The foregoing project entitled “a summer training project report on

the overall marketing strategy with special reference to

distribution efficiency at IFFCO Patna”, is hereby approved as a
creditable study of project topic and has been presented in
satisfactory manner to warrant its acceptance as prerequisite to the
degree for which it has been submitted.

It is understood that by this approval, the undersigned do not

necessarily endorse any conclusion drawn or opinion expressed
therein, but approve the project for the purpose for which it is
submitted.

(Internal Examiner) (External Examiner)

(Chairman)
Head of the Department

INDEX
S.No. PARTICULARS Pages
1 Acknowledgement 4
2 Purpose of the Project 5
CHAPTER TITLE
No.
3 1 Introduction about IFFCO 6
4 2 About the Topic 23
Research objective& Scope of
5 3 26
Research
Research Methodology &
6 4 29
Limitations
7 5 Data Analysis & Interpretation 33
8 Bibliography 40

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

2
My report has been possible only through the guidance and
help from various people. So I, hereby, take this opportunity
to thank all those people for their help and encouragement.

I am especially indebted to Dr. Pravir Shukla, Dy. Manager

(AS) of IFFCO, who gave me an golden opportunity to get
exposed to the wonderful idea and data of IFFCO.

I must also thank all the employees of IFFCO for their

support and contributions.

3
Purpose of the project

The purpose of this project was to know about marketing

strategy in general and distribution efficiency in particular
of the company in view of the fertilizer distributor as well
as consumer. I wanted to know about the awareness, market
demand, comparative quality and different aspects of
distribution pf IFFCO fertilizers, in order to test the
effectiveness of company’s respective policies

4
 Chapter 1

Introduction about IFFCO

5
 IFFCO: Indian Farmers' Success Story

During mid- sixties the Co-operative sector in India was

responsible for distribution of 70 per cent
of fertilizers consumed in the country. This Sector had
adequate infrastructure to distribute fertilizers but had
no production facilities of its own and hence dependent
on public/private Sectors for supplies. To overcome this
lacuna and to bridge the demand supply gap in the
country, a new cooperative society was conceived to
specifically cater to the requirements of farmers. It was
an unique venture in which the farmers of the country
through their own Co-operative Societies created this
new institution to safeguard their interests. The number
of co-operative societies associated with IFFCO has
risen from 57 in 1967 to 38, 155 at present.

6
Indian Farmers Fertilizer Co-operative Limited (IFFCO)
was registered on November 3, 1967 as a Multi-unit
Co-operative Society. On the enactment of the
Multistate Cooperative Societies act 1984 & 2002, the
Society is deemed to be registered as a Multistate
Cooperative Society. The Society is primarily engaged
in production and distribution of fertilizers.
The byelaws of the Society provide a broad frame work
for the activities of IFFCO as Cooperative Society.

IFFCO commissioned an ammonia - urea complex

at Kalol and the NPK/DAP plant at Kandla both in the
state of Gujarat in 1975. Another Ammonia - urea
complex was set up at Phulpur in the state of Uttar
Pradesh in 1981. The ammonia - urea unit
at Aonla was commissioned in 1988.

In 1993, IFFCO had drawn up a major expansion

programme of all the four plants under overall aegis of
IFFCO VISION 2000. The expansion projects at Aonla,
Kalol, Phulpur and Kandla have been completed on
schedule. Thus all the projects conceived as part of
Vision 2000 have been realised without time or cost
overruns. All the production units of IFFCO have
established a reputation for excellence and quality. A
new growth path has been chalked out to realise newer
dreams and greater heights through Vision 2010 which
is presently under implementation. As part of the new
vision, IFFCO has acquired fertilizer unit
at Paradeep in Orissa in September 2005. As a result of
these expansion projects and acquisition, IFFCO's

7
annual capacity has been increased to 3.69 million
tones of Urea and NPK/DAP equivalent to 1.71 million
tones of P2O5.

IFFCO has made strategic investments in several joint

ventures. Godavari Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd
(GFCL) & Indian Potash Ltd (IPL) in India, Industries
Chimiques du Senegal (ICS) in Senegal and Oman
India Fertilizer Company (OMIFCO) in Oman are
important fertilizer joint ventures. Indo Egyptian
Fertilizer Co (IEFC) in Egypt is under implementation.
As part of strategic diversification, IFFCO has entered
into several key sectors. IFFCO-Tokyo General
Insurance Ltd (ITGI) is a foray into general insurance
sector. Through ITGI, IFFCO has formulated new
services of benefit to farmers. 'Sankat

8
Haran Bima Yojana' provides free insurance cover to
farmers along with each bag of IFFCO fertilizer
purchased. To take the benefits of emerging concepts
like agricultural commodity trading, IFFCO has taken
equity in National Commodity and Derivative Exchange
(NCDEX) and National Collateral Management
Services Ltd (NCMSL). IFFCO Chattisgarh Power Ltd
(ICPL) which is under implementation is yet another
foray to move into core area of power. IFFCO is also
behind several other companies with the sole intention
of benefiting farmers.

The distribution of IFFCO's fertilizer is undertaken

through over 38155 co-operative societies. The entire
activities of Distribution, Sales and Promotion are
coordinated by Marketing Central Office (MKCO) at
New Delhi assisted by the Marketing offices in the field.
In addition, essential agro-inputs for crop production
are made available to the farmers through a chain of
158 Farmers Service Centre (FSC). IFFCO has
promoted several institutions and organizations to work
for the welfare of farmers, strengthening cooperative
movement, improve Indian agriculture. Indian Farm
Forestry Development Cooperative Ltd (IFFDC),
Cooperative Rural Development Trust (CORDET),
IFFCO Foundation, Kisan Sewa Trust belongs to this
category. An ambitious project 'ICT Initiatives for
Farmers and Cooperatives' is launched to promote e-
culture in rural India. IFFCO obsessively nurtures its
relations with farmers and undertakes a large number
of agricultural extension activities for their benefit

9
every year.

At IFFCO, the thirst for ever improving the services to

farmers and member co-operatives is insatiable,
commitment to quality is insurmountable and
harnessing of mother earths' bounty to drive hunger
away from India in an ecologically sustainable manner
is the prime mission. All that IFFCO cherishes in
exchange is an everlasting smile on the face of Indian
Farmer who forms the moving spirit behind this
mission.

IFFCO, to day, is a leading player in India's fertilizer

industry and is making substantial contribution to the
efforts of Indian Government to increase food grain
production in the country.

10
Some of the common fertilizer compositions used
in India are:

Nitrogenous fertilizers
Urea 46%N
Ammonium Sulphate(As) 21%N
Ammonium Chloride(ACI) 26%N
Calcium Ammonium 25%N
Nitrate(CAN)

Phosphatic & Potassic

Fertilizers
Single Super Phosphate(SSP) 16%P2O5
Muriate of Potash(MOP) 60%K2O
Sulphate of Potash(SOP) 48%K2O
Di-ammonium Phosphate(DAP) 18-46%P2O5
Rock Phosphate(RP) 16-20% P2O5

NPK Grades
10:26:26
12:32:16
14:35:14
15:15:15
16:20:00
17:17:17
19:19:19
20:20:00
23:23:00
28:28:00
IFFCO's Urea

11
IFFCO's Urea is not merely a source of 46% of nutrient
nitrogen for crops, but it is an integral part of millions of
farmers in India. A bag of IFFCO's urea is a constant source
of confidence and is a trusted companion for Indian farmer.

When farmers buy IFFCO's urea, they know that what they
get is not just a product but a complete package of services,
ably supported by a dedicated team of qualified personnel.
More importantly, they are aware that it is their own urea,
produced and supplied by a cooperative society owned by
them.

Urea is the most important nitrogenous fertiliser in the

country because of its high N content (46%N). Besides its
use in the crops, it is used as a cattle feed supplement to
replace a part of protein requirements. It has also numerous
industrial uses notably for production of plastics.

If urea is applied to bare soil surface significant quantities

of ammonia may be lost by volatilisation because of its
rapid hydrolysis to ammonium carbonate. The hydrolysis of
urea can be altered by the use of several compound called
urease inhibitors.

12
These inhibitors inactivate the enzyme and thereby prevent
the rapid hydrolysis of urea when it is added to soil. The
rapid hydrolysis of urea in soils is also responsible for
ammonia injury to seedlings if large quantities of this
material placed with or too close to the seed. Proper
placement of fertiliser urea with respect to seed can
eliminate this difficulty.

PLANT PERFORMANCE

13
Production
Since inception, IFFCO plants have cumulatively produced
1109.03 lakh MT fertilizer upto March 31, 2009. During the
year IFFCO produced 71.68 lakh MT fertilizers comprising
40.68 lakh MT Urea and 31 lakh MT NPK/DAP/NP.

Energy Conservation and Capacity Enhancement

For the year 2008-2009 the overall Specific Energy
Consumption per tonne of Urea for all the Plants together
during the year 2008-2009 was 5.941 Gcal/MT as against
5.907 Gcal/MT in the previous year.

MARKETING PERFORMANCE
Production is a continuous process and therefore, material
has to be dispatched continuously to the field warehouses as
silo capacity of plants is limited. The volume of fertilizers
handled has been increasing year after year and it has
touched a level of 86 lakh tonne in 2007-08 including 15
lakh tonne imported urea and 2 lakh tonne of DAP
fertilizers. This is no doubt a Herculean task and calls for
proper logistic planning as well as intensive marketing
strategy.

14
The overview activities of marketing during 2008-09 are as
under:

Warehousing
Warehousing is an essential function as production is a
continuous process whereas consumption is highly seasonal.
In order to make fertilizers available at the doorstep of the
farmers, IFFCO has hired warehouse space of 8 lakh tones
in about 1730 locations. The warehousing space is hired
from cooperatives, CWC and SWC, of which share of
cooperatives is about 66 percent. The average storage space
turnover during the year 2007-08 was 10.6 as against 9.2 in
2006-07.

Sales
The sale of IFFCO fertilizers during the year 1999-2000
was only 51.72 lakh MT. It has increased to 81.95 lakh MT
in 2005-06, 86.10 lakh MT in 2006-07 and to 93.24 lakh
MT during 2007-08. But it reached its highest figure ever to
112.58. Urea sales during 2008-09 were 58.69 lakh MT as
compared to 54.29 lakh MT during 2007-08. NPK/DAP
sales during 2008-09 was 53.89 lakh MT as against 38.94
lakh MT in 2007-08.

Marketing Productivity
The ‘Marketing Productivity’ per employee in Marketing
Division during 1999-2000 was 2688 MT per employee and
it reached a level of 7397 MT per employee in 2008-09.

15
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
IFFCO has always been an advocate of balanced
fertilization. The society believes that there is urgent need
to replenish the depleted micronutrients and secondary
nutrients. IFFCO has advocated a nutrient based subsidy
system. IFFCO has thus focused its agricultural extension
activities to educate the farmers on the concept of balanced
fertilizer use for sustainable agriculture. Educational and
promotional programs like field demonstrations, field days,
farmers meeting, seed multiplication, village adoption, crop
seminars and special campaigns including distribution of
CIP kits by our field staff are proving very effective in
transfer of technology.

FARMERS SERVICE CENTERS

THE Society has also pressed into service 158 Farmers
Service Centers spread across the country. These centers act
as a one stop shop for farmers in order to provide technical
guidance and make available all vital agro-inputs especially
for small and marginal Farmers.

IMPETUS TO COOPERATIVES
Strengthening nation’s cooperative fabric has been IFFCO’s
principle forte. To further improve the economic viability of
cooperative Societies, IFFCO has been developing some of
adopted Societies as ‘IFFCO Franchisee’ by giving the
business of rake handling, transportation and guidance to

16
undertake educational and promotional activities. 329
cooperative Societies have taken up the activity of
warehousing and 207 Societies have undertaken
transportation of fertilizers from warehousing to their
godowns and 34 Societies undertook rake handling and
transportation of fertilizers. IFFCO has instituted a lecture
series “Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial IFFCO Lecture” to
revitalize and re-emphasizes the beliefs Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru in the Cooperative Philosophy. IFFCO organizes
presentation of IFFCO “Sahakarita Ratan” and “Sahakarita
Bandhu” Awards to honour and encourage eminent
cooperators who have contributed towards strengthening the
cooperative movement in the country.

The IFFCO Group is a family of following group:

1. IFFCO Kisan Sewa Trust.

2. IFFCO Foundation.
3. IFFCO Exchange/Collateral Management.

17
 4. IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Ltd.
5. IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance Company(ITGI)

IFFCO KISAN SEWA TRUST

IFFCO has established a charitable trust known as “IFFCO
Kisan Trust” to provide relief and rehabilitation to victims
in the event of natural calamities like floods, earthquakes,
cyclones, landslides and droughts etc. IFFCO initially
contributed Rs.10 crore and has been making contribution
of Rs.1 crore every year. IFFCO employees also regularly
contribute to this Trust. The Trust is undertaking programs
ad projects aimed at improving the quality of life of
farmers. The Trust is undertaking programs and projects
aimed at improving the quality of life of farmers. The Trust
organized mega medical camp, eye check-up camps for the
farmers of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

IFFCO FOUNDATION
IFFCO laid the foundation of a ‘Think Tank’ ‘Brain Tank’
named “IFFCO Foundation” in January 2003. The main
objective of the “IFFCO Foundation” is to focus on
strengthening cooperative structure, developing social
capital and human resources and promoting cultural
development through cooperative organization,
empowerment of women and youth, development of micro
enterprise and micro credit concepts and pioneering reform
and advancements in cooperatives. Foundation has been
recognized as National Level Agency by Govt. of India for

18
implementation of Horticulture Program through
SHG/Cooperatives.

IFFCO EXCHANGE/COLLATERAL
MANAGEMENT

To empower the farmers by providing them range of

service, which includes price discovery, Price
dissemination, Risk hedging and providing a national level
trading platform. IFFCO stepped into the area of
Commodity Exchange by acquiring 12 percent stake in
National Commodities and Derivative Exchange (NCDEX)
in 2004. The exchange offers contracts in 51 commodities
which include 41 agriculture commodities, 2 energy, 6
metals and 2 bullion products. The exchange provides range
of services which include Price Discovery and Price
Dissemination.

IFFCO along with seven other institutions co-promoted

National Collateral Management Services Limited
(NCMSL), which is the first national level collateral
management company to be set up in India. On the
agricultural side, NCMSL provides Procurement, Storage
and Preservation, Quality testing and Certification,
Collateral Management and information Services. It
accredits were-houses, which meet the parameters for
scientific storage.

IFFCO KISAN SANCHAR LIMITED (IKSL)

19
IFFCO launched a new subsidiary viz. ‘IFFCO Kisan
Sanchar Ltd.’ (IKSL) with an aim to deploy Information
Communication Technology to empower farmers in rural
India and to strengthen the cooperative network in the
country. IKSL will identify the needs of telecom &
communication products and services which would add
value to the life of farmer and retail them directly through
the vast reach of cooperative societies.

IFFCO-TOKIO GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY

(ITGI)
Pursuant to IFFCO’s plans to diversify into areas other then
fertilizers, which can be beneficial for Indian farmer IFFCO
and TOKIO Marine and Fire Insurance Company Limited,
Japan established a joint venture company known as
IFFCO-TOKIO General Insurance Company Ltd (ITGI) for
undertaking general insurance business in India. IFFCO and
its associates have subscribed to 74% equity in share
holding of ITGI Ltd. The company operates through 51
branches across the company.

IFFCO PLANTS

KALOL PLANT:

20
The Kalol Plant which went on commercial stream in 1975
comprises production units of Ammonium, Urea and Dry
Ice along with necessary off-site facilities. Despite being
one of the oldest plants in the country, the unit is still
maintaining a fine performance level due to retrofits and
revamps carried out from time to time.

The plant produced 5.60 lakh MT of urea with capacity

utilization of 103% surpassing its previous record. The plant
bagged First Prize in fertilizer sector for National Energy
Conservation. The unit received Gujarat State Safety Award
and the certificate of “Lowest Disability Index”

KANDLA PLANT:
The Kandla unit, one of the oldest production outfits
churned out 24.76 lakh MT of NPK/DAP, the highest
quantity, during 2006-07 with a capacity utilization of
102.5%.

The unit has won FAI’s Awards for “Excellence in Safety”

and “Golden Peacock Environment Management Award”.
The unit is till holding good strength and is going well
ahead in the production race of DAP across the country.

PHULPUR PLANT:
The Phulpur plants (unit 1 and 2) registered the highest ever
annual production of 14.57 lakh MT of urea during the year
with the capacity utilization of 103%. The plant received
National Award for “Excellence in Water Management”

21
and second prize in “National Energy Conversation”
besides “Indira Gandhi Memorial National Award for
Excellence” and “Best Pollution Control Implementation
Gold Award”.

AONLA PLANT
Aonla 1&2 produced 17.70 lakh MT of urea with a capacity
utilization of over 102.4%. The unit received second prize
in fertilizer sector for the prestigious “National Energy
Conservation Award” and National award for “Excellence
in Energy Management”. The unit also won ICQESMS-
2007 Excellence award for papers published on “Safety and
Health in Chemical industry” and “Hazard Identification &
Risk Management”

PARADEEP PLANT:
After necessary revamping and modifications the Paradeep
Plant has started fertilizer production in April 2006. The
plant could roll out 7.50 lakh MT of DAP/NP in 2006-07.

22
 Chapter – 2

About the topic

“OVERALL MARKETING STRATEGY WITH

SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO ITS
DISTRIBUTION EFFECIENCY”

1.1 Description about the topic :

The project topic is the study of “overall marketing strategy

with special reference to its distribution efficiency”. Its
main focus is to find out the effectiveness of overall
marketing strategy in general and distribution strategy in
particular in view of the distributors and consumers.

23
1.2 Reasons for the selection of the topic :

The main reason for selecting this topic was the company’s
need to understand the efficacy of the relative policies and
strategies of the company. This market research based
review of the same would enable the company improve
upon its marketing policies and strategies in future.

1.3 Importance of the study to the organization :

Now a day, every organization is quite aware of the fact that

the success of their business
Depends on the level of customer satisfaction they are
providing. But customers herein are directly served by the
distributors, who in turn are fed by the producer. So if the
Company’s distribution strategy is not proper and is unable
to meet distributor’s needs properly in time to obtain their
best of cooperation, consumer satisfaction can’t be
enhanced. So is this study of distributor’s and consumer’s
feelings and views about the company’s products and their
marketability.

24
25
 CHAPTER – 3

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
&
SCOPE OF RESEARCH PROJECT

PROBLEM DEFINATION

 To find out whether fertilizers are being supplied in

time insufficient quantity to the distributors.
 To asses distributors cooperation level in term of stock
maintenance.
 To find out consumer’s awareness about IFFCO
product and their selection preference.

26
  In case they are not using IFFCO product, to find out
the reasons.

OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH REPORT

While making any research we should be very much clear
for all the objectives of the proposed research for this there
is a very simple test which can a person ask o himself
before putting any objectives, he can think on if this result
of this particular objective going to serve for the ultimate
goal or not. If the answer is a simple yes, then only the
objective should be considered worthwhile and worked
upon.

In this particular case, our objective was to test the

effectiveness of the Company’s distribution and
promotional strategy and to find out the areas of relative
strength and weakness. The ultimate purpose was to help
the management understand the problem and take suitable
measures to solve them.

SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH

For any research there is a workable area defined both for
collection of data and for using the data for making
decision. It is due to many constraints in our case the main
constraint was time and at the same time the research could
be conducted in a limited geographical area.

27
The research made by us was mainly being conducted in
Patna as well as the method adopted was to go to various
co-operative counters then verify the data given by them
and in the manner data was collected on specific brand of
respective product which are given in appendix attached
then all the data was compiled in one format.

TIME SCOPE
Our project study was restricted to a time period of one and
half month.

28
 CHAPTER – 4

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
AND LIMITATIONS

METHODLOGY
SOURCE OF DATA
There are two sources of collecting data:
1. Primary Source
2. Secondary Source

29
The survey conducted has been limited to the franchisee at
Bakhtiyarpur, Phulwarisharif, Bihta, Janipur, Danapur etc.
data was collected b both primary and secondary sources.

Primary data was collected in the form of survey through

the markets by asking some close and open ended questions
which helped in analyzing the changing trends and its effect
on already existing ones.

Our study is focused towards the co-operative due to the

fact that IFFCO co-operative are good sources of estimating
the market and collecting data.

Secondary data was collected through the Internet and past

data.

SAMPLE UNIT
The co-operative distributor, member and farmer’s in and
around Patna.

TYPE OF SAMPLING
Simple random sampling

SIZE OF SAMPLING

30
 Distributors – 20
Member – 100

DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT

Survey chart, Questionnaire, Internet, Past Data.

RESEARCH LIMITATION
The study could suffer from the following limitation:
1. Project is based upon data collected from Patna
therefore result may not be generalized for whole of
Bihar & India.

2. Correctness of survey is subjected to the correctness of

the respondents.

3. This project was to be completed within a short span of

time.

4. Study is based on a sample survey therefore it has

some inherent shortcoming of a sample study.

5. Co-operative, member and farmer had some personal

reasons for not responding to some of the questions.

31
32
 CHAPTER – 5

DATA ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION

&
PRESENTATION

Data collection process was mainly based on two

questionnaires – one for the cooperatives and the other for
the farmers. Both the questionnaires are presented here
under, before we go on to question wise analysis of the
responses obtained.

Questionnaire for Co-operatives

33
Co-operative’s Name :

Address :

No. of members :

Consumption Area :

Contact Person :

Contact No. :

1) Since how long has your organization been dealing with

IFFCO?

2) Please rank all types of IFFCO fertilizers with respect to

their market demand:

PRODUCT RANKING

a) NPK/DAP
b) UREA

3) Do you get as much supply of IFFCO Fertilizers as you

demand?

a) NPK/DAP Y/N
b) UREA Y/N

34
4) How is the timing of fertilizers supply?

PRODUCT TIMING

a) NPK/DAP Before time/ On time/ After time

b) UREA Before time/ On time/ After time

5) Do you maintain sufficient stock of fertilizers as and

when demanded by the market?

YES/NO

If No, then why

6) In your view what is the status of the quality of IFFCO

fertilizers as compared to other competing brands in the
market?

PRODUCT QUALITY

a) NPK/DAP Better / Best / Lesser

b) UREA Better / Best / Lesser

7) Please give some advice, if any which may promote the

IFFCO business.

35
 Questionnaire for Farmers
Name :

Address :

Farming Area :

1) Do you know about IFFCO Fertilizers?

36
 YES / NO

2) If yes, what types of fertilizers are produced by IFFCO?

a) NPK/DAP Y/N
b) UREA Y/N

3) What brands of fertilizers do you generally use?

IFFCO / Other / Both

4) If other or both, then why?

a) IFFCO Dealer is too far

Applicable / Not Applicable

b) IFFCO prices are higher

Applicable / Not Applicable

c) IFFCO quality is inferior

Applicable / Not Applicable

d) IFFCO fertilizers are not timely

available in the market
Applicable / Not Applicable

37
 e) IFFCO Fertilizers quality
Applicable / Not Applicable

f) None of the above

5) Please compare all types of IFFCO fertilizers quality

with other brands available in the
Market.

PRODUCT QUALITY

a) NPK/DAP Better / Same / Worse

b) UREA Better / Same / Worse
6) Please give some advice for promoting the use of IFFCO
fertilizer.

INTERPRETATION
According to the survey conducted on the Co-operatives we may
come to the following conclusions:

1. The demand for IFFCO’s Urea is more than its NPK/DAP. As

95% of the Co-operatives surveyed consented on this.

38
 2. The supply of the Fertilizer matches the demand with very
few exceptions.

3. The timing of the fertilizer’s supply is satisfactory.

4. The Co-operatives are usually keen to keep their stock up to

the level of demand in the market.

5. Quality wise the products are same with that of closet

competitors.

According to the survey conducted on the Farmers we may come to

the following conclusions:

1. All the farmers interviewed had heard about the IFFCO

Fertilizers.

2. 80% of the Farmers said they used IFFCO’s Fertilizer.

3. Quality wise the products are same with that of closet

competitors.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

S.No. Authors Name Books Name

1 Beri, G.C. Marketing Research

Website – www.iffco.nic.in

39