Best Agrolife: Journey towards Becoming the Fastest-Growing Agrochemical Company in India

Mr. Vimal Alawadhi, son of the soil, started working in the Agrarian economy of India at an early age. While exploring the ground realities of the conventional Indian agriculture system, he has witnessed the travails of the farmers affected by climate change, exploitation by the middle-men, and deaths due to low or no-income, first hand. This experience made his dream of working towards the upliftment of the farmer community a driving force for his company - Best Agrolife Ltd.

Incorporated in 1992, Best Agrolife Ltd. ranks among the Top 15 agrochemicals in India. Led by the vision of emerging as an icon for Growth, Technology, and Innovation through its research oriented and farmer-centric approach, Best Agrolife Ltd. today is a $ 200 million enterprise. 

As one of the leading manufacturers and innovators for Agrochemicals, Technical, Intermediate, Formulation, PGRs, and Public Health Products, Best Agrolife Ltd. holds one of India's most comprehensive portfolios with a 90% share of specialty molecules, 360+ Formulation Licenses, and 80+ Licenses for manufacturing Technicals. Best Agrolife Ltd.'s research-oriented approach helped them create history by registering indigenous manufacturing of Pymetrozine, Pyraclostrobin, Dinotefuran, and Trifloxystobin u/s 9(3). Best Agrolife Ltd. recently caught eyeballs by receiving a patent for the first ternary insecticide in India.

With an extensive network of 2200+ distributors and dealers in Pan-India, the company caters to several blue-chip corporates and leading companies in India. In the last two years, Best Agrolife Ltd. has made commendable progress with 22% growth in its agri-inputs business, while the CAGR during the period was 8%.

Upward Trajectory

Best Agrolife Limited for FY2021 registered an annual turnover of Rs. 912.74 Cr with 31.35%, where profit has grown by 348.79%. The earning per share for FY2021 registered was Rs. 16.82, and they decided to issue a 20% dividend on face value.

With leading companies looking for raw material substitutes closer to home, the growth of the last two years has been substantial. Best Agrolife Ltd. has showcased strong performance in P2P sales and has launched new formulations like Pyraclostrobin 20% WG, Dinotefuran 20% SG, Pymetrozine 50% WG and Pyriproxyen 5% + Diafenthiuron 25% SE. The revenue contribution of these four products was close to 30%.

In the coming financial year, the company intends to push for these key products Pydon (Pyriproxyen 5% + Diafenthiuron 25% SE), Diron (Dinotefuran 20% SG), Bestline (Pyraclostrobin 20% WG), & Dongle (Paclobutrazol 40% SC) to generate a healthy baseline with an expected growth of 30%-35% in revenue margin and intends to close EBITDA between 12-14%.

Trailblazer Approach - Leading the way through innovation

Best Agrolife Ltd. has acquired Best Crop Science, Pvt. Ltd. with registration for several indigenous manufacturing of leading Technicals like Pyraclostrobin, Dinotefuran, Penoxsulam, and now, Trifloxystrobin Technical u/s 9(3). With this, Best Agrolife Ltd. became the first agrochemical industry in India to manufacture and market Trifloxystrobin Technical. The estimated market size of Trifloxystrobin in India alone values close to Rs. 410 crore. Trifloxystrobin as part of the product portfolio opens a new window of opportunity for Best Agrolife Ltd. to explore larger domestic and international markets.

Best Agrolife Limited recently received a patent for a three way insecticidal combination. It is titled "A synergistic insecticidal composition comprising a bioactive amount of Pyriproxyfen, Diafenthiuron, and Dinotefuran', that effectively controls the entire sucking pest complex with a single application. With this patent, Best Agrolife ltd. holds a competitive edge over other players in India and can help the farmers from major losses of crops. As of March 2021 figures, this product is expected to help Best Agrolife Ltd.'s revenue grow by 40%; overall, it will contribute around 25% of the total revenue in the coming year.

The company has applied for a product trademark- RONFEN, and the product will be out in the market with the onset of the next Kharif season. "We are expecting a minimum sale volume of 1500 KL, worth INR 410 crore of this novel combination in FY 22-23. We have decided to launch the product PAN-India on multiple crops with a focus on the North, South, & West regions," says Mr. Vimal Alawadhi, Managing Director - Best Agrolife Ltd.

"We are expecting a minimum sale volume of 1500 KL, worth INR 410 crore of this novel combination in FY 22-23. We have decided to launch the product PAN-India on multiple crops with a focus on the North, South, & West regions."

— Mr. Vimal Alawadhi, Managing Director of Best Agrolife

Meeting Expectations - Leading the way through robust R&D and Infrastructure

With state-of-the-art manufacturing units, Best Agrolife Ltd. has manufacturing capability at par with global standards. The Technical plant in Gajraula, U.P, has a manufacturing capacity of 7,000+ MT per annum, and their Formulation plant has a manufacturing capacity of 30,000+ MT per annum. Each unit has its R&D set-up equipped with the latest instruments and tools, quality analyst, and compliance team to support the process and assure product and process efficacy. The products manufactured and packed maintain the global quality parameters.

^■ With state-of-the-art manufacturing units, Best Agrolife Ltd. has manufacturing capability at par with global standards.

To leverage R&D capabilities, re-engineer processes and expand product portfolio, Best Agrolife Ltd. is soon coming up with a dedicated research and development center at Greater Noida, U.P to ensure centralized and effective R&D data management. In terms of R&D, Best Agrolife Ltd. has started the patent process for new products and is vigorously developing a new process of synthesis molecule to be patented, where intermediates are mostly indigenously available. With R&D at the core, Best Agrolife is working on the novel processes of several potential intermediates, which will be manufactured indigenously in India and thus dependency of import will be reduced following these patented processes. These will be cost-effective local intermediates, making Best Agrolife the market leader in these product segments.

With time the company have taken up numerous assessment methods and approach towards monitoring and addressing the environmental impact of technology used in their facilities. The experts at the R&D team of Best Agrolife Ltd. are transforming their pursuits to unveil unique opportunities, reduce the potential negative environmental impact and provide our farmers with more holistic, integrated, and cost-effective solutions.

^■ Each manufacturing unit has its R&D set-up equipped with the latest instruments and tools, quality analyst, and compliance team to support the process and assure product and process efficacy.

Future Outlook 

Best Agrolife Ltd. is committed to developing advanced and safer product versions. As part of their sustainable model, they endeavour to produce less AI per hectare doses and ensure less loading on the environment. “We are environmentally conscious. There is no product of Best Agrolife Ltd. under the red category that contains higher health risks and environmental concerns. As our focus is on greener environment, we are focusing on green and blue category which are more environment friendly products.” said Vimal Alawadhi, Managing Director, Best Agrolife Ltd.

The company plans to leverage its leadership position in the industry to capitalize on collaboration and new business opportunities. Their ever-growing distributor network is tapping rural markets and connecting with farmers in the remote places of India to make sure they have access to best farming practices to increase farmer income and promote sustainability across the food chain.

Under the leadership of Mr. Vimal Alawadhi, Managing Director, Best Agrolife Ltd. the company is enabling a robust model to produce profitable organic growth. With increased manufacturing capacity, a significant marketing push for its product, Best Agrolife Ltd. has established its long-term financial priorities that follow a 3-dimensional approach with capital allocation, research, and growth as the primary emphasis.

Led by the vision of leading the way through growth, technology & innovation, Best Agrolife Ltd. is an active contributor to the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Make in India’. “We import less raw material from foreign countries and have doubled our spent on R&D to create a highly backward-integrated manufacturing process,” informed Mr. Vimal Alawadhi, Managing Director, Best Agrolife Ltd. They are soon opening a dedicated research centre with a formulation plant in Greater Noida, U.P. To reduce dependency on import, Best Agrolife Ltd. will manufacture intermediates indigenously. The company is moving towards proprietary products and intends to introduce several newer molecules under 9(3) registrations. Best Agrolife Ltd. is exploring new domestic and global markets of Africa, Asia, and South East Asia & Asia Pacific, EU & US; for export and plans to have its own subsidiary companies in leading markets across the globe.

This article was initially published in AgroPages' '2021 India Pesticide Suppliers Guide' magazine.