Page 3 - Agriculture Economy

Crystal Crop acquires I&B Seeds to boost flower and vegetable seed segment

Agrochemical firm Crystal Crop Protection on Monday said it has acquired Bengaluru-based I&B Seeds as it seeks to strengthen its position in India's vegetable and flower-seed segment. "The deal has been fully executed with shares purchased from two major shareholders. The share transfer was completed last week on the day of Diwali," Crystal Crop Protection Managing Director Ankur Aggarwal told PTI. While not disclosing the deal amount, Aggarwal said it is estimated at two-times I&B Seed's annual revenue of Rs 130 crore. The acquisition was funded through internal accruals and marks Crystal Crop's fifth purchase in the seeds business and twelfth overall. "This acquisition will contribute 30 per cent to our Rs 400 crore seed business," Aggarwal said, adding that the company will retain I&B Seeds' flagship brands 'Indus' and 'SPS'. India's flower and vegetable seed market is valued at over Rs 600 crore. The integration is expected to be completed within six months. "By ...

Kanda Express: How onion-laden trains impact farmers, consumers, traders

Onion procurement for the first train was done by the National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India Ltd and for the 2nd by National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd

LT Foods Q2 results: PAT drops 4.9% to Rs 148 cr, revenue at Rs 2,108 cr

The company reported a 8.4 per cent rise in its overall expenses, propelled by a 32.2 per cent rise in cost of its raw materials

Rajasthan to hold agriculture pre-summit on Oct 24 to boost investments

Under the scheme, insurance of animals would be necessary and the borrower will have to get life insurance equivalent to the loan amount

Good monsoon raises hopes, but crop prices key to rural India turnaround

The good rains have also meant that residual moisture in the soil is better than in previous years which is likely to significantly aid in the planting and growth of the next rabi crop

India not in favour of facilitator-led process in WTO on agriculture issues

India on Monday expressed reservations over the facilitator-led process in the World Trade Organisation to discuss issues on agriculture, saying that it would potentially undermine ministerial mandates and take negotiations backwards, an official said. The issue came up during a meeting of Heads of Delegation (HoDs) dedicated to agriculture in Geneva at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The official said that India has stressed on the urgency to address mandated matters like public stockholding (PSH), special safeguard mechanism (SSM), and cotton issues in dedicated sessions, separate from broader agriculture negotiations. "India noted that the facilitator-led process would potentially undermine Ministerial mandates and it would take negotiations backwards. It also raised concerns about transparency, neutrality, and inclusive discussion in the facilitator model and warned against creating new pillars, as it would complicate negotiations further," the Geneva-based official said. I

Centre forms panel to reduce gap between farm to fork in perishables

Agriculture minister suggests shared transport costs between Centre, states to reduce consumer prices for perishable goods like tomatoes, while also proposing agricultural reforms for small-scale farm

Bayer, Mitsubishi, Shell, Temasek to generate carbon credits for farmers

Bayer and Mitsubishi are global leaders in the agriculture space while Shell is big in energy

Farmers suggest govt to create 'model farm' to showcase profitable farming

A group of farmers on Thursday suggested the government to create a model farm giving information on ways to make farming profitable even in one to two-and-half acres land. These suggestions were made to Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during a weekly interaction with the farmers and farm bodies here at the Pusa campus. "Farmers also gave examples of farmers doing profitable farming in one-acre farms," an official statement said. They discussed providing water, use of fertilizers, making the soil healthy, problems due to losses in natural disasters, closure of sugar mills and problems of stray animals, etc. Farmers have also given suggestions for promoting Srianna (millets). The Union Minister promised to consider the suggestions seriously and try to resolve them. He said the matters related to the state government will be sent to the states and the departments will take action on the matters of the central government. Chouhan also thanked Haryana Chief Minister Nayab

Tomato price volatility exposes gaps in India's agriculture supply chain

Among the vegetables that constitute the trio of TOP (tomato, onion, and potato), tomato is believed to experience the most volatility in prices

Safex-backed AgCare Technologies starts online marketplace for agri inputs

Safex Chemicals-backed AgCare Technologies has started an online marketplace 'Golden Farms' to digitise agricultural input supply chain in India. In January 2023, Safex Chemicals invested Rs 100 crore in AgCare Technologies. "Delivering to over 16,000 PIN codes, the mobile app allows customers to procure inputs required in agriculture directly from manufacturers, ensuring better pricing and higher product quality," Safex said in a statement. The platform is set to make the procurement process more streamlined, transparent, and accessible to customers across rural India. Currently, the app offers 22 agrochemical products, with herbicides making up 35 per cent and insecticides accounting for 45 per cent of the portfolio. The platform has already onboarded over 16,000 dealers spread across the country. This extensive dealer network ensures widespread availability of agriculture related products, enabling the company to serve a large customer base. Safex Chemicals Founder-Director S

PM Modi launches Unified Genomic Chip for cattle: How will it help farmers?

PM Modi launched the 'Unified Genomic Chip' to help farmers identify high-quality cattle early, which is aimed at enhancing dairy farming quality in India

PM Modi to release 18th instalment of Rs 20,000 crore under PM-KISAN

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release Rs 20,000 crore as the 18th instalment of the PM-KISAN scheme on Saturday, benefiting over 9.4 crore farmers across the country. Disbursements will be through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) during an event in Washim, Maharashtra, an official statement said. Maharashtra farmers will receive an additional Rs 2,000 crore under the state's Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi Yojana. With the 18th instalment, the total amount disbursed under PM-KISAN will exceed Rs 3.45 lakh crore, supporting more than 11 crore farmers nationwide. The PM-KISAN scheme, launched on February 24, 2019, provides Rs 6,000 annually to landholding farmers in three equal instalments. Maharashtra has received about Rs 32,000 crore in 17 instalments, benefiting around 1.20 crore farmers, the second highest among all states. Around 91.51 lakh farmers in Maharashtra will receive over Rs 1,900 crore in the 18th instalment. Modi will also launch an indigenous sex-sorted semen ...

Paytm deploys card machines across 42 Krishi Mandis in Madhya Pradesh

For the first time, the Krishi Mandi app in Madhya Pradesh has been integrated with Paytm EDC devices (card machines), marking a pivotal step in the digital transformation of agricultural sales

Paddy procurement at MSP underway in Haryana, over 46,000 MT procured

The Haryana government has commenced paddy procurement at the Minimum Support Price and so far over 46,000 metric tons of the crop have been procured. According to an official statement issued on Tuesday evening, the paddy procurement began from September 27. "Till date, over 46,000 metric tons (MT) of paddy have been procured from 241 mandis and purchase centers across the state, benefiting more than 7,500 farmers," it said. "Today alone, approximately 1,200 MT of paddy was lifted," it said. In addition, the government is ensuring timely payments to farmers, having disbursed Rs 2 crore directly into their bank accounts, according to the statement. From Tuesday, the procurement of bajra has also commenced at the Minimum Support Price. The state government has opened 91 mandis and purchase centres specifically for this purpose, with over 25,000 quintals of bajra already purchased from farmers of the state. The procurement process is running smoothly and is scheduled to continue un

Around 15% of tomatoes go waste at the farm level, 12% at retail: Study

The study conducted by World Resources Institute India (WRI) in the three districts of MP-Dhar, Chhindwara, and Jhabua was released recently

India's foodgrain production hits record 332.22 MT in 2023-24: Govt

India's foodgrain production reached a record 332.22 million tonne in the 2023-24 crop year ended June, driven by bumper wheat and rice output, the agriculture ministry said on Wednesday. The final estimate for 2023-24 shows an increase of 2.61 million tonne from the previous year's 329.6 million tonne, the ministry said in a statement. Rice production touched a record 137.82 million tonne, up from 135.75 million tonne in 2022-23. Wheat output also hit a high of 113.29 million tonne as compared to 110.55 million tonne the previous year. However, pulses production declined to 24.24 million tonne from 26.05 million tonne and oilseeds output fell to 39.66 million tonne from 41.35 million tonne. The ministry attributed the decline in pulses, coarse cereals, soybean and cotton production to "drought-like conditions in southern states, including Maharashtra and prolonged dry spell during August especially in Rajasthan". Sugarcane production decreased to 453.15 million tonne from 490.53

India, US should aim to enhance agricultural productivity: ITC official

India and the US should aim to enhance agricultural productivity, improve food distribution system, and ensure the usage of sustainable practices to strengthen ties in the agri sector, a senior ITC official said. Both countries should leverage their respective strengths and forge strategic partnerships in the sector, ITC Agri Business Division V P Sanjeev Bhat said at an event here. "The US and India should aim to enhance agricultural productivity, improve food distribution system and ensure sustainable food security solution," he said during a panel discussion in the Indo-US Economic Summit organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC). Now, India majorly exports seafood, rice and plants to the US and this trade is growing at a three-year CAGR of 20-30 per cent, Bhat said. Currently, India and the US do not have any trade agreement, however, starting from January 2024, both countries have established a Trade Policy Forum (TPF) for trade promotions. The US is the secon

Paddy acreage up 2.22% to 41.35 mn hectare so far in this kharif season

Area sown to paddy has increased by 2.22 per cent to 413.50 lakh hectares so far in the ongoing 2024-25 kharif (summer) season, the agriculture ministry said on Monday. In the year-ago period, area under paddy was 404.50 lakh hectares. Sowing of paddy, the main kharif crop, begins with the onset of southwest monsoon from June, and harvesting takes place from September. Additionally, area sown to pulses increased to 128.58 lakh hectare till September 23 of the ongoing season, from 119.28 to pulses in the same period last year, the ministry said in a statement. Area sown to 'arhar' and 'moong' reported higher area at 46.50 lakh hectare and 35.46 lakh hectare, respectively, while area under urad was slightly lower at 30.73 lakh hectare so far in the current season. Area under coarse cereals and 'Shree Anna' (millets) increased to 192.55 lakh hectare from 186.07 lakh hectare in the year-ago period. Among coarse cereals, area under maize rose to 88.06 lakh hectare from 84.65 lakh ...

Policymaking is nothing if not about trade-offs: CEA V Anantha Nageswaran

During his speech on policymaking at the launch of the Isaac Centre for Public Policy (ICPP) by Ashoka University in Bengaluru, Nageswaran emphasised the role of researchers