1.

INTRODUCTION

Agriculture in India was historically viewed as a traditional occupation mainly catering to the needs of self-consumption rather than a commercial activity to make wealth of it. The demand for food grains in the latter half of the 20th century led to the Green Revolution. Today farming is more commercialized and there is a growing awareness on the need for improved high yielding varieties and management of pests. Yield losses due to pest in India amount to around 18% of the total yield which amounted to a whooping sum of Rs. 90,000cr every yr. 1.1 Introduction to Indian Pesticide Industry The Indian pesticide industry with 84.7 TMT of production for FY 2007 is ranked fourth largest pesticide producer in the world after the US, Japan and China. Domestic consumption is around 39 TMT. In addition, exports were at 110.7 TMT in FY 2007, valued at Rs 28.77 billion. Globally, due to consolidation in the industry, the top 5 global MNCs control almost 60% of the market. In India, the industry is very fragmented with about ten multinational companies, 30-40 large manufacturers and about 400 formulators (large, medium and small Scale). The present growth rate of the industry is around 3.2 %.It is one of the most dynamic generic pesticide industries in the world having a total installed of technical grade pesticides to the tune of 125 TMT. Pesticides are classified into insecticides, fungicides and herbicides/weedicides. Insecticides dominate consumption with around 59% of estimated consumption of pesticides, followed by fungicides (18%), herbicides/ weedicides (16%) and others (5%).

The project, setting up of helpline in Lucknow RO as the name suggests, is about starting a farmer helpline, which is going to act as an interface between the farmers and the company. It is a powerful tool which will provide the true account of the companys position and opinion and response of the farmers regarding its products available in the market. It will also act as means to gauge the performance of the field staff on the parameters such as promptness and efficiency of problem solving, the satisfaction level of the farmers regarding their working capabilities; apart from these, this helpline strives to achieve the competitive advantage over its competitors via value added services. It gives a platform to the farmers to put forward their problems and get reliable information
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regarding their crops. In long term the helpline strives to achieve the ultimate goal of increasing the brand recall among the farmers, as well as the product use efficiency. Need of Helpline: As is known that this is an age of cut throat competition and, to maintain an innovation, innovative for long time is quiet tough. Today, its all about creating the points of differentiation as the customer has a lot to choose from. The only way to make a difference is, through the services that one provides. Now in this case, service can be provided both before and after sale through Help Line. As the name HELP LINE explains itself a phone line which provides help to the people in need. So is the case here. The farmers and dealers and retailers call in and put their problems and get a solution. This provides them with a reliable source of information which they can depend upon. Moreover the RKK initiative that RIL has taken up can be conveyed to a larger mass through the Help Line. Right now, the condition in this area (UP & Bihar) is that, people dont know about RKK or as a matter of fact, they dont know what Rallis India Ltd. is!! They know that the products are from TATA, but Rallis still does not tickle anything in the peoples mind. There is a need to evoke brand recognition among the customers, which can only be achieved through well designed advertisement strategy and of course, Helpline is a great tool for that. It can also be used for the time to time verification of the farmer data and through this, the farthest nooks and corners can also be accessed. Helpline can also used as a tool to get a whiff of the changing needs and expectations of the customers and thus we can change our strategies accordingly. A thing that most of the callers mentioned that the extension work being done by RIL is not up to the mark and that they dont take much pains to advertise their products unlike other companies, especially, Bayer crop sciences as they are doing a tremendous work on the fields and also are much more vigorous in advertising their product. Such insights of the farmers mind can be taken into account to improve and change the way our field staff is working. It is a common human nature that we usually dont want to tread into the unknown territory and very few customers are innovators i.e. they dont want to use new products and like to stick to their tried and tested products. So the aim should be to convert the non users to first time users and first timers to regulars. This can only be made possible with a very
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good product and an A-class assistance to the customer; and Helpline can be used for the follow up purposes as well. There are a few things which can be achieved through the helpline 1. An edge over the competitors in the market by creating PODs through service and assistance. 2. The product awareness can be enhanced and the already existing products as well as the new launches can be easily advertised. 3. This will give the farmers a sense of attachment with company as they will feel that there is someone who is going to listen if something goes wrong. 4. Brand awareness about the brand Rallis India Ltd as an individual identity among the customers. 5. Convert non users into first time users by convincing them to at least visit the nearby store and ask for RIL product and use it in a small area. This is going to help because; farmers, who use one product and get benefited by it, are more likely to use it again and may also try other products of RIL as well. 6. This will increase the product use efficiency & frequency among the farmers as the correct dose, time, and method of application can be communicated as and when required, which ultimately result in the high performance of the product and a satisfied or may be even delighted farmer.

1.2 Objectives:

The project was taken up with the following objectives: 1. Giving a smooth and proper start to the helpline initiative in the U.P. and Bihar region. 2. Inspecting the level of awareness about the RIL products among the farmers and identify sales influencers (people). 3. Reviewing the work being done by the field staff. 4. Making the farmers aware about the RKK. 5.

2. COMPANY PROFILE

Rallis India Ltd was incorporated in the year 1948. RIL, the successor of Ralli brothers and a member of Tata group is one of the leading enterprises in the agrochemical industry with a comprehensive range of agri inputs and services spread across the country through an extensive distribution network. The companys agribusiness division is the distributor of pesticides, fertilisers, micro-nutrients, seed animal feed and other agri-inputs. It is the second largest pesticide company in India with a market share of 13%. TATA Rallis is known for its deep understanding of Indian agriculture, sustained relationships with farmers, quality agrichemicals, branding and marketing expertise and its strong product portfolio. Over the years, the company has become synonymous with trust in the minds of the farmers. Some of the popular products are fungicides such as Contaf, Contaf Plus, Master and Fujione, weedicides such as Fateh, Tata Metri, Tata Panida, and insecticides such as Daksh, Tata Mida, Reeva, Asataf and Manik etc. Rogor an age old Rallis insecticide know known as Tafgor is still one of the strongest brands in the country. Tie ups with international companies like FMC, Nihon Nohyaku, Syngenta, Dupont has led to the introduction of internationally proven products into the Indian marketplace at regular intervals. The company took over Metahelix Lifescience Ltd in December 2010, further strengthening its portfolio and posted a handsome increase in sales both in the domestic and international business. The overall increase of 20% in sales reflects the healthy volume growth in the domestic formulation business as well as the international business which grew by 17% and 35% respectively.

Revenue Market Cap Total Income Net Profit

252.89 ( USD in Millions) 33837.58686 ( Rs. in Millions) 10895.079 (Rs. in Millions) (year ending Mar 2011) 1262.127 (Rs. in Millions ) (year ending Mar 2011)

The management consists of a board of 11 directors with Mr. R. Gopalkrishnan as chairman and Mr. V. Shankar as Managing Director and CEO.

2.1 Future plans: Rallis Indias additional manufacturing facility at Dahej in Gujarat started commercial production from June 2010. The company is planning to set up additional manufacturing facility at Dahej in Gujarat. A Rs. 150-crore investment in Phase-I will go towards creating a state-of-the-art facility for the company.

2.2 RKK initiative: Rallis Kisan Kutumb is an initiative taken by the TATA group to encourage the farmers to take up farming as a business and not just on subsistence basis. Under this scheme, a group of 20- 30 progressive farmers is formed in every village and they are registered as RKK farmers by filling a simple form. They are given special facilities like time to time SMS and calls about the cultivation practices of the seasonal crops, spray schedule, cultural practices etc. The group of farmers is taken for PRERNA VISIT on the farms of model farmers to encourage them. Various field demos are also set up in the fields of a few chosen ones. Time to time farmers meetings are held for these farmers. Any progressive farmer can join the kutumb as the registration is free of cost. The aim is to cover the maximum number of progressive farmers under the canopy of RKK so as to provide them with reliable and timely information regarding the cultivation and crop protection practices and to ensure the overall well being of the farmers.

With a bit more understanding on the purchase behaviour of the farmers, as in their needs and the qualities which they are looking for while purchasing the agrochemicals, the existing gaps in this sector can be identified.

3. METHOD OF EXECUTION

A total of 795 calls, out of which, 513 incoming calls were attended and 282 outgoing calls were made during the period of internship, through the helpline. The data was collected from the incoming as well as outgoing calls under various heads viz. name, phone number, address, trade, size of land holding, crops grown, crop stage, problems encountered etc. The callers were provided the solution to their queries and the information about the various products of RIL was also given to them. In case of outgoing calls, the data was collected under the above mentioned heads and current status of their farms was enquired, along with the various problems they were facing and, the solution to those problems was given. They were also informed about the helpline facility and were registered under the RKK. A follow up was also done. On the basis of this data, some observations were made which are represented in the form of various charts. These charts graphically represent the data collected through the helpline over a period of 7 weeks. The mobile numbers of the incoming and outgoing calls were fed in the database of the WAY TO SMS site and messages were sent to those numbers about the various cultivation practices and the chemicals to be applied to the crops on the seasonal basis. The calls were from different districts of UP & Bihar, and constituted a mixed bunch of queries and complaints. Farmers as well as dealers made the calls, which covered a variety of aspects ranging from crop protection to crop cultivation and damage control (due to non use or improper use of the agro chemicals).

3.1 Data Source:

The outgoing calls were made from the data base provided by the company, to the numbers registered under the RKK scheme. Simultaneous data verification was also done in this process. 3.2 Area Covered Under Project: Entire regions of UP and Bihar. The Figure 3.1 and 3.2 depicts the maps of UP and Bihar and show the area covered under the helpline.

Figure 3.1: Map of UP showing all the districts

Figure 3.2: Map of Bihar showing all the districts

3.3 Total Number of Farmers Covered: 702 3.4 Mode of Communication: Telephone (helpline no. mob. 9839012593)

3.5 Period of Execution:

7 weeks MS Excel was used for the compilation and tabulation of data

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

5.1 Inspecting the Level of Awareness About RIL Products Among the Farmers. The data collected from farmers and their responses in exhibit 4.1 shows that a majority (slight difference) of the farmers were the frequent users i.e. they knew the name of the products and had used any of the products, in every cropping cycle for the past 3-4 yrs in their crops. These were the people who were highly satisfied with the product performance in the field. The first choice of these farmers for any problem or otherwise was RIL products only. These were the people who were also calling to know about the newly launched product Taarak and the way to use it. The infrequent users were the one who were using RIL products once in a while, due to various reasons viz. Price, availability of the RIL products or because they were satisfied with the other products that they were using and used RIL products for some problems only. Non users were the people who did not use RIL products as either they were not aware about the products or they had used any product in the past and were not satisfied and so decided to discontinue the use.

Usage frequency of RIL products

Frequent Users(41%) Infrequent Users(39%) Non users(20%)

20% 41%

39%

Exhibit 4.1: Use frequency of RIL products

Exhibit 4.2 clearly depicts that, out of all the 513 incoming calls, 94% of the calls were queries regarding the various products, farmers telling their problems, dealers calling in to solve farmers query, cultivation practice regarding various crops like paddy, chilli, banana etc. Majority of calls were concerned with the weed problems in the crops. The others were regarding the fungal infection or pest infestation. A few were also related to the symptoms of deficiency of micronutrients like yellowing of the whole plant with roots intact and without any spots, or the whitening of leaves, flower drop etc. The dealers were calling in to enquire about the delivery and availability of the products for dispatch or the correct method of use and dose of the product to tell the farmers (customers).

Call ratio
queries(94%) 6% complaints(6%)

94%

Exhibit 4.2: Ratio of queries and complaints

The complaints, though few were mainly regarding the high price of the products in comparison to the competitors product, non availability of products in time and a very few regarding the efficacy of the products on the field; and some were concerned with the efficiency of the field staff as well. As per efficacy of products was concerned, when enquired further, it was found that either the dosage was insufficient or the method of usage was incorrect. Exhibit 4.3 shows the same in the form of percentages.

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complaints
Avail. Related(35%) Price related(56%) 9% 35% 56% Result effeciency(9%)

Exhibit 4.3: Constitution of complaints

Exhibit 4.4 shows that, most number of queries were regarding the herbicide products for various crops viz. Pre plant herbicides, pre emergent herbicides and post emergent herbicides. These were followed by queries regarding fungicides majorly for blight, blast, rot etc. Insects like BPH, aphids jassids, cut worm ,leaf folder were a great nuisance.

Queries
Herbicides(45%) Fungicides(15%) Others(18%) Insecticides(12%) enzymes & Suppliments(10%)

18% 10% 15% 12% 45%

Exhibit 4.4: Queries regarding various group of products (Here others signify the queries regarding damage control due to the use of wrong chemical or improper dose and enquiries about the hybrid seeds and cultivation practices and bacterial disease).

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The majority of calls as indicated in Exhibit 4.5 were regarding the problems of the paddy crop, followed by sugarcane and brinjal. The most prevalent problem in the paddy crop was that of the weeds. Other problems were, yellowing of nursery, root cutters, leaf folders and BPH etc. In sugarcane also, the main problem was that of the weeds and stem borer. Brinjal crop suffered with the problems like FSB, white fly, and flower/ fruit drop. One thing that was evident in the crops like turmeric, vegetable crops, and MAPs was that, there is no post emergent herbicide for these crops. Some calls were made after the application of wrong chemical or wrong dose of chemical and the caller wanted a damage control formula. This shows that, the farmers dont have reliable source of information and in certain cases, they use way more chemical than the required/ recommended dose. One more thing that was evident from the calls was that farmers use reactive strategies in the application of crop protection chemicals i.e. they apply the chemical after the attack of the pest or after the deficiency symptom is visible.

Calls for various crops

40% 35% Percentage of calls 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 9% 8% 6% 6% 8% 5% 4% 4% 3% 4% 4% 5% 34%

Crops

Exhibit 4.5: Queries regarding major crops

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Since the majority of queries were regarding the weed problem so as obvious, the solutions and recommendations were regarding the herbicides in most of the cases. Next to it, the fungal diseases were a major cause of concern among the farmers. Insect infestation comes in the next place with the main problems regarding mahu, sundi, FSB, foonga etc. Bacterial infection was also noted in some of the cases. Shown below in the Exhibit 4.6 are the products which were recommended as a solution for the various problems.

Products recommended
30% 25% 25% Percentage of calls 20% 15% 10% 5% 5% 0% 9% 7% 8% 4% 5% 5% 5% 3% 3% 3% 4% 5% 3% 7%

RIL products

Exhibit4.6: Products recommended

It is clearly evident that Taarak among the herbicides leads the chart, as paddy being the main crop of this season, and UP being among the top producers of rice in the country, thanks to the soil type and availability of water, which are, both highly conducive of the rice production except in some regions.

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5.2

Review of The Work Being Done By The Field Staff:

Shown below is the bar graph in the Exhibit 4.7 which shows the calls from various territories. As is clearly evident from the graph, that the maximum number of calls (incoming) were received from the territory of Gorakhpur, followed closely by Faizabad and Shahjahanpur. Thus indicating that the field staff in the above mentioned territories are visiting the farmers on regular basis (encouraging them to use the helpline).

Territorywise incoming calls

18% 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% 16% 14% 9% 10% 8% 3% 4% 3% 3% 4% 8% 3% 0% 15%

Percentage of calls

Territories

Exhibit 4.7: Incoming calls from various territories

82% of the calls out of 795 calls, were either from the farmers or directed to the farmers, and 18% were from dealers or retailers as shown in the Exhibit 4.8. The calls that the farmers made were mainly on the recommendations of the retailers i.e. mostly the farmers were standing in the shops and calling from the mobile phones of the retailers or in other cases, from their fields (as advised by the retailers) giving the live account of the symptoms.

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Ratio of callers
farmers(82%) dealers(18%)

18%

82%

Exhibit4.8: The ratio of callers (incoming + outgoing)

In the following Exhibit 4.9 we see that a majority of the callers are marginal farmers having a small land. These farmers were mainly growing either paddy or sugarcane in their fields

Classification of farmers
marginal(61%) small(17%) 4% 10% 17% medium(10%) large(4%) others(8%)

8%

61%

Exhibit 4.9: Ratio of callers on the basis of land holding (Here, others signify the people having few trees in their backyard or enquiring for their kitchen garden.) The farmers have been classified according to the following classification in Table 4.1
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Table 4.1: Classification of farmers based on land holdings Sl. No. Category of farmers Size of land Holding

1. 2. 3. 4.

Marginal Small Medium Large

Below 2 ha 2 to 4 ha 4 to 10 ha Above 10 ha

As is clearly visible in the following Exhibit 4.10, that the opinion of the retailer has a higher weightage with the farmer, followed by the suggestions of neighbours and friends and shockingly, the promotional activities does not influence the farmer very much. Indicating that the field staff is not able to influence the farmers and the money being used for the promotional activities is not giving the maximum outputs. The farmer does not go to the shop to purchase a certain brand of product but he goes there with a need and takes whatever the retailer has to offer.

sales influencers
retailers(56%) neighbours (29%) sales promotion(15%)

15% 29% 56%

Exhibit 4.10: Sale influencers

5.3 Farmers Voice: Products are very expensive Products are not available in time Proper advertising is not being done
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Field staff does not visit the farm as assured Dont know how to ensure that the product is genuine and not a fake Sources of timely & reliable information are few (read .non existent)

5.4

Findings: 1. Farmers are aware of the brand TATA but not Rallis India Ltd. 2. Duplicate products in the market are a nuisance. 3. There is a very thin margin between the frequent and infrequent users. 4. The segment of post emergent herbicides for vegetables and MAPs needs serious attention 5. The farmers need to be made aware about the use of right chemicals, in the right dose and at the right time. 6. The retailer has to be kept updated about the latest products. 7. One thing that is to be kept in mind here is that, the target group here is a price sensitive customer and price plays a big role in making the decision to purchase a product. Premium price leadership can only be practiced in the market when:

The customer is brand loyal We have the Market monopoly or The product is innovative, and competitors dont offer a substitute.

But as is evident, the customer (in most of the cases) buys a product on the basis of price and easy availability and brand loyalty is hard to find; moreover, the formulations are being sold by various companies, MNCs as well as local ones under different brand names. 8. Un availability of products at the time of demand is also causing the farmers to opt for other brands. 9. Herbicides are in greater demand and need greater attention and there is a plenty of scope for the other products specially, enzymes and supplements as they dont eat into the sales of various crop protection chemical 10. Push marketing is still a major phenomenon and so, the retailer or the front end dealer holds a great power. Promotional activities are having little influence. It was

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found that the promotional activities by the competitors especially Bayer crop sciences, were far more effective and influential. 11. The field staff is under trained and also not performing their job satisfactorily. 12. The practices that are adopted by the farmers in the application of crop protection chemicals are reactive in nature.

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6. RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Conclusion: Throughout this project of seven weeks, I talked to a large number of farmers and retailers and got the valuable insights into the farmers mind. The objectives of taking up the project were fulfilled as I was able to give a smooth and systematic start to the helpline, attending the calls for 11 hrs every day, sending messages to the registered farmers regarding the various products and the practices to be adopted for proper cultivation of crops and giving satisfactory solutions to the queries of the farmers and the retailers. Calling up the farmers I told them, what RKK was and how could they benefit from it, and by collecting some data under the earlier mentioned heads, I was able to know how the field staff is working and was able to give my report to the RM as an impartial person. Attending and making the calls, I came to know the level of awareness the farmers were having, about the RIL products and also the problems they were facing in the market like duplicate products, non availability of products on time, problems due to non availability of reliable and timely information and lack of sincerity on behalf of the field staff. one major observation was that, farmers are aware of the brand TATA but not Rallis and still cannot differentiate between the products of TATA chemicals and TATA Rallis.

5.2 Recommendations and Suggestions: 1. The helpline can be a toll free number which is also easy to remember (i.e. with multiple repeated digits). 2. A qualified person should be appointed for the job. The person can preferably be an agriculture graduate. He/she must be given training as how to handle the various sorts of customers. He/she should be well versed with the company literature and the cropping pattern followed in the region for which the helpline is being run. It is very important for him/her to be familiar with the local language and the common names used in the region to denote different kind of weeds, insects and disease etc. 3. A daily weather forecast can be provided, which will give an additional benefit to the farmers and will reduce the number of product efficacy related complaints from them.

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4. The field staff needs to me more technically sound and must be kept updated about the changing doses of the products overtime. Training programs for them can be conducted at regular intervals and care must be taken that they visit the promised place promptly as not doing so mars the company goodwill in the market. 5. The market is full of duplicate and poor quality, cheap products and farmers have difficulty in differentiating between the original and the fake ones. To counteract this, a certain mark of authenticity can be made on the product wrapper and that must be advertised vigorously so as to educate and aware the people about the difference between the fake and the original product. 6. Products should be made available at competitive prices in the market and a smooth flow of timely supplies should be maintained. The pack sizes should also be modified according to the changing dose of the chemical overtime. 7. The advertisements should be customised according to the place and People i.e. pamphlets and brochures hold no importance for an illiterate person. Likewise, the nukkad nataks that are performed in the villages, attracts a majority audience of kids, which I saw in most of the cases. 8. Schemes like scratch coupons can be launched, as the retail chains do, the farmer can be provided with membership cards on the purchase of a certain amount (wt.) of product or products of RIL and points added to the card, every time the farmer purchases RIL product, and as the farmer has certain number of points to his credit, he can be rewarded. 9. The regular farmer and dealer meetings can be conducted in more places so as to cover a larger population.

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REFERENCES

http/ www.amrc.org. / 7-10-2011 http/ www.nwda.gov.in/.pdf / 7-10-2011 http/ www.info.shine.com/ 7-10-2011 http/ www.indiainfoline.com/ 7-10-2011 http/ www.nabard.org/ 8-10-2011 http/www.livemint.com/ 8-10-2011 http/www.mapsofindia.com/ 10-10-2011

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