Indian Journal of Fertilisers, Vol. 2 (1), April 2006, pp ...

INDIAN JOURNAL OF FERTILISERS APRIL 2006

Indian Journal of Fertilisers, Vol. 2 (1), April 2006, pp.121-128 (8 pages)

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T HE INDIAN FARMER IS VERY HARD

working, tough and bold. He providesfood to millions of Indian population.Story of Indian Green Revolution andself-reliance in food production is thestory of successful Indian farmer. Givenproper and adequate support, he iscapable of flooding the world market withIndian foodgrains and prove to be the bestin the world.

Green revolution was the product ofcombined efforts. Indian scientificcommunity, extension agencies,government machinery, input supplyagencies, political leaders andfertiliser industry – all came together andplayed their role of reinforcing thefarmers to give their best. India which wasreferred to as begging bowl by the westbecame self-sufficient in foodgrainproduction. Zuari Industries Ltdthrough the decades of dedicatedservice made an outstandingcontribution to farmers’ success, nation’sfood security and to the evolution ofmodern India.

COMPANY PROFILE

ZUARI INDUSTRIES LTD (ZIL), WAS

incorporated in 1967 as Zuari AgroChemicals Limited, (ZACL). A jointventure with US Steel Corporation, USA,it was set up to manufacture urea and

ZIL in the Service of Farmers

S. G. GHATOLand

S. S. BAKHALEZuari Industies Limited

Jaikisaan BhawanZuarinagar, Goa - 403 726

Commissioning of Zuari Industries fertiliser plant in Goa, more than threedecades ago was a significant milestone towards country’s self-reliance infoodgrains. Faced with the major challenge of educating farmers to enhancetheir yields through increased use of fertilisers and adoption of scientificmethods in farming, Zuari devised its service oriented marketing strategy andorganised innovative education programmes for farmers. Frontline task ofextension education was undertaken through agricultural graduates. Attachinggreat importance to selection of right type of dealers, Zuari familiarised dealerswith their role as ‘change agents.’ The company was pioneer in implementingextension programmes like soil testing services, audio-visual van, blockdemonstrations with soil test-based fertiliser use, farmers educational tours,crop competitions, etc., and winning the hearts of farmers. Company alsoimplemented area specific rural development programmes such as watersheddevelopment, bore-well recharging, village adoption, horticultural developmentprogrammes, intensive fertiliser promotion campaigns, etc. “Krishi Samrat”award instituted by Zuari in 1985 is recognised as a premier award in itsmarketing territory. Through unrelenting efforts towards the growth of Indianagriculture the company has achieved an enviable position in its marketing territory with its strong brand equity and farmer friendly image.

complex fertilisers in Goa. Zuari’s ureaplant was commissioned in 1973 followedby NPK plant in 1975 and DAP plant in1984. Since early 1990s, companydiversified into cement, furniture, hybridseeds, engineering consultancy,financial services and oil tanking througha clutch of subsidiaries and joint ventures.It was renamed Zuari Industries Ltd in1998.

Marketing Infrastructure

With marketing head office based atZuarinagar, Goa, the company has anetwork of regional marketing offices inthe states of Goa, Maharashtra,Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and TamilNadu. ZIL markets its products urea, andcomplex fertilisers - Sampurna(19:19:19), Samrat (18:46:0), Samarth(10:26:26) and NPK 12:32:16 underJaikisaan brand.

Market Development Activities

Commissioning of Zuari Industries’fertiliser plant in Goa in 1973 was asignificant milestone towards India’sself-reliance in foodgrains. This was thetime when agricultural revolution hadnot crossed the boundaries of Punjaband few other states. Productivity ofland was very low. Use of urea andcomplex fertilisers, high yielding varietyseeds, etc., was unknown to most of

the farmers. Educating the farmers to reapbumper harvest through adequate andproper use plant nutrients, adoption ofhigh yielding variety seeds and properagronomic practices was the mainchallenge before the fertiliser industry andextension workers.

Zuari took up this challenge anddevised service oriented marketingstrategy carrying out well-structuredtechnical service programmes. To ensureproper flow of agronomic knowledgeto farmers, Zuari appointed agriculturalgraduates for the posts of MarketingOfficers. Marketing activity wassupported with a comprehensive packageof advisory services. Zuari attached greatimportance to selecting right type ofdealers and encouraged them to adopt“single window” concept of providing allagricultural inputs under one roof.Through repeated trainingprogrammes, dealers were familiarisedwith their role as change agents. Zuaridealer shops, by virtue of their uniqueyellow colour and high visibility becamethe landmarks in Zuari marketing areas.Zuari dealer came to be recognised as afriend, philosopher and a guide of thefarmers.

Summarise below are some of theimportant technical service activitiesundertaken since inception.


Promotional Activities Undertaken inthe Past

Education through entertainment -Audio-visual Vans

That was the period when televisionservices were not available except inmajor cities. For common man, mainsource of entertainment was films inneighbouring towns and cities. Zuariused audio-visual medium to entertainand educate farmers in the rural areas.Special films incorporating agronomicinformation on various crops coupled witha film story of entertaining nature weredeveloped exclusively for farmers. Thesefilms were made by hiring professionalactors and had emotional touch. Theywere dubbed in colloquial languages andwere screened in villages during nighttime with the help of audio-visual van.Each van was equipped with 16 mmprojector and a screen for film screeningand was manned by agricultural graduatebesides a driver-cum-operator. Zuarioperated two vans in Maharashtra, two inKarnataka and one in Andhra Pradesh.

Audio-visual van was moving fromvillage to village in rural areas. Duringdaytime, promotional activities such aspostering, literature distribution, farmermeetings, group discussions, field visits,soil sample collection, etc., wereundertaken and during night time filmshows were organised at two locations,

one between 7 to 8.30 pm and the otherbetween 9 to 10.30 pm. Screening of filmsproduced by govt. departments onagriculture, animal husbandry, familyplanning, adult education, public health,etc., were also undertaken occasionally.

With penetration of TV in rural areas, theresponse to Zuari film shows startedwaning and company discontinued audio-visual vans. However educational andemotional impact created by this mediumhas been unique and long lasting.

Agricultural Development Laboratories

Scientific agriculture calls for judiciousand balanced use of fertilisers for bettersoil health, better economics andsustained high yields. Zuari is one of thepioneering fertiliser companies to identifythis vital service area and establish a well-equipped soil testing laboratory as earlyas 1974 at Bangalore and later at Pune.

The role of micronutrients becamecritical in crop production due to highyielding/hybrid varieties, intensivecultivation, multiple cropping and lesseravailability of organic manure. Again Zuariwas pioneer to equip the laboratories withAtomic Absorption Spectro Photometer in1979 to determine micronutrient status inthe soil. Further these laboratories werealso equipped to undertake water, leaf/petiole analyses.

So far both laboratories have tested 1.1

million soil samples for NPK and about 1.5lakh samples for micronutrients besides4816 water and 5164 plant petiole/leafsample.

Demonstrations

Demonstrations play important role inconvincing farmers about benefits offertiliser use and adopting scientificpackage of practices.

In early seventies, Zuari organised resultdemonstrations in the entire marketingterritory showing right method offertiliser application and using correctfertiliser doses as per soil test reports.Cost : benefit ratio arrived at on harvestingencouraged the farmers for continuedfertiliser usage.

Further, large numbers of spotdemonstrations were taken up in the entiremarketing territory to covert non-user intouser.

In collaboration with State Departmentsof Agriculture, Zuari organised numberof block demonstrations in variousdistricts of Maharashtra, Karnataka andAndhra Pradesh during 1975 -1985 toeducate farmers on soil test based fertiliseruse, improved varieties, inter-cultivationpractices, post-harvest technology, etc.These demonstrations helped inpromoting improved package of practicesamongst farmers.

In collaboration with Dry Land ResearchStation, Solapur, special campaigns wereimplemented in rain shadow areas ofMaharashtra to educate them oninnovative dry farming techniques.

Intensive Fertiliser Promotion Campaign

Under centrally sponsored programmes,Zuari implemented Intensive FertiliserPromotion Campaigns in Nanded(Maharashtra), Tumkur (Karnataka) andNalgonda (Andhra Pradesh) districts forfour years from 1980 to 1984. Owing toimplementation of this project, NPKconsumption increased from 17 kg perhectare to 31 kg per hectare in Nanded,from 21 kg to 32 kg per hectare in Tumkurand from 34 kg to 60 kg per hectare inNalgonda.Audio visual van

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Agricultural Advisory Service Centres

To provide agricultural consultancy onregular basis to farmers in districts havingvast potential for agricultural growth, Zuarioperated Agricultural Advisory ServiceCentres in selected districts in themarketing territory.

An agricultural graduate having vastexperience in extension work wasappointed as Agricultural Consultant atthe centre. Each centre adopted 4 contactvillages in neighbouring areas and 10farmers were identified in each village ascontact farmers to carry forward theextension message. Agricultural

Consultant was available for consultancyat the centre throughout the day on themarket day and other important days. Onselected days he paid visits to the villagesand contacted the farmers at theirdoorsteps and on their fields providingspot solutions to their agriculturalproblems.

Need based activities such as soiltesting, introduction of HYV varieties,field demonstrations, crop seminars,farmer training programmes, visits toresearch stations, veterinary healthcamps, etc. were organised in contactvillages to educate them on improvedfarming methods.

Zuari operated Agricultural AdvisoryService Centres in Nanded, Latur, Jalgaon,and Nandurbar districts of Maharashtraand in Gulbarga and Raichur districts ofKarnataka.

These consultancy centres have broughtabout significant transformation in theneighbouring villages. Farmers in thesevillages have adopted latest agronomicpractices in their fields and are nowpracticing agriculture as a businessventure.

Rural Development Activities

In a true spirit to uplift the communityat large, Zuari has been implementingnumber of rural development activities inits marketing area. These activities includevillage adoption programmes, watersheddevelopment projects, bore-well

recharging programmes, etc.

Recently Zuari implemented ruraldevelopment projects, one in Maharashtraand one in Karnataka state with focus onimproving the quality of life in rural areas.

1. Watershed Development Project,Kohinkarwadi

Kohinkarwadi, a drought prone village inPune district was chosen forimplementation of WatershedDevelopment Project in Maharashtra. Twinobjective of this project was to ensurewater conservation by constructingdifferent water harvest structures andenrichment of soil health throughmeasures of contour bunding andregeneration of biomass cover. Zuariundertook construction of a number ofpermanent structures such as farmponds, masonry check dams, contourbunds, loose boulder structures, etc., inthe village in collaboration with Vanarai,Pune, a NGO having expertise inwatershed development. Large scaleaforestation programme was alsoundertaken besides organising numberof extension activities such as trainingprogrammes for farmers, crop seminars,soil testing, field demonstrations, animalhealth camps, etc.

The project has greatly aided inthe socio-economic transformation ofthe village by easing the drinkingwater problem and boosting farmers’incomes through both agriculture anddairy business. Now the farmers in thisvillage take up Rabi crops such as onion,potato and wheat and harvest goodyields.

On successful completion of work, theproject was formally handed over to localvillage Panchayat in March 2004.

2. Bore-well Recharging Programme inHiriyur, Karnataka

Hiriyur, a drought prone village inChitradurga district of Karnataka, withmajority of small landholders was selectedfor implementing bore-well rechargingprogramme. In this village rainwater andbore wells are the only sources of waterboth for domestic consumption and

Agri. dev. lab

Agri. adv. service centre

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agriculture. Most of the bore-wells in thisvillage had gone dry due to over exploi-tation of water and lack of replenishment.

Natural replenishment of ground waterbeing a slow process, drying of bore-wellshas become a common feature in severalparts of interior Karnataka. However thesebore-wells can be brought into reusethrough artificial replenishment of waterby constructing recharging/infiltrationtanks around the well and injecting rainwater directly into the ground waterresource.

Zuari selected three bore-wells in thevillage and undertook the construction ofrecharging tanks in association withMysore Resettlement and DevelopmentAuthority, a NGO having expertise inrecharging technique. The work wasundertaken in January 2005. With receiptof good rainfall in Kharif 2005, rechargingtanks have helped in injecting largequantity of surface flowing water intothese bore-wells and the three bore-wellsare now yielding normal water for dailyuse. Project has not only helped in solvingwater problem of the farmers but alsodemonstrated to them the modern andinnovative technique of rejuvenatingbore-wells.

Special Programmes to EnhancePaddy Yield in Goa

1. All Goa Paddy Crop Competition

To encourage farmers to reap bumper

harvest of paddy crop in Goa, Zuari incollaboration with Directorate ofAgriculture, Goa implemented All GoaPaddy Crop Competition. During Kharifand Rabi season about 400 to 500 paddygrowers were enrolled under this schemethrough Zonal Agricultural offices, BlockDevelopment offices and Zuari dealers.Participant farmers’ yield was assessed bycommittee members comprising of officialsfrom Department of Agriculture, villagelevel extension workers and MarketingOfficer of the company. Zuari offered firstand second prize to the top yields. Theseawards were presented by organizingspecial functions at the end of Kharif/Rabi season

2. Paddy Seed Replacement Project

Paddy is the staple food in Goa. Kharifpaddy is being cultivated in an area ofabout 42000 hectares. However ineighties, yield of paddy was low, i.e. 6 to8 quintals/acre owing to repeated use oflocal poor quality seed. Zuari implementeda novel scheme for replacement of localpaddy seed with certified seed procuredfrom National Seed Corporation. Everyyear in Kharif season Zuari distributedabout 10 tonnes of seed to farmers atsubsidised rate. Seed distribution wasundertaken in predominant paddygrowing villages of Goa through villagepanchayat offices, self help groups andZuari dealers. This activity helped increating awareness about the importanceof seed replacement, helping the farmersto increase their paddy yield by about 20to 30%. Subsequently, with increase indemand for certified seed, Department ofAgriculture formulated a special schemefor providing paddy seed at subsidisedrate to farmers and regular availability ofcertified seed was ensured.

Horticultural Development Projects inGoa

1.Cashew Development Scheme

Cashew is an important horticulturalcrop of Goa with coverage of about 55000hectares. Prior to 1985, entire cashew cropin Goa was local variety and use of highyielding varieties was unknown to farmers.

Watershed dev. project

Bore-well recharging

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Average yield of local verities is about 1.5kg per tree against 12 to 15 kg per tree ofhigh yielding varieties. To enhance cashewyield, Zuari embarked upon a novelscheme of familiarising Goan farmers withhigh yielding cashew varieties. Every year,Zuari procured 3000 number of cashewgrafts of high yielding varieties such asVengurla-1, Vengurla-4, etc., from researchstations in neighbouring states anddistributed the same to progressivefarmers in Goa at subsidised rates. Specialfunctions were held giving vide publicityto the importance of planting cashewgrafts instead of seedlings.

This programme helped in generatingawareness on use of high yieldingcashew grafts in state of Goa.Subsequently Directorate of Agricultureformulated special scheme for cashew areaexpansion and planting of cashew graftsbecame a common feature among farmersin Goa.

2. Kalpataru Project

Next to paddy, coconut occupies prideof place in Goa. Coconut tree apart frombeing beautiful provides variety of usefulproducts for living. Since all parts of thetree are useful, it is called “Kalpataru” InGoa two commonly grown varieties are“Benaulim” and ‘Calangute” and both arepotential high yielders. However averageyield of coconut in Goa was poor (20 –30

nuts/tree) owing to lack of scientificcultivation practices.

With the objective of educating farmerson improved methods of coconutcultivation, Zuari has beenimplementing “Kalpataru” project in Goasince 1982.

In early eighties, Zuari organised blockdemonstrations all over Goa on use ofproper dose of fertilisers for coconut incollaboration with Department ofAgriculture. Recommended doses offertilisers were provided to all participantfarmers at subsidised rate. This activitypromoted use of fertiliser for coconut crop.

Every year in the month of August,Zuari is organising a week-long farmeradvisory campaigns for coconut farmersin Goa. During this week, a teamcomprising of Zuari marketing officersalong with officials from Department ofAgriculture visit predominant coconutgrowing villages in Goa and contactfarmers at their doorsteps advising themon usage of right doses of fertilisers,use of green manure, biofertilisers, plantprotection measurers, irrigationtechniques, etc., for enhancing coconutyields.

Implementation of Kalpataru projecthas enabled farmers in Goa to adoptscientific cultivation practices and toincrease yield of coconut many fold.

Sugarcane Development Project in Goa

In Goa, sugarcane is cultivated mainlyin interior talukas of Sanguem, Quepemand Sattari. Sugarcane is registered withSanjivani Sugar factory situated atDharbandora. State Government has takenvarious steps to give a boost tosugarcane cultivation in collaborationwith Department of Agriculture,Irrigation Department and FertiliserIndustry. Responding to the requestfrom state government, Zuari providedservices agricultural graduate toSanjivani Sugar Factory on deputationfor the period of three years from 1988to 1991 with the special assignment ofundertaking sugarcane development inthe state. During this period, productionof sugarcane in Goa increased from 50000tonnes to 80000 tonnes.

Zuari introduced early maturing, shyflowering and thermo-insensitive varietieslike Co 8021 and Co 671 in Goa byprocuring the seed from research stationsin Maharashtra and Karnataka. The seedwas distributed to selected progressivefarmers in Sanguem taluka for seedmultiplication and further distribution. Co8021 variety performed well in the state andis being cultivated by large number offarmers, today.

Zuari adopted village Vantem inSattari taluka, which was newly coveredunder lift irrigation scheme. Allfarmers in this village were small andmarginal farmers. Through concertedefforts, every farmer in the village wasmotivated to take up sugarcane crop.Necessary inputs such as sugarcane seed,fertilisers, etc., were provided to farmersby taking up a block demonstration.Within three years about 150 acres wascovered under sugarcane and the villagerecorded highest average yield of 40tonnes per acre.

In 1987, village adoption programmewas further extended to Kerim underMorlem villages, newly covered underAnjunem irrigation project. Here additional300 acres of area was covered undersugarcane during following 3 yearsperiod.Kalpataru project

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ONGOING ACTIVITIES

Krishi Sudhar Programmes

Field visits and one to one farmercontact programmes of the company arecategorised under krishi sudharprogrammes. These programmes of regularnature are common to entire marketingarea. Various activities being organisedunder this programme are promotionalsquads, intensive farmer contactprogrammes, soil testing days, soil testresults recommendation days, etc.

Promotional squad is a fortnight longprogramme of contacting the farmers attheir doorsteps providing spot solutionsto their field problems and acquaintingthem with modern agronomic practices.Each squad, consisting agriculturalgraduates and field assistants, isequipped with well-decorated van. Theyvisit farmers at their doorsteps andorganise farmer meetings, groupdiscussions, method demonstrations,literature distribution etc. Whereverpossible, help of subject matter specialistsfrom various departments is taken to guidethe farmers.

Similar programmes undertaken onsmaller scale spanning 4 to 5 days arecalled intensive farmer contactprogrammes

Promotional squads and intensivefarmer contact programmes organised inthe marketing territory in 2004-05 are asunder : 2004-05 State Promotional squads IFCP Maharashtra 19 42 Karnataka 35 15 Andhra Pradesh 6 5 Goa 0 5 Total 60 67

Crop Seminars and Farmer TrainingProgrammes

To update farmers’ knowledge on cropproduction, Zuari organises cropseminars and farmer training programmesfor farmers on regular basis in the entiremarketing area. Faculties are drawn fromAgricultural Research Stations, Agri.Universities, Department of Agricultureetc. These programmes facilitate oneto one interaction with subject matter

specialists helping farmers to getlatest scientific information on cropcultivation.

Crop seminars and farmer trainingprogrammes organised in 2004-05 are asunder : 2004-05

State Crop seminars FTPsMaharashtra 25 34Karnataka 12 17AP 5 6Goa 1 1Total 43 58

Educational Tours

“Seeing is believing”, Zuari uses thisprinciple of extension education inmotivating farmers to enhance theiragricultural income. The objective is toacquaint the farmers with newdevelopments in the field of agriculture bygiving them eyewitness account of latesttechniques in farming.

Farmers are taken on educational tour toagricultural research stations, sugarfactories, agricultural universities,progressive farmers’ fields, krishi melas,

Crop seminar

Educational tour

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etc. Here the farmers get an opportunity tointeract with the scientists, subject matterspecialist, etc., besides getting the chanceto see the crop performance with newtechniques.

Educational tours organised during in2004-05 are as under :

State 2004-05

Maharasthra 8

Karnataka 2

Andhra Pradesh 1

Goa 1

Total 12

Public Utility Services

Public spirit has always been thehallmark of Zuari way of life. Toenhance the quality of life across thevarious strata of society, Zuari initiatedpublic utility service programme in themarketing territory. Under thisprogramme various services such asconstruction of bush shelters forcommuters in rural areas, provision ofdrinking water tanks in shandy areas,tree base structures, toilet facilities/playground for schools, development andmaintenance of parks/gardens, treeplanting across highways, etc., are beingundertaken.

So far Zuari has constructed about 20bus shelters, 4 drinking water tanks, 15

tree base structures, and 2 playgrounds inthe marketing territory under thisprogramme.

In primary marketing state of Goa, Zuariawards scholarships to 2 students be-longing to economically poor class, seek-ing admission in professional degreecourses in Agriculture and Engineering.

Rural Sports

To inculcate values of competitive spiritand importance of physical fitness amongthe youth in rural areas, Zuari sponsors

several sports activities such as wrestlingcompetition, kabaddi tournament, bullockcart race etc in the marketing area. Thesesports activities are organised in collabo-ration with village sports clubs, farmersclubs, youth associations, etc.

Krishi Samrat Award

To honour excellence in agriculture andrecognise the valuable contribution to thecommunity at large, Zuari institutedKrishi Samrat award in 1985. This awardis given to outstanding farmer with provenleadership in the marketing territory. LateMr. N. M. Chamankar, pioneer in mangocultivation from Sindhudurg district ofMaharashtra was the first recipient of thisaward. So far 3 farmers in Maharashtra, 3farmers in Karnataka, 2 farmers fromAndhra Pradesh and 1 farmer from Goahave received this prestigious award.

In the year 2005, Krishi Samrat wasconferred upon Mr. Pandappa Golabhaviof Mudhol taluka of Bagalkot district inKarnataka. He was selected for hispioneering efforts in harnessing water ofGhataprabha river through innovative liftirrigation project - Ranjanagi Yatha Niravariproject. This project has been instrumentalin transforming parched land along theriver into highly productive farms and hasliberated farmers from vagaries of rainfed

Bus shelter

Rural sports

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Management (CRM) programme in April2005. CRM programme is christened asJaikisaan sangam. All extensionactivities of the company are to beimplemented under this brand. Theobjective is to strengthen relationshipwith farmers by providing value-addedservices, looking at their needs. Theprogramme is implemented throughgrass-roots level extension workersknown as Jaikisaan krishi sevaks. In thefirst year Zuari plans to register about10000 farmers under this programme.Presently the programme is implementedin Maharashtra and Karnataka andfrom 2006-07 onwards the programmewill be extended to entire marketingarea. Company plans to providecustomised services such as soil testing,animal health, family health, childreneducation, agri-input marketing, etc.,besides crop husbandry services to thefarmers registered under JaikisaanSangam.

CONCLUSIONS

21ST CENTURY PROVIDES NEW CHALLENGES

and opportunities to Indian fertilisercompanies. New trends such asincreased penetration of internet in ruralareas, high growth in horticulturalsegment, increased coverage under microirrigation, thrust on food processing,growing export demand for agriculturalproducts, Central Govt. endeavour tobring 100 lakh hectares underirrigation, etc., call for reconfiguration ofbusiness operations to meet challenges ofchanging times.

Company has re-scripted marketingmission in line with above challengesand is in the process of ramification offarmer-oriented activities. Company hasplans reorient its CRM programmebasing on requirements of thecustomers. By using web basedsoftware programme, the plan is tohave clear understanding of the needsand perceptions of the farmers andprovide customised products andservices with a goal to create andretain delighted profitable jaikisaanfarmer.

agriculture.

Award carrying a citation, scroll, anattractive shield and a cash award of Rs.30000/- was presented to Mr. Golabhavion 27th August 2005 at the hands of Mr.Basavraj Horatti, Hon’ble Minister for

Science and Technology at a specialfunction held in Mudhol town.

Jaikisaan Sangam – Zuari’s CustomerRelationship Management Programme

Zuari rolled out Customer Relationship

Krishi samrat award

Veterinary camp

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