01
1970s
Hard Work In Kolkata
Shri Anath Bandhu Haldar travelled from village to Kolkata for factory work while staying connected with agriculture and farming.
Safarnama: From Struggle To Seed Brand Growth
Indo Japan Agro Seeds by Agriculture Centre carries a journey built on hard work, farming experience, nursery development and a strong commitment to farmers, dealers and agri-distributors.
A Journey Started From The Soil
The story begins with Shri Anath Bandhu Haldar, a landless agricultural labourer who worked hard to support his family while always keeping his love for agriculture and farming alive.
1970s
Hard Work In Kolkata
Shri Anath Bandhu Haldar travelled around 75 km from his village to Kolkata to work as a welder in a grill manufacturing factory.
1980
Nursery Beginning
With growing experience, he started his own small unorganised nursery for vegetable, flower and fruit seedlings.
1983
Bhadura Seeds Store
He purchased land in Bhadura village and expanded the business under the name Bhadura Seeds Store, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal.
2002
New Generation Growth
Sukumar Haldar joined the family business and started focusing on better varieties, hybrid seeds and wider business expansion.
Safarnama: The Journey
This is the story of a landless agricultural labourer, Shri Anath Bandhu Haldar, beloved father of the founder. In the 1970s, he had to travel nearly 75 kilometres from his village to Kolkata to work in a grill manufacturing factory as a welder to earn daily bread for his family. Though his work was in the factory, his heart remained deeply connected with agriculture and farming.
The income from the factory job was not enough to maintain the family properly. This encouraged him to search for another source of income. He began selling vegetable and flower nursery seedlings in local rural weekly markets, haats and roadside bazaars. Initially, he sourced seedlings from other nurseries on a commission basis.
With time and experience, in 1980, he started his own small nursery for raising vegetable, flower and fruit seedlings. He sold those seedlings in the same local markets throughout the week, month and year, while also sourcing additional materials from nearby nurseries based on increasing demand.
Through hard work, patience, perseverance and determination, he purchased a piece of land in the Bhadura village area in 1983 to expand the business. He named his shop Bhadura Seeds Store in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal. As the name and demand grew, he continued his own production while also taking materials from nearby co-nurseries.
From 1990 onward, with the growth of name, reputation and business activity, several agri-companies operating in Bengal and across India showed interest in associating with the firm by offering dealership opportunities. He responded positively and continued to grow with time.
A New Turn: Agriculture Centre
In 2002, Sukumar Haldar joined his father’s business to carry the journey forward and create further growth. After working for almost five years, he realised that there was strong scope to improve the setup through better quality, improved varieties and stronger resources in vegetable, horticulture and floriculture seeds.
With that vision, a new firm named Agriculture Centre was started beside the existing old shop. The aim was to expand the business beyond the local market to Bengal, neighbouring states and neighbouring countries.
The focus shifted towards upgrading local, traditional and OP varieties into improved hybrid varieties for potential crops such as Hybrid Okra, Hybrid Pepper, Hybrid Tomato, Hybrid Bitter Gourd, Hybrid Ridge Gourd, Hybrid Pumpkin and many other crops, along with improved hybrid field crops like paddy.
For this purpose, Agriculture Centre became involved in hybrid seed production of selected crops through different R&D stations in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, suitable for different climatic zones.
This product catalogue and website have been developed to give farmers, dealers and distributors a better understanding of the work, effort and available product range of Agriculture Centre and Indo Japan Agro Seeds.