India could become a sustainable farming country: Raju Kapoor, Director of Corporate Affairs, FMC India

Raju Kapoor, Director of Corporate Affairs of Industry and Public Affairs, FMC India, an Indian subsidiary of FMC Corporation, and a global agriculture major based in Philadelphia USA, spoke about sustainable agriculture in India at the KJ Choupal session on 11 July. A Krishi Jagran initiative where eminent personalities from the industry are invited to speak with the Krishi Jagran team.

Talking about how India is doing so far in terms of sustainable agriculture, Raju Kapoor said, “We have a great scope of becoming a sustainable farming country. Agriculture requires fresh water and soil so the biggest challenge of becoming a sustainable farming country is that we need good soil and water. Soil structure has been destroyed in the past years and the use of fertilizer and urea has increased. It is either polluting the air or the water and to eradicate that we need to reduce our environmental footprints.”

“Sustainable farming can be promoted through technology to increase the yield of crops which has been reduced to half as of now. He added that another thing we need to focus on is sharing knowledge about how to kill weeds without harming the soil and the crop with the farmers. Farmers need to be equipped with the knowledge and trained to put the knowledge to practice so that sustainable farming can be done throughout India,” he added.

He also talked about what his company is doing to further advance the Indian agriculture and farming community. “All of us are in an industry that addresses the basic needs of surviving. We are in the industry of food. We produce food, fuel, and fodder for animals and humans to survive. FMC is one of the top five crop protection companies in the world. Apart from commercial success, the company philosophy is that we are an agriculture science company. Our goal is to leverage science to deliver means of sustainable farming to the farmers. We are known to be the company with the best research and design pipeline. We have built up a potent biological portfolio in the last decade. We have established ourselves as a leader in the industry,” he concluded.

M C Dominic, Editor-in-Chief of Krishi Jagran talked about his strong friendship with Raju Kapoor saying, “When the man that inspires you and hand holds you through the agriculture industry comes to your place of work, it is an immense honor. I have known Raju Kapoor sir for a long time and I always look up to him. Even during the covid pandemic, I used to call him to discuss what was going on in the agriculture world for hours on call. He has first-hand information that very rare people have. He is a man who takes sustainable farming seriously and gives back to the farming community by also getting his company involved. I look up to him on how we should go on as an Agri media and I am sure sir will keep on guiding us.”

The session was concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr. P K Pant, Chief Operating Offer, Krishi Jagran.

With a rich experience of 34 years in the agriculture and chemical industry, Raju Kapoor has varied experience in dealing with crop protection, fertilizers, seeds, animal nutrition, and health products. In addition, he has a profound contribution to the sustainability of food systems and agriculture. He has been actively involved in the areas of crop protection, fertilizers, seeds, animal nutrition, and health products in his career. He graduated in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry from GB Pant University and has done MBA in Marketing from Punjab Agriculture University.