Rallis India, a Tata Group company, expects to generate Rs 500 crore revenue in five years from its newly commissioned agriculture chemical plant at Dahej in Gujarat. The plant has a capacity to produce 5,000 tonnes a year.
The company is also exploring possibility to bag manufacturing contracts from global clients.
Addressing shareholders at the company’s AGM on Wednesday, Mr R. Gopalakrishnan, Chairman, Rallis India, said production has commenced in first two lines at Dahej plant and there are scope to scale up output as and when new orders are received.
Pulses initiative
On Grow More pulses, Mr Gopalakrishnan said the company has extended assistance to 5,000 farmers covering 20,000 acres to grow pulses in Tamil Nadu. Agreements have also been signed with the Maharashtra Government to drive the initiative.
“The intention is to cover one lakh hectares under pulses over next five years. Last fiscal, 50,000 acres has been covered. The initiative not only improved the yield by 10-50 per cent but also fetched price premium of Rs 100 to Rs 250 per quintal for farmers,” he said.
Rallis India produced 1,715 tonnes of pulses at Latur in Maharashtra thereby, providing direct market access to participating farmers.
The performance of the crop protection industry is dependent on monsoon. Major fluctuations in total rainfall and its distribution affect the crop acreage, pest incidence and overall productivity. Farmers’ willingness and ability to spend will be an important driver to demand generation. Strong support produce prices and better availability of credit will ease the pressure on farming community, he said.