Israeli farm company to expand operations in India

Israel's ADAMA Agricultural Solutions, a global leader in providing comprehensive crop protection solutions, plans to invest $50 million more in India in the next three to four years in distribution network and research and development, a company official said.

The company - formerly known as Makhteshim-Agan - with global sales of $3.1 billon, has already invested $50 million since it started operations in India in 2009.

ADAMA president and CEO Chen Lichtenstein Monday unveiled the new brand name and logo, which brought more than 40 brands of the company across the globe under a single name.

ADAMA India president and CEO Yossi Goldshmidt and other members of the management were also present.

ADAMA has a research and development centre in Hyderabad, which is the only one of its kind outside Israel. He described Israel, China and India as three key markets.

The over 60-year-old company is the seventh largest agro-chemical firm in the world and the No.1 manufacturer and distributor of branded off-patent crop protection products.

It is the third largest agro-chemical company in India, with CAGR of 30 percent as against the sector's CAGR of 9-10 percent.

India contributes 5 percent of the total global sales of ADAMA and the company plans to increase this to 6 percent.

The size of India's agro-chemical market is $2 billion. The share of ADAMA is in single digit. The officials, however, did not give the number.

"India as a market has great potential and we foresee tremendous growth in this region in the coming years. To meet food security challenges, Indian farmers need the right solutions to increase their yield," Lichtenstein said.

The company, which has a presence in 50 countries, is betting big on its strategic partnership with ChemChina, a state-owned firm in China. It will acquire in the first half of 2015 the crop protection products business of ChemChina, which bought 60 percent stake in ADAMA in 2011.

The acquisition will give ADAMA access to new advanced molecules as China is the largest supplier of raw material to the agro chemical market.

This is also expected to help ADAMA to consolidate its operations in China, which offers a huge opportunity.

The Chinese agro-chemical market is estimated to be $5 billion, half of the US market. However, with three times more population than the US, China has a huge potential.