IFFCO to spend Rs 100 crore on farm sector

Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) has made a provision of spending Rs 100 crore every year on soil rejuvenation and improvising farm productivity across the country.

“We have a budget of spending Rs 100 crore annually for at least three years under various projects aiming to improving farm productivity and reducing input cost,” IFFCO Managing Director U S Awasthi said at a conference call in Unnao.

The various methods adopted to this end include educating farmers about cropping pattern, supply of good quality seeds, encouraging organic fertiliser, better water management and reclamation of sodic land.

IFFCO is India’s largest fertiliser producer having five plants at Allahabad and Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh; Kalol and Kandla in Gujarat; and Paradeep Orissa.

“We are targeting to improve food grain production by 25 per cent with the greater use of organic manure and at the same time reducing cost of farm input,” he said.

IFFCO wants to reduce the consumption of chemical fertiliser by almost 25 per cent for balanced manure consumption.

The food grain production in India increased four fold from 51 million tonnes (MT) in 1950 to 234 MT in 2008-09. However, the growth rate of grain productivity has slowed down primarily due to large scale nutrient depletion through crop harvests causing negative nutrient balance. Nutrient removal by crops far exceeds nutrient additions through fertiliser.

Meanwhile, IFFCO has undertaken a Soil Rejuvenation and Productivity Enhancement Project in 117 villages of Bighapur block of Unnao, wherein almost 14,000 farmers are involved.

“Similar projects have been undertaken at over 600 agri zones across India benefiting 200,000 farmers,” Awasthi said. Several crops are covered under the project, including paddy, wheat, fruits, cereals, vegetables, maize, etc.

IFFCO has a network of 38 area offices and 600 field officers. Under Critical Input Programme, IFFCO provides subsidy to farmers.