IFFCO celebrates 50 years of transforming lives of Indian farmers

Mumbai: One of the world’s largest fertiliser cooperative, IFFCO, celebrated its completion of glorious 50 years on 5th November, at their oldest plant which is also its mother unit in Kalol, Gujarat.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has, in his message, acknowledged IFFCO’s contribution towards the growth of the cooperative sector in the Country. He praised IFFCO’s efforts towards digitization in agriculture, cashless transactions, training farmers for optimum use of fertilisers and farming technology which will be helpful in achieving his target of doubling farmers’ income by year 2022. IFFCO started its journey in 1967 to bring change in the rural landscape of India and has been playing a vital role in enhancing the farmer’s lives in the country.

On this occasion, IFFCO also conferred the annual Sahakarita awards to honour the eminent co-operators for their contribution to the growing and evolving Indian cooperative movement. Mr Jyotindrabhai M. Mehta was presented the Sahakarita Ratna Award and Mr Ramesh Vaidya was presented with the Sahakarita Bandhu Award.

Guest from Fertiliser Association of India (FAI), International Fertiliser Association (IFA), International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and eminent personalities including Mr Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director Maruti Suzuki India Limited, Mr Eisuke Shiozaki, Chairman & Managing Director, Mitsubishi Corporation India, Mr Tsuyoshi Nagano, President and Group CEO, Tokio Marine Holdings and Mr Ariel Guarco (ICA) were also present during the Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Speaking on this occasion, Mr Balwinder Singh Nakai, Chairman, IFFCO said, “It is indeed a great achievement for IFFCO and the cooperative society at large. In 1967, we started with 57 cooperatives, and today with over 36,000 Indian Cooperatives, we are a force to reckon with, touching lives of over five crore farmers and continuously working towards building a better world for them. Today, we have successfully connected ourselves to nearly every village of the country and we have expanded our global footprints as well. I am proud to say, today IFFCO is truly an organization of the farmers, by the farmers and for the farmers.”

Expressing his happiness on the occasion, Dr U.S. Awasthi, Managing Director, IFFCO said “I, on behalf of entire IFFCO family express my humble gratitude to the farmers & cooperators of country for reposing their faith and trust in IFFCO and its endeavours. IFFCO started as a thought & an experiment to empower Indian farmers, is today the world’s largest fertiliser co-operative.  As we move ahead, we would continue working towards understanding our farmers’ evolving requirements and equipping them with modern solutions to meet the demands of the rapidly changing economic landscape.”

IFFCO intends to connect the #DigitalIndia with #DigitalBharat and for the same it has launched a new digital initiative called the “Indian Cooperative Digital Platform, which at moment connects over 2.5 crore farmers and co-operators and aspires to connect entire cooperative & farming community in India.  The objective of the portal is to provide a digital platform for communication and commerce between farmers/ consumer, IFFCO, and its associate & subsidiaries. This platform gives the ultimate power in the hands of the farmers, and it enhances their capabilities to buy and sell at fair prices.

Dr U.S. Awasthi further added, “I travelled across the country over 125 places and personally met more than 2 lakh farmers covering more than 1,36,000 Km of area. I am sure that it’s time to closely embrace the farming community and give them a chance to show that they are self-sufficient individuals. We have initiated a 24×7 call-centre that caters to India’s varied farming groups in 12 Indian languages, eliminating the language barrier for their free communication.”

IFFCO has introduced yet another ground breaking platform for the farmers and their families called ‘IFFCOYUVA’. This is a platform especially for farmers’ children and it provides them with the opportunity to acquire necessary skills and educates them, and get a platform to connect job seekers with job providers. IFFCO has also initiated rural health program in collaboration with a Start Up called Gramin Health. Thus, ensuring that health, wealth, and education for farmers and their families.