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Business Standard
26-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Cropnosys India Private Limited and ISAP India Foundation Celebrate Milestone in Farmer Empowerment through 'Profit Pathways' Initiative
BusinessWire India Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], July 26: Cropnosys (India) Private Limited, in collaboration with ISAP India Foundation, hosted a Project Reflection Event in Lucknow to mark a major milestone in their joint initiative, Profit Pathways: Enhancing Farm Income through Input Efficiency and Market Linkages. The event celebrated the significant success in empowering smallholder farmers and promoting sustainable agriculture across Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. The event brought together farmers, field practitioners, institutional experts, donors, and representatives from key government and research organizations for high-level discussions on the learnings, impact, and way forward for the initiative. "At Cropnosys, we believe inclusive growth begins at the grassroots. 'Profit Pathways' was our commitment to ensuring that farmers not only grow crops, but also grow their incomes," said Gurvinder Singh, Founder & Director. "We're proud of the transformation we've seen in Barabanki and are grateful to the community and our implementation partners, ISAP." The project was aligned with national priorities such as Doubling Farmers' Income and global goals under the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2: Zero Hunger and SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production). The inauguration featured the ceremonial lighting of the lamp, affirming a shared commitment to inclusive and knowledge-driven growth in the agriculture sector. Initiated in FY 2024-25, the Profit Pathways project was implemented by ISAP India Foundation and supported by Cropnosys India Private Limited. The initiative aimed to empower 1,500 smallholder farmers across three Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) through a multi-pronged strategy focusing on: * Soil Health & Fertilizer Efficiency: Installation of two soil testing units, customized nutrient management plans, and farmer training in soil health regeneration. * Farmer Outreach & Demonstrations: Conducted 37 village-level trainings and supported 410 lead farmers with demonstration plots focused on wheat and menthol. * Value Addition & Market Linkages: Organized buyer-seller meets, facilitated collective sales via FPOs, and installed an upgraded steam distillation unit to improve value addition for menthol crops. * Awareness & Communication: Developed IEC materials including digital guides and videos to promote sustainable agricultural practices and cost-efficiency. These efforts collectively aimed to enhance farmers' profitability by promoting better market access, improved input efficiency, and restored soil productivity. Mr. Gaurav Vats, Director - Agri Services at ISAP, gave an overview of the project journey, key interventions, and observable outcomes, including improved crop yields and farmer incomes. Dr. Sanjay Singh, Director General of the UP Council of Agricultural Research (UPCAR), graced the event as Chief Guest and underscored the importance of collaborative programs that address both agronomic practices and systemic bottlenecks in rural farming ecosystems. Ashish Kumar, Market Development Manager (North India), Cropnosys (India) Private Limited, shared the company's continued commitment to community-centric innovation. He emphasized the importance of knowledge delivery, access to quality inputs, and the creation of robust market ecosystems for the long-term resilience of smallholder farmers. The event also featured a documentary film that offered a vivid glimpse into the transformational stories of participating farmers. Field presentations by Mr. Shubham from ISAP highlighted ground-level impacts, including increased income, higher productivity, and lower input costs. A panel discussion enriched the agenda, featuring agricultural experts such as Dr. Ashwini Kumar Singh from KVK, who elaborated on the role of technical convergence and extension strategies in scaling successful agronomic models. Ms. Tanushree and Mr. Ashish Tiwari of ISAP India Foundation served as the Masters of Ceremony (MCs), smoothly coordinating the sessions and enabling active engagement from diverse stakeholders throughout the day. With the conclusion of Profit Pathways, Cropnosys reaffirms its long-standing commitment to community development and sustainable agriculture and looks forward to scaling similar impact-driven models across other rural geographies in India. As the project concludes its current phase, the Profit Pathways initiative has set the stage for broader adoption of sustainable practices and stronger FPO-based markets. Led by ISAP India Foundation and supported by Cropnosys (India) Private Limited, the initiative remains closely aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047--transforming Indian agriculture to be more resilient, equitable, and future-ready.
San Francisco Chronicle
15-06-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
‘Very scared' immigrants continue to answer ICE summons as protesters target S.F. building
Dozens of protesters returned Sunday to a nondescript, two-story white building in an alleyway in San Francisco's South of Market where Bay Area residents working to legalize their immigration status were summoned by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement this weekend. Activists suspected a trap and brought immigration attorneys to counsel confused immigrants and their families who feared violating the terms of their conditional release if they failed to show and arrest if they did appear. So far, the office has remained locked and closed, as protesters chanted and banged drums at the Tehama Street building. 'People were very scared and very panicked,' said Luis Angel Reyes Savalza, a San Francisco deputy public defender. 'It's very irregular to receive a last minute message to report on a weekend. In my 10 years of practicing, I've never heard of reporting on a weekend.' Savalza and other attorneys, most volunteering their time, said Saturday they assisted more than 50 participants in the Alternatives to Detention or Intensive Supervision Appearance Program. About 7.6 million immigrants participate in the program, which allows them to live at home as their cases are processed, according to ICE figures from October. Four program participants who received similar text messages were arrested after reporting to the ISAP office in Fresno on Saturday, Savalza said. 'We have a very strong reason to believe that our mobilization and support stopped ICE from detaining people at the office yesterday,' Sanika Mahajan, an organizer from Mission Action, said Sunday. ICE officials did not immediately return a request for comment Sunday. The mysterious weekend reporting requests coincided with massive No Kings Day marches and rallies in San Francisco and nationwide in response to a growing opposition movement to President Donald Trump as he pushes to deport immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. The text messages, sent in Spanish, told recipients to report to the Tehama Street facility during business hours Saturday or Sunday. 'If you do not present yourself according to instructions it will be considered an infraction,' the messages read. Savalza said attorneys have counseled immigrants who went to the facility to inform their reporting officer and to verify their arrival with a photo at the location. Immigrants continued to show up Sunday, though it remained locked in the morning. Protesters circled in front of the front door, chanting and holding signs, such as 'I.C.E. Out the Bay.' Anti-ICE graffiti remained on the walls from the day before. In the past, ICE protests have focused on more high-profile buildings such as the field office on Sansome Street and the San Francisco Immigration Court on Montgomery Street.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Yahoo
Suspect allegedly caught impersonating police officer near ICE protests downtown: CPD
CHICAGO — Charges are pending against a person accused of impersonating a police officer in the Loop on Thursday evening as demonstrators protesting ICE raids marched nearby. Officers said it all unfolded around 5 p.m. in the 200 block of South Michigan Avenue as nearby protestors continued their calls for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to leave the state. Read more: Latest Chicago news and headlines According to police, the arrest came after officers spotted the male suspect allegedly wearing 'police identifiers' in the area. Officers then determined the identifiers were allegedly not legitimate and placed the suspect into custody. Following his arrest, officers said they recovered a weapon. Police have not confirmed if the individual was arrested amid the protests, but officers said his arrest unfolded around 5 p.m. near the area where the march began, at South Michigan Avenue and East Ida B Wells Drive at 4 p.m More ICE protests held in Chicago Thursday's protest was the latest of several anti-ICE protests held in Chicago and around the country in recent days. During the city's first large-scale anti-ICE protest in Chicago on Tuesday, CPD said a total of 17 protesters were arrested and at least one police officer was injured. LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland Additionally, a woman was injured after a car drove through a group of people gathered for a protest Tuesday afternoon. It all comes after ICE agents detained at least 10 immigrants in the South Loop last week. The immigrants, who are already in the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) were sent text messages instructing them to come for their check-in appointment, but after arriving, they were detained by ICE. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
More ICE protests underway in Chicago
CHICAGO — Protestors are marching in downtown Chicago Thursday to demonstrate against ICE raids. The march will begin at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Ida B Wells at 4 p.m., and will reportedly be made up of local groups who are demanding to get the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) out of Illinois, including the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. The march is expected to go to Trump Tower before going back down State Street and wrapping up at Grant Park. A WGN-TV crew got to the scene just before 4 p.m. Thursday and saw organizers speaking ahead of the march. On Thursday morning, the Illinois Coalition of Migrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) held a press conference to update the public on what local communities are facing, and to demand the ICE raids to stop. Earlier this week, Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration informed the public that the federal government has prepped tactical ICE teams for deployment in Chicago. 'Our democracy and freedom are on the line. This is a pivot point for our society. We will either rise and resist or we will allow Trump to become the fascist dictator he clearly wants to become,' Johnson said. More than 15 arrested in Tuesday ICE protests; ICE tactical team on 'stand by' This all comes after ICE agents detained at least 10 immigrants in the South Loop last week. The immigrants, who are already in the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) were sent text messages instructing them to come for their check-in appointment. That's when ICE agents stepped in and detained them. Gladis Yolanda Chavez Pineda was one of those immigrants arrested. The Honduras-native was detained while doing her Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) check-in. Pineda is now in the Kentucky County Jail. Governor JB Pritzker is among other Democratic governors testifying before the House GOP about their states' immigration policies. This comes on the heels of large protests in California. The first large-scale anti-ICE protest was held Tuesday, June 10 in the Loop. A total of 17 protesters were arrested and at least one police officer was injured. One protester was also injured after a car drove through a crowd of protesters blocking East Monroe Street. Another rally is expected on Saturday at noon at Richard J. Daley Center, located at 50 West Washington Street. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Man detained by ICE was already scheduled to leave, advocates say
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Grand Rapids immigration advocates are seeking the release of a man who they say was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement only days before he was scheduled to leave the country. Movimiento Cosecha GR and GR Rapid Response to ICE say Carlos Menjivar is at the Calhoun County Correctional Facility, which is an ICE holding facility. ICE did not immediately confirm that to News 8 Wednesday. The advocacy groups say Menjivar was detained June 4 when he went for what they called a 'routine check-in' at the office for the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program on Michigan Street NE near College Avenue in Grand Rapids. ISAP is an ICE program in which people are under supervision while their immigration cases make their way through the system, which can take years. Through it, contracted case managers can keep ICE agents up to date on cases and whether people are abiding by the conditions of their release, explains. '(Menjivar) was asked to come to this ISAP office with his paperwork, so his passport, and approve of them leaving (the United States). They had agreed, actually verbally agreed, with the ISAP office to departure this Saturday,' Movimiento Cosecha organizer Gema Lowe said at a Wednesday news conference. She said ISAP workers were supposed to check the paperwork and plane tickets for their return to Menjivar's native El Salvador. Instead, she said, he was 'arbitrarily' detained and ICE now has his and his family's passports. 'This family, they have been compliant to everything Immigration has asked them since they came to this country as refugees in 2017,' Lowe said. She argued that asking Menjivar to report to the ISAP office was a 'trap.' At the news conference, one of Menjivar's children held a sign that read, 'Te amamos, Papa,' or 'We love you, Dad,' in Spanish. ICE did not immediately provide answers after Target 8 sought information about Menjivar's status and details about how frequently people are detained at ISAP check-ins. GR Rapid Response to ICE organizer Jeff Smith suggested between eight and 10 people were detained at the ISAP office June 4. It was unclear how he reached that count. ICE has not provided any information. Immigration advocates went to the ISAP office that day and Grand Rapids police were called to ask them to leave. Smith said everyone who went to an ISAP appointment after the advocates arrived was allowed to leave as expected. Smith said the group is now offering to send advocates with people when they have appointments. Smith said advocates are calling for Menjivar to be released in time for the family's scheduled departure Saturday, that the passports be returned to the family for that travel and that ICE documentation note he left voluntarily. They have also asked U.S. senators and representatives to intervene. In the meantime, Menjivar's wife and three children are seeking sanctuary at Fountain Street Church, a nondenominational Christian church in downtown Grand Rapids, the advocates say. 'When the residents of our community are under attack or under threat, our doors are open to provide shelter and sanctuary,' Rev. Nathan Dannison, the pastor at Fountain Street Church, said. 'Our beliefs here at Fountain Street compel us to act.' Smith called on other Grand Rapids faith organizations to offer themselves up as sanctuaries. 'We're asking the public to see what's happening. This is the faces that they are brave enough to show and say, 'We're here,'' Lowe said. 'Even though they did they did everything they were asked to, they've still been separated. It's structural violence.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
