New Delhi, Jul 30 (KNN)  The Government has called upon the agrochemicals industry to invest in research and development and innovations in the agrochemicals sector.

In order to remain globally competitive, the industry needs to innovate in products, for which innovative state-of-the-art R and D laboratories and financial resources would be required, said Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Indrajit Pal, while delivering the inaugural address at a two-day national conference here today.   

Manufacturing units should adopt GMP (good manufacturing practices) and take all measures necessary to ensure delivery of quality products to the farmers, he added.

The Institute of Agrochemicals Formulation Technology (IPFT), an autonomous body of the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, has been developing state-of-the-art user and environment friendly formulations for the agrochemicals industry.

The Secretary urged the industry to take full advantage of the facilities offered by the institute. 

“Indian chemical sector spends 1-2 per cent of their total turnover on R and D as compared to around 5-10 per cent by the chemical industry in the developed countries. One of the emerging areas for R and D is green agrochemicals and the Indian industry is the development of eco-friendly green agrochemicals,” he added. 

Significantly, the Government has set up 71 pesticides testing laboratories across the country that include 68 state laboratories, 2 regional laboratories and 1 central laboratory to ensure quality of agrochemicals.

The Conference has been organised jointly by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Departments of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Department of Fertilizers and the Department of Agriculture and cooperation, Government of India.

Agrochemicals are recognized as an essential input for increasing agricultural production and preventing crop loss before and after harvesting. Their judicious usage is very important for the sustained growth of Indian agriculture and economy. 

Speaking at the event Chairman FICCI Agrochemicals Sub Committee and Business Director, Dupont Crop Protection (South Asia), Ram Mudholkar, said that India has low crop productivity as compared to other countries. Average productivity in India stands at 2 MT/ha as compared to 6 MT/ha in USA and world average of 3 MT/ha.  At the same time, India’s pesticide consumption is also low at 0.60 kg/ha as compared to the world average of 3 kg/ha and for Japan at 10.80 kgm. Hence, increased use of pesticides could help the farmers to improve crop productivity.

This also portrays the huge growth potential as the Indian economy moves forward, he added.

The two-day conference will cover topics of relevance to the sector, including new developments, innovations, export potential as also issues such as spurious pesticides, regulatory regime etc. A large numbers of captains of the chemical industry, academia, and policy makers as also the end-users viz: the farmers were present.  (KNN/SD)

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