FAI Annual Seminar 2021 to be Held From December 1-3

The Fertilizer Association of India (FAI) is going to conduct its Annual Seminar 2021 on the theme ‘Challenges in Fertilizer and Agriculture’ from December 1-3 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India. There will be presentations on issues related to economic policies, climate-resilient agriculture, technological advancements in fertilizer production, and efficiency in the marketing of fertilizer products.

FAI Annual Seminar: Sessions 

• Session 1: Challenges of Indian Fertilizer Sector

• Session 2: Meeting Challenges in Agriculture

• Session 3: Sustainable Fertilizer Production

• Session 4: Strategies for Fertilizer Marketing

Challenges in Fertilizer and Agriculture

The Indian agriculture sector not only ensures the food security of the vast nation but also contributed 14 percent to the country’s total commodity exports in 2020-21. India was the largest exporter of rice in the world in 2020-21.

The agriculture sector’s performance has been a silver lining during pandemics when all other economic activities were adversely affected. Agriculture with positive growth of 3.6% in 2020-21 provided stability to the economy. Despite having such achievements, the sector faces manifold challenges. The sector suffers from low crop productivity and inefficiency in the utilization of resources.

Poor adoption of improved farm practices/technologies and inefficient use of agri-inputs are largely responsible for deteriorating soil health and low crop yields, which is not sustainable in the medium to long term. To overcome the challenges in the agriculture sector, it is essential to consider measures like efficient water management, integrated nutrient management, crop diversification, and climate-resilient agriculture.

There are also the challenges posed by the extant policies for the fertilizer sector. The industry continues to face the issues of under-recovery of costs under various heads including fixed cost and cost of energy for urea units. The manufacturing of complex fertilizers faces unfair competition from imports partly due to the existing taxation regime.

FAI Annual Seminar: Eminent Speakers

Day 1

• Satish Chander, Director General, FAI

• K.S. Raju, Chairman, FAI

• Bhagwanth Khuba, Minister of State of Chemicals & Fertilizers and Minister of State of New and Renewable Energy

• Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers and Minister of Health & Family Welfare

• Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi, Secretary, Department of Fertilizers

• Dr. S. Nand, Deputy Director-General, FAI

Day 2

• Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi, Secretary, Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India, New Delhi

• Gaurav Mathur, Managing Director, Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals Limited, New Delhi

• Alzbeta Klein, Director General, International Fertilizer Association, Paris, France

• Sankarasubramanian, President-Fertilisers, Coromandel International Limited, Secunderabad, Telangana

• Mike Nash, Senior Editor, Fertilizers, Argus Media Limited, London, U.K

• Dr. S.K. Malhotra, Agriculture Commissioner, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi

• Dr. Atmaram Mishra, Director

• Dr. Partha Pratim Adhikary, Senior Scientist, ICAR-Indian Institute of Water Management, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha

• Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Director, ICAR-National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management, Baramati, Maharashtra

• Dr. Amit Rastogi, Executive Vice President- Technology, Coromandel International Limited, Secunderabad, Telangana

Day 3

• Nirlep Singh Rai, Chairman & Managing Director, National Fertilizers Limited, Noida, Uttar Pradesh

• Paolo Brunengo, Director, Ammonia & Syngas Technology, KBR, London, U.K

• Akhil Nahar, Senior Technical Professional Leader, Ammonia & Syngas Technology, KBR, Gurugram, Haryana

• Jyoti V. Patil, Deputy General Manager (TS), Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited, Thal, Maharashtra

• Sergio Panza, Ammonia Technology Manager, Casale SA, Lugano, Switzerland

• Matteo Fumagall, Urea Technology Leader, Casale SA, Lugano, Switzerland

• Swapnil Joshi, Manager (Production), Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited, Trombay, Maharashtra

• Ranjit Singh Chugh, Chief Operating Officer, Paradeep Phosphates Limited, Paradeep, Odisha

• Narayanan, Whole Time Director – Marketing, Greenstar Fertilizers Limited, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

• V.S. Sirohi, Marketing Director, Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited, Noida, Uttar Pradesh

• R.M. Deshpande, Senior Executive Director, Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited, Hyderabad, Telangana

• Sanjiv Kanwar, Managing Director, Yara Fertilisers India Private Limited, Gurugram, Haryana