Pune-based Swasti Agro takes Plant Vaccine technology to African countries

Pune: Pune-based Agri-Tech startup Swasti Agro and Bioproducts has recently been awarded with the Millennium Alliance 5 Globalization Award for taking its Plant Vaccine technology to two African countries – Kenya and Rwanda. Dr. Abhay Shendye received the award at the hands of Mark White, India Head of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) at a conclave organized in New Delhi.

The Millennium Alliance (MA) program was started in 2011 by Technology Development Board under Science & Technology Department of Government of India in association with USAID and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI). MA is a platform to identify, test and scale innovations which bring improvements at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) level. The program takes an innovation-driven and impact-focused approach to development. It responds to a wave of entrepreneurship which brings creative and innovative solutions to entrenched social problems.

The Department for International Development (DFID) of United Kingdoms government is going to provide some support for three years to Swasti Agro. Gavin McGiilivray, Head, DFID also visited the stall of Swasti Agro at the conclave.

Speaking on the sidelines of the conclave, Dr. Abhay Shendye said, ” Swasti Agro has researched and developed the core biotechnology. This is innovative globally, and we call these products as “vaccines for plants”. The products are being used for controlling bacterial blight and crop diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, viruses and nematode.”

“Globally, farmers lose up to 90% produce because of diseases. The Solution lies in prevention and Swasti’s technology provides this solution. With the help of Millennium Alliance we are taking our technology to poor farmers in two African countries – Kenya and Rwanda. About 50 percent of farm lands i.e. 20 crore acres farms are in Africa, but half of it is only utilized for domestic farming. The farmers cant improve their produce due to lack of technology and resources. Swasti will work for these farmers. At the same time, farmers exporting to Europe will also benefit from Swasti’s products,” he added

About Swasti Agro

Swasti Agro was founded on May 9, 2011 by Dr Abhay Shendye. This was with a mission statement of developing products for ‘building disease resistance in plants’. Dr Abhay Shendye is trained in the field of microbiology and molecular biology, has a passion for sustainable agriculture. He has 20 year experience of working in this space. Swasti has received many grants and awards from Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and others.