Fertilizer Plant

BEC remains firmly committed to the Agriculture Sector with the long term objectives of improving Crop Yields through modern Agriculture practices and application of proper Agro inputs like Fertilizers and Agro Chemicals.

BEC Fertilizers - The Fertilizer Division of the company manufactures and markets the popular brand of "ANAND" Single Super Phosphate (SSP). A range of NPK Fertilizers are being introduced shortly.

The Agro Chemicals Division manufactures and markets a range of plant Protection  Chemicals, Plant Hormones and Micro-nutrients.

Facilities for manufacture at BEC Fertilizers include a modern technology Fertilizers manufacturing complex at Bilaspur M.P., manufacture "ANAND" Single Super Phosphate and NPK Fertilizers. Another latest technology manufacturing complex for Plant Protection Chemicals, Plant Hormones and Micro-nutrients is being commissioned shortly.

"ANAND" a high quality Phosphoric Fertilizer with 16% P2O5 is a fertilizer of choice for variety of crops, for higher yields and better quality. NPK combination fertilizers of various strengths are widely in use in Indian Agriculture. These have proved to be convenient in application and ensure higher yields. We are aiming at a substantial market share for our product mix in this category.

Disease Free Crop condition is a dream of every farmer around the world. "ANAND" range of high quality Plant Protection chemicals with a full range of pesticides, herbicides, weedicides & fungicides, help the farmer top protect his crops from various diseases insuring a good quality rich harvest.

Growth Intensive Cultivation and high yield varieties of Crops lead to depleting of nutrients from soil and also cause improper growth of crops in the subsequent crop cycles. "ANAND" a range Plant Hormones Sulfuric Acid Plantand Micro-nutrients have proved very effective in correcting the imbalance.

Through the "ANAND" range of Plant Hormones, Plant  Protection Chemicals and "ANAND" Single Super Phosphate BEC Fertilizers have taken a firm root in the field of Agriculture, providing bumper harvest year after year to the farming community across the country. A distribution network of dealers and thousands of retailers take "ANAND" to the remotest of villages.

• ANAND Single Super Phosphate water Soluble P2O5 - 16%
• NPK - 20-20-0
• NPK - 12-32-16

B) Plant Hormones

• ANAND Vishal
• Cytokenin based plant hormone

C) Micro Nutrients

• ANAND Tarang
• Micro nutrient containing various minerals

D) Plant Protection Chemicals

• Acephate
• Butachlor
• Chlorpyriphos
• Cypermethrin
• D-Ethyl Ester
• Dichlorvos 
• Ethion
• Endosulphan
• Fenvalerate
• Isoprotutron
• Monocrotophos 
• Quinolphos

Chemical Crop Protection

• Chemical crop protection products or “pesticides” help control insects, diseases, weeds, fungi and other undesirable pests.
• Pesticides comprise a wide range of products for both professional and home applications including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, sanitizers, growth regulators, rodenticides, and soil fumigants.
• The use of chemical crop protection in all contexts is highly regulated.
• The regulatory framework of pesticides encompasses national, regional, and international legislation and conventions that help assure safety for users, consumers and the environment.

Chemical crop protection products, commonly referred to as pesticides or agrochemical products, play a vital role in controlling the pests and diseases that threaten our food supply.Consumers in the developed countries expect to choose from an abundant supply of fresh, high quality foods that meet our nutritional needs, whilst being affordable and accessible all year-round. As with many hallmarks of modern society, we take all of this for granted.

In developing countries chemical crop protection is used as a means to help farmers improve agricultural productivity, contribute to food security and alleviate poverty. Improvement if farmer community livelihoods, and the accompanying social benefits to developing economies have followed. With the growing global populations constantly challenging food production, crop protection products offer a means towards meeting the challenge of more food, less land.

Food crops must compete with 30,000 species of weeds, 3,000 species of nematodes and 10,000 species of plant-eating insects. We know that despite the use of modern crop protection products 20-40% of potential food production is still lost every year to pests. These losses can occur while the crop is growing in the field, when it is in storage and in the home. In short, an adequate, reliable food supply cannot be guaranteed without the use of crop protection products.

Whilst recognising the important role of pesticides in society, it is important to note that the safety of pesticides for users, consumers, and environmental impact is carefully regulated. Product registrations, permitting sale within a country, are based upon comprehensive safety assessments and defined product uses. Each product has a specific application that is clearly indicated on the label. Whilst these regulatory aspects are carefully considered prior to commercial sale, the lifecycle approach to pesticide management dictates that manufacturers extend their safety considerations through the entire lifespan of the product. This commitment is referred to as “product stewardship.”

Safety considerations pertaining directly to product use include education and training programmes that relay how products can be used safely and efficiently. Whilst avoiding some of the inherent risks of sometimes harmful or toxic chemicals is critical, end-users aware of the hazards and taking the recommended precautions are keen to learn how products can be more effectively applied to increase productivity and save input costs. These two concepts broach the areas of safe/responsible use and integrated pest management.

Safety of Pesticides

• Safety is an important concept to us all, and a guiding principle that governs our behaviour and respect towards others.
• In this context, the provision of human safety is an integral part of the pesticide industry’s commitment to its customers, stakeholders, and society at large.
• Significant resources are directed towards assessment of safety of crop protection products, and to ensure that new and existing products are compliant with relevant safety legislation.

The term safety encompasses a whole range of meanings, and the general provisions for safety, particularly human safety, guide most of our actions and behaviour in day to day life.  As safety is a habit as part of our lifestyle, safety is a watch word for the pesticide industry.

Through its own efforts, and those of responsible regulatory bodies, government and intergovernmental agencies, the plant science industry operates with safety at the forefront of its agenda.

Human Safety

• The human safety of pesticides is comprehensively assessed during product registration.
• This process is extremely detailed and makes pesticides some of the most highly regulated chemicals in the world in relation to their possible effects on human health.
• The World Health Organization (WHO), through its International Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) is concerned with the sound management of chemicals, including pesticides and their effects on human health.

Pesticides are amongst the most thoroughly tested chemicals around. Before a pesticide can be marketed, regulatory authorities must be satisfied that it poses no unacceptable risks to human health. In addition to the statutory requirements of registration and risk assessment therein, the plant science industry is a signatory to the UN FAO Code of Conduct, and implements a global product stewardship programme.

Safe Use and Integrated Pest Management projects aim to make pesticide application inherently safer through the training and education of farmers and other parties. The long-term, sustainable modification of farmer behavior towards safer and more efficient use of crop protection products is a major goal of these programmes, particularly in developing countries.

Long held misconceptions about the impact of pesticide use on human health still remain, despite widespread realization that the risks to human safety are carefully controlled and monitored by government authorities around the world. Particular concern has long been expressed over chemicals that persist (i.e. take a long time to break down) or bioaccumulate (i.e. build up as residues in the body). Through these comprehensive regulatory procedures and frequent review, such chemicals are no longer used to make pesticides. Modern pesticides do not stay in the body after exposure – they degrade and disappear quickly.

The plant science industry fully supports strong regulation and is committed to continuous development of improved products.

Industry has participated in various international fora dedicated to sound management of pesticides; of relevance here are those with particular reference to human health. The most significant of these in recent times has been the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS), which was established in 1994 in response to a recommendation adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment & Development in 1992. This organization is administered under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The IFCS operates a forum standing committee on Acutely Toxic Pesticides (ATP), a designation that that has been applied to crop protection products classified under the WHO’s class 1a and 1b classifications based upon acute toxicity. CropLife is one of the IFCS "Champions" under ATP, and therefore plays a part in advancing Forum IV recommendations and action items, and the IFCS Priorities for Action beyond 2000.

Environmental Safety

•  Environmental safety must be demonstrated before any product can be licensed for sale.
•  Safety must be based upon an assessment of potential risk and a clear definition of what is acceptable.
•  Risk assessments need to be based on a comparison of exposure and toxicity/hazard, not just hazard alone.
•  Internationally accepted protocols are used to develop environmental fate and ecotoxicological data.
  

Environmental safety must be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the regulators before a product can be licensed for sale.  This is normally done through an assessment of potential risk.  Risk assessments are generally based upon a comparison of potential exposure and the inherent toxicity (also known as hazard) of the product under a standard set of conditions.  If this ratio meets the regulator’s definition of “acceptable risk”, the product may be registered.  In some cases, the potential risk may be managed through the use of risk mitigation techniques (e.g., buffers, spray drift reduction, etc.).  These practices are in alignment with the CropLife’s Stewardship Principles and Sustainable Agricultural Practices.

Environmental safety is key in the regulatory process for crop protection products (CPPs).  Before a product can be sold, it must meet a set of national standards, to demonstrate its safety in use.  To do this takes several years of testing, usually under both laboratory and field conditions.  This includes for instance degradation studies, to determine what may happen to the active ingredient in soil, water, sediment and plants.  This data is then used to develop an understanding of what types of potential exposure may occur to organisms that reside in each of these environmental niches.

In addition to environmental fate and exposure modelling, a set of ecotoxicological data is generated.  This data is developed using “indicator species” which serve as guides to the potential response other organisms of the same general taxa (e.g., vertebrates, invertebrates and plants) may show.

The calculation of risk is then based on a comparison of the possible short- and long-term exposure that may occur in the various types of environment and the likely effect on the organisms one is trying to protect.  For example, in the aquatic area, ecotoxicological data is generally developed for fish, invertebrates and plants (algae).  This is expressed in terms of a concentration where an effect was observed (e.g., mortality, growth reduction, etc.).

If the ratio of potential exposure and effects meets a regulatory agency’s definition of “acceptable risk”, the product is considered suitable for registration.  The risk assessment process is usually performed using a tiered approach, that is starting with worst-case assumptions, and then progressing to more realistic conditions.

In some cases, the potential risk may be managed through the use of risk mitigation techniques (e.g., buffers, spray drift reduction, etc.).  These practices are in alignment with Good Agricultural Practices, CropLife’s Stewardship Principles and Sustainable Agricultural Practices.

Key in this process are:

• The use of risk assessment practices to assess whether the potential risks meet regulatory standards (i.e., acceptable risk)
• Assessments based on a comparison of exposure and toxicity/hazard, not just toxicity/hazard
• A clear definition of “acceptable risk”
• Use of mitigation techniques where necessary

Regulatory framework   

•  A comprehensive regulatory framework closely examines all phases of the pesticide product lifecycle.
• Regulation starts during product registration through regulatory bodies to assess fitness for sale and safety, to regulations governing use, allowable residue levels in food, and human health legislation governing acceptable usage practices.
• Major intergovernmental organisations, such as OECD, FAO, WHO and the Codex Commission play a vital role in the regulation of pesticides.
• With all the obligations inherent to the framework, harmonisation of regulations across trading bodies (ASEAN) and regions (European Union) has been sought as a way of streamlining the various processes.

The comprehensive regulatory framework that binds the plant science industry ensures the safety of pesticides for consumers, users, and the environment.Risk assessments and management of pesticides ensure that only 1 in 20,000 chemicals evaluated during the research and development phase actually make it to the farmer’s field. Re-registration procedures, and quality assurance schemes like the FAO/WHO Specifications ensure that inferior quality products are not allowed onto the market, and that global standards are maintained.

The FAO has developed a voluntary Code of Conduct for the distribution and use of pesticides, which is very broad in scope and sets minimum standards at all points of the manufacture, marketing and use chain. The Codex Alimentarius Commission, along with National Authorities sets limits on the permitted levels of pesticide residues in produce, so that the quality of food on supermarket shelves is assured. Other major international bodies like OECD and WHO provide forum for the discussion of pesticide regulatory issues and contribute towards an international regulatory framework that ensures pesticides are some of the most highly regulated chemicals in the world.