ESG EFFECT — OVERVIEW
Putting humanity first
At Agrocel, we believe that the objective of doing good, for both society and shareholders of the company, should coexist in harmony. Right from our humble beginnings, upgrading the livelihoods of the people of Kachchh has been the underlying reason for Agrocel’s existence. We have built our corporate strength by “putting humanity first” and creating value by utilising the local natural resources responsibly while providing quality job opportunities for the resident population.
Regardless of where we have reached today, we remain committed to delivering success, which cannot be measured just by numbers. Our ethos for “putting humanity first” remains intact, keeping us focused on upgrading the lives of the people of Kachchh while remembering that this was the very foundation of our existence as a company. Our strength lies in uplifting the ones who are underserved and building value by unchaining trapped resources and opportunities for them. In doing so, we are helping the society, creating value and maximizing shareholders’ wealth.
Today, we are amongst the many responsible corporates that have had a long history of creating value out of adversity and turning an impossible situation into one that is bountiful and full of prosperity. In the long run, our approach to corporate development serves the best interest of all our stakeholders.
Agrocel’s CSR Footprint
CSR Cluster in India:
- 1. Kutch, Gujarat
- Dhorodo, Bhuj, Kutch
- Khavda, Bhuj, Kutch
- Bhuj, Kutch
- Mandvi, Kutch
- 2. Bhavnagar(Avaniya), Gujarat
- 3. Vadodara, Gujarat
- 4. Jammu, India
- 5. New Delhi, India
- 6. Mumbai, Maharashtra
Disha Animal Care Centre
This project aims to deliver health care services to more than 20,000 animals and around 3,200+ Maldhar’s (cattle caretakers) with sustained clean milk production and with reduced mortality. Agrocel implemented this project through their implementation partner Vivekanand Research and Training Institute. Animal rearers from 23 villages and 42 vandh from Dhordo to Bhirandyara were impacted.
Education
Learning Delight is an online platform (application) engaged in improving the learning process of primary school students through the use of technology, which will revolutionise the way children are bring taught in schools. It is achieving this by digitising all content and making it much more interesting. We initiated a virtual classroom to significantly enhance the technology- adaptation skills of the primary - level students in all districts of Gujarat and prepare them to face the challenges of advanced study, thereby significantly reducing the drop-out rate post primary level. Through Learning Delight’s virtual classrooms, we broadcasted live sessions on academic subjects and value education. We broadcasted a total of 814 sessions and the total views amounted to 71,318 during the COVID-19 pandemic period.
Grassland Restoration
Agrocel is helping local villagers preserve their traditional lifestyles and fulfil their basic needs. One of the basic needs is cultivation of grass for animals by developing grass plots. This will contribute towards creating a financially self-sustained model for grass plot development in Dhordo, and Gorevali panchayat in the Banni region for the benefit of animals in the time of non-availability of fodder. This is an attempt to make “Aatmanirbhar Banni in terms of grass fodder” for its core business of cattle care. Revival of native grasses will balance the ecology and will enable the community to conserve it. In FY 2021, we restored around 630 acres (more than 900 acres in total) of grassland in Dhordo and Gorevali gram panchayat. By restoration of old grass plots, we secured fodder for around 1,500+ cattle for more than 100 days.
Vermiwash Project
Vermiwash is a liquid that is collected after the passage of water through a column of worm action and is especially useful as a foliar spray. It is a collection of excretory products and mucus secretion of earthworms along with micronutrients from the soil’s organic molecules. It promotes better root growth and nutrient absorption. It improves nutrient status of soil- both macronutrients and micronutrients. It can also be added to compost pits to hasten the degradation process. Vermiwash is the coelomic fluid extraction, which has enzymes that stimulate the growth and yield of crops. This project was initiated by Mr. Manojbhai Gohil, and covered three districts Kachchh, Bhavnagar and Vadodara under this project. We installed a total 250 vermiwash units in these districts. Installations include 150 units in Kachchh and 100 units in Bhavnagar.
Greenification Initiatives
Trees contribute to their environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, amelioration of climate, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife and also improved use of rainwater for greenification initiatives. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “One acre of forest absorbs six tons of carbon dioxide and puts out four tons of oxygen”. This is enough to meet the annual needs of 18 people. Under our greenification initiatives, the company has planted more than 65,000 seedlings of plants during FY 2021.
1. Revival of Art & Culture
The efforts to revive preserve and conserve of fine arts and folk culture of the nation. Shroff Family’s commitment to revive the crafts and culture is a journey since 1969 through various efforts. The efforts reached to 20,000 craftwomen in 120 remote communities through Shrujan. Shrujan committed itself to survival of all crafts of Kutch. The Living and Learning Design Center (LLDC), is an unique initiative “to bring art and craft enthusiasts from all over India and the world to Kutch; to revive, preserve and safeguard the rich and diverse craft heritage of Kutch.
2. Ecosystem Conservation
2.1 Awareness & Sensitization
2.2 Environment Conservation: - to include Grassland Restoration, Vermiwash Project,
AGROCEL initiated various efforts to conserve environment through afforestation in barren and deforested lands which improve quality of life of flora and fauna. In this, we promote indigenous species and plants in the region along with community participation.
Reach:
-
5 Years
-
2,38,000 + plants planted
-
95,000+ saplings of plants during FY2022-23 (as on Sept, 2022)
2.3 Soil & Water Conservation: - Greenification Initiatives
Based on the need of the area, AGROCEL initiated soil & water conservation initiatives in the year of 2017 with an aim to conserve rain water in the region. Various activities of this Initiatives are:
• Staggered Trenches
• Pond deepening
• Check dam repairing and deepening
• Roof rain water Harvesting structure for both individual and Institutional
Reach:
-
4 Years
-
135 Ponds Deepened, 6,94,285 CuM excavated
-
79 individual RRWHS constructed 5,63,000 liters rain water conserved
-
27 institutional RRWHS Constructed 3,85,000 liters rain water conserved
-
Cumulatively 6,95,233 CuM rain water conserved
3. Community Development
Agrocel’s Gram Swaraj initiative is continuously working to empower communities, PRIs with a focus to create self-reliant village. Major initiatives of this thematic innervations are
-
Education & Enlightenment (Agrocel’s Sanskar)
-
Health Initiatives (Agrocel’s Seva)
-
Livelihood Initiatives (Agrocel’s Samruddhi)
3.1 Education & Enlightenment (Agrocel’s Sanskar):- to include Education
Agrocel is working effortlessly to improve quality of education and make the future generation better social beings and citizens of the Country. Different initiatives under this thematic innervation, are:
3.1.1 Prabuddha Kutch: Prabuddha Kutch is an initiative to adopt 100 schools, with priority to remote locations within Kutch and offer them comprehensive support in a holistic manner to uplift and improve the levels of education in the schools and eventually make the future generation ready.
Reach:
-
3 Years
-
50 schools.
-
9000 + students covered in the 50 villages.
3.1.2 Partnership with different NGOs for improving quality of education:
-
Learning Delight is an online platform through which learning is made fun by including animation, riddles, puzzles and stories. In Gujarat’s rural and semi-urban area, this initiative has already impacted the educational systems over 10,000 schools.
-
Agrocel partnered with Children Toy Foundation (CFT) since 2018 to carry out its activities in remote 12 villages & schools in Kutch’s Banni areas. It provides inclusive, enjoyable and fun-way approach to improve their cognitive abilities of the children though different games and play. Toys and games are the medium that enhance the major domains of growth in physical, motor, intellectual and communication skills in children.
-
Agrocel teamed with SARD (Society for All Round Development) to promote IT-enbaled education through e-learning modules by operating the HP wow Bus. So far, we have reached 12 remote schools in Banni region of Bhuj Block.
3.2 Health Initiatives (Agrocel’s Seva)
Agrocel continuously working with communities of nearby villages of its manufacturing set up to improve their health condition. Various activities carried out under this are:
3.2.1 Health camp & Awareness
-
To provide some medical support to village people AGROCEL organised Medical camps in various village during the year.
-
Provides medicine at discounted rates to communities.
-
These camps helped people, who have no access to basic healthcare services or knowledge about the diseases they are suffering from.
-
Sensitized health related awareness, distribute medicines to treat common diseases and refer, as the case may be for surgery/treatment
-
700+ beneficiaries treated in every year.
3.2.2 Sharada Medical Center (SMC), Hodko:
Agrocel maintains a sustainable medical facility called Sharda Medical Center (SMC) in partnership with Shroff Foundation Trust to deliver high-quality, reasonably priced healthcare to the rural population of Banni, along with a mobile medical Unit (MMU).
Reach:
-
15 Years
-
Caters to health needs of more than 44 Village of Banni
-
11,000 to 12,000 patients annually benefited by curative services
-
21,000 patients annually benefited by Mobile Medical Unit (MMU)
3.2.3 Other Activities:
-
Agrocel supports “Shri Kutchi Leva Patel Education & Medical Trust”, for their new health intervention “K.K. Patel Super Specialty Hospital” with an objective to provide best quality health services at Bhuj. We extended our support in construction of “RADIATION ONCOLOGY DEPT” to provide treatment to cancer patients.
-
Agrocel supports “Bhojay Sarvoday Trust” to organize free “Gynec” camp in remote villages of Bhuj.
3.3 Livelihood Initiatives (Agrocel’s Samruddhi)
3.3.1: Animal Welfare Initiatives
-
Grassland Restoration, Banni : Agrocel is helping the Maldharies (herdsmen community) of the region local villagers to preserve their traditional lifestyles and fulfil their basic needs. Grassland Restoration in Banni area is one of the activities. In FY2021-22, We have restored 282 acres of grassland in Dhordo and Gorevali Panchayat. Cumulatively, we have restored more than 900 acres grassland.
-
DISHA” initiative: “DISHA” (Diversified Integrated Sustainable Health Care for Animal) is the project initiated in the year 2020 partnering with “Vivekanand Research and Training Institute” (VRTI) with an aim to cater health care services in 46 villages of Banni and Paccham area of Bhuj Taluka. It provides health care facilities and services to more than 30,000 animals every year.
-
Provision of Dry Fodder to needy: To protect 58 villages in the Banni and Pachham area from rigours of drought and lessen its impact on livestock, AGROCEL distributes in lean season. Cumulatively, in last 5 years, We have distributed 2080MT of fodder which covers 20,000 animals.
3.3.2: Agriculture Support Programme:
-
Micro Irrigation support program (Drip Irrigation): Agrocel encourages micro-irrigation among farmers to reduce water use & inputs cost while boosting output. For installation of micro-irrigation, we provide additional 10-12% subsidies to the farmers. This increases revenue of the farmers while saving water and other inputs. In FY 2022, we have covered 350 areas benefiting 210 farmers.
-
Vermiwash: As a part of an agriculture support programme to encourage natural farming, we work with small and marginal farmers of Kutch, Bhavnagar & Vadodara to promote vermi-wash. It promotes better root growth and nutrient absorption. Till date, we have promoted 700 vermi-wash unit benefiting 700 farmers.
4. Need Based Activity
Focus on the activities based on need of local area and national area.
-
Activities Based on need
-
Agrocel Employee Volunteering Activities – BeingTogether (Agrocel’s Sahabhagita)
Environment Conservation
Environment Conservation: - to include Grassland Restoration, Vermiwash Project,
AGROCEL initiated various efforts to conserve environment through afforestation in barren and deforested lands which improve quality of life of flora and fauna. In this, we promote indigenous species and plants in the region along with community participation.
Reach:
-
5 Years
-
2,38,000 + plants planted
-
95,000+ saplings of plants during FY2022-23 (as on Sept, 2022)
Grassland Restoration
Agrocel is helping local villagers preserve their traditional lifestyles and fulfil their basic needs. One of the basic needs is cultivation of grass for animals by developing grass plots. This will contribute towards creating a financially self-sustained model for grass plot development in Dhordo, and Gorevali panchayat in the Banni region for the benefit of animals in the time of non-availability of fodder. This is an attempt to make “Aatmanirbhar Banni in terms of grass fodder” for its core business of cattle care. Revival of native grasses will balance the ecology and will enable the community to conserve it. In FY 2021, we restored around 630 acres (more than 900 acres in total) of grassland in Dhordo and Gorevali gram panchayat. By restoration of old grass plots, we secured fodder for around 1,500+ cattle for more than 100 days.
Vermiwash Project
Vermiwash is a liquid that is collected after the passage of water through a column of worm action and is especially useful as a foliar spray. It is a collection of excretory products and mucus secretion of earthworms along with micronutrients from the soil’s organic molecules. It promotes better root growth and nutrient absorption. It improves nutrient status of soil- both macronutrients and micronutrients. It can also be added to compost pits to hasten the degradation process. Vermiwash is the coelomic fluid extraction, which has enzymes that stimulate the growth and yield of crops. This project was initiated by Mr. Manojbhai Gohil, and covered three districts Kachchh, Bhavnagar and Vadodara under this project. We installed a total 250 vermiwash units in these districts. Installations include 150 units in Kachchh and 100 units in Bhavnagar.
Soil & Water Conservation
Soil & Water Conservation: - Greenification Initiatives
Based on the need of the area, AGROCEL initiated soil & water conservation initiatives in the year of 2017 with an aim to conserve rain water in the region. Various activities of this Initiatives are:
• Staggered Trenches
• Pond deepening
• Check dam repairing and deepening
• Roof rain water Harvesting structure for both individual and Institutional
Reach:
-
4 Years
-
135 Ponds Deepened, 6,94,285 CuM excavated
-
79 individual RRWHS constructed 5,63,000 liters rain water conserved
-
27 institutional RRWHS Constructed 3,85,000 liters rain water conserved
-
Cumulatively 6,95,233 CuM rain water conserved
Greenification Initiatives
Trees contribute to their environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, amelioration of climate, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife and also improved use of rainwater for greenification initiatives. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “One acre of forest absorbs six tons of carbon dioxide and puts out four tons of oxygen”. This is enough to meet the annual needs of 18 people. Under our greenification initiatives, the company has planted more than 65,000 seedlings of plants during FY 2021.
Education & Enlightenment (Agrocel’s Sanskar)
Education & Enlightenment (Agrocel’s Sanskar):- to include Education
Agrocel is working effortlessly to improve quality of education and make the future generation better social beings and citizens of the Country. Different initiatives under this thematic innervation, are:
Prabuddha Kutch: Prabuddha Kutch is an initiative to adopt 100 schools, with priority to remote locations within Kutch and offer them comprehensive support in a holistic manner to uplift and improve the levels of education in the schools and eventually make the future generation ready.
Reach:
-
3 Years
-
50 schools.
-
9000 + students covered in the 50 villages.
Partnership with different NGOs for improving quality of education:
-
Learning Delight is an online platform through which learning is made fun by including animation, riddles, puzzles and stories. In Gujarat’s rural and semi-urban area, this initiative has already impacted the educational systems over 10,000 schools.
-
Agrocel partnered with Children Toy Foundation (CFT) since 2018 to carry out its activities in remote 12 villages & schools in Kutch’s Banni areas. It provides inclusive, enjoyable and fun-way approach to improve their cognitive abilities of the children though different games and play. Toys and games are the medium that enhance the major domains of growth in physical, motor, intellectual and communication skills in children.
-
Agrocel teamed with SARD (Society for All Round Development) to promote IT-enbaled education through e-learning modules by operating the HP wow Bus. So far, we have reached 12 remote schools in Banni region of Bhuj Block.
Education
Learning Delight is an online platform (application) engaged in improving the learning process of primary school students through the use of technology, which will revolutionise the way children are bring taught in schools. It is achieving this by digitising all content and making it much more interesting. We initiated a virtual classroom to significantly enhance the technology- adaptation skills of the primary - level students in all districts of Gujarat and prepare them to face the challenges of advanced study, thereby significantly reducing the drop-out rate post primary level. Through Learning Delight’s virtual classrooms, we broadcasted live sessions on academic subjects and value education. We broadcasted a total of 814 sessions and the total views amounted to 71,318 during the COVID-19 pandemic period.
Health & Sanitation Initiatives (Agrocel’s Seva)
Health Initiatives (Agrocel’s Seva)
Agrocel continuously working with communities of nearby villages of its manufacturing set up to improve their health condition. Various activities carried out under this are:
Health camp & Awareness
-
To provide some medical support to village people AGROCEL organised Medical camps in various village during the year.
-
Provides medicine at discounted rates to communities.
-
These camps helped people, who have no access to basic healthcare services or knowledge about the diseases they are suffering from.
-
Sensitized health related awareness, distribute medicines to treat common diseases and refer, as the case may be for surgery/treatment
-
700+ beneficiaries treated in every year.
Sharada Medical Center (SMC), Hodko:
Agrocel maintains a sustainable medical facility called Sharda Medical Center (SMC) in partnership with Shroff Foundation Trust to deliver high-quality, reasonably priced healthcare to the rural population of Banni, along with a mobile medical Unit (MMU).
Reach:
-
15 Years
-
Caters to health needs of more than 44 Village of Banni
-
11,000 to 12,000 patients annually benefited by curative services
-
21,000 patients annually benefited by Mobile Medical Unit (MMU)
Other Activities:
-
Agrocel supports “Shri Kutchi Leva Patel Education & Medical Trust”, for their new health intervention “K.K. Patel Super Specialty Hospital” with an objective to provide best quality health services at Bhuj. We extended our support in construction of “RADIATION ONCOLOGY DEPT” to provide treatment to cancer patients.
-
Agrocel supports “Bhojay Sarvoday Trust” to organize free “Gynec” camp in remote villages of Bhuj.
Livelihood Initiatives (Agrocel’s Samruddhi)
Livelihood Initiatives (Agrocel’s Samruddhi)
Animal Welfare Initiatives
-
Grassland Restoration, Banni : Agrocel is helping the Maldharies (herdsmen community) of the region local villagers to preserve their traditional lifestyles and fulfil their basic needs. Grassland Restoration in Banni area is one of the activities. In FY2021-22, We have restored 282 acres of grassland in Dhordo and Gorevali Panchayat. Cumulatively, we have restored more than 900 acres grassland.
-
DISHA” initiative: “DISHA” (Diversified Integrated Sustainable Health Care for Animal) is the project initiated in the year 2020 partnering with “Vivekanand Research and Training Institute” (VRTI) with an aim to cater health care services in 46 villages of Banni and Paccham area of Bhuj Taluka. It provides health care facilities and services to more than 30,000 animals every year.
-
Provision of Dry Fodder to needy: To protect 58 villages in the Banni and Pachham area from rigours of drought and lessen its impact on livestock, AGROCEL distributes in lean season. Cumulatively, in last 5 years, We have distributed 2080MT of fodder which covers 20,000 animals.
Agriculture Support Programme:
-
Micro Irrigation support program (Drip Irrigation): Agrocel encourages micro-irrigation among farmers to reduce water use & inputs cost while boosting output. For installation of micro-irrigation, we provide additional 10-12% subsidies to the farmers. This increases revenue of the farmers while saving water and other inputs. In FY 2022, we have covered 350 areas benefiting 210 farmers.
-
Vermiwash: As a part of an agriculture support programme to encourage natural farming, we work with small and marginal farmers of Kutch, Bhavnagar & Vadodara to promote vermi-wash. It promotes better root growth and nutrient absorption. Till date, we have promoted 700 vermi-wash unit benefiting 700 farmers.