Monsanto is no threat to KRIBHCO: MD

Surat, June 11: A public sector unit Krishak Bharat Co-operative Limited (KRIBHCO) does not have competition from any private company in fertilizer and seed production, according to KRIBHCO managing director Vijay Narayan Rai.

When asked whether the Co-operative firm faces any competition from the large transnational corporations like Monsanto, Mr Rai said, ''We do not have any competition from any private sector firms in fertilizer or seeds production and sales.'' In an exclusive interview to UNI, Mr Rai said that the strength of the KRIBHCO products is their quality and they always take care that their brands are always right. ''Farmers trust our brands. And that is the secret of our success,'' he said.

KRIBHCO has achived first place in Ammonia capacity utilization in megasize gas based plants and in production and sale of bio fertilizers, in the last three years.

He also said that KRIBHCO has achived the highest ever production and sales of seeds in the last years.

Mr Rai, further said, ''Bio-fertilizer sales of KRIBHCO has incresed from 354 megatonnes to 714 megatonnes in the last five years.

Sale of seeds produced by the company has incresed from 76 quintals to 153 quintals in the lastfive years.

Mr Rai said KRIBHCO has the lowest cost of production in the fertilizers in the whole country. ''Marketing cost of Urea was reduced from Rs 1,204 in 2000-01 to Rs 1,103 in 2005-06,'' he said.

According to Mr Rai this has resulted in an increase of the socitey's profit from Rs 210 crores in 2000-01 to Rs 280 crores in 2005-06. Profit from seeds increased from Rs 27 lakhs to Rs 286 lakhs over last five years.

Explaining the co-operative's strategy, Mr Rai said KRIBHCO's aim is not just earning money or increasing the profit.

''Our aim is the productivity increse of the farms. We adopt an integrated approach for the same,'' said Mr Rai.

He added, ''We do not just sell better fertilizers and seeds. Our field representatives help the farmers in improving the quality of the soil and water. We are also operating an helpline system to give information to the farmers in the country.'' He said that KRIBHCO publishes technical literature in 16 languages.

''We are proud that our integrated approach helped around 13,60,000 farmers in the country. We hope that our mission will help the country achieve a unique production in agriculture by 2020,'' concluded Mr Rai.

UNI