Panjab Agro Industries Corporation and Sampurn AgriVentures have signed a historic agreement on 23rd December, for a Rs.500 crore integrated agri-business model for wasteland development in Malwa region.
Mr. S.C. Agrawal, Chief Secretary, Panjab, Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Managing Director, Panjab Agro, Mr. Atul Kirloskar, CMD, Kirloskar Group, Mr. G.S. Kalkat, Chairman, Punjab Farmers Commission, Mrs. Kamna Raj Aggarwalla, Chairperson CII Panjab Council,
Mr. Sanjeev Nagpal and Mr. Sameer Nagpal, Directors of Sampurn AgriVentures, presented the highlights of this integrated agri-business model for wasteland development in Fazilka here at CII today.
This project is a major success to revive the Malwa belt which is reeling under innumerable socio-economic problems with its depleted resources, vanishing cultivable land, alkaline soil, and unpotable brackish water that is endangering the lives and health of the residents.
The Rs.500 crore projects involves setting up 90-acre agro park by NASA Agro at a cost of Rs.400 crores and a biogas plant based by Sampurn Agri-Ventures in technical collaboration with Kirloskar.
In the first phase, a 1MW biogas power plant is being set up in Fazilka which would be commissioned within a year's time, Sanjeev Nagpal informed.
Kirloskar Group under the leadership of Mr. Atul Kirloskar, Chairman cum Managing Director, has developed paddy-straw based biogas plant specifically for this region with forward integration to use brackish water for biogas digesters, and processing paddy straw residue into bio-fertilizers with silica, cellulose and lignin content ideal to revive the alkaline soils and promote other allied activities for the economic development of the region.
Tracing the history of Fazilka's glorious past and as a cotton belt, and subsequent deterioration of the area through brackish water from upper Punjab jeopardizing the fertility of the land in Fazilka turning it into a desert, Sanjeev Nagpal said that it deeply impacted the lives of the farmers as well as the industry.
It was in consultation with Punjab Agriculture University under the guidance of Dr. G.S. Kalkat, currently chairman of Punjab Farmers Commission, that the agri-business model was envisaged to convert the wasteland for sustainable development.
A dedicated team of PAU scientists led by Dr. A.K. Dhawan, head of entomology, Dr. Asha Dhawan, head of fisheries, and Dr. Meena, an expert in acquaculture, worked relentlessly to develop this integrated model since 2005.
The Agro Park to be developed by Nasa Agro shall empower the farmers to start dairy, poultry/duck and fish farming, cultivation of high quality fruits, vegetables and mushroom. The entire agri-business needs to be a successful value chain that is ergonomically sustainable, environmentally sensitive, socially responsible and economically viable both nationally and globally, that delivers tangible benefits to all stake holders.
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