Ifigenia Urbina Barreto, PhD in Ecology and former Biome Makers employee conducting a tomato trial. (Image source: Biome Makers).
Biome Makers and Anglo American have collaborated on a joint research project on the impact of POLY4, Anglo American’s new low-carbon fertiliser, on the soil microbiome
The partnership involves soil trials that analyse and verify the impact of POLY4, Anglo American’s multi-nutrient fertiliser, on soil microbiome composition and functionality through a study on tomatoes and wheat in Spain.
Soil trials have confirmed that with a targeted approach, POLY4 is environmentally friendly and preserves native soil microbiome biodiversity and boosts microbial nutrient mobilisation of potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and chlorine (Cl), improving plant nutrient uptake and development. The research also showed a reduction in soil electrical conductivity, thanks to the activation of calcium and chlorine microbial mobilisation, which further supports healthy soil ecosystems.
“Our collaboration with Anglo American shows our commitment to advancing sustainable agriculture through applied science,” said Dr Alberto Acedo, chief scientific officer of Biome Makers. “By leveraging BeCrop’s proprietary microbiome analysis tools and global soil database, we are able to provide companies like Anglo American with strong evidence of the positive effects of emerging ag input products on soil health.”
While women remain the backbone of small-scale agriculture, they continue to struggle with issues such as food insecurity, sexual harassment and low wages. (Image source: African Union)
To combat the challenges currently being faced by women farmers in Africa, a plethora of initiatives are being undertaken, with hopes of empowering these farmers and ensuring the transformation of the region's agricultural landscape
While women remain the backbone of small-scale agriculture, they continue to struggle with issues such as food insecurity, sexual harassment and low wages. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), women receive less than 10% of available agricultural credit, limiting their ability to purchase high-quality seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, and irrigation equipment. The lack of collateral, restrictive banking policies, and financial illiteracy further hinder their ability to secure funding, leading to lower yields and poor crop quality.
Moreover, land ownership is another major hurdle. Studies show that only 15% of women in sub-Saharan Africa own land, reducing their ability to secure loans for expansion. This lack of ownership discourages long-term investments in soil improvement and productivity-enhancing innovations, keeping women in subsistence farming. Unstable markets further compound these issues.
To tackle these challenges, African Union Special Envoy for Food Systems, Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki advises women farmers to form or join cooperatives, which can help them collectively bargain for better prices, access bulk purchasing discounts on inputs, and eliminate exploitative middlemen. Cooperatives should also develop digital marketplaces and mobile trading platforms where women can connect directly with buyers, ensuring fairer pricing. Governments, NGOs, and financial institutions must design gender-responsive credit facilities, including collateral-free loans and microfinance programs tailored for women farmers. Expanding mobile banking and digital wallets to rural areas can facilitate transactions and savings. Additionally, financial literacy training should be introduced to help women understand budgeting, credit management, and investment strategies.
Advocacy efforts should focus on ensuring that inheritance laws are equitable and that women farmers have secure land tenure, enabling them to make long-term investments in their farms. Governments and private sector players should invest in structured market systems, including farmer markets, digital trading platforms, and cold storage facilities. Participation in regional agricultural exhibitions and trade fairs should also be promoted to connect rural women with larger markets.
To enhance cross-border trade opportunities, trade regulations should be simplified, and training on trade policies and export procedures provided. Setting up cross-border trade facilitation desks can offer guidance and protection against exploitation at borders. Preferential trade agreements for small-scale women traders should also be introduced to enhance their competitiveness in foreign markets. Governments should also expand women-focused agricultural extension programmes, leveraging mobile apps and radio-based training to reach remote areas. Peer-to-peer learning and mentorship programmes can also provide knowledge on best practices, innovative farming techniques, and climate-smart agriculture to improve productivity and resilience against climate change.
Visitors at Agritechnica 2025 will have the opportunity to explore the current technical possibilities. (Image source: Agritechnica)
This year's Agritechnica 2025 will take place from 9-15 November in Hanover, Germany and will feature advanced, networked agricultural systems in line with the theme 'Touch Smart Efficiency'
Organised by the DLG (German Agricultural Society), the international trade fair will provide farming professionals with direct access to technologies that drive efficiency, sustainability, and productivity in modern agriculture. Conventional agriculture is set to increasingly focus on integrated crop production and crop protection in the future.
Thanks to modern sensor and control technology, the combination of mechanical and chemical crop protection has potential in integrated crop production, as do purely mechanical methods in which the hoeing tools are precisely controlled by cameras - both between and within the rows. In the former case, this enables high working speeds and, in both cases, significant savings in crop protection input. There are also already interesting approaches for optimized control of hoeing units using artificial intelligence (AI).
Mineral fertilisation is also becoming increasingly precise. An important goal here is to minimise nutrient inputs into bodies of water, particularly in the case of nitrogen fertilisation. Other goals are to save on mineral fertilisers through greater precision and increased efficiency. The agricultural machinery manufacturers' answers to these requirements are sensor-supported rate control, further developments in border, automatic part-width section control and variable rate adjustment or systems for adjusting the spreading pattern when cornering. Pneumatic fertiliser spreaders ensure high precision fertiliser application at the field boundary.
Visitors at Agritechnica 2025, will have the opportunity to explore the current technical possibilities and learn how to optimise their application at the booths of numerous exhibitors and through expert forum contributions.
The latest additions to Alfa Laval’s valve portfolio demonstrate their commitment to meeting the evolving needs of industries where safety, efficiency and reliability are paramount. (Image source: Alfa Laval)
Alfa Laval has broadened its range and reaffirmed its commitment to providing reliable, high-performing solutions that ensure safe processing, protect product integrity, and safeguard consumers while addressing the evolving needs of the hygienic industries
The company has introduced the Unique SSV Pressure Relief Valve and the Leakage Detection Butterfly Valve, alongside new smaller sizes of the Unique Mixproof CIP and Unique Mixproof Process valves.
When peak performance under pressure is critical, the Unique SSV Pressure Relief Valve protects hygienic processing lines, particularly those with positive displacement pumps, from overpressure. Paired with and powered by Alfa Laval ThinkTop technology for valve monitoring and control, it safeguards process efficiency, productivity and safety. Pressure relief setpoints are easy to adjust onsite to accommodate changing conditions. Built on the proven SSV platform, this modular valve shares spare parts with other Unique SSV valves, simplifying maintenance and reducing service costs. Fully CIP-able regardless of the pressure setting, the valve ensures reliable hygiene and performance while minimising downtime.
Product safety and efficiency are the hallmarks of this straightforward Leakage Detection Butterfly Valve. When powered by an Alfa Laval ThinkTop for valve monitoring and control, it enhances reliability due to real-time valve monitoring and control. Integrated leakage detection enables rapid response to potential issues, maintaining performance. A single seal, disc and actuator make the valve compact and lightweight while reducing installation, operating, and maintenance costs. Fully CIP-able, the valve guarantees more uptime, continuous operations, long-lasting performance, and energy, water and cleaning media savings.
Alfa Laval is also extending its Unique Mixproof range with two new sizes of the Unique Mixproof CIP and Mixproof Process valves. These smaller double-seat mixproof valves offer high cleanability, pressure resistance, and adaptability to meet diverse hygienic processing needs. With these new sizes, manufacturers can easily integrate more compact CIP skids, valve matrices and dosing lines into hygienic processing lines while maintaining the safety that mixproof valves deliver.
The latest additions to Alfa Laval’s valve portfolio demonstrate their commitment to meeting the evolving needs of industries where safety, efficiency and reliability are paramount. With the Unique SSV Pressure Relief Valve, Leakage Detection Butterfly Valve, and smaller Unique Mixproof CIP and Process Valves, Alfa Laval continues to provide practical, high-quality valves that enhance operational performance across a broad spectrum of applications.
Eritrea is preparing to become a member of the African Plant Protection Convention. (Image source: Ministry of Information Eritrea)
Eritrea took part in the 19th annual meeting of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures, held from 17-21 March in Rome
The Commission on Phytosanitary Measures is the governing body of the International Plant Protection Convention, established by member countries to oversee the progress of its subsidiary bodies toward the Convention’s objectives.
Tekleab Misghina, Director General of Regulatory Service at the Ministry of Agriculture, and Asmerom Kidane, Eritrea’s Deputy Permanent Representative at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, represented the country at the meeting. According to the Public Relations Office of the Ministry of Agriculture, Eritrea is preparing to become a member of the African Plant Protection Convention.
Moa's agreement with NAICONS gives the former exclusive rights to develop any new herbicides discovered in the library. (Image source: Moa Technologies)
Oxford-based agricultural biotech firm, Moa Technology has entered a partnership with Italian natural products company, NAICONS to find a safe, effective and affordable biological herbicide
With over 273 species of weeds that are now resistant to one or more commercially available herbicides, the need for new herbicides has never been more urgent. To date, Moa's platforms have screened almost 800,000 synthetic and naturally-occurring compounds, discovering over 70 potentially novel mode of action herbicides. Three synthetic herbicides with novel modes of action discovered by Moa have already performed strongly in their first two seasons of international field trials.
Moa's agreement with NAICONS gives the former exclusive rights to develop any new herbicides discovered in the library, with value to be shared from future licensing and commercialisation. CEO of Moa Technology, Dr Virginia Corless said the company is looking forward to applying the screening technology to NAICONS' high-quality library of actinomycete bacteria to find out whether a sustainable and effective biological compound can be discovered to assist farmers with controlling weeds.
"We are very excited about this collaboration," said NAICONS CEO, Stefano Donadio. "Our library has never been screened for herbicides and we are confident promising lead molecules will be rapidly identified through our powerful micro4all platform. Over 150,000 different molecules have been identified in the extracts sent to Moa and our team is eager to help in identifying the most promising herbicide candidates."
To address productivity challenges, Pratley Group has launched a scientifically designed perlite-based growing medium, Grolite that is known to deliver superior results. (Image source: Pratley)
Grolite, a perlite-based growing medium from Pratley has been known to be a transformative product for farmers, from small-scale enterprises to large agricultural operations
Amidst increasing pressure to boost productivity and efficiency in farming operations, the adoption of innovative solutions has become essential. At the same time, conserving resources is also essential. To address these challenges, Pratley Group has launched a scientifically designed perlite-based growing medium, Grolite that is known to deliver superior results.
Available in Type 1 and Type 2 grades, with sizes ranging from fine to coarse, Grolite accommodates a range of agricultural practices. This flexibility enables farmers to choose the specific grade that best meets their operational needs, whether it is for seedlings, hydroponic systems, soil aeration, or improving moisture retention in crop fields.
Being a sterile growing medium free from any form of harmful pathogens, Grolite provides a clean and healthy environment for plant growth, which is particularly important for the development of fine hair roots. The optimal air-water balance facilitated by Grolite further enhances root systems, leading to faster-growing and more resilientplants. Its excellent wicking properties also promote optimal and uniform water distribution within the growing medium, supporting consistent plant health and productivity.
Grolite's reputation as a durable and consistent growing medium comes from its excellent nutrient intake capability which enables crops to absorb essential nutrients more efficiently. In addition, its inert and stable nature prevents the product from dissolving or degrading over time. Grolite also significantly boosts yield, thanks to its ability to retain fertilisers in the soil, ensuring that nutrients remain available to plants for longer durations.
Furthermore, the product also retains moisture in the soil and maintains stable temperatures, helping crops thrive in South Africa’s diverse and often challenging climatic conditions. Its role in improving soil aeration and drainage prevents compaction and waterlogging, promoting the health and resilience of crops. These properties make it an excellent choice for both traditional farming methods and more advanced systems like hydroponics.
Marketing director, Eldon Kruger highlighted that the benefits of Grolite extend well beyond just enhancing plant growth. "Grolite is more than just a growing medium. It is a strategic resource that empowers farmers to achieve better outcomes whilst also preserving natural resources," stated Krugar.
Biome Makers, a leading agtech company in soil health analysis and microbiome technology, announced its commitment to safeguarding and revitalising soil health through concrete actions
Bulgarian agtech company Agrovar will adopt Biome Makers’ BeCrop technology to support farmers to transition to regenerative agriculture
The Agri-EPI Centre has announced the winners of the agri-tech hackathon, which focused on the horticulture and livestock/veterinary sectors
Visitors at Agritechnica 2025 will have the opportunity to explore the current technical possibilities. (Image source: Agritechnica)
This year's Agritechnica 2025 will take place from 9-15 November in Hanover, Germany and will feature advanced, networked agricultural systems in line with the theme 'Touch Smart Efficiency'
Organised by the DLG (German Agricultural Society), the international trade fair will provide farming professionals with direct access to technologies that drive efficiency, sustainability, and productivity in modern agriculture. Conventional agriculture is set to increasingly focus on integrated crop production and crop protection in the future.
Thanks to modern sensor and control technology, the combination of mechanical and chemical crop protection has potential in integrated crop production, as do purely mechanical methods in which the hoeing tools are precisely controlled by cameras - both between and within the rows. In the former case, this enables high working speeds and, in both cases, significant savings in crop protection input. There are also already interesting approaches for optimized control of hoeing units using artificial intelligence (AI).
Mineral fertilisation is also becoming increasingly precise. An important goal here is to minimise nutrient inputs into bodies of water, particularly in the case of nitrogen fertilisation. Other goals are to save on mineral fertilisers through greater precision and increased efficiency. The agricultural machinery manufacturers' answers to these requirements are sensor-supported rate control, further developments in border, automatic part-width section control and variable rate adjustment or systems for adjusting the spreading pattern when cornering. Pneumatic fertiliser spreaders ensure high precision fertiliser application at the field boundary.
Visitors at Agritechnica 2025, will have the opportunity to explore the current technical possibilities and learn how to optimise their application at the booths of numerous exhibitors and through expert forum contributions.
Eritrea is preparing to become a member of the African Plant Protection Convention. (Image source: Ministry of Information Eritrea)
Ulrich Feiter, SABPA board member. (Image source: Organic & Natural Products Expo Africa 2025)
Plukon has worked on minimising false rejections and ensuring the highest levels of metal detection by implementing Mitus from Minebea Intec. (Image source: Minebea Intec)
To address the challenge of metal detection in poultry production, Plukon, a leading player in the poultry supply chain, has implemented the metal detector Mitus from Minebea Intec
Metal detection is a critical aspect of food safety protocols, especially in environments where contamination risks are high. However, traditional metal detectors often struggle to accurately detect metallic foreign objects in poultry products due to their unique electromagnetic properties. This not only causes product wastage, but can also have a major impact on food safety.
To combat these challenges, Plukon has worked on minimising false rejections and ensuring the highest levels of metal detection by implementing Mitus from Minebea Intec. Equipped with MiWave technology, Mitus works by significantly improving detection accuracy and reducing false rejects. By detection even the smallest metallic contaminants with unparalleled accuracy, the technology helps in overcoming the limitations of traditional metal detectors.
Moreover, the new design eases frequent cleaning procedures, which are essential and rigorous in this environment. Mitus also ensures compliance with HACCP standards, providing peace of mind to both Plukon and their customers regarding the safety and quality of their poultry products.
"We’ve faced many challenges with false rejects over the past few years, so I’m really pleased to have these new metal detectors on our lanes," said maintenance manager, Jeroen V. "They not only save us time and reduce costs, but also allow my hardworking team to stay focused on what truly matters.”
The model uses the factorial approach to estimate the sow’s ultimate requirements. (Image source: Adobe Stock)
BetaTrace has been built by combing betaine and organic trace minerals. (Image source: Adobe Stock)
Ifigenia Urbina Barreto, PhD in Ecology and former Biome Makers employee conducting a tomato trial. (Image source: Biome Makers).
Biome Makers and Anglo American have collaborated on a joint research project on the impact of POLY4, Anglo American’s new low-carbon fertiliser, on the soil microbiome
The partnership involves soil trials that analyse and verify the impact of POLY4, Anglo American’s multi-nutrient fertiliser, on soil microbiome composition and functionality through a study on tomatoes and wheat in Spain.
Soil trials have confirmed that with a targeted approach, POLY4 is environmentally friendly and preserves native soil microbiome biodiversity and boosts microbial nutrient mobilisation of potassium (K), calcium (Ca), and chlorine (Cl), improving plant nutrient uptake and development. The research also showed a reduction in soil electrical conductivity, thanks to the activation of calcium and chlorine microbial mobilisation, which further supports healthy soil ecosystems.
“Our collaboration with Anglo American shows our commitment to advancing sustainable agriculture through applied science,” said Dr Alberto Acedo, chief scientific officer of Biome Makers. “By leveraging BeCrop’s proprietary microbiome analysis tools and global soil database, we are able to provide companies like Anglo American with strong evidence of the positive effects of emerging ag input products on soil health.”
While women remain the backbone of small-scale agriculture, they continue to struggle with issues such as food insecurity, sexual harassment and low wages. (Image source: African Union)
Moa's agreement with NAICONS gives the former exclusive rights to develop any new herbicides discovered in the library. (Image source: Moa Technologies)
The latest additions to Alfa Laval’s valve portfolio demonstrate their commitment to meeting the evolving needs of industries where safety, efficiency and reliability are paramount. (Image source: Alfa Laval)
Alfa Laval has broadened its range and reaffirmed its commitment to providing reliable, high-performing solutions that ensure safe processing, protect product integrity, and safeguard consumers while addressing the evolving needs of the hygienic industries
The company has introduced the Unique SSV Pressure Relief Valve and the Leakage Detection Butterfly Valve, alongside new smaller sizes of the Unique Mixproof CIP and Unique Mixproof Process valves.
When peak performance under pressure is critical, the Unique SSV Pressure Relief Valve protects hygienic processing lines, particularly those with positive displacement pumps, from overpressure. Paired with and powered by Alfa Laval ThinkTop technology for valve monitoring and control, it safeguards process efficiency, productivity and safety. Pressure relief setpoints are easy to adjust onsite to accommodate changing conditions. Built on the proven SSV platform, this modular valve shares spare parts with other Unique SSV valves, simplifying maintenance and reducing service costs. Fully CIP-able regardless of the pressure setting, the valve ensures reliable hygiene and performance while minimising downtime.
Product safety and efficiency are the hallmarks of this straightforward Leakage Detection Butterfly Valve. When powered by an Alfa Laval ThinkTop for valve monitoring and control, it enhances reliability due to real-time valve monitoring and control. Integrated leakage detection enables rapid response to potential issues, maintaining performance. A single seal, disc and actuator make the valve compact and lightweight while reducing installation, operating, and maintenance costs. Fully CIP-able, the valve guarantees more uptime, continuous operations, long-lasting performance, and energy, water and cleaning media savings.
Alfa Laval is also extending its Unique Mixproof range with two new sizes of the Unique Mixproof CIP and Mixproof Process valves. These smaller double-seat mixproof valves offer high cleanability, pressure resistance, and adaptability to meet diverse hygienic processing needs. With these new sizes, manufacturers can easily integrate more compact CIP skids, valve matrices and dosing lines into hygienic processing lines while maintaining the safety that mixproof valves deliver.
The latest additions to Alfa Laval’s valve portfolio demonstrate their commitment to meeting the evolving needs of industries where safety, efficiency and reliability are paramount. With the Unique SSV Pressure Relief Valve, Leakage Detection Butterfly Valve, and smaller Unique Mixproof CIP and Process Valves, Alfa Laval continues to provide practical, high-quality valves that enhance operational performance across a broad spectrum of applications.
GEA Direct Sprayer DS 25 delivering powerful cleaning performance with five kilograms of spray force and a full-cone jet reaching up to five metres. (Image source: GEA)
Agmatix BASF Partner to develop Soybean Cyst Nematode detection tool. (Image source: BASF)
Fully automated cherry truss tomato harvesting robot 'Artemy.' (Image source: DENSO)
On the show floor, New Holland will have more than 15 pieces of equipment, from combines to high-horsepower tractors to round balers. (Image source: CNH)
Experts verify Infectious Bronchitis Virus in Ghana's poultry industry. (Image source: Adobe Stock)
Marel’s WingMaster is a flexible module, providing a precise anatomic wing cut with perfect skin coverage for mid-wing as well as drumette. (Image source: Marel))
The initiative aims to promote sustainable development and governance in Africa's fisheries and aquaculture sector. (Image source: AU-IBAR)
The new FeedMixer App makes feed mixing easier by calculating whether the feed mixtures farmers use contain the right balance of key nutrients, by age, type of chickens, and available ingredients. (Image source: World Poultry Foundation)
The project aims to make Somalia self-sufficient in broiler production and contribute to the development of the livestock sector. (Image source: TİKA)
Feed the Future Innovation Lab team members currently or formerly associated with Iowa State's Department of Animal Science. (Image source: Iowa State University)
Since its introduction in 2018, the Hubbard Efficiency Plus has been confirmed as the breed of choice for the Kenyan market. (Image source: Hubbard)
IFAD and the Government of Rwanda are launching the RDDP Phase II. (Image source: IFAD)
Ifigenia Urbina Barreto, PhD in Ecology and former Biome Makers employee conducting a tomato trial. (Image source: Biome Makers).
While women remain the backbone of small-scale agriculture, they continue to struggle with issues such as food insecurity, sexual harassment and low wages. (Image source: African Union)
The latest additions to Alfa Laval’s valve portfolio demonstrate their commitment to meeting the evolving needs of industries where safety, efficiency and reliability are paramount. (Image source: Alfa Laval)
Moa's agreement with NAICONS gives the former exclusive rights to develop any new herbicides discovered in the library. (Image source: Moa Technologies)
To address productivity challenges, Pratley Group has launched a scientifically designed perlite-based growing medium, Grolite that is known to deliver superior results. (Image source: Pratley)
The adoption of a gender gap reduction policy highlights the Group’s commitment to social inclusion, promoting a sustainable and innovative business model. (Image source: Arrigoni)
Plukon has worked on minimising false rejections and ensuring the highest levels of metal detection by implementing Mitus from Minebea Intec. (Image source: Minebea Intec)
GEA Direct Sprayer DS 25 delivering powerful cleaning performance with five kilograms of spray force and a full-cone jet reaching up to five metres. (Image source: GEA)
Agmatix BASF Partner to develop Soybean Cyst Nematode detection tool. (Image source: BASF)
With its Itaba maize seed facility in Zambia, Bayer supports food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. (Image source: Bayer)
The latest additions to Alfa Laval’s valve portfolio demonstrate their commitment to meeting the evolving needs of industries where safety, efficiency and reliability are paramount. (Image source: Alfa Laval)
GEA Direct Sprayer DS 25 delivering powerful cleaning performance with five kilograms of spray force and a full-cone jet reaching up to five metres. (Image source: GEA)
Agmatix BASF Partner to develop Soybean Cyst Nematode detection tool. (Image source: BASF)
With its Itaba maize seed facility in Zambia, Bayer supports food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. (Image source: Bayer)
The technology is designed for simple and efficient application, at speeds of up to 25 mph. (Image source: CNH)
Biome Makers has announced integrations is enabling farmers to bridge the gap between soil biology and digital farming. (Image source: Biome Makers)
Through AGRIMAX SPARGO SB, BKT aims to offer farmers an advanced solution that addresses the specific challenges of row crops and spraying operations. (Image source: BKT)
CultiWise is an advanced farm software from Czech startup Skymaps, which allows farmers to generate high-precision 'prescription maps' within hours using the entry-level CultiWise drone. (Image source: CultWise)
What makes it unique is its use of a single cab-mounted, factory-fit SenseApply Camera unit unlike other smart apply technology which employ multiple boom-mounted cameras. (Image source: CNH)
The school will focus on teaching students sustainable and environmentally friendly farming techniques. (Image source: Salesian Missions)
The new Sunflower Processing Unit will give a business boost to 21,000 people. (Image source:
Westfalia Fruit’s sustainable dye extraction on display at Fruit Logistica 2025. (Image source: Westfalia Fruit)
