Sailesh C Mehta, vice chairman and managing director, Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation, was unanimously reelected as the chairman of the Fertilisers Association of India (FAI)-western region for the year 2009-2010 for the fifth consecutive year, at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Association held on Wednesday.

The western region of the association consists of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Goa. The region contributes about 40 per cent of the total fertiliser production capacity of the country.

Addressing the members, Mehta assured that the problems of the industry would be taken up at the appropriate level. He also stressed on the need to focus on the farmer and ensure higher productivity through judicious use of fertilisers.

He exhorted the members to address the needs of the soil and farmers in more scientific way to ensure upliftment of farming community through better productivity.

The FAI-WR also announced the winners of Mahadhan awards for Crop Productivity Improvement and Fertiliser Extension Services that had been announced last year. RCF Ltd was awarded the prize for Excellence in Crop Productivity Improvement while DFPCL was selected as winner of the Excellence in Fertiliser Extension Services award. The participating farmers as well as companies were felicitated.

To have unbiased and scientific working of the project, an award committee was set up under the chairmanship of S S Magar, Ex. vice chancellor, Babasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli and former president of Indian Agricultural Universities Association, New Delhi, alongwith R D Mulay, former director of agriculture, Maharashtra and D D Khose, regional executive, FAI-WR.

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