Farmers have been asked to use optimum amount of chemical fertilizers, said Indian Farmers’ Fertilizers Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) chairman U.S. Awasthi.
The use of bio-fertilizers was also catching up, he said. He spoke to farmers at a seminar on “Cooperation and farmers” conducted as part of IFFCO golden jubilee celebrations at Poranki on the outskirts of the city on Saturday. He said the agriculture sector saw several technological and scientific advances over 50 years. Farmers too were able to keep abreast of the changes.
He said the bondage between IFFCO, which started off with a corpus fund of Rs. 1 lakh and 57 members, and farmers was very strong. The company was today a giant with presence in every State of the country. Of the 2,264 cooperative societies in the State, nearly 1,000 were partners with IFFCO.
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Apart from providing quality fertilizers to farmers at remunerative prices, IFFCO was building schools, offices, orphanages and was also providing hand pumps in villages as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility programmes.
APCOB chairman and former Minister Pinnamaneni Venkateswara Rao said that demonetisation had impacted cooperative bank members adversely. A.P. Markfed chairman Kanchi Rama Rao, who is an ex-officio director of IFFCO, said that farmers would prosper only if the cooperative societies thrived. Mr Rama Rao said Mr. Awasthi, who had been working in the cooperative sector for the past 50 years, should be recognised by the government with an award. A resolution was passed to that effect by the meeting. A.P. Cooperative Societies Registrar J Murali recalled how IFFCO stood by the farmers when there was a shortage of fertilizers in 2004-2010.