"The crop protection is one of our core businesses and we take pride in selling solutions to the Indian farmers. Our motto is to constantly innovate, improve farmer productivity and help feed our nation. That is how we look at this business, particularly from introducing the new products to talking to the customers or even the end user, the farmers, we are working on some of the key crops in the country, basically cotton, chilli, grapes, vegetables, and apples," stated Rajavelu N. K., CEO - Crop Protection Business, Godrej Agrovet Limited in his presentation titled, ‘New innovations Impacting Sustainable Agriculture in India’ at the AgroChem Summit 2023 held in New Delhi on December 15,  2023.  

“Indian cotton growing states are predominantly spread all across, but I know there are very key cotton territories that we normally look at. North Maharashtra, Andhra, Telangana, Karnataka and some parts of Tamil Nadu. These are the major cotton growing states and we really are first in terms of the cropped area, last year it was about 13 million hectares of cotton. It is one of the important cash crops that we have in the country and we are competing with some of the bigger economies in terms of production,” Rajavelu said while sharing an overview on the cotton industry.

Talking about the climate changes and its effect on farmers, Rajavelu said: “The climate change is for real and I think instead of saying what the monsoon is going to do and how it is going to come, we must focus on how we are going to effectively grow our crops. Besides the changing climatic conditions, the competition from the weeds is about 45 to 50%. The deeper introspection will tell you that the first 30-45 days for cotton crop are critical and probably there is going to be a situation where the rains are going to come late but the farmers have to control the weeds. Otherwise they are bound to lose the yield up to 50%. Obviously, the other factors like insects, pests and diseases are also there which also impact in larger way to the cotton cultivation.”

“If you look at the conventional weed management practices, these are very inefficient in controlling weeds. We have seen this all across the cotton growing territories, but the concept of using alternate methods to control weeds is increasing. But still in many parts they are left at the mercy of the reins, erratic weather conditions and they have to resort to the conventional methods which puts the cotton cultivation at stake. We help the farmers to grow this cotton production sustainably. While technologies or new innovations; chemicals or other technologies related to agriculture are needed, it is important that we support the cotton cultivation in India in a different way based on the climatic change and the weather patterns that we see in the last few years,” added Rajavelu.

Sharing the solutions offered by Godrej Agrovet, Rajavelu explained: “We have launched our umbrella brand PYNA for the cotton farmers. We have three products to give flexibility to the cotton growers. If the rain comes after sowing between three to five days, you have a product called Maxxcott. If the rain comes after 15 days and if he fails to miss out on spraying in the first three days or five days, he has an opportunity to use Hitweed Maxx, which can help him to control the weeks after 15 days. If the rain comes after 25 days, probably another product called HitWeed or even give can go for a selective application as well. So we have given a flexible option to the farmers. They don’t have to really worry about the climatic conditions to a larger extent. Obviously the right time, rain at the right time is always very important and it helps the farmers to grow without any problem. But having said that, is there any other option that we can give to the farmers so that they can effectively control the weeds whenever there is an opportunity for them to do so.”

“We make the farmers recognize the logo of the product which helps them to grow the cotton sustainably. They can truly believe that they can use this to a larger extent to control the weeds which is the first most important critical phase. The quality, trust and our unique identity remains unchanged and that is what we stand for and that is how we ensure that the farmers get the right product and flexible product solutions which can help them to do it. So we have almost partnered with 16 companies as they use the same logo, they take this product to the farmer. It gives an identity to the farmer that a sustainable cotton production symbolizes the logo which is a is a great way to recognize that they have solutions which can help them to take care of the cotton cultivation in the beginning of the crop cycle so that's what we talk about that’s one example of how we are looking at in terms of providing flexible solutions,” concluded Rajavelu.

The AgroChem Summit 2023 themed, ‘Boosting Production Through Sustainable Agriculture Practices’, witnessed attendance by stalwarts and other stakeholders from the agrochemical sector across India.

The Summit was supported by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India. Gold partners of the summit were Godrej Agrovet Ltd., SML Ltd., and Somaiya Vidyavihar University.

Industry association supporting AgroChem Summit 2023 included Agro Chem Federation of India (ACFI); Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI); Crop Life India (CLI); Pesticides Manufacturers & Formulators Association of India (PMFAI); and Biological Agri Solutions Association of India (BASAI).