PPL for Farmers

Farmer Meetings

These meetings are held regularly in villages as part of the Jai Kisaan Navratna marketing calendar. Leading farmers are invited to share their success stories with their peers. Soil test results and recommendations are presented, and problems related to current crop cultivation and possible solutions are discussed.

Soil Health Days

We aim to spread awareness about soil health among farmers by conducting programmes around the theme 'Healthy Soil Wealthy Nation’. Team members ensure that the Soil Test Report & Recommendations (STRR) are shared with the farmers at the earliest.

Merchandising

To create brand visibility at points-of-sale and in prominent locations, we conduct shop and wall painting activities across all our markets. This helps enhance the reputation of our authorised dealers and retailers, making it easier for farmers to locate them.

Jai Jawan Jai Kisaan — 15 August 2022

Ex-servicemen are highly respected in rural India. Many of them take up farming after retiring from the armed forces and continue to remain active in their communities, serving as mentors to the village youth. To honour their contribution to the nation, both in uniform and as successful farmers, we organise Jai Jawan Jai Kisaan events every year on India’s Independence Day, 15th August.

On the occasion of our 75th Independence Day in 2022, we celebrated Jai Jawan Jai Kisaan across all our operating territories by felicitating these soldier-farmers. The theme of these events was ‘जय जवान जय किसान – तिरंगा फहराकर, बढ़ाएंगे देश का मान!’

A total of 128 Jai Jawan Jai Kisaan events were held across India, honouring 231 soldier-farmers.

Jai Kisaan Diwas – 23 December, 2022

In line with our Farmer First philosophy, we celebrate Jai Kisaan Diwas on 23rd December, the day designated as Farmers’ Day by the Government of India.

On 23rd December, 2022, we organised 127 Jai Kisaan Diwas events across the country. The events were held around the theme ‘Aapne nibhayi krishi ki zimmedari, yeh desh hai aapka aabhari’.

These programmes were attended by over 8,800 farmers.

PPL is operating the Farmer Training School (FTS) in PPP mode with Government of Odisha to enhance the agri skills of farmers through agricultural awareness in a classroom setting. FTS was initiated in 2011 with the objective of exposing farmers to best practices and successful models for improving their knowledge on modern agricultural practices of crop production, thereby increasing their income.

The FTS training facility at Bhubaneswar is equipped with modern training aids, and also houses an explanatory museum showing key aspects of agriculture for training purposes through an effective display using three dimensional clay models.

As of now, the school has provided training to more than 11,629 progressive farmers from different states. The institution also leverages expertise from other reputed institutions and facilities. It provides both intensive and extensive demonstration-cum-exposure visits for farmers at reputed institutions like CHES, NRRI, CIWA, CTCRI, CIFA and OUAT so that they can acquire knowledge through firsthand experience.

FTS has become a preferred training facility for farmers not only in the state of Odisha, but also adjacent states. As the training programmes are followed up through direct contact by the technical teams at village level, the farmers are able to apply the training inputs, and also adopt new technologies and practices in the process for improved production, increasing their own income through lucrative farming. PPL has an extensive outreach and connects with farmers and farmer producer organisation (FPOs) through ‘Serving Farmers Saving Farming’ initiative across the state of Odisha and adjacent states. It is the only institution which shows a beacon of light through best agricultural practices for the development of farmers. As part of the initiative, a large-scale farming community is trained in scientific crop management practices and agronomic practices to eventually raise the contribution of the agricultural sector at the state and national level.

Through the Hello Jaikisan call centre, the farmers are constantly followed up and are also being engaged through various social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube. This promotes the best agricultural practices and makes them feel honoured. Sensitisation activities, innovation, and modern scientific agricultural practices are deemed the cornerstone for farmers' success in every aspect.

Currently, climate change poses the biggest threat to the agriculture sector. PPL has developed strategies to meet this challenge without affecting farmers' income through the concept of 'Farmers' Field School'.

The identification of gaps, challenges, and solutions is key to the success of the agriculture sector, primarily in the water-logging low lands, saline lands, and hilly areas. Therefore, we hold vigorous brainstorming sessions with various agriculture scientists from different institutions. Training modules are then designed catering to area-specific problems and training is imparted to farmers at their doorsteps. Although agricultural challenges in low lands, high lands, fertile lands, and barren lands stand in contrast to each other, organic manure is found to be an essential input to mitigate the varied agricultural crises. PPL is thus shifting its focus from purely chemical fertilizers to a blend of both chemical and organic manure, allowing the texture of the soil to respond to the manure in a steady and eco-friendly way. We take all the necessary precautions to keep the micronutrients and biodiversity safe from the perils of unethical agricultural practices.

The brand’s Facebook page engages with farmers from various states, using their native languages to communicate. Regional representatives are managing concerns and inquiries from farmers regarding product supply and crop guidance. The company is also making efforts to personally visit farmers' fields in order to gain a better understanding of their individual needs.

Technical information is disseminated to the farmers through regular Facebook Live programmes that are increasingly gaining traction among farmers. Additionally, the company has been running targeted digital media campaigns aimed at promoting their products to farmers in several states including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Odisha, Karnataka, and Chhattisgarh since 2019.

We reached 20.6 million farmers through digital campaigns during 2022-23.