PJ Margo: An Eco-Friendly Agri Company

Pradeep Jaipuria | Founder and MD | PJ Margo

Founded in the year 1992, Bangalore-based PJ Margo Pvt. Ltd. is one of the leading Ecofriendly Agri Inputs companies in India. The company is providing wide range of Products and Crop solutions for farmers. It has pioneered the manufacture and export of Azadirachtin Technical, and Neem Seed Oil from India to its national and international customers for over twenty five years. The company offers safe, effective, and environment-friendly crop protection and yield enhancement inputs that are certified for use in organic farming and integrated pest management (IPM) programs.
Person Behind The Company 
Pradeep Jaipuria; Founder and the Managing Director
A Chemical Engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Pradeep was responsible for negotiating the Licence and the Supply Agreement with the technology provider WR Grace & Co, USA.Thereafter, he was responsible for Designing and Engineering PJ Margo’s commercial facility
for manufacture of Azadirachtin by scaling up the bench scale technology provided by Grace. Subsequently, he set up the formulation unit for Azadirachtin and established the domestic marketing arm, Margo Biocontrol Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of PJ Margo.
More About PJ Margo 
PJ Margo Pvt. Ltd. is a joint venture (JV) between the Jaipurias and Certis USA, LLC – a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui, Japan. Certis USA, LLC is one of the largest international biopesticides company, providing a wide range of biologicals products for crop management such as Insecticides, Fungicides, Bactericides, Miticides, Nematicides, Herbicides and Abiotic stress management; all derived from natural sources.
The Jaipuria’s have been in the NEEM business from the year 1976 and grew into becoming the largest collectors and processors of NEEM in the country. With the Development of Technology to extract Azadirachtin – the active ingredient – from Neem seed, it was a natural progression to move into manufacturing and marketing of value-added products like Azadirachtin and its formulations for crop protection. Consequently, PJ Margo was promoted as a 50:50 Joint Venture with WR Grace in 1992. In 1997, Grace sold its biopesticide business to Thermo Trilogy, who in turn sold this business to CERTIS USA LLC, the current JV Partner since 2001.
Margo Group develops, manufactures, and markets natural Bio-pesticides, Bio-stimulants and Bio Fertilizers of microbial origins under the brand name “MARGO”. Several other products were also added to the company’s product portfolio including – Bio-active Humic Substance based Biostimulants, Bio- Insecticides, Bio-fertilizers and Adjuvants. 
All products made by the company and sold under the brand name MARGO are approved for use in Organic Agriculture. Margo has entered into partnerships with leading Fertilizer and Agrochemical companies to supply products under their label and through their marketing networks to increase the distribution footprint for quality Agri Inputs to the farming community. 
Delivering Enriched Solutions 
MARGO produces Azadirachtin Technical, Neem Oil and a range of Bio-Insecticides, Bio-fertilizers,
Bio Stimulants and Adjuvants, categorized as given below:
Bio- Insecticides

1. Azadirachtin Technical Powder. 

2. Neem formulations in EC form:
3. Ecotin® – with 5.0% Azadirachtin;
4. Econeem Plus® – with 1.0% Azadirachtin;
5. Econeem® – with 0.3% Azadirachtin;
6. Neem 1500 – with 0.15% Azadirachtin and
7. Neem 300 – with 0.03% Azadirachtin. 

® 3. Tricure – Neem Oil based fungicide 

4. Various microbial bio-control agents such as:

® a. Ecoderma – Trichoderma viride (1.0% WP )
® b. Ecoderma H – Trichoderma harzianum
(1.0% WP )
® c. Ecomonas – Pseudomonas uorescens
(1.0% WP ) and
® d. Ecocill – Verticillium chlamydosporium
(1.0 % WP)

5. Imported – for sale within India:

® a. Deln – Bascillus Thuringiensis (Bt-k –) and
® b. Basamid – Dazomet Technical a Soil Sterilant
Bio Stimulants

6. Bio-active Humic substances:
7. Ecohume® Liquid and
8. Ecohume GR® Granules. 

Adjuvants

7. Adjuvants as follows:
8. Ecospread® – a Super Spreading agent and
9. Margowet® – a Wetting agent. 

Bio-fertilizers

8. Ecorrhiza® – VAM based bio-fertilizer, in Granular

form 

9. Range of 6 different formulations for Nutrient

management – Bio-fertilizers with NPK.

1. Ecotobactor® – Azotobacter based Nitrogen

Fixing Bacteria

1. Ecozobium® – Rhizobium based Nitrogen Fixing

Bacteria

1. Ecoshoot® – Phosphate solubilizing Bacteria
2. Ecoboost® – Potash mobilizing Bacteria
3. Ecotonic® – Azotobacter Based NPK Consortia

and

1. Ecomagic® – Rhizobium Based NPK Consortia

Products in the pesticide ranges are registered with CIB and those under the fertilizer range are registered with FCO. Most of the products are certied for use in Organic Farming by Ecocert and IMO Controls.
MARGO products are effective as part of Integrated Pest Management Programmes and help provide Insect Resistance Management and Residue Management in crops. 
Unique Selling Point 
Margo has a very strong technical base and Margo’s products are backed by experienced manufacturing and marketing teams. The quality and product developments are overseen by an in-house R&D, duly recognised by DSIR (Department of Science and Industrial Research). As a company, it is committed to manufacture quality products and support agriculture in an Eco-Friendly manner.
Margo has two flagship products, for the Indian Market::
Econeem Plus® – The is a EC formulation made with Azadirachtin a.i. and Neem Oil and has 1% or 10000 ppm of Azadirachtin Technical and provides all the Limonoids for effective insecticidal action. This product has been successfully and effectively used in Plantations; Horticulture and Fruits such as Grapes etc – specially against Fruit and Shoot Borers. This has also been a great success in the Cotton growing areas for controlling the Pink or American Bollworm. Margo believes that the 10000 ppm formulation is the best suited for most economical and effective delivery of Azadirachtin to the plants.
Ecohume® – a Plant-based Bio-stimulant – has been developed in-house from Renewable Agri resources. This product is performing excellently across the farming sectors – from Nursery to open Fields, Plantations, Horticulture and Floriculture crops under varied climatic and field conditions, by addressing the problems of abiotic stress and nutrient uptake from the soil.
Driving Force Behind the Company’s Success 
Jaipuria’s long association with procurement and deep knowledge of the processing of Neem is an inherent strength. This along with the passion and commitment to providing safe, effective and environment-friendly crop protection solutions for agriculture is the driving force behind the success of the company.
The main difficulty faced by the company was the initial nonacceptance of bio-products by the Indian farmer, mainly on account of a large number of substandard and non-registered products available in the market. Those would normally not perform and thereby gave Neem based products a bad name. Lot of hard work went into overcoming these issues and Neem products took a long time to be accepted as an effective agricultural product in the Indian market.
Giving Back to the Society 
The CSR initiatives taken by the company are wholly focused on child education and nourishment and women empowerment. The company sponsors Mid-Day meals program for children through the NGO “Akshaya Patra” in Karnataka. 
Driving to the Future 
The MARGO brand in the market is synonymous with high product quality; it has been regularly recognized as the Highest Exporter of Neem Oil from India. And, now more than ever, the company is growing at a rapid speed. The company’s turnover is approx. 100 Crores and it is aiming to grow by 100% in the next 3-4 Years.
A Piece of Advice for the Budding Entrepreneurs 
Pradeep said “A sincere advice to the budding entrepreneurs – Take care of the farmers’ interests first. Too many companies are still involved in marketing substandard inputs, leading to loss of crop and income for the farmer. These entrepreneurs need to maintain high ethical standards which will ensure a win-win situation for them and the farming community.”