DHANUKA AGRITECH LIMITED:
REAPING A RICH HARVEST OF FARMERS’ TRUST WITH QUALITY PRODUCTS
Mr. R.G. Agarwal, Graduate (B. Com Hons) from Shriram College of Commerce in 1968, has more than five decades of rich experience in working for the agriculture sector in various capacities & has witnessed the 1st green revolution of India and remembers the slogan given by then Prime Minister Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri of ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan.’
Shri R G AGARWAL
GROUP CHAIRMAN
DHANUKA AGRITECH
He is the passionate, visionary & energetic Group Chairman of the 40-year- old market leader in agrochemicals and pharma, Dhanuka Agritech Limited, Gurugram, Haryana, and he is revered as an authority in Indian agriculture and the impact of its multi-layered dynamics on the nation’s socio-economic outcomes. He is vigorously working to safeguard & enrichen India’s food & nutrition security, health, wealth, water & environmental protection. As India steps into the historic 75th year of its Independence from British rule, Mr. Agarwal shares his vision and aspirations for the sector & company, listed on BSE and NSE with a turnover of Rs. 1421 Crores in the last fiscal and is set to play a critical role in empowering India’s farmer community and agriculture sector.
1. What does the landmark moment of India’s 75 years of independence mean to you?
The present government has come up with some new and bold reforms in the interest of farmers and is also mulling on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for initiating the gigantic task of bringing about a transformative change in the agriculture sector. We can do our best to support farmers in doubling their income through knowledge transfer, technology support, and by providing the best of new technology green chemistry pesticides for a bumper crop harvest. In this 75th year of our independence, a very ambitious 360-degree nation-wide farmer extension education and awareness campaign will be launched for all the stakeholders engaged in farming to improve their yields, quality & ultimately their income which will help in increasing the export of Agri-produce and especially out of 550 crops grown in our country, they can focus on high- value cash crops and horticulture crops which are in demand internationally.
2. After independence, what has been the trajectory of India’s agricultural growth?
When India became independent, the food production was a meager 50 million tons, and our food security was ship-to-mouth as we were getting low-quality red wheat under PL-480 from the USA. In contrast, now our food production has crossed 300 million tons. Though this may look very promising, the fact is that our current GDP from agriculture is 1/3rd that of China despite India having more land and rainfall. After investigation, we have found that the same is the lack of new technology in agriculture and lack of quality.
Agri-inputs & remunerative price by providing a free & competitive market. If we have to grow and compete, then our data projections must be compared with that of the developed world, which should be our benchmark; otherwise, it is of no value. At the time of the launch of the DD Kisan channel, New Delhi, in 2015, our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi called for increasing food-grain productivity from an average of 2 tons per hectare to 3 tons per hectare.
In highly developed countries, the average crop production is much higher, ranging from 7-11 times, while China’s GDP from agriculture is thrice that of India as per FAO data of 2019. However, India has crop losses to the tune of 10-30 % every year as per the answer given by the Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare in response to various questions asked in the Parliament from August 2007 to now in 2021.
With changing times, the needs of the Indian pesticide industry also have to be revisited, and now there is a dire need for better reforms in the rules and regulations to align with the global best standards to give wings to the industry and make it a leading foreign exchange earner for the country.
3. What have been the hurdles preventing technology from reaching farmers?
After India’s independence, the Central and state governments conducted a T&V program, where staff from the agriculture department visited farmers and trained them. But once the food sufficiency was achieved, the program faded out due to a lack of onus and accountability on the people assigned with a task, and this is the reason why India lags in growth and development, unlike China, where officials are expected to face the consequences for not contributing the stipulated produce of agriculture crops from the region assigned to them.
The present Union government has initiated a profound change with the help of innovation and technology and aims to digitalize every department, including agriculture, by 2024-25.
4. How does Dhanuka’s journey look like having come this far?
In the past four decades, Dhanuka Agritech Limited has grown and established itself as a reputed research-based- company in the field of agrochemicals in India. The company owns three state-of-art manufacturing facilities in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and J&K, respectively, with well-equipped Quality Testing Facilities and one R&D center located at Gurugram, Haryana.
Dhanuka was first established in Gurugram in 1980 by taking over a sick unit, ‘Northern Minerals Pvt Ltd,’ which was established in technical association with ICI, the UK in 1960, and the first pesticide BHC (gammaxene) was introduced in Indian markets by this factory.
The first year’s turnover of the company was just Rs 17 lac, and in the last fiscal, we closed at a turnover of more than Rs 1400 crores.
We have accepted the new challenges in the agriculture sector and are moving ahead to mitigate them.
5. With your vast experience and versatile presence in the agriculture sector, what were the landmark transformations brought about by Dhanuka?
Dhanuka is committed to bringing agricultural research done by developed countries to the doorsteps of Indian farmers by Forging international collaborations with Nippon Soda Company, Japan: OAT, Japan: Hokko Chemical Company Limited, Japan: Mitsui Chemical, Japan; Nissan Chemical Industries, Japan, amongst others. One must understand that there is no original research or innovation done on pesticides molecules in our country, so more than 95% of pesticide molecules’ technology is imported and introduced in the country by local Indian manufacturers. The reason being that the process of registration & generating data of a new molecule is a tedious process taking 5 to 7 years (while in the Act, it is one year which can be extended by another six months) and costing a whopping Rs 30-40 crores investment.
Only a few MNC giants can afford and take risks to bring new technology after investing more than Rs. Two thousand crores in research of one molecule, and a span of 10-12 years for introducing a new molecule, and if it doesn’t find acceptance among farmers, then the entire investment can go down the drain.
6. How is Dhanuka empowering the Indian Agri-sector?
Conventionally, we are using the old technology pesticides used in kilograms per hectare. We are introducing new technology green chemistry pesticides from our Principal companies in Japan, which are used in a dosage of just a few grams per hectare, drastically reducing a load of chemicals in an environment.
To educate farmers on new technologies and methodologies in agriculture, about 1700 field staff of Dhanuka conducts site visits for demonstrations & field days for the education of the farmers. We have already covered one crore farmers, and we aim to add 10 lac farmers every year to our list for Agri-extension.
Our biggest challenge is the competition from unidentified stakeholders who push spurious, counterfeit, fake, duplicate, illegal & smuggled pesticides with the involvement of a racket consisting of various stakeholders, including those who have the power to stop these illicit actions. It has done much harm to the crops and soil fertility, impacting the farmers. We are working towards increasing awareness amongst farmers and other stakeholders to differentiate between genuine and fake products.
7. How is Dhanuka exploring to strengthen technology-driven Agribusiness?
Dhanuka launched an aggressive campaign in 2007 with tag line ‘’Har bachhe ko Polio ka teeka, har beej ko Suraksha ka teeka’’ to ensure a healthy crop yield partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture aimed at seed treatment. In fact, with a modest small investment, a farmer can get protection for his crops for a very long duration against seed-borne diseases and maximize yields.
In March 2021, we initiated a green-field project in Dahej, Gujarat, manufacturing technical and intermediates, the completion of which is expected by March 2013.
8. When the Covid pandemic struck, how did Dhanuka support the farmers?
When the rest of the sectors struggled, the Agri sector grew with a 3-4 % growth. As per a statement dated 10th June 2021 of the Union Commerce Secretary, Indian agriculture exports in FY21 grew 17.3 % to $ 41.25 billion compared to last year, which speaks for our contribution during the Covid period.
9. When are your aspirations for Dhanuka, the farmer community, and your message to all Indians on India turning 75 years?
Our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is bringing in many progressive policies for the farmers, emphasizing the new slogan ‘Jai Anusandhan’ (Research) and promoting new technology for transforming India into a US $ 5 Trillion economies by 2025 to build an Atmanirbhar Bharat. This underlines the importance of science and research, its implementation follow-up, and accountability vital for the farmers to double their income. Also, there is a need to invest heavily in R&D, which is a negligible 0.5 % of GDP, while in developed countries, the fund allocations are enormous. The government’s farmer-friendly decision of setting up 10,000 Farmers Producer Organization (FPO)across India is a welcome move for a nation where agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for 58% of the population. Hopefully, it may end the shockingly paltry return of 10-20% from the crops that farmers grow in the face of severe odds.
Some people misunderstand the concept of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Still, it doesn’t mean that we restrict our imports, but it talks of building capabilities, competencies, and capacities for the domestic market and export. For doing the same, we need new technology quality imports also.
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