IFFCO’s Nano Biotechnology Research Centre signs MoU with IIT Delhi

New Delhi

The Nano Biotechnology Research Centre (NBRC), the research and development (R&D) unit of the world’s top fertilizer cooperative, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi for research consultancy, knowledge transfer and collaborative projects on July 20. This was stated in an IFFCO press release.

The release says that in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) and Atmanirbhar Krishi (self-reliant agriculture), IFFCO endeavours to develop highly advanced agricultural technological projects and promote precision farming and sustainable development in the country to double the farmers’ income by 2022.

According to the release, the collaboration emphasizes focused joint research through sharing laboratories of IIT Delhi and IFFCO and providing research consultancy.

The MoU will broaden the scope for research and technological development in the field of agriculture, says the release. It will facilitate advanced research in the area of nanotechnology for futuristic applications. The IFFCO scientists and engineers will work with the academic research faculty and scholars of IIT Delhi in addressing challenging agricultural and environmental problems to find an innovative solution.

Dr US Awasthi, MD, IFFCO said, “At IFFCO, we always look forward to adopting new technologies so that we can add value to the farmer at ground level. We also believe in creating sustainable innovative solutions to reduce the input cost of agriculture and farming and hence increase the income of farmers and that is the reason we were able to create (the) world’s 1st Nano Urea Liquid at IFFCO. We are also committed to sustainable agriculture and look for opportunities to create new solutions for sustainable farming to reduce environmental pollution.”

Welcoming this initiative, Prof. V Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi, said, “Impetus to research and innovations will help in achieving (a) modern agriculture system, which will be beneficial for (the) farmers of the country. IIT Delhi is happy to collaborate with IFFCO and work together on futuristic technologies of mutual interest.”

Prof. Anurag S Rathore, Dean, Corporate Relations, IIT Delhi, said, “It’s a matter of pride that this collaboration with IIT Delhi will benefit farmers immensely and (we) look forward to some engaging work in research areas like Nanotechnology and Material Science, Chemical Engineering, Agriculture Technologies, Environmental Science and Technology, Rural Development, Data Science, Nano-bio interface and many more in due course of time.”   

Earlier, IFFCO introduced World’s 1st Nano Urea Liquid through a proprietary technology developed at NBRC at Kalol. A 500ml bottle of IFFCO Nano Urea Liquid replaces at least one bag of conventional Urea thus reduces the input cost to farmers. For details, you may access the link https://eng.ruralvoice.in/cooperatives-17/iffco-launches-worlds-first-nano-urea-liquid.html

IIT Delhi is one of the 23 IITs created to be National Centres of Excellence for training, research and development in science, engineering and technology in India. In 2018, IIT Delhi received the special status of Institution of Eminence (IoE) from the Government, which gave it greater autonomy in various matters, including the hiring of foreign faculty and starting collaborations with foreign institutions.

IFFCO, over the past 54 years, has remained committed to the cause of the farmers by providing them world-class soil nutrients and agri-services, thus playing an important role in empowering them. It provides its services to more than 5 crore farmers with more than 35,000 cooperative societies across the country.