CROP SOLUTIONS – AGRISHINE

Crop Solutions includes plant nutrition, plant protection, seeds and lawn and garden clusters that plays a vital role in supporting the country’s agriculture sector aiding yield maximization and resilience against adverse factors.

 

The Crop Solutions sector plays a vital role in supporting the country’s agriculture sector aiding yield maximisation and managing disease, weeds and pests of the crops cultivated. Activities in the cluster comprises importing, formulating and distributing a range of agro chemicals comprising weedicides, fungicides, pesticides, plant stimulants and fertilizer. It is the leading private sector player in the Agri Input market. An early mover in the field, CIC’s tacit knowledge of the industry is a key competitive advantage

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Lawn & Garden

CIC’s Lawn & Garden business is the newest division of the CIC Holdings’ Crop Solutions business unit, having being established in 2011. This business oversees three key areas: urban pest management, specialised crop nutrients and stimulants, and vector management.

 

Sri Lanka is a country undergoing a rapid development phase, and this development brings with it higher per-capita income, which subsequently results in a need to maintain a higher standard of living. The booming growth in the urban areas and with it the urban population and the increased numbers of tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka mean that a growing number of consumers demand pest control and management. CIC’s Lawn and Garden Business operates within this segment, providing a range of chemicals that help in the control of pests.

 

The second key area in which the business is involved is providing specialised fertilisers and specialised plant stimulants for the cultivators of the country. The target market for this area includes growers of fruits, vegetables, ornamental flowering plants, or any other crop. The need for these nutrients and stimulants has been enhanced by the widespread use of hybrid crop varieties, which have been gaining popularity worldwide, and are even produced in Sri Lanka. These hybrid varieties require the right combination of nutrients in order to provide maximum yield, thereby ensuring food security, which has become a major global area of concern in recent times. The nutrients provided are not only administered through the soil, but also as sprays administered directly on the leaves of the plants.

 

The third key area in which the Lawn & Garden business operates is vector management. Vectors, in this sense of the word, include animals that spread diseases, such as mosquitoes, flies, cockroaches, rodents, and other animals. The increased prevalence of diseases such as dengue and chikungunya, and the threat of diseases such as the Zika virus (which has not yet been found in Sri Lanka) has made the government and non-government bodies aware of the need to eradicate or control the spread of dangerous vectors from the environment, especially in highly populated areas. The Lawn & Garden business, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, recently launched their first locally synthesised pheromone trap to manage the fruit fry problem in Sri Lanka in early 2016. This was the first product introduced in the new range of pheromone products. As there are no synthetic pesticides available to control fruit flies in Sri Lanka, this has been regarded a great success achieved by using a private public partnership. In accomplishing this feat, CIC joined hands with the Sri Lanka National Research Council and the Industrial Technology Institute to extract, purify, and formulate a para-pheromone from a variety of Maduruthala – Thulsi (Ocimum Sanctum) that can be used to attract, trap, and control male fruit flies.

 

The company’s sales strategy includes institutional sales as well as sales through distributors who provide the required chemicals to the cultivator market.

 

CIC’s Lawn & Garden business represents internationally renowned chemical companies such as Aglukon GmbH (Germany), Linde AG (Germany), Zagro Pte Ltd (Singapore), and Syngenta International AG (Switzerland).

 

In terms of market share, the business is highly reputed despite being a relatively young entrant to the market. The Urban Pest Management division is the top provider of chemicals to all 46 registered pest control operators in Sri Lanka. The Specialized Fertilizer and Stimulant division is in the top 3 in Sri Lanka, and the Vector Management division is also at the top of the market, as it applies for all government tenders and generally wins contracts every time. This success is owed to the backing of the CIC group and their reputation for excellence.

 

It is this reputation and the quality products and services provided that allowed the Lawn & Garden Business to grow quite rapidly from the time it was founded.

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Plant Nutrition (Fertiliser)

CIC Pohora, the fertiliser unit of CIC Holdings was formed in January 1993 with the acquisition of Ceylon Tobacco Company’s fertiliser business. The rapid growth of sales since its inception led to the expansion of the company’s blending facilities from a single plant in Kurunegala to two more at Peliyagoda and Maho. The blending facility in Maho was terminated in 2007 to make way for a high tech rice processing plant.

 

CIC Pohora owns and maintains the only computer-operated fertiliser blending plants in Sri Lanka. The facilities are also equipped with laboratories that ensure the uniformity and accuracy of the composition of all fertiliser blends.

 

Computerised blending was only one of the pioneering steps taken by CIC Pohora. The modern concept of ‘Balanced Plant Nutrition’ was also introduced, along with micro nutrient fertiliser and fertiliser products for fertigation. CIC Pohora is the first and so far only fertiliser company in Sri Lanka to be awarded the ISO 9001 certification for system quality.

 

CIC Pohora operates under the following philosophy:

“Helping Sri Lankan agriculture grow while improving rural living standards through increased household net income.”

 

CIC Pohora is driven by the following Vision:

“To be the leader in the Agri Business Sector with the Best Quality Standards & Corporate Values.”

 

CIC Pohora’s Mission Statement is as follows:

“To achieve market leadership through excellence in product quality and customer Services.”

 

CIC Fertilisers (Pvt) Ltd is committed to a strict quality policy that included the following:

 

  • Use appropriate scientific practices and improved technology to develop superior fertiliser products and meet market need
  • Engage competent human resources and provide opportunities to enhance their skills
  • Continually improve quality of products and services in order to satisfy the customers
  • Ensure that products and practices are in compliance with regulatory requirements

 

CIC Fertilisers takes great pride in its achievements in the fertiliser industry, including being the market leader in the industry, pioneering computerised blending technology for fertiliser, the introduction of the use of a scientific crop-need basis, the introduction of a balanced plant nutrition concept to enrich soil fertility and to achieve higher yields, the introduction of locally formulated fertiliser mixtures for fertigation, being the only ISO 9001 certified fertiliser company in Sri Lanka, and establishing a soil, water, and plant analysis laboratory to make fertiliser recommendations based on crop needs.

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Plant Protection (Agro Chemicals)

Plant Protection is covered by two of CIC’s key business units:

  • CIC Crop Solutions
  • CIC Crop Guard

CIC Crop Solutions

CIC Crop Solutions is the leading supplier of crop protection solutions for Sri Lankan cultivators. Its main areas of operation involve the management of weeds, insects, and diseases, with solutions provided ranging from organic and bio pesticides to synthetic chemicals.

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For more than 50 years, CIC Crop solutions has represented Syngenta AG Switzerland, a research giant in the global pesticide industry, as their exclusive business partner for Sri Lanka, enhancing farmer income by providing total plant protection solutions for crop growers of the country.

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Despite adverse weather conditions, the Crop Solutions business unit grew substantially. Growth can be mainly attributed to the sales of its two flagship herbicide products “Solito” and “Profit” and the first and only insecticide mixture produced in the country, named “Virtako”. The company is pleased to highlight that there has been minimum impact as a result of the government ban on certain types of pesticides as it did not have most of these banned products in its range. Furthermore, in anticipation of the bans of more types of pesticide products, the company has already started registering alternative chemical compounds to ensure minimum adversities to the company.

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The main success factor of promoting new technologies among cultivators is extension arm of the business unit. They provide total solution to the farmer while promoting safe and responsible use of crop protection products

The company also owns a state-of-the-art repacking and formulation centre for pesticides and related products that has been awarded the ISO 9001:2008 system certification for quality management, ISO 14001:2004 system certification for environmental management, and OSHAS 18001:2007 system certification for occupational health and safety management systems for worker safety. The repacking and formulation centre also offers its services to the CIC Crop Guard and CIC Lawn and Garden divisions.

 

CIC Crop Guard

CIC Crop Guard imports, formulates, and markets agricultural crop pesticides, working closely with the farming community to formulate non-residual pesticides that work effectively against any pest or disease affecting their crops.

 

Farmers are educated on the use of technology in agriculture and the safe, effective use of pesticides. This allows their costs to be reduced and enables yields to be maximised. Crop Guard’s suppliers consist of some of the world’s leading agrochemical companies and all pesticides are approved by the Registrar of Pesticides.

 

Despite the ban of Glyphosate and adverse weather conditions affecting sales volumes negatively, the increase in sales in other product lines helped sustain a reasonable revenue growth rate of 10% in 2014/2015.

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CIC Holdings