SBI will offer collateral-free loans to customers of IoTechWorld Avigation at competitive rates and also provide an interest subvention of 3 per cent on the loans as mandated under the Agriculture Infra Fund (AIF), said Mr. Deepak Bhardwaj Co-Founder of the Gurugram-based drone manufacturing company.

 An agreement was signed on February 1, 2023 between IoTechWorld Avigation Pvt. Ltd. (Mr. Deepak Bhardwaj, Director & Co-Founder) and State Bank of India (Mr. Yogendra Shelkey, DGM IC & GL, ABU & GSS Dept.).

Mr. Bhardwaj said, “Agri-drones are going to be a game changer for the Indian agriculture sector. The loan facility being extended by the SBI will be very helpful for farmers who were not able to purchase drones because of a lack of institutional financing facilities”.

 IoTechWorld Avigation’s Agribot Drone got the India’s first DGCA “Type Certification”. The certification was given to IoTechWorld Avigation in June 2022 by the Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Commenting upon the tie-up Co-Founder Mr. Anoop Upadhyay said: “Drones help in optimal use of farm inputs like fertilizers and pesticides, and thus reduce the cost of farming. The use of agri-drones not only helps in increasing farm output but also saves a lot of time. Agri drones are going to be a real game-changer for Indian agriculture. 

Mr. Upadhyay further said that the Agriculture Infra Fund (AIF) is a financing facility for creating post-harvest management infrastructure and community farm assets.

 Under the AIF scheme which was launched in the year 2020, Rs 1 lakh crore is to be disbursed by the financial year 2025-26 and the interest subvention and credit guarantee assistance will be given till the year 2032-33. 

So far, about Rs 15,000 crore has been sanctioned under AIF.

Farmers, Agri-entrepreneurs, Start-ups, FPOs, PACS, Marketing Cooperative Societies, SHGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Projects can avail upto Rs. 2 crore loans for creation of post-harvest management and technological advancement in the agriculture sector. These includes financing for Drones, AI, Robotics and supply chain services like e-marketing platforms, warehouses, Silos, Pack houses, Assaying units, Sorting & grading units, Cold chains, Logistics facilities, Primary processing centres, and Ripening Chambers  among others.

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The MoU was signed by PN Rasal, Dean(F/A) & Director of Instructions, MPKV university, and Anoop Kumar Upadhyay, Co-Founder & Director of IoTechWorld Avigation.

According to Upadhyay, IoTechWorld and the university will also work on joint educational and R&D projects to build a modern and sustainable smart agricultural system. The agritech firm will be the technical partner in setting up Remote Pilot Training Organization (RPTO) for agricultural drones with MPKV. It will help reduce the drone pilot shortage in the country.

Both will also develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for crop spraying using drones.

“The tie-up with an institution like MPKV will help us promote research activities promoting drones in agriculture. Together we will work to promote drone technology for the betterment of Indian agriculture,” IoTech World directors Upadhyay and Deepak Bhardwaj said in a joint statement.

Bhardwaj further said that using drones in agriculture is helpful for farmers as these aerial robots help them save money and time.

Another objective of the MoU is to develop a smart agricultural system. IoTechWorld and the university will work on joint educational and R&D projects for the betterment of the agriculture sector. This will increase efficiency, reduce operational field delays, optimise the use of fertilisers and pesticides, and thus help increase farmers’ income.

One of the major advantages is that a farmer can save a lot by using drones to apply fertilisers and spray pesticides.

The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has issued guidelines to make drone technology affordable to stakeholders. The government has also created SOPs for pesticide applications for crop protection in agricultural, forestry, and non-cropped areas and for spraying for soil and crop nutrients.

As per the government estimate, India will require at least one lakh drone pilots by next year.

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Distinct Horizon an agritech company benefiting the farmers with a widely tested Urea Deep Placement technique to reduce chemical usage for productive farming. It develops advanced technologies to boost farmer’s marginal profit and increase their food production while protecting the environment. It aims at technological equipment of farmers by providing innovative machines. With a joint approach, Distinct Horizon and Ayekart will also support in farmer training as well as exploring new markets.

Simplifying the primary objective of this MOU, Mr. Debarshi Dutta, Co-founder & CEO, Ayekart said, “We at Ayekart believe in technological advancement of agricultural produce through digitizing farmer’s productivity with various advance machines and introducing partnership opportunities with distributors, wholesalers, stakeholders, etc. It is one of our key mottos to digitize the food and agri value chain of India. To benefit farmer communities, we are also trying to procure funding through CSR, NGO’s and government bodies to help boost their productivity and enhance their business.”

Government bodies like NABARD has created the Farm Sector Promotion Fund to incubate innovations and diffusion of technologies in the realm of agriculture and allied sectors to benefit vulnerable sectors of farmers. These funding from government, CSR, NGO’s will help benefiting the farmer. Various partnership opportunities and advancement in technology helps boosting productivity and income of the famer communities of India.

Adding to Mr. Dutta’s statement, Santosh Kumar, Co-Founder & Head Operations, Distinct Horizon, said, “Our technologies can revolutionize the agriculture sector both in terms of productivity and income increase while at the same time significantly reduce chemical input and costs of production towards massive climate change mitigation and a healthier soil. It is our pleasure to work alongside an entity like Ayekart which is committed to scale up such technologies.”

Advancement in machinery have expanded the scale, speed, and productivity of farm equipment, leading to more efficient cultivation of more land. These advanced devices and precision agriculture allow farmer’s businesses to be more profitable, efficient, safer, and more environmentally friendly. Ayekart will create an end-to-end solution by digitizing, handholding and providing funding to these farmer communities.

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The Government of Assam (GoA) for its World Bank backed project, Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART) has given the Crop Cutting Experiments (CCE) mandate to Noida based Agri-tech company, Leads Connect. The agritech will conduct the CCE in 23 districts of the Assam state, on pilot basis.

APART was launched in the year 2018 by the Government of Assam through Government of India and received huge funds from World Bank to uplift the agricultural sector of the state and encourage farmers to use technology to increase the production.

On being appointed, Mr. Navneet Ravikar, Chairman & Managing Director, Leads Connect Services Private Limited informed that “getting a mandate to conduct CCE for different zones of Assam is a huge achievement for us an organization, and we are very excited and prepared to deliver the project successfully”.

He further added, “that it is now indispensable to develop measures and frameworks for climate resilient agriculture for addressing the issues of food insecurity. Therefore, the need of using advance technology such as geospatial technology and artificial intelligence along with comprehensive field observations, are important. Performing these studies with sheer accuracy and precision, are keys, in providing people centric solutions besides necessity of upscaling developed solutions. So, the research unit of organization will also be utilizing this opportunity to further their research and development activities for developing quality products, in the context of climate resilient agriculture and disaster management, as these aspects are now needed to be studied in sync.”

Leads Connect, with its cutting-edge technologies such as Remote Sensing and GIS, Numerical Modeling, artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics frameworks, will co-observe the CCEs conducted by state Government of Assam. This pilot study will start from September 2021 and will be done for Kharif 2021. Currently, the agritech is engaged in delivering projects in more than 100 districts of India and has Pan-India presence backed by comprehensive presence of field team and well-equipped research lab.

About Leads Connect Services Private Limited

Leads Connect is an analytics company with core focus on Agri-technology driven Data Analysis and Modelling, Risk Management & Financial Services. It aims to connect farm value chain for enabling sustainable, scalable, and profitable agri-business ecosystem. Besides the core focus areas, the organisation has been engaged in research and development-based analytics related to climate and hazard, Landscape, Biodiversity, City, and Geospatial analytics.

Leads Connect has delivered projects related to crop cutting experiments (CCEs), Remote Sensing based Crop Health Monitoring, Crop Acreage, Crop Yield estimates, Risk and Claim Management Services to various central and state organisations, insurers, and reinsurers. In addition, they have delivered projects pertaining to GP level yield estimation using technology. It has used machine learning algorithms and satellite remote sensing analytics to develop framework for yield estimation at GP level. They are currently monitoring CCEs for PMFBY in more than 100 districts across India along with Geotagging of Agriculture Infrastructures in 125 districts for NABCONS, a wholly owned subsidiary of NABARD.

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On World Environment Day, BL Agro, INR 2500 crore edible oils and food products company said to have the only manufacturing unit in Uttar Pradesh, which operates on 100% solar power resulting in reducing the carbon emissions from the manufacturing plant. The company is also the first one to install air purifiers in partnership with Pure Skies, pollution control Equipment by Greentech, Devic Earth, and has been able to improve the air quality of Parsakhera Industrial Area in Bareilly by 88%.

As per Devic Earth’s report, after installation of Pure Skies in January, BL Agro’s Unit -1 has been able to bring down the PM2.5 and PM10 levels from 355±123 μg/m3 & 470±126 μg/m3, respectively to 52±23 μg/m3 & 108±40 μg/m3 in May, respectively. Unit-2 of the plant, brought down the PM2.5 and PM10 levels from 450±144 μg/m3 and 641±160 μg/m3 respectively to 51±22 μg/m3 & 118±47 μg/m3 in May, respectively, making the city breathable.

BL Agro, as a large-scale industry, requires a continual supply of energy, and for such an industry type the Carbon emissions are quite natural. A higher rate of carbon emissions in the environment leads to a rise in the earth’s core temperature causing the Greenhouse Effect, thus resulting in Global Warming.

“Greenhouse gases not only impact the environment around but have adverse health impacts as well. Climate change led due to global warming not only leads to trapping heat, but is also a major contributor to respiratory disease caused by air pollutants. Thus, we, as a responsible corporate have a manufacturing unit, which relies 100% on solar power”, says Mr. Ashish Khandelwal, Managing Director, BL Agro on the observance of World Environment Day.

“We have also installed state-of-the-art air purifiers across our units that help curb and map our emissions, giving us a chance to minimize the emissions. This had led to improve the air quality of the industrial area making the environment safe and breathable”, adds Mr. Khandelwal.

“Right from procurement to packaging, and storage to dispatch, we have ensured that we rely on world-class machinery that not only optimizes all business processes but also ensures maximum productivity with minimum wastage”, Mr. Khandelwal adds further.

BL Agro has always taken initiatives to make the environment clean and green.  The company started the plantation drive in the year 2015 and till date, has planted more than 15,000 saplings in the city.

BL Agro facilities are spread across multiple Refineries, Warehousing & Packaging Units in Bareilly, spread over 1,00,000 Sq. mtrs. The warehousing capacity is over 48,000 tonnes per day (TPD), Packaging Capacity is more than 1900 TPD and refining capacity crosses 700 TPD.

About BL Agro

Being a flag-bearer of government of India’s Vocal for Local campaign, BL Agro has stood out among the top food FMCG companies in recent years. Based in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, B L  Agro Industries Ltd. has been committed to providing quality food products over the years. The company today has one of the largest distribution networks amongst all branded edible oil and food product players in India with over 50,000 retailers.

BL Agro Industry’s growth story is an inspiring story of success. Having started as a mustard trading house in 1950s, B.L. Agro has come a long way today in the edible oil and food product industry. During the course of its grueling journey, the company transformed from a commodity trading organization to a full-fledged FMCG company. The marketers of a single mustard oil brand subsequently started rolling out multiple varieties of oil, including refined oils and then a range of food products under the brand name ‘Nourish’ – thus catering to a much wider consumer base. Brand Nourish comes with a promise for nutrition. The brand offers entire range of food products typically used in an Indian kitchen including Atta, Rice, Pulses, Ghee & Oils, Dry Fruits, Papad, Achars, Murabba, Spices, etc. Each Nourish product is packed with superior quality ingredients and is produced with finest processes that ensure maximum retention of nutrients.

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“Our company is on an aggressive B2C expansion spree with a keen eye on profitable incremental growth and sustained capability, which can be achieved through proper marketing strategies” says Ashish Khandelwal, Managing Director, BL Agro. 

“To take the brand to the next level through marketing and proper messaging, we have earmarked a media budget of Rs. 150 crores for the current year. With a vision to contribute in nation’s agri-economy, we would be channelizing our capacities through manifold approach to reach out to the maximum audiences”, adds, Ashish.

“BL Agro’s brands include ‘Bail Kolhu‘ a 50-year-old brand and ‘Nourish’, that have envisioned the growing need for adding nutrition to consumer’s daily food habits. The company recently on-boarded Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Manoj Bajpayee, Pankaj Tripathi and Shilpa Shetty for its brands, says, Richa Khandelwal, Brand Spokesperson, BL Agro.

“The entire range of BL Agro’s products are for all age groups, across different stratas of society, and therefore it is imperative to be on every media. Television still holds the maximum mileage, where our spends would be close to 60%, followed by the print/radio/OOH, digital and online media and other media such as PR and influencer marketing”, adds, Richa. 

BL Agro produces nutritionally well balanced and superior quality food products, consistently, by using state-of-the-art technology that provides substantial support to nation’s farmers. The company has a wide portfolio of food products and rely on agricultural value chains to procure raw materials at scale thus boosting farmer income. The company also aims at empowering farmers and driving long-term growth through creation of infrastructure to support the agri-industry.

At the same time, with expansion of such a magnitude, BL Agro is contributing considerably in the domain of employment generation. The company already has a workforce strength of about 5000, including a huge field force, and this number is set to go up in the times to come.

In the current pandemic scenario, BL Agro is committed to work towards empowering the nation through large scale employment generation.

About BL Agro

Being a flag-bearer of government of India’s Vocal for Local campaign, BL Agro has stood out among the top food FMCG companies in recent years. Based in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, B L

Agro Industries Ltd. has been committed to providing quality food products over the years. The company today has one of the largest distribution networks amongst all branded edible oil and food product players in India with over 50,000 retailers. BL Agro Industry’s growth story is an inspiring story of success. Having started as a mustard trading house in 1950s, B.L. Agro has come a long way today. During the course of its grueling journey, the company transformed from a commodity trading organization to a full-fledged FMCG company. The marketers of a single mustard oil brand subsequently started rolling out multiple varieties of oil, including refined oils and then a range of food products under the brand name ‘Nourish’ – thus catering to a much wider consumer base. Brand Nourish comes with a promise for nutrition. The brand offers entire range of food products typically used in an Indian kitchen including Atta, Rice, Pulses, Ghee & Oils, Dry Fruits, Papad, Achars, Murabba, Spices, etc. Each Nourish product is packed with superior quality ingredients and is produced with finest processes that ensure maximum retention of nutrients.

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Agdhi has introduced AI-based technology to check quality of seeds. The traditional method of detecting seed defects typically relies on manual inspection, which monopolizes resources and is subjective. AI vision technology — along with photometry, radiometry and computer vision — offers efficient methods for seed classification and seed quality analysis.

NVIDIA Inception will allow Agdhi to grow its business with go-to-market support, training and technology assistance. The program will offer an opportunity to collaborate with industry-leading experts and other AI-driven organizations.

Commenting on joining NVIDIA Inception, Nikhil Das – Founder, Agdhi said, “We are excited to be part of NVIDIA Inception and share the same belief that AI will play a key role in modernizing agricultural activities. NVIDIA’s support, expertise, and technology will further accelerate our business, and we hope to realize the goal of doubling the farmer’s income by 2022.”

NVIDIA Inception is a program that helps startups during critical stages of product development, prototyping and deployment. Every NVIDIA Inception member gets a custom set of ongoing benefits, such as NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute credits, marketing support, and technology assistance, which provides startups with the fundamental tools to help them grow.

About Agdhi

Agdhi is an agritech startup based in Bengaluru which aims to create the next revolution in agriculture.  The startup is revolutionizing agriculture by introducing digital technology and building alternative solutions to facilitate sustainable methods in agriculture.  Agdhi is the dream venture of Nikhil Das (Former CTO Havells Group, Founder of Promptec LED Lights) and Anshad Ameenza (President Innovation Incubator Advisory, Advisor for multiple start up). Under the leadership of Nikhil and Anshad, Agdhi is a group of young potential headed by Abhijith K as GM, Anup G Prasad in Projects, and Bhartendu Thakur in AI.

Agdhi has won National Bio Entrepreneurship Competition #NBEC2020 for best Agri Tech start up and secured 4 lakh dollar investment opportunity from  venture capitalist.

Thus, today Agdhi is building new age products & solutions catering to the seed & farmers community.

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On the occasion, Vibhas Mandal, HR Head of IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Ltd. said, “The Company was constantly in search of an agency that could align with our vision, aiding them to effectively communicate the message resonating with the ideology of the company. Owing to the testimonials and accuracy of services provided by Twenty7 Inc., the Company appointed the agency to create the desired visibility amongst the target audience.”

IFFCO Kisan has been Vocal for Local for more than 10 years where they help farmers to boost the agricultural practices in India. In order to realize the evolution of agriculture, IFFCO Kisan extends agriculture advisory service and ensures distribution of different farm products and services.

Under the initiative, services such as Green Sim, IFFCO Kisan Agriculture Mobile App, Krishi Dev Gyan Mobile App, Kisan Call Centre Services, On ground and online Farmer meets etc. have proved to be the powerhouse of knowledge coming with the latest information leveraging vast experiences.

Furthermore, IFFCO Kisan deploys the latest technological solutions to help the farmers in improving the quality of the output and enabling forward linkages to the market.

“By understanding the needs of the client, Twenty7 Inc. effectively voiced the message of the brand by deploying a strategic approach and communication ideas to enhance the reception amongst the target audience,” reckoned Nilayankur Bharti, Founder, and Director of Twenty7 Inc.

As an agency, Twenty7 Inc. has expertise in promoting clients or brands through the channels of earned media by leveraging on communication bonds between the organization and its target audience to gain mutual benefits.

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Otipy has raised $1 Million from Inflection Point Ventures, an early-stage investing platform. The company has already scaled 4 times growth in the last three months. It expects the fresh funding to further boost its momentum in Unlock Phase 3.0 as well.

The social commerce venture of farm-to-fork agri-tech startup Crofarm is India’s first social commerce model to connect consumers with farmers through women resellers. It already has more than 1000 partner resellers (mainly women), catering to over 1,00,000 consumers.

It offers an extensive product catalog of fresh, hygienic, and chemical-free on-demand fruits & vegetables from the farm, which is usually 25% cheaper than the market.

Varun Khurana, Co-Founder & CEO, Otipy said, “We are super excited to partner with Inflection Point Ventures at this juncture when our business is showing very high consumer stickiness. We have built a very strong community with our partner resellers (mostly women) and have empowered them by providing an alternate source of income especially in these times when other sources have dried up. Also, with the recent changes in APMC, our farmer network is growing at a very fast pace.”

He added that they are delighted to secure funds from Inflection Point Ventures as they have a wealth of experience in consumer startups, guiding them from growth to sustainability and look forward to benefitting from the same.

Vinay Bansal, Founder & CEO, IPV said, “Otipy is a new concept in India and has gained huge traction so far. Not only does it eliminate the challenge of fair pricing for farmers, but also ensures delivery of fresh produce to end-consumers in a manner that is un-matchable on price and freshness that is enabled by the unique and tech-driven supply chain. The company has really performed well since its inception, and it’s certainly going to be a trendsetter in the times to come.”

Vinay Bansal added, “We watched the company’s performance closely during the lockdown, and more importantly its growth during the un-locking phase, which led to believe in its sustainable value proposition and the vision of transforming the entire farm ecosystem in India.”

Previously operational in Delhi and Gurgaon, the platform has recently launched its services in Noida, Ghaziabad and Greater Noida, providing fresh produce to end-consumers residing in these regions.

Using an AI-based demand prediction tool, the platform collects historical data to procure the produce, facilitates on-demand harvesting, and thereby ensures delivery of fresh produce on the same day.

It also uses customer relationship management tools on WhatsApp to seamlessly interact and serve consumers while keeping the overall transaction fully transparent at every step. Through the secured funds, the company will strengthen this mechanism and strive to serve customers better.

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The agriculture ministry will fund 234 more startups in the agriculture and associated sectors with a sum of Rs 24.85 crore under a central scheme in the current fiscal according to its statement. The government is providing financial support and nurturing the incubation ecosystem under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) by promoting innovation and agripreneurship.

The ministry said in a statement that in addition to 112 startups already funded for a sum of Rs 11.85 crore, 234 startups in the agriculture and allied sectors will be funded for a sum of Rs 24.85 crore. That makes a total of 346 startups in the agriculture and associated sectors are being funded with a sum of Rs 36.71 crore in this phase. The fund will be released in installments.

These startups, trained at 29 agri-business incubation centers spread across India for two months will lead to employment to youth. Besides, they, directly and indirectly, will contribute to enhancing the income of farmers by providing opportunities to them, the statement added.

Some startups being incubated offer different farm solutions. For instance, Activx Animal Health Technologies branded as Vetzz is a network of Veterinary doctors which provides an immediate connection with customers who are animal owners through real-time teleconsultation and doorstep visits, the ministry statement added.

Another start-up SNL Innovations InnoFarms provides fruit and vegetable pulp processed directly at the farm using an in-house developed monoblock fruit processing platform to convert fruits to a pulp with a shelf life of up to one year with complete traceability from farm to customer.

Whereas EF Polymer has developed an eco-friendly water retention polymer with an aim to solve the water scarcity crisis for farmers. This startup made a super absorbent polymer designed to absorb water in the soil, retain it for a long time, and supply to the crops as required.

The Agri startups selected are working in the field of agro-processing, artificial intelligence, digital agriculture, farm mechanization, waste to wealth, dairy, and fisheries among others.

Stating that the government is funding some startups led by women, the ministry said A2P Energy Solution is one such startup set up by women. The statement also added that this company uses artificial intelligence to track waste biomass and then works with farmers to collect it.

(PTI)

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