Dr. Bijender Singh, Chairman of NAFED Stresses upon Wider Participation of Member Cooperatives in Agriculture Marketing Activities

During the inaugural session, Dr. Bijender Singh, Chairman NAFED thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister for Home & Cooperation, Amit Shah, Union Minister of Agriculture, Narendra Singh Tomar, MoS for Cooperation, B.L Verma, MoS for Agriculture, Kailash Choudhary, Secretary (Food), Secretary (Agriculture), Secretary(Cooperation), Secretary (DoCA), Additional Secretary (Agriculture) and senior officers of the Ministry of Cooperation & Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare & Department of Consumer Affairs for their continued guidance and support to NAFED over the years and also for the faith and trust placed in the abilities of the Federation.

The Chairman also extended his gratitude to the Prime Minister for the creation of the new Ministry of Cooperation under the dynamic leadership of Amit Shah. It was further informed that during the FY 2021-22 NAFED has earned a net profit of ₹ 139.27 Crore.

The chairman stressed upon wider participation of Member Cooperatives in agriculture marketing activities.

In view of the remarkable performance of the Federation during recent years, the Board of Directors has proposed a dividend of 15% to the member Federations/Societies for FY 2021-22. In his keynote address, Rajbir Singh, Managing Director expressed gratitude to Union Minister for Home & Cooperation, Amit Shah for his esteemed presence in the National Conference of Cooperatives organized at Bhopal on 22^nd August 2022 and his valuable suggestions for boosting the business activities of NAFED and other cooperatives in the interest of the farmers. 

Sharing a brief report on the business performance of NAFED, the MD informed that NAFED achieved a turnover of Rs.19,752.22 Crore with an operational profit of Rs.342.38 crore during F.Y. 2021-22. 

During the year, a quantity of 12.62 LMTs of Oilseeds and Pulses valuing Rs. 7,072.21 Crore was procured under PSS, providing the scheme's benefit to around 15 lakh farmers. It was further informed that NAFED supplied 6.05 LMTs of processed Pulses to the Defence Forces and States for distribution under ICDS, MDM, PDS, and other schemes. Further, pulses, edible oils, sugar, salt, groceries, etc, valuing Rs.11,754.99 Crore were also supplied during the year. 

It must be noted that NAFED expanded its horizons by exporting 1,25,333.60 MTs of Indian Non-basmati rice valuing Rs. 374.76 Crore to Bangladesh under the G2G arrangement. Further humanitarian aid of 10,000 MTs of Rice and 200 MTs of Wheat worth Rs. 32.18 Crore was provided to Myanmar on behalf of MEA, GoI. MD further stated that as National Implementing Agency under the Mission for Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), NAFED successfully registered 421 FPOs mobilizing around 1,08,000 farmers during FY 2021-22. NAFED is also implementing Organic Farming projects in various states, spread across 2000 ha. across the country.

The MD applauded the employees of NAFED for their dedicated service to the nation during the extremely difficult time of the Covid-19 pandemic, wherein 15 lakh MT of milled and whole pulses were supplied to States for onward distribution to 19.5 Crore beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY). 

At the same time, NAFED continued working for the National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP) for eradicating the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Brucellosis prevalent in livestock as Programme Logistic Agency (PLA).

In concluding his address, the MD thanked all concerned Ministries, Financial Institutions, Agriculture & allied organizations for their valuable assistance and cooperation in the endeavors of NAFED and for making the year a great success.

The Event saw participation from prominent Cooperators including Chairman-KRIBHCO and Senior member of Board of Director Dr. Chanderpal Singh Yadav, Chairman-IFFCO and Senior member of Board of Director Dileep Sanghani, Chairman- NCCF Vishal Singh, Vice Chairman NAFED Dr. Sunil Kumar Singh.

Approximately 650 delegates from various Member societies /State Federations including RAJFED, MARKFED-Punjab, BISCOMAUN-Bihar, BUNKUS, Delhi StateCo-op Federation, Ahilya Co-operative Society federation were present at the event.