Author: Suchetana Choudhuri

In an exclusive AgroSpectrum interview, Dr. Markandeya Gorantla, Chairman & Managing Director of ATGC Biotech, outlines how the newly formed Semiophore JV with Luxembourg Industries marks India’s first global-scale out-licensing of semiochemical IP and positions the country at the forefront of next-generation, residue-free pest management. He explains that the partnership merges ATGC’s decade-long leadership in pheromone biomanufacturing and controlled-release systems with Israel’s formidable regulatory and commercial networks, creating a platform capable of scaling 18 breakthrough technologies across world markets. Dr. Gorantla highlights the JV’s sustainability edge—from ultra-low-dose, zero-water delivery to massive reductions in CO₂e, plastic waste, and insecticide load—supported by…

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Cereal prices tick upward on wheat and maize strength, but broad declines across dairy, meat, sugar and vegetable oils pull the FAO Food Price Index to 125.1 — now nearly 22 per cent below its 2022 peak The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 125.1 points in November 2025, extending its downward trend for the third consecutive month and slipping 1.2 per cent below October’s revised figure. At a time when global inflation pressures are cooling and supply chains show greater resilience, the index now sits 2.1 per cent lower than a year ago and a striking 21.9 per cent…

In an exclusive Agrospectrum interview, Marcelo de Godoy Oliveira, President of ABINBIO, explains that Brazil’s more than 30 per cent bioinputs surge is driven by pest pressure, chemical resistance, fertilizer dependence, and rapid scientific advances. He stresses that strict MAPA–industry oversight is essential to prevent a “wild west” of substandard products as the sector scales. Brazil’s biodiversity, combined with strong public–private R&D and emerging IP frameworks in gene editing, positions the country for global leadership. Marcelo highlights that biologicals in Brazil already deliver >90 per cent positive ROI in monitored applications and are fast becoming core to decarbonisation strategies. Looking…

In a world where climate pledges are tightening, supply chains are wobbling under the weight of ecological pressure, and consumers are dissecting the ethics of every bite they take, an unlikely protagonist is stepping into the sustainability spotlight: The humble kitchen scrap. Parmesan rinds, corn cobs, mushroom stems, carrot tops — the culinary castoffs that once met an unceremonious end in the compost bin — are now being reimagined as the building blocks of a new gastronomic economy. What was once waste is becoming wealth. What was once dismissed is being elevated. And what was once an afterthought is rapidly…

In an exclusive Agrospectrum interview, George Kurian, Minister of State for Minority Affairs and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India, elaborated on the Marine Fisheries Census (MFC) 2025 as a historic shift from estimation-based planning to a new era of evidence-driven, precision governance. He emphasised that the Census—powered by VyAS-BHARAT and VyAS-SUTRA—creates a dynamic, multidimensional, and scientifically validated foundation that will reshape policy design, welfare delivery, sustainability planning, and global market competitiveness. Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the MFC 2025 becomes the central pillar of India’s marine-sector transformation, aligning governance with the long-term national…

In this exclusive AgroSpectrum interview, Sacha Hoffmann Santelices, Managing Director, Komet Irrigation, explains how the company rebuilt its manufacturing philosophy by benchmarking against automotive plants rather than agricultural peers. He outlines how precision engineering, tighter tolerances, and operator-led quality have become strategic differentiators that translate directly into field performance and farmer trust. Sacha highlights Komet’s tightly integrated feedback loops across continents, which allow rapid redesigns and testing updates based on real-world agronomic challenges. He also details how lean culture, digitalized flow systems, and carefully balanced automation help the company maintain industry-leading delivery despite global volatility. Looking ahead to Irrigation 2030,…

In an exclusive AgroSpectrum interview, Dr. Ismail Abdelbagi, Principal Scientist and Regional Representative for Africa at International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) lays out a candid assessment of why Africa still imports $8–9 billion of rice annually despite holding the world’s largest reserve of untapped arable land. He argues that the continent’s core bottlenecks—underfunded seed systems, broken value chains, low government investment, and dominance of rainfed, low-productivity systems—must be fixed before any talk of self-sufficiency becomes realistic. Breakthroughs in drought, flood, salinity, and heat-tolerant varieties are finally progressing, but require African-specific breeding pipelines, stronger national programs, and serious funding to reach…

In this exclusive AgroSpectrum interview, Swapnil Jadhav, Founder & CEO of MapMyCrop, outlines how Monitoring-as-a-Service (MaaS) is redefining agricultural intelligence by shifting the sector from software-based tools to verified, outcome-driven visibility. He explains how MapMyCrop’s 6.2-million farmer validation network, multi-country crop intelligence, and proprietary AI models are solving agriculture’s long-standing “last-mile truth” problem at scale. Jadhav highlights how the company is emerging as the infrastructure backbone for data-driven agri-credit, parametric insurance, and climate-risk modelling as global finance moves toward intelligence-based lending. Swapnil also details how MaaS is becoming central to India’s state-level policy decisions—optimising water, subsidies, and climate governance—while delivering…

New Dunham Trimmer report reveals sector resilience with 9.9 per cent CAGR projection through 2030 The global biostimulant market has achieved $ 4.47 billion in value with a visible shift from opportunistic to science-based market development, according to Dunham Trimmer’s new 2025 Global Biostimulant Market Report, set to be unveiled at the Biostimulants World Congress in Barcelona, December 1-4, 2025. The comprehensive analysis projects a 9.9 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2030—the first time future growth projections have dipped below the double-digit benchmarks historically associated with the broader biologicals sector. However, the firm emphasizes this reflects the…