The fertilizer Cooperative IFFCO has completed its 51st year on 3rd November and celebrated the day with full enthusiasm across India by organizing different events. IFFCO today not only stands as the world’s largest fertilizer cooperative but is also among the top 300 co-ops in the world. In the category of agri and food co-ops it is number one, concluded the World Co-op Monitor last week.
It was on the November 3 in 1967 when IFFCO was founded to help farmers with the production of quality fertilizers. The number of cooperative societies associated with IFFCO has risen from 57 in 1967 to more than 39,800 at present.
On the occasion of foundation day, IFFCO MD Dr U S Awasthi tweeted, “Congratulations everyone associated with #IFFCO on it’s foundation day today. A moment of pride. #IFFCO will keep on walking on it’s growth trajectory & next 50 years will certainly see a new avatar of this global #cooperative with same commitment of serving #farmers of country”.
Several others who greeted IFFCO on the occasion of foundation day includes, IFFCO Director (HR and Legal) Rajendra Pratap Singh. Singh tweeted, “My heartfelt greetings to all those associated with IFFCO family on the foundation day of IFFCO. It was on 3rd November 1967 that IFFCO was founded. We have completed 51 glorious years and going strong. A real proud moment.”
There is the news coming from Rajasthan that on this occasion State Unit of IFFCO organized a cooperative conference at Udaipur (Rajasthan). The conference was attended, among other, by Marketing Head Yogender Kumar, Ex-Mkt Head Aurbindo Roy, MD of IFFCO-MC, Rajender Kharra and State Marketing Head.
In the 60s the cooperative sector had adequate infrastructure to distribute fertilizers but had no production facilities of its own and hence was dependent on public/private sectors for supplies. IFFCO was conceived to fill up the gap.
Initially, IFFCO commissioned ammonia-urea complex at Kalol and the NPK/DAP plant at Kandla both in the state of Gujarat in 1975. Another ammonia- urea complex was set up at Phulpur in the state of Uttar Pradesh in 1981.
The ammonia – urea unit at Aonla was commissioned in 1988. Later, IFFCO acquired an NPK/DAP and Phosphoric acid fertilizer unit at Paradeep in Orissa in September 2005. The marketing of IFFCO’s products is channeled through cooperative societies and institutional agencies across the country.
Readers would recall that last year IFFCO celebrated Golden Jubilee at its Kalol Unit in Gujarat. The gala event was attended by who’s who of the cooperative world not only from India but from across the world.
