Pleased to meet with Mr Ganesh – who represents Nashiks Grapes, a grape export group in India.
After meeting with our Global Business Development Manager, Claus Brakemeier on his recent visit, Mr. Ganesh was impressed by our product range and got in touch to find out more about our EnNuVi technologies.
In developing the FertiGlobal crop management approach for sustainable agriculture, we always strive to put the farmer first. Only by understanding their needs can we achieve our own objectives. What are farmers’ requirements for innovation? What solutions will help them to improve agricultural yields and quality while, reducing the environmental impact of crop production?
Key to this approach is our ‘boots on the ground’ philosophy. We’re in regular contact with the end-user. Face-to-face, out in the field, seeing first-hand the challenges they face. Every business needs a reality check. This is ours.
So it was that Claus Brakemeier, our Global Business Development Manager, paid a recent visa to India. For anyone involved in agriculture, it’s a fascinating country. It has the second-largest cropped area of any country after the United States and is among the top-three global producers for crops such as wheat, rice and cotton. But that ranking also hides its agricultural diversity: the country’s farmers turn out grains, pulses, fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, tea and sugar cane, not to mention dairy products, in ever-increasing quantities.
For FertiGlobal, it’s an important market. India’s farmers are keen to adopt new, more modern agricultural practices. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has highlighted the importance of chemical-free agriculture and its benefits for the environment. Many in India recognise that agriculture needs to be more climate-resilient and less water-intensive – India has the world’s largest area of irrigated cropland – and that there should be a greater focus on soil health.
“Our crop management strategy considers the entire crop lifecycle,” Claus explains. “This remains a rare approach in crop production. Many other ‘solution providers’ seek to focus only on individual issues or problems.
“By concentrating on crop health and nutrition, we take a more holistic approach,” he continues. “Our bioactive technologies, such as EnNuVi and FOLISTIM, support plant defence systems and allow farmers to reduce the use of chemicals such as fungicides.
“We need to encourage crop resilience, if we’re to help farmers adapt to the challenges of a changing climate and societal pressure to farm more responsibly. That’s particularly important in a country like India, where nearly 50% of the workforce is involved in agriculture.
“Yet the country’s overall productivity has yet to be realised. Encouraging the adoption of new practices is vital if we’re to shift farmers towards a more modern, more sustainable and more efficient farming system.”
SCL Commercial India provides in-country representation for FertiGlobal. Country Manager Tanveer Alam was appointed to the FertiGlobal team in 2018 and has been responsible for giving the company its Indian foothold.
“I’m delighted to have helped build our presence throughout India,” he says, noting that FertiGlobal now has a presence in more than half of India’s 28 states.
“FertiGlobal technologies are now benefiting farmers across the country and the business is growing in line with our expectations.”
Among the farmers Claus Brakemeier met during his August visit were grape growers in Pune, and apple growers in the Kashmir Valley.
“It was particularly valuable to have time to listen to the challenges of apple-growing, and to be able to take those concerns back to our R&D team in Italy,” he said.
“Together, we’ll find ways to link our research-based technologies to the support that farmers need not just in India, but in all the countries where we’re present.”
We were happy to attend the Mosta ‘Expo earlier this week in Algeria – a great event with invaluable conversations and connections made.
Amongst those conversations we were pleased to welcome Mr Abdel Kader Bendaha from SODAGRI, our Algerian partner and President of the Agriculture Chamber of Mostaganem province.
Thank you to everyone who came to say hello!
We look forward to success and progress in Algeria.
FertiGlobal is committed to developing innovative technologies which support sustainable crop management strategies.
We offer exceptional biostimulants and crop nutrition solutions, developed by our team of scientists to help face challenges presented to growers in the field.
Since it’s inception, R&D has been the driver behind our work – developing innovative technologies and crop management programmes that meet the needs of farmers today and tomorrow.
Wheat, maize and rice may be the world’s top three crops, but guess what’s at number four?
The potato is the world’s most important non-grain crop, and Europe is the world’s second-largest potato producer. That makes Potato Europe, the annual exhibition for the European potato industry, a major event in the calendar of growers and suppliers alike.
Held this year in Germany, Europe’s largest producer, the September event saw Fertiglobal join over 100 exhibitors and 8,000 visitors in flocking to Lower Saxony – Germany’s ‘potato state’ – to exchange ideas and information on current topics and new products.
“The potato’s come a long way since it was first introduced to Europe less than 500 years ago,” says Dr Matthias Griesbach, Fertiglobal’s sales director, and one of the five-strong Fertiglobal team at the two-day event.
“Besides its role as a staple crop, the potato is also agronomically significant, historically, as one of the first crops in which farmers recognised the value and importance of fertiliser.
“Today, we continue to help farmers get more from their crops through appropriate and innovative potato nutrition products. It’s great to be exhibiting at a show like Potato Europe and discussing our innovative, environmentally friendly nutrition technologies.”
Innovation was certainly a major thread running through Potato Europe 2022. This year’s event incorporated a special exhibition, Smart Potato Farming, which highlighted the role of digital technologies in current potato production – Europe is a hotbed of agritech development – and the exciting tech solutions that are just around the corner.
“We were particularly interested in some of the sensor solutions,” says Dr Griesbach, “especially those relating to spot spraying and innovative nozzle technologies, because they fit with our own Fertiglobal philosophy about resource-use efficiency and farm productivity.
“We must reduce our use of plant protection products and improve fertiliser efficiency,” he says. “On-farm labour is also a well-recognised problem for many producers. Good, reliable technology can provide the industry with viable solutions to these challenges.”
Potato Europe is an annual event, rotating between Germany, Belgium, France and the Netherlands. With visitors from more than 65 countries in attendance, it reaches far beyond a purely European audience: attendees from North Africa, North and South America, and Asia – key regions for Fertiglobal – also come to the exhibition to keep abreast of industry trends.
Visitors commonly cite information on new varieties, cultivation and agronomy methods, and on-site demonstrations of equipment as the main reasons to visit the event in person.
“Potato Europe is a key showcase for technological leaps in potato production,” says the event’s supervisory board, “making this event important not only for potato growers but also the entire value chain. The key solutions to current problems from operational practice are usually always presented here.”
If you didn’t manage to make it to the 2022 event, put these dates in your diary: 6-7 September 2023, near Tournai, Belgium. We’ll look forward to meeting you!
