IIL plans to reach out to more than 25 lakh farmers pan India
Insecticides (India) Ltd (IIL) has deployed more than 600 crop advisors across India. In the FY 2021-22, the crop advisors will help more than 10 lakh farmers to understand every aspect related to crop protection ranging from seed treatment to pest, weed and disease management. The service to promote the judicious use of agrochemical products is available to the farmers and will reduce their input cost and increase output as well as protect soil health.
IIL has plans to reach out to more than 25 lakh farmers pan India. This year, the company aims to bring 10 lakh more farmers across India under its crop advisory coverage.
IIL has done this initiate as a part of their Mega Extension Activities Program (MEAP). Roping in crop advisors at a large scale also comes close on the heels of integrated pest management (IPM) research project, rolled out jointly in parts of Uttar Pradesh by IIL Foundation, the CSR wing of Insecticides (India) Limited (IIL), the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) before the pandemic. Participant farmers were trained on IPM and the right use of agrochemicals that reduced the number of sprays. The crop advisor also scouts the fields of the farmers to solve the issue that may arise during the growing season.
Rajesh Aggarwal, MD, IIL says, “IIL’s mission is to help farmers to understand the judicious use of agrochemical and good farming practices to minimise the cost of inputs and maximise the outputs with good productivity that will help them to increase their farm income. We aim to bring in world-class technology and provide the agricultural sector with quality agrochemicals as well as guide and educate the farmers through our crop advisors.”
Sanjay Singh, GM – Market Development, IIL says, “With the pandemic forcing lockdowns, we formulated the idea of crop advisors to reach to farmers through physical and digital meetings, using tele calling and WhatsApp to prevent them from committing mistakes that can be detrimental to their and the crop’s health. Our crop advisors created awareness and guided farmers to generate better output with minimal waste. We are receiving an overwhelming response from the market as well.”
