A Study of Marketing Process and Implementation of Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (With Special Reference to Durg District of C.G.)

Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), a premier fertilizer cooperative in India is engaged in production and marketing of fertilizers. Since fertilizer is necessary input to increase production of various crops in the state, a very much scientific management approach is needed to make available the fertilizers to the farmers in the crops season when needed. Since the state of Chhattisgarh is an agricultural state only supply of the fertilizers is not the aim of the IFFCO management but proper utilization of the fertilizers is the field for sustained development of the production too. Because careless utilization may lead to increase the consumption gap among different fertilizers which can cause deflection of nutrients from soil and decrease the yield (Kg/Hectare).

The marketing universe has undergone tremendous change in the economic, technological, social and political sphere in a fast changing environment. Marketing Management has to meet the challenges of the change, achieve progress and prosperity through marketing innovation considering also the social aspects too. The consumer (farmers) and IFFCO will require the ultimate in strategies to produce profit sufficient for their survival under certain responsibilities to each other. The essence of IFFCO management concept will be based on two fundamental ideas-

1. Consumer's satisfaction is not only a means to earn profit, but also the socioeconomic justification for the survival of the industry.

2. The profitable satisfaction of customer wants, integration and coordination of all business activities that can be accomplished through farmer's education programme and fertilizers promotional activities through different agencies, particularly village cooperatives.