The team led by Mukul Srivastava from Sikkim IFFCO Organics Ltd (SIFFCO) met Sikkim Chief Minister P S Tamang last week and invited him to lay the foundation stone of Sikkim IFFCO Organics in Gangtok. Lok Nath Sharma, Minister of Agriculture, the Government of Sikkim was also present during the meeting.
The foundation stone laying ceremony of the integrated processing facility being developed in Rangpo, is expected to take place in the first week of October, 2019, informed sources.
In his tweet, IFFCO MD Dr U S Awasthi wrote, “A team led by @mukul_smukul from #SikkimIFFCO met Shri PS Tamang (Golay), Hon’ble Chief Minister, #Sikkim and invited him to lay the foundation Of Sikkim #IFFCO Organics. Shri Lok Nath Sharma, Min Of #Agriculture, Govt Of #Sikkim & other officials were also present. @sikkimgovt”.
The delegation discussed the integrated processing facility with the CM, a joint venture between the Sikkim Government and IFFCO.
It is reported that the foundation stone laying ceremony will likely be attended by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. Recently IFFCO’s Marketing Director Yogendra Kumar had met Tomar – a news carried in these columns.
Earlier, during his visit to Gangtok, IFFCO MD Dr U S Awasthi said, “We have always promoted the balanced use of fertilizers. We have been educating farmers on using traditional as well as new-technology driven practices. Sikkim is a fully organic state so it’s a good platform for organic fertilizers and plant growth promoters.”
Simultaneously, IFFCO has opened cooperative membership drive for Sikkim. Women will be given preference. A detailed research of traditional Sikkim agriculture will be undertaken and integrated with new technologies.
Readers would recall that a couple of years ago IFFCO had signed an MoU with Government of Sikkim with an aim to explore business opportunities in an organic value chain. In the new company named “SIKKIM-IFFCO”, IFFCO will hold majority stake of 51% equity and the Govt of Sikkim 49%.
Eager to promote organic farming IFFCO has chosen Sikkim to begin with as it is a fully organic state and offers a platform for organic fertilizers and plant growth promoters.
According to sources “SIKKIM-IFFCO” will have an initial investment of Rs 200 crore, which will be increased to Rs 500 crore in phases.
IFFCO plans to introduce a range of organic and non-chemical based products for crop nutrition as well as protection while targeting both the farmers as well as the enthusiastic home garden segment. These products will leverage seaweeds, fresh waterweeds, bio actives through a bio-refinery approach to create multiple products by use of the same biomass.
Industrial level mass production & packaging of this product range will be undertaken by Sikkim-IFFCO in Sikkim and this will cater to the organic input requirements of the entire north eastern region, which as per the stated intention of the government, is going to be the mega organic agricultural zone. IFFCO will also explore sourcing of organic produce including flowers & herbs from the region and will market them to various companies across states.
To make these products available to the north eastern farmers, IFFCO will also be opening IFFCO e-Bazar centers in each of the seven-sister states.
