In the wake of the severe floods in the southern state, NAFED has extended a hand to the families by way of providing essential commodities for consumption. The managing director of NAFED, Sanjeev Kumar Chadha, shares details of the initiative with Ankita Saxena
The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India limited (NAFED) has come forward to help the flood stricken state of Kerala. The organisation is distributing pulses and tea to the victims. Also, in view of the high procurement volumes of pulses last year, the MD believes that if this trend continues and the weather is favourable, India will become self-sufficient in pulses and may also become a net exporter in a matter of two-three years. Here is an excerpt from the interview:
How is NAFED contributing to the relief work in Keralaij
Given the crisis which has befallen the state of Kerala, NAFED has taken an initiative to distribute three packets of pulses, tea and milk powder worth Rs 1 crore to the flood victims. Since the victims are moving from camps back to their homes, these family-packets will deem useful for immediate consumption. The tea packets are of NAFED's own brand and the milk powder has been procured from AMUl.
NAFED has proved to be an exemplar of a turnaround story. What measures have put the organisation back on the road to recoveryij
As NAFED enters the sixtieth year of its foundation, the federation has witnessed an unprecedented record procurement of oilseeds and pulses under the price support scheme (PSS) and the price stabilisation fund (PSF) during 2017-18. A quantity of 20.08 lakh MT of pulses and 11.83 MT of oilseeds valuing Rs 15,698.75 crore were procured under the PSS/PSF benefitting around 20.14 lakh farmers and generating an income of Rs 236 crore during 2017-18. This revenue significantly contributed to the one time settlements with the lender banks and making NAFED a debt free organisation. During the year 2018-19, NAFED has already procured 30.55 lakh MT of pulses and 8.12 lakh MT of oilseeds valuing Rs 16,938.42 crore under the PSS, benefitting around 19 lakh farmers. An income of around Rs 255 crore towards service charges alone has been generated for the federation. These projections could go up further in case NAFED is required to intervene in the market during the ensuing kharif season. A record procurement of food grains (paddy and wheat) has been made in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam. The purchases have been made directly from the farmers at the declared MSP through the cooperative societies. Around 28,216 farmers of the above states have availed the benefit of the PSS scheme.Of the total procurement the government has declared to distribute two kilograms of pulses to each family under the public distribution system. This will not only encourage farmers to grow more pulses but also address protein deficiency in the population and thus curb malnutrition.
How is NAFED diversifying its business activitiesij
The organisation has started supplying certified seeds, seed-mini kits to various state organisations. We have also approached various state governments to allot land for creation of new warehouse facilities. NAFED has also ventured into the bio-fuel sector and will set up bio-CNG plants across the country for effective and efficient utilisation of bio mass/agriculture waste. The first of such plants shall be installed at Delhi's Azadpur mandi. The plant will use agricultural and vegetable waste of the mandi to make the bio-fuel. NAFED shall produce the bio-CNG at the proposed plant and IOCl will buy the same from NAFED. The organisation is also introducing pulses and spices in the retail business to establish brand NAFED.
How is NAFED ensuring market linkages to the farmersij
Pre-registration of the farmers before the start of the procurement season has been introduced. The farmers can register using their Adhaar cards which ensures that we buy only from genuine farmers and not the intermediaries under the PSS. This also allows us to pay the farmers directly.
What initiatives have been taken by NAFED to enhance productivity of the crops in Indiaij
NAFED has started producing recently notified varieties of foundation and certified seeds of various pulses and oilseeds under NSFM and NAMOP Scheme of the Government. We have also started the multiplication of breeder seeds of pulses and oilseeds. The organisation has established a bio-fertiliser and liquid bio-fertiliser manufacturing unit at Madhya Pradesh which manufactures Rizobium, Azotobacter and Azospirillium composite culture. The bio-fertiliser units are facilitating the farming community to improve their productivity and the quality of products to a great extent in a natural way. Further, NAFED is also working to educate the farmers to use the right fertilisers as per the requirements of the soil. In this regard, NAFED is facilitating the supply of soil mini-kit labs to test the soil type.
What have been the achievements so far in international tradeij
We are very cautious when dealing with international trade and are exporting only on behalf of the Government of India on a G2G basis. Currently, we hold the largest volumes of pulses across the world. We are exporting rice to Bangladesh and many African countries. We have been nominated by the government to export mustard and soya cakes to China and some other countries. Sri lanka has recently placed an order with us to export rice and fertilisers for three years.