Every year at its start, IFFCO MD Dr U S Awasthi writes a letter to his colleagues in which he reviews the year gone by as well as sets goals for the future. This time, he says it is not only the start of a new year but also of a decade. Happy with the results of Nano experiments, Awasthi promises more will come as the decade progresses. But he reminds his fellow co-workers that service to farmers is IFFCO’s raison d’etre.
Excerpts:
Dear Friends,
A very happy new year to you all!
The year 2020 is here and I hope that the year brings with it joy and prosperity.
Being the first year of a new decade, the year 2020, metaphorically gives us an opportunity to start the new decade with a fresh set of goals and the opportunity to chase these goals with renewed enthusiasm
We at IFFCO have also set new goals for ourselves for the forthcoming decade(s). Our biggest goal is to introduce various plant nutrition products for the Indian farmers that will promise to nourish the soil while being cost effective and gentle on the environment.
But these Nanotechnology based products are just the beginning for us. In the years to come we aim to introduce such modern, effective, affordable and environment-friendly products and make them available to the Indian farmers.
We have taken the first step towards this goal by introducing the revolutionary Nanotechnology based products. Currently at the trial stage, these products have been researched and developed indigenously at our state of-the-art IFFCO Nano Biotechnology Research Centre (NBRC) in our Kalol Unit. If used correctly, these nanostructured formulations will reduce the requirement of conventional nitrogen chemical fertilisers by 50%, will deliver nutrition to the plant in an environmentally sustainable manner and will be available to the farmer at reduced cost.
Besides the thrust on expanding our product portfolio we are also taking concrete steps in improving the efficiency of our production and marketing verticals.
I am happy to share that these efforts have started to yield positive results.
Apart from this, in the last year we have also taken several other initiatives on the strategy front as well. We have ventured into the food processing business through CN-IFFCO and ventured into the organic business through Sikkim IFFCO Organics to holistically help the Indian farmers and improve our bottom line. It also gives me pleasure to share with you that we have also started our online e-commerce portal: www.iffcobazar.in, where farmers can buy our non-subsidised products online.
These are just a few steps that are in line with our vision of growing sustainably in the years to come. Apart from helping the Indian farmers holistically I am confident that these efforts will also help in realizing Hon’ble PM’s vision of doubling farmers income by the year 2020.
But to keep growing sustainably we should never stop innovating and carry the vigor and enthusiasm in the new year as well. Above all, we should always bear in mind that we are a farmer owned cooperative institution. These words define our ethos, our purpose and the reason for our existence and this fact should always act as a guiding light for all of us.
On that note, I would wish you and your family a very happy New Year and would thank you all for your continuous support and cooperation.
Dr. U. S. Awasthi
Managing Director
IFFCO