Markfed timeline

Welcome, be a part of Golden journey of Punjab Markfed

Every big success story starts with small, little baby steps. The glorious journey of Punjab State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation Limited better known as Markfed- Punjab’s most popular brand name, started back in 1954. The journey started with a modest 13 members, three employees, one bicycle and a share capital of a mere Rs 54,000.

In the year 1967, Punjab Markfed was appointed as a sole agency of Govt. of India to arrange fertilizers as per the need of the farmer members and its distribution and is playing a vital role in supplying fertilizers to the cooperatives ever since.

Markfed Agro-chemicals was initiated in a rented premise in 1968.This unit crossed a land-mark in 1972 when it shifted to its own building in two acres of land in SAS Nagar. Its capacity then was 2.5 lakh litres of liquid formulation and 3000 M tonnes of dust formulations. This unit is ISO-9001-2000 certified since 2004.

After the green revolution and with it the subsequent increase in the productivity of food grains, Markfed became a recognized procurement agency. In 1970, the Punjab Government decided to transfer the purchase, distribution and marketing of major Rabi and Kharif seeds through Markfed.

Markfed has the distinction of introducing harvesting combines in India. In order to modernize farming, Markfed introduced combines in the state of Punjab. Its fleet of about 90 combines served the farmers on hire custom basis

In the year 1971, to promote oil seed farming and to provide cooking medium to rural and urban markets, Markfed Vanaspati & Allied Industries at Khanna was established, making it one of the largest Oil & Vanaspati complex in the cooperative sector. Vanaspati and oils produced by it were marketed under the brand name ‘SOHNA’.

In the year 1972, ‘Markfed Canneries was setup and various kinds of fruits and vegetables were processed and canning, bottling and dehydration lines were also installed.

Markfed excels at providing crucial facilities to the farmers like soil testing-wherein facilities for the scientific analysis of soil and water is offered to the farmers. Around 8 soil testing labs were set up across Punjab to test soil and water for the farmers and to provide useful guidance to them.

A rice mill by the name of Modern Rice Mill was set up at Rajpura in 1973. It boasted of being the biggest plant in Punjab at that time with the most sophisticated machinery. It earned the reputation of producing the highest quality of rice.

In 1975-76, a Cottonseed Processing plant was set up at Gidderbaha. It manufactured first cut and second cut linters and decorticated and deoiled cottonseed cakes. Moreover machinery for delinting and decorticating cottonseed besides expellers, solvent extraction plant and continuous oil washery lines were also added

In 1977 , Markfed Cattle feed plant was set up at Kapurthala. The plant catered to the needs of farmers for compounded cattle feed by providing them with a wide range of the variants

To cater the needs of local farmers, Markfed Refined Oil & Allied Industries was setup at Kapurthala in 1978 to purchase locally grown Groundnut and help uplift the financial status of farmers. It comprised of Oil Mill, Solvent, Refinery and Cattlefeed Plant.

Markfed in 1980 started the construction of the world bank aided National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) storage project which was the biggest project of its kind in the country at that time. By 1983, 84 Markfed godowns of 1, 64,250 Metric Tonnes capacity for self-use and 400 rural godowns of 80000 MT capacity for use by CASS were completed for storing wheat, fertilizers and paddy.

Markfed formally took off on its global journey in 1986-87 when a regular distributor was appointed for the exports of its products to the Middle-East The global journey of Markfed started with the word of mouth publicity of Markfed products by the Punjabi diaspora settled abroad.

New Markfed canneries was commissioned in 2015 near Jalandhar to boost and expand sales of Ready to Eat as well as wellness products in the domestic as well as in the foreign markets.

Markfed set up Honey plant in the premises of Markfed Canneries Jalandhar. Markfed prides itself on being the pioneer in introducing pure honey sourced directly from farm based honey producers. In the same year, Markfed was awarded Skoch Gold Award on Implementation of Bar Code Technology for Honey Procurement.

In 2017, with a view to expand the market base and for enhanced consumer experience, Markfed started its own retail chain in the name of “Markfed Bazaar” in Chandigarh and in Punjab.

Keeping in view the increasing demand of Markfed products in local market , Markfed decided to extend its outreach, enabling the consumers to buy quality products at reasonable prices at their doorstep by introducing Markfed Sale booths at various locations across Punjab under " Ghar Ghar Rozgar'

A new Animal Husbandry Plant of 150 Ton per day was launched at Kapurthala in 2020 which could be increased to 300 Ton per day. The new Cattle Feed Plant is designed not only for quality and good milch animal care products that are widely used but also for the safety and hygiene of the workers.

• During Curfew/lockdown period, Markfed extensively covered households of Chandigarh, Punjab. • Approximately 20,000 households were covered by 10 teams in Chandigarh and Mohali only. • More than 1,86,400 rural and urban households were provided “Sohna brand” products and other essential commodities at their doorstep. • District Administrations in Punjab were provided Grocery items like pulses, Atta, Sugar, salt for supply to general public.