INCITEC Pivot Limited chairman John Watson has had his remuneration almost double in just three years to almost $470,000.

And with the move by IPL at last month's annual general meeting to increase the size of the non-executive directors fee pool, Mr Watson could soon become the first chairman of an Australian Securities Exchange-listed agricultural company to top half a million dollars in fees and other benefits.

A survey of last year's annual reports of the major agricultural company listed on the ASX shows he is paid in excess of $100,000 more than his next nearest rival in chairmen's remuneration - Futuris head Stephen Gerlach.

Mr Gerlach earned more than $360,000 as head of Futuris.

The next highest earning chairman is Nufarm's Kerry Hoggard, who earned $264,000 in remuneration in 2007-08.

Chairmen of most of the major ASX-listed agricultural companies are paid between $180,000 and $260,000.

Mr Watson's remuneration jumped $140,000 during the past year as company profits tripled to more than $600 million.

He earned more than double most of his rivals.

AWB Limited chairman Brendan Stewart, who retired last October after heading the company through the Oil For Food scandal, received $225,000 during 2007-08, while ABB Grain chairman Perry Gunner earned $218,000.

AWB earned twice as much in revenue as IPL last year, but its profits were just 10 per cent of that of the fertiliser and explosives company. IPL and Futuris pay their non-executive directors relatively handsomely.

Futuris non-executive directors earn between $160,000 and $250,000 a year, while IPL directors are paid $135,000 to $200,000. Most non-executive directors of other major listed companies are paid between $70,000 and $120,000.

IPL board member Allan McCallum earned $194,000 during 2007-08 - a rise of nearly $50,000 over the previous year. Mr McCallum earned nearly as much as the chairmen of AWB, ABB Grain and Ridley Corporation and more than the GrainCorp chairman Don Taylor, who took home $182,000 last year.

Mr Watson said IPL was an international industrial company with $11.5 billion in shareholders' equity.

He said it was IPL's directors which set the fees of the directors, chairman and committee members. He said the fee pool was set by shareholders and recent rises allowed for the recruitment of new directors.