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FARMING

BILLIONS



from thepublisher’s desk

Agreed. Money doesn’t grow on trees. However, it can be minted in the fields and that isthe sine qua non for our initiative Business of Agriculture (BoA).

Our Cover Story Farming Billions explains the dire necessity of a magazineon the business of agriculture. Indian agricultural landscape is witnessing rapid

transformation. Agri entrepreneurs, armed with quality education and advanced technology, are coming up in a big way. The opportunities as well as challenges areenormous, and they are very succinctly laid out.

The time is ripe for an agriculture renaissance in India. The Union Budget 2014brought the focus back on agriculture. BoA gets agriculture industry’s reaction to

the Budget proposals, and shares the hits and misses with the readers.

The extensive Research and Development (R&D) in agriculture will lend a new

paradigm. Growth in agriculture must come from technological change, and tosustain agricultural growth, investment in agricultural research must be increased.India-Israel Cooperation focusses on the collaboration between the two countriesin R&D. Israel: The Leader in Agriculture Innovation highlights the effectiveagriculture model of developed countries, which Indian agriculture industry canalways look up to.

The nancing, marketing and management of food production will be documented to the letter from now onwards, courtesy of our bi-monthly publication Business of

Agriculture. It will ll the much-needed gap in the industry, which is at the cusp ofunprecedented growth.

Business of Agriculture will be a one-stop destination for the industry players(fertilisers, chemicals, seeds, tractors, pumps, etc), policymakers, agri entrepreneurs

and others who are relentlessly striving to implement drastic changes in the wayagriculture is being done.

To add more to it, various sections of Business of Agriculture are accompanied by the latest news and happenings from the agriculture industry.

A beginning has been made! Remember, agriculture is no longer a poor man’sbusiness.

Enjoy Reading!

Linda Brady HawkePublisher



Business of Agriculture | July-August 20144

ContentsJuly-August 2014

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed

in this magazine are solely those of the authors

and do not necessarily reect those of the editors

or publisher. Although all efforts have been made

to ensure the complete accuracy of text, neither the

editors nor publisher can accept responsibility for

consequences arising from errors or omissions or

any opinions or advice given.

July-August 2014

Edited, Printed & Published by

Linda Brady Hawke

Owned by

L. B. Associates (Pvt.) Ltd

H-108, Sector 63, Noida - 201301U. P. India

Published from

L.B. Associates (Pvt) Ltd

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Gautam Budh Nagar District

Noida, UP, Delhi NCR, India

Tel: 91 (120) 4727108, 2427419

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Websites: www.diplomatist.com

www.lbassociates.com

Managing Editor

William Hawke

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Alankar Srivastava

Desk Editor

Aamir H Kaki

Marketing Executive

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Circulation

Rahul

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Tel:+91-8130311653

Layout & Design

Atul Kumar

6 News & Happenings

COVER STORY

10 Business of Agriculture: Farming Billions

INNOVATION

18 Poor Monsoon No Excuse for Price Rise;Govt Needs to Act and Mitigate Farmers’

Woos

22 Nematode: An Important Fauna of Soil

Ecosystem

TECHNOLOGY

26 ‘Finally, Govt Focussing on Agro-technology’

27 India’s Biotech Agriculture Industry

R&D

31 Promoting Productivity in Agriculture throughR&D vs Poverty Alleviation

36 R&D in Agriculture

NGO

39 Vermicomposting & Women’s Empowerment



Business of Agriculture | July-August 2014 5

CASE STUDY

43 Malt Barley Development Programme ‘SaanjhiUnnati’

FINANCE

46 Financial Services: Crucial for AgribusinessDevelopment

50 Bail Out Agriculture through Farmer-Centric Approach, Plan for Vibrant Rural Economy

52 Union Budget 2014: Big Plans to Boost Agriculture

INTERNATIONAL

56 Israel-India Cooperation Yields Big Returns in Agriculture

60 Israel: The Leader in Agriculture Innovations

64 “Adapting Israeli R&D to Local Conditions canhelp Indian Agriculture”

66 International News




Demand for AgricultureLoan Goes DownThe overall economic slump led to a slump in thedemand for agriculture loans in India. The demand

went down, but the amount disbursed increasedby `10,000 crore in 2013.

According to the latest report issued by the StateLevel Bankers’ Committee (SLBC), agricultureloans in 2013 saw a fall of over 6,000 applicantsfrom the 2012 gure as recoveries continued tocome in from farmers. However, the demand in

terms of money increased as the cost of farmingequipment and other materials has increased.

“The number of applicants is decreasing year-by- year as farmers are becoming more self-reliantand yields are increasing. We have also recordeda steady recovery in this segment as the NPA hasfallen to 2.75,” a bank ofcial said.

Modi Govt Eyes 4 Percent Agricultural GrowthThe Narendra Modi-led government has targeted higher farm growth of four percentin 2014 by giving farmers a range of incentives and setting up new warehouses to cut

wastage and improve the food-supply chain, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

Farm output in India grew at 4.7 percent in the scal year to March 2014 after monsoonrains boosted the harvest, up from nearly three percent a year over the past decade.

The agriculture sector continues to employ more than half of its 1.2 billion people.

“We are committed to sustaining a growth of four percent in agriculture and for this we will bring technology driven second Green Revolution with focus on higherproductivity...,” Mr Jaitley said (as he presented the 2014/15 Budget).

Farming was transformed by the introduction of high-yielding seeds,fertilisers and irrigation during the Green Revolution nearly 50 yearsago, ending dependence on imports.

Israel to OpenCentres on Agri-Horticulture inBihar Israel is planning to open twocentres of excellence at Nalandaand Vaishali in Bihar in the eld of

vegetables and mango respectively,

to help cultivators increase theirproductivity.

In these centres, Israeli agriculturalexperts along with local farmscientists would impart know-how of the latest technology to

growers to help them raise theproduction level, Ohad Horsandi,Israeli Embassy spokesman said.

“Bihar has fertile land and growsfruits like mango, litchi, bananaand various vegetables includingpotato. If farmers are told aboutlatest technology, their productivity

would rise many-fold,” he said.

N E W S & H

A P P E N

I N G S




El Nino May Hit Indian Agriculture According to experts, factors like grain-carrying sack, El Nino could have a varying impact on grain production and delivery this year.

The occurrence of the El Nino phenomenon in June could to some extent

rob India of its monsoon, but also note that poor quality sacks are also asignicant fault-line in the grain-delivery chain.

At a conference held at Goa on ‘Global Grain and Feed Forum,’ VikasBharadwaj of the Singapore-based BTG Pactual Commodities, in hispresentation ‘El Nino and its impact on grains and oilseeds’, suggested that

the phenomenon could trigger a downside in the production of soyabeanand corn this year.

“India’s projected soya production in the coming year could be anywherebetween 10.2, 9.9 and 8.2 million tonnes in case of a weak, moderate orstrong El Nino,” he said.

Govt Hikes Onion MEP to$500 per TonneThe government hiked the minimum exportprice (MEP) of onion to $500 per tonne toimprove the domestic supply and curb prices.

MEP is the rate below which no exports areallowed. Retail prices of onion have risen toabout `25-30 per kg, while the wholesale

prices are ruling at `18.50 per kg in the nationalcapital.

The decision to increase the onion MEP was taken on June 30 by an Inter-MinisterialCommittee.

“Keeping in view, the rising retail and wholesaleprices and delayed monsoon, the Committeeunanimously decided to x the MEP at $500per tonne which translates to `30 per kg with a

view to arrest domestic price rise and augmentdomestic supply,” an ofcial statement said.

Biotech Companies Ready toLaunch Trials of GM CropsBiotech companies are gearing up for the launch ofeld trials of genetically modied (GM) crops in theongoing kharif sowing season. Trials are likely to be

initiated in the case of cotton, maize, rice and wheat.

Three states - Punjab, Maharashtra and Karnataka- have granted no objection certicates to differentcompanies to conduct trials, said industry ofcials.Biotech companies such as Monsanto and Syngentaare preparing to launch trials. An ofcial with one of

the biotech companies said trials will begin in maizeand cotton.

The Ministry of Environment & Forests had in July2011 made it mandatory for companies, institutesand research bodies to get no-objection certicatesfrom the states concerned before conducting trials.

N E W S & H

A P P E N

I N G S




RCF to Expand FertiliserManufacturing Capacity Public sector giant Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) has twooperating units - one at Trombay in Mumbai and the other at Thal,Raigad district, Maharashtra. It manufactures urea, complex fertilisers,bio-fertilisers, micro-nutrients, 100 percent water soluble fertilisersand a wide range of industrial chemicals.

Having been given the ‘Miniratna’ status by Government of India, RCFis now working to get the Navaratna tag. During 2012-13, the companyhad a turnover of `6,987 crore with a prot of `281 crore.

“As part of RCF’s constant drive towards sustained growth, our mostrecent thrust areas have been the revamping of existing plants tobring down energy consumption, improve production of fertil isers andachieve reliability in operations and safety. All the plants at the Trombayunit have been revamped and, as a result, their energy efciency isquite good-this despite the fact that the plants are low capacity and ofold vintage,” R G Rajan, Chairman and Managing Director, RCF said.

Fertiliser Ministry Seeks`15,000 cr Subsidy for SeptQuarter The Fertiliser Ministry has sought `15,000 crore

towards subsidy from the Finance Ministry for the July-September quarter of the current nancial year.

“A sum of `15,000 crore is sought as fertiliser subsidy

for September quarter. We are analysing it and willsoon decide on the amount to be paid to them,” asenior Finance Ministry ofcial said.

Earlier in September, the Finance Ministry hadapproved a `5,500 crore Special Banking Arrangement(SBA), under which fertiliser companies can takeloans against subsidy receivables. This was against

the demand of additional funds of `15,500 croreunder SBA.

The Government has budgeted the fertiliser subsidyfor current scal at `65,971.50 crore, roughly around

the same level of ` 65,974 crore budgeted in 2012-13.

TAFE to Train Women inFarm ManagementIndia’s second largest tractor maker TAFE

will soon train women in farm management,including driving tractors and using implements.

Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd (TAFE) said that following the success of the company’s

lab-to-land initiative to train the farmingcommunity, it has decided to extend theprogramme to women farmers.

A pilot project to train women farmers in farmmanagement, which includes soil conservation,pest management, yield improvement, tractordriving and implement usage, will be launchedsoon, it said.



0 Business of Agriculture | July-August 2014

Business of Agriculture Farming BillionsBy Alankar Srivastava



A greed. Money doesn’t grow on trees.

However, it can be minted in the elds

and that is the sine qua non for our

initiative Business of Agriculture.

Agriculture is the mainstay of Indian economy and a

source of livelihood for 65 percent Indians. When it

comes to production of milk, pulses, jute and jute-

like bres, India is No 1. Besides being a leading

producer of spices and plantation crops as well as

livestock, sheries and poultry, India is No 2 in rice,

wheat, sugarcane, groundnut, vegetables, fruits and

cotton production.

It makes sound economic sense to invest more

and more in the business of agriculture. The

Business of Agriculture is about breaking myths and

stereotypes. Whosoever thought agriculture was

a poor man’s business could not be farther from

truth.

Agriculture, today, is about big money. When

the rest of the economy is in the grip of a

slowdown, agriculture comes as a manna from

heaven. It provides the much-needed cushion

and stability to the economy beset with problems

galore.

As India Inc struggles with an economic slowdown

and galloping ination, agricultural sector is more

relevant than ever before. It is time we put

agriculture right there on top of our priority list.

1Business of Agriculture | July-August 2014




The business of agriculture is increasingly

stabilising the industry, making the world’s oldest

profession more lucrative and creating employment

opportunities both at the production and marketing

stages. The diversication and commercialisation

of agriculture will improve the social and physicalinfrastructure of India.

Whosoever involved in the business of agriculture

must understand the changing consumer

preferences. It is signicant and helps in extracting

the maximum out of your business. The agro-

industry mainly comprises of the post-harvest

activities of processing and preserving agricultural

products for intermediate or nal consumption.

On the account of rising consumption, India’s

agricultural output by 2030 could reach `29.28 lakh

crore level and food exports could jump to over

`7 lakh crore, a CII-McKinsey report said.

“Consumption demand is increasing as India’s per

capita GDP is expected to increase by 320 percent

in the next 20 years...agricultural output (at farm-

gate prices) could grow from `12.69 lakh crore to

`29.28 lakh crore by 2030. Processing could grow

from `1.1 lakh crore to `5.65 lakh crore by 2030

while India’s food exports could grow from `1.4

lakh crore to `7.72 lakh crore by 2030,” the

report said.

Given the potential the agriculture sector holds,

it is imperative to make the most out of this

business. There have been marked improvements

in yield and farming technology, and promotion of

food processing business by branding the products.

Private capital and global expertise are giving

new dynamics to sorting, harvesting, packaging,

transportation and storage.

Today, India is a major player in the global

agriculture market. Currently, our country is the

world’s largest rice exporter and second in terms

of wheat exports.

The Government has allowed 100 percent FDI

under automatic route in storage and warehousing,

including cold storages. 100 percent FDI is also

permitted for development of seeds under the

automatic route.

Agriculture As A Profession

Off late, young and highly qualied entrepreneurs

are leaving their jobs so as to make a career in

the business of agriculture. They are modifying

their business models and exploiting market

opportunities, thereby making agriculture a

lucrative profession.

More and more graduates are moving away from

secure government jobs, and turning agripreneurs.

The trend is important particularly in a developing

country like India. The entrepreneur helps to provide

education and employment opportunities to people,

especially those located in struggling regions.




Agricultural entrepreneurs in India strive to

develop agrarian prosperity while also focussing

on sustainable development. They utilise

education that includes practical application as

well as lectures and reading material to develop

necessary skills. This combination of techniques

allows individuals to gain not only knowledge

but also technical skills. There has been a rapid

transformation in agribusiness in India, thanks to

young entrepreneurs.

Agriculture is attracting youths like never before.

Many of them have tasted success in agriculture.

Young agri entrepreneurs are bringing new insight

and technology, and drastically transforming the

business of agriculture.

The opportunities and potential of the business of

agriculture is driving individuals to quit government

jobs and take up farming as a full time profession.Even MBA students are displaying keen interest in

becoming a full time farmer rather than working in

companies.

More and more youngsters will take the plunge

if the annual agriculture income is more than a

salaried income. Future looks promising, and the

current trend of emerging agri entrepreneurs are

signs of good things to come.

While the youth evincing interest in agriculture is

certainly a positive development, the fact remains

that only a remunerative income will ensure

retaining or bring back youth into this fast-declining

eld.

The much-talked about Gujarat model of

development owes a lot to the business of

agriculture. The state has achieved a phenomenal

10 percent growth in agriculture in the last 10 years

under the chief ministership of Narendra Modi.

Redening Market Dynamics

Nisarg Nirman Agro Products, a Mumbai-based

rm headed by the Churis, grows and sells

exotic fruits and vegetables to ve-star hotels

in India.

“We rst approach the farmers and check their

soil in a laboratory to explore which fruits and

vegetables can be best grown. We then give a

schedule and also the seeds that we want to

source,” says Makrand Churi, Managing Director,

Nisarg Nirman Agro Products.

India’s top rice exporter, KRBL, has redened

the entire market dynamics. Chairman and anaging

Director Anil Mittal, gave India one of its best-

known brands, India Gate. The company has

achieved sales of `2,100 crore in basmati.

India’s agricultural exports are booming at a

time when many other leading producers are

experiencing difculties.

Agricultural

entrepreneurs

in India strive

to develop

agrarianprosperity while

also focussing

on sustainable

development.

They utilise

education

that includes

practicalapplication as

well as lectures

and reading

material

to develop

necessary skills




Agricultural Inputs

Efcient use of quality seeds, fertilisers, pesticides,

micronutrients, and irrigation ensures long-term

growth and enhance the level of production.

Tractors are the main power source for various

farm operations. India is the world leader in tractor

production with over ve lakh tractors produced

annually.

Studies reveal that adoption of appropriate

mechanisation of farm operations can increase

production and farm productivity by 10-15 percent,

cropping intensity by 5-20 percent and effect

savings in seeds (up to 15-20%), fertiliser and

chemicals (up to 15-20%), and time and labour (up

to 20-30%).

The government has initiated a Sub-Mission on

Agriculture Mechanisation in the 12th Five Year

Plan, with a focus on custom hiring.

Research and Development (R&D) has played

a vital role in agricultural transformation. Indian

Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) undertakes

basic, strategic, and applied research, focussing

particularly on problems of rain fed agriculture.

Agriculture Warehousing in India

According to Credit Analysis & Research Ltd

(CARE Ratings), India has a total agri warehousing

capacity of around 91 MMT to store and conserve

agricultural produce, with state agencies owning

41 percent of the capacity. The rest is distributed

among private entrepreneurs, cooperative

societies, farmers, etc.

The government agencies use 66 percent (60

MMT) of India’s total agri storage capacity, which

also includes hired capacity of 23 MMT. The total

state owned storage capacity of 37 MMT is held

through three public sector agencies viz Food

Corporation of India (FCI), Central Warehousing

The storage

capacity

available withgovernment

agencies is

primarily used

for keeping

central stock

of food grains

for the buffer

stock, public

distribution

systems

and other

government

schemes




Corporation (CWC) and State Warehousing

Corporation (SWC).

The storage capacity available with government

agencies is primarily used for keeping central

stock of food grains for the buffer stock, public

distribution systems and other governmentschemes.

Because of the capital intensive nature and high

uncertainty over revenue generation, private sector

interest in warehousing industry was low. However,

private sector interest in warehousing industry picked

up after the ‘Rural Godown Scheme’ was introduced

in year 2001-02 under National Bank for Agriculture

and Rural Development (NABARD) and National

Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

The warehousing capacity built over past 10 years,

especially those sanctioned by NABARD have an

average storage capacity per warehouse of 1,261

metric tonne (MT) and around 75 percent of

numbers of godowns have capacity of less than

1,000 MT.

The Government of India introduced ‘The

Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act’

in September 2007. It seems the policy makers

are nally getting their priorities right and looking

at increasing the participation of private sector

and development and regulation of warehousing

industry.

There is much more to warehousing business

than it being just a storage infrastructure. Now,

it has become a one-stop shop for supply chain

management through the entry of private sector.

Announced in the Union Budget 2013-14,

‘NABARD Warehousing Scheme-2013-14’ (NWS)

is a dedicated scheme for providing assistance for

creation of storage infrastructure, with a corpus of`5,000 crore. The private players have responded

favourably to the scheme.

NABARD has already sanctioned `2,200 crore for

storage and warehousing under the scheme across

India which will lead to creation of additional 8.62

million metric tonnes storage capacity.

“For storage and warehousing, a fund of `5,000

crore has been created in NABARD, of which

`2,200 crore has already been sanctioned which

will lead to creation of additional 8.62 MMT storage

capacity. Currently the beneciaries under the

scheme are cooperatives and marketing federations.

Further, we are in process of funding private

entrepreneurs for the rst time under the scheme

those who have shown interest,” Dr H K Bhanwala,

Chairman, NABARD said.

The NWS scheme, approved by Union Finance

Ministry, envisages direct loans to public and private

sectors for construction of warehouses, silos, cold

storages and cold chain infrastructure.

Packaged Food Industry: Growing by

Leaps & Bounds

The packaged food industry is witnessing

unprecedented growth. 2013 was a good year

Research on Plant Tissues Gets Commercialised

The Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding (IFGTB) in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu has developed anew technology that will signicantly reduce the cost and time of research on plant tissues.

The cost effective and highly efcient protocol to isolate nucleic acid from a tree tissue to extract the DNAand RNA, the fundamental requirements for molecular biological studies and research in plants wouldenable smaller institutes to carry out scientic research projects, which were hitherto unaffordable for them.

The institute has entered into a tripartite agreement with Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL), a rmpromoted by the Centre’s Department of Science and Technology which assessed the technology anddeclared it as viable for commercialisation, and Rapid Genomics Solutions, a Coimbatore-based privateresearch and development company that will market the technology.

The commercial kits of this technology will hit the market in about nine months.




for food manufacturers in India. According to

Euromonitor International, a privately owned,

London-based market intelligence rm, packaged

food in India grew at a slightly faster pace

in 2013.

Changing lifestyles and convenience have altered

the business of agriculture. Healthier food options

have started to become more prominent on

retail shelves, and attracted consumer attention.

Cheese, pasta and ready meals have gained greater

popularity and increased shelf space.

Companies are launching their products in smaller

pack sizes and at low price points to attract

consumers. Manufacturers are developing products

with a value proposition and are doing marketing

using media like mobile phones and television

advertising.

Multinationals like Nestlé India Ltd, Britannia

Industries Ltd, Hindustan Unilever Ltd and Frito-

Lay India Ltd maintained their strong positions,

supported by a long-established presence,

high quality product offerings and an extensive

promotional and distributional reach.

Domestic players like Balaji Wafers Pvt Ltd, Prakash

Snacks Pvt Ltd, Parle Products Ltd, Capital Foods

Ltd also fought it hard and put their best foot

forward. They used the strategy of developing

products catering to regional taste, and ramping up

their distribution in small towns through direct sales

forces and sub-stockists.

With urbanisation and rapid expansion of organised

retail, rising incomes and changing lifestyles, the

packaged food market is expected to show strong

growth in the years to come.

The corporate sector is responding to the

opportunities that exist in the business of

agriculture. Agriculture is changing, becoming more

market-oriented, information driven, and shifting to

higher value products.

Way Forward

Let’s face it: Indian agriculture industry has a

PR problem. The information dissemination

pertaining to the opportunities and growth in the

industry leaves a lot to be desired. That explains

why recruiting and retention is a challenge in the

agriculture industry.

Focus must be on endless opportunities, and

highlighting the positives. The recruitment

campaigns must cater to the taste and values of

the young generation. Increased use of media

would go a long way in publicising the business of

agriculture.

The corporate

sector is

responding

to the

opportunities

that exist in

the business of

agriculture




Poor MonsoonNo Excuse for Price Rise;Govt Needs to Act andMitigate Farmers’ WoesBy Ashok B Sharma




The weathermen have predicted poor rainfall in the country during the four-month monsoon

season. This has caused panic. Actually the worry is not much for the foodstock which is

in comfortable position in the current year, but for the rising trend in prices of essential

commodities, particularly food items that pinches the pocket of the common man.

Just after the country’s ofcial weather forecasting agency, India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued

its preliminary forecast in April 24 cautioning about poor rainfall, the wholesale prices of commodities

began shooting up. Rising prices of food and beverages like coffee, tea, poultry, sh and vegetables pushed

up the wholesale price ination to a ve-month high at 6.01 percent in May. The Wholesale Price Index

(WPI) based ination was 5.2 percent in April and 4.58 percent a year ago.




The IMD’s nal forecast issued on June 9

compounded the fears of a poor South-West

monsoon in the period June-September. Not only

the rainfall is likely to be decient generally over the

country being below normal at 93 percent of the

long period average of 89 cm with a model error of

four(+-) percent, but over most of the regions with

the exception of north-eastern states, West Bengal,

Bihar and Jharkhand the rainfall will also be equally

poor. Rainfall forecast for the crucial agriculture

months, July and August, is also not encouraging. It

is likely to be 93 percent of the LPA in July and 96

percent of the LPA in August with a model error of

nine (+-) percent. Late arrival of the monsoon and

its tardy advancement over the country also raises

concern.

The chances of the spoilsport, El Nino, emerging

during the monsoon period is as high as 70 percent.

El Nino is the warming of the Pacic waters above

its normal range. The warming, in Nino 3 and

Nino 3.4 regions of the Pacic Ocean, impacts the

monsoon in India. However, the conditions in the

tropical Indian Ocean are warmer than normal

uniformly throughout the basin and therefore ruling

out any possibility of positive Indian Ocean Dipole

conditions in the monsoon season.

Though the rainfall is likely to be decient, there

is some hope as the storage position in major

reservoirs across the country, except in South India,

is satisfactory. The available surface water can be

used for irrigation.

However, in this critical hour, the Government

should step in to mitigate the hardship of the

farmers. The farmers need real time weather

information in local areas so that they can plan for

163 Large and Medium Irrigation Projects Delayed: Govt A total of 163 large and medium irrigation projects are delayed, the Rajya Sabha was informed.

In a reply to a question, Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga RejuvenationSantosh Kumar Gangwar said completion of irrigation projects gets delayed due to various reasons such asland acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation of the affected population, clearance from the Ministry ofEnvironment and Forest, litigation, geological surprise in the foundations and paucity of funds.

Considering the normal gestation period of completion for major irrigation projects as being 10-15 yearsand that of medium irrigation projects as 5-8 years, he said the major projects started prior to 1997 andmedium projects started before 2004 could be implicitly considered as having overrun the time of completion

with consequent cost escalation.




SBI Reduces Lending Rates for SMEs, Agriculture Sector The largest lender in the country, the State Bank of India (SBI) has announced a reduction in its lendingrates by between 0.5 percentage point and 3.5 percentage points for small and medium enterprises (SMEs)and the agriculture sector.

Krishna Kumar, Managing Director and Group Executive for National Banking, SBI said that the bank hasreduced the overall interest rates by 50 to 350 basis points. He also said that the bank’s rate could remainat 10 percent.

The reduction will not affect personal segment loans, including home and retail, loans sanctioned underspecic schemes. Mr Kumar said that the bank has already reduced the rate for the segments and individualborrowers during the past two months.

alternate crops in case of poor rainfall. Adequate

power and diesel subsidy should be given to draw

water for irrigation. Drip irrigation materials shouldbe sold to farmers at a subsidised cost. De-silting

of canals, energising tubewells, repairing of faulty

pumps should be taken up on a war footing.

Subsidised seeds should be given to farmers to

grow alternate crops. Special attention should

be given to the chronic dry areas of the country.

Subsidised fodder should be provided for milch

animals and poultry, particularly in dry areas. These

are some immediate measures to mitigate the

hardship of farmers.

The incidences of suicides committed by farmers

are on the rise and hence there is a need to

reschedule payment of crop loans and providing

interest subvention on rescheduled loans for

farmers in drought affected areas. Even additional

subsidy should be given on premium for crop

insurance. If farmers’ income falls, the Government

needs to bridge the gap by setting up a Price

Stabilisation Fund.

Apart from addressing farmers’ immediate

problems, the Government must care to mitigate

the problems of the common man. There is ample

foodstocks with the Government. Against a buffer

norm of about 100 lakh tonne of rice and 170 lakh

tonne of wheat, the Government stock is 206.45

lakh tonne of rice and 415.86 lakh tonne of wheat.

There should not be any worry for any shortage

of staple food. Besides as per the third advanced

estimate, foodgrains production in 2013-14 is likely

to break earlier records and be at its highest at264.38 million tonne. This includes coarse cereals,

pulses, apart from rice and wheat. Oilseeds output

is also estimated at a high of 32.41 million tonne

and sugarcane at 348.38 million tonne.

Going by the estimates of availability of food in

the country, there should be no reason for panic.

The present rising trend in prices of essential

commodities is due to the sentiments generated

in the market on account of the forecast for a

decient rainfall. The government needs to crack

down on futures trading which is responsible for

generating sentiments for price rise. Hoarders

must be booked. All types of storages should be

controlled by business houses and big traders.

Efforts must be made to ofoad stocks from the

storages to control the rising trend in prices.

The government should take steps to adequately

subsidise petrol, diesel and cooking gas which have

telling impact on price ination.

Poor monsoon can be no excuse for unwarranted

price rise. Timely and determined action by the

government can hold the price line and mitigate the

‘woes’ of the farmers.

Ashok B Sharma is a senior journalist on strategic and policy

issues and former Agriculture Editor of Financial Express. He

may be reached at [email protected].

Going by the

estimates of

availability

of food in

the country,

there should

be no reason

for panic. Thepresent rising

trend in prices

of essential

commodities

is due to the

sentiments

generated in

the market

on account of

the forecast

for a deficient

rainfall




By Malka Mustaqim

Nematode: An Importan

Facts about Nematodes:

• 90 percent of nematodes reside in the top 15 cm of soil;

• Nematodes do not decompose

organic matter, but, instead, areparasitic and free-living organisms that feed on living material;

• Nematodes can effectivelyregulate bacterial population andcommunity composition - theymay eat up to 5,000 bacteria perminute;

• Nematodes can play an importantrole in the Nitrogen cycle by wayof nitrogen mineralisation.




Soils as a dynamic system producedby microbial and faunal activities or

physico-chemical reactions are crucial

to the functioning of a terrestrial

ecosystem. Although soils represent

only a thin layer of the earth surface, they are

the habitat of many microbial and faunal species

which play an important role in the global cycles.

The ecological functions of soil organisms include

organic matter decomposition, mineralisation of

nutrients, degradation of toxicants and population

regulation of plant disease agents. Functional

diversity in soils can be exceeded to a high degree

by the richness of soil species. It is generally

inferred from this richness that soil systems have a

high level of functional redundancy and contribute

to understand the functioning of soil ecosystems.

Another approach stresses the value of identifying

‘keystone’ organisms that can play an exceptionally

important role in determining the structure and

function of ecosystems. Soil organisms alter the

physical, chemical and biological properties of

soils in innumerable ways. The composition and

structure of biotic communities at one hierarchical

level can inuence the resources at other

hierarchical levels. In the world of advancement of

science, the time of soil-less farming, nematode an

important fauna or we can say the hidden fauna of

soil ecosystem is forgotten by us.

Nematodes are an evolutionarily successful group

of organisms. They are ubiquitous in all habitats

that provide available organic carbon sources.

They are the planet’s most abundant metazoa.

They range in reproductive potential from

explosive opportunists to conservative survivalists.

Because they are transparent, their diagnostic

internal features can be seen without dissection.

They can, therefore, be identied without

biochemical procedures. They also contribute to

a variety of functions within the soil system. As

in agricultural systems, nematodes can enhance

nutrient mineralisation and act as biological control

agents. They vary in sensitivity to pollutants and

environmental disturbance.

Fauna of Soil Ecosystem

Nematodes

are anevolutionarily

successful

group of

organisms.

They are

ubiquitous in

all habitats

that provideavailable

organic carbon

sources




Nematodes are microscopic, worm-like organisms

that live in water lms and water-lled pore spaces

in the soil. The parasitic forms of nematodes

are of great agricultural, veterinary and medical

importance, since they act as agents of various

diseases in their hosts and sometimes spread viral

infections in plants.

Nematodes can be classied into functional

groups based on their feeding habits, as bacterial-

feeders (Order Rhabditida), fungal-feeders (Order

Aphelenchida), plant parasites (Order Tylenchida),

predators (Order Mononchida) and omnivores

(Order Dorylaimida). Predatory nematodes feed

on other soil nematodes while omnivores feed

on different foods depending on environmental

conditions and food availability.

Soil nematodes, especially bacterial and fungal-

feeders, can contribute to maintain the levels

of plant-available in farming systems relying on

organic sources of fertility (Ferris et al, 1998).

The process of converting nutrients from organic

to inorganic form is termed mineralisation. It

is a critical soil process because plants take up

nutrients from the soil primarily in inorganic

forms. Nematodes contribute directly to nutrient

mineralisation through their feeding interactions.

Indirectly, nematodes enhance decomposition

and nutrient cycling by grazing and rejuvenating

old, inactive bacterial and fungal colonies, and by

spreading bacteria and fungi to newly available

organic residues. In the absence of grazers,

such as nematodes and protozoa, nutrients can

remain immobilised and unavailable for plant

uptake in bacterial and fungal biomass. Nitrogen

mineralisation in the soil occurs at a higher rate when bacterial-feeding nematodes are present

than when they are absent.

Depending on the categories, nematodes may be

benecial or detrimental to plant health. From

agricultural and horticulture standpoint, the two

species of nematodes are the predatory ones,

which will kill garden pests like cutworms and corn

earworm moths, and the pest nematodes, like

the root-knot nematode, which attack plants, and

those that act as vectors spreading plant viruses

between crop plants. Benecial nematodes seek

out and kill all stages of harmful soil-dwelling

insects. They can be used to control a broad range

of soil-inhabiting insects and above-ground insects

in their soil-inhabiting stage of life.

They are a natural and effective alternative to

chemical pesticides, and have no harmful affect on

non-target species such as ladybugs, earth worms

and other helpful garden insects. In fact, there

is no evidence that parasitic nematodes or their

symbiotic bacteria can develop in vertebrates. This

Nematodes

need adequate

soil moisture,temperatures

within the

tolerance levels

for the specific

nematode,

and protection

from UV

radiation(direct

sunlight)

during

application




makes nematode use for insect pest control safe

and environmentally friendly. The United States

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ruled

that nematodes are exempt from registration

because they occur naturally and require no

genetic modication by man.

Some nematodes are commercially available

that include Steinernema carpocapsae, S. feltiae,

S riobrave, Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, H

marelatus, and H megidis. These nematodes are

most commonly used for management of soil

insect pests in high value crops, for example,

in turf, plant nurseries, tree fruit orchards and

groves, cranberries, and mushrooms. Because

nematodes are living organisms, their successful

use is inuenced by environmental conditions.

Nematodes need adequate soil moisture,

temperatures within the tolerance levels for

the specic nematode, and protection from UV

radiation (direct sunlight) during application.

As nematodes feed on a wide range of soil

organisms and are dependent on the continuity

of soil water lms for movement, their activities

are largely controlled by soil biological and

physical conditions. Given the ease of recovering

nematodes from soils and the ability to identify

them to meaningful ‘functional groups’, soil

nematodes offer great potential for use as

indicators of biodiversity and for assessing the

impact of changing land use on soil conditions.

The increasing demand for predictions of

functional soil properties has motivated many

to analyse large soil databases. Functional soil

properties are preferred over basic soil propertiesas they can be used to characterise the physical,

chemical or biological function of soils. They can

also be used directly in process simulation models.

Laboratory methods are still the standard practice

for quantifying functional soil properties, however

they are usually expensive and time consuming.

Many nematode ecologists throughout the world

have studied the impacts of human intervention

on nematode fauna and searched for sensitive

bio-indicators of soil health. In summary, using

nematodes as bio-indicators makes use of both

biotic and abiotic factors (e.g., toxic compounds,

nutrients), and provides insight into both the

function and structure of the soil ecosystem.

Malka Mustaqim is Research Associate at Nematology

Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim

University.

Bihar’s Agriculture & Food Industry May Touch `1 lakh cr by2015: ASSOCHAM

Agriculture and Food Industry in Bihar has the potential to reach`1 lakh crore mark by 2015 with processedfood products cornering 45 percent share as the State is uniquely placed with abundant agro-based rawmaterials’ available at competitive prices, cattle wealth, water resources and above all a pro-active industrialpolicy, according to a recently concluded ASSOCHAM study.

“About 15 million tonnes (MT) of cereals comprising rice, wheat, maize along with a wide range of fruitsand vegetables are produced in Bihar attracting the global giants and brands in food and beverage segment

that are vying to garner prominent share in the state’s agro-food processing sector,” according to a study titled ‘Opportunities for Food Processing in Bihar,’ conducted by ASSOCHAM.

The agriculture and food processing sector in Bihar employs about 80 percent of the state’s total workforceand contributes over half of the total gross state domestic product (GSDP).

Establishment of a dry port by the UB Group in Bihar would bring down the logistics cost by half in Bihar that is from current level of about 16 percent to eight percent, noted the study.

“Rapid development of logistical facilities and infrastructure in areas of processing, warehousing and storage,production and others through effective use of modern technology would further propel the growth anddevelopment of agro and food processing sector in Bihar,” said National Secretary General of ASSOCHAMD S Rawat.




‘Finally, Govt Focussing on Agro-technology’

Agriculture is back on the agenda, or so it seems given the industry’s reaction to the

proposals of Budget 2014. In an interview with Business of Agriculture Editor-at-Large

Alankar Srivastava, Vibhuti Prakash, Assistant Manager, Agriculture Insurance

Company of India Limited (AIC), shares the hits and misses of Budget.

Has Budget 2014 lived up to the expectations

of the agriculture industry?

Not fully, but certainly to a great extent.

Although there is nothing concrete to tackle food

ination, reduction in excise duty on food processing

machineries is welcome. An additional allocation

of subsidy for fertiliser business will have a positive

impact.

Treating processed food products at par

with agri produce has been given a go-by in the

budget. Comment.

This has been a long standing demand from the

industry. Treatment of processed food products

at par with agri produce would bring enormous

benets to the food processing industry. We

sincerely believe that this realisation dawns upon

the Government, and they take steps in this regard.

Will NABARD Rural Infrastructure

Development Fund (RIDF) loan scheme for

warehousing infrastructure be a game changer?

The situation is alarming as far as the

warehousing capacity of India is concerned.

A joint study by the Associated Chambers of

Commerce and Industry of India and Yes Bank said

that due to the shortage of warehousing capacity,

approximately 30-40 percent foodgrain is stored

in an improper manner during the peak marketing

season in India.

A lot needs to be done to build additional storage

capacity and renovate existing warehouses.

NABARD RIDF loan scheme for warehousing

infrastructure acknowledges the importance of

standard storage capacity for foodgrain, which

currently cuts a sorry gure.

How is agro-technology going to benefit from

the Budget proposals?

Finally, the government is focussing on agro-

technology. `100 crore has been proposed

to set up agro technology institute in Assam

and Jharkhand. The Government has rightly

acknowledged the need for investment in agro-

technology. Investment in agro-technology is

crucial. There must be more and more investment

in this neglected sector.

Do you think the government has managed

to send out a strong signal of intent through the

Budget 2014?

Ever since the Narendra Modi Government

came to power, it has been making all the right

noises. And with the Budget 2014, the Government

has succeeded in sending out a strong signal of

intent.

How are agri entrepreneurs transforming the

agricultural landscape of India?

Agricultural entrepreneurs play signicant role,

especially in a developing country like ours. They

are making good use of their education. With the

latest technology and research, agri entrepreneurs

are developing agrarian prosperity, while focussing

on sustainable development.



India’s Biotech Agriculture Industry

F

ood grain production in India has failed

to keep pace with the population

growth. The per capita food output

has been declining since the middle of

1990s, reecting a fall in productivity

and yield. Additionally with higher disposable

incomes and changing lifestyles, Indians are

spending a bigger chunk of their consumption

budget on premium foods indicating a shift in the

dietary pattern in favour of items such as fruits,

vegetables, milk, eggs, meat and sh. To cater to

this increasing demand, special attention is required

to increase production of nutrition-rich crops

such as pulses, fruits and vegetables that were

overlooked by the rst Green Revolution.

On the supply side, the farmland is getting scarcer.

The area under cultivation has remained largely

constant since 1980 and even the average farm

size has decreased. Acreage has remained at 140

million hectares for 40 years, even as the number of

farmers has doubled from 70 million to 140 million.

The per capita availability of land has fallen from

0.91 hectare in 1951 to about 0.32 hectare in 2001

and is likely to decline further to 0.09 hectare by

2050. This decline is due to urbanisation and the

rise of industrial belts, growth of bio fuel crops, soil

erosion and climate change.

India’s declining self-sufciency in certain foods such

as pulses and oilseeds has added to the problems.

From being largely self-sufcient in oil seeds in 1993-

94, the country is now the world’s second largest

importer of edible oil, spending more than $13

billion in 2012-13. The rising consumption and the

stagnant yield have made India the world’s largest

importer of pulses, an average Indian’s main source

of protein. The Green Revolution of the 1960s

and 1970s did not cover dry land crops such as

pulses. As a result, while the food grain yield in India

increased by about 400 percent from 1950-51 and

2011-12, the pulses yield rose only by 55 percent.

The most effective way to resolve this is to

explore the market opportunities provided by

biotechnology.

Biotechnology in Agriculture

India’s bio-agriculture sector is currently estimated

at $7.8 billion, including crops developed through





genetically modied technology. Biotechnology

offers multiple innovative techniques to develop

high-yielding crops that can counter the biotic and

abiotic stress associated with Indian agriculture.

The debate on biotechnology often gets restricted

to GM crops, whereas the reality is different. We

need to look at the complete array of solutionsprovided by biotechnology and use it in a more

comprehensive manner.

High Yielding Seeds: Bio agriculture yields better

results than traditional techniques while maintaining

the stability and fertility of soil. High yielding seeds

signicantly enhance the productivity potential and

provide resistance from adverse environmental

stress such as drought and salinity. They are

particularly effective and relevant for a country like

India that suffers from water scarcity and drought

every year. High-yielding seeds also protect crops

from diseases and insects.

Bio Fortication: Bio fortication is the

development of micronutrient-rich staple crops

using traditional breeding methods and modern

biotechnology. Using this technique, plant breeders

focus on crops, such as soybean, that have high

nutritional content. This technique is advantageous

for developing countries in providing necessary

nutrients especially to the rural population who

rarely have access to commercially fortied foods.

Nutrition: Biotechnology techniques full plant

micronutrient requirements by supplying organic

nutrients through micro-organisms and their

by-products. These micro-organisms doctor the

natural nutrient cycle of the soil and build soil

organic matter.

Pest Management: Agricultural crops face a

signicant threat from a variety of natural enemies

such as predators, parasites and pathogens. These

pests can damage crops and impact the nutritional

value of the produce. Biotechnology offers a

solution to this problem, with minimal harm to the

environment.

Wastewater Utilisation: Population growth,

climate change, urbanisation and limited freshwater

resources have made wastewater a vital source

of irrigation water for farmers. It is particularly

important to utilise wastewater from domestic use,

institutions and industries. Greywater – generated

from washbasins, showers and baths – is suitable

for reuse and contains nutrients important for

agricultural production.

Despite the wide range of bio agriculture offerings,

the Government of India has approved only GMBT cotton seeds for commercialisation since 2002.

These seeds were quickly adopted by farmers,

and this paved the way for the growth of bio

agriculture. After the introduction of GM BT

cotton seeds, the bio agriculture sector registered

a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 49

percent from 2003 to 2010 and then slowed to

18 percent during 2009–12. Several factors have

contributed to this sector losing steam. Ninety

percent of the cotton area is already under

BT cotton cultivation, leaving little room for

growth. Lack of new hybrids, a passive regulatory

system and limited investment in research and

development (R&D) too have hurt growth and

innovation.

Challenges

Regulatory Framework: Lack of a common

stance on GM technology across government

ministries and between central and state

governments has brought the agriculture regulatory

system to a halt. Government agencies do not have

a single view on the application of GM technology

in agriculture. The country also lacks a road map

to leverage biotechnology. Regulatory approvals

are not given on time, and multiple regulatory

bodies cause inordinate delays. Currently, 91

applications for eld trials are pending for approval,

44 of which are for GM food crops. To overcome

such delays, the Government proposed to set up

Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI),

an independent regulator under the Ministry of

Science & Technology, but the proposal is still

waiting for Cabinet approval.

Going ahead, the challenge for the Government

will be to establish an effective regulatory system

and a communication mechanism on GM foods,

which can help allay fears about the safety of such

crops, while ensuring higher productivity and

remuneration to farmers.

R&D Spend: India’s R&D spending on bio

agriculture products is fragmented, hindering

Biotechnology

offers multipleinnovative

techniques

to develop

high-yielding

crops that

can counter

the biotic and

abiotic stressassociated

with Indian

agriculture




pooling of resources to conduct result-oriented

research. India’s current R&D spend on agriculture

is only 0.6 percent of the total agriculture gross

domestic product (GDP), which is less than the

average of one percent spent by other developing

countries. This problem of inadequate R&D spend

is compounded by the need to apportion thebudget between numerous public institutions.

To improve the chance of converting these

investments into commercially viable products,

meaningful collaborations between public and

private institutions are required at an early stage of

development. However, public-private partnerships

are infested with glitches such as lack of harmony

between the individual objectives of public research

centres and their alignment with agricultural

challenges, long recovery period of approximately

8–10 years to commercialisation and ambiguity on

intellectual property (IP) ownership. Going ahead,

the challenge for the government will lie in forming

mutually benecial public-private partnerships.

The real value of this can be realised only when

there is a clear, identied path to market. Further,

involvement of private sector scientists and industry

captains in various decision-making bodies of the

Government will be a step in the right direction.

Lack of Awareness & Transparent Seed

Pricing: Lack of information on the use of

biotechnology and transparent pricing prevent

farmers from using modern techniques for

increased yields. India clearly lacks an informed

debate on the benets of biotechnology techniques

in agriculture. The current opposition to GM

is largely due to the lack of understanding of

the technology by a certain group of people. A

comprehensive evaluation of GM technology needs

to be undertaken, looking at all aspects including

social, environmental and economic. Seed pricing in

India is largely determined by the government and

often remains unchanged for years despite the rise

in input costs. The country needs a Government-

approved framework to enable calculation of

licensing fee or trait fee in a transparent manner.

Going ahead, the challenge for the Government

will be to increase awareness of bio agriculture and

formulate a transparent framework to encourage

farmers to embrace biotechnology. India can learn

signicant lessons from other countries that have

become self-sufcient after infusing bio technology

in agriculture. For example, Brazil’s agriculture

sector has evolved tremendously over the past

few years, on the back of favourable government

policies and promotion of biotechnology.

Recommendations

The bio agriculture sector has the potential to

expand manifold, from $7.8 billion today to $34–37

billion by 2025. However, to realise this market

opportunity, the industry needs to implement the

following growth enablers:

Policy Framework & Regulatory System:

The policy hiatus and regulatory uncertainties in

the country have impeded the growth of Indian

agriculture. The Government needs to streamline

the regulatory system in the following ways:

• Lay out the role of various biotechnologies in

solving the agricultural challenges faced by the

country and identify the technologies relevant to

the Indian context;

• Identify priority crops where biotechnology

intervention is required; identify crops for self-

sufciency and those for exports;




• Form a single regulatory authority to govern

all bio agriculture domains falling under various

ministries and coordinate between the relevant

central and state ministries for any approvals;

• Reinforce the capabilities of existing supervisory

committees to effectively deal with complexities

associated with the evaluation of bio safety trials;

ensure evaluation is based on scientic facts; and,

• Set up procedures and targets with clearly

dened timelines; check implementation and

adherence to timelines.

Innovation: Innovation can play a key role in the

success of the bio agriculture sector by enhancing

productivity, ensuring self-sufciency of key crops

and increasing farmer income. But successful

innovation needs the right policies, infrastructure

and market structure. Additionally, promoting

cross-fertilisation of knowledge and capabilities can

drive new, innovative business models and attract

investment. The challenges are enormous, but the

opportunity the sector presents is both substantial

and achievable. The following steps can be initiated

for successful innovation:

• Establish a framework to take to market

successful research projects developed at public

institutes; ensure concerned scientists get

commensurate benets;

• Increase R&D spend for public institutes; revisit

existing R&D allotment methodology to ensure a

critical mass for effective research;• Develop models to encourage public-private

partnerships; transfer any IP generated from

such partnerships to the concerned private

player;

• Allow private players to use under-utilised public

laboratories by paying a rent or service fee;

• Facilitate pooling of private investments for

effective R&D utilisation; create a mechanism

to enable private players to jointly share

investments, risks and benets; and,

• Develop a framework for sharing licensing fee/

trait fee in a transparent manner.

Targeted Initiatives: Of late, the bio agriculture

sector has been in the news for all the wrong

reasons—controversies and growing opposition

to GM seeds. In India’s case, this has been

exacerbated by the lack of dissemination of

science-based information to all stakeholders

to enable them to engage in an objective and

transparent debate. The following steps can be

initiated:

• Develop a strategic plan for public

communication to improve understanding of

biotechnology and its products;

• Work toward achieving public support and

consumer acceptance for biotech enabled

agriculture products;

• Spread awareness of the use and benets of bio

technology among farmers;

• Form ofcial groups for farmers to ensure their

views and concerns are adequately represented;

• Take initiatives to cater to farmers’ need for

funding such as providing low-interest loans for

purchase of equipment.

The report, Indian Biotech Agriculture Industry: Vision 2025

has been produced by the Confederation of Indian Industry

and Accenture. The aim was to define the industry’s vision for

2025 and to recommend measures various stakeholders must

take to realise this vision.




E ven if we ignore the reality, we cannot

ignore the consequences. Agriculture

suffers from similar scenario, wherein

there is silent vacuum of management

strategies due to insufcient and

unreliable technical footing. Indian agriculture

demands balanced development system through

planned research outcome. Higher education in

agriculture must be restructured symbiotically with

farming communities. Management inputs and

execution of road map must have a scientic base

of sustainability.

Productivity in agriculture is linked with a

complex system that is made up of specic set of

components to achieve a common goal towards

“poverty alleviation and sustainable livelihood”.

Obviously, there is need of an approved research

planning based on researchable problems.

Evergreen agriculture based on the principles of

conservation agriculture is a powerful mantra of

sustainable development, if soil, land and water are

well taken. Ultimately, one has to accept the new

era of modern agriculture called “Third Succession

of Agriculture” covering farming, processing, value

addition and marketing at the farmer’s doors

without any signicant sharing of middlemen.

In such breakthrough, corporate sectors may

contribute signicantly. Let the Indian Government

declare the agriculture as industry and develop

infrastructure in rural areas and villages so that

agri-business may ourish to the peak. However,

the SAU-KVK may be the wheel of productivity

promotion in a very specic planned manner.

Agricultural Education: A KeyComponent towards SustainableDevelopment

As per my recent report, higher education is

virtually aimed at the accomplishment of ve basic

Promoting Productivity in Agriculture through R&D vsPoverty Alleviation

By Dr BB Mishra




objectives viz to innovate the student’s individuality

so that originality in mindset could be promoted

for subsequent enrichment of creativity, which

accelerates the sense of competitiveness so that a

student, in the eld of interest could successfully

get his/her employment across the globe. Entire

approaches including infra-structures, capacitybuilding, etc are functioning around the above basic

objectives. Such education in agriculture should

also work in similar ways to boost up individuality,

originality, creativity and competitiveness in

order to assure placement, employment and

agri-business in a very comfortable and peaceful

working environment of a college or university. It

is a need of today’s higher education to emphasise

on creative expression by the teachers in the

class besides using all possible tools to clarify

the concepts of respective topics. Creativity and

employability through practically proven tools

enhance the student’s conceptual understanding.

Such tools equally help to promote better grasp

of the theoretical concept even and accelerate the

power of overall understanding. This fact is more

relevant in case of agricultural education, which

deals with topics full of risks and limitations mostly

in open and uncontrolled surroundings. So, the

emphasis on creative expression in agricultural

education must be nurture in write-shop session

using basic digital media skills and so.

Agricultural education unlike other system is not

only conned to classrooms and laboratories, but

equally with farm experimentation and farmer’s

interaction. There is need to integrate text-book

knowledge with indigenous knowledge obtained

through local farmers in order to develop a

research project to nd some reliable solution. By

and large, the higher education in agriculture must

be location specic in a given “soil-water-climate-

vegetation-livestock-human being” continuum,

a complete system controlling the overall supply

chain for livelihood through natural set-up. With

basic knowledge of system management at

undergraduate stage, the further specialised training

in any eld of agriculture would surely be highly

rewarding. So, the higher education in agriculture

must work in four tiers viz students, teacher and

farmers in a complete system of natural supply

chain for livelihood. This will assure for student’s

contribution towards a meaningful development

outcome in days to come.

Agricultural Management: An IntegralPart behind Development Options

Major agricultural activities work around natural

resources including soil, climate, water and

ecosystem, wherein all do exist in an open system.

As such, the agricultural activities are surrounded

by risk, uncertainties, fears, doubts, limitations and

many unpredictable events like ood, drought,

landslide and even tsunami. Soil, for example, is

the foundation for survival and nourishment of

many crops, grasses, fodders and forest as well

as plantation trees. Unfortunately, soil is neither

evaluated nor studied for its suitability, but more

often simply some top soil information is used that

does not make any sense. As a soil scientist, I see

soil, just as a strange full of wisdom that needs to be

discovered in whatever ways and means one does

have. Most often, we are ignoring soil because we

are trampling by our feet and its possession is found

beneath the feet. Before testing the top surface soil,

one has to move to:

(a) Evaluate the soil (pedon) for deciding its

potential productivity/capability;

(b) Identify the associated limitations (correctable/

non-correctable) and their improvement

through locally available inputs;

(c) Fix suitability of land use choice in a specic set

(crop rotation in case of agronomical crops)

and lastly;

Agriculturaleducation un-

like other sys-

tem is not only

confined to

classrooms and

laboratories,

but equally

with farm ex-perimentation

and farmer’s

interaction




(d) Decide the fertility level of soil and

recommend how much a particular nutrient is

applied in the most preferred ways to enhance

the nutrient use efciencies and so.

This is the responsibility (often I used to say ‘work

culture’) of a soil scientist, wherein all soil related

prescriptions are made available in the form of a

written document covering all, pedogenic, physical,

chemical, biochemical nutritional, pathologic,

microbiologic and biodiversity issues. Management

of a soil to overall restoration of soil health must

not be in isolation, but it necessitates integration

after due evaluation in line with above modes of

prescription. Most unfortunately, the soil science is

being replaced by Natural Resource Management

even in ICAR system and it is an indicator of decline

in realisation of the importance of soil science. FAO

has published commendable soil research works on

land evaluation and suitability identication, but the

same is seldom followed particularly in India.

A soil with full prescriptions being provided within

the above work culture by soil science professional

may then be transferred to Agronomist,

Horticulturalist or Farm Manager or farmers, who

could simply follow the said prescriptions and

management options within the recommended

package of practices for given crops or plantation.

Soil science in management terms thus obeys a very

specic work culture that needs to be accepted for

implementation.

Flood is a natural water resource that calls for

integrated soil based management options in a very

planned manner so that each bank of major river

may have agro-forestry, national highways andrailway tracks following an additional 5-10 km river

compartments in succession for sh cultivation.

In a detailed description, it is suggested that the

ood water from ood affected areas could be

shifted to other areas too, but ood water cannot

be permitted to move to ocean. The project is

highly aspiring and if executed successfully, it will be

proved protable. Such development project could

be recommended for the Ganga river as recently

proposed by the Central Government.

An Ideal Conservation Agriculture: A Mantra for Evergreen Agriculture

The soil shrinkage due to non-farming activities or

even construction works is a policy issue. In some

survey report of the Directorate of Statistics and

Evaluation, Government of Bihar, for example, an

area of 0.73 Mha of the agriculturally productive

land in Bihar was used for non-farming activities

between 1970 and 1975 (in ve years), while

1.62 Mha land was recorded to be put to non-

agricultural use by the end of 1999-2000. Thus,

the land shrinkage towards non-agricultural use

was 20.26 percent of the total cropped area (7.995

Mha) of a densely populated state of India within 25

years. Such shrinkage (sealing) is irreversible causing

huge losses in grain production as well as ecological

imbalance in a big way.

Today, the option of horizontal production is

virtually impracticable and whole of such options

truly rest on vertical production, which is

surrounded with known and unknown challenges

following a decline in partial factor productivity

of a given soil. The simplest way to minimise the

challenges associated with factor productivity as

well as climate change is to adopt and popularise

the true conservation agriculture by keeping

the land covered with vegetation and/or crop

residues round the year with least or zero tillage

following the basic principles in order to restore

the biodiversity and pedo-ecosystems. However,

the principles of organic farming should preferably

be imposed for success in conservation agriculture,




wherein selection as well as adjustment of cover

crops between two main crops in a given crop

rotation is often a challenge. This is the true Mantra

of sustainable agriculture.

Restoration and enrichment of the inherent soil

health (potential) in order to exploit the soil/landon long-term basis to meet the continued demand

of food to a population without any degradation is

sustainability. A healthy soil can only yield a healthy

food to develop healthy population for healthy

country without any scope of abuse by future

generations to whom land will be transferred. This

can be possible through the process which must

be:

• Environmentally non-degrading and friendly;

• Economically viable and protable;

• Socially acceptable and reachable;

• Locally feasible and available;

• Biologically diversied and re-cyclable;

• Technically reliable and accessible.

To make agricultural development sustainable,

one has to be very sincere in recommending a

technology without validation on reliable yardstick.

Use of technology in isolation does suffer from

uncertainty and so it is preferred for integration.

Agricultural Research: Foundation for

Concrete Solution of Researchable

Problems

Science is the key to a system to exploit and that

too for the welfare of mankind. Alternatively, it is

about testing the ideas against evidence. As more

and more evidence come to existence, we can have

more and more condence that brings us nearer

to the truth. Truth may be thus the balance of

evidence. Sometimes, what we feel is presumably

our truth, but lacks evidence. Let’s think on well-

articulated system research to know the soil in

more comprehensive dimension, since research is

the systematic process of collecting and analysing

information or data-set in order to increase our

understanding of the phenomenon about which we

are either concerned or interested.

Science through a reliable research planning does

always move forward towards a well dened

development. In a generalised framework, science

is a key to any natural system to exploit and that

too for the welfare to mankind. But, the pathway

between science and development is driven

through research activities of specic modes. As

such, any development of a country depends on

a strong base of research planning and priority in

respective eld, wherein a well-articulated problem

statement for respective development forms akey-goal of a viable research. But, everything that is

problematic may not serve as the starting point for

a meaningful research. A scientist immediately with

start of a research programme on conservation

agriculture had proposed to investigate the

variation in organic content in soil and so due to

adoption of conservation agriculture, but variation

in soil organic content within a year or two under

conservation agriculture is normally not possible

and so such problem is not researchable. Repetition

of well proven research is wastage of money,

time and manpower. Unreliable and manipulated

research data are serious crime on the part of

scientist responsible.

An experiment is a planned investigation carried

out to (a) discover about a particular process or

(b) compare the effect of surrounding conditions

on certain phenomenon or (c) obtain a new fact

or (d) conrm or refute the results of previous

observation/experiment or (e) obtain the

observations in order to test the hypothesis.

Planning of experiment must begin with problem

formulation, wherein researchable questions must

lead to the solution. One problem may be broken

into researchable questions. Such questions are

to be answered in researchable manner and that

form the objectives. To the best of my wisdom,

research in agriculture often lacks proper research

methodologies including problem identication,

logframe matrix and work plan. Such weaknesses

slow down the commitment for science and

hardly achieve the reliable result for interpretation

in true sense. The integrated farming system

research must be based on soil and land suitability

for diversied land use choice and dependable

enterprises within a scientic methodology to

attain land/soil sustainability to the tune of its

potential productivity by following the proper

land/soil evaluation techniques. I strongly believe

that agricultural productivity could be promoted

signicantly through application of classical laws

of science following the reliable and appropriate

research methodologies.

Science is

the key to

a system to

exploit and

that too for

the welfareof mankind.

Alternatively,

it is about

testing the

ideas against

evidence. As

more and more

evidence cometo existence,

we can have

more and more

confidence

that brings us

nearer to the

truth




Poverty Alleviation: Ultimate Goal of Agricultural Production

To understand the most reliable history of

farming system in agriculture, I believe in two

major successions viz (i) agriculture through

hunting and (ii) agriculture through ploughing,

sowing or planting and harvesting. In the secondsuccession, there have been numerous reforms

including reforms during green revolution, mostly

technological reforms. Such reforms have denitely

solved the food security issues in a big way. But,

farmers are by and large poor in livelihood and

economic growth. This is of global concern even.

I am of strong opinion to expand the long

existing second agricultural succession to the

third succession, wherein farming (ploughing

and harvesting) is closely tagged with processing,

value addition and marketing at the farmer’s door

itself without allowing any role of a middleman.

If we accomplish the attainment of the emerging

agricultural succession in reality, it will be a

breakthrough towards alleviation of poverty

among farming communities. However, the

strategic planning may be developed in four major

components as below:

(a) To enrich the infrastructures as the

assumptions for the success towards adoption

of the respective management as well as

technical training at farmer’s doors viz road,

water, electricity, banks, self-help groups,

internet access/training, transport, market

access etc including location specic processing

and other post harvest and value addition

plants to be installed;

(b) To appreciate SAU-KVKs for designating some

nucleus villages (based on approved standard)

for adoption of reliable technologies being

approved with assured outcome (produce);

(c) To organise frequent trainings on setting-up of

agri-based industries as well as food processing

and value addition plants for site-specic agri-

based products;

(d) To set up a market complex for assuring the

normal sale procedure for different agricultural

products in a way to fetch high price to the

farmer without involvement of middlemen;

(e) To involve corporate sectors in rural area

and get the farmers tagged to begin with

new succession of sustainable agricultural

production to sustain livelihood and economic

growth.

The proposed components may be set in or

improved in the framework of agri-business

management in a way to assure farmers with

maximum prot. Specialised people may sit together to formulate for researchable plan

to shift whole traditional farming system into

corporate sector, wherein farmers will be the

main actors. That will be the true outcome of the

third agricultural succession. Farmers will no more

remain then poor, if global food security campaign

is designed and approved in line with above basic

management components. Accordingly, the farmers

will keep adhered to the following responsibilities:

(i) Let a farmer sow or plant the seed or seedling

following the recommended technology and

available inputs (preferably locally);

(ii) Let him harvest the product under his own

control following the improved technology

(already existing in most parts);

(iii) Farmer must have liberty to store his produce

or go for post harvest technology/processing

or even value addition to fetch a good price.

Let farmers be sole responsible in planning and

decision;

(iv) Farmers must be exposed for opportunities in

marketing (import/export) and that too under

their direct control.

The above four point programme at farmer’s door

(direct control) virtually needs encouragement/

approval by the policy makers (Government),

agricultural universities, cooperative bodies and

extension workers. Every farmer with landed

property is legalised to furnish all four steps at

his door. Other professions like dairy, goatry,

mushroom production, apiary etc are additional to

boost up the economics. Once the programme is

legalised just by adopting a village as the NUCLEUS

VILLAGE, the farmers will get excited towards

its adoption and this will be a true success story

towards poverty alleviation in India.

Dr BB Mishra is Professor-cum-Chief Scientist and Chairman

at Bihar Agricultural University, Bhagalpur. He is the

Chairperson, A Task Group of Universal Soil Classification-

WG, International Union of Soil Science. He may be reached

at [email protected].




R&D in AgriculturePotatoes & Climate Change

Research at the US Department of Agriculture

(USDA) suggests that potatoes are still the go-to

tuber when times get tough. Researchers at the

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) conducted

studies to measure how potato plants would

respond to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide

levels and the increasingly erratic rainfall patterns

expected to result from global climate change. The

team conducted two outdoor chamber studies

to evaluate effects of short-term drought cycles

at current and elevated carbon dioxide levels.

The studies were conducted using soil-plant-

atmosphere research chambers that provided

precise control over carbon dioxide levels, air

temperature, irrigation and humidity. The chambers

contained sensors that monitored air, soil, and

canopy temperatures, relative humidity, and solar

radiation above and below the canopy.

The quantity of solar radiation in the rst study was

about twice as much as in the second. Having two

different study periods allowed the scientists to

evaluate how variations in solar radiation during the

drought periods affected plant response. In both

studies, 11-day drought cycles were applied before

tuber formation began and around 10 days after

tuber formation began.

The researchers observed signicant differences in

plant response that they attributed to the variation




in solar radiation, which in turn affected plant

water-use efciency and dry matter production.

With all other growth factors being equal, the

plants in the rst study had a 30 percent to 200

percent increase in total dry matter production,

depending on carbon dioxide levels and water

availability.

The team also noted that the cyclic droughts

resulted in lower levels of dry matter and leaf

area production. They concluded that drought

stress before tuber formation probably enhanced

the future delivery of carbon, water and plant

nutrients to tubers instead of to stems or leaves—

and that this response increased under elevated

carbon dioxide levels. Averaged across all drought

treatments, tuber yield from plants growing under

elevated carbon dioxide levels was as much as

60 percent greater than tuber yield from plants

growing under current carbon dioxide levels.

Crop Pests pose Danger in Developing

Countries

The abundance of crop pests in developing

countries may be signicantly underestimated,

posing a threat to some of the world’s most

important food producing nations, according to a

research led by the University of Exeter.

Data on the known distributions of almost 2,000

crop-destroying organisms in 195 countries

were analysed in the rst global assessment

of the factors determining the distribution of

crop pests. Dr Dan Bebber and Professor Sarah

Gurr, of Biosciences at the University of Exeter,

found that if all countries had levels of scientic

and technical capacity similar to the developed

world, the number of pests reported would rise

greatly and the true extent of the threat would

be better understood. Many developing countries

are expected to harbour hundreds of unreported

crop pests and diseases, based on current levels of

agricultural productivity.

Around one sixth of the world’s agricultural

production is lost to destructive organisms annually,

with further losses post-harvest. Crop pests are

often introduced by human activities such as trade

and travel, with the wealth of a country linked to

the number of invasive species recorded there

because – whilst growing rich through trade – they

have also accidentally imported pests in agricultural

produce.

But this study also considered the link between

the wealth of a country (by per capita GDP) and

its ability to detect, identify and report the number

of crop pests present. Developing countries areless likely to have the capacity to observe invasive

species than afuent, technologically-advanced

nations. Using GDP and scientic output as

indicators of pest detection capacity, the study

found that the pest load of the developing world

appears to be greatly underestimated, and that this

lack of knowledge may be severely hampering crop

protection in some of the world’s most important

food producing nations. Dr Dan Bebber said, “Crop

pests pose a signicant and growing threat to food




security, but their geographical distributions are

poorly understood.”

The largest numbers of crop pests were reported

by the USA, followed by India, China, France and

Japan. Island nations reported more pests than

coastal and landlocked nations, and the number ofpests increased slightly with rainfall.

Aspirin-like Compound to improve Plant

Defence

For thousands of years, humankind has extracted

salicylic acid from willow tree bark to alleviate

minor pain, fever and inammation. Today, it

is used in acne medication and wart removers,

among other cosmetic products. Findings by US

Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists

suggest salicylic acid may also offer relief to crop

plants by priming their defenses against a microbial

menace known as potato purple top phytoplasma,

a bacterium that has no cell walls. Carefully timed

insecticide applications can deter beet leafhoppers

from transmitting the phytoplasma while feeding.

But once infected, the plant cannot be cured,

according to Yan Zhao, a molecular biologist at the

Molecular Plant Pathology Laboratory, operated by

USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

In studies there, Zhao and his colleagues have

collected evidence that pre-treating tomato

plants with salicylic acid can prevent phytoplasma

infections from occurring or at least diminish their

severity.

For their research the team used an experimental

group of potted tomato seedlings and a second

group of the plants, called the control group, for

comparison. The experimental group received two

salicylic acid treatments. The rst was via a spray

solution four weeks after the seedlings had been

planted, and the second via a root drench two days

before phytoplasma-infected scions were grafted

onto the plants’ stems to induce disease. The

control group wasn’t treated.

The team visually checked for disease symptoms

and analysed leaf samples for the phytoplasma’s

unique DNA ngerprint, which turned up in 94

percent of samples from untreated plants and 47

percent of treated ones. Signicantly, the remaining

53 percent of treated plants were symptom and

pathogen free 40 days after exposure to the

infected scions.

Researchers credit salicylic acid with triggering

systemic acquired resistance, a kind of general

readiness state that primes plant defenses against

pending microbial or insect attack.

More Species found on Organic Farms

On an average, organic farms support 34

percent more plant, insect and animal species

than conventional farms, say Oxford University

scientists. Researchers looked at data going back 30

years and found that this effect has remained stable

over time and showed no signs of decreasing.

‘Our study has shown that organic farming, as

an alternative to conventional farming, can yield

signicant long-term benets for biodiversity,’ said

Sean Tuck of Oxford University’s Department of

Plant Sciences, lead author of the study. ‘Organic

methods could go some way towards halting the

continued loss of diversity in industrialised nations.’

For pollinators such as bees, the number of

different species was 50 percent higher on organic

farms, although it is important to note that the

study only looked at ‘species richness’.

‘Species richness tells us how many different

species there are but does not say anything about

the total number of organisms,’ said Tuck. ‘There

are many ways to study biodiversity and species

richness is easy to measure, providing a useful

starting point. Broadly speaking, high species

richness usually indicates a variety of species with

different functions. Taking the example of bees,

species richness would tell us how many different

species of bee were on each farm but not the total

number of bees.’

The study, published recently in the Journal of Applied

Ecology, looked at data from 94 previous studies covering 184

farm sites dating back to 1989. The researchers re-analysed

the data using satellite imagery to estimate the land use in

the landscape surrounding each farm site to see if this had

an impact on species richness. The study was carried out by

scientists at Oxford University and the Swedish University of

Agricultural Sciences, and was partly funded by the Natural

Environment Research Council (NERC).

The largest

numbers of

crop pests were

reported by the

USA, followed

by India, China,

France and

Japan




• Community effort has augmented family incomes,

increased food and nutritional security of

these households, developed entrepreneurial,

management and training skills in village women.

The concept of Self Help Groups (SHG’s) and

the formation of these groups in rural areas have

sufciently impacted the rural economy. As a

collective, the SHG’s have helped women get out

of the connes of their homes and participate in

social, environmental, economic, health and in

some cases also political and community issues.

What primarily started as a unique method of

nancial intermediation has now also become a

platform for women to become active in broader

development programmes. Their contribution to

the overall growth and progress – both at level of

the household and the community – can no longer

be ignored. Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems

(CIKS) has been working with one such women’s

group – TANWABE since 2006 in Allivilagam village

of Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu.

Success Story

The group consists of 15 members all belonging

to the same village and are primarily involved in

agricultural activities. This group has been together

since 2004. CIKS involvement in this village started

primarily as an organic farming initiative under

a programme – Organic Vegetable Cultivation

– supported by the Department of Science and

Technology, New Delhi. During interactions with

farmers of this village under the DST programme, it

was observed that the women from this SHG readily

followed most of the suggestions and also willingly

improvised and experimented with new practices.

The dynamic interactions within the group members

and the level of condence, unity, commitment and

motivation they exhibited prompted CIKS to take on

a proactive role in the development of this group.

To explore other possible avenues for income

generation, the group members were taken on

exposure visits to places like Gandhigram Rural

Institute and to a vermicompost production unit

at Panikkampatty near Pollachi. After the visits

and due deliberation and discussions among the

members themselves and with CIKS, it was decided

that a community vermicomposting production unit

be started in the village. The rationale for choosing

this activity is as follows:

• Ready availability of raw material;

• Quantum of capital investment available;




• Ease of maintenance – about 2 hrs per person

per day;

• Allied activity to organic farming;

• Local demand for vermicompost; and,

• Technical support available locally (CIKS).

To support this initiative CIKS extended a loan of

`25,000 in October 2008, with the understanding

that it would be repaid within a period of 10

months. In addition to this they also received a

grant of `15,000 from Norway and a loan amount

of `10,000 to the SHG. The group’s contribution

amounted to `4,900.

Vermicompost Production Unit: This unit

started functioning from November 12, 2008. The

cow dung required to start the production process

was brought in by the members of the group. Once

the decision to start the unit was taken, all the

members started keeping 10 kg of cow dung per

day and would also spend approximately two hours

every day to help with the maintenance of the unit

– watering, making beds, collecting and drying the

vermicompost, sieving and packing.

There were initial setbacks such as over-watering,

drying up of beds, worms dying out and more, but

once the members understood the little nuances of

maintenance of the vermicompost beds, all issues

concerning production per se were sorted out.

However, as is common and expected, there were

a couple of management issues that needed to be

sorted out – continuous and regular supply of cow

dung and division of work among the members.

The members, after a series of discussions, came to

a consensus and agreed to increase the collection

cost of dung to `0.25/kg. To ensure participation of

all members in the maintenance of the unit, since

July 2010, a xed rate of `225 is paid as salary to

all members who put in about two hours of work

for 15 days in a month. These two measures have

helped to streamline the production system as well

as have all the members contribute to the smooth

running of the unit.

With increased experience in running the

unit, there has been a gradual increase in

the production of vermicompost. Initially, it

took about 45 days to produce one tonne of

vermicompost. Now, after production procedures

have been streamlined, a tonne of vermicompost




is being produced in 30 days. Therefore the

demand for cow dung has increased. Members

were already bringing in the maximum quantity of

cow dung they could share. There was very little

chance of meeting the extra demand for cow dung

from their existing cattle.

After discussions amongst the group members and

with CIKS, it was proposed that if each member

could purchase one more head of cattle, the

additional requirement of cow dung could be easily

met from within the group itself. Accordingly, a

loan of `15,000 was extended to each member in

December 2010, through a program of NABARD,

for purchase of cattle.

The record of all the activities are maintained

and periodically updated. The production of

vermicompost is efcient as is seen from the

conversion rate (from cow dung to vermicompost)

of almost 50 percent. This implies that these

women have learnt the technique of ne tuning

the production process. There has been enough

demand locally to absorb the present production

levels, with local farmers, a local nursery and CIKS

being the main buyers so far. There is an immediate

need to explore and capture newer markets as

production levels are bound to increase.

Another source of income from this vermicompost

production unit is through the sale of earthworms. A kilogram of worms is sold at `300. These

women who have learnt the nuances of

vermicompost production are now sharing their

knowledge and imparting the skill to other groups

in the surrounding villagers by conducting training

programmes.

Observations

This women’s group is very cohesive and

committed, taking efforts to ensure that any

disagreement or difference of opinion is sorted out

within the group itself. The secret to the success of

this group, lies in the fact that the women see this

enterprise not as a mere income generation activity

but as an opportunity to share and bond with one

another. This programme has augmented family

incomes, increased food and nutritional security

of these households, developed entrepreneurial,

management and training skills in village women.

An interesting and very positive development in

this group is that, these women who were earlier

limited to managing their homes and families are

now condent of speaking in public and voicing

their opinions, are protably managing rural agri-

based enterprises, are involved in all the activities

right from production to marketing, and are also

conducting training programmes on vermicompost

production and a skill based course (tailoring) for

girls from the village.

What started as an organic agriculture programme

has grown and developed into activity that has

empowered rural women.

Source: This case study is based on the field work of the

Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems. The case study

was prepared by Development Consultant, Shylaja R Rao.

Publication of this Success Story is supported by a grant from

the Dutch Ministry of Development Cooperation.




Malt Barley Development Programme

‘Saanjhi Unnati’

S

ABMiller India initiated the Saanjhi

Unnati (Progress through partnership)

in Rajasthan in 2005 to develop malt

barley varieties suitable for India;

provide improved varieties to farmers;

disseminate information on practices to improve

the productivity of the crop and nally buy back the

barley thus produced directly from the farmers,

eliminating middlemen and hence shrinking the

market spread.

The initiative is part of SABMiller’s Sustainable

Development programme conducted across several

countries. Prior to starting Saanjhi Unnati in India,

the company had experimented with the business

model in African countries – Uganda, Zimbabwe,

Zambia and South Africa. The results in each of

the countries were very encouraging. In Africa for

instance, SABMiller is today creating completely

new beer brands brewed with locally grown crops.

The company works with a broad spectrum of

By Rajeswari Kurup




farmers across the African continent from large-

scale commercial growers to near-subsistence

smallholders to boost yields, incomes and economic

growth. Says a SABMiller spokesperson, “We’re

opening up new opportunities, markets and sources

of income for local farmers and communities by

pioneering the use of traditional crops such as

sorghum and cassava in brewing.” In Uganda, the

demand for sorghum has increased from 1,600

tonnes in 2003 to 8,500 tonnes per annum. This

provides an improved standard of living for farmers

along with schooling and healthcare for their

families. The success of the local barley programme

in Zambia has demonstrated the country’s potential

to become a major centre for the production of

high quality malting barley in the region. By moving

away from imported raw materials and sourcing

instead from local farmers, Zambian Breweries has

not only been able to better manage its only supply

chain, but has signicantly increased its contribution

to Zambia’s economy. Jobs have been created and

supported and a valuable new cash crop introduced

into the agriculture sector.

In India, the programme was launched with 1574

farmers in the districts of Alwar, Sikar and Jaipur,

managing about 4,000 acres of land. Now in its

seventh year, Saanjhi Unnati is active in ve states

including Harayana, Punjab, Uttarakhand and

Madhya Pradesh and deals with over 10,000 small

and marginal farmers, who are managing about

30,000 acres of land. The company spokesperson

adds that the aim is to consolidate the programme

in the years to come in order to scale up the

programme, improve and increase quality barley

production. “Currently 50 percent of our barley is

procured through the Saanjhi Unnati programme.

SABMiller India is committed to encourage and

develop quality barley cultivation in India in line

with our long-term goals for growth in India.”

Catalysing Rural Development &

Improving Standard of Living

While the project is targeted at improving the

barley supply chain in India, the overall aim is to

secure a long-term reliable source of locally grown

malt-quality barley and test new strains of barley

that offer better yield and price to the farmers.

Finally, the objective is to produce the seed as well

as buy the product, thus ensuring higher grade of

crop with superior brew house performance.

The project benets the farmers and the local

community by optimising land use, securing income

and enabling them to participate in the growth

of the Indian beer market. A prime example of a

public-private partnership (PPP), Saanjhi Unnati

involves working closely with government and

NGOs to catalyse rural development. “We are

further working closely with the state government

on our seed development programme to identify

seed varieties that are best suited for climate and

soil in northwestern India. Consequently, from

sourcing about ve percent of malt requirement

through the programme in 2005-06, we currently

source close to 48 percent of our malt requirement

through this programme. The idea is not only to

improve yield and income of barley farmers but also




to improve overall standard of their living,” says the

spokesperson.

Saanjhi Unnati & its Functioning

SABMiller India actively manages the day-to-

day running of the Saanjhi Unnati program. The

company has a dedicated team that manages

and directs the 32 Saanjhi Unnati Centres where

farmers can buy seed stock and other inputs such

as fertilisers or pesticides, and consult with the

agricultural specialists. Each centre employs two

technical advisors who give recommendations and

instructions relating to seed treatment, time of

irrigation, method of fertiliser application, weeding

practices, harvest timing and storage practices. In

addition, these centres function as buying stations,

where barley is weighted, graded and farmers are

paid on the spot for their crops.

The Rajasthan government provides SABMiller India

with the appropriate permissions and licenses to

sell government certied seeds and to purchase

seeds directly from the farmers. Centre employees

track and monitor how much seed is purchased

and the total harvest in order to help identify seed

varieties that are well suited for the Rajasthan

environment.

“Our programme largely benets the farmers by

providing them with an assured market for their

barley and a fair price for their produce – market

price or minimum guaranteed price, whichever

is higher. It eliminates the middleman and the

farmer is free to sell the barley either in the nearby

mandi or at Saanjhi Unnati centres,” added the

spokesperson.

The programme provides farmers with access

to seeds, agronomical advice and training

which they need to enhance the quality of their

crops. Farmers receive hands-on customised

support from agricultural specialists with tips

and information on barley cultivation. They have

access to conveniently located ‘Progress through

Partnership’ centres where government certied

seeds, fertilisers and pesticides can be bought.

During 2012-13, through these centres farmers

purchased about 1200 MT of certied seeds, up

from 165 MT at the beginning of the programme.

More than 5,000 non-members have taken

advantage of free agricultural advice and assistance

provided by the centres. The average measure of

malt extract has increased by two percent.

Through the program the farmers have benetted

in getting an assured market for their barley,

transparent transactions, and fair pricing structures.

Benets to Farmers

• Government certied seeds made available at a

subsidised rate through the ‘seeds-on-wheels’

campaign;

• Barley farmers educated on best practices to

help them improve their quality and yields;

• Scientic inputs provided to farmers on issues

pertaining to soil testing and agronomic advice;

and,

• Farmers get an assured market for their barley,

transparent transactions, fair pricing structure

and on the spot payment.

Benets to Company:

• Meet the target of achieving a stable, secure

source of malting barley to produce its

beverages;

• Having access to the higher-quality malting

barley helps the company reduce the cost of the

brewing process; and,

• Helps in improving the quality and extending the

shelf life of its products.

India Barley Development Program Planning for 2012-013 - Jan 2013

Particulars Rajasthan Haryana Uttrakhand Punjab MP Total

No. of centres 18 5 2 1 6 32

Seed Sold (Mt) 1118 53 28 0 99 1298

Acreage (Ac) 24,047 1,546 866 75 2,449 28,983

No. of Farmers 8,110 696 100 6 1,362 10,274

Purchase (Mt)for 2013-2014

34,850 1,800 675 100 2,400 39,825




Financial Services

Crucial for AgribusinessDevelopmentBy Sameer Abbas




A griculture is the dominant sector in

India’s economy and is a potential

catalyst for generating broad-based,

sustainable economic growth.

Improving the performance of the

agricultural sector requires enhancing productivity

through the adoption of high-yielding techologies,improved management of natural resources,

and more efcient marketing systems and

agribusinesses. The efcient production, processing

and marketing of agricultural commodities is often

linked to access to efcient and reliable nancial

services. As farm and nonfarm businesses grow

and become more sophisticated, they often need

sophisticated nancial services offered by formal

nancial institutions. Government institutions and

private lenders have devoted a signicant amount of

resources in India to the task of providing loans and

other nancial services to agribusinesses.

Signicance of Financial Services in

Agribusiness Development

Financial services act as a catalyst for rural and

agribusiness development. They play a pivotal

role in the development of all communities and

all businesses to carry out expansion. These

services enable development activities as well

as the maximum utilisation of excess liquidity

within a community. Financial services achieve this

through what are termed as ‘capital formation’ and

‘intermediation’.

Capital Formation: It is a concept used in

macroeconomics, national accounts and nancial

economics. According to the business dictionary,

capital formation is the transfer of savings from

individuals or households to the business sector;

directly through investments or indirectly through

bank deposits which are loaned out to rms.

Financial institutions with branches or headquarters

in a rural community offer a safe place, where

excess cash can be accumulated. In agricultural

domain, capital formation typically arises at harvest

time. When the harvest comes in, urban traders

arrive to sell their goods; once the harvest is

nished and the cash in the community exhausted,

the traders leave. When a nancial institution is

based in a community, cash accumulates as savings,

which encourages trade with the community on a

permanent, versus seasonal, basis. This increases

quality of life, as goods and services are more

reliably accessible.




Intermediation: It means organising extra liquidity

as savings deposits from those who have it and

lending it as loans to the qualied borrowers who

need it. Financial institutions have systems to

ensure that loans are made to low-risk borrowers

or nancially sound parties.

Types of Financial Services Relevant for

Agribusinesses

Agribusinesses generally need loans that are large

enough to cover their seasonal investment—that

is for cash-ow or liquidity purposes—or large

enough to cover the investment in an expensive

and critical piece of equipment, or both. Further,

agribusinesses require loans that match the

seasonality of their businesses. They normally can’t

repay loans on a weekly or monthly basis as is often

demanded by micronance institutions.

The highest priorities for rural agribusinesses are:

• Access to savings services:

o Enables them to accumulate money at season’s

end for the next season’s investment;

o Enables them to save for larger, longer-term

investment goals; and

o Enables them to save for emergencies that

might affect their business or household.

• Access to seasonal working capital loans:

o Enables them to increase the scale of

production in a given season and thus earn

more income.

• Access to multi-year nance:

o Enables them to invest in capital equipment to

increase the level of productivity while saving

labour costs; and

o Make smaller payments over a period of years,

which lowers the negative impact of nancing

on the business’s cash ow.

• Access to health insurance:o Enables them to avoid losing their working

capital or selling off existing assets when their

owners or employees become ill.

• Access to specialised insurance such as livestock

health and life insurance, asset insurance, price

insurance and weather insurance:

o Enables them to survive shocks to their

businesses by having a programme that will

compensate them in cash or repay their

creditors.

India has Enough Potential in Agri-

nancing

India ranks second in farm output worldwide. In

India, agriculture and allied sectors like forestry,

logging and shing employ 60 percent of the total

workforce. Despite a steady decline of its share in

the GDP, it still is the largest economic sector and

plays a signicant role in the overall socio-economic

development of the country. Since the green

revolution, the yield per unit area of all crops have

grown due to the special emphasis placed on steady

improvements in irrigation, technology, application

of modern agricultural practices and provision of

agricultural credit and subsidies.

India Opposes Targets for Gas Emissions from AgricultureIndia, which is a major agricultural producer in the world, has strongly opposing targets set at UnitedNations climate talks in Doha that would require developing countries to reduce greenhouse gasemissions from agricultural activities.

India is the largest livestock owner in the world with an estimated 485 million cattle, goat, buffalo and

sheep. The country is the second largest producer of methane in the world after China as methane isreleased during livestock’s digestive process.

Indian ofcials said that the agriculture is very important for the country and it is unfeasible for thecountry ask to its farmers to control their activities.

R Rashmi, a senior negotiator from India told the delegates in Doha that agriculture sector is not only asource of economic growth for the country, but millions of people in the country depend on the sectorfor livelihood.

Several developing countries are supporting the view that agriculture-related emissions, carbon dioxide,methane and nitrous oxide must not be included in the targets for reducing emissions for developingnations.




Sameer Abbas is a freelance business journalist.

It is estimated that the required level of investment

for the development of marketing, storage and cold

storage infrastructure for agricultural produce in

India is to be huge. The Government of India has

implemented various schemes to raise investment

in marketing infrastructure. Amongst these schemes

are construction of rural godowns, market researchand information network, and development/

strengthening of agricultural marketing

infrastructure, grading and standardisation.

In terms of the requirements of nance in

agricultural sector in India, a very few farmers

have capital of their own to invest in agriculture.

Therefore, there is a need to provide credit to all

those farmers who require it. As nance enables

the farmers to advantageously use seeds, fertilisers,

irrigation, machinery, etc, they have to invariably

search for a source, which supplies adequate

nance and farm credit.

The Government of India took various measures

to help the farmers to meet their needs of

agricultural farmers such as; Nationalisation of

major commercial banks; Establishment of regional

rural banks; and, setting up of the national bank for

agriculture and rural development (NABARD).

The source of agriculture nance can be divided

into two categories institutional nance and non-

institutional nance. Institutional nance consists

of cooperatives, scheduled commercial banks and

regional rural banks, among cooperatives primary

agriculture credit societies provide mainly short and

medium term loans; whereas primary cooperative

agricultural and rural development banks provide

long-term loans for the agriculture. The commercial

banks including regional rural banks (RRB s) provide

both short and medium term loans for agricultureand allied activities. The NABARD is the apex

institute at the national level for agricultural credit

and provides renance assistance to the above

agencies.

To Conclude

Agricultural nance has played a crucial role in

supporting farm production in India. Though the

outreach and amount of agricultural credit have

increased over the years, several weaknesses

have crept in which have affected the viability

and sustainability of these institutions. In the

changed scenario, strong and viable agricultural

nancial institutions are needed to cater to the

requirements of nance for building the necessary

institutional and marketing infrastructure for

agribusiness development. Initiatives are needed in

a disaggregated manner in many different segments

of agriculture and agro-industry: horticulture,

aquaculture, pisciculture, dairying, sericulture,

poultry, vegetables, meat, food processing, other

agro-processing and the like.

India, Netherlands to Strengthen Cooperation in AgricultureIndia and the Netherlands decided to strengthen cooperation in agriculture and reviewed progress under

the Indo Dutch Agriculture Action plan, the co-operative governance model followed by the Rabo bankand research collaboration with the Wagenengein University of the Netherlands.

Dutch Ambassador to India, Alhponsus Stoelinga, briefed Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh about the current status of Indo-Dutch Agriculture cooperation.

He told the minister about developments in areas of hi-tech agriculture, dairying, Post harvestmanagement, including cold chain infrastructure.

The Dutch Ambassador expressed hope that the ongoing dialogue between India and the Netherlands would receive a fresh impetus when Prime Minister of Holland calls on Prime Minister Narendra Modilater this year.

The minister informed the ambassador that the top priorities of the Narendra Modi government includedsupport for marginal and small farmers, comprehensive programme for irrigation, soil health cards,besides promotion of the indigenous breed of cattle and thrust to co-operatives and farmer organisations

to achieve economies of scale and scope.




Bail Out Agriculture through

Farmer-Centric Approach, Plan for Vibrant Rural Economy

By Ashok B Sharma

A

griculture in India is ceasing to be

a protable enterprise. The most

unfortunate part is the growing

distress among the farmers, the

provider of country’s food security.

The incidences of farmers’ suicides remain high

and the government had done little to wipe out

farmers’ woos.

That the farmers’ distress remains unaddressed is

evident from the latest reliable data available on

suicides by peasants that shows 13,754 reported

cases of suicides in 2012: 3,786 in Maharashtra;

2,572 in Andhra Pradesh; 1,875 in Karnataka; and,

1,172 in Madhya Pradesh.

The issue is of the livelihood security of farmers and

making agriculture in India a protable enterprise

and to retain youth force in agriculture and rural

economy. But it is unfortunate that the policies of

the previous governments ware designed to pull out

people from agriculture and cause migration to cities

and create slums in cities.

With a view to boost the livelihood prospects of

farmers, the National Commission on Farmers

headed by noted agriculture scientist Dr MS

Swaminathan had suggested xation of minimum

support prices (MSPs) for crops at a minimum

of 50 percent higher than the weighted average

cost of production. But the implementation of this

suggestion has been long awaited.

There is an urgent need to restructure the

monolithic Food Corporation of India (FCI) to

enable purchase of farm produces in different

parts of the country. Procurement of farm

produces should be done at the level of cluster

of villages where farmers can get the full benet

of the MSPs. Storage facilities or grain banks

should be set up in the cluster of villages. This

structure will be cost effective and enable cheaper

transportation of food grains from surplus to

nearby decient areas. FCI should expand its

mandate to procure more crops, including some

horticulture crops and pulses.

In India, agriculture still remains as a gamble with

the monsoon. This year the Met Department has

predicted a poor monsoon. If the forecast turns

out to be true, it would cause additional hardship

to farmers.




With a view to combat droughts and oods in the

long run, Modi government has plans to inter-

link river basin. According to several experts,

this measure may lead to severe consequences

including soil salinity. Nearby small links will,

however, prove to be benecial and this had been

the traditional practice so far. Large inter-stateriver links would not only be costly, but also have

severe ecological consequences.

Instead of building costly large dams that can cause

displacement of people and may have disastrous

consequence in the near future leading to

submergence, government should encourage small

check dams and construction of canals and water

harvesting.

Land degradation is taking place at a fast pace.

According to a recent estimate, 32 percent of the

total land area i.e. 105 million hectare is degraded.

A report on desertication released by Indian

Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2007,

shows that about 69 percent of the land in the

country is dry.

Government’s plan for soil health cards for all farm

plots for assessing land productivity is a step in

the right direction. But it should be followed with

fast and rigorous implementation for prescribing

measures for restoring land productivity. Large

tracts of degraded land should be brought back to

agriculture. But it is unfortunate that prime farm

lands are lost every year as a result of acquisition

by corporate houses for setting up their business

enterprises and for urbanisation. There is a need to

check this trend.

According to Government, “steps will be taken to

convert farming into a protable venture through

scientic practices and agro-technology.” But

the technology needs to be region specic taking

into consideration the agro-climatic conditions.

In the name of introducing scientic technology,

the government should not allow introductionof genetically modied (GM) crops, particularly

GM food crops that have conceived health and

environmental risks.

Modi government’s plan to provide urban facilities

in rural areas is a welcome step. But instead of

encouraging corporate houses to set up rural

business enterprises, it would be better if loans

and other facilities are extended to the rural

unemployed to set up business enterprises like

processing units, storages, grading facilities,

fertiliser and pesticides distribution units, and

agri-implement manufacturing in rural areas. As an

alternative, these business units can be set up by

local cooperatives.

Finally, if the government intends to wipe out

farmers’ woos and revitalise rural economy, its

policies and approach should be farmer-centric and

not corporate-centric. Like the government has

plans for urban economy, it should have vibrant

plans for rural economy. We have had enough of

urbanisation of the economy. What we need now

is ruralisation of economy.

Ashok B Sharma is a senior journalist on strategic and policy

issues and former Agriculture Editor of Financial Express. He

may be reached at [email protected].

Budget 2014 Very Positive for Agriculture: NABARD

Rural development lender National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) gave thumbs-up to Budget 2014 proposals for the farm sector, terming them ‘very positive and timely’.

“It is a very positive Budget which addresses the needs like those of smaller landholdings, and gettingcapital investment into agriculture,” NABARD Chairman H K Bhanwala said.

The `200 crore allocation to producer organisations given the reducing landholdings. `5,000 croreallocation for long-term farm credit is also a very welcome move and will make farming much moreproductive. Capital formation is the need of the hour and it is good that such moves have been initiated

to ensure that,” he said.

“Allocation of `5,000 crore for the warehousing infrastructure fund is crucial for food security,” thechairman added.




Union Budget 2014

Big Plans to Boost Agricultureby Aamir H Kaki




The below-normal monsoon predicted

for this year was a cause of concern

for Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

while presenting the 2014-15

Budget allocation for agriculture

sector. Setting itself the target of sustaining a four

percent growth rate in agriculture against the odds

posed by a decit monsoon, the Finance Minister

announced a slew of measures to make farming

competitive and better integrated with the market.

Mr Jaitley said that the Government is committed

to sustain growth in agriculture and this will involve

technology led second green revolution with

focus on higher productivity and include ‘protein

revolution’ as a major area of focus.

The new schemes that were announced are

intended to change not only farming practices but

also storage, distribution, and marketing. Taking the

recommendations of the Economic Survey, the budget

reiterated the need to link markets across the country

by setting up a national market for farm produce.

“There is an urgent need to step up investment,

both public and private, in agro-technology

development and creation and modernisation

of existing agri-business infrastructure,” Finance

Minister said while presenting his maiden budget.

Deteriorating soil health has been a cause of

concern and leads to sub optimal utilisation

of farming resources. There have also been

growing concerns about the imbalance in the

utilisation of different types of fertilisers resulting

in deterioration of the soil. The budget showered

funds in newer schemes such as providing every

farmer with a soil health card to check any

imbalance in fertiliser use and setting up of mobile

soil testing labs (`156 crore) across the country

and introduced a new `1,000 crore for ‘Pradhan

Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana’ to improve access

to irrigation in rain-fed areas.

A major thrust of the Budget was channelling

agricultural credit in newer ways. The budget not

only set a target of `8 lakh crore during 2014-15

towards rural credit, but also introduced a `5000

crore warehouse infrastructure fund, to address the

need to scientic warehousing, to allow farmers to

store their products for long periods.




Other agri-initiatives proposals include setting up

a ‘National Adaptation Fund’ to deal with climate

change with an allocation of `100 crore, and

nancing ve lakh joint groups for landless farmers

through the Bhoomi Heen Kisan through NABARD.

Similar to the previous budget, Mr Jaitley has

announced a `500 crore fund for establishment

of warehousing capacity to enhance shelf life of

agriculture produce.

The Finance Minister said that the share of long-

term investment credit in agriculture is going down

as compared to short-term crop loan. This is

severely hampering the asset creation in agriculture

and allied activities. In order to give a boost to

long term investment credit in agriculture, he

proposed to set up “Long-term Rural Credit Fund”

in NABARD for the purpose of providing renance

support to Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural

Banks with an initial corpus of `5,000 crore.

The Finance Minister announced to set up an

Agriculture Infrastructure Fund of `100 crores to

encourage research and development in the critical

area. He said this was necessary to make farming

competitive, and give an impetus to investment,

both private and public.

Mr Jaitley announced plans to establish centres of

excellence in agriculture in Assam and Jharkhand,

agriculture universities in Andhra Pradesh andRajasthan, and horticulture universities in Telangana

and Haryana. “An initial sum of `200 crore has

been allocated for this purpose. In addition, `100

crore will be released for setting up an ‘Agri-Tech

Infrastructure Fund’,” Jaitley said.

For disseminating information to farmers regarding

new farming techniques, water conservation and

organic farming, the Kisan TV channel dedicated to

the interests of agriculture and allied sectors will

be launched in this scal. This channel would, Mr

Jaitley said, provide real time information on various

issues related to farming and agriculture.

To check volatility of food prices and mitigate

uncertainties faced by farmers on account of

volatility in prices, the budget announced a `500

crore price-stabilisation fund. The budget also

reiterated the present government’s commitment

towards reforming the food sector.

Finance Minister said that the farmers and

consumers’ interest will be further served by

increasing competition and integrating markets

across the country. To accelerate setting up of a

National Market, the Central Government will

work closely with the State Governments to re-

orient their respective APMC Acts, to provide for

establishment of private market yards/

private markets. The state governments will also

be encouraged to develop Farmers’ Markets in

town areas to enable the farmers to sell their

produce directly. Mr Jaitley also announced `50

crores for indigenous cattle breeding and an equal

amount for starting a blue revolution in inland

sheries.

Other important highlights are:

Interest Subvention Scheme for Short Term

Crop Loans: Under the Interest Subvention

Scheme for short term crop loans, the banks are

extending loans to farmers at a concessional rate of

seven percent. The farmers get a further incentive

of three percent for timely repayment.




Rural Infrastructure Development Fund:

NABARD operates the Rural Infrastructure

Development Fund (RIDF), out of the priority

sector lending shortfall of the banks, which helps

in creation of infrastructure in agriculture and rural

sectors across the country. The budget proposed

to raise the corpus of RIDF by an additional`

5,000crores from the target given in the Interim Budget

to `25,000 crores in the current nancial year.

Allocation of STCRC (Renance) Fund: In

order to ensure increased and uninterrupted

credit ow to farmers and to avoid high cost

market borrowings by NABARD, an amount of

`50,000 crore has been allocated for Short Term

Cooperative Rural Credit (STCRC) Fund during

2014-15.

Producers Development and Upliftment

Corpus (PRODUCE): The issue of protability

of small holding based agriculture has assumed

importance in view of increasing proportion of

small and marginal farmers in the country. To

supplement NABARD’s Producers’ organisation

development fund for Producer’s development

and upliftment called PRODUCE, a sum of `200

crore has been proposed which will be utilised for

building 2,000 producers organisations across the

country over the next two years.

Food Security:

• Restructuring FCI, reducing transportation and

distribution losses and efcacy of PDS to be

taken up on priority;

• Government committed to provide wheat and

rice at reasonable prices to the weaker sections

of the society;

• Government when required will undertake

open market sales to keep prices under control.

Agriculture industry gives mixed reaction to the

Budget 2014-15. The Budget’s proposals to enhance

irrigation, agri-research and food processing have

been well-received by the industry. The expectations

to deal with spiralling prices in the Budget have been

belied. The government did not announce any short-

term measures to tackle food ination. However,

the marginal reduction in excise duties in the food

processing sector and extension of the NABARD

RIDF loan scheme for warehousing infrastructure

was given a thumbs-up by the industry.

Reference sources:

indiabudget.nic.in

www.commodityonline.com

profit.ndtv.com

www.livemint.com

economictimes.indiatimes.com

Budget ViewsThe budget was as I had expected. There

was focus on bringing growth back, reduce

ination and maintain scal decit targetted.

There were no radical changes for short- term gains. The right things have been said

and we need to see a consistent approach

over the next few years to achieve the

targets.

Many initiatives have been started albeit

some with only a token budget allocation

but it is a good start.

The increase in FDI limits, defence

expenditure and allocation of funds for smart

cities is commendable.

The intention for 24x7 power, clean water

and sanitation for all by 2019 is a good start

and is welcomed. What came as a surprise

is the `400 crore allocation for 1 lakh

solar pumping systems. This I hope is the

beginning of this great initiative in demand

side management. There is an intent to

make things better for manufacturing which

can create jobs.

Elementary education gets a llip with funds

for teacher training and so does agriculture.

No signicant changes have been made to

direct and indirect taxes which could have

been considered.

All said, a budget which is appropriate for

the times with no radical changes.

Ranganath NK, Managing Director,

Grundfos Pumps India Pvt Ltd




Israel-India Cooperation Yields Big Returns in Agriculture

Affairs, Government of India, in December 1993

India and Israel signed a bilateral agreement for

cooperation in agriculture. Under the agreement

the rst joint committee was set up 2006 and an

inter-governmental work plan outlining cooperative

activities was signed. This was followed by an

Action Plan 2008-2010. A joint declaration was

signed in May 2011 by the agriculture ministers

of the two countries. Under the bilateral action

plan for 2012-2015, this cooperation has been

expanded to seven states including Haryana,

Israel is a world leader in agriculture

technologies. The country’s success lies in the

determination and ingenuity of its farmers and

scientists. In addition, the close cooperation

between R&D and industry has led to the

developing of a ourishing agriculture sector in a

difcult environment with limited water resources.

The cooperation between the governments of

India and Israel in the area of agriculture has been

longstanding. According to the Ministry of External




Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil

Nadu and Punjab. Nearly ten India-Israel Centers of

Excellence for cooperation in agriculture have been

set-up so far. Israel intends to increase this to 28

centres in the future.

Thus, amongst the many elds in which Israel and

India collaborate, agriculture has always been front

and centre. This cooperation includes structured

interactions between governments, experts

and most importantly farmers. The ties include

bilateral sharing of knowledge and technologies,

establishment of Centers of Excellence in various

agriculture sectors across India, exchange visits of

experts and farmers and post-doctoral scholarships

for Indian agriculture researchers in Israel.

Centers of Excellence

The implementation of the action plan is done

by establishment of Centers of Excellence.

The essence of the centres is a quick transfer

of technology of different costs and levels to

the farmers’ elds. The centres are funded by

both by federal government NHM under the

Ministry of Agriculture of India (80%) and by the

state governments through their horticulture

departments, which provide the land, the

manpower and the rest of the budget. As per the

agreement, Israel shares knowledge and provides

capacity building through training programmes in

Israel and in India.

The partners on the Israeli side are the Embassy

of Israel in New Delhi, MASHAV – Israel’s Center

for International Cooperation at the Ministry of

Foreign Affairs; and CINADCO – The Center

for International Agricultural Development

Cooperation within the Ministry of Agriculture

and Rural Development Centers of Excellence

under Indo-Israeli Project are developed for

demonstration and assimilation of knowhow

and technologies to farmers. The farmers, who

adopt agricultural technologies, such as protected

cultivation and drip irrigation, could increase

their yields and income along with maintaining

sustainable use of water, fertilisers and pesticides.

The farmers, who adopt

agricultural

technologies,

such as

protected

cultivation and

drip irrigation,

could increase

their yields

and income

along with

maintaining

sustainable

use of water,

fertilisers and

pesticides




A wide range of technologies is presented in the

centres from hi-tech poly houses to walking tunnels

and net houses in order to enable both small and

large farm holders to enjoy the benet.

The concept of COE is based on a triangular of

applied research, eld extension and a farmer.

All of the above activities focus on implementation

of the latest agricultural practices and techniques

used in Israel today, including:

• Use of marginal, saline and recycled water for

irrigation;

• Implementation of advanced micro irrigation and

fertigation methods to maximise yield and save

water;

• Development of proper nursery standards for

production of disease-free seedlings of vegetables

and orchards;

• Use of protected cultivation which allows

growing out of season crops, increases yield, and

decreases pesticide use;

• Intensication and improvement of productivity

of horticultural crops by controlling drainage,

plant protection and canopy management; and,

• Post-harvest technologies for shelf life extension

of fresh produce.

The centres are organised in four sectors –

vegetable, mango, pomegranate and citrus. Each

cluster is headed by an Indian expert, who is usually

running the most advanced centre in the cluster.

The head of a cluster has a crucial role in

sustainability of the project: professional guidance to other project ofcers in cultivation, but also at

every step of centre’s establishment (tenders, eld

preparations, construction). He is responsible for

organising the cluster seminars, and for adjusting

Israeli technology to local needs which can vary

much in different parts of India. Each cluster has

an Israeli expert counterpart. All the clusters were

inaugurated in 2012-2013.

Success Stories of Israel-IndiaCooperation

Karnal, Haryana State: During its rst three

years of operation, the effectiveness of the Israeli

technologies became evident showcasing a dramatic

ve to ten times increase in crops as can be seen in

the tables below:

The Status of Various Projects

Haryana: Two Centers of Excellence are fully

operational – one for vegetables near Karnal and

one for orchards in Sirsa. Following the success

Crop Open field (Kg/Acre) Protected Cultivation(kg/Acre)

Tomato 16,000 96,000

Cherry tomato Cannot be cultivated in open field 72,000

Cucumber 3500 45,000

Capsicum 12,000 72,000

Open Field (Rp/Acre) Protected Cultivation(Rp/Acre)

Use of Pesticides 45,000 10,000

Use of Fertilisers 25,000 12,000

Dapoli, Maharashtra State

Mango Rejuvenation (per season)

Before After

Density: 100 trees/hectare

Yield:

Table 1:

Table 2:




of these centres, the government of Haryana has

already announced of its intention to set up several

more similar centres across the state.

Maharashtra: Two Centers of Excellence are

already functioning – a citrus centre in Nagpur, and

a mango centre in Dapoli. A post harvest college isalso being established in Roha. More centres will be

ready by the end of 2014.

Tamil Nadu: Open eld cultivation for vegetable

production has started in Reddiyar Chathram and

eld preparations for ower centre in Krishnagiri.

Rajasthan: Centres for fruits in Kota and

pomegranates in Bassi will be sanctioned in the rst

half of 2014.

Punjab: One Center of Excellence for vegetables

near Kartarpur, Jalandhar is fully operational.

Another centre for fruits will become operational

by the end of 2014, including a nursery. Centres

of Excellence for saline water treatment and

aquaculture are planned to be established.

Gujarat: Centres of Excellence for Mango and for

vegetables are at advanced stages of development.

An additional centre in Bhuj will provide post-

harvest support for banana and date growers.

Karnataka: Centres of Excellence are planned to

be established for vegetables and pomegranates. A

mango centre will be inaugurated in the rst half of

2014.

In addition, work is underway to establish

agriculture cooperation projects in UP, West Bengal

and Bihar. According to Uri Rubinstien, former

Counsellor for International Cooperation (Mashav),

Science & Agriculture, Embassy of Israel in New

Delhi, “The Indo-Israeli cooperation in agriculture

is taking a signicant part of the process of India

becoming a world leader in food production and

supply. The repeated exchange visits of Israeli

and Indian experts and the follow-up on mutually

agreed recommendations will guarantee rapid

growth in the yield and quality of produce, and willsurely benet the Indian farmers and consumers”.

Private Players

Private sector players from both sides have also

invested in the agriculture sector. India’s Jain

Irrigation company purchased 50 percent stake in

Israel’s Naan-Dan irrigation in 2007 and became

the world’s second largest irrigation company.

Netam, the Israeli company, is the second

biggest player in India in micro-irrigation and

sprinklers. Israeli companies and experts have

been providing expertise to manage and improve

dairy farming in India through their expertise

in high milk production of milch animals in hot

climatic conditions and genetic engineering.

A joint venture between the Rajasthan State

Agricultural Marketing Board and the Israel i

company, Indolive was signed in 2006. Nearly

112,000 olive plants of seven varieties were

brought from Israel. Their rooted cuttings were

hardened at a high-tech nursery set up especially

for the project in Durgapura, near Jaipur. After

the cuttings grew into small plants, they were

transplanted in agriculture training centres

(ATCs) at Sriganganagar, Nagaur, Bikaner, Jalore,

Jhunjhunu, Alwar and Jaipur districts. The trees

started bearing owers and fruits in 2012.

Thus Israel-India cooperation in the area of

agriculture is being consistently strengthened by

both governments as well as the private sector. It is

a relationship that will give additional synergy to the

ties between the two countries.

A joint venture

between the

Rajasthan State

Agricultural

MarketingBoard and

the Israeli

company,

Indolive was

signed in 2006.

Nearly 112,000

olive plants of

seven varieties

were brought

from Israel

NABARD Reduces Renance Rates

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) reduced the rate of interest by 20 basispoints (bps) on their long-term renance facility to banks with an objective to promote investments inagriculture.

The rates of renance will now be 9.50 percent for 5 years and above and 9.70 percent for 3-5 years period.

To combat food ination, efcient agricultural technologies get a further incentive of 50 basis points. Inaddition, NABARD shall further give 50 basis points reduction, for innovative agricultural activities whichenhance production and productivity.




Israel: The Leader in Agriculture Innovations

T

hough small in size, Israel’s

agricultural sector is vibrant and

highly advanced. Over the last

two decades, it has undergone a

substantial structural change, during

which the number of farms and self-employed

farmers has signicantly decreased, while the

farms themselves have become much larger and

more efcient. Farmers in Israel today are better

equipped with highly developed entrepreneurial

skills and the managerial abilities required for

coping with the changing, dynamic world of modern

agriculture.

The success story of Israel’s agriculture can be

attributed in large measure to the Israeli farmers’

responsiveness and willingness to introduce

innovations, know-how and technological transfers.

In doing so, the farmers cooperate closely with

research and development experts, extension

advisers and agro-technology companies. Israel’s

agricultural sector serves as an excellent laboratory

for the development of new agro-technologies,

which are then disseminated around the world for

the benet of all.

The structural change undergone by the agricultural

sector has a broader scope: the adoption of a

comprehensive approach to rural development,

in which fresh food production – the backbone of

rural life and livelihood everywhere – has leveraged

a much larger set of economic activities, such as

food processing and packaging, other industrial

projects, various services and agro-tourism.

Israel’s agricultural sector is characterised by

intensive production resulting from the need

to overcome a scarcity of natural resources,

particularly water. The high standard of

development in the sector can be attributed to close

cooperation and interaction between scientists,

extension services, farmers, and agro-industries.

These four elements have joined together to

transform agriculture in Israel into an industry that is

globally renowned for its efciency and productivity,

in a country where more than half of the land is

classied as desert land.




Agriculture Engineering

Israel’s agricultural engineering industry is well-

known for its innovativeness, resulting in many

useful technologies. Mention may be made of

some such state-of-the-art irrigation technologies

such as air-assisted sprayers, labour and energy

saving systems, sophisticated sensors, greenhouseequipment, packaging systems and management

software.

Some examples of recent developments are

described below: Special sensors have been

developed to record and monitor plant growth-rate

and determine growing needs. The use of these

sensors results in signicant savings in water and

fertilisers, while improving production and quality.

Equipment and machinery for vineyards, which

enable management of large vineyards with minimal

labour, have been developed and commercialised.

These include systems for pruning, windowing,

trimming, sweeping and spraying. Harvesting

systems for crops such as ower bulbs, onions,

potatoes, sweet potatoes, watermelons, dates,

jojoba, peanuts, and chilli peppers are designed and

manufactured according to the special needs of

Israeli agriculture.

Special systems and methods for post-harvest

operations such as separation of clods and stones

from potatoes, weighing and sorting ower bulbs

and corms according to size, hot-water washing

systems for fresh produce, accurate vibrating seizers,

ower bunching systems, and length sorting are used

to improve product quality and reduce labour.

A variety of sprayers designed for precise

pesticide application and other specic purposes

are developed and manufactured in Israel.

New sprayers developed for narrow paths in




greenhouses and others suitable for orchards are

under development and implementation. Solar

soil disinfestations are already widely practiced,

using plastic lms with special properties.

Energy consumption in greenhouses has been

reduced signicantly by application of variable

frequency drive (VFD) units to greenhouse fans

and ventilation. Physical methods of removing

insects from plants in vegetable greenhouses were

developed and are used for the kosher market, for

organic crops and by ordinary growers. Technology

was developed for making cooking oil pesticides

economically feasible and they are already in use.

High-pressure nozzle systems that create a micron

vapour are applied to cool down greenhouses

and extend the growing season in hot climatic

conditions, as well to improve the welfare of

poultry and dairy cows. When excessively hot, the

system can lower the heat to the desirable climate

condition at the growing habitat without adversely

affecting the radiation levels.

A new system for combined heating and

dehumidication (CHD) was developed to articially

dry the air in closed greenhouses while maintaining

the desired humidity and temperature. The energy

efciency of the system is very high and it reduces

foliage damages due to bacterial infections.

Precision Agriculture (PA) is increasingly applied in

Israel. PA uses cutting-edge technologies, such as

Global Positioning Sensors (GPS), Satellites or aerial

images, and Geographical Information Systems

(GIS) to assess and understand in-eld variability.

Development of sensors and technologies for

selective application of fertilisers and pesticides

take into account health-care considerations

and environmental and economic factors. PAcontributes to efcient crop production and

optimised inputs, leading to reduced costs and

environmental impact.

Green Houses

Production under protected conditions has become

the principal way for Israeli growers to ensure a

constant, year-round supply of high-quality products,

while minimising the use of chemicals. This method

helps to overcome obstacles posed by adverse

climatic conditions and a shortage of water and

land. Today the shortage of manpower, especially

of foreign workers, which may impact production

outputs by as much as 20 percent, presents a threat

to protected producers and a challenge to the

community. The philosophical approach adopted by

Israeli protected producers is to take advantage of

local climatic conditions and adjust the plants to the

existing conditions and technologies with minimal or

non-energy inputs. This approach requires high skills

and excellent supporting systems (Israeli research &

extension services and industries) and technologies

related to production aspects, such as good

breeding materials, irrigation & fertigation, plastic

materials, agro-technology, and above all exibility.

The total area covered with greenhouses, shade-

houses and walk-in tunnels increased from 900 ha

in the 1980s to about 13,000 ha in 2012, with 8,000

ha for vegetables and 5,000 ha for oriculture,

and another 2,500-2,900 ha for fruit trees (mainly

covered with nets), representing an average annual

growth of 4-6 percent. The average farm size is

4-8 ha for vegetable production and 8 ha for ower

production.

In recent years the main eld of expansion has

been production under net houses – orchards,

bananas, decorating leaves, vegetables and more

are produced under different types of net houses

and nets to improve quality, for water saving,

plant protection, hail problems and insuring supply

for local and export markets. Israeli farmers

successfully grow between 85 and 100 tons of




irrigated using micro-irrigation systems. The

remainder employ overhead systems, such as

sprinkler or mechanised systems, either centre

pivot or linear systems. The innovative irrigation

industry has a worldwide reputation, and more than

80 percent of production is exported.

Seeds

Israel develops, produces and markets new

varieties capable of meeting farmers’ and

customers’ requirements, including long shelf-life,

durability under storage, high yield, resistance

to disease, healthy food, drought resistance and

adaptation to a variety of climatic conditions. Israel

is considered to be one of the leading countries in

seed research. Each year, Israel exports over $150

million worth of seeds, mainly hybrid vegetable

seeds, to markets that depend on improved yields

and quality. New seed varieties are developed

mostly by Israel’s private-sector seed companies,

and also by the agricultural research institutes.

Market demands also inuence research and

development. One example is the introduction of

seedless mini-watermelon that is well suited to the

needs of the modern family, as well as bite-size

mini cucumbers and bite-size peppers. Another

example is interspecic hybrid cotton, which

combines the advantages of two cotton species and

is characterised by longer, stronger bres.

Investment in agriculture and rural development

remains a high priority in the country. One direct

result is that Israel has become a world leader in

agricultural innovation, sharing its expertise with

some of the poorest regions on earth to create

sustainable self-sufciency in food and water supplies.

Source: This article is an extract from the report titled

‘Israel’s Agriculture’. The report was released by the Israel

Export & International Cooperation Institute.

sweet peppers per hectare of greenhouses per

season, and today the yield at a net house reaches

8 tons, 90 percent of which is slated for export.

An average of 400 tons of tomatoes are grown per

hectare, four times the amount harvested in open

elds, and about 280 tons of short cucumbers per

hectare. In addition, plastic greenhouse structureshave recently been introduced for housing

livestock, poultry, and sh. A new Israeli standard

for covering plastic materials (with regard to

mechanical and optical characteristics), based on

the European standards, was adopted during 2011.

Water & Irrigation

Insufcient water availability has long been a major

constraint in Israeli agriculture, exacerbated by

seven consecutive years of drought. Over an

expanse of 500 km, Israel’s annual rainfall ranges

from 800 mm in the upper north of the country

to 25 mm on the desert edge in the south, while

average annual evaporation ranges from 1,400

mm to 2,800 mm. The rainy season extends from

October to April, with no rain during the hot

summer. Irrigation has been researched intensively

since the early 1950s. It became clear that water use

is much more efcient when pressurised irrigation is

used as opposed to surface irrigation. An irrigation

equipment industry was established, mainly on

kibbutzim, which developed innovative technologies

and accessories, such as drip irrigation (surface and

subsurface), automatic valves and controllers, media

and automatic ltration, low-discharge sprayers and

mini-sprinklers, drippers, and sprinklers.

A fertigation system is routinely installed on most

irrigated land. Fertiliser producers have developed

highly soluble and liquid fertilisers compatible with

this technology. Most irrigation is controlled by

automatic valves and computerised controllers.

Over 80 percent of irrigated areas in Israel are

Farming Goes hi-tech in Tribal Hamlet A 400-sq m polyhouse for vegetable cultivation on the slope of a hillock with the nancial support of the State Tribes Development Department has been set up in a tribal hamlet in Kerala.

The Kairaly tribal hamlet at Mukkil Peedika in the Moopainadugrama panchayat have about 80families. They erected the polyhouse as part of the Integrated Tribal Development Initiative of the MSSwaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) at a cost of `10 lakh on a 15-cent plot.

Setting up the state-of-the-art facility in the remote village is commendable, given the absence of roadsand power connection.




“Adapting Israeli R&D to

Local Conditions can help

Indian Agriculture”

Israel is the world leader in agriculture

technology. India’s agriculture sector has to feed

a 1.2 billion-strong population. In which areas

within the agriculture sector can cooperation

between India & Israel flourish?

A few years back India went through the rst

green revolution and became self-reliant in feeding

its population, which is not something that should

be taken for granted. Now, India is in the midst of

the 2nd green revolution which is diversication of

its food basket. Israel and India share many similar

challenges and India can take advantage of Israel’s

experience in overcoming challenges such as water

scarcity, increasing of productivity, diversifying food

basket, and the use of technology and advanced

training by the local farmers. These are just a few of

the areas we are focusing on.

Israel-India agriculture cooperation is a

significant part of the relations between the

two countries. Can you give us the important

milestones in this relationship in terms of

agreements signed between the two countries

over the years?

India and Israel signed an MoU in 2008 for

cooperation in agriculture. The second phase (2012-

2015) includes setting up Centers of Excellence’s

in Agriculture in more than 10 states throughout

India. But for us the important milestones are not

agreements being signed but the results you see

on the ground such as seeing those Centers of

Excellence’s become operational and conducting

training for already dozens of thousands of farmers

throughout India.

Israel is expected to set up Centers of

excellence across 10 Indian states by the year

2015. What are the objectives of these centres?

To what extent have they helped Indian farmers?

We are working closely with the governments

of each of those states in the project in order to

set up those centres according to their local needs

and demands. This process is based on joint R&D

that is being done by Israeli and Indian experts.

The aim of those centres is to increase productivity

by implementing and adapting innovative Israeli

technological solutions and by providing trainings to

the farmers using those advanced methods.

Israel has helped Indian farmers diversify their

production basket by introducing new products.

These include olives in Rajasthan and dates in

the Kutch area of Gujarat. How adaptable have

Indian farmers been and what is the success of

these ventures?

It is important to understand that diversifying the

food basket does not necessarily mean replicating

whatever is being done somewhere else. What is

being done in the Centres of Excellence is adapting

those methods to the local needs of each state.

Simple cut and paste would not do the job. We nd

the Indian farmers very enthusiastic to adopt new

proven methods that can increase their productivity.

In the case of olives in Rajasthan, you nd Indian

farmers willing to do something that has never been

done in India; that is to grow olives, and we are

very proud that soon the rst batch of Indian olive

oil will be ready. They are very open-minded to

implementing new methods.

Uri Rubinstien, former Counsellor for International Cooperation (Mashav), Science & Agriculture, at the Embassy

of Israel in New Delhi. He played an active role in setting up the Center of Excellence in 10 states across India. In this

interview, he points out that these centres have acted as a tool to transfer Israeli technology to Indian farms and that this

cooperation has benefited both countries immensely.




One of the biggest problems facing Indian

agriculture is poor water management. What

kind of technological assistance can Israel provide

in this regard?

Israel is at the forefront in various elds in the

water industry including water management. Israeli

experience in recycling water is unparallel. TodayIsrael recycles more than 80 percent of its domestic

water and reuses that in agriculture. Also, Israeli

companies are the most advanced in the world in

bringing drip irrigation solutions. Ninety percent of

the water in India is used for agriculture and industry.

Smarter use of water can make a huge difference in

India. We are condent that India can benet from

Israeli expertise in water.

With rising incomes in India, the consumer

basket is expanding to include more vegetables,

fruits and dairy products. Again, what is the scope

for Israel-India cooperation in this area?

The scope of cooperation becoming wider and

deeper is according to the requirements of our

Indian partners and the local market. One sector that

we see high growth in is the dairy industry in which

Israel has the highest cow productivity in the world,

and many methods and technology Indians can adopt

and adapt. Nevertheless, we see the main demand

is not always to bring new varieties of food and

vegetables but to improve the yield of existing ones.

Which are the organisations that are actively

involved in promoting Israel-India agriculture

cooperation? Training programmes for Indian

agriculture officers as well as farmers have been

held in Israel. How many such teams have visited

Israel and what has been the experience?

Our activity in the eld of agriculture in India is

conducted mainly through MASHAV, Israel’s agency

for International Development Cooperation in

the MFA. MASHAV has existed for over 50 years

and is active all over the world. MASHAV has vast

experience, among other things, in conducting

courses for farmers and other agricultural experts,

both in Israel and in the respective states. Our

activity in India includes bringing Israeli experts to

India to work jointly with our Indian counterparts

all year long. The feedback we have received so far

has been very good not only from the Indian side but

also from our Israeli experts that tell us that after

almost each visit, they have learned new things as

well.

Israel hosts important agriculture events

such as Agritech and Agrivest. Has there been

significant participation by India in these events?

Agritech, one of the world’s most important

exhibitions in the eld of agricultural technologies,

is held once every three years. The exhibition

showcases advanced equipments and technologies,cost saving production and other innovations

in the eld of agriculture. It provides a platform

for interaction between producers, farmers,

administrators and those involved directly or

indirectly with agriculture or water technology. In

2012, as many as 600 farmers from Gujarat travelled

to Tel Aviv Israel to attend the Exhibition. Another

proof of collaboration between the two countries is

Naandan Jain Irrigation Ltd. Israeli company Na’an

Irrigation Systems was renowned for developing the

underground sprinkler system. By the mid-1980s,

growing competition and decrease in demand

forced the company into a considerable slowdown.

After roughly 20 years of struggles, Na’an Irrigation

Systems merged with Indian conglomerate Jain

Irrigation in 2007 and is now aiming to become one

of the largest irrigation manufacturers in the world.

What measures can be taken to improve

cooperation between Indian and Israeli

agriculture companies to promote the business of

agriculture?

The single most important thing that can be done

by companies in the business of agriculture is joint

R&D adapted to the local market. By focusing on

local challenges such as post-harvest, dairy industry

and water treatment, Israeli and Indian companies

can tap into one of the most promising markets

in the world. One good example of cooperation

in R&D can be seen between the Israeli company,

Netam, one of the biggest irrigation companies

in the world, and the University of Tamil Nadu in

implying drip irrigation in rice. Results have shown

that by using certain techniques and technologies,

signicant water conservation is being done. As a

result, fewer pesticides are being used. In the end,

you get not only a healthier product but you also

use less resources in the process. These are exactly

the kind of projects that we believe can be done

between Israeli and Indians at all levels.

Thank you Sir




Goldman Sachs ‘VeryPositive Globally’ on Agriculture

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) is ‘very positive globally’ on the agriculture sector, in part as dry weather in the US supports grains, said Steve Jesse, an executive director of fixed income,commodities and currencies at the bank.

“In the main grain markets in the agriculturesector, they’ve all become a lot more closelyconnected. What’s happening right now in theUS with the drought is the main driver of the UK

wheat market in the last few days,” Jesse said.

Nigeria to Double Agriculture Credit in Two Years to Cut ImportsNigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, plans to doubleagriculture’s share of banks’ credit to 10 percentin two years as it seeks to cut food imports,

Agriculture Minister Akinwunmi Adesina said.

“We made a fundamental shift that agricultureis not a developmental activity, agriculture isa business,” Adesina said in an interview withBloomberg TV Africa at the World Economic

Forum in Davos. “And so it shifted the mind-setof the banks. It’s a new agriculture sector in which

they can actually invest money and make money.”

“Loans to agriculture as a share of total credit rose to 320 billion naira ($2 billion), or ve percent, at the end of last year from less than one percent in2011,” Adesina said.

The Agriculture Ministry is partnering with theNigeria Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for

Agricultural Lending, a unit of the Central Bankof Nigeria, to provide credit guarantees to enablebanks lend to farmers.

Nufarm Shuts Down Plant inNew ZealandNufarm, a leading agricultural chemicals manufacturer,has said that it is planning to close down its plant inNew Zealand.

The company has also said that it is planning to shift itsregional production to Victoria. The company believes

that consolidating its production will generate annual

cost savings of $3 million. The move will result in aloss of 59 jobs at the Otahuhu factory, in Auckland,according to the company.

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It’s A Fair Deal! CCI Approves

COFCO’s 51 Percent Stake buy inNoble AgriThe Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approvedagriculture rm Cofco (Hong Kong) Ltd’s proposed acquisition ofmajority stake in Bermuda-based Noble Agri Ltd, saying the dealdoes not raise any competition concerns.

The proposed deal relates to acquisition of 51 percent of the equityshare capital of Noble Agri by Cofco.

In India, Cofco is into trading of non-agricultural commodities suchas malt, citric and lactic acids, while Noble Agri is engaged in the

business of grains, oilseeds, vegetable oils and sugar, among others.“The proposed combination is not likely to have an appreciableadverse effect on competition in India,” CCI said.

New Approach toStudying Fungus’ Attackon Soybeans

A new laboratory technique developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientistscould speed the search for soybean plants withresistance to the fungus that causes Phomopsisseed decay (PSD) in the legume crop.

A disease primar ily caused by the fungusPhomopsislongicolla, PSD physically degradessoybean seed and reduces the quality of itsprotein and oil.

Applying fungicides, rotating soybeans withnon-host crops and tilling the soil are amongstrategies used by growers to prevent PSD.

However, breeding for resistance to PSD is themost effective long-term strategy, according

to Shuxian Li, a plant pathologist with the ARSCrop Genetics Research Unit in Stoneville,Mississippi.

As part of a Phomopsis resistance program there, Li has sought to learn more about how the fungus inicts harm at the cellular level.Towards that end, she and colleagues enlisted

the aid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, a speciesof soil bacteria commonly used in geneticengineering procedures to endow plants withnew traits.




Poor Farm TechnologyResponsible for Food Ination:

ReportPoor farm technology and poor links between farmersand food processing industry is responsible for persistentfood ination in India, according to a fresh report by the

CII and McKinsey & Co.

The report revealed farmers, mainly producers of foodproducts, are currently achieving less than 60 percent of

the full potential yield.

The report blamed use of poor farm technology along with farmers’ week links between with food processingindustry for the problem.

It also suggested that the asymmetry in the demandand supply could be corrected radically improving theproduction of some high value foods, such as potato, soyabean, banana, mango and poultry.

Pest Sprays Poisoning World Food Supply: Study According to a comprehensive scientic assessment of the chemicals’ impacts, world’s most widely usedinsecticides have contaminated the environment across the planet so pervasively that global food productionis at risk.

The researchers compare their impact with that reported in Silent Spring, the landmark 1956 book by RachelCarson that revealed the decimation of birds and insects by the blanket use of DDT and other pesticidesand led to the modern environmental movement.

Despite regulations in place, the poisoning of almost all habitats continue. Creatures essential to globalfood production — from bees to earthworms — are likely to be suffering grave harm and the chemicalsmust be phased out.

The new assessment analysed the risks associated with neonicotinoids, a class of insecticides on whichfarmers spend $2.6 billion a year. Neonicotinoids are applied routinely rather than in response to pest attacks.

“The evidence is very clear. We are witnessing a threat to the productivity of our natural and farmedenvironment equivalent to that posed by organophosphates or DDT,” said Jean-Marc Bonmatin, of theNational Centre for Scientic Research (CNRS) in France, one of the 29 international researchers whoconducted the four-year assessment.

The report is being published as a special issue of the peer-reviewed journal ‘Environmental Science andPollution Research’.

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