Science Business and Biotechnology:

A New Normal in Agribusiness and

Entrepreneurship Development
Aastha Pudasainee1 & Bidur Chaulagain*1
*1Lead Speaker: [email protected]
1
HICAST
 History of Science and Biotechnology in Agribusiness

त्रेता युगमे मिली दहि द्वापार युगमे घी !

कली युग मे मिली दारु दमदमा के पी !!
 What and Why Science Business
• For everythng we are affceted by is due
to science behind it and the way out also
lies is in science.
• SARS-COV-2 : a novel coronavirus
• COVID-19 : disease caused by Virus
• Why there are many asymptomatic,
symptomatic, mild and severe cases of
COVID-19 ?
• How to detect ? What is cure ?
• All is based behind something only can be
answered by science
 SARS-COV-2 whole genome sequence from
SARS-COV-2 from Nepal
The spike gene responsible for nCoV2 virulence
has silent mutation in its sequence with C24019T
(Cytocine changed into Thymine)
• Other Mutations are as follows
• codon AAC to AAT, ASN to ASN Asparagine for spike
protein responsible for virulence
• T9561C (codons TTA to TCA, nonsilent mutation),Leu to
Ser
• C15607T (codons CTA to TTA, silent mutation) Leu to Leu
• C28144T (codons TCA to TTA, nonsilent mutation),
• T29095C (codons TTT to TTC, silent mutation). Phe to Phe

• Non-silent muations may have many consequences

• But silent muations as we assume neutral may have also
of signficance
Ref. Microbiology Resource
Announcements Mar 2020, 9 (11);
 DOI: 10.1128/MRA.00169-20
 Agribusiness- A business plan to cultivate money

Biology: The science where the division and multiplication mean the same thing
Science in Agri-business

Science Business
 8 Concepts of Entrepreneurship
in Agri-Business
• Social • Creating Value

• Pain Points • Value spillover

to society
• Solutions or
Innovations • Sustainable

• Entrepreneurship • Scalable
7
 BUSINESS PLAN DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY

Phase 1 Phase 4
• Company Profile • Technology Strategy
Development –Objective • Business Development
Phase 2 Strategy
• Situation Analysis of Economy • Competitive Strategy
• Market Analysis of Phase 5
product/services • Marketing and Sales Plan
• Growth Strategy • Financial Projections
• Competitor Analysis • Operations Plan
• Industry Analysis
Phase 3 Phase 6
• Sales Strategy Development • Product to Market/Sevice
• Competitive Advantage
 Science Business vs Agri-Business
 Science is sacred;  Agribusiness for profits.
 Science focuses on  business focuses on
rigorous methodology ; rapid products.
 Science values openness  business demands
and sharing ; secrecy and patents.
 Science demands  business demands
validity; thus slower urgent use, fast pace9
 Eg. COVID-19: A drug or  Eg. COVID-19: Society
vaccine for COVID-19. It and buisness companies
takes 6-7 years of tests need it immediately now
for validity to assure its through short cut route
safer and effective use;
Share of Biologocal Products in Ne
pal's Foreign Trade 2016/2017
EXPORTS of MAJOR 27 commodities + others

• Items of Biological origins: 21 0ut of 27

• Items of plant or plant products: 11 (26.6 %)
• Medicinal herbs share (1.2%)
• Essential oils (1.4%) of total export

https://www.tepc.gov.np/ex_im_directory/export
 Biotechnology - a science magic
• How ?
• A plant or an animal is a sophsticated Biotechnology
industry unit
• You give raw materials and it gives you highly sophsiticated
produce
• Eg.. Fruit cereal vegetable, milk, meat, fur etc
• Feed a chicken ceraels and bone meals etc– It gives you
egg and meat… entrely different than what you fed the
chicken, through vast physiological enzymatic process
• Give grasses to Buffalo– it will give you milk, butter, skin
and meat
• Give air, water and minerals to a plant– it gives you cereals,
beans, oils, fruits, nuts, fibres, wood and medicines too
 Biotechnology a magic - Urea manufacture
In Industries = using air Nitrogen and water

Haber’s Process 300 atm, Fe/Mo

N2(g) + 3H2(g) 2NH3(g) + 92 kJ
(Super heated Steam) 450oC

Biotechnology in farmlands- Nitrogen from air

Nitrogenase
N2 + 8H + 8e + 16ATP +
+ - 2NH3 + 16ADP + 16Pi + H2 +
16H2O Rhizobium 16H+
Normal atm presure and temperature 20- 37 degree C

Biological NH3 creation (nitrogen fixation)

accounts for an estimated 170 x 109 kg of
ammonia every year.
Industrial production amounts to some
80 x 109 kg of ammonia yearly.
 Lowering CO2 gas emissions and increasing
Biogas production efficiency mitigating climate
changes with GHG
• The CO2 emission from biogas plant is about 30-60 % of
total gas production by the conventional fermenter
which is underutilized during combusting with a mixture
of methane gas as fuel and is causing greenhouse effect.

• The Carbonic Anhydrase enzymatic approach can work

with the gaseous mixture but specifically binds to CO2 and
produces hydrogen and bicarbonate.

• The CO2 is absorbed into the water then interacts with the
enzymes, which convert the greenhouse gas into
 Carbonic anhydrase (CA)

• CAs are among the fastest enzymes known, Typical

catalytic rates of this enzyme ranging between 104
and 106 reactions per second.
• Source of CA enzyme: different bacteria like
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Methanosarcina
thermophila, Plant tissues

• New model for low CO2 bioreactor and possibility of H2

production as clean fuel
• Reaction Theme:
CO2 + H2O + CA Enz. -----------------> H+ + HCO3- +CA (a)

Ca++ + HCO3- + CA Enz. ------------> H+ + CaCO3 +CA (b)

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 Understanding science in agribusiness can save
national economy and public health

Relation between population growth and rice import

• The population and import of rice in Nepal are strongly and

positively correlated with each other (Figure , R=0.998,
P=0.04<0.05).
• With the increase in population, the import has also been
increasing over the last ~30 years. The main factors are
population growth and increasing demand that have compelled
us to import rice.

16
Figure: Relation between population growth and import
 Over calorie Intake is Food and Money wastage
• Joint report of MOALD and CBS prepared for FAO Nepal (2016):
There has been a steady growth in DES in the 2008-13 periods: from
2,772 Kcal in 2008 to 2,922 Kcal in 2013, with annual growth rate
of 1.4 percent.
• DES- Dietary Energy Supply per Person,
• Of the total DES in Nepal, 65 percent is contributed by cereals (30
percent by rice, 20 percent by maize, 12 percent by wheat and three
percent by other cereals) (Kaphle, 2017).
• This is quiet high for a least developed country.
• We might be wasting a considerable amount of food.
• People are consuming more energy in the form of rice than required.
Ref. Aastha Pudasainee, B.Sc hesis, HICAST/PU
 Traditional medicine vs pharmaceutical
sciences
• Herbs, Aeyurvedic medicines and
Traditional medicines: Works/may
work very unrelaible
• Pharmaceutical drugs- Consistantly
work
• Example – Artemsinin molecule
Anti-malarial drug from herb Chinese
Titepati may not consistently work but
same drug manufactured in industry
works effectively
• And other many herbal remedies
 Artemisinin-antimalarial drug
• Artemisinin: Found in Artemisia annua
(चिनीयाँ तिते पाती Sweet wormwood)
• Antimalarial drug after Plasmodium
become resistant to quinone drug
• Artemisinin only find in plant trichomes
(झुस)
• artemisinin - 0.01 to 1.4% (of dried leaf
matter)  in the plant obtained with the
traditional cropping system 
2015 Nobel prize winner Dr. Yu YU Tu
- for Artemisinin molecule
 Synthetic biology in science business
in-vitro Productivity of PNP amorphadiene
Artemisinin Produced in Yeast by
following considerable strain
engineering and fermentations
improvements :
∼100 mg/L (Ro et al., 2006),
now increased to 40 g/L
(Plant Sci. 2018; 9: 87).
X400 times incaresed yield

Price : 5.5 times decreased

-1100.00 US$ per Kg in 2006
-200.00 US$ per Kg after 2015
Thus can lower the price because of
source: Melina and Bill Gates Foundation
increasing yield Fluctuations on Artemisinin market Price
 Plant tissue culture-Secondary metabolites and
pharmaceuticals
• Rauvolfia serpentina-सर्पगन्धा
• Known since 4000 years since Charwak Rishi Era
• Sedative, lowers blood pressure,
• cures insanity,
• Child birth-Most painful thing
• Helps in stimulating contractions
of uterine while child delivery reducing pain and
facilitating delivery
• For Insomnia
• Insanity- in cure for psychological disorders
• Major- chemical-Reserpine and Ajmaline-0.3%-1.5% in
root and stem bark
 Essential oil is of Nepali origin

• Lower altitudes, some exotic plants like

mentha (menthol mint), lemon grass and
chamomile are widely cultivated and their oils
are commercially extracted.

• Only 0.05% of the globally exported essential

oil is of Nepali origin (source:GIZ, 2011)
World import of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
(MAPs) has risen over the past few years

• During 2009-2012, world import of

MAPs on average was 12.85 %

• MAPs export from Nepal, also has a

steady growth of 12 % over the last
four years.
Source: World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS, World Bank)
Annual growth rate of Essential Oil
• Growth rate of essential oils is decreasing
globally

Nepal :
Annual growth in value in 2008- 2012 was 1%
and
in 2011- 2012, it was decreased by -10%
Source : Trade Map
 Outcome in MAPs export
after value additions
• MAPs based Processing industries using
modern technologies gradually increased in
Nepal
Then-------
• Export value of MAPs increased to
US$ 20 million due to value addition.
DHA: Polyunsaturated Fatty acid- Good for Health and Brain
 Science in Harvest and Postharvest
• Understanding science in harvest decision and
postharvest in farm sytem pays back
• The taste of orange depends on harvesting season,
ripening time and storage conditions – (Ref. Spanish Journal of
Agricultural Research (2006) 4(4), 336-344)

- Harvest and below 10 dc- sweet, flavorous,

- above 20 dc- sour, non-flavouros
• Storage of potato- below 5 dc make it sweet, bcz starch
converts in sucrose
• Pears, apple – many temperate fruits
• The eyes of pears– for high trasnpiration– by blocking
it.. May prevent from damaging and preserves crispiness
 Turmeric
 Turmeric is an ancient spice and
traditional remedy that has been used as
medicine, condiment and flavoring agent.
 For the last 6000 years turmeric has been
used in Ayurvedic medicine.
 Improves digestion, antibacterial
properties.
 Requires about 15 days for sprouting and
is ready for harvest in about 8-9 months
 Know science

how to cook has impact on your health

How Do you put Turmeric in curry ?
- deep fry in oil ?
or put later on ?
- Turemeric has antibacterial properties which is
obtained and highly effective only in oil extract
- Water extract has different propertiies
- Turmeric with mil has another property
 Value additions in Turmeric Farmers

Marketing channel
 ICT and Precision Agriculture in Agribusiness
–Multispectral camera in Digital Diagnostics
• RGB (Red/Green/Blue): visual inspection, elevation modeling, plant
counting
• NIR (near-infrared): soil property & moisture analysis, crop health/stress
analysis, water management, erosion analysis, plant counting
• RE (red-edge): crop health analysis, plant counting, water management
• MultiSPEC 4C (multispectral): both NIR & RE applications, except plant
counting
• ThermoMAP (thermal infrared): plant physiology analysis, irrigation
scheduling, maturity evaluation, yield forecasting 
 Diagnostics Assisted Prescription Agriculture
• Set-I: Diagnostics, monitoring and evaluation
i) Soil-analysis : Soil water monitoring , soil mineral nutrient
ii) Vegetation analysis: crop density & Growth of weeds
iii) Pests or diseases diagnostics and control
iv) plant grwoth and phenology
v) Food nutrients composition and Phytochemicals analysis
vi) Weather Forecast for cultivation
• Set II: Value additions
i) Inventory of Indigenous food and beverages technology
ii) Add value to the agricultural produce and creates job.
Set III. Cloud market stations
• A central cloud agriculture command station to gather data,
reference resources, data analysis and recommendations for
farmers and relevant agri-service centres.
 Science and Society
Information records and flow
बाहुनले च्याउ खाएको होस न भेउ पाओस !!!
• Why Chepang, Raute, Kusunda .. Has low
population and why Bahun chhetri with high
population ?
• Education
• Record and flow
• Poisonus musrooms- which group and
population suffers much ?
• Bat, other posionous vegetables and fruits ???
 Put sceince everywhere
• In Govt and Public/Private sectors budget and
planning put science and tech research with
minimum 5% of the total budget
• Ex:
• You can put science and research in
Agriculture and health minstry >>>
• But how can you put the Sc and Tech research
in eg. Ministry of Justice, Parliament affairs ?
• ….ans: ….
Thank You !

Thank You !