Dr. Awasthi, Managing Director of the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), received the 2024 Rochdale Pioneers Award from ICA. Following Dr. Verghese Kurien, who was the 2001 Award laureate, Dr. Awasthi is the second Indian citizen to earn the honor. The ICA’s highest honor, the Rochdale Pioneers Award, was created in 2000. In keeping with the spirit of the Rochdale Pioneers, it seeks to honor an individual or, in certain cases, a cooperative organization for their contributions to creative and profitable cooperative endeavors that have greatly benefited their membership.

He began working for IFFCO in 1976 as a chemical engineer. The cooperative’s net worth climbed by 688% and its production capacity by 292% during his direction. Under his direction, IFFCO has expanded into new markets, diversified, and successfully created and produced Nano Fertilizers domestically for Indian farmers.

At a special ceremony held on November 25 at the ICA Global Conference in New Delhi, India, Dr. Awasthi received the award from ICA President Ariel Guarco. In collaboration with the Union Ministry of Cooperation and the International Cooperative Alliance, IFFCO Ltd. is organizing the 2024 ICA General Assembly and Global Cooperative Conference. The event will end on November 30, 2024, and is being held at Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam.

“I am humbled and honored to receive this prestigious award from ICA. In addition to highlighting IFFCO’s outstanding work under the direction and inspiring leadership of the Hon. Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah, this award represents the Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi‘s vision of Sahkar se Samriddhi. We are still committed to helping them realize their goal of promoting India’s cooperative movement internationally. I want to express my sincere gratitude to the International Cooperative Alliance and the worldwide cooperative community for this honor, which motivates us to preserve and promote the cooperative spirit around the world” said Dr. Awasthi.

With the manufacturing of 44 lakh bottles of Nano DAP Liquid and the sale of more than 2.04 crore bottles of Nano Urea Liquid, IFFCO has demonstrated significant operational success. It trained over 80,000 farmers and 1,500 rural business owners through 80,000 field demonstrations. 88.95 lakh tons of fertilizer were produced, comprising 40.10 lakh tons of NPK, DAP, WSF, specialty fertilizers, and 48.85 lakh tons of urea. With 112.26 lakh tons sold both domestically and abroad, the usage of chemical and organic fertilizers has advanced.

The full list of laureates is available here: https://ica.coop/en/media/library/fact-sheets/rochdale-award-laureates

Priyanka Dutta