Godrej Agrovet crop protection Filesadmin.co units chalks out 4-pronged strategy to tackle climate change

Godrej Agrovet’s crop protection business unit has chalked out a four-pronged strategy that will help the company innovate constantly and meet the needs of climate change and global warming, the unit’s Chief Executive Officer NK Rajavelu has said. 

The first strategy would be to innovate constantly to bring in new products, through collaboration. The second is to bring in biological solutions such as pheromones The third strategy is that it is looking at adjacencies including drones and the fourth is digital intervention, Rajavelu told businessline in an online interaction. 

“I think at the crop protection business we have been doing well for the last two years because of 3-4 things. One is obviously the growth in our cotton herbicides. We are now a leading company in the cotton herbicides company,” he said.

‘Innovation constant’

The company has introduced two new products from Japan — Gracia and Rashin bond — which helped it get into the chilli market. “We have our portfolio. … we have grown significantly in terms of the top line as well as the bottom line,” the Godrej arm’s CEO said.

Godrej Agrovet’s crop protection business is looking at future opportunities and is getting into different new products. “Innovation is going to be the constant thing that we are going to look at every year. We have promised ourselves and the farming community that we will launch one new product every year,” Rajavelu said. 

The company is working on collaborations for biological solutions. As part of this, last month, it began a collaboration with US-based firm Provivi, a provider of pheromone-based crop protection solutions. The biological solutions will likely be available by 2028, he said, adding that it will put Godrej Agrovet at par with other multinational companies. 

New Japan molecules

The company is also getting new molecules from Japan, “which is the house of new active ingredients”. “I think we are on a track to continue the growth both in top line and bottom line for the next few years,” he said. 

On its Project Sankalp, a retailer programme, Rajavelu said it has been launched pan-India and the response has been “overwhelming”. About 22,000 retailers have been enrolled in the programme and it will help the company control its business to the last mile. It is on track to on board 40,000 retailers. 

The Godrej Agrovet arm rolled out the Cotton Farmer Connect programme through WhatsApp and YouTube, besides other social media platforms. About 16 lakh farmers are following the programme. The company also digitally connects farmers and explains its product on a daily basis. 

Hello Godrej!

The company launched “Hello Godrej!” on September 13. It is a sort of call centre providing all sorts of farm information to growers. “We are looking at providing complete information to farmers about the crop, the weather, prices and other aspects. We have so far done about 21,000 calls — 18,000 outbound and 3,000 inbound calls,” he said, adding that it has been launched in seven regional languages and English.

The Godrej Agrovet crop protection arm is looking at farmer connect programmes and plans to launch a new herbicide for corn. The company has a database of five lakh farmers for this and will utilise it to connect with them. 

Another important initiative of the company is “missed call alert programme”, where the company calls back a farmer who gives a missed call. “Every month, we connect close to 25,000 farmers through this programme. We are now in the process of evaluating a farmer-friendly app which will have some enhanced features including artificial intelligence. Probably, it will be rolled out from April 2025,” said the Godrej Agrovet Crop Protection Business CEO. 

The company is in touch with a drone service firm experienced in military drone services and is looking to engage it in spraying pesticides and crop inputs. 

Pink bollworm menace

On protecting cotton crop, particularly tackling pink bollworm, Rajavelu said this year the menace is being reported in a few more States other than Punjab and Haryana. 

“We are very strong in cotton with a good customer base. Pink bollworm is easy to control provided we do the right thing at the right time. Farmers look at the bollworm only during harvest. But they have to spray from the beginning, irrespective of the pest attack. We are trying to educate farmers on that,” he said, adding that the company is also in touch with the Central Cotton Research Institute, Nagpur, on this issue. 

The company has introduced some products to overcome the menace. “We have a crop package programme. We show them what are the stages in which the pest will come. We tell them that they have to go and spray at a particular stage as a prophylactic measure. Because once it comes then the loss is going to be huge. What they are spending today is an investment,” the Godrej Agrovet arm CEO said.  

Maize, rice package

The company has put up about 100 model plots for chilli to take on the black thrips infestation in Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. In the model village, the company has put up big boards explaining the crop package. Crop protection sprays are done from the beginning till the harvest. 

Besides, the company is working on nurseries that treat the chilli plant with its Gracia pesticide. It ensures healthy seedlings and the company is working with over 100 nurseries in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, he said. 

For chilli too, Godrej Agrovet provides an entire crop package from seedling to the “food-bearing stage”. The company provides “seed-to-harvest” packages for other crops such as brinjal, tomato and apple.

Godrej Agrovet is developing a similar package currently for maize (corn) and rice. It is on the verge of introducing a herbicide for maize and once it is launched, it will provide the complete package for the coarse cereal crop. During the current rabi season, the company will launch three products  to overcome the brown plant hopper and leaf blast in rice besides the herbicide for maize.