Yara: Rejuvenating Indian agriculture and farmers lives

Yara Fertilizers India Private Limited, a global crop nutrition brand with a worldwide presence with sales to 160 countries, has brought about a perceptible change in the Indian agricultural sector. For the past 27 years, since it first ventured in India in 1993, with its highly researched and scientific fertilizer/crop nutrition products, Yara is intrinsically involved in bringing hope and cheer to the farmers, making them indispensible for the prosperity of Indian economy and it is the first foreign multinational company to invest in the Indian fertiliser sector.... 

In Conversation, Mr. Sanjiv Kamwar tells how Yara tries to unearth ways and means of enhancing the quality of the lives of the Indian farmers as well as increasing their contribution to Indian economy.

What is the chief impediment to agricultural progress in India?

The following key challenges need to be addressed to achieve the objective to double farm incomes and improve the environmental sustainability of Indian agriculture:

Yield gaps- India is among the top crop-producing countries in the world, with an annual production of around 98 MNMT wheat, 110 MNMT rice, and 23 MNMT pulses. However, crop yields are 30-60% lower in India compared to other top producing countries, such as China, Brazil, and the United States.

Soil health- Soil health has degraded due to a variety of factors, including soil erosion, biodiversity loss and pollution. Farming without adequate replenishment of nutrients (especially micronutrients) has added to the problem resulting in productivity losses.

Water scarcity- India’s 1.3 billion people have access to only about 4 per cent of the world’s water resources, and farmers consume almost 90 per cent of the available ground water. India is currently using twice the amount of water to produce one tonne of grain when compared with countries such as Brazil and China.

Malnutrition- India ranked 94 among 107 countries in the “Global Hunger Index 2020”. According to the report, 14 percent of India’s population is suffering from malnutrition and 37.4 percent of children under five years are suffering from stunting. Production of more nutritious food is needed to support both social and economic development.

We must acknowledge here the resourcefulness of the Indian farmer who despite the various challenges including facing 4-5 droughts during the past decade has ensured that Indian agriculture has grown positively.

How can organizations like Yara contribute to improving soil health in India?

We have established a world class soil testing facility at our plant located at Babrala, UP. Basis the soil test reports and the crop that the farmer wants to grow , we give balanced crop specific nutrition programme that helps in improving farm productivity . Through our various farmer meetings, we emphasise the need to focus on a balanced crop nutrition program with the right nutrient to be applied at the right time .

In 2019 alone, we have conducted over 8500 farmer meetings and contacted almost 500,000 farmers with our messages regarding our approach . In the current year, we have continued with our efforts to support the farmers by conducting over 5,000 digital meetings amongst other outreach programs – a testimony to our commitment to sharing knowledge as well as innovations that are being carried out in farm practices globally with the Indian farmers.

We must help the farmers to protect their soils for use by future generations.

How has Yara helped improve the economic condition of Indian farmers?

The starting point for us is to understand the needs of the farmers, soil condition, crop, current yields as well as the nutrition program that they are currently using. Basis this input, we develop an economically viable crop program using our differentiated products that shall help to increase farm productivity in terms of yields as well as quality. We aim to increase the marketable yield with the help of our balanced crop nutrition programs.

Through application of our high-quality crop nutrition and sharing of knowledge, Yara has helped farmers to improve productivity by an average 15-20 % leading to similar impact on farmer incomes. This journey has demonstrated that Yara’s tailored crop nutrition programs, and our knowledge of optimal application, work well across all regions and crops in India.

Yara is offering new digital solutions to solve critical problems in agriculture. How do you believe digital farming can change the face of Indian agriculture?

Yara recognizes that with the changing economic scenario, the Indian consumer seeks better quality of fruits and vegetables. Indian growers need to take a relook at crop nutrition to improve yield and quality. For this India needs a digital ecosystem.Indian farmer is a businessman and he is needs information to make informed decisions. We believe that to digitisation is way forward to reach 140 MN small holder farmers in India. Last year,Yara released Farm weather app, the most hyper local weather forecast app for Indian farmers that gives up-to-date forecasting for their fields in real time !!. The accurate prediction by the Farmweather app enables the farmers to decide on irrigation, fertilisers as well as harvesting schedules!! We have also recently launched FarmCare recently to help rice and wheat farmers with accurate information at the right time, especially with fertilizer calculator, disease predictor and animations.

We can’t predict the future, but what we do know is that it will be an exciting future, with lots of opportunities for farmers to exploit need ways to increase productivity, while protecting the earth’s limited resource. We at Yara convinced that digital farming can be a key contributor to solve the problem of feeding 9.8 billion people in 2050 while preserving environment. Certainly, in sync with other efforts and in collaboration with partners.

Climate change is a huge global concern today. How is Yara addressing this issue?

India’s farmers are constantly threatened by adverse weather and environmental conditions that spell disaster for their produce. Extreme situations such as flooding, and droughts constantly plague India’s farming community. Changing climatic patterns are set to impact agricultural production.25 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture; hence reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is very very important.

Yara shall work with the farmers to help them combat climate change and ensuing market adaptations along with two main avenues: Our agronomic knowledge can develop solutions that respond to the changing growing environments, and our lowcarbon nitrate offering is a proven choice for reducing emissions from farming. Our decarbonising efforts also include the piloting of green ammonia and mineral fertilizers, fit for a zero emissions future.

Yara has one of the world’s most energy efficient fertilizer plants in Babrala, UP. To create a sustainable future; Yara is a member of the Global Gap that addresses environmental, economic and social sustainability. Farmers who have taken up our crop nutrition programme can export their products globally with ease. Yara conducts several farmer meetings to disseminate knowledge of products with less carbon footprints.

What do you believe is an intractable challenge for Indian agriculture and what are your suggestions to circumvent the challenge?

Apart from soil degradation and yield gaps, lack of efficient market linkages are the biggest problem for the Indian farmer.

The Governments initiative of setting up of Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) is a step in the right direction. The FPO’s shall bring the power of collectivisation to the small holder farmers as they work together to create an entity which shall buy the inputs and sell the outputs together. The FPOs can be a game changer in Indian agriculture!! FPOs shall help enhance farmers’ competitiveness and increase their advantage in emerging market opportunities, usher in improved mechanisation and adoption of technology, all leading to higher income generation for farmers.

Digital connect between the farmers and the food companies shall play a critical role in connecting all the stakeholders and help improve farm prices by reducing the number of intermediaries in the food value chain.

What are your ideas on implementable farmer-centric government policies?

With one of the largest arable land resources in the world and with 20 agri-climatic regions, all 15 major climates in the world exist in India. The country also possesses 46 of the 60 soil types in the world and High proportion of agricultural land (157 million hectares). This presents a unique opportunity – we can produce almost everything in the country and supply to the global markets round the year.

The consumer of today is demanding and also more aware – he / she wants to know how the crop has been, traceability as well as sustainability. Furthermore, many potential target markets for India’s agriculture exports have very stringent quality norms which have to be met at all costs. Hence, it is ever so important that India designs policies which are in line with Global regulations.

The registration process for new fertilisers is rather long winded. In a recent study done by World Bank on the time taken to register fertilizers, India was ranked in 98th position out of the 101 countries surveyed. This delay in fertilizer registration means that Indian farmers are prevented from accessing the latest global developments in the field of crop nutrition. In other countries, farmers producing the same crops are accessing as well as benefitting from the latest technological developments.

The World Bank report (2019) says that in India it takes 804 days to register new fertilisers. In order to enable our farmers to compete in global markets, we need to bring our regulations inline with global regulations and allow for faster access of new products. Indian regulations are in fact preventing the farmer from access to new products and technologies !!

Another important reform the Govt needs to carry out is to allow secondary and micro-nutrient coating of subsidized as well as non-subsidized fertilizers. Market price for secondary and micronutrient coated subsidized fertilizers to be set free. This will help in delivering the secondary and micro-nutrients to the crop and help improve farm productivity as well as quality.

The above suggested reforms shall help the farmers access the latest innovative products that are available to his peers globally and he shall be able to compete with them on an even footing.

Having worked with the Indian farmers closely for the past many years, I can confidently say that given the right tools and knowledge, he can feed the world!! All I can say is – give him a playing field on par with his peers in the other countries and he will produce a global quality crop right here in India.

What are the community initiatives Yara is implementing?

Yara is a company with a purpose to help farmers produce more from less. Yara has established Knowledge Grows Centres that showcase model farms and demonstrate best agricultural practices to farmers. During the pandemic our centres have been converted to Covid quarantine centres.

Since inception, we have shown our commitment towards local people by taking various meaningful initiatives in the area of Education, Skilling of Youths, Health, Agriculture Development, Women, Empowerment, Infrastructure Development, Animal Husbandry, and Affirmative Action. We have tried to touch the lives of the people of every age, gender, and diverse communities through various programs coordinated with the assistance of different institutions.

We are also planning to reach 90 lakh women farmers in India who do not have the same access as their male counterparts to knowledge, inputs and information. In 2021 we are planning a special drive to work with an FPO owned and managed entirely by women farmers.

What are Yara’s future plans with respect to their operations in India?

Yara stands by its commitment to close yield gaps and quality and help improve farmers’ income by collaborating with various channels to provide easier market linkages and connect farmers with all stakeholders of the food value chain. Our second goal is to digitise our services to maximise our reach to farmers and handhold them from seed to market. Going forward we will add new products and hopefully the government will ease the registration processes to allow farmers access to global products and help us to serve the farmers better.

The Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. We have just a decade left to achieve the ambition to reach Zero Hunger, No Poverty, Good Health and Well-Being by 2030 as lay out in the Sustainable Development Goals. We are aligning ourselves with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for inclusive prosperity because; at the end of the day agriculture touches every sustainable goal.