37th ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17 - croplifeindia.orgcroplifeindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Annual-Report-2017... · Leadership in product stewardship 37th ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17 I

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?Farmers prosperity through enhanced productivity

?Committed to advancing sustainable agriculture

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Integrated modern solutions for better crop protection

Leadership in product stewardship

th37 ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17

I N D I A

IN

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CONTENTS

About CropLife India 1

Association Members 2

Foreword 3

CropLife Secretariat 4

Board of Directors 5-6

Committees 7-8

Bankers, Auditors, Accountants, Registered Office, 9Directors, Board Meeting

Policy Advocacy 10

Regulatory Affairs & Events 11-12

Stewardship 13-16

Communications & Outreach 17-18

Anti-Counterfeiting 19-20

ABOUT CROPLIFE INDIA

CropLife India is an association of R&D based crop science industry with a membership of 14

companies engaged in the manufacture, import and distribution of crop protection products. The

member companies focus on bringing in new technologies aimed at improving agricultural productivity

in a sustainable manner, thereby minimizing pre-harvest and post-harvest crop losses due to pest

attacks and diseases. Introduction of new technologies have helped reduce dosage rates of crop

protection solutions, protected with safer and greener chemistries, within the sound regulatory

framework of the country.

CropLife India members enable farmers adopt new technologies in agriculture, while providing in

depth farmer trainings on good farming practices, including responsible use of crop protection

products, container management and spraying techniques Promotion of safe, Responsible & judicious

use of Crop Protection Products under Integrated Pest Management approach. CropLife India

extensively engages with the farming community including dealers and traders for growing safe,

secured and nutritious food committed to responsible crop care and crop production for sustainable

development of Indian Agriculture.

CropLife India is a not for profit Section 8 company, wholly funded by membership. Being a unit of

CropLife Asia & CropLife International, the global parent organisations spread across 91 countries

while engaging with diverse stakeholders to drive programs on Anti-Counterfeiting, Product

Stewardship, Progressive Regulations, IPR/Data Protection, Policy & Advocacy, Communications &

Outreach.

1 | About CropLife India

ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17

ASSOCIATION REPRESENTING INDIAN PLANT SCIENCE INDUSTRY

Members

1. BASF India Limited, Mumbai

2. Bayer CropScience Limited, Mumbai

3. Dow AgroScience India Pvt. Limited, Mumbai

4. E.I. DuPont India Pvt. Limited, Gurgaon

5. Excel Crop Care Limited, Mumbai

6. FMC India Private Limited, Bangalore

7. Indofil Industries Limited, Mumbai

8. Isagro (Asia) Agrochemicals Pvt. Limited, Mumbai

9. ADAMA India Pvt. Limited, Hyderabad

10. Monsanto India Limited, Mumbai

11. Rallis India Limited, Mumbai

12. Sumitomo Chemical India Pvt. Limited, Mumbai

13. SWAL Corporation Limited, Mumbai

14. Syngenta India Limited, Pune

2 | Association Members

I ND I A

FOREWORD

Indian agriculture sector remains the backbone of the nation’s economy accounting for

about 15% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). As Indian agriculture is

highly monsoon dependent, out of the 142 million hectares of net sown area, only 45%

or 64 million hectares have access to irrigation facilities. Apart from high dependency on

monsoon and irrigation facilities, the situation becomes critical when it is noted that

about 15-25% potential crop production is lost due to pests, weeds and diseases. In

order to meet the growing demand borne out of increasing population, the productivity

of crops, efficient utilization of arable land, and effective usage of pesticides become

essential factors.

With the monsoon going well in 2017-18, we may have a bumper production year on the

heels of a good 2016-17. In 2016, India produced its largest ever cereal food grain

estimated at 273 million tonnes. We also saw bumper production in pulses, sugarcane and cotton. Agricultural

budgets have gone up from Rs. 16,646 crore to Rs. 41,855 crore in the last 3 years. The government has introduced

many agro-centric initiatives like Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Soil health cards, Pradhan Mantri Krishi

Sinchayee Yojana and an electronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM). Minimum Support Price (MSP) for different

crops have also been enhanced regularly. Our Prime Minister also pledged to work towards doubling farmers'

incomes by 2022.

Increasing demand of food grains and declining farmlands in India have increased pressure on farm yield improvement

and reduction in crop losses due to pest attacks. Indian crop protection market was estimated at $ 3.8 billion in FY12

with exports constituting about 50% of the market. The crop protection market has experienced strong growth in the

recent past and is expected to grow further, at approximate 12% p.a. to reach $ 6.8 billion by FY17-18. The growth

would be largely driven by export demand which is expected to grow at 15-16% p.a, while domestic demand is

expected to grow at 8-9% p.a.

Despite being the second largest crop protection chemicals industry in Asia with a size of above Rs. 26,000 crore, use

of these crop protection products has been limited by Indian farmers. Almost 50% of these products are exported and

the crop losses due to non-usage of crop protection products were about 17.5 per cent of the yield amounting to

Rs. 90,000 crore per annum. Consequently, lack of awareness regarding the use of crop protection products among

Indian farmers have been a serious challenge for the industry. Government is making solid efforts to educate farmers

about the importance of these products.

A long term strategic vision which puts in place a holistic framework is the need of the hour. Key areas that need to be

addressed include ‘Increasing Supplier Power’, the ‘Producer – Consumer Linkages’ and ‘Customized Approach to

Different Crop Groups’. These areas enabled with quality infrastructure, education, R&D, technology, marketing and

risk mitigation will give us the agricultural empowerment we need.

The product stewardship engagement efforts of CropLife India have reached out to more than 10 Lakh farmers, under

various awareness programmes on responsible use of crop protection products, container management, labeling

practices; awareness amongst dealers and retailers on stocking genuine products and anti-counterfeiting measures.

In order to enhance our outreach, CropLife will engage in a multiple stakeholder and layered outreach programme for

the awareness of Personal Protection Equipments (PPE), across three States of India.

CropLife and its members, with their vast pool of experience, have been instrumental in anticipating future industry

trends and have applied the insights to achieve sustainable growth apart from communicating the same to various

stakeholders for achieving progressive regulations. While higher rate of GST on pesticides has fallen short of

industry’s expectations, the sector has welcomed significant forward looking regulations that will ensure

harmonization with OECD protocols in major disciplines. CropLife India and its members are fully supportive of the

efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture for their flagship schemes of ‘Make In India’ and ‘Ease of Doing Business’ as these

initiatives provide an impetus to India’s domestic efforts and strengthen our ability to compete globally.

Ramkrishna MudholkarChairmanCropLife India

3 | Foreword


The CropLife India Secretariat is led by a dedicated team of professionals, who play an

important role in engaging with diverse stakeholders in areas of Regulatory Affairs, Anti-

Counterfeiting, Policy Advocacy, Stewardship and Communications; binding the association

with its different member companies. The association has committees and sub committees,

represented by member companies who are experts in each of their functional areas. The

different committees meet at regular intervals to carry out focused programs, projects and

engagements, to take forward the association’s strategic objectives along with its vision and

mission. The functional heads at the secretariat ensures that the strategic initiatives are

implemented at various levels throughout the year.

CROPLIFE INDIA SECRETARIAT

Brij UberoiCEO

Anjana Sundriyal Head - Accounts and Administration

Joydeep ChakrabortyHead - Communications

Sony MamgaiManager - Stewardship and Events

Tanu SethiAssociate - Regulatory Affairs

4 | CropLife Secretariat

I ND I A

Mr. Ramkrishna MudholkarChairman

President - DuPont South Asia & Business Director, DuPont Crop Protection E.I. DuPont India Pvt. Limited

Mr. Sarjiwan Manhas Vice-Chairman

Head - Research and Development, South AsiaSyngenta India Limited

Mr. Rajendra Velagala

Business Director – Crop Protection, South AsiaBASF India Limited

Mr. Rajshekhar Sakhalkar

Head – Development & Regulatory AffairsBayer CropScience Limited

Mr. Hrishit A Shroff

Executive Director Excel Crop Care Limited

Mr. Pramod Karlekar

PresidentFMC India Private Limited

Dr. H. V. S. Chauhan

Executive Vice-President Indofil Industries Limited

Mr. V. Shankar

Managing Director & CEORallis India Limited

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

5 | Board of Directors


Dr. Amitava Sanyal

General Manager – Regulatory AffairsSumitomo Chemical India Pvt. Limited

Mr. Ashok Jhunjhunwala

General Manager - Finance & Company SecretaryIsagro (Asia) Agrochemicals Pvt. Limited

Mr. Dhiraj Pant

Technology Development- AsiaMonsanto Holdings Pvt. Limited

Dr. Ajit Kumar

Head Global, Technical & Development, SWAL Corporation Limited

Dr. Narahari Pullaiah

Director – Strategy & PortfolioADAMA India Pvt. Limited

Dr. Suresh Ramachandran

Country ManagerDow Agro-Sciences India Pvt. Limited

6 | Board Of Directors

I ND I A

COMMITTEES

ADVOCACY

NAME COMPANY

K. C. Ravi Syngenta India Pvt. Ltd.

Rajvir Rathi Bayer CropScience Ltd.

Raju Kapoor Dow Agro Sciences

Brij Uberoi CropLife India

ANTICOUNTERFEITING

NAME COMPANY

Ravindranath Hegde DuPont India Pvt. Ltd.

Anil Kakkar Excel Crop Care Ltd.

Ashraf Ali Bayer CropScience Ltd.

K. R. Venkatadri Rallis India Ltd.

Narahari Pullaiah Adama India Ltd.

T. Rao Bayer CropScience Ltd.

Telugu Leeladhar Dow AgroSciences India Pvt. Ltd.

Chinmoy Bhattacharya Isagro Asia Agrochemicals Pvt. Ltd.

Rajeev Jolly Syngenta India Ltd.

Suriya Prabha CropLife International


Sony Mamgai CropLife India

COMMUNICATIONS & STAKEHOLDER OUTREACH

NAME COMPANY

K. C. Ravi Syngenta India Ltd.

Rajvir Rathi Bayer CropScience Ltd.

Raju Kapoor Dow AgroSciences India Pvt. Ltd.

Ravi Hegde DuPont India Pvt. Ltd.

Javed Rahmatullah Syngenta India Ltd.

Prashant Agrekar Excel Crop Care Ltd.

Aloke Pradhan Bayer CropScience Ltd.

Vijay Jha Rallis India Ltd.

Narahari Pullaiah Adama India Pvt. Ltd.

Amitava Sanyal Sumitomo Chemical India Pvt. Ltd.

Rajsekhar Sakhalkar Bayer CropScience Ltd.

Vedika Kapoor DuPont India Pvt. Ltd.


Joydeep Chakraborty CropLife India

LEGAL AFFAIRS

NAME COMPANY

Girish Rao BASF India Ltd.

Ashok Jhunjhunwala Isagro Asia Agrochemicals Ltd.

Sanjit Kaur Batra DuPont India Ltd.

Ramolla Karnani Dow AgroSciences Pvt. Ltd.

Sachin Desai Bayer CropSciences Ltd.

Pouru Meherhomji Rallis India Ltd.

7 | Committees


REGULATORY

NAME COMPANY

Narahari Pullaiah

Arpita Roy

Bineet Sharma

G S Walia BASF India Ltd.

Anirban Gangopadhyay

Manoj Lingeri Bayer CropScience Ltd.

Rajan Sakhalkar

Kishor Nahar

Yogesh Kumar FMC India Pvt. Ltd.

Savita

Kusta Vaingankar

Rajeev Pant Dow Agro Sciences India Pvt. Ltd.

Sandeep Narwal

Archana Jaiswal

Abraham Mathew DuPont India Pvt. Ltd.

Arun Dhuri Excel CropCare Ltd.

Anil Kakkar

Prajwal Nalavade Indofil Industries Ltd.

ADAMA India Pvt. Ltd.



BASF India Ltd.

Bayer CropScience Ltd.


FMC India Pvt. Ltd.

FMC India Pvt. Ltd.

Dow Agro Sciences India Pvt. Ltd.

Dow Agro Sciences India Pvt. Ltd.

Excel CropCare Ltd.

Tarak Nath Chakraborty Isagro Asia Agrochemicals Pvt. Ltd.

Meghana Godbole

Subhash Singh Monsanto India Ltd.

Vijay Jha Rallis India Ltd.

Narasimha Murthy


Nitika

T. K. Mishra

Ajit Kumar Swal Corporation Ltd.

Anand Jha

Sarjiwan Manhas Syngenta India Ltd.

Rajesh Dhawan

Shekhar Varshney


Tanu Sethi

Isagro Asia Agrochemicals Pvt. Ltd.

Monsanto India Ltd.

Sumitomo Chemical India Pvt. Ltd.


Swal Corporation Ltd.

Syngenta India Ltd.

Syngenta India Ltd.

CropLife India

STEWARDSHIP

NAME COMPANY

C. A. S. Naidu ADAMA India Ltd.

Anirban Gangopadhyay BASF India Ltd.

Gunjan Bisht Mehta

Sushil Desai Bayer CropScience Ltd.

Rakesh Kenjale

Atimanav Gaur Dow Agrosciences Pvt. Ltd.

Ravindranath Hegde DuPont India Pvt. Ltd.

Shabnam Hussain

Prashant Agrekar Excel Crop Care Ltd.

Ananda Krishnan FMC India Ltd.

Mahesh Khambete Indofil Industries Ltd.

M. Ranganatha

Shibsankar Ghosh Isagro Asia Agrochemicals Pvt. Ltd.

P. Sudhir Monsanto India Ltd.

S. Mallikarjunappa Rallis India Ltd.

Hemant Wabhale


Nitika Aggarwal

Varun Goel

Rajendra Deshmukh Syngenta India Ltd.

Renu Kapil

Brij Uberoi

Sony Mamgai

Joydeep Chakraborty

BASF India Ltd.


DuPont India Pvt. Ltd.

Indofil Industries Ltd.

Rallis India Ltd.


Syngenta India Ltd.

Syngenta India Ltd.

CropLife India

CropLife India

CropLife India

8 | Committees

I ND I A

BANKERS

Central Bank of India (GEN&FCRA)Ashoka Hotel BranchNew Delhi - 110021

AUDITORS

M/s Gupta S Narain & Co.Chartered Accountants21-A, GH-10, Sunder ApartmentsPaschim Vihar, New Delhi - 110087Ph: 011- 25281715E-mail: [email protected]

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS

Avinash Payal & Associates (C. A.) 101, Surya Complex,21, Veer Savarkar Block Shakarpur, Delhi- 110092 Ph: 011-45098764E-mail: [email protected]

DIRECTORS:

Terms of all the Directors expired at the time of Thirty Sixth Annual General Meeting which was held on 16 September 2016 at New Delhi. The following were appointed post elections – • Mr. Ramkrishna Mudholkar was re-elected as Chairman. • Mr. Sarjiwan Manhas was re-elected as Vice Chairman.• Mr. Pramod Karlekar was elected as Second Vice Chairman.

BOARD MEETINGS:

The Board of Directors met Four times during the year 2016-2017 to discuss key issues confronting the industry and other agenda items.

Punjab National Bank (Petty Cash)Bhikaji Cama Place,New Delhi - 110066

COMPANY SECRETARIES

Shiv Hari Jalan & Company (C.S.)1055, Level 10, Hubtown SolarisN. S. PhadkeMarg, Andheri EastMumbai – 400069Ph: 022 – 22075834, 22075835E-mail: [email protected]

REGISTERED OFFICE

226-228, Ansal Chamber – II6, Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi – 110 066Phone: 011- 26187356 / 2618 6296Telefax: 011-26196681E-mail: [email protected]@croplifeindia.org

9 | Bankers, Auditors, Accountants, Registered Office, Directors, Board Meeting


CropLife India is committed towards advancing sustainable agriculture. We promote approaches that enhance

sustainable agriculture in the interests of farmers, consumers and the environment. We aim to provide transparent

information to stakeholders and welcome open dialogue with groups interested in the future of food and farming. We

also spearhead product stewardship, develop farmer benefit programs and engage meaningfully with different

stakeholders across the country.

Policy advocacy in an integral part of

CropLife India’s vision.

CropLife India has been playing a thought leadership role on progressive regulations throughout the country by bringing

international experts and experiences to share global best practices and advances in science and technology to Indian

policy makers, regulators and government officials of the central & state governments.

As part of our policy advocacy efforts, we have made representations to various authorities in the government on issues,

which impact business. We successfully engaged the government on issues related to Data protection and Confidential

Business Information (CBI), High rate of GST for pesticides, Reduction in Pesticide timelines and the Process of

Registration, Endocrine Disruptors (ED), Price control of CP products and System of New Molecule registration after

approval by Central Insecticide Board (CIB).

As CLI we have conducted workshops, undertook meetings, disseminated information, developed discussion papers and

reports, gathered intelligence on key goings-on in the government and have outreached at a very high level with the state

and central governments.

Our recommendations have been well received by the government ministries and departments and work is in progress to

ensure positive outcomes.

CropLife International is concerned that the EU’s criteria for regulating endocrine disruptors are entirely hazard-based

and disregard well established, science-based risk assessment procedures. India was one of many non-EU countries that

raised concerns about the EU’s criteria and its impact on global trade. Another serious concern is the EU’s attempts to

influence emerging regulation on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) through regular exchanges such as the India-

EU Dialogue. Mindful of this lopsided flow of information, CropLife India, in partnership with CII and EICI was planned a

workshop on EDCs, however the workshop was called off abruptly by the Ministry of Commerce, under the pretext that

such a workshop would give rise to speculation that ED was being considered. It has been clarified with the Ministry of

Commerce that this was not the case and that the workshop merely intended to educate regulators that the EU system

was not in India’s favour and a dialogue with EU would ensure that it is not implemented fait accompli.

As a policy advocacy group we have indicated our support to ‘Make In India’ and ‘Ease of doing Business’ - initiatives by

the Government of India to encourage national and multinational companies to manufacture their products in India,

however, we have emphatically raised concerns on introduction of Special Quantity Permit (SQP) and any kind of Price

Control on Crop Protection Products.

On the issue of new molecule for registration after approval by Central Insecticide Board (CIB) - we have successfully

persuaded the Joint Secretary of Ministry of Agriculture to notify new molecules and allow the registration procedure to

commence before formally notifying in the Gazette.

We have pursued with the Government of Punjab on the usage of Personal Protection Equipment and the state

government has agreed to help to us on the PPE project and our ACF efforts.

We also reached out to the Agriculture Commissioner, Telangana on the problem of illegal pesticides in Telangana and

the introduction of PPE and the state government has taken cognizance of the issue and have agreed to cooperate with

the industry to check unlawful products and increase the usage of PPE in the state.

POLICY ADVOCACY

StakeholderEngagement

Government Policy

ProgressiveRegulations

10 | Policy Advocacy

I ND I A

REGULATORY AFFAIRS & EVENTS

• Principles of Global Harmonized System: CropLife India did continuous follow-ups for introduction of Global Harmonized System, certified by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) with emphasis on Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) standards of data generation in India. Excellent move has been made by Indian Government to introduce this Internationally regarded standard for promoting Mutual Acceptance of data among the countries.

• Great amount of efforts were undertaken by CLI technical group to generate E&Y report for faster registration process under Section 9 (3) of the Insecticide Act 1968. This report was presented to the Honorable Union Minister of Agriculture and Senior Officials from Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee (CIB & RC) in September 2016. The Report consists of comprehensive recommendations on Strategy / Policy Initiatives, Guideline Improvements and Process improvements for faster introduction of new molecule (for the first time in the country) and to bring in more transparency in the registration process. Extensive efforts are being made to push through its recommendations via intervention of Joint Secretary (PP) and consider formation of Expert Committee by Registration Committee (RC).

• Crop Grouping Concept of Residue Data Generation and Setting of Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) Levels: Continuous efforts were undertaken to promote and integrate the grouping concept, as required in Indian Context by following necessary guidelines from Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and CODEX classification of Food Commodities. This will facilitate the incentive scheme to promote more and more label extension on minor crops via philosophy of generating residue data representative crop under worst case GAP /Use pattern. This will provide chemical control solutions for all types of crops, which will increase the agricultural production. Preparations are underway to convene a Workshop on the subject, in October 2017 in India.

• Regulations for Minor Change in Formulation: Uninterrupted Efforts are being made to expedite the enforcement/ implementation of Minor change guideline / law.

• Import Permit for RTT: Efforts on priority, to hasten the release of permit notification from CIB & RC to custom authorities for issuance of certificate for import of technical for Research, Test and Trials ( purposes, which is hindering the Research and Development sectors in India.

• Confidential Business Information and Ease of Doing Business: Efforts to rationalize the importance of data protection of the newer crop protection products or molecules which will promote the spirit of high quality Research and Technology development in India. Emphasis on importance of Confidential Business Information (CBI) is being regularly made at various platforms, to be in consonance with law in many other countries to promote more and more introduction of novel chemistry / innovation to India at par with EU, US and other developed countries.

• Doubling Farmers Income by 2022: CLI team had forwarded its suggestions to the Government that will support growth of Farmers with increase in Agricultural productivity.

• “Make in India” Initiative of Government of India: CropLife India has executed all required / strategic actions to abide by reasonable directives of "Make in India" initiative. CorpLife has apprised to MoA about certain policies /clauses which could be counterproductive against introduction of Research based new discoveries, which are indispensable for Indian Agriculture.

(CLI)

Process & Policy Recommendations for Faster Registrations (Ernst & Young Report):

RTT)

11 | Regulatory Affairs & Events


WORKSHOP

A workshop on the ‘Equivalence Procedure and Data Bridging Concepts for Registration of Crop Protection Products’ was organized on November 15-16, 2016 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

The event was attended by leading National and Global experts, from various fields such as agriculture scientists, toxicologists, medical specialists, chemists, academicians, officials from Ministry of Agriculture, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Regulators of Central Insecticides Board & Registration Committee (CIB & RC). The workshop was aimed to drive better and faster adoption of global standards in the Indian regulatory environment to help more effective registration of crop protection products considering various chemical and toxicological profiles; to promote good agricultural practices and ensure farmers receive the best choice of latest products at par with farmers across the world.

12 | Regulatory Affairs & Events

I ND I A

13 | Stewardship

STEWARDSHIP

Stewardship is one of the key pillars of CropLife India’s engagement towards creating awareness amongst the 7.3 million farming community for a sustainable development of Indian Agriculture.

Pilot Project on Responsible Use of Pesticides and

Container Management - East Godavari District,

Andhra Pradesh:

CropLife India began a pilot project on the “Responsible

use of pesticides and Container management in 2014,

close to Kakinada. Dr. Ram Asre, Additional Plant

Protection Advisor & National In-charge, Central IPM

inaugurated the Pilot Project and addressed the gathering.

Shri. S. V. S. N. Varma, MLA, Pithapuram, East Godavari

District and other Govt. officials were also present.

In 2016 & 2017, CropLife India accomplished class room

training and field demonstrations for 820 Direct Farmers

of Tatiparthi and Yeditha Village, East Godavari District,

Andhra Pradesh, Identified 3260 Indirect Farmers and

conducted School Awareness Programme in 4 Schools

covering 196 School Students.

CropLife India successfully conducted the Container

Collection drive of Used Empty Pesticide Containers from

Project Villages- Tatiparthi and Yeditha on 27 January

2017 and around 0.17 – 0.2 MT of Used Empty Pesticide

Containers were collected from both the villages.

Pilot Project on Responsible Use of Pesticides and Container Management - East Champaran District, Bihar:

The Inauguration of CropLife India Pilot Project on “Responsible Use of Pesticides and Container Management” thwas held on 17 August, 2015 at Gandhi Smarak, Chandrahia Village, Motihari Block, East Champaran District,

Bihar. Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Hon’ble Union Minister of Agriculture inaugurated the Pilot Project and

addressed the gathering. Shri. Pramod Kumar, MLA, Motihari and other Govt. officials were also present.

The two-year program aimed to create awareness among farmers, farm families, school children, dealers and

distributors of Crop Protection Products on Responsible Use of Crop Protection Products.

The project involved outreach to 2100 Direct & Indirect Farmers for the year 2016 & 2017; completed 16 training

modules for 2100 Farmers; conducted 28 Field demonstrations & 230 Classroom sessions in all 4 project villages

and conducted School Awareness Programme in 12 Schools covering more than 900 School Students.


thThe Closing Ceremony, held on 10 August 2017 was presided by Shri Pramod Kumar, Hon’ble Minister

Tourism-Bihar and MLA, Motihari and Shri Shyam Babu Yadav, MLA-Chakia, Shri Vivek K Singh, Principle

Secretary, Dept of Environment & Forest, Govt. of Bihar, Shri K M Singh, Director-Extension, Rajendra Prasad

Agricultural University, Pusa, Shri Avnish K. Jha, DDM-NABARD, Shri Naga Singh, Village Mukhiya, Shri Sunil

Singh and Village Sarpanch were also present at the event. The event witnessed more than 200 farmers, public

representatives; KVK scientists and SWARD officials; CropLife India Members; Officials from other Agro-

chemical Companies; opinion makers; Academia; Agriculture Input Dealers and Panchayati Raj representatives.

The project had gained a steady pace and has been appreciated by both the State Department Agricultural authorities and the farming community.

Pilot Project on Responsible Use of Pesticides and Container Management - Bharuch District, Gujarat:

The Inauguration of CropLife India Pilot Project on “Safe & Responsible Use of Pesticides and Container ndManagement” Bharuch District , Gujarat was held on 02 December 2016 at Sajod Sarvjanik High School, Sajod,

Taluka, Ankleshwar, Bharuch District. Shri. Ishwarsinh Patel, Hon’ble Minister of Co-operation, Govt. of Gujarat

inaugurated the Pilot Project and addressed the gathering. Shri. Dushyantbhai Patel, MLA Bharuch and other

Senior Govt. Officials were also present at the inaugural event.

The project involved 225 Direct Farmers for the year 2017 and 1232 farmers were identified for the project.

Multiple Farmers Groups were formed & engaged with women self-help groups, District Agriculture officials,

ATMA and KVKs. We also conducted school awareness program in 4 schools covering 650 school students.

CropLife India has now received the Permission Letter from Gujarat Pollution Control Board and NOC Letter

from Bharuch Enviro Infrastructure Ltd. for the container collection in Bharuch District, Gujarat and the

Container Collection Drive will be initiated soon.

14 | Stewardship

I ND I A

Most of our Stewardship Projects are conducted under the aegis of 'Grow Safe Food' campaign and supported by

the Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers' Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare,

Government of India. Farmer training programmes, are an integral part of our projects, which entails educating

farmers and families on various modules of Responsible Use of Crop Protection Products.

Doctor’s Orientation Programme:

A one of its kind, Doctors’ Orientation Programme was held on th11 April 2017 in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. Dr V. V. Pillay, Head

–Toxicology, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kerala trained the Doctors on Principles of Recognition and treatment of pesticide poisoning, General principles on stabilization of a poisoned patient, dealing with the basic treatment of other poisoning cases.

CropLife India, on this occasion released a ‘Health Practitioners’ Handbook to raise awareness about Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of pesticide poisoning cases to the medical fraternity.

The way forward plan is to conduct the Doctor’s Orientation Programme in other States of India and the Health Practitioners Handbook will be widely distributed in the health centers to doctors across the country.

15 | Stewardship


Online Dealer Training Module:

The objective was to develop an online training curriculum comprised of multiple self-paced e-Learning modules and online assessments (skill and knowledge test), accessible through web browser on desktop and portable devices such as Phones and Tablets.

The Course comprises of 8 Modules, in 8 different languages and the Final Test will be of 50 questions, which would assess the learners’ skills and knowledge in the topics covered.

CropLife India has created a Learning Management System software platform (a website for online learning) with full hosting and technical support help desk done by Instancy. The web-browser accessible Learning Management System will be used to collect payments from the user via e-Commerce, self-register students and deliver the complete online learning curriculum to each user. The First Module Draft was shared with the Government for Inputs and suggestions.

The final Modules are currently available as an App on Google Play Store and is undergoing Beta Testing in various remote locations of India.

Madhu Sandesh - A Shared Benefits Approach to a Shared Responsibility

CropLife India teamed up with the Indian government to provide subsidized rental bee hives to farmers in the state of Maharashtra, India. CropLife India provided the funding for the beehives and the project staff to be based at Krishi Vigyan Kendra (Farm Science Centre) in Baramati, Maharashtra; training the staff on crop-specific knowledge of input and pesticide use. The Indian Council on Agricultural Research (ICAR) trained the project staff on bee health and hive management. As a result, an apiary with 250 beehives and 4 staff was set up to function as a knowledge hub and act as a bee rental library, with its staff on hand to troubleshoot any teething problems with first time renters.

Initially, many local farmers were skeptical about renting bees, even at a nominal fee. They worried that bees would be too much hassle to care for and doubted that they will lead to tangible benefits for their crops. However, KVK Baramati drew on its well-established reputation among the community, and soon, leading pomegranate and onion seed producers signed up for the programme, eager to find new ways to increase productivity and quality.

The programme, named “Madhu Sandesh” or honeyed message in the local language, was a resounding success with the community. 90% of 180 participants reported better quality crops. Pomegranate farmers saw an average of 35% increase in their yields. However, the corresponding income gains were even larger, at 42% due to the improved shape and color of their fruits which led to a higher market price, as well as the fact that, under the mentorship of CropLife India, they used pesticides more efficiently and judiciously, cutting the cost of inputs.

CropLife India in association with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Agriculture thDevelopment Trust, KVK Baramati celebrated the ‘Honey Bee Day’ in Baramati on 19 August 2017.

The day is observed to promote beekeeping and pollination services in agriculture. Farmers who took part in the project program were felicitated amongst around 800 farmers amidst dignitaries like Shri Sharad Pawar, President – Agricultural Development Trust, Shri Rajendra Pawar, Chairman, Agricultural Development Trust, Dr. P. K. Chakraborty, Additional Director General – Plant Protection, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) New Delhi, KVK Baramati and member organizations of CropLife India.

16 | Stewardship

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COMMUNICATIONS & OUTREACH

Communicating crucial information to multiple stakeholders through outreach plays a vital role in CropLife India’s engagement portfolio. Following are the instances where communications was imminent to reach out to a wider audience

‘Madhu Sandesh’ pollinator programme wins Asia Pacific Excellence Awards – A Press Release was issued in India, post the win in Hong Kong in April 2017. Despite awards Press Releases not being accepted well in the Indian media, we received coverage in the online media, specifically from the blogs focused on agriculture.

Awareness on Personal Protection Equipments (PPE) Project – A multi- layered strategic Communications Plan was drafted for the PPE project, defining various target audiences, media and budgets. The plan has been drafted in a manner that different media will be involved during the many stages of the project. All the collaterals like Posters, Flip Charts, Leaflets, videos, etc. are being designed.

CropLife India's Stand on GST – CropLife India’s stand on the high rate of pesticides were discussed in media. An thexclusive article was published by The Economic Times on 19 June 2017 in seven print editions apart from

publishing on its website. Post this, we have received 28 clips on this issue, spread across print and online medium and reached a readership of over Eight crore.

17 | Communications & Outreach


Stewardship program on “Responsible Use of Crop Protection Products” – CropLife India initiated a Stewardship programme, addressing growing concerns of farmer welfare, on “Responsible Use of Crop Protection Products”. Through the pilot project, CropLife India reached out to more than 2100 farmers (direct and Indirect). The closing ceremony held in

thKhairimal Village, Motihari District on 10 August 2017 was covered in the State media. We received a total of 14 clips, across print and online medium.

CropLife India celebrates ‘Honey Bee Day’ – Communication support was provided for the Honey Bee Day celebrations at KVK Baramati, Maharashtra and the event was covered in local and online media.

Website Modernization – CropLife India’s website is in the process of being modernized on a latest technology platform. The new website will have a look of the newer generation and will provide CropLife India better access and maintenance.

Social Media Platforms – CropLife India intends to increase its presence and reach through the relevant social media platforms. This would enable CropLife India to communicate with wider audiences and newer geographies and will provide an impetus on all our ongoing activities.

18 | Communications & Outreach

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ANTI-COUNTERFEITING -MEASURES TAKEN BY CROPLIFE INDIA

Counterfeit / spurious products continue to be a growing menace for the crop protection industry. CropLife India has been continuously engaging with pesticide dealers/retailers, farmers, government officials, regulators & enforcement agencies in key states including the Central government to address the issue.

Highlights of Anti-Counterfeiting Activities –

Engagement with Government and their Actions – Department of Agriculture issued an order to State Department of Agriculture to circulate letters to dealers on the consequences of selling illegal products for dealer awareness. A total of two lakh plus dealer address labels were provided by CropLife India. Apart from this directive, the Government issued inspection at posts after media news of illegal imports and proactive enforcements were done in certain states of the country by the Customs department.

Meetings

CropLife India participated in a meeting with the Commissioner of Agriculture in the State of Telangana to express our concern about Pseudo Bio Pesticides & Bio Stimulants. The industry requested the State Authorities to come down heavily on illegal pesticides being manufactured in the State and ensure strict punitive action against the perpetrators.

CropLife India has had meetings with MOA & CIB&RC officials to show the Protocols circulated by Andhra Pradesh State to check Spurious Pesticides and requested them to urge other States to take similar steps to curb illegal pesticides.

Farmer Trainings: All the member companies’ farmer training programmes are leveraged for ACF messaging. CropLife India provided training tools and a total of 5500 meetings including member’s farmer engagement, were carried out.

Meetings with other Stakeholders: CropLife India has been recommending for a minimum education qualification for dealers, mandatory training for dealers and improving the dealer network to effectively handle Crop Protection Products. We are pleased to advise that Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare has issued a Gazette Notification in support of the Minimum Education Qualification of Dealers.

Raids by Member Companies induced State Government to act on manufacturers of Spurious Products and the efforts continued in Andhra, Telangana and Gujarat.

Workshop on Illegal Pesticides: CropLife India, in association with CropLife International and FICCI / TSMG is intending to organize a Workshop on illegal pesticides, raise awareness of this huge malaise and need for strict punitive action as in the case of Pharmaceutical Products.

19 | Anti-Counterfeiting


NATION ADOPTS GST AND CROPLIFE INDIA HELPS IN ENABLING THE SAME TO ITS RETAILERS

During the anvil of GST in India, CropLife India embarked upon a journey to reach out to 1.5 Lakh retailers of agro-chemicals in India, for raising their awareness on the subject. Post analyzing the training proposals received from various consulting firms, a training partner, Tutelage was finalized. The Training partner was already engaged in similar exercise for different industries, which had large network of retailers. The partner worked on an exclusive Content,which was customized as per the agro-

thchemical business, post survey amongst retailers in Nashik, Maharashtra on 20 June 2017.The content was published on our website, www.croplifeindia.org within three days, which can be effortlessly downloaded in less than a minute and can be easily accessed.

The Content provided the retailers, a detailed approach to GST, its rules and regulations, the registration and certification process, the invoicing process, filling of the monthly returns, input credit, etc. Special emphasis was

stlaid the billing for the stock lying with the retailers prior to onset of GST from 1 July, 2017; the duties and the penalties.

In order to push the adaptation of GST and clarify the doubts, CropLife India decided to provide face-to-face interactions to our retailers and the following workshops were held in Nashik, Bardhaman, Karnal and Guntur.

A total of 851 users have downloaded the content from our website, within a span of less than one month.

20 | Special Initiative for GST

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CropLife India, 226-228, Ansal Chamber-II,6, Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi-110066.

+91 11 26187356

+91 11 26196681 / 26186296

www.croplifeindia.org

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Documents

37th ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17 - croplifeindia.orgcroplifeindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Annual-Report-2017... · Leadership in product stewardship 37th ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17 I