When, on the other day Prime Minister Narendra Modi was patting Ananth Kumar for introducing the concept of neem-coated urea he was forgetting the fact that this ambitious project has been brought to fruition by the tireless work of cooperative organizations of the country. And leading from the front is IFFCO-the largest farmers’ cooperative.
Both IFFCO and Kribhco have taken up neem plantation massively across the states. On his birth day IFFCO MD Dr U S Awasthi himself planted neem trees and said IFFCO has planted 5000 neem trees in Unnao alone-his home district.
His daily tweets convey stories of neem-plantation from various parts of the country with the latest from the south India. His latest tweet read “ #IFFCO’s #Neem plantation drive going south. #farmers in #Kakinada #AndhraPradesh for #PlantANeem #TransformingIndia.”
To boost neem-plantation IFFCO announced earlier it will purchase neem fruits usually discarded as waste, at the rate of Rs 15 a kilo. Popularly known as nimori, farmers could visit any IFFCO office to sell their neem fruits. This decision was taken in the last AGM.
IFFCO last year signed a memorandum of understanding with the Forest Research of India on research and development for developing quality neem species in the next three years.
The IFFCO has already planted over 1.5 lakh neem saplings and has double its target for the current year.
The central government has,meanwhile, commissioned a study titled ‘Impact of Neem Coated Urea on production, Productivity and Soil Health in India’.
Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore, has been entrusted with the job of carrying out the study covering six states namely, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Punjab.
The study is expected to be completed by October, 2016.
