VOL 1 - NOV 2010

DRISHTITHE AGRI-BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE

Symbiosis Institute of International Business

 2

Dear All,

It has never been easy to start something from scratch and complete it exactly the
way it had been planned in the first place. Similarly, there is nothing more joyous
than to see an idea being executed exactly as planned. The last month or so has
been an extraordinary learning experience for my team and I. Only after countless
numbers of article revisions and design implementation, have we arrived at what
we now proudly call an AB (Agri Business) Product. I hope that this magazine not
only provides the reader with current information on the Agri Industry but also
take on the General issues of today.

I would also take this opportunity to thank our very own Bhosale Sir and Sang-
eetha Madam who always encouraged us and kept us on our toes. I would also
like to thank Team Drishti to have taken up this challenge and come up with a
quality product at the end of it. I sincerely hope that we have been able to deliver
as was expected out of us. In case there are still improvements (whether in sec-
tions/parts/articles) that you would like to suggest, I would like to assure you that
you are most welcome to do so (please shoot us a mail at the contact address pro-
vided at the end of this issue). I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading DRISH-
TI—THE AGRI PERSPECTIVE !

So, with this I would like to declare Drishti – The Agri Perspective (Volume 1, Nov
2010 Issue) open to all!

Ayan Ray

Editor , DRISHTI - The Agri Perspective

MBA- AB ,2009-11

SIIB, Pune

November 2010
contents 3

FROM THE ED BOARD

Team Drsihti 4
FEATURE ARTICLE
TIME FOR A MAKEOVER— Branding in AgriBusiness 5
7
PRAGATI — the story so far.
A WAY TOWARDS RURAL MARKETS

AGRI DAY SPECIAL

ALL SMOKE AND NO FIRE — Biofuels 11
DRISHTIKON— INTRODUCTION TO GREEN SCM
15
18
THE ENTREPRENEUR
THE JAIN IRRIGATION SYSTEMS LTD. STORY

19
COMMODITY WATCH
INDIAN COMMODITY MARKET– A NORTHWARD
 4

Team Drishti
Editor :

Ayan Ray

Creative Design :

Vinod Tripathi

Susrita Sen

Akansha Saxena

Research :

Rahul Sinha

Manish Raghuwanshi

Coordinators:

Ashok Venkat

Shweta Tiwari

Our Mentors

Dr. N. S Ingle
Suresh Bhosale
Sangeetha Gopikrishna

Branding in AgriBusiness
Shweta Tiwari || MBA— AB , SIIB
H istorically Agriculture has always been seen
as a traditional form of occupation. Today,
it is a multi-billion dollar industry, with both ma-
jor and minor players exporting and selling their
products around the globe. As production is now
targeted at global markets, participants are in-
creasingly in need of a global strategy. Hence,
Global branding has become an essential element
of business strategy.
A sluggish economy might encourage some
industries to pull in the marketing communi-
cations reins, but with for agencies working
with agricultural companies, just the oppo-
5
Feature Article
site holds true right now. Given consolidation
among competitors and a shrinking custom-
er base, companies are as focused as ever on
managing their brands and demonstrating to
producers that their products are the right fit
for today's agricultural environment. Like
companies in any industry, agricultural busi-
nesses need to maintain brand value to re-
tain current customers and attract new ones.
It is only well known that branding doesn't
stop once the sales pitch has been convert-
ed. Agriculture can take the same strategic
approach.
Creating Value
The essence of successful branding is real-
ized only when the brand delivers consist-
ently, a clearly defined and an appealing of-
fering that sets it apart from its competitors.

Branding does not work in isolation, and is
not just related to the development of a
name, logo, company terms or a combina-
tion of all three. The additional ingredient
that makes a brand successful is
“differentiation” or its “personality”. Suc-
cessful brands appeal on an intangible lev-
el and offer a range of defined repeatable
emotions to the consumer. Today‟s agri-
cultural producers face the inevitable chal-
lenge of how to differentiate their offer-
ings, so that their product is perceived and
awarded a premium status in the consum-
ers‟ minds. The key therefore, is to imple-
ment a concentrated strategy that focuses
on creating real value for those customers
who are prepared to pay for it and a brand
strategy based on the product differentia-
tion.
Small farms typically won't hire workers for
this kind of a job, but food majors like Kel-
logg's, Mc Donalds, Britannia ,Oscar Meyer
and the rest want consumers to recognize
their brand. Major food corporations spend
millions of dollars every year on sponsorship
for the same. Branding is also important when
it comes to packaging and design, and this
goes hand-in-hand with advertising and di-
rect marketing efforts as well. Packaging is a
big part of retail marketing, as consumers re-
spond differently to colors, shapes and other
aspects. How products are laid out at a store
also makes a difference in their sales.
Take a look at a basic generic agricultural
product such as milk. Twenty years ago, who
would have thought that it could be sold in a
6
such a variety of choices; low-fat, skim, fla-
vored with chocolate, fortified with vitamins
and minerals? Furthermore, who would think
that there is any more space on the supermar-
ket shelves for yet another differentiated milk
product?
Successfully Branding the Commodity
As there has been proliferation of consumer
marketing and branding over recent decades,
it makes sense that while branding a com-
modity you adopt the successful strategies
used by the consumer marketing industry. The
three points below are simple lessons for suc-
cessful branding:
Follow the ideas of the consumer marketer:
Implement the same approach as consum-
er marketing and identify customer seg-
ments that are willing to pay an increased
price or premium for the added value they
will gain.
Define a strategy for brand differentiation:
Identify products and services that create
significant and differentiating value to buy-
ers. Do not rely on any one aspect, but
package the product to create a “barrier to
entry” for competitors and make it more
difficult for the customer to substitute the
product.
Implement strategies to support the addi-
tional value added: Support the extra offer-
ings with the necessary business systems
including decision support tools, targeted
communications, and the tracking and
learning capabilities needed to ensure pre-
miums are justified on a long term basis.
 7

Pragati
the story so far

A Way Towards Rural Markets

Susrita Sen | MBA – AB, SIIB

A Way Towards Rural Markets
Susrita Sen | MBA– AB, SIIB
We have all realized by now that India is on the
cusp on momentous change. The economy is
vibrant, incomes are rising, and the habits, pref-
erences and attitudes are changing rapidly. And
it‘s not less evident in rural India as well.
There are three major challenges that a rural
marketer must overcome:
 Reach
 Influence
 Awareness
Markets in rural India are small and scattered,
making them both inaccessible and unviable.
However ensuring that your product is available
is just the beginning. Large parts of Rural India
still remain out of reach of present day media. A
low literacy rate coupled with poor infrastruc-
ture acts as a limiting factor. But, it is important
for organizations to understand that it should
not let it obstruct them to try and cover these
markets. And some have actually done it with
innovation. Economic and technological pro-
gress is making it easier to communicate with
the rural consumer. The challenge however lies
in appealing to the rural population, understand
them and develop a mode of communication
that cuts through these barriers to reach them.
Across product categories, rural penetration and
awareness remains low. And the need is to not
just reach or communicate but to actually influ-
ence their consumption pattern and buying be-
havior. However apart from the above three
challenges, some other minor hurdles on the
road are:
More Agri Facts Did You know that an Average Sized Egg contains approximately 6.6 gms of
Protein , compared to around 1.5 gms in a Banana ?
8
Languages and Dialect: The number of lan-
guages and dialects vary from state to state, re-
gion to region and even at a district level.
Low per capita income: Even though about 33-
35% of GDP is generated via Rural India, it is
shared by 74 % of the population.
Prevalence of spurious brands and seasonal de-
mands: For any branded product there is a multi-
tude of ‗local variants‘ which are cheaper, and
therefore more desirable to the rural segment.
Traditional lifestyle: The rural consumer values
old customs and traditions. They often do not
prefer change.
There have been many innovative projects
which have attempted to address these chal-
lenges. A few are listed as below:
Marketing to Rural India: CavinKare
Multinational companies sold products in big
bottles and not in sachets and they sold only
from fancy stores. They did not look at the
small kirana stores, nor did they look at the
rural market. When Chik entered the Rural
Shampoo market, Velvette Shampoo was be-
ing marketed aggressively by Godrej. They
went to the rural areas of South India where
people hardly used shampoo. They showed
them how to use it. They

conducted live demos as to how to apply, rinse
and wash the product, on young volunteers and
then asked the onlookers to feel and smell their
hair.
Next they planned Chik Shampoo-sponsored
shows of Rajniknath's films. They also distributed
free sachets among the audience after these
shows. This worked wonders in rural Tamil Nadu
and Andhra Pradesh. After every show,
the shampoo sales went up three to four
times. But a scheme became extremely
successful -- they exchanged five sachets
of any shampoo for a Chik Shampoo sa-
chet, free. Later, they altered the scheme
-- started giving one free Chik Shampoo sachet
in lieu of five Chik Shampoo sachets only. Soon,
consumers started asking for Chik sachets only.
The sales went up from Rs 35,000 to Rs 12 lakh
(Rs 1.2 million) a month.
Brand Activation by Sangeeta Bhabhi:
P&G After a two year long push into the hinter-
land, P&G has come up with a new addition to
its marketing strategy in the form of a character
called Sangeeta Bhabhi, a dedicated housewife.
9
The personality was conceived to push P&G‘s
leading brands, Tide and Head & Shoulders as a
dual proposition called ‗kamyab jodi‘ in rural
areas of the country. After much deliberation
over the eight to nine categories that P&G oper-
ates in, marketers picked the detergent brand
Tide and shampoo Head & Shoulders as the fo-
cus in this particular rural initiative.
More than 100 villages in central UP were cov-
ered as part of the pilot stage of the ‗kamyab
jodi‘ initiative. The exercise involved teams nar-
rating Sangeeta Bhabhi‘s story, an educated
married woman, who highlights the benefits of
using the two brands. The particular style was
used to communicate the value add proposition
of the brands.
Tide being a value
added brand
priced higher
than the regular
brands, the chal-
lenge was to
communicate it to
the target audi-
ence on the ben-
efits of using a
brand superior in quality.
Through this initiative, P&G is attempting to
generate user trials for both SKU pack size as
well as sachets. it is understood that after study-
ing the initial response to the pilot programme,
the company is planning to roll the initiative fur-
ther to cover nearly 5,000 villages across the
state of UP. Also, to ride on the demand gener-
ated from this exercise, P&G is simultaneously
beefing up its distribution network to ensure
reach and availability of the products.
 10

Reaching rural villages through Project

Shakti: HUL

In 2001 HLL initiated Project Shakti in Nalgonda

district, Andhra Pradesh, to provide microcredit
and to train women to become direct-to-home
distributors through self-help groups in rural ar-
eas. As an extension of this project, HLL set up
Internet kiosks— commonly referred to as
―iShakti‖—in these rural areas to disseminate
information in local languages, including materi-
al on health education. Today Project Shakti has
spread to 15 Indian states, reaching 85,000 vil-
lages in 385 districts through 20,000 female en- mation. At the same time ITC Limited has ob-
trepreneurs, or ―Shakti ammas.‖ The distribu- tained benefits from the programme:
tion network formed by these female entrepre- 1. elimination of non-value added activities
neurs could in the future distribute condoms in 2. differentiated product through identity pre-
rural areas. HLL estimates that by 2010 the net- served supply chains
work will grow to around 100,000 trained wom-
3. value added products traceable to farm prac-
en covering 50,000 villages.
tices

4. e-market place for spot transactions and sup-

p or t s er v i ce s to f u t ur es e x ch an ge
A true innovation through e-Choupal : ITC
There are presently 6,500 e-Choupals in opera-
Limited
tion. ITC Limited plans to scale up to 20,000 e-
e-Choupal is an initiative of ITC Limited, to link Choupals by 2012 covering 100,000 villages in 15
directly with rural farmers via the Internet for states, servicing 15 million farmers
procurement of agricultural and aquaculture
products like soybeans, wheat, coffee, and
prawns. e-Choupal was conceived to tackle the Some Interesting Sites
challenges posed by the unique features of Indi-
http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/604016-PDF-
an agriculture, characterized by fragmented ENGibef.org/economy/ruralmarket.aspx
farms, weak infrastructure and the involvement etstrategicmarketing.com/smJune-July2/art6_1.htm
of numerous intermediaries. The programme
involves the installation of computers with Inter-
net access in rural areas of India to offer farmers
up-to-date marketing and agricultural infor-

SIIB SIIB Agri Club Presents AgriDay Celebrations 2010

NOV Update This year’s Theme : AdvanTage AgriBusiness
 Agri -Day Special
11

ALL SMOKE AND NO

FIRE :
ACHIEVING 20% BIOFUELS BLENDING
Akanksha Saxena || MBA AB (10-12)
ethanol, respec-tively, across the country
by 2017 implying a 30 times increase in
the current plantation.
Setting minimum purchase prices for bio-
fuels and minimum support prices for
feedstock to encourage biofuels and fuel

T he recent decontrol of fuel prices

will now make oil price spikes a
regular feature which we might have
to deal with. With India fulfilling more
than half of its crude requirements
through imports which form 32% of
the total imports, biofuels are gaining
increased public and scientific atten-
tion, driven by factors such as the need
for increased energy security, and con-
cern over greenhouse gas emissions
from fossil fuels.
The National Policy on
Biofuels announced by the Govern-
ment of India in September 2009 is
crop production and to promote rural de-
loosely based on the National Biodiesel Mis-
velopment.
sion submitted by the Planning Commission
As a whole package, this policy clearly reflects
of GOI in 2003(Altenburg et al. 2009). The
the ambition of GOI to revitalize rural economy
National Policy on Biofuels clearly reflects
through significant scale of production of fuel
high expectation of GOI for biofuels to ad-
crops (mainly Jatropha Curcus and Pongamia)
dress two important developmental prob-
on marginal land, but it entails high uncertainty.
lems, i.e. meeting rapidly increasing energy
Against this high expectation, the production of
demand and stimulating rural development
biofuels in India is still at an infant stage and
for poverty alleviation.
the current production level is negligible.
Secondly, feasibility of fuel crop production on
The major policy instrument is very ambi-
marginal land is questionable.
tious blending mandate, i.e. a minimum
20 per cent blending mandate for both
diesel and petrol with biodiesel and bio-
 12

tracks due to cyclone „Phet‟, delaying their advance

IndiaThe
to get morePolicy
National rainsonthan Yearassumes
Biofuels . by at
oilleast 10 days to
companies asthe
thebreadbasket northern and
main risk-taker, re-
that Jatropha Curcus can grow on margin- gion,
theas objective
well as the central and northwestern
of achieving parts on
high returns of
al land without watering nor fertil-izing, the investment.
country, which mainly grow oilseeds.
but the accumulating evidence suggests
that commercially viable yield requires The main objective of corporate investors
good agricultural practices as well as ap- Sugarcane Breeding
engaging in the Institute
biodiesel sector is to
Despite the delay in advance of the monsoon, India is
propriate condition of crop land (Biswas et maximizeCaneInfo
launches productivity and returns on in-
website
expected to get more rains this season than earlier
al. 2010). The long gestation period of at vestment. This objective implies the main
predicted by the weather office. Thepotential
Sugarcane Breeding Institute launched CaneIn-
least three years (in the case of Jatropha) of corporate-centered cultiva-
Accordingis to
another reason
an update to thefor the rather
monsoon slow
forecast of de- fo tion:
website,Large-scale
a database-driven website that
investments in delivers
proper
the Indiavelopment of the
Meteorological biofuels (IMD),
Department sectorrains
in India.
in etimely informationpractices
agricultural on sugarcane
andtoR&D
be accessed free
on TBOs
Thirdly, availability
the June-September period willofbeland
102 and water
per cent of are of cost
can anywhere,
boost theanytime, by all
supply of those involvedand
biodiesel in

quite severely
the long-period average. limited in India and drastic sugarcane agriculture,
possibly allow foronspillover
July 9, 2010. CaneInfo
effects is
to other
increase of fuel crop production may neg- the producers.
culmination of a two-year research project enti-
“According to an update to the monsoon forecast of
atively affect food supply. tled, "Developing a user-centered website on sugar-
the India Meteorological Department (IMD), rains in
cane production technologies" sponsored by the De-
the June-September period will be 102 per cent of
partment of Scientific & Industrial Research, Ministry
Apart from
the long-period this,
average” the existing policies in
of Science & Technology, Govt. of India. Recognizing
hand such as providing heavy subsidies
“ on the price of conventional fuels partic-
It will be 102 per cent,” Agriculture Secretary P
ularly diesel, keeping it artificially low do
that only by bringing the user into the development
process could the utility of the website be maximized,
K Basu told a series of Focus groups were conducted among the
not reporters
support when asked about the
the production andquan-
use of
tum of rainfall the target audience, i.e., the farmers and cane develop-
biofuels incountry
India. would receive this sea-
ment personnel to identify the users‟ information
son ” The major cultivation practices for biofu-
els include: needs. Developing a prototype with this information,
it was demonstrated to the target audience for evalu-
Government-centered
In April, IMD cultivation,
had said the country would char-
receive 98
ation. All these efforts have culminated in the dynam-
per centacterized
of the longby cultivation
period on government
average (LPA). LPA, at 89
ic and demand driven website, CaneInfo available at
(forest and/or revenue) and
cm, is the mean rainfall received by the countrycommunal
over
http://caneinfo.nic.in.
land, government
a period of 50 years. as risk-taker, and so-
cial motivations (employment generation Dr K. Jayakumar IAS., Joint Secretary, Department of
India had received 11 per cent less rain than normal
for the rural poor, increasing the national Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science
in the June 1-23 period, even as the southwest mon-
forest cover, and protection of the soil and Technology, Government of India, launched
soon, which had been virtually stationary in the past
from further degradation). CaneInfo amidst farmers, cane development per-
week, showed signs of advancing northwards.
Theand
sonnel effects of large-scale
sugarcane plantations
scientists at Sugarcane on
Breed-
Farmer-centered cultivation, character-
The weather office said the country received 97.4 mm ing rural development may be far reaching–
Institute, Coimbatore on 9.7.2010.
ized by cultivation on private land, shared
rainfall for the June 1-23 period, against the normal but they
Launching the are ambiguous.
website, On the
Dr. Jayakumar one
in his hand,
inaugural
levels ofrisk between government, farmer have and pri-
theysaid
havethatthe
thepotential to generate em-
109.6 mm. However, weather scientists
vate processing companies, address role of Government in socio-
as there is and the ob-
ployment and expand
is that green cover sub-
said there is no need for alarm, still hope
jective of economic development of a facilitator. The
for improvement in developing additional
rainfall across the country. sources of stantially. On the other hand, the need the
for
income and/or new energy sources to actual work in agriculture development is through
The southwest monsoon, which is nearly 10 days be- productivity
efforts maximization
of scientists and may
farmers and the lead
launch to
of this
sustain farmer livelihoods without incur-
hind its normal schedule over North India, is ex- monocultures
website, and
CaneInfo is theenvironmentally
result of such an harm-
effort.
ring major investment risks.
pected to strengthen with the formation of a low- ful use of
Technology inputs.
offered immense opportunities to farm-
Corporate-centered
pressurearea in the Bay of Bengal. cultivation, charac- ers to know more about their areas of interest. Use of
terized by large-scale cultivation, private information and communication technology in the
Since their onset on May 31, monsoon rains have
form of Web 2.0, Facebook, and video conferencing
made a staggered progress and stopped in their
 13

should be used to create Web communities of farm-

ers, he added.

Appreciating the role of sugarcane farmers in the cre-

ation of the website, Dr. Jayakumar said: “Such partic-
ipation will also aid in proficiency development of the
farming community. Focus group discussions and
collaboration with the research institutes like these
are not available in many places. Farmers should
make use of such facilities.”

Additional risks relate to the possibility that

corporate investors may invest on land that
was previously used by the local poor, jeop-
ardizing income sources and local food pro-
duction.
The promises seem to have been made, the
policies formulated and the committees set
into mo-tion, but the groundwork still seems
to be absent. A mere Rs 34 per litre procure-
ment price for biodiesel does not even cover
the production cost. Will this be enough to
increase supply by 2017? The common
sense says No but the babus beg to differ…
References:
Altenburg T. et al., Biodiesel in India, Ger-
man Development Institute, 2009
National Policy on Biofuels, Government of
India
Gonsalves Joseph B., An Assessment of the
Biofuels Industry in India, United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development, 18
October 2006.
 14

Sugarcane Breeding Institute

launches CaneInfo website

T
Launching the website, Dr. Jayakumar in his
inaugural address said that the role of Govern-
ment in socio-economic development is that
he Sugarcane Breeding Institute of a facilitator. The actual work in agriculture
launched CaneInfo website, a database-driven development is through the efforts of scien-
website that delivers timely information on tists and farmers and the launch of this web-
sugarcane to be accessed free of cost any- site, CaneInfo is the result of such an effort.
where, anytime, by all those involved in sugar- Technology offered immense opportunities to
cane agriculture, on July 9, farmers to know more about their areas of in-
2010. CaneInfo is the culmi-
nation of a two-year research
project entitled, "Developing
a user-centered website on
sugarcane production tech-
nologies" sponsored by the
Department of Scientific &
Industrial Research, Ministry
of Science & Technology,
Govt. of India. Recognizing
that only by bringing the user
into the development pro-
cess could the utility of the
website be maximized, a series of Focus terest. Use of information and communication
groups were conducted among the target au- technology in the form of Web 2.0, Facebook,
dience, i.e., the farmers and cane development and video conferencing should be used to cre-
personnel to identify the users‘ information ate Web communities of farmers, he added.
needs. Developing a prototype with this infor-
mation, it was demonstrated to the target au- Appreciating the role of sugarcane farmers in
dience for evaluation. All these efforts have the creation of the website, Dr. Jayakumar
culminated in the dynamic and demand driven said: ―Such participation will also aid in profi-
website, CaneInfo available at http:// ciency development of the farming communi-
caneinfo.nic.in. ty. Focus group discussions and collaboration
with the research institutes like these are not
Dr K. Jayakumar IAS., Joint Secretary, Depart-
available in many places. Farmers should make
ment of Scientific and Industrial Research,
use of such facilities.‖
Ministry of Science and Technology, Govern-
ment of India, launched CaneInfo amidst farm-
ers, cane development personnel and sugar- Source : http://caneinfo.nic.in.
cane scientists at Sugarcane Breeding Institute,
Coimbatore on 9.7.2010.
DRISHTIKON 15

inspiring innovation
Introduction to the Green Supply
Chain
By Martin Murray, About.com Guide

Green Supply Chain : The Future in Logistics ?

Profiting from Being Green

However some companies have seen that this is

not a bad thing and indeed have been able to con-
Introduction to the Green vert the public‘s interest in all things green into
Supply Chain increased profits. A number of companies have
shown that there is a proof of the link between im-
By Martin Murray, About.com Guide | Compiled and Edit-
ed by Manish Raghuwanshi, MBA-AB, SIIB proved environmental performance and financial
gains. Companies have looked to their supply
chain and seen areas where improvements in the
(This article is the work of M. Murray and Team Drishti claims no credit
whatsoever for this Article)
way they operate can produce profits.

General Motors reduced disposal costs by

$12 million by establishing a reusable container
Listening to Environmentally Aware Consumers program with their suppliers. Perhaps General Mo-
tors may have been less interested in green issues
As the public becomes more aware of environmen-
if they were making record profits, but in an at-
tal issues and global warming, consumers will be
tempt to reduce costs in their supply chain, GM
asking more questions about the products they are
found that the cost reductions they identified com-
purchasing. Companies will have to expect ques-
plemented the company‘s commitment to the
tions about how green their manufacturing pro-
environment.
cesses and supply chain are, their carbon footprint
and how they recycle.

Unaware of Potential Benefits
Companies can find cost savings by reducing
the environmental impact of their business pro-
cesses. By re-evaluating the company's supply
chain, from purchasing, planning, and manag-
ing the use of materials to shipping and distrib-
uting final products, savings are often identified
as a benefit of implementing green policies.
Despite the public‘s focus on the environ-
ment, benefits attributed to reducing a compa-
ny‘s environmental impact are not in the fore-
front of supply chain executive‘s minds. It ap-
pears that many executives are still unaware
that improved environmental performance
means lower waste-disposal and training costs,
fewer environmental-permitting fees, and, of-
ten, reduced materials costs. Hopefully the in-
terest in green issues and environmental con-
cern by the public will not wane as economic
issues become more important due to the fal-
tering economy.
Green Supply Chain Best Practices
The trend towards developing a green supply
chain is now gaining popularity but most com-
panies are still coming to terms with how this
can be achieved and where do they start. For
years businesses have been concentrating on
improving supply chain visibility, refining effi-
ciency and minimizing cost. Despite the focus
being moving towards a green supply chain the
goals of visibility, efficiency and cost reduction
do not have to be discarded. By examining the
companies who have already made strides to-
wards a green supply chain, we can begin to
see some best practices that will help others to
begin their own transition.
16
Align Your Green Supply Chain Goals
with Business Goals
Creating a green supply chain that has little to
do with your business will not help your com-
pany to achieve its business objectives. For ex-
ample, if a company decides to use biode-
gradable packaging for its products that costs
25% more than traditional packaging, this goes
against the businesses goals of reducing costs.
If a business has an overall goal to reduce costs
then the move to a green supply chain should
dovetail with the business goal. A company
should look at its overall business goals and
identify how a transition to a green supply
chain can help achieve those goals. For example
if a business wants to reduce its energy costs it
should start by looking at the consumption to
see if a reduction can be made by using more
energy efficient and greener equipment.
Use Green Supply Chain to Improve Pro-
cesses
Companies do not often change their business-
es processes and it is this attitude allows ineffi-
cient processes to continue unabated causing
unnecessary waste and pollution. For example
ineffective processes in the US automotive in-
dustry allowed the innovative Japanese au-
tomakers to become market leaders.
 17

Green Suppliers and Material Refurbishment

Companies reviewing their business processes

should look beyond their factory walls. When
reviewing purchasing processes the aim of any
company, looking to transition to a green supply
chain, should be to find suppliers who have min-
imized their environmental impact without re-
ducing the quality of their product or significant-
ly raising costs. By purchasing products from
green suppliers businesses can then begin their
green supply chain before any material reaches
their site.

At the opposite end of the supply chain

businesses should look at their return
process. Many businesses have not de-
veloped a successful refurbishment pro-
gram for their products that have been
returned or exchanged. By offering re-
furbished items businesses can increase
purchasing options to their customers
and widen their customer base, whilst
improving the environmental impact of
their products.

There are many ways in which businesses can

transition to a green supply chain; however it is
important to realize that it is difficult to achieve
results without strong focused leadership. Senior
management has to lead the effort to move to a
green supply chain and provide the resources for
the transition. Many businesses have document-
ed an intent or plan to implement a green sup-
ply chain, but without the necessary resources,
both financial and manpower, any impact will be
minimal.
 THE DRISHTI PHOTO BLOG
18

.
Contributed by: Prof. Suresh Bhosale, HOD—AB , SIIB
Place : Table Top, Panchghani, Maharashtra

Contributed by: Vinod Tripathi, MBA-AB (9/11), SIIB

Place : Pune
 The Entrepreneur
19

Priyanka
SIIB, MBA– AB

“Agriculture not only gives riches to

a nation, but the only riches she
can call her own”

(Samuel Jonson, English Poet, Critic and Writer. 1709- state, in search of water and food and reached
1784) Wakod, at the foothills of the famous Ajanta
Caves. They started farming as a means of liveli-

T
hood. Here with a meagre Rs.7000
his statement is truly portrayed in a country (accumulated savings of three generations) as
like India where even today almost 60% of the capital Mr Jain decided to take a small agency
population is dependent directly or indirectly on for light diesel oil in 1962 ,needed by farmers for
agriculture and it‟s allied sectors. We have many
pumping of water as electricity was not availa-
great examples of entrepreneurs who have
made riches for not only themselves but helped ble.
build riches for the nation by venturing into ag- Inspired by a quote, "Agriculture: a pro-
ribusiness.
fession with future" young Jain added dealer-
One such example is Mr. Bhavarlal Hiralal Jain,
ship of tractors, sprinkler systems, PVC pipes
(often known as Bade Bhau - Big Brother or
and other farm equipment. In order to broad
Bhumiputra - Son of the Earth) the Founder
base the agri-business, agencies for farm inputs
Chairman of Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd.(JISL).
such as Fertilizers, Seeds, Pesticides were also
The journey began in 1887 when his forefathers added.
left the deserts of Rajasthan, their home
 20

Mr. Bhavarlal Hiralal Jain, (often known as Bade Bhau - Big

Brother or Bhumiputra - Son of the Earth) the Founder Chair-
man of Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd.(JISL) has been awarded with
22 International and National Awards for his exemplary work
and social work.

the country. A close-knit dealer distribution

network in the rural areas coupled with con-
tinuous automation and up gradation of
product facilities and in-house R&D for maxi-
mum capacity utilization has kept them at the
forefront.

Sales grew from Rs.1 million in 1963 to Rs.110
million in 1978, a phenomenal increase of 110
times. These formative years helped him to
build a unique and lasting enterprise. This
was achieved through consistent high stand-
ards of performance and personal discipline
on the one hand and a strong sense of com-
mitment for meeting targeted volumes and
for payment of debts in time, on the other.
He took over a 14 year-old sick Banana Pow-
der Plant in April 1978 at a high auction price
of Rs. 3 million while he only had Rs.0.2 mil-
lion as inevitable surpluses. In December
1978, the founder travelled to New York in
search of customers for Jain Papain. They de-
veloped purified Papain through ceaseless in-
house R&D and emerged as the `Number
One‟ supplier of the highest purity refined Pa-
pain. Thus Papain put them on the interna-
tional map.
In 1980, manufacturing of PVC Pipes com-
menced with a small annual capacity of 300
MT's which was increased to over 35,600 MT's
per annum by 1997, making Jain Industries
the largest single producer of PVC Pipes in
Beginning in 1989, he toiled and struggled to
pioneer Water-management through Micro
Irrigation in India. He has successfully intro-
duced some hi-tech. concepts to Indian agri-
culture such as `Integrated System Approach‟,
One-Stop-Shop for Farmer, and
„Infrastructure Status to Micro Irrigation &
Farm as Industry‟.
Entering in the era of bio-technology, he in-
troduced in 1993 a variety of Tissue Cultured
Banana known as „Grand Nain‟. This has mul-
tiplied the farmers‟ yields, unfolding vast vis-
tas for export of fresh banana fruit. Through
these technological innovations, Mr. Jain has
reached the hearts of millions of farmers
across the country. The Fruit and Vegetable
Processing Plants headed by him are com-
pleting the value chain for the farming com-
munity furthering the cause of upliftment of
farmers.

In 1994 he set-up world class food pro-
cessing facilities for dehydration of onion,
vegetable and production of fruit purees,
concentrates and pulp. He has been striving
hard to earn a place of pride for Indian agri-
culture by augmenting yields and adding val-
ue, through scientific inputs of technology.
Today owing to his dedication and vision,
Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd. (JISL) is globally
second and the largest irrigation company in
India.
Since 1978, he has painstakingly promoted
adoption of innovative PVC piping systems,
replacing the outmoded, wasteful open -
channel furrow irrigation or non-pressure ce-
ment piping practices. He then founded a
Public Corporation, to pioneer Drip Irrigation
and there by harbingered a new era for con-
servation of scarce water resources and also
for achieving higher yields, early maturity,
better quality and increase in cropping and
irrigation intensity.
Indeed, by heralding cutting-edge mod-
ern agricultural technologies such as Drip-
Irrigation and Tissue Culture, he provided
crucial assistance and impetus to an average
tradition-bound Indian farmer leading him to
self-reliance.
He has been awarded with 22 International
and National Awards for his exemplary work
and social work. He was conferred the pres-
tigious UNESCO-West-Net "Water Conserver
of India" award in November 2007 by the
Hon'ble Union Minister of Water Resources,
Prof. Saif-Ud-Din Soz at a function held in
New Delhi attended by eminent delegates
from the World Bank, UNICEF, UNESCO, Cen-
tral Water Commission and TERI . The nation
honoured him in 2008 with Padma Shri, In-
dia's fourth highest civilian award by the
Government of India . The North Maharash-
tra University awarded him with the degree
of Doctor of Letters (Honoris causa) for
"Remarkable achievements in the field of ag-
riculture, industry and social work".
21
He has also received the prestigious Craw-
ford Reid Memorial Award instituted by Irri-
gation Association, U.S.A. for "Significant
achievements in promoting proper irrigation
techniques and in fostering major advance-
ments in the Industry outside the United
States of America" in 1997. He was the first
Indian and the second Asian to receive this
honour.
The crusader continues to scale new territo-
ries like application of Bio-Technology for
micro propagation (tissue-culture) and intro-
duction of new varieties of Banana and On-
ion, preparation of vermicomposting, bio-
fertilisers, organic manure, bio-pesticides in
the service of Organic Farming. He offers
'total solution' from Wasteland Reclamation
to Watershed Development and sustainable
hi-tech precision farming - an honest striving
to enhance GNP by helping advance second
green revolution. Symbiosis between devel-
opment and environment is an ever-
continuing passion for him. One can see him,
feel him and know him only through his
work.
The purpose of his life is truly depicted in his
belief: Earn a pride of place for Indian Farm,
Farming and Farmer.

THE COMMODITY MARKET IN
INDIA: A NORTHWARD RALLY
M
andis in the Indian market
have always existed from time immemorial.
These have been providing a platform for
businesses across the country by facilitating
barter trade between the buyer and the sell-
er. Later on, mandis came up in the agricul-
tural hubs, in almost all the states in India.
But then, it was still difficult for a farmer to
select the best buyer for his produce. What
was needed was a platform where a buyer
and seller could buy and sell at the best rates
possible. Organized trading started in the
country with the establishment of the Bom-
bay Cotton Trade Association Ltd in 1875.
Subsequently the first futures trading in
oilseeds came up in 1900 with the establish-
ment of Gujrat Vyapari Mandali, which car-
ried out futures trading in groundnut, castor
seed and cotton. Later on, trading in bullion
and jute was also started at Bombay and Cal-
cutta. The Government came up with the For-
ward Contract Regulation Act in 1952 and
established the Forwards Marketing Commis-
sion (FMC) in 1953. The basic idea was to
COMMODITY
22
WATCH
Rahul Kumar MBA –AB
SIIB, Pune
provide the farmers with a standardized, reg-
ulated and transparent trading system.
Currently, a total of 21 Commodity Exchang-
es are on floor across the country. These in-
clude the Multi Commodity Exchange, Mum-
bai; the National Commodity and the Deriva-
tive Exchange of India and the National Multi
Commodity Exchange, Ahmedabad.
As per the FMC, the commodities are
grouped into 8 categories: fibres, spices, edi-
ble oilseeds and oil, pulses, energy products,
vegetables, metals and others. At present, a
total of 105 commodities are in the regulated
list under the FMC i.e. these commodities
have been notified under section 15 of the
Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act. Forward
trading in these commodities can be con-
ducted only between, with, or through mem-
bers of recognized associations. The com-
modities other than those listed under Sec-
tion 15 are conventionally referred to as
'Free' commodities. Forward trading in these
commodities can be organized by any asso-
ciation after obtaining a certificate of Regis-
tration from the Forward Markets Commis-
sion.
 23

The delivery and settlement procedure differs for

each commodity in terms of quality implications,
place of delivery, options, penalties and margins,
and are defined comprehensively by the ex-
changes. Members of an exchange can perform
and clear transactions in only those contracts
which are exchange specified and approved by
the Forward Market Commission (FMC).

GROWTH RALLY IN COMMODITY MARKETS:

Chart 3

The total trade volume of all commodities at the

Multi Commodity Exchange in 2010 (till the lat-
est data available as on 09.09.2010) went up by a
whopping 59 times (from 9343219.46 lakhs to
555095789.27 lakhs) as compared to its 2004
figures (shown in graph). If we see in totality
from all commodity exchanges, the market ex-
panded by 50 times in a span of 5 years from
Rs.66530 Crores in 2002 to Rs.3,3753,36 Crores
in 2007, according to findings of the AS-
SOCHAM. Also, this sort of upward trend means
that there will be an increase in the institutional
as well as non-institutional participation in such
trades would continue to grow over the coming
years.

Chart 4

Chart 2
 24

(The graphs shown here shows only MCX share of other foodgrains (i.e. wheat, rice,
data whereas in comparison further the total maize and tur) peaked at 5.0% in 2005-06
traded volume in all exchanges has also been and of sugar at only 2.2%. This is in line with
taken. Since data prior to 2005 in some com- what various Committees mentioned earlier
modity sector, we will compare from 2005 had foreseen regarding prospects of futures
onwards for inter-commodity group compar- trading in commodities with significant gov-
ison.) ernment intervention. If, nonetheless, de-
listing has adversely affected market senti-
Although agricultural commodities led the
initial spur in the chart shown here and con- ment regarding futures trading more gener-
stituted the largest proportion of the total ally, this must be because of the “go-stop”
value of trade till 2005-06 (55.32%), this nature of government policy on the matter.
place was taken over by bullion and metals in
2006-07. The growth in 2006-07 was almost Chart 5
wholly (88.7%) accounted for by bullion and Commodity Group-Wise Value Of Trade
metals, with agricultural commodities con- Value in ` lakhs
tributing a small fraction (10.7%). This was
partly due to the stringent regulations, like
margins and open interest limits, imposed on
agriculture commodities and the dampening
of sentiments due to suspension of trade in
few commodities. Futures market growth in
2006-07 appears to have bypassed agricul-
ture commodities.

Four commodities (wheat, rice, urad and

tur) were de-listed for futures trading to-
wards the end of financial year 2006-07. This
de-listing has been held responsible in many
circles for the recent general downturn in fu-
tures trading in agricultural commodities. But Commodity futures markets are the strength of an
these four de-listed commodities together
agricultural surplus country like India. Commodity ex-
accounted for only 6.65% of the total value
changes play a pivotal role in ensuring stronger
of futures trading in all agricultural commod-
ities in 2006-07. Thus, although this may growth, transparency and efficiency of the commodity
have affected market sentiments adversely, futures markets. This role is defined by their functions,
the delisting did not have infrastructure capabilities, trading procedures, settle-
any major direct contribution to the de- ment and risk management practices
cline in trading observed during 2007-08.
References:

In fact, except chana and urad, the share
of sensitive commodities in total value of fu-
tures trade in agricultural commodities has
so far been quite insignificant. The combined
The Forward Marketing Commission Of India
http://www.banknetindia.com/banking/80628.htm
www.fmc.gov.in/htmldocs/Abhijit%20Sen%
20Report.pdf
 25

Contact Team Drishti

For Submission of Articles:

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For Submission of Pictures:

Vinod Tripathi— tripathi2vinod@gmail.com