IFFCO’s MD eyes 10% growth in FY26 profit amid nano uptake woes

New Delhi: Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd (IFFCO) Managing Director K J Patel has projected a 10 per cent net profit growth for FY26, even as the cooperative grapples with sluggish domestic adoption of its flagship nano fertilisers and intensifies farmer training programmes to unlock their potential.

In an interview to PTI, Patel, a four-decade IFFCO veteran who recently took over from U S Awasthi after his 32-year tenure, outlined a holistic strategy centred on the cooperative's "crown jewel"- its enduring bond with 36,000 cooperatives and over 5 crore farmers.

"Our motto is to make sure that fertilisers are manufactured and they are also delivered to farmers with enough explanation how to use them, when to use them," said Patel, emphasising soil-specific guidance and quality seed advice aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal of doubling farmers' income.

Four years after launch, nano fertilisers- touted as eco-friendly alternatives to chemical inputs - remain IFFCO's most exciting innovation and also its biggest challenge. Sales this year stand at 1.45 crore bottles of nano urea and 65 lakh of nano DAP, far below the 8-crore target. In FY24, the total nano fertiliser sales were 3.64 crore bottles against production of 4.56 crore bottles. In contrast, conventional nitrogenous and complex fertilisers recorded sales of 1.13 crore tonnes against production of 0.93 crore

tonnes.