women in leadership positions Farmers’ Welfare inaugurated
from scientific fields will play the ‘Technology Exhibition’
an active and important role in the historic Mallinath
in selecting, mentoring, and Krishi and Pashu Mela held
monitoring other women at the Tilwara village of
candidates in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Barmer district, Rajasthan.
and Math). As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility Present were Gajendra Singh
commitments, BCIPL will provide financial support for Shekhawat, Union Minister of
research projects to women candidates from marginalised Jal Shakti; Dr Sanjeev Kumar
backgrounds in the state of Maharashtra. These women will Balyan, Union Minister of
be selected by PKC. The areas of research will include Applied State for Fisheries, Animal
Natural Sciences, Specialty Chemicals, Agri-Chemicals, New Husbandry & Dairying
Materials, and Sustainability. Through this initiative, PKC aims and Kailash Choudhary,
to increase enrollment and retention of women in scientific Union Minister of State
streams creating a more gender-equal workforce. for Agriculture & Farmers’
Welfare. The exhibition
ICAR-CIRCOT & MPKV was organised by the ICAR
to research optimal Institutes. Dr Balyan expressed
Nano-Sulphur development his concerns over the declining
camel population. The role of
The ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology goats and sheep in the drought
years of Rajasthan was also
(CIRCOT), Mumbai, Maharashtra signed the Memorandum highlighted by the minister.
Choudhary applauded the
of Understanding (MoU) with the Mahatma Phule Krishi efforts of the research institutes
and farmers of the region that
Vidyapeeth, Rahuri, Maharashtra. The MoU is about the nano- have brought revolutions in
agriculture and horticulture in
sulphur developed at the institute which will be evaluated at the driest parts of the region.
The increased cultivation
the field level in MPKV, of pomegranate, date palm
and fig which are now being
Rahuri for the different marketed in the international
markets was accentuated by the
field crops. The MoU is minister.

aimed at carrying out the

collaborative research

on “Efficacy Evaluation

of ICAR-CIRCOT Nano-

Sulphur as Fertiliser

Formulation for different

Field Crops.” As per the

MoU, the collaboration will provide new insights into the

development of fertilisers in the Nano-dimensions and help in

the optimal use of sulphur in the different oilseeds and other

field crops.

44 ty oecuhrnvoileowgsy news agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

AMVAC, BASF collaborate to develop
Rhizo-Flo soyabean inoculant solution

AMVAC and BASF have announced a collaboration to develop Rhizo-Flo granular soyabean
inoculant as an exciting addition to the expanding SIMPAS-applied Solutions portfolio. Rhizo-

Flo is a unique and leading soyabean inoculant designed to deliver
high concentrations of viable and effective Bradyrhizobium cells and
ultimately improve yields. When Rhizo-Flo inoculant is utilised, the
Bradyrhizobium sp multiplies, penetrating the soyabean plant root
system to form nodules that allow the soyabean plant to fix nitrogen.
As growers strive to push soyabeans to higher yields, Rhizo-Flo
inoculant is another important tool the grower has available to
achieve yield objectives and improve bottom-line results. Rhizo-
Flo would join a growing portfolio of SIMPAS-applied Solutions
(SaS), which are products prescriptively applied with patented
SmartCartridge container technology and using the SIMPAS application system to address
unique agronomic needs. Across the SaS portfolio are insecticides, nematicides, fungicides,
micronutrients, and solutions for soil health and fertiliser efficiency.

Agnys develops ICAR-IIOPR bags
automatic patent for oil palm
composting machine ablatool

Agnys Waste Management Private Limited, an The oil palm ablatool developed by ICAR-Indian
IIT Kanpur incubated company, has developed an Institute of Oil Palm Research (IIOPR), Pedavegi,
automatic composting machine known as BHOOMI Andhra Pradesh has been granted Patent. Ablation
(Bio-composting of Horticulture & Organic waste is the removal of male and female inflorescences and
into Manure indigenously), in collaboration with fruit bunches produced during the juvenile period
Imagineering Lab, IIT Kanpur, with support from of oil palm (1 to 3 Years). It improves the vegetative
Engineers India Limited. The device is equipped growth of the palm by retaining the nutrients
which are supposed to be used by the developing
with advanced features inflorescences or fruit bunches. It also improves
like carbon filters, the drought-resistance capacity of young palms by
shredders, air pumps, improving the shoot and root growth, especially
solar panels, which in the low production areas where dry conditions
systematically convert exist. The tool can be operated without drudgery at
waste into manure in an angle of 680 to the ground level from a distance
just 10-20 days. The of 1.3 metre. The average time taken to ablate one
ergonomic design makes inflorescence would be two seconds. On average, in
it easily operable and in one hour, a person can ablate 125 inflorescences,
recycling organic waste. The product’s advanced without removing the green leaves.
features like carbon filters, shredders, air pumps,
and solar panels make it more efficient and cheaper
than the currently available products in the
market. The decentralised composting device can
easily be installed at any bulk waste generator like
apartments, hotels, hostels, institutions, etc. Abhay
Karandikar, director of IIT Kanpur commented
that this invention is in line with our commitment
to sustainability and environmental conservation.

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com technpoolloi cgyy nneewwss 45

Brio Hydroponics, PIC-Plast launch
rain protection tech in India

Agritech startup Brio Hydroponics has introduced India’s first three-layer, retractable, patented
rain protection technology net house in collaboration with PIC-Plast, Israel, in an attempt to

address the climatic challenge of the Indian farming sector. Brio
Hydroponics aims to address the challenges of traditional farming.
Its Patented Rain Protection Technology not only protects the farms
from the rage of harsh weather but also helps in the conservation of
water through rain harvesting systems while ensuring a consistent
supply of water to the farms throughout the year. Brio Hydroponics
will offer solutions that foster a nurturing environment for protected
farming, built for climate resilience. The Solarig Net House Kit,
patented technology of Pic-Plast, is best suited for net houses and
hydroponic farms in the tropical climate typically experienced in
India. Farmers will benefit from these retractable rain protection technology net houses as they
are ideal for unpredictable climatic conditions; they protect farms from hail, sun, rain, and frost,
support rainwater harvesting and enable the production of high-quality yields throughout the year.

Dhanuka signs MoU IIT Mandi develops
with SKNAU for methods for soil
verification of new stabilisation
technology
IIT Mandi researchers are working towards
R G Agarwal, Chairman, Dhanuka Agritech developing sustainable techniques for soil
Limited and Dr J S Sandhu, Vice Chancellor, Sri stabilisation using a harmless bacteria called S.
Karan Narendra Agriculture University (SKNAU), Pasteurii that hydrolyse urea to precipitate calcite.
Jobner, Jaipur, Rajasthan signed a memorandum The process does not involve hazardous chemicals
of understanding (MoU) between Dhanuka Group and natural resources can be used sustainably.
and SKNAU for working together for trials, The findings of the research team have been
recently published in the journal ‘Geotechnical
verification of new technology and Geo-environmental Engineering of the
and transferring the same to a American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)’. The
large number of farmers. This research was led by Dr Kala Venkata Uday and co-
MoU includes joint working authored by his MS scholar, Deepak Mori. Their
on drone technology and experimental setup consisted of a column of sand
demonstrations of agri-drones through which was percolated a mixture of the
for spray of fertilisers and bacteria and cementing solution comprising urea,
agrochemicals. Also training of farmers, scientists calcium chloride, nutrient broth, etc.
and other agriculture stakeholders on new
technology will be done. Dhanuka Agritech has
earlier signed MoUs with G B Pant University of
Agriculture & Technology (GBPUAT), Pantnagar;
CCS Haryana Agricultural University (CCSHAU),
Hisar; Professor Jayashankar Telangana State
Agricultural University (PJTSAU), Telangana;
University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS),
Raichur; Maharana Pratap Horticultural
University (MHU), Karnal & Lovely Professional
University (LPU), Phagwara, Punjab.

46 aygoruiri nvpi euwtsn e w s agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

M&M tractor sales
crosses 28k units
in March 2022
Mahindra & Mahindra’s Farm Equipment

Sector (FES), part of the Mahindra Group,

announced its tractor sales numbers for

March 2022. Domestic sales in March 2022

were at 28112 units, as against 29817 units TAFE launches
MAGNATRAK
during March 2021. Total tractor sales series of tractors

(Domestic + Exports) during March 2022 Tractors and Farm Equipment (TAFE) has
launched MAGNATRAK series of tractors during
were at 29763 units, as against 30970 units a ceremony in Kolhapur. The Massey Ferguson
8055 MAGNATRAK in the 50HP range is the first
for the same period last year. Exports for in the MAGNATRAK series. Built with the superior
MAGNATORQ Engine, the premium haulage
the month stood at 1651 units. The company special tractor offers maximum torque and high
fuel efficiency. The tractor can easily pull heavy
mentioned that record procurement of kharif trolleys, both off-road and on-road. The engine
and the transmission are well-tuned to deliver
acreage, a substantial increase in exports exceptional productivity with high road speeds
resulting in more savings, faster load completion
of agricultural products like wheat, sugar cycles and high fuel efficiency. The MAGNATRAK
series is well-compatible with a wide variety of
and cotton will help improve the financial agricultural applications like reversible mould
board plough (RMB), rotavator, post-hole digger,
position of the farmers leading to better threshers and newer applications like the baler
as well.
cash flow in the rural market to help boost

tractor demand going forward. Acreage

of the kharif crop has already crossed

last year’s levels, which

augurs well for

agri incomes.

This will get a

further boost

with an early

forecast of

a normal

monsoon.

IPL inks MoU with Israel Chemicals
Limited for supply of MOP

Indian Potash Limited (IPL), under Department of operating a project titled ‘Potash for Life focused
Fertilisers, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers on achieving higher fertiliser use efficiency’ with
signed a MoU with Israel Chemicals Limited (ICL) an aim to increase the income of farmers.
for the supply of Muriate of Potash (MOP) for
the period 2022 to 2027 with a yearly quantity
of 6 to 6.5 LMT in the presence of Dr Mansukh
Mandaviya, Union Minister of Chemicals and
Fertilisers. This is an important step towards
increasing the availability of MOP in the country.
This will further propel the agriculture production
in the country thereby improving the lives of the
farming community. It has been a matter of great
satisfaction that ICL is also working with IPL in

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com a g rpi oi nlpi cuyt nneewwss 47

Insecticides (India), Provivi, Syngenta
Nissan Chemical launch Nelvium to
unveil new crop control detrimental
protection products rice pests

Insecticides (India), in collaboration with Nissan Provivi, a leading provider of pheromone-
Chemical Corporation, has launched two new based crop protection solutions, and
crop protection products Shinwa and Izuki for Syngenta Crop Protection, announced the
Indian farmers. Shinwa is an insecticide by commercialisation of Nelvium, a new mating
Nissan Chemical Corporation, Japan and Izuki, disruption solution, to effectively and more
a combination fungicide developed in technical safely control detrimental pests in rice. This
collaboration with Japan’s Nissan Chemical crop serves as the primary energy source for
Corporation. Shinwa (Technical: Fluxametamide half of the world’s people. While pheromones
10 per cent w/w EC) effectively controls the have been used in agriculture for more than
lepidopteran pests and thrips in a variety of crops. 30 years as a pest control method, this will
The product provides better control of pests with be the first time this innovation has been
a quick knockdown effect and a better duration applied to rice in Indonesia, the world’s third-
of control than other available insecticides on largest rice producer and one of the world’s
the market. Izuki (Technical: Kasugamycin 6 per biggest rice consumers. Pheromone solutions
cent + Thifluzamide 26 per cent SC) is a unique provide a foundation service in insect control,
broad-spectrum fungicide combination of two ensuring the natural technologies are able to
molecules with excellent prophylactic and curative maximise the validity and scalability of pest
properties. It protects paddy against diseases such management systems, significantly decreasing
as sheath blight and blast. the development of resistant populations.

BASF India launches Vesnit Complete for
sugarcane & corn

BASF India has launched new herbicide, “Vesnit excellent crop safety. The company stated that
Complete” for Sugarcane & Corn which empowers keeping sugarcane and cornfields weed-free early
farmers with a whole new level of post-emergent in the season can have a major impact on crop
weed control ensuring better yield for their crop. yield. Using Vesnit Complete as a post-emergent
BASF’s, Vesnit Complete herbicide will be of herbicide will help Indian farmers keep their fields
great help to farmers. Sugarcane farmers in India weed-free during that critical period.
now have a new option for grasses and broadleaf
weed control with an innovative herbicide, Vesnit
Complete by BASF. The new solution empowers
farmers with a whole new level of post-emergent
weed control ensuring better yield for their crop.
Vesnit Complete delivers effective and broad-
spectrum control of post-emergent grasses and
broadleaf weeds in sugarcane. It has a convenient
formulation for long-duration control and

48 syuopuprlvyi echwasin agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Namdhari’s targets GIV launches initiative
3500 MT export in FY23 for digitalisation of
agri value chains
Namdhari’s Group, one of India’s leading agri-
production companies, is expecting to increase its Grameen Impact Ventures (GIV), in collaboration
exports business from around 2500 Metric Tonnes withMasterCardTechnologies,recentlyannounced
(MT) in FY 22 to 3500 MT in FY 23. Namdhari’s the launch of Grameen Kisan Connect (GKC), a
has established its presence as a significant player significant initiative towards the digitalisation
in quality seeds for international and domestic of agriculture value chains in India. Agriculture
markets and fresh fruits and vegetables for and allied services account for 18 per cent of
exports. The company currently exports a range of India’s GDP and over half of all the employment
fresh vegetables to Western Europe, Australia and in the country. Yet, the smallholder farmers,
the Middle East and will be adding new products accounting for three-fourths of all the farmers,
as well. Namdhari Seeds has also expanded its suffer due to inefficiencies in the agricultural
research and sales activity in Thailand, Vietnam, supply chain, resulting in lack of market access,
Indonesia in South East Asia and the Middle barriers in access to quality inputs at competitive
East countries. They are one of the very few seed prices and low return on investment on them. It
companies in India which have grown locally brings together primary producers of agricultural
and expanded internationally. Namdhari’s grow commodities, input suppliers, commodity buyers,
strawberries, blueberries, personalised sized agro-processors, logistics providers, agricultural
and seedless watermelons, a variety of melons, credit providers, farmer producer organisations
speciality vegetables like lettuce, baby vegetables, and digital agricultural advisory service providers.
micro-greens, orange-flesh sweet potato, GIV will connect at least one million farmers to
butternut squash, a variety of tomatoes, gourds, the digital ecosystem of GKC by leveraging the
cucumber, chilli and okra among others. network of digitally connected grassroots women
entrepreneurs called ‘Grameen Mittras’. This
network of over 1,600 women entrepreneurs is
spread across 16 districts of Maharashtra, Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar.

Ecozen showcases technology solution
Ecofrost at Tomato Krishi Mela

Ecozen, a sustainable technology-led solutions approximately 800 – 1700-tonnes tomatoes per
company, participated in Tomato Krishi Mela day. The company considers its solar-powered
organised by SELCO Foundation with APMAS cold rooms, Ecofrost, as a revolutionary
and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale product. It helps farmers increase the shelf life
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) for tomato and and reduce wastage of their produce.
allied value chains at Madanapalle, Chittoor,
Andhra Pradesh. The primary objective of the
event was to demonstrate solutions that can
replicate, and scale decentralised sustainable
solutions and create synergy among the actors
of the ecosystem; technology manufacturers,
financiers, trainers, markets, etc. Madanapalle
is Asia’s largest tomato market and can hold

agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com spuoplpi cly cnheawisn 49

SLCM Group receives Syngenta introduces
patent for its ‘Agri EvoPac advanced liquid
Reach’ tech platform packaging design

Sohan Lal Commodity Management Private Syngenta Crop Protection has announced EvoPac,
Limited, India’s leading Post-Harvest Management an innovative liquid packaging range designed in
Group (SLCM Group) has recently announced close collaboration with growers, which alongside
the receipt of ‘Patent Certificate’ from the Patent the easyconnect cap can significantly reduce
Office, Government of India for its application titled operator exposure and potential risk of spills when
“Methods for Real Time Data Management” filed filling. EvoPac comes
on December 16, 2013. SLCM Group is the only with a variety of new
company in the Indian Agriculture sector that has features making it a
registered a technology patent in the Agri Logistics modern, ergonomic
(Warehousing) segment till date that is spanning 75 design for easier
years post-Independence. Agri Reach, SLCM Group’s handling, pouring,
proprietary solution, allows real-time monitoring rinsing and disposal.
and management of crops. Under the umbrella, With the introduction
the invention offers a diverse set of services such of EvoPac, Syngenta
as audit receipts, quality control, and surveillance. is stepping up efforts to make on-farm operations
Agri Reach is capable of establishing industry- safer, easier, and more environmentally friendly.
standard warehouse operations anywhere across The development of EvoPac was strongly driven
the country within 24 hours. The impact of Agri by the practical challenges and needs of growers.
Reach implementation across the business verticals With the launch of EvoPac, Syngenta supports
of SLCM Group has resulted in remarkable growth, CropLife Europe’s commitment to make Closed
which is considered as an industry benchmark. Transfer Systems (CTS) available to European
In 2017, SLCM Group was handling Assets Under farmers and operators by 2030. The new packaging
Management (AUM) worth Rs 1010.9 crore per day. is compatible with the easyconnect CTS that has
been developed in a cross-industry effort by leading
ag-industry players. The joint implementation by
various industry leaders provides farmers with the
freedom to choose from a wide range of products.

India’s agri exports cross $50 bn

Exports of agricultural products (including Wheat has recorded an unprecedented growth
marine and plantation products) for the year of more than 273 per cent, jumping nearly
2021-22 have crossed $50 billion, the highest four-fold from $568 million in 2020-21 to
level ever achieved for agriculture exports. touch close to $2119 million in 2021-22. India
As per the provisional figures released by has captured nearly 50 per cent of the world’s
DGCI&S, the agricultural exports have grown market for rice.
by 19.92 per cent during 2021-22, to touch
$50.21 billion. The growth rate is remarkable
as it is over and above the growth of 17.66 per
cent, at $41.87 billion, achieved in 2020-21
and has been achieved despite unprecedented
logistical challenges in the form of high freight
rates, container shortages etc. The highest ever
exports have been achieved for staples like rice
($9.65 billion), wheat ($2.19 billion), sugar
($4.6 billion) and other cereals ($1.08 billion).

50 Lyeotu’ sr tvai elwk sA gri agroSpectrum | may 2022 | www.agrospectrumindia.com

Self-reliance in Oil Palm Cultivation
The production of oilseeds in the country
has increased substantially during The Reassessment Committee of ICAR-
the last three years from 31.52 million Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research (IIOPR)
tonnes (MT) in 2018-19 to 37.15 MT 2020 has assessed around 28 lakh hectares (ha)
in 2021-22, as per 2nd Advance Estimates, potential for oil palm cultivation. As per ICAR-
IIOPR, oil palm requires less water compared
Directorate of Economics and Statistics. The to crops like rice, banana and sugarcane for
estimated production of soyabean is 13.12 MT its optimum cultivation. Under the Mission,
during 2021-22 compared to the production of emphasis has been given to promote micro
12.61 MT during 2020-21. irrigation and water conservation in oil palm
However, to meet local demand, during for efficient water management and judicious
2020-21, India imported around 13.35 MT of use of water.
edible oils costing around Rs 80,000 crore. With quality planting material, irrigation
Out of all the imported edible oils, the share and proper management, oil palm has the
of palm oil is about 56 per cent, followed by potential to produce 20-25 metric tonnes fresh
soyabean oil at 27 per cent, and sunflower at fruit bunches (FFBs) per hectare after attaining
16 per cent. Domestic edible oil production has the age of 8- 9 years. In comparative terms, the
not been able to keep pace with the uptick in yield of palm oil is 5 times the yield of edible
consumption which is above 25 MT. The per oil obtainable from traditional oilseeds. So the
capita consumption, which was 15.8 kg per focus is on oil palm.
person per annum in 2012-13, has increased to The total approved cost of the NMEO (OP)
around 19 kg at present. During 2020-21, the Scheme is Rs 11,040 crore, out of which Rs
domestic production of edible oils was 8,844 crore is central share and Rs 2,196 crore
12.29 MT. state share. For implementing this scheme the
The government has been implementing a government has already released Rs 341.22
Centrally Sponsored Scheme, National Food crore in 2018-19, Rs 317.57 crore in 2019-20
Security Mission- Oilseeds & Oil palm (NFSM- and Rs 466.39 crore in 2020-21. For the year
OS&OP) from 2018-19 onwards to increase the 2021-22, a total of Rs 104.23 crore has been
production and productivity of oilseeds in the approved for various state annual action plans.
country. Now, the government has launched a As a result of the developmental efforts from
separate Mission for Oil Palm namely National the government agencies over the years, the oil
Mission on Edible Oils (Oil Palm) - NMEO (OP) palm area which was 8,585 ha in 1991-92, has
in 2021-22. Both NFSM- Oilseeds and NMEO increased to 3.70 lakh ha in 2020-21. Similarly,
(OP) are being implemented in the country with the production of FFBs from which oil palm is
the objective of augmenting the availability extracted, has increased from 0.21 lakh tonne
of edible oils by increasing the production (LT) to 16.89 LT in 2020-21. Crude Palm Oil
and productivity of oilseeds and oil palm and (CPO) has increased from 0.01 LT to 2.72 LT
reducing the import burden. In April 2022, the during the same period.
government released the operational guidelines With involvement of private players like
for NMEO (OP) (2021-22 to 2025-26). Navabharat Limited (NBL), an edible oil
The salient features of NMEO (OP) include processor based in Andhra Pradesh and the
assistance for planting material, inputs for first private company to breed oil palm seeds,
intercropping upto gestation period of 4 years the scheme would be implemented on ‘mission
and for maintenance, establishment of seed mode’ through active involvement of all the
gardens, nurseries, micro irrigation, bore stakeholders. With this, India will soon become
well/pumpset/water harvesting structure, Atmanirbhar in edible oil production, the way it
vermicompost units, solar pumps, harvesting has achieved in food production.
tools, custom hiring centre cum harvester Narayan Kulkarni,
Groups, farmers and officers training, and for Editor
replanting of old oil palm gardens etc. [email protected]