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Varadachari implants new life with bio-

release micronutrients

12 Aug, 2008, 0232 hrs IST,Moinak Mitra, ET Bureau

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NEW DELHI: Someone just breathed new life into plants at a fraction of thecost. Dr Chandrika Varadachari’s “bio-release micronutrients” is making wavesboth internationally and in India as the technology maintains plant fertility bymassively bringing down additional micronutrients during cultivation—dosagereduced to 1/10th-1/4th of current doses for micronutrient sulfates.

Having concluded five deals, Varadachari, the director of Kolkata’s RamanCentre for Applied and Interdisciplinary Sciences, expects to earn royalties tothe tune of 10 per cent of the turnover of each project sealed. So far, fertilisercompanies like the Hyderabad-based Sowbhagya Amino Inputs, theMuzaffarnagar-based Chakradhar Chemicals, Godrej Agrovet and the US-based AG Specialties and Brandt Consolidated have inked deals withVaradachari to use her invention in their production process. With sevenpatents in India and three US patents, Varadachari claims that more are in theoffing.

In essence, Varadachari’s invention is a product meant for agriculture andconfigured as a micronutrient fertiliser. A first of its kind, this micronutrient isinsoluble, whereas all micronutrients available the world over is soluble. Thatposes a problem—vital fertilisers are lost due to leaching. Therefore, in thenormal run, more micronutrients must be applied for sustaining plants, addingup costs. But being insoluble, bio-release micronutrients are availablethroughout the crop period helping the cultivator go ahead with a lower dose offertiliser and higher nutrient content.

In her endeavour, Varadachari is being helped by the Federation of IndianChambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) which is looking after the businessdevelopment of her invention in India, and IC2 Institute of the University ofTexas, which hawks the product globally. And with funding from LockheedMartin, Varadachari is betting big on her “environment-friendly” fertiliser.

For Narayan Rao, managing director of Sowbhagya Amino Inputs, the projectcost tots up to Rs 5 crore, wherein Varadachari will be the technical advisor.“With her (Varadachari’s) micronutrients, we’re going for commercial productionnext year under the brandname ‘Ployfert’ which is short for polyphosphatefertiliser...It has a huge export potential and won’t affect soil fertility because ofits insoluble nature,” says Rao.

Rao’s sentiment is echoed by Niraj Kedia, managing director of ChakradharChemicals, who has tied up with Varadachari for “increasing the efficiency ofthe fertiliser and bettering the environment”. Besides, “this technology comescheaper for farmers,” he adds. For Chakradhar, field trials have increased rice,wheat and corn yields from 11 per cent to 59 per cent. For the Rs 1,000-crore Godrej Agrovet, Varadachari’s micronutrients offer adifferent value proposition. ET learns that the company is exploring thepossibility of reducing boron consumption and the number of applications in ayear to improve crop yields. It is primarily interested in testing the slow-releaseboron fertiliser on oil palm.

Varadachari produced her micronutrients by simple methods using cheap rawmaterials and at low energy costs. The current US market alone is above $600million and the Indian market stands at over Rs 1,000 crore.

Varadachari’s brand of fertilisers are slated to cost approximately 60- 75 percent less than other micronutrient fertilisers (sulfate and chelate) due to lowdose and cost of readily available materials in polymeric phosphate compound.

To read business stories in �हदी click here.

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