Enhancing agricultural technology and knowledge transfer is a priority to the fertilizer industry

New Delhi – The International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA) has recently launched a new initiative aimed at improving agricultural technology and knowledge transfer to the farmers in developing countries. In this connection, a workshop on "effective last-mile delivery" - gathering more than 30 international experts from the agri-input industry, research and extension agencies, the information technology sector, and farmers’ organizations - was organized by IFA on 10 and 11 February in New Delhi, India. The workshop helped the fertilizer industry and its partners to identify strategies to best disseminate information to the farmers so that they can optimize the benefits arising from the use of fertilizer best management practices. ‘A number of innovative initiatives have been launched in India through successful partnerships between fertilizer companies, the information technology sector and international agricultural research centres, among others. Actions are also taken in many other parts of the world, and we can definitively learn from each other’s experiences’ noted Luc M. Maene, Director General of IFA.

Ajay S. Shriram, President of IFA and Chairman and Managing Director of DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd (DSCL), stated that ‘the workshop was part of IFA’s activities aimed at fostering the adoption of fertilizer best management practices by small-scale farmers in order to improve the profitability of farming, increase the agricultural output to meet the requirements of the fast growing world population, and to reduce as much as possible our footprint on the environment.’ This is particularly relevant in the current context of rising food prices, low farmer’s income and increasingly scarce natural resources. Fostering technology and knowledge transfer would make it possible to meet simultaneously these three major challenges. ‘Another world food crisis could emerge in the short to medium term. Ecological intensification through the development of best management practices and their wide adoption by the farmers is the best strategy to prevent such an event’ added Luc M. Maene.

The focus of the workshop was on South Asia and Africa, two regions that face huge pressures for feeding growing populations and, therefore, the need to continuously improve agriculture productivity. Reaffirming his strong support to initiatives aimed at strengthening know-how transfer to small-scale farmers, Ajay S. Shriram was confident that this IFA initiative, if translated into action through multi-stakeholder partnerships, could contribute to improving the situation of millions of farmers.