Home
   

CIIE leads Investment in Aakar Innovations with Participation from IIMA Alums and others

Date:16/12/2014

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, a group of impact investors and alumni of IIM and IIT have come together to invest an undisclosed amount in Aakar Innovations; a portfolio company of IIM Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) working in the domain of affordable sanitary napkins for rural Indian women.

The investment round was led by CIIE with further participation from Artha Platform, a leading philanthropy community in India. The investment was carried out under the ACT for Impact Programme at CIIE, focusing on using alumni connections to bring more angel capital into the ecosystem. The program was supported by eminent philanthropic foundations including the Rockefeller Foundation, Omidyar Network and Dasra. Vipul Patel, senior manager, CIIE Initiatives said, “CIIE is excited to be partnering with IIMA alums driven by a strong desire to create social impact along with generating financial returns. These angels bring a diverse set of expertise and shall bring enormous non-monetary value to the company.”

Aakar is a hybrid social enterprise that manufactures high-quality, compostable and hygienic sanitary pads, which are priced below other branded, competitive products. These pads are produced and sold by women entrepreneurs in their own villages. Their not-for-profit arm trains rural women to run manufacturing units and create awareness about menstrual hygiene. As a part of this arm, Aakar has started a crowdfunding campaign called “Freedom from Shame” to raise donations. “Over 100 donors have already given their support and we are looking to raise additional donations to support more women entrepreneurs,” said Sombodhi Ghosh, co-founder of Aakar Innovations.

They have so far sold 22 machines across India of which 15 units are operational and the rest seven will be functional by mid-December. These machines, which are usually set up in rural villages and urban-slum areas, has led to the direct employment of over 200 women.

On investing in Aakar, Geeta Goel, Director, Mission Investing at Michael & Susan Dell Foundation said, “Both at a personal and professional level, I have been amazed at the power of the market in trying to bridge inequalities in access, quality and income levels. If delivered in a responsible manner, such products and services can have tremendous social impact that can both scale and sustain itself. In that respect, Aakar is a great example of a responsible, customer centric, cost effective solution to the issue of women’s hygiene in rural and low income areas, a problem that has plagued us for several generations and is at the core of poor health of millions of women. Investing alongside incubators such as CIIE gives significant comfort on the basic due diligence and governance of such ventures.”

Sombodhi was earlier associated with CIIE as an ‘Entrepreneur in Residence’ (EiR). Talking about raising the first-round of investment and expanding to Africa, he said, “Raising impact investment is a difficult and laborious process in India. As an impact first company, our need was to get investors who are willing to contribute to the impact that we are striving to generate. CIIE’s ACT for Impact programme helped us find such investors. We are seeing significant interest from partners internationally, and are already working with several African organizations. We are planning to commence these operations in partnership with local organizations in Kenya and Uganda in the next few months.”

 
Source : Aakar Innovations


Agriculture MNCs Expecting Higher Growth in India’s Business Environment

Date:23/11/2014

NEW DELHI: Various Agricultural companies such as Cargill, John Deere, New Holland as well as MNC’s involved in food and FMCG sector are looking for growth opportunities in India. Companies are also expecting government to step in to impediments in governmental procedures such as taxes.

Siraj Chaudhary, mission co-lead for the food and agriculture mission to India under the US India Business Council said that, "The decision to invest in India is taken by teams here. The proposal is accepted from abroad based on the success of operation already. Therefore, making existing operations successful is the best motivator for getting more investment."

The business environment in the country is very conducive and supportive, said by Mukul Varshney, vice president of corporate affairs at John Deere.

Not only US and Canadian food agribusiness but Austrelian MNC’s are also looking for rising business opportunities in Indian dairy and nutrition industry. There is another trend of collaborating with Indian agribusiness for initial start-up. Belgian company, Univeg recently collaborated with Mahindra & Mahindra to develop a fresh fruit supply chain.

Cargill India chairman said that, "We are keen for GST (goods and services tax) implementation which will solve a lot of problems."

 
Source : www.economictimes.indiatimes.com


Competition For Funding by Emerging Ag Tech Companies

Date:23/11/2014

Donald Danforth Plant Science Center: Precision agriculture emphasized in Ag Innovation Showcase or conference at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. Main focus of conference was on big data management. “Looking at how to use technology and information and data that’s acquired at the farm, to better deliver seeds, nutrients, water, to get more output in agriculture” said by Fiorello.

In all, 20 emerging agricultural companies from countries including the U.S., Canada, Netherland and New Zealand are getting to present their products ― or ideas for products ― to potential investors and partners.

Many participating companies are working with "big data," and how to make it easier for farmers to use agricultural information and others are working in a field called biologics. In this case, they're using naturally-occurring microbes that make crops more efficient at nutrient and water use, or protect crops from disease, and producing microbes commercially for increase in crop yields.

Another area of interest pinpointed in this year conference is tracking possibility of wastage in different stages of food in order to minimize spoilage. Many agribusiness and food processing companies are now focusing in this area.

Some companies are working on next generation biofuels. Arvegenix is working to commercialize a non-food crop called Field Pennycress, an oil seed plant in the mustard family that could be used to produce biodiesel and jet fuel.

Field Pennycress is a winter crop that could be planted after corn and soybeans when fields would otherwise unproductive.
 
Source : http://news.stlpublicradio.org/


Odisha will soon get its second agriculture university

Date:29/08/2014




BHUBANESWAR: Odisha will soon get its second agriculture university in the poverty stricken KBK (Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput) region of the state.

"The state is planning to establish its second agriculture university in an area under KBK districts and the government has already made budgetary allocation for the purpose," agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy said on Friday.

The existing Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) could accommodate only 1,808 students in an academic year, he said.



OUAT, established on August 24, 1962, is the second oldest Agriculture University in the country.

It has been discharging its triple functions of education, research and extension education programme in an integrated manner in the field of agriculture and allied sciences.

The minister said OUAT had been largely successful in fulfilling its major thrust of improving quality of academic standards in agricultural education by producing quality professionals in the field of agriculture and allied sciences.

It has been generating and refining agricultural technologies by conducting demand driven as well as basic research in agriculture.

While felicitating 37 meritorious students of OUAT who have got junior research fellowship of ICAR, Maharathy also said that a Veterinary University was also on the anvil.

Another college of agriculture was being established under Xavier University, he said.

Amongst 66 universities, OUAT is the first university in the country to achieve the rare record of 37 students getting JR fellowship in an academic year.
Courtesy & Source : www.times.indiatimes.com


Simbhaoli Sugars to revive sick UP co-operative mill

Date:26/09/2013


UP Co-operative Sugar Mills limited has roped in Simbhaoli Sugar to operate and maintain its Powayan sugar plant based in district Shahjahanpur in UP.

The plant, which wasn't operational for four years has a cane capacity of 2,100 tonne per day. This is the company's second such project with Up cooperative mills, one already in Mohiuddinpur, Meerut.

Integrated Casetech Consultants pvt ltd, which is a subsidiary of Simbhaoli would carry out the complete repair of the mill and make it operational for the coming crushing season.

"The management fees for both the consultancy projects in UP is Rs 5.5 crore annually," Simbhaoli Sugars Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Sanjay Tapriya said.

The subsidiary is involved in the business of providing consultancy services in the fields of sugarcane, alcohol and sugar. It also provides feasibility, engineering, management and O & M services for any sugarcane related business.

Besides UP, Casetech is operating and maintaining a sugar plant at Karnal, Haryana. It has completed feasibility studies for two sugar mills in Bihar.

It already has projects in countries such as Ethiopia, Philippines, Iran, Zimbabwe, Vietnam and Myanmar among others.

Simbhaoli Sugars Ltd BSE -2.60 % has three sugar mills in UP with manufacturing capacity of up to 3 lakh tonnes per annum of sugar.



 
Courtesy : www.economictimes.indiatimes.com


NAFED & traders aim to speed up onion imports

Date:25/09/2013

NEW DELHI: National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India held a meet with onion importers to help fast clearance of imported stock today in Mumbai. India is expecting arrivals of around 600 tonne of imported onion at Mumbai within the next week, which will further increase supply at a time when its prices are going up.

The purpose of the meeting was to understand and resolve issues relating to clearance of imported stock of onion arriving at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Mumbai, with regards to phyto-sanitary and food security issues.

Chaired by NAFED managing director Sanjeev Chopra, the meeting was attended by leading onion exporters and importers and senior officials of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. The meeting covered exhaustively all ground problems being faced by importers and majority of the issues were resolved to the satisfaction of all the stake holders, read a media statement issued by the ministry of agriculture. It is expected that there would be a higher production of onion in the kharif season across the country which will ease the pressure on onion prices, it said.


Courtesy : www.economictimes.indiatimes.com


Kharif rice output projected to drop to 92.32 million tonnes: Government Date:24/09/2013

NEW DELHI: Country's rice production is projected to drop to 92.32 million tonnes in the Kharif season this year due to deficient rains in some states, but the overall foodgrain output is estimated to rise marginally to 129.32 million tonnes in the same period.

The rice production stood at 92.76 million tonnes in the kharif (summer) season of the 2012-13 crop year (June-July), while total foodgrain output was estimated at 128.20 million tonnes.

"As per the first advance estimate for kharif season of 2013-14, rice production is estimated at 92.32 million tonnes in the kharif season of this year," Agriculture Commissioner J S Sandhu said at the national conference on rabi (winter) crops).

The estimate for rice output is kept lower as deficient rains in Bihar, Jharkhand and North East have affected the kharif crops, he said.

Also, the flood situations in Assam, Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have an impact on the kharif crops, he added.

Sandhu said, however, maize production is projected to increase to 17.78 million tonnes in the kharif season of this year, against 16.04 million tonnes in the year-ago period.

Pulses production is also estimated to rise to 6.01 million tonnes from 5.91 million tonnes in the review period.

Whereas millet production is forecast at 13.21 million tonnes in the kharif season of this year, he said.

Sowing of kharif crops begin with the onset of southwest monsoon from June, while harvesting starts from October.

According to Indian Meteorological Department, the 53 per cent of the country received normal monsoon. One-third of the country received excess rains.

Monsoon has withdrawn from western and northern regions of the country. Early withdrawal of monsoon has created heat stress in central parts of the country, Sandhu added.

The Agriculture Ministry releases production estimates at different stages of crop.


Courtesy : www.economictimes.indiatimes.com


Maharashtra cotton traders resolve to develop Mahacot brand of cotton Date:23/09/2013

PUNE: Cotton traders from second largest producer Maharashtra have decided to strengthen their efforts to build the Mahacot brand of local cotton.

The Khandesh Ginning and Pressing Factory Owners and Traders Association initiated efforts last year to build a brand for Maharashtra's cotton in order to compete with the Shankar cotton of Maharashtra.

""We did a small effort last year appealing the ginners to brand a small portion of their cotton. The result was encouraging as they received good rates for this cotton. This year, we have decided to use lables to take the branding one step further,"" said Pradip Jain, president, Khandesh Ginning and Pressing Factory Owners and Traders Association.

In an all India meet on cotton trade to be held on September 22 in Jalgaon, the Association will give guidance to farmers for producing high grade cotton.



Courtesy : www.economictimes.indiatimes.com


Russia lifts ban on import of rice, peanuts from India Date:20/09/2013

NEW DELHI: Russia has lifted an eight-month-old ban on the import of Indian rice and peanuts, effective from this month, a move that would help traders regain their lost market.


The Russian Federation had imposed the ban due to the presence of khapra beetles pest in rice and aflatoxin contamination of peanuts. 

"Russia has cancelled the temporary restriction on import of rice, rice cereals and peanuts from India. Exporters can resume export of these products effective from September 1," a senior government official told PTI. 

Russia decided to remove restrictions after its officials visited processing units in India in June. The delegation was convinced about the safety measures that were put in place here while processing these food items, the official said. 

The resumption of trade comes as the country seeks to boost exports to address the current account deficit. 

India, the world's second-biggest producer of rice, had shipped 61,000 tonnes of rice and 3,700 tonnes of peanuts in the last financial year, earning USD 31 million from the export of the two food items.


Courtesy : www.economictimes.indiatimes.com


Madhya Pradesh government gave Rs 9,000-crore farmer loans on zero percent interest in 2012 Date:18/09/2013

BHOPAL: In a push to make agriculture more profit-oriented, the Madhya Pradesh government provided Rs 9,000 crore in loans to 30 lakh farmers on zero percent interest rate in 2012.


Stating this, an official release said here today that the state government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has taken a number of key decisions to make agriculture profitable during the last nine years.


During the earlier regime, crop loans were given at the rate of 15-16 percent interest.


The present BJP-ruled government reduced it to seven per cent in 2003, 5 per cent in 2008, 3 per cent in 2010 and zero percent in 2011 and 2012 for purchasing fertilisers and seeds, benefitting lakhs of farmers.


Due to extension of crop loans to farmers at zero percent interest rate, percentage of recovery of loans in the cooperative sector also increased to 78.04 percent in 2012. Under another significant decision in the cooperative sector, over 45 lakh farmers were provided Kisan Credit Cards.


Courtesy : www.economictimes.indiatimes.com


Expert lays stress on green farming for green economy Date:12/09/2013

“Adoption of best scientific and management practices would be key to optimizing nutrient efficiency and crop productivity,” Prof RB Singh said.

Renowned agricultural scientist and chancellor of the Central Agricultural University, Imphal Prof RB Singh prescribed a dramatic step up in green agricultural practices for sustainable development in his diamond jubilee lecture titled "Greening Agriculture for Green Economy" on Friday. Prof Singh said that green agriculture should be a national priority.

 

He said that despite the availability of “the best of brains and scientists,” India remains steeped in poverty and hunger,” pointing to green agriculture as a path to sustainably enhanced human livelihood and economic security. Despite the Green Revolution, Indian agriculture during the past three decades has failed to attain the targeted annual growth rate of 4 per cent, he said.

 

"In spite of the 8% growth achieved in the last decade, India is home to around to 1/5th of the world's deprived people. More than 40% of the world's malnourished children are in India," Singh said. He warned that factors like slowing GDP growth, climate change, policy inertia and a declining currency could make it difficult for the country to achieve its socio-economic targets, including those in the Food Security Bill.

 

"The challenge is to increase the average yield of wheat to four tonnes per hectare from the current level of three in about eight years. Climate change is expected to result in a 10 to 30 per cent loss in productivity which could drag the GDP down by 1. 5 to 4.5 per cent," said.  “Smart agriculture is the best hope to achieve zero hunger and this requires political determination.”

 

“Adoption of best scientific and management practices would be key to optimizing nutrient efficiency and crop productivity,” he said, commending the efforts of IARI in developing disease resistant strains of grains like Pusa Basmati rice 1509 and HD 2967 wheat.  Investment in science and research for development should be suitably enhanced “and linked with an effective monitoring, evaluation and impact mapping system,” he concluded.


Courtesy : www.southasia.oneworld.net


Modi paints grim picture of India's farming at global agriculture meet Date:11/09/2013

Even as he asked farmers to 'think big', Chief Minister Narendra Modi painted a grim picture of agriculture in the country at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Agriculture Summit 2013 here on Monday.

 

Addressing delegates from 14 countries in Hindi, Modi said that everyday 2,500 people abandon farming as profession and more than two lakh farmers committed suicide in the past two decades.

 

He suggested to the Central government that instead of slaughterhouse subsidy, warehouse subsidy would help farmers save their livestock.

At the two-day event, which the CM claimed to be the first of its kind in India, farmers from 29 states and two Union territories listened to Modi's suggestions to the Prime Minister on how to revive agriculture.

 

"Instead of slaughterhouse subsidy, if equal amount of subsidy was given in construction of warehouses, farmers would not have to send livestock to slaughterhouses," claimed Modi.

 

At the event, partnered by Denmark, Modi said, "Indian farmer is insecure. I have figures from the government that say that 2,500 persons are abandoning farming per day. In the past 20 years, 2.70 lakh farmers have committed suicide. Less then 30 per cent farmers get loans from banks and the rest approach sharafs (private dealers)."

 

Modi said that there was an urgent need to increase farm productivity but the Centre was ignoring suggestions made by a committee he headed. "We do not lack talent, universities. Then what is the reason that productivity is low? We have nothing to map real-time production," he said, mentioning figures that throw light on how India is way behind in farm productivity compared to countries like the Netherlands, Peru, Indonesia and Ireland.

Modi added that he had given suggestions to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh four times and thrice to the Government of India. He called for an integration of technology and e-governance with agriculture, and stressed giving benefits of IT revolution to farmers. He said the share of agriculture in GDP had dropped. "From 51 per cent at the time of Independence, it has dropped to 14 per cent," he added.


 

GPS service to boost polyhouse farming Date:10/09/2013

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state agriculture department is all set to launch a GPS-based service for providing polyhouse farmers accurate information on market-based demand and nutrition needs for vegetables cultivated inside the translucent tents.

 

In polyhouse farming, vegetables are cultivated in a controlled atmosphere by providing ideal weather condition, mitigating the risk of pest attacks so that the farmers are able to get a high yield.