FICCI’s 10th Edition of Agrochemicals Conference: Live Updates

10th edition of the Agrochemicals Conference organized by FICCI with the support of Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Govt. of India started with in Phygital form (physical plus digital) under the theme “India@75: Expediting the Sustainable Growth of Agrochemicals Industry for Self-Reliant India”.

The conference is to specifically focus on Agrochemical Industry including Pesticides, Fertilizers, Crop Protection, Bio Machinery, Horticulture etc. Agrochemicals is an important agricultural support industry that boosts agricultural yield by controlling the pests and diseases in the farmland.

The conference will be attended by senior officials from the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, captains from the industry, farmers, academicians across the globe. The conference will be a platform to bring together all the stakeholders of the sector and exchange their ideas to take the sector to the next highest level.

10th Edition of Agrochemicals Conference: Key Highlights

Manoj Mehta Director & Head – Chemicals, Petrochemicals and Agrochemicals, FICCI also the moderator of the event welcomed the Guests, Participants & Attendees, followed by the Lamp lighting Ceremony & Felicitation of the Guest.

In his welcome address, R.G. Agarwal, Chairman, FICCI Crop Protection Committee & Group Chairman, Dhanuka Agritech Ltd., highlighted about the various government initiatives & programmes that are making the farmer of India – Atmanirbhar.  He also accentuated the Importance, Significance as well as concerns of the Agrochemical industry.

Peter Ford, President Asia Pacific, Corteva Agrisciences gave a global perspective on the sustainable growth of agriculture in India and shared Corteva’s leadership initiatives about Green Chemistry.

Moving further, Dr Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog, Government of India, in his keynote address said that it is important to integrate the principles of organic farming along with the use of Agrochemicals in a judicious & sustainable way.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar joined and addressed the event virtually & highlighted the importance of Agriculture sector in the Indian economy & how it has been doing well even in the times of Covid. He also said that the contribution of chemical industry in Indian Agriculture cannot be underestimated but a balance has to be maintained to achieve sustainability. Tomar said that FICCI has been offering continuous cooperation & support directly or indirectly in the development of the Agriculture sector.

Next, Guest of Honour, Bhagwant Singh Khuba, Minister of State, Ministry of Chemicals & fertilizers and Minister of State, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy focused on the holistic growth of the Industry to reach self-reliance in his speech.  He also asked the Agrochemical Giants in the country to include more and more farmers in their network & provide them with good quality chemicals & fertilizers as well as educate them about the judicious use of pesticides. He also released the knowledge paper prepared by PwC & FICCI.

Lastly, S.P Mohanty, Co-Chairman -FICCI Sub Committee on Crop Protection Chemicals, CMD, HIL (INDIA) Ltd conveyed the Vote of Thanks & in his concluding remarks, he said the notion & perception that goes with the Agrochemicals that they are totally unsustainable & poisonous needs change. With this, the Inaugural Session came to an end.

Panel Discussion: Leading Lights, Global Outlook & Driving Innovation in the Agrochemicals Industry

The second session started with the panel discussion on “Leading Lights, Global Outlook & Driving Innovation in the Agrochemicals Industry. This panel consisted of 6 speakers & was chaired by Ravi Prakash, Plant Protection Adviser, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India.

The discussion started with Ravi Prakash talking about the Insecticides Act, the registration process of insecticides at CIB & RC along with the importance of quality control of pesticides.

Raju Kapoor, Director – Public & Industry Affairs, FMC India Pvt Ltd, discussed how to enhance input use efficiency in Crop Protection.

Gavin Kerr, Country Manager, Nufarm, New Zealand elaborated on the Value of the crop protection market to New Zealand.

Sanjiv Lal, CEO, Rallis India explained the Role of Agrochemicals in the country’s economic growth by becoming a global manufacturing and export hub for achieving the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Ikko Watanabe, First Secretary (Food and Agriculture), Embassy of Japan discussed Japan’s innovation strategy for becoming carbon neutral.

Yifat Lascar- Head of Marketing, Development and Registration India, Middle East & Africa, Adama Ltd. Told about the ADAMA’s Collaboration with MASHAV (Israel’s agency for Industrial Development Cooperation).

Panel Discussion: Resilience in Paradigm Shift: Making Indian Agrochemicals Industry Globally Competitive (Self-Reliant)

The second panel discussion was chaired by Neel Kamal Darbari, Managing Director, Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium.

 Moderation of this discussion was managed by Aashish Kasad, Partner, EY India, National Leader – Chemicals and Agriculture sector; and Diversity and Inclusion Business Sponsor.

Mark Ross, Chief Executive, Agcarm gave a presentation on “Responsible use of crop protection products to provide a safe and abundant food supply; citing a case study”

Rajvir Singh Rathi, Head- Public Affairs, Science & Sustainability Bayer Crop Science Limited beautifully explained the Farm Profitability through Value Chain Models – Better Life Farming & Bayer Food Chain Partnerships

Lokesh Lohiya, Director, Digital Transformation Office (DTO), Cisco India & SAARC gave a presentation on “Connected Agriculture”

Dr. Vishal Choudhary, Dy. Industrial Advisor, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals elaborated on Green Chemistry and Sustainable Development for Agrochemicals.

Panel Discussion: ‘Mitigating the Upheavals and embracing green shoots’

This session was chaired by Amber Dubey, JS (AD), Ministry of Civil Aviation, & moderated by Manas Majumdar, from Lead Oil & Gas and Chemicals, KPMG. Ashish Soparkar, MD, Meghmani Organics Ltd. Shared how India is a responsible and reliable partner in the global agrochemicals supply chain.

Finally, Chief Guest, Kailash Chaudhary, Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, conveyed his keynote address.