Mahyco, one of the major seed producers in India, and Savannah Seeds, the Indian arm of US-based RiceTec Inc, have come together to set up an \u201cagricultural-climate technology\u201d company Paryan to solve current issues faced by the agriculture sector in the country.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
To particularly address the challenges of global climate change, Mahyco and RiceTec have formed a 50:50 joint venture firm, Shirish Barwale, Managing Director of Mahyco, and Ajai Rana, Chief Executive Office, Savannah Seeds, told\u00a0businessline\u00a0<\/i>in an online interaction.\u00a0\u201cAs a \u2018climate-technology\u2019 company, Paryan will focus on addressing challenges of food production and sustainability,\u201d said Barwale.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Incorporated in 2024, Paryan will work on the development and commercialisation of farming practices and seed technologies focused on sustainable production of the country\u2019s two major food crops \u2014 rice and wheat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The newly formed company is introducing \u201cgame-changing\u201d environment-friendly wheat and rice technologies, which will be offered to other seed firms, among farmers. The technology, which can control weeds, has been developed through mutation, which is changing the DNA sequence.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have launched the rice technology already, which came from RiceTec. We hope to launch the wheat technology in the coming rabi season, provided government approvals are in place,\u201d said the Mahyco Managing Director.\u202f\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Mahyco is offering its wheat technology in the joint venture, said the Savannah Seed\u2019s CEO. While the rice technology is called FullPage\u00ae, the wheat technology has been named FreeHit\u00ae.\u00a0<\/p>\n During the current kharif season, Paryan has launched the rice technology through two hybrids in about 15,000 acres. About 9,000 acres have been covered in Punjab and Haryana and the rest 6,000 acres in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.\u00a0<\/p>\n The demonstration of the technology has been held in Telangana, Andhra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Bengal and Gujarat. \u201cHowever, the focus will be on Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh because the problem (climate challenge) is severe,\u201d said Rana.\u00a0<\/p>\n He said the company has got the Government\u2019s permission to introduce the rice technology and is test-marketing the wheat technology. During the trials, the yield was recorded at 7.5-8.5 tonnes per hectare against the national average of 4.3 tonnes.\u202f\u00a0\u201cThe new technology will help farmers to go in for direct seeded rice (DSR), which will reduce methane emissions, cut labour costs and stop stubble burning,\u201d the Savannah Seed\u2019s CEO said.\u00a0<\/p>\n He said it takes 4,000 litres of water to produce a kg of rice. If farmers switch over to the DSR system, 30 per cent of the water can be saved, while greenhouse gas emissions can be cut by 50 per cent.\u00a0\u201cDSR is already registered as a project with the global carbon credits agency such as Gold Standard and Vera,\u201d said Rana.\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The new technology can increase farmers\u2019 income as they need only half the area to produce the same quantity they are producing now, Barwale said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Punjab and Haryana, farmers took up DSR in 2020 in over four lakh hectares due to the lack of migrant labourers. \u201cBut they switched back from DSR because they could not control weeds and those varieties were not suitable for DSR,\u201d he said.\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Paryan will promote agronomic practices such as DSR and zero tillage of wheat. The company\u2019s technology will help overcome wild rice species called\u00a0\u201cKarga\u201d<\/i>\u00a0in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Barwale said rice does not need much water to grow and farmers are using it as a sort of \u201clow-cost, safe and effective herbicide\u201d.\u00a0If weed is controlled through DSR, rice can be grown as wheat.\u00a0\u201cYou sow it directly into the ground with new-age planters that are available today, which is what we recommend in Paryan\u2019s FullPage solution,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Rana said Haryana provides a subsidy of \u20b94,500 an acre for DSR, while Punjab offers \u20b91,500. \u201cIn both these States, there are nearly 10 million acres for adoption of DSR. But it has been adopted on only 3 lakh acres,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Over the past four years, Mahyco and Savannah have held about 800 demonstrations on farms. \u201cThis can save transplantation costs, which are about \u20b97,000 in South India and \u20b94,500 in North India,\u201d the Savannah Seeds CEO said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cThe farmer doesn\u2019t have to transplant.\u202fThey can level their field, bring a tractor and the seed drill and directly plant,\u201d he said, adding that trials and demonstrations have shown that a farmer can save between \u20b97,000 and \u20b910,000 per acre.\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Barwale said things in Punjab were heading to a situation where in five years, it would be tough to produce rice because of dropping groundwater levels.\u00a0\u201cWe will sell these technologies and products under our brands \u2014 Savannah and Mahyco. But we would like to out-license (like Intel chips in computers) it to other companies so that the technology is available to more number of farmers,\u201d Rana said.\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Companies or licensees out-licensing the technology can use it in their current seeds or opt for a new variety. \u201cUsing the Paryan platform, we would be out-licensing both these technologies to other seed companies,\u201d said the Savannah Seeds CEO.\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The company has held demonstrations of its technology for Corteva Agriscience and Bayer CropScience. \u201cBayer has sourced our trait product with the technology for distribution in Punjab and Haryana with Corteva,\u201d he said, adding that the Paryan team has held initial discussions with both corporates.\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Barwale said Paryan has held demonstration of its technology for five companies this year. \u201cIt\u2019s an open licensing platform, so we want it to be available to as many people as possible.\u202fThe only criteria is they should show commitment to the technology and be willing to invest in it,\u201d he said.\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n On its part, the company charges a fee for the services it provides. While Mahyco and Savannah are trying to recoup their R&D investments to continue research, they are ensuring that the cost would not be prohibitive for the farmers to adopt the technology.\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Over the next couple of years, Paryan will scale up the current technologies.\u202f\u00a0\u201cWe have a pipeline of technologies to help sustain modern agriculture, which is climate resilient and sustainable,\u201d said Barwale.\u202f\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The company has begun partnering with like-minded companies and organisations to offer the new technology as rice and wheat cover nearly 70 million hectares of land.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Rana said the problem with rice production in India is that only 9 per cent of the area is under hybrids against 70 per cent in the US. \u201cIn rice hybrid, we introduced environmental genetic male sterility (EGMS) which can develop the hybrid faster and improve productivity. We introduced that new technology in India,\u201d he said, adding that the company calls it smart genetics.\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Asked if Mahyco would consider similar technology for cotton since it gained prominence in the country for introducing the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) varieties, Barwale said Paryan is currently working on rice and wheat only.\u00a0Currently, Mahyco and Savannah are sharing the expenses required for Paryan, he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Shirish](\"https:\/\/bl-i.thgim.com\/public\/economy\/agri-business\/mmpcso\/article68468434.ece\/alternates\/FREE_660\/Shirish%20Barwale%20-%20Managing%20Director%20Mahyco%20Pvt.%20Ltd.%201.jpg\" "\\"Shirish")
<\/p>\n\nShirish Barwale, Managing Director of Mahyco
\n<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nControlling weeds
\n<\/h5>\n![\"Ajai](\"https:\/\/bl-i.thgim.com\/public\/economy\/agri-business\/baqymm\/article68468439.ece\/alternates\/FREE_660\/Ajai%20Rana%20-%20Business%20Head%20Asia%20Pacific%20RiceTec%201.jpg\" "\\"Ajai")
<\/p>\n\nAjai Rana, Chief Executive Office, Savannah Seeds Pvt Ltd
\n<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nDemos in 7 States
\n<\/h5>\n\nCarbon credit
\n<\/h5>\n\nHaryana, Punjab subsidy
\n<\/h5>\n\nSavings for farmers
\n<\/h5>\n\nOpen licensing platform
\n<\/h5>\n\nRice & wheat only
\n<\/h5>\n