valedictory session

Welcome  Address

 H. C.  Grover
Chairman

The Fertiliser Association of India, New Delhi

Our Hon’ble guest Prof. Abhijit Sen, Member Planning Commission, Mr. P.S. Grewal, Vice Chairman-FAI, Mr. B.K. Saha, Director General – FAI, Distinguished guests, Fellow delegates, ladies and gentlemen.

First of all, I wish to express my sincere thanks to Prof. Sen who has kindly agreed to be present amongst us and grace the occasion despite his heavy commitments.

Sir, Your presence is a source of great inspiration for us.  It underlines the importance of the policy makers attached to the agricultural sector in general and the fertiliser industry, in particular.  This is also in consonance with this year’s theme ‘Economic Growth through Agriculture and Fertilisers’. I am happy to inform you Sir, that this seminar was attended by more than 1200 delegates including about 130 delegates from abroad representing 27 countries.  Apart from the stature of the institutions represented by the delegates at the national and international levels, it also reflects the relevance of the theme of the seminar and the quality of the deliberations.

Over the years, the FAI annual seminar has grown into an important international event – providing a forum to discuss  and deliver upon the crucial issues connected with agriculture and fertiliser, including the policy issues which have a profound impact on the health and growth of these sectors,  and in turn, economic growth.

The FAI completed 50 years of its existence this year. This years seminar was preceded by a Golden Jubilee celebration of FAI on the 1st Dec. 2005.  The Golden Jubilee Lecture was delivered by the eminent scientist Prof. M.S. Swaminathan who expressed serious concern over the deceleration in the growth of farm incomes in the recent years and stressed the urgent need for increasing the income levels of those dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and constitute the majority of our population. Stressing on the need for a paradigm shift in the general mind-set, Prof. Swaminathan said that farmers should be considered as the guardians of the national food security and not just as beneficiaries of government programmes. He appealed that we must move away from the concept of subsidy to life-saving support in all commodities, which are not entering the global market.  Prof. Swaminathan called for as much emphasis on farmer’s income as on production targets.  Emphasising on water harvesting and drainage during Kharif and on irrigation during Rabi, he also highlighted the urgent need for promoting balanced and integrated use of plant nutrients in improving nutrient use efficiency to increase crop productivity and farm incomes.  This is an important area where Prof. Swaminathan sought the participation and support from the fertiliser industry, in addition to other agencies.  Suggesting a way forward, Prof. Swaminathan mentioned about some of the Government’s  recent initiatives, including ‘Bharat Nirman’ Movement and suggested that knowledge  connectivity is fundamental to realize the full benefits of the investments made under this movement.  He emphasized on every village a knowledge centre programme - an integral part of Bharat Nirman Movement.

The seminar was inaugurated on 1st December 2005, by the Hon’ble  Union Minister for Chemicals, Fertilizers and Steel, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan.    In his inaugural address, Mr. Paswan gave due attention on the crucial role of the fertiliser in increasing farm incomes, highlighting the necessity and scope for increasing the area under irrigation.  The Hon’ble Minister suggested that area under irrigation can be increased by 30-40%, which would increase the consumption of fertiliser significantly.  This would require creation of new production capacities in the country, necessitating further investment in this sector. However, he expressed his concern over the lack of investment in the domestic fertiliser sector in recent years and underlined the urgent need for stepping up investment in the domestic fertiliser industry.  The minister also expressed the  government’s keenness to revive the closed fertiliser plants and sought the support of the industry in reviving these plants to ensure uninterrupted supply of these crucial agricultural inputs  from domestic produce.

Dwelling  on the Government’s efforts on formulating appropriate fertiliser policies, the Hon’ble  minister  assured that fertiliser    policies will be formulated in consultation with  the industry to ensure the health and growth of the domestic fertiliser industry  and no fertiliser plant will be allowed to close. I take this opportunity to ensure all concerned that the industry too would not leave any stone unturned in producing and delivering quality  fertilisers including secondary  and micronutrients  at  the right time and at the right place in sufficient quantities, along with all the extension services and technical knowledge that need to be passed on to the farmers.  However, this is   possible only,  if   the  industry  remains viable.  Fertiliser industry must be treated as an industry.  An industry can only remain viable if it is working in an environment, where  it   attracts   investment on the same basis as the other  industries. In other words, its  viability must be comparable to the viability   in other sectors of the industry.  Otherwise, there will be flow of capital to  other sectors, leaving the gap in   local  production  and  resulting  in  heavy   imports,   which may not be available in  the   international market.

In the session on Fertiliser Policies to Drive Growth in Agriculture, the Chairman of the Session, Mr. Madhukar Gupta, Secretary – Deptt. of Fertilizers, in his concluding remarks, discussed the problems of the industry and the Government’s compulsions and remarks that though the goals are fairly clear, the path is very difficult.  He, however, assured that  the   Department will do all that it could do as effecter – facilitator. We are thankful to him, for his assurance and look forward to the amicable solution to the problems being faced by the industry. These problems are not monetary problems. Sir, the problems are with reference to the availability of the right feedstocks.  To dispel any fear, I am talking of only viability of the industry. Returns to the industry certainly are not the intention.

Sir, during the seminar, 13 papers were presented and discussed in four sessions, spread over last two days. The papers covered various aspects of agriculture and fertilisers, starting with ways and means to increase the farm income.  The papers dealt with  policy paradigms for urea and decontrolled P and K fertilisers, improving cost effectiveness of fertiliser production, reorientation of extension strategies, to improve profitability of farming, balanced and integrated use of nutrients covering micronutrient deficiencies, improving nutrient use efficiencies, irrigation, the role of organic farming, innovative marketing for enhancing  farm   income, etc. I will not like to take your time on dwelling on the details.  These issues, which have been the subject of  deliberations in the seminar, will be further examined to arrive at appropriate conclusions and recommendations.  We  propose to publish these  in the January 2006 issue of the Indian Journal of Fertilisers.  I am sure, these would be found useful in formulating future policies for the fertiliser and agriculture sectors.

Against this background, I would now like to invite Prof. Sen to deliver the valedictory address.

Thank you.