‘We’ve potential to reduce imports drastically in next 20 years’

Godrej Agrovet Limited Executive Director hails Assam for immense potential in palm oil plantation

The Executive Director of Godrej Agrovet Limited, Burjis Godrej (BG), in an exclusive interview with Business-Northeast spoke on Assam’s potential to lead in oil palm plantation drive. Excerpts:

BNE: Tell us something about Godrej Agrovet Limited.
BG: Godrej Agrovet Limited (GAVL) is a diversified, Research & Development focused food and agri-business conglomerate, dedicated to improving the productivity of Indian farmers by innovating products and services that sustainably increase crop and livestock yields. We make feed for cattle and poultry. We are in crop protection chemicals both B2B and through subsidiary Astec LifeSciences Ltd., we provide other agri-chemicals, bulk products and contract manufactured products. We also have a B2C agri-chemical division. We have just entered the oil palm refining business.

BNE: How did Godrej Agrovet come into the oil palm cultivation and what kind of help is provided by the government?
BG: This is being happening for above 30 years. That’s how we set up this business in collaboration with the state government. We got very good traction with Andhra Pradesh & Telangana earlier.

BNE: What is the potential of Assam in this business of development?
BG: There is tremendous potential. There is favourable state government environment that is really pushing for the oil palm development in Assam. Broadly across the northeast weather conditions are quite favourable for Assam. We are very optimistic about our potential in the North East. 

BNE: What was the process of selecting the 18 districts and how you are reaching out to the farmers?
BG: Selection was made on many different criteria like suitability for oil palm where farmers will be benefitted on switching over from rice to Oil Palm. 
For reaching out to farmers, we have a very dedicated extension team that works with the farmers. We do a lot of work with them through our Corporate Social Responsibility programmes on appropriate techniques. 

BNE: How many farmers will be associated with the oil palm plantation drive in Assam?
BG: We have 4000 oil palm farmers in NE now and numbers are increasing.

BNE: Is there any other organisation to assist you in this project?
BG: We are very happy with all the existing organisations like The Solvent Extractor’s Association of India, Solidaridad Network are involved in creating awareness around the importance of Oil Palm Cultivation for the country. IIOPR caters to oil palm research requirements across the country.

BNE: Do you think India will be self-sufficient in edible oil and how do you think Assam will contribute to this?
BG: I think we have the potential in the next 20 years to reduce our imports drastically to have the majority of our oil coming from India. The state governments are coming together following central policies appropriately; private sector players beings involved; NGOs, farmers etc. I am quite optimistic that we can achieve complete Atmanirbharta.

BNE: Can we dream of exporting edible oil someday?
BG: I think there is definitely an opportunity to do that. The government’s focus right now is making import substitution and making sure that we have more edible oil in India. It’s not on exports now. But once we get self-sufficiency definitely, we will target exports for various types of vegetable oils.

BNE: What are the challenges of oil palm cultivation and how you are coping with these challenges? What challenges are you facing in Assam?
BG: Broadly there is a gestation period of four years. During that time, oil palm trees are not yielding, fruit is not yielding oil. So, we need to work with the farmers so that they get the subsidy. So, that’s the biggest challenge I see overall. I cannot comment specifically on Assam because it is now in a very early stage. 

BNE: From where will you bring the farmers? Will they be local cultivators? 
BG: We will work with local farmers. Some of them may come from outside. At the end of the day, we will work with whichever farmers are available. We are not owning the lands. So, if the farmers decide to grow oil palm on their land he has to sell it to Godrej Agrovet Limited if that land is allotted to us. 

BNE: Has the Assam government helped you financially?
BG: There are many Assam government initiatives and central government initiatives for the North East. Those are quite extensive. For example, there is a freight subsidy. That makes cultivation much easier than in other states. So, we are very pleased with the support that the state governments of North East, including the Assam government, have given us and the central government policies.

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