International

[ad_1] Ask any shopkeeper, milkman, dhobi (launderer), or other merchant in India how many people owe them money for their services, and how much they’re owed. You’re likely to get two high numbers. In fact, it’s common across the board for Indian businesses to serve their customers on credit and keep tabs. It’s true from […]

[ad_1] The smart greenhouse market could reach $2.1 billion by 2025, increasing from $1.4 billion in 2020, according to a recent report exploring emerging trends in rooftop farming operations in urban areas. Between hardware and software, hardware devices like HVAC systems, LED grow lights, sensors, irrigations systems, and control systems will comprise a large share […]

[ad_1] Switching sharply to developing a vaccine for Covid-19 appears to have proved a boon for GreenLight Biosciences, a company that previously focused on developing biological pesticides. The Massachusetts-based biotech firm has just raised an oversubscribed $102 million round of funding, AFN can confirm, and much of this will go toward countering the ongoing global […]

[ad_1] Editor’s Note: Dmytro Lennyi is agritech practice leader at Intellias, a software engineering and consulting firm based in Lviv, Ukraine, that assists tech companies with their software development needs. This article reflects the views of the author, and not necessarily those of AFN. Every time I visit agritech events, I discover new farm management software. […]

[ad_1] The Good Food Institute (GFI) India and agrifood accelerator Gastrotope have launched a program aimed at kickstarting alt-protein entrepreneurship in the country. The India Smart Protein Innovation Challenge is targeted squarely at the next generation of plant-based protein pioneers. It’s open to Indian nationals, or non-Indian nationals who have been working in the country, […]

[ad_1] Single-use plastics are not only finding their way into landfills, they’re becoming the main subject of legislation, too. The European Union’s single use plastic directive entered into force in June 2019 and now imposes a number of regulations including outright bans on the use of some materials to new producer obligations and labeling requirements. […]

[ad_1] One of Covid-19’s biggest casualties in the agrifoodtech dealmaking arena so far is Livestock Improvement Corporation’s (LIC) scuppered $70 million investment in Afimilk. The New Zealand dairy farmers’ cooperative had done everything but sign on the dotted line for a 50% stake in the Israeli milk meter maker. LIC’s senior management had made the […]

[ad_1] Anyone out there planning a gripping documentary on food fraud would do well to shadow the detective work of Interpol and Europol’s “Operation Opson,” a series of European supply chain investigations first prompted by the notorious Horsemeat Scandal of 2013. During the eighth phase of Opson, by early 2019, investigators ended up seizing “more […]

[ad_1] For a specialty crop grower, selecting the next season’s seeds is a big deal. Most market gardeners and other enterprise-level operators receive a massive stack of seed catalogs each year. They pour over them meticulously, dogearing page after page bearing promising seed varieties. To give a sense of these tomes, one catalog offers over […]

[ad_1] Gaby Novakovic is the lead organizer of the OnRamp Agriculture Conference that’s set to take place virtually on July 9. We caught up with her to find out they pivoted what was going to be a physical event into a virtual one that’s focused on helping startups start valuable conversations with potential investors and […]

[ad_1] A welcome impact from the Covid-19 pandemic has been clearer skies and returning wildlife to usually polluted areas after industry, transport systems, and more shut down across the world, reducing carbon emissions. Today marks two months since the UK’s electricity industry last used coal; the longest period since the Industrial Revolution began more than […]

[ad_1] Tongcheng Life, an online portal that facilitates group-buying of fresh produce, has raised $200 million in Series C funding. Half of the capital came from Joyy, a NASDAQ-listed, Guangzhou-based tech company that runs several social media and gaming platforms including short video site YY.com, popular livestreaming app Huya, and Southeast Asia’s Bigo. Co-leading the […]

[ad_1] There are many different technologies being offered to farmers to tackle everything from more efficient input use, different categories of inputs, new sensors to monitor conditions, robotics, and alternative marketplaces. But these innovations are only as good as farmers’ willingness to adopt them en masse.  “Over the course of their careers, farmers shoulder much […]

[ad_1] Editor’s Note: Kevin McKernan is founder and chief science officer of Medicinal Genomics, a startup working on cannabis technology including safety testing capabilities. He was the first to sequence the cannabis genome. He is the former Team Leader for Research and Development at The Whitehead Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research during the Human Genome Project. […]

[ad_1] Toxins, molds and pathogens are responsible for 500 million tons of food spoilage, which causes nearly $250 billion in food losses and 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. “By the time you throw away that tomato in your fridge, it has already led to significant emissions,” Dan White, co-founder of Clean Crop Technologies, tells […]