Souvenir

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2nd Agriculture Leadership Summit
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Under the shadow of a severe drought in India,the world wide recession and ever increasing food prices, a new pledge of improving food production in an eco-friendly sustainable agricultural model was taken at the 2nd Agriculture Leadership Summit 2009, organised by Agriculture Today
he 2nd Agriculture Leadership Summit and Leadership Awards 2009 were organized by Agriculture Today on 4 5 Sept., 2009 at Taj Palace, New Delhi. The Summit was inaugurated by the Union Minister, Dr. MS Gill in the gracious presence of Prof. PK Dhumal, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Gen. NC Viz, Vice Chairman, National Disaster Management Authority, Prof. KV Thomas, Union Minister of State for Agriculture, H.E. Mark Sofar, Ambassdor of Israel and Prof. MS Swaminathan, MP (RS), Pioneer of Indias 1st Green Revolution. Dr. Gill in his address noted that agriculture is a topic not much discussed in India, either by common man or the Parliament and felt that the marginal and small farmers are in great distress today. He stressed for the development of agricultural infrastructure. He described the current agriculture situation as dis-satisfactory, in the wake of its decreasing contribution of agriculture in Indias GDP, extremely low level of public and private investments and the most frightening of all - lowering farm incomes, resulting into widening gap in rural urban income ratio. He shared his experience of participating in the Green Revolution efforts, as Registrar of Cooperatives in Punjab during that period. He said the risk taken by the Punjab Government to distribute imported Mexican wheat seeds, resulted into substantial increase of wheat production. He termed the Green revolution as an input based revolution, which was mainly imported. Dr. Gill called for need to pay attention to the agricultural marketing and linking farmer with the market. He emphasised that to develop India, agricultural development has to be the priority of any Government.
Mr. Mark Sofar lighting the inaugural lamp, also in the picture Prof. MS Swaminathan, Prof. KV Thomas and Gen. NC Vij
Mr. MJ Khan, Prof. PK Dhumal, Prof. MS Swaminathan and Dr. MS Gill releasing Year Book 2009
Prof. K.V. Thomas, Union Minister of Sate for Agriculture, in his address covered current agriculture scenario and the monsoon failure this year. He described the serious implications of the prevailing drought conditions on the farm production and the public life. Agriculture research should be focused on the needs of the farmers. He stressed that the political leadership has to work very closely with the development system to take the agriculture to the next level. Prof. Thomas added that realization of food security is critical to achieving the 8 point Millennium Developmental Goals by 2012. He said that the National food Security Mission is in that very direction after the successful implementation of Right to Information and Right to Education Acts by the Government. General N.C. Vij, Vice Chairman, National Disaster Management Authority shared the intricacies involved with Disaster management and emphasized the need for including disaster reiterated that agriculture is still the backbone of Indian economy. He also expressed concern over the fact that the share of agriculture in the total national economy has been declining over the years and recommended some corrective measures. He said that over 276 districts are declared drought hit by the government, and suggested extending the scope of disaster management to the co-operative and private sector. He urged the corporates present at the summit to
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Dhumal pointed out that the pattern of agricultural development is uneven among various groups of farming community. He said that the time has come to address to the problems of agriculture as a whole. He also said that his Government has taken initiatives to make Himachal Pradesh climate neutral. Mr. Dawcho Lepcha, Honble Minister of Agriculture and Horticulture, State of Sikkim in his short discourse reiterated the dream of Chief Minister of Sikkim, Mr. Pawan Chamling for making Sikkim an Organic Dr. MS Gill delivering mementos to the sponsors of the summit state by 2015. pay attention towards CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Mr. Rajendra Singh, President of Tarun duties for the better development of the society and people Bharat Sangh and Magsasay Awardee at large. stressed on the problems created by His Excellency, Mr. Mark Sofar, modern agriculture and suggested Ambassador of Israel noticed the taking to the natural indigenous farming importance of agriculture in national system, practiced traditionally by Indian income and the lives of common Indian farmers. He pointed out that the area people. He expressed his condolences to under drought and famines have the deceased Chief Minister of Andhra increased over the years. He also said Pradesh Dr. YSR Reddy, and remembered that the policies governing our water and natural resources his works towards community should take care of our geo-cultural diversity. development programmes and the upliftment of downtrodden. Prof. MS He shared his experiences of micro-irrigation and water Swaminathan management technologies. He also commented that Israel in his concludand India can partner in the field of drip irrigation and advanced ing remarks agriculture techniques. said LeaderProf. M.S. Swaminathan, Chairman, ship has an imOrganising Committee and Noted portant role to Agriculture Scientist talked about climate play in the dechange initiatives for sustainable velopment of agriculture development. In his speech, agriculture. He the learned professor stressed on the said, the rethree basic components needed for Prof. P K Dhumal, Chief Minister of Himachal solve of Prof. increasing productivity i.e., technology, Pradesh with Dr. MS Swaminathan Dhumal to public policy and farmers enthusiasm. He also noted that the c o n v e r t parameters to measure success of policies in context to Himachal into an organic state, is the example of what leaderagriculture development need change from measuring increase ship can do. He requested Prof Dhumal to develop strong in production to increase in the income of farmers. school of research, as organic farming involves more science Earlier welcoming the gathering, Mr. MJ than the chemical ones. Prof. Swaminathan commended the Khan, Chief Editor, Agriculture Today dis- works done by Mr. Rajinder Singh, popularly known as the cussed the current agriculture scenario in Waterman of India, particularly in Rajasthan in the area of the backdrop of climate change and pre- community driven decentralized water management systems vailing drought situation. He added that and its conservation. adoption of appropriate technologies in agriculture and their holistic integration Industry Leaders Group can only bring forth the next revolution in The Industry Leaders Session started the farm sector. with the comments of Mr. US Jha, Chairman and Managing Director, Rashtriya Political Leadership Group Chemicals and Fertilizers. His talk revolved The Political Leaders Session started with the address of around the need for the Integrated NutriProf. PK Dhumal, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. Prof. ents Management System. He pointed out
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(L-R) Mr. US Jha, Mr. UC Sarangi, Mr. Anjanikumar Choudhari, Mr. RG Agarwal and Mr. Kapil Mehan during Industry Leaders session
that improved productivity depends on increased fertilizer application. Mr. M. Prabhakar Rao, President of National Seed Industry Association pointed out the advantages of BT cotton and informed the august gathering that efforts are on to spread BT cotton suitable for all agro climatic regions. He also said that the association was also promoting good agronomic practices. Mr. Anjani Kumar Chaudhary President, M&M Farm Equipment Sector in his address noted that there was a need for investment in improving agricultural output. He said that less than 10% of Indian framers own tractors, while 30% use them. He said that the farmers have realized the importance of farm equipments in improving the profitability of farms and farmers. He emphasized by giving example of China, the need for providing subsidy in a time bound manner to give a one time quantum jump in improving infrastructure. Mr. RG Aggarwal, Chairman of Crop Care Federation of India in his address said that we use only 2% of the worlds pesticides consumption, while we produce 16% of the food. He blamed some interest groups for spreading misinformation about excess insecticides being applied. He felt that the higher productivity of China is due to their higher usage of pesticides and fertilizers. Mr. Kapil Mehan, Executive Director, Tata Chemicals felt that the need of the hour was to deliver better quality food. He also informed that the Tata Group companies have had their Carbon Footprint mapped out and the group companies have taken upon themselves to reduce their emission quantities.
Shri UC Sarangi, Chairman NABARD, said in his observations that input supported by banks will help farmers to source better inputs thereby improving productivity. He elaborated on the need for better farming industry banks linkages for improving farm productivity and market access. Experts Group Addressing the Summit, Dr. KL Chadha, Pioneer of Golden Revolution in the said that there is dearth of specialists in the field of monsoon and climate change. R&D has to be taken up towards the development of seeds resilient to extreme climates of drought and flood. He also stressed to reorient the research and extension towards changing agriculture cycle in the view of climate change. He also urged for inclusion of high value agriculture like dairy, horticulture and fisheries to minimise farm risks and also for the adoption of resource efficient technologies like micro-irrigation and poly houses.
Dr. KL Chadha
Dr. Reyes Tirado Dr. CD Mayee
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Dr Reyes Tirado of Greenpeace said, Our aim is to defend the planet. It is for Asia and India also to work about the climate change. Food and Climate change has been prioritized at Greenpeace, which conducts campaigns for climate and environment. She added that climate change is already happening and the attention required is urgent, as reflected in the current monsoon failure and prevailing drought conditions, spread across the country. She said that the present agriculture model is mainly based on chemical fertilisers and pesticides, which has to be changed to a more sustainable model with the concept of food security. The latest UN report titled, Global Agriculture Assessment states that in agriculture, business as usual is not an option, said Ms. Tirado. She said that no single genetically engineered crop had resistance towards drought, salt and famine conditions, while stressing that ecological farming was sustainable and very much possible for the economic and social development of the rural folks. Dr. CD Mayee, Chairman, ASRB admitted that there may be shortage of about 10 mt of rice this year on account of prevailing drought and said that this could be compensated by giving production stress on rabi rice in many parts of the country. He stressed for increasing the water use efficiency by adoption of resource efficient technologies like SRI, development of drought tolerant varieties of rice, the water consuming crops. Subsidies for the dryland and rainfed farming was advocated by Dr. Mayee. He urged for the adoption of alternate farming with horticultural crops, dairy, fishery, pulses, oilseeds and poultry, as the source of financial growth. He emphasisez on the need for extension of cutting edge technologies in agriculture with the vertical integration and knowledge based farm extension rather than information, as practiced by most of the extension agencies in the country today.
change. The panel has made the point that the climate change and global warming are the contributions of human activities. She also stressed that post green revolution; we have moved much towards the non- sustainable agricultural practices. We have almost lost the agricultural diversity, with the presence of only rice and wheat everywhere, which may cause disaster to the future generations. Diversity should be treated as system of production and not only a weapon against the monoculture, she added. Dr. Shiva further added that small scale integrated farming system were much more productive than a large extensive farm, with the main focus on the biological productivity of the system. She also stressed that the yield should not only be the productivity criteria in integrated farming models, as biological and ecological assessment had to be taken into consideration for the real picture in terms of farm sustainability. Dr. Kirti N. Shelat stressed upon the need for taking up the leadership in the area of sustainable agriculture development. He also threw light upon the changes occurring in the climatic situations and agriculture ecosystem over the years. Dr. Shelat emphasized the need to address sustainable farming, food security and land degradation issues on urgent basis with the thrust on land, water and resource management by taking up the developmental leadership. Mr. Krishan Bir Chaudhary, Chairman, Bhartiya Krishak Samaj noticed that farm policies are no longer profarmers, rather they are pro corporate. After 3rd Plan, we have not moved in irrigation expansion Farmers and NGOs Group and development. Developed nations Dr. Vandana Shiva, noted environmental activist and were the major culprit for the climate Chairperson, Navdanya Foundation termed this year s change, with the US alone contributing drought as an extreme situation. She said After the release 26 per cent of total CO2 emissions, whereas Indias share is of IPCC report, the heat of climate change has been felt by all only 2 per cent. Inspite of this, western countries blame Asian and eventually have cleared all the doubts about the climate nations for the phenomena of global warming and other related problems, he said. He lambasted the research institutes for not working for the farmers needs and interests and for supporting the MNCs and corporates. Dr. M.H. Mehta, Chairman, Science Ashram, who chaired the session, said that higher production could be ensured with low input cost with the adoption of his 20-20 model of agriculture, which is based on reducing the use of inputs by 20%, while increasing the yields by 20%. He said that several countries have done it and the same needs to be launched urgently in India to make agriculture profitable. He advised for a national mission for the use of farm generated and recycled bio- inputs and Mr. K B Chaudhary, Dr. MH Mehta and Dr. Vandana Shiva at the Farmers biological control methods for pest and disease conand NGOs Session
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operation and informed that Netherlands wished to cooperate and offer its knowledge and expertise in food processing and contribute to the growth of Indian agriculture. Mr. Roberto Zagha, Country Director of World Bank commented that one of the positive outcomes of sustainable land management was that it can trigger sustainable food security. He also informed that the World Bank was working with the Government of India on twenty different programs with a financial involvement of 3.5 billion dollars. He felt that the challenges existed in the scaling of the programs and integrating with Dr. Bimal Jalan, Mr. K Rahman Khan and Mr. Hukum Deo the global initiatives. Dr. Prabhat Kumar, IAS, Resident Director, Narayan Yadav at the Parliamentarians Session ICRISAT in his address said that the trol and soil health management. He urged to make it popular definition of development had to change. among the masses by the extension agencies to make the He suggested that we need to take small farms remunerative and more viable. steps and educate ourselves on the causes and ways and methods to mitigate the Parliamentarians Group effects of climate change. Shri Hukum Deo Narayan Lok Sabha and Dr. Avri Bar Zur, Counselor, Science and former Union Minister of State for AgriAgriculture, Embassy of Israel emphasized culture touched upon the subject of the need to transform the agriculture from politicization of agriculture. He comlow yielding cereal crops to high return. mented on modernization of Indian agriHe said that Israel wished to develop in culture and pointed out that modernizaconjunction with the Indian counterparts, tion of traditional knowledge was actual new technologies suitable to the small science. farms. The counselor said that he wished Dr. Bimal Jalan, former Governor of RBI to develop a center of excellence, which and Member of Parliament, said that the would work closely with the Indian extension workers and main problem with equitable growth in our close the gap between research and reality. country was the rural scenario. He noted Mr. Ge Songxue, Counselor of Science that the rural areas were least served by and Technology, China noted the the growth of industry and services in similarities in agriculture between China our country. He cautioned that unless we and India. He said that China has almost concentrated on rural development, we 17% of the worlds population but only would not be able to bring a big change in Indian economy, 7% of the arable lands and similarly India as the bulk of our population is in rural areas. has 14% of the worlds population and Mr. K. Rehman Khan, Honble Dy. Chaironly 2% of the arable land. He suggested man of Rajya Sabha, chairing the session, that both China and India should cooperate in the field of commented that we should enhance the agriculture in meeting the challenge of making the world investment in agriculture and provide fa- hunger free. cilities and inputs to the farmers. He cautioned that if agriculture is thrown nonremunerative, it will have massive social and political fall out for the country. Mr. Khan shared the concerns that the House need to devote more time for discussions on farmers issues. Foreign Representatives Group Mr. Hans Wolff, Agriculture Counselor, Embassy of Holland in his address stated that Holland would like to have strong linkages with India in farm sector. Holland has high levels of expertise in dairy, horticulture and advanced farming system, which can be used to make farming more profitable. He also said that agriculture is a knowledge and money intensive
Dr. RB Singh, Mr. Ge Songxue, Dr. Avri Bar Zur, Mr. Roberto Zagha, Mr. C R Jayasinghe and Dr. Prabhat Kumar at the Foreign Representatives Session 2nd Agriculture Leadership Summit
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His Excellency, Mr. C R Jaisinghe, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka noted the similarity of challenges faced by India and Sri Lanka, which attained freedom almost at the same time. He noted that we faced challenges almost in the same way as India and future of the two countries were linked. While appreciating the efforts of India in collaborating with Sri Lanka in food and agriculture, Honble High Commissioner emphasized the need for more regional and global partnerships in agriculture towards achieving global food security. Mr. R B Singh former ADG (Asia Pacific) FAO, while moderating the discussions, commented that while India has made tremendous progress in agriculture in the last four decades, but it still houses one fourth of the worlds hungry. Therefore, there is need for collective global efforts to fight hunger and malnutrition, and which is possible by improving production and access to food, asserted Dr. Singh. Institutional Heads Session Mr. YC Nanda, Chairman, Agricultural Finance Corporation, in his comments said that the current drought situation has opened our eyes to the kind of preparedness needed to tackle similar situations in future. He also expressed his concerns about the rising price of sugar. He said that the productivity of cane had become stagnant and their have not been any technological breakthroughs. Mr. Arvind Mehta of PlastIndia Foundation suggested that increase in productivity was crucial for sustainability of agriculture and drip irrigation and plastics in agriculture could play a key role in that. Drip irrigation and other applications of plastics, like Green House technology, packaging of fresh farm produce, scientific distribution and handling can revolutionize the Indian agriculture with very high levels of cost benefit ratio said Mr. Mehta Dr. BS Sajwan, CEO, NMPB believed that food security and health security were the two major issues before us. He also made references about our own indigenous medicine systems like, Ayurveda, Sidda and Unani which were based on plants and natural products. He noticed that there was a great scope and opportunity lying ahead for the medicinal plants cultivation in India. About 90 per cent of the herbal exports occur in raw form, which does not validate the profitability issues of the growers and exporters, so value addition should be the core focus. He stressed on the development of proper agro-techniques for medicinal plants, while putting forth the major issues, as
quality assurance, certification issues, standardization and traceability in medicinal plants. In his address Mr. M.H Khan, DG CAPART, said that we should work with the objective of improving the quality of life in the rural areas, particularly the poor and socially disadvantaged sections of society. CAPART has taken steps in these directions. People below the poverty line, people belonging to the scheduled castes and tribes, bonded labor; women and people with disabilities are priority focus groups for CAPART. Social Leaders Group Dr. Chandan Mitra, Editor, The Pioneer, in his opening remarks said that India still lived in villages unlike US, where 97 per cent are city dwellers and only 3 per cent population resided in countryside. He advocated for an approach change in policy making while keeping in mind the interest of masses and agrarian people intact. He admitted that agriculture was not getting the media and ultimately the general peoples attention, what it deserves. He stressed that a proactive and positive media could play a better role for transforming rural economy and agriculture more vibrant and prosperous with information dissemination, debating the farm topics and subjects and asking public opinions about that. Swami Agnivesh, Social Reformer lambasted government for supporting the MNCs and corporates, and not caring enough for the farming community. There should be discussions, involving politicians, ministers, farmers, bureaucrats and the corporate to address the key issues facing our farmers and agriculture. He pointed out that agriculture situation was more or, less similar, what it was during 70s and 80s without any consideration to farm remuneration. He further added that what sort of development planning we have, when more than 7 thousand children die of hunger every day and more suffer from malnutrition in different parts of the country. He said that there was complete injustice against farm and farmers in India and exhorted for a paradigm shift in policy making.
Mr. Sudheendra Kulkarni, Mr. DR Kaarthikeyan, Mr. Chandan Mitra and Swami Agnivesh at the Social Leaders Group
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Mr. DR Karthikeyan, former Director CBI mentioned that after severe neglect for decades, agriculture came into limelight due to the prevailing drought situation and apprehensions of food security. He added that crops failure for reasons beyond ones control, full compensation to farmers should be given by the state. He said that for the last one decade or so agriculture is in the limelight for all the wrong reasons than for its role in feeding the hungry belly and source of livelihood for the majority. Mr Karthikeyan emphasized that if, this drought repeated continuously for 2-3 cropping seasons, then farmers, particularly the small & marginal ones had no option other than suicide. He pointed out that the farmers were in great distress and there is an urgent need for Government to lend a helping hand to them. Not just advise farmers, what to grow, but where to sell it, as in case of biofuel and medicinal plants, large number of farmers cultivated, but could not get the market to sell and had to suffer huge losses. Mr. Sudheendra Kulkarni, OSD to former PM, Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee admitted that social leadership has a crucial role to play in influencing farm policies. Without the welfare of 60% of our population, which is practicing farming, we can not build a healthy society. He emphasized for public private partnership in addressing the issues in farming and exploring the opportunities in farm sector, citing the example of Kutch, where Excel Crop Care has created appreciable level of rural entrepreneurship, particularly among women. Such models need to be replicated for a better tomorrow, advocated Mr. Kulkarni. Agribusiness CEOs Group Mr Sanjeev Asthana, CEO, Reliance Retail Limited said that year by year, fresh water consumption was increasing and the water availability has to be moderated and monitored for the needs of future generations. He also stressed upon the mainstreaming of formal education for capacity building of the farmers. Dr Simon M Holland, MD&CEO, Zoraly Agri-Solutions Pvt. Ltd. advised to raise the level of knowledge in agriculture, be it water conservation, pest control or market linkages for farm produce. Mr. Mahesh Girdhar, MD, Bayer Bioscience Pvt Ltd. pointed out the need for infrastructure development by the Government for promoting the SEZs in agriculture to best capitalize on the emerging global opportunities in agriculture. Any increase in the productivity of rice will be of great benefit to the Asian population and the whole world, he suggested. Dr Gyanendra Shukla, Director, Monsanto India Limited emphasized on the need to encourage innova-
tions in agriculture, while dwelling on the benefits of biotechnology and the promises it hold for the future in terms of productivity increase, food and nutritional security. As the land is limiting day by day, so productivity enhancement is the major issue before Indian agriculture, he said, while suggesting to make sure that all available genetic and molecular technologies are used along with the conventional methods, to develop varieties with better climate resilience against drought, flood, salinity etc. and yielding ability. Mr Anil Kakkar, CEO, Excel Crop Care Ltd. moderated the session and expressed his views for collaborative efforts by the Indian farmers, scientists, policymakers and corporates towards addressing the farm issues. He stressed on taking up the collaborative research in public private partnership for available resources and knowledge gained for the development of strains, which can better withstand the vagaries of biotic and abiotic limitations. Officials Group Dr NB Singh, Agriculture Commissioner, Government of India admitted that this year will be a very difficult year for Indian agriculture, being severely rain deficient. But he expressed hope that there was sufficient buffer stock for meeting out the shortages as last year there was recorded foodgrain production of 234 mt. But he warned that if next year also drought is repeated, then the situation would be disastrous. There should be preparedness to face any kind of these adversities to ensure the food security to the masses. We heavily depend on few states for our food requirements, mainly the rice and wheat to the Punjab and Haryana. The Agriculture Commissioner further added that focus needs to be on areas having more potential, which could absorb technologies and and produce results. He stressed that more focus should be given to Eastern India, comprising Eastern UP, Bihar, WB, Assam, Orissa and other North Eastern states for the food production, as still they were unutilized and are a rich treasure trove of natural resources, water and fertile soil, and the future of food
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production lied there. He said that all types of interventions can be made in those areas to make success the food security mission. Meticulous planning is needed for invigorating the Indian agriculture and for that new innovative technologies should be included from time to time commented the commissioner. Dr T Ramasami, Secretary, DST, Government of India mentioned that leaders should learn from past, plan for the future and execute in the present. In India, agriculture is dependent on the natural vagaries, and thus technology should go with nature. Climatic Mr. UN Panjiar addressing the Summit in the Secretaries Session adaptation is the major issue, in view of climate change with done to monitor the situation. Lastly, he said that R&D is the problems like, drought, flood, salinity etc., and thus the another area of development with the involvement of development of weather resilient system becomes the need Universities, NGOs, private and other bodies on participatory added Dr. Ramasami. He stressed for preparedness for extreme basis. weather situation to tackle any eventualities. He further added Mr. UP Singh, Secretary- Agriculture, Quality assessment of soils, using the GIS system and Orissa said, agriculture has lost much of forecasting system should be made more reliable. Tools and its charm and no one seems to be interest technologies needed to be developed to adopt and mitigate to work for agriculture. He supported the the problems of climate change. cause for making the farms remunerative Mr UN Panjiar, Secretary, Ministry of for the farmers, with easing out of Water Resources, Government of India restrictions mainly, the marketing glitches. expressed that the summit was of much Mr. Singh admitted that the area under relevance to the current scenario with farming is continuously decreasing, due to the rapid Monsoon, Climate Change and urbanization and industrialization He expressed the Agriculture as its theme of discussion. apprehensions that as the number of people depending on Among 36 meteorological subdivisions, agriculture, remained more or less same, the urral urban income 32 have been deficient in rainfall, i.e., divide is set to further widen. He pointed out that the existing almost two third of total country is under drought trap. GOI yield gap provides major scope to work over and achieve the has started number of steps to address the problems, he targeted yield levels. He further added Climate change and said. Mr. Panjiar admitted that in Indian agriculture, the labour global warming has impacted much the Indian agriculture productivity was low when compared to other sectors, so it and the food production, particularly this year with almost has to be raised to achieve the projected growth rate of 4 failed monsoon. He was of the view to enhance the per cent. Expansion of irrigation and adoption of efficient productivity to the extent of 20-30 per cent by using quality practices can go a long way in productivity enhancement. seeds. Finally, he recommended that rice, horticulture and India has only 61mha (40 per cent of total cultivated land) watershed development along with the livelihood project to area under assured irrigation, which shows the potential for make the agriculture viable and sustainable. increasing the irrigation. Whereas, the ultimate irrigation Mr. RCA Jain, former Secretary potential stands at 140 mha with 76 mha by surface irrigation Agriculture, GOI said that we have not sources and 64 mha utilizing the Ground water resources learnt the disaster management in India said Mr. Panjiar. He recommended that the ultimate irrigation even after facing so many catastrophes. potential can be enhanced by interlinking rivers and He declared the prevailing drought transferring the water from the surplus river basin to the conditions as a full bloom drought. deficit areas. Mr. Panjiar was of the view that management Agriculture is the biggest user of water of water can be done on priority basis, as we cant create with share of 70 per cent at world level water, and in future the water availability in agriculture is and 80 per cent in India. So, an integrated and adoptive going to change the food demand and consumption pattern. approach in water use needed for its judicious and needAgriculture policies and investments have to be water based usage, said Mr. Jain. He added that Micro-irrigation centric looking after the hydrological and topographical was the solution for our water woes, and it could save constrains involved told Mr. Panjiar. He admitted that there considerable amount of the invaluable water, reduce the total has been sure impact of climate change on the hydrological cost of production, save labour, precise delivery of water to cycle, resulting in temporal and spatial variation in agriculture, the root zone and ultimately the productivity gains to the and Comprehensive water database development has to be extent of 40-45 per cent.
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Indian Agriculture : The Way Forward

Closing Address by Prof M S Swaminathan the empowerment of Mahila Kisans should The Summit Participants have made valube implemented in order to help them to do able suggestions. These will be compiled and their best under conditions where they carry published by Shri M J Khan and his able a multiple burden on their time, like home colleagues. I would however like to highlight keeping, child care and economic activities. a few essential areas which require immediSimilarly, over 70 percent of our rural popuate and integrated attention to help our farmlation are below 35 years. Educated youth ers achieve an ever-green revolution leading will be attracted to farming only if farming to enhancement of productivity in perpetubecomes economically rewarding and intelity without associated ecological harm. lectually satisfying. For this purpose, there Land Soil health care and enhancement is need for a technological upgradation of holds the key to successful farming. Mobile farm operations. Yuva Kisans should be ensoil testing vans which can issue Soil Health abled to establish Agri-clinics, Agri-business Cards to farmers are urgently needed. Concentres and bio-parks where the entire bioservation farming including crop livestock mass is converted into value-added prodintegrated farming should become a way of life to our farm women and men. At the same ture, more frequent occurrence of drought ucts. They can set up ICT based Gyan time government should provide guidance and flood, ground water depletion pest epi- Chaupals to end the prevailing gap between on land use planning based upon potential demics and sea level rise. One women and scientific know-how and field level do-how. meteorological and marketing conditions. The one male member of every Panchayat should The National Policy for Farmers - This diversion of prime farm land for non-farm be trained to serve as Climate Risk Manag- policy presented in Parliament in Novemers. ber 2007 calls for a paradigm shift from a purposes should be prohibited. Water Land use decisions are also water Small Farm Management Revolution strictly production centred approach to an use decisions. Hence attention to land and Small and marginal farmers comprise over income centred approach to farming. The water use must be an integrated one. An 80 percent of our agriculture population. The smaller the farm the greater is the need for urgent requirement is mandatory rain future of our agriculture will depend upon marketable surplus. Therefore, higher prowater harvesting. Also, we need legislation the help we give them to improve the productivity, diversification of agriculture and for ensuring the sustainable use of ductivity, profitability and sustainability of value addition to primary products are all groundwater. A Pond in Every Farm should their limited holdings. Climate change will needed. The National Policy for Farmers become a National Movement particularly lead to the incidence of pest epidemics, wa- should be implemented in letter and spirit in rainfed areas. Labour from NREGA could ter shortage and other problems including without further delay. be utilized in the case of small and marginal the availability of fodder and feed for farm National Food Security Act - The profarmers in drought prone areas for the con- animals. Therefore we should develop man- posed National Food Security Act should struction of farm ponds which can help to agement tools which can give small and mar- deal with not only access to food at affordconserve rain water for a crop life saving ginal farmers, the economies and power of able prices, but also availability through irrigation and thereby help to strengthen scale by helping them to organize either Self higher productivity. Absorption of food in Help Groups or Cooperatives or Farmers the body also needs attention, for which clean national food security. Agrobiodiversity Conservation of Companies. This will enable small farmers drinking water is an essential requirement. landraces and traditional crops are impor- to have access to appropriate farm machin- Special Agricultural Zones (SAZ) There tant in an ear of climate change, since they ery and implements and thereby enhance the are unique agricultural production zones in are much more tolerant to drought and other timeliness and efficiency of farm operations. our country, like the Indira Gandhi Canal adverse growing conditions. In addition to Post Harvest Technology There is cur- area in Rajasthan and the Kuttanad region of the Genome Saviour Award for farm fami- rently a mismatch between production and Kerala. These areas should be developed as lies who conserve precious agrobiodiversity, post harvest technologies. We need to pay SAZ where there is convergence and synthere is need for a Breed Saviour Award for greater attention to all aspects of harvesting, ergy among all ongoing programmes like the recognizing and rewarding farm families who processing, storage and marketing. The Gov- Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, Food Secuhave conserved important breeds of farm ernment of India should lose no further time rity Mission, Horticulture Mission etc. The animals. Biovilleys linking biodiversity, bio- in setting up modern grain storage facilities aim should be to maximize the income and technology and business can be organized in all over the country so that post harvest employment generating potential of these agro-biodiversity rich areas, as for example losses are eliminated in the case of wheat, unique ecosystems and preserve them for in many areas in eastern and western ghats rice and other crops intended for the Public posterity in a state of high productivity. and the Himalayas . Distribution System. Perishable commodi- The above ten point action plan will help to Climate Management Both anticipatory ties like fruits, vegetables, meat and milk re- convert the widespread anxiety on the fuand participatory research and action will quire cold storage facilities. ture of our agriculture and food security sysbe needed to empower local communities to Special attention to Mahila and Yuva tem, into an opportunity for strengthening undertake both adaptation and mitigation Kisans There is increasing feminization the technological, ecological, economic, edumeasures. Proactive action is called for fac- of agriculture. The recommendations of the cational and infrastructural foundations of ing the consequences of a rise in tempera- National Commission on Farmers (NCF) for the diverse farming systems of our country.
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Key Recommendations of the Leadership Summit

Given the regulalrity of the occurance of drought and flood in some part of the country or the other and the perceptible impact of climate change on agriculture, there is a need for creating instituionalised mechanism to deal with the situation by creating a National Centre for Climate Change and Agriculture, which sensitises and educates various stake-holders in agriculture and coordinates the efforts of all on the subject. Indian agriculture has come a long way since the days of "Ship to Mouth" to almost self sufficiency in most of the food grains, despite truant monsoon. But, the sense of pride is missing, as this has been neglected by the Government, media, industry and civil society. The efforts of millions of farmers, researchers, extension workers, NGOs and other stake-holders, who played key roles in the transformation of Indian agriculture, remain largely unrecognized at the national level. Therefore, there is need for the nation to recognize and honor its contributors by giving Bharat Ratna and more Padma Awards to agriculture. This will bring the sense of pride and help develop leadership in farm sector. To bring the agriculture agenda to the centre stage of national attention and for agriculture to get its due, there should be two hours time twice a week dedicated to discussions in Parliament on farmers' issues during the Session. Also for a mere 100 millions, who travel by railways, there is separate budget Rail Budget presented in Parliament. For 700 millions dependent upon agriculture, there must be an exclusive agenda, focus and discussion on agriculture by presenting a Separate Budget for Agriculture in Parliament. The Budgetary outlay also needs to be enhanced to Rs. 25,000 crores. Special priority should be placed on setting up of rural infrastructure. Agriculture in India, which supports 60% of our population, can be developed into a strong engine for economic growth and social transformation. But, due to neglect, it is unable to harness its true potential. India has all the ingredients for an agro-industrial revolution - man, money and material, but due to
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absence of entrepreneurship, there is hardly any value added activity at the farm level and 98% of our farm produce is sold in the raw form, leading too much of wastages and depriving the farmer of economic returns. It is therefore recommended that a large scale training and entrepreneurship development programs in farm sector with a funding of Rs. 1,000 crores annually to be launched. Post WTO, India is integrated to global markets with its risks and opportunities. Either we make best out of it or we yield the ground to market competition. Indian farmers, agribusiness industry and agro exporters need to be extended needful support for enhancing their competitiveness. There is thus immediate need for India to set up national level WTO Centre on Agriculture, and states level centers by different State Governments to educate farmers and stake-holders on global market scenario and implications of WTO. Similarly, India needs to appoint Agriculture Counselors in major countries, who should help increase India's exports of agro products and facilitate cooperation in food and agriculture. Agro-inputs play a major role in agriculture production. There needs to be much focus on seeds sector by giving faster clearances to new biotech products and by creating a Seeds Fund of Rs. 300 crore to give philip to seeds research under PPP model. A National Seed & Biotech Regulatory Authority may also be set up. Similarly for mechanization and for small farm machinery, there should be 50% subsidy for all farmers so that farming operations can be made more efficient. Pesticides, which play the crucial role of crop savior and the usage of which brings farmer a cost benefit ratio of 1:5, are however most neglected, rather discouraged with all sort of taxes. There is need for a more balanced crop protection policy and some incentives to farmers for adopting effective crop protection umbrella. There is an urgent need for attention to fertilizer usage, as availability of certain crucial nutrients is going to be a question mark in the years to come. On the other hand with the current usage pattern and pricing policy the subsidy on fertilizers is breaking all records.
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As per the data available, we are wasting about 30% fertilizers due to poor application. There is thus need for a long term policy focused on improving fertilizer use efficiency and this program of massive scale should be launched in a mission mode. We therefore propose for the launch of the National Soil Health Mission, under which judicious use of fertilizers through advanced application technologies to be promoted by making the entire cultivable land's nutrient profiling. The fertilizer industry needs to be reformed with fewer controls to enable it to play its rightful role in correcting soil health and improving nutrient use efficiency. Positioning Indian agriculture globally in the wake of globalization and leading the pack of developing countries, India can assist them through cooperation in agriculture. India can assist developing and underdeveloped countries by providing help in research, extension, education and institution building and thus earn money and also goodwill. Structural reforms in agriculture pertaining to land leasing and market restrictions need to be addressed. The market regulation on movement and procurements by private players is hampering market growth and prices realization by farmers. Corporatization of existing mandis/mandi boards and leaving the role of regulation to government would help in overcoming many difficulties faced in marketing of agricultural produce today. Moreover, this separation of conflicting roles would go a long way in attracting investments to modernize the agricultural supply chain. Similarly, due to land leasing policies of State Governments the concept of contract farming is not successful. The experiments of contract farming are based on "win all", bringing value to all partners in operations. This needs to be encouraged on a large scale, especially when industry is gearing up to involve in agriculture on a large scale. States profiling of crops and animal resources needs to be done, indexing them against national and global benchmarks on cost, quality and productivity parameters, and their short, medium and long term strategic advantages. Based on this national indexing and estimation of market demands in short, medium and log terms national farm resource utilization planning needs to be done, using a mix of incentives and dis-incentives. If India has to succeed in global market on a long term basis, this task is unavoidable.
There are more than 300 channels in India from film to fashion and from sports to spirituality, but none for agriculture. There must be an exclusive DD channel on agriculture to focus on farmers' issues and technology transfer. This will bring the much needed focus on agriculture as well as create needful awareness among farmers and stake-holders. But, the running of the channel should be in private hand under Government's funding support. With the globalisation of trade and agriculture post WTO, the farm sector is increasingly acquiring international dimensions and therefore, the international approach need to be adopted in agriculture policy planning with national perspective. Hence, it is most appropriate if agriculture is brought under the Concurrent List of Subjects for better policy planning and effective central Government role in the development of agriculture production and agro trade. Given the gap in the lab and land results in agriculture in our country, the extension systems needs to be reoriented with effective participation of private sector, which alone can respond to the dynamic needs of the agriculture sector. There are many success models of PPP in agriculture extension, which can be emulated. The concept needs to be practiced with Government funds routed through the serious private players for effective delivery and measurable results. Given the importance of agriculture in the total Indian Economy and large number of engagement of rural population, the need to reintegrate crop based agriculture and live stock animal husbandry practices has been emphasized. The current budgetary allocation of financial resources on crop based agriculture and live stock animal husbandry is quite disproportionate and we need the National Mission on Livestock. India has a great potential to provide the food basket consisting of cereal, grains, meat, milk, egg and fisheries products and offer the great export opportunity and thus increase our contribution from 2-10% in global food processing production by 2015. Task Force set up for this performance must examine the potential areas and evolve a working road map to achieve the 10% contribution level. This can create tremendous employment opportunity for the rural masses and the social problem arising out of economic downturn would be eliminated.
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2nd Agriculture Leadership Awards
Group photograph of the recipients of Agriculture Leadership Awards 2009 with the Chief Guest, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Dy. Chairman, Planning Commission
The 2nd Agriculture Leadership Awards were presented on 4th September, 2009 at Taj Palace, New Delhi to twenty one individuals and institutions for their outstanding contributions to Indian agriculture and rural society. Agriculture Leadership Awards, instituted by Agriculture Today in 2008 to recognizes the leadership roles played by individuals and institutions, who are positively impacting the lives of farmers and rural masses. The award committee for 2009 was headed by Dr AR Kidwai, former Governor of Bihar, West Bengal and Haryana, and had an eminent panel of jury. Honble Governor of Haryana Dr. AR Kiwai chaired the gracious occasion and awards were presented by Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Government of India. In his address, Dr. Ahluwalia congratulated Agriculture Today team for arranging the award ceremony. He noted that there were very little opportunities for recognition of the key contributors to the countrys spectacular progress in agriculture. Agriculture Today has bridged the gap significantly. He was also pleased to find so many distinguished personalities present at the ceremony. He pointed out that agriculture had developed a fair amount of dynamism between the year 1970 and 1990, which was lost in the way; but in the last few years a lot of attention has started to come back to agriculture. Dr. Ahluwalia stressed for agriculture diversification and also the entire linkages between farmers and consumers, which he termed very important. He said the Planning Commission was doing a mid term appraisal and it will try to find a few answers. He also commented that the delivery system of agriculture was led by states and hence when more and more states gave priority to agriculture, the results were sure to be excellent.
2nd Agriculture Leadership Summit Awards
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Dr. Balram Jakhar

Policy Leadership Award 2009
Born in a farming family in Panjkosi village in Ferozepur district of Punjab in 1923, Dr. Jakhar graduated from Christen College, Lahore in 1945. After his education, he got involved in farming at his village, when he got elected to Punjab Legislative Assembly in 1972 and became Deputy Minister of Cooperation and Irrigation in 1973. He was re-elected in 1977 and served as the Leader of Congress Legislature and the Leader of Opposition till 1979. Dr. Jakhar was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980 and got rare distinction of first timer Parliamentarian being Dr. Balram Jakhar recieving the Policy Leadership unanimously elected to the coveted office of the Speaker Lok Award from Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia in Sabha, which he held from 1980 till 1985. He became the first Asian presence of Dr. AR Kidwai and Mr. MJ Khan to be elected as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in 1984 and held this office till 1987. He got re-elected to the Lok Sabha from Sikar in 1984 and again adorned the coveted office of the Speaker Lok Sabha from 1985 1989. Dr. Jakhar was 3rd time elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991 from Sikar and became Union Agriculture Minister, and served full term till 1996. As Agriculture Minister he took many landmark decisions and solidly stood for the cause of farmers in WTO negotiations. A practicing farmer, a champion of farmers cause as the Life time President of Bharat Krishak Samaj, an active politician and an able administrator, Dr. Jakhar worked for the interest of farmers and agriculture during his six decades of career. He is honoured by the Honarary Doctorate by the Haryana Agriculture University, Indian Veterinary Research Institute and Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar. Dr. Balram Jakhar is today the most visible face of farmers and Indian agriculture.
The Energy and Resources Institute

Environment Leadership Award 2009
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), a dynamic and committed organization with a global vision and a local focus entangles itself in activities that extend from formulating local and national-level strategies to suggesting global solutions to critical energy and environmentrelated issues. Deeply committed to every aspect of sustainable development, the efforts of TERI in the field of developing technologies for agriculture extents to different aspects related to the present day agricultural practices. TERIs scientific adventures have yielded many solutions to the devouring problems of unsustainable agricultural practices. Their scientific interventions include biopesticide formulation Bollcure for managing bollworm infestation in cotton and microbial strains of Sphingomonas paucimobilis and Arthrobacter protophormiae RKJ100 for bioremediation of soils contaminated with some classes of pesticides. Their research interests also cover developing better quality varieties, micropropagation, molecular characterization, improving nutritional quality of food crops, transgenic crops for viral resistance and mycorrhiza among many other things. TERI, with its vision of global sustainable developments, has through its activities made a huge impact on environment, truly donning the mantle of a Dr. Vibha Dhawan, Director recieving the Award. true leader.
TERI gets Environment Leadership Award.
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Sir Ratan Tata Trust

CSR Leadership Award 2009
Sir Ratan Tata Trust was set up in 1918 under the will of Sir Ratan Tata, the younger son of Sir Jamsetji Tata, founder of the Tata Group. Through his will and his own philanthropy, particularly his grants to Indias freedom movement and building youth involvement in public life in India, Sir Ratan desired that the Trust support those initiatives which were innovative, accountable and non sectional. Guided by his vision and an eminent Board of Trustees, the Trust continues Sir Ratan Tata Trust gets CSR Leadership Award. this effort to engage with focus areas within Rural Livelihoods Ms. Vartika Jaini recieving the Award & Communities, Education, Enhancing Civil Society & Governance, Health and Arts & Culture. Besides institutional grants, the Trust also makes individual grants for education and medical relief. Today, the Trust partners with over 250 institutions across 18 states within India in high quality development projects. Supported by external expertise and strong systems of project design and monitoring, these projects strive to impact quality of life of communities. Its ongoing Strategic Plan has identified Regaining Agricultural Dynamism and Inclusive Growth as prioritized focus areas within the Rural Livelihoods portfolio. Consequently, the Trust supports several projects that comprehensively engage with core development issues of agriculture, land and water use and development and access to finance. Through meaningful partnerships and engaging with worthy organisations, the Trust is constantly redefining the role of traditional charity and contributing to sustainable development of rural communities.
Indian Agricultural Research Institute

Research Leadership Award 2009
Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), popularly known as Pusa Institute, is the flagship institute of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Playing a key role in transforming agricultural research, education and extension in India, IARI provides national leadership in conducting basic, strategic and need-based applied research in crop improvement, protection, production and overall economic welfare of Indian farmers. IARI played a significant role in consolidating the gains of green revolution. IARI provides national leadership in enhancing crop productivity. Wheat varieties of IARI contribute more than 40% of annual wheat production of the country. Basmati rice research revolutionized the farmers economy. Chickpea, mung bean and mustard varieties of IARI have become very popular among the farmers. IARI has also made excellent contribution in the field of horticulture, Plant protection, resource management, policy research and technology transfer. IARI has also played the leadership role in agricultural education in India by imparting post-graduate research academic training and human resource development, which is recognized globally for quality and standards. IARIs research initiatives have, thus, not only helped the country to attain and maintain its food security but have also helped Indian farmers in improving their ecoIARI gets Research Leadership Award. Dr. HS nomic conditions, and that has strongly impacted the lives of Gupta, Director, receiving the Award rural masses.
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Prof. Panjab Singh

Prof. Panjab Singh, an accomplished Agronomist and research and education administrator, pioneered the research in the area of natural resources management. His landmark achievement of establishing more than 120 Regional Agriculture Research Stations in different parts of the country under ICAR National Agricultural Research Project during late 70s till mid 80s, substantially strengthened Indias agricultural research infrastructure. His prowess in administration is quite distinct from his contributions as Director of Indian AgriculDr. Panjab Singh, former DG ICAR, receiving the Research Leadership Award ture Research Institute where his measured approach helped in enhancing the quantum and quality of research output and human resource development. In his tenure as Director General, ICAR & Secretary, Department of Agriculture Research and Education, Govt. of India, he was provided unmatched leadership in generating resources, promoting infrastructure and building human resource at the national level. He was also active in the agriculture education in India in the capacity of Vice Chancellor of three prestigious universities in the country. As Vice Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University, he took a major step of setting up a new campus of BHU in the tribal belt of Vindhyan region at Barkachha (Mirzapur), thereby providing access to technical and professional education to a large section of less privileged population.
Prof. Ram Badan Singh

Prof. RB Singh, an outstanding researcher, had an illustrious career that portrayed his essence of leadership in improving agrarian livelihood, food, nutrition and ecological security. During his five decades of service to the agriculture sector, he provided leadership in cutting-edge research and technology development, in higher education and human resources development and in policy and programme formulation, execution and appraisal; each pursued in national, continental and global capacities. A geneticist by profession, Prof. Singh made important contributions in the fields of Genetics, Plant Breeding and Biotechnology. In recognition of his immense contribution to new knowledge, human resource capital and the science-led transformation of agriculture towards the alleviation of hunger and poverty in India and the Asia Pacific Region, Prof R.B. Singh was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2003 by the President of India one of Indias highest civilian honours that recognizes distinguished service to the Nation. He has also held many covetous positions such as Member of the National Commission on Farmers (2004 - 06), Assistant Director General of FAO and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific from 2000 to 2002, Chairman of the Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (1999 - 2000), Director of the prestigious Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi (1995 - 99) and Dean, Head of Department, Sr. Professor & Chair/Member Executive Council Dr. RB Singh, former ADG - FAO (Asia Pacific), at leading Universities (1964 - 1979). receiving the Research Leadership Award
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The National Dairy Development Board

Development Leadership Award 2009
The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) was founded in 1965 to replace exploitation with empowerment, tradition with modernity, stagnation with growth; and transforming dairying into an instrument for the development of Indias rural people. NDDB which began its operations with the mission of making dairying a vehicle to a better future for millions of grass-root level milk producers, achieved great momentum with Mr. Ravi Shankar, NDDB Board Member recieving the launching of Operation Flood, a programme extending the Award. NDDB gets the Development over 26 years and which contributed to Indias emergence as Leadership Award. the worlds largest milk producing nation. Since its inception, the Dairy Board has spearheaded Indias dairy programmes by placing dairy development in the hands of milk producers and the professionals they employ to manage their cooperatives. In addition, NDDB also promotes other commodity-based cooperatives, allied industries and veterinary biologicals on an intensive and nation-wide basis. A commitment to help rural producers help themselves, has guided the Dairy Boards work philosophy for more than 40 years. NDDB played its seminal role towards the achievements made by cooperative dairies in milk production, employment generation, per capita availability of milk, foreign exchange savings and increased farmer incomes.
Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited

Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited (AIC), created to promote crop insurance as an important risk mitigation tool, administers National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) on behalf of the Government of India, which is implemented in 25 States and two Union Territories. The schemes acceptability among the farmers has been phenomenal, insuring crops of 1.91 crore farmers, making it the worlds largest crop insurance programme in terms of the number of farmers covered. Armed with in-depth knowledge of crop insurance, AIC also introduced crop insurance products using different insurance models. These models, besides area yield index, also include other index programs like weather index & satellite imagery based crop health index; and combinations of various models. With a view to provide the farmers with one more option to insure their crops, AIC operationalised a Pilot Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS), which is a unique weather based crop insurance. With the increase in farming risks, farmers find in AIC a reliable safety net to rely upon. And the organization has stood the test in its outreach, efficacy and delivery to emerge the worlds largest crop insurance company.
Mr. M Prasad, Managing Director recieving the Award. Agriculture Insurance Company gets the Development Leadership Award.
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Dhanuka Agritech Limited

Dhanuka Agritech Limited, the umbrella company for the business of Agro-Chemicals, Fertilizers, and Seeds, reaches out to more than 10 million farmers with its eco-friendly high quality crop care products. The AgriDivision has a pan-India presence through its marketing offices in all major states in India. With a dealer network of 15,000 across India, the Group has been able to make Dhanuka the preferred choice of farmers. With the promotion of DKKNT (Dhanuka Kheti Ki Nai Takneek) Mr. RG Agrawal, Chairman, Dhanuka Agritech Ltd. receiving the Development Leadership Award and the Groups focus on extension activities coupled with strong R&D setup, Dhanuka has become a household name in the farming community across the country. The company has collaborated with many international companies, which has helped them to add new eco friendly quality agri products in its range, esp. the world class weedicides for crop specific applications. The company has to its credit the privilege of initiating the first public-private partnership project in agriculture in with the Government of Madhya Pradesh at Hoshangabad. This unique PPP project has strengthened the agriculture related extension activities and increased the productivity and profitability of farmers in the district by over 30%, as independently audited.
Plastindia Foundation
Plastindia Foundation, the Apex body of major Associations, Organisations, and Institutions connected with plastics, was established with common objectives to promote the development of plastics industry and to assist the growth of plastics and related materials and their products. A foundation dedicated to the national progress through plastics is an internationally recognized organization devoted to promoting excellence in the field of plastics. The body has been actively involved in enhancing the image and the growth of Indian Plastics Industry by holding worldclass exhibitions in India at regular intervals. They have served as a catalyst for growth to the plastics industry and prepared plans and actions for up-gradation of quality, environment-friendliness and recycling within the plastics industry. During the numerous exhibitions organized by the foundation, they have dedicated pavilion featuring plasticulture which displays the use of plastics in agriculture. The demonstration is aimed to facilitate better yields in agriculture and horticulture produce and also save and conserve water, a very important need for the future of agriculture sector. Thus Mr. Arvind Mehta, President PlastIndia Foundation receiving the Development the national role of Plastindia Foundation, is greatly Leadership Award benefiting Indian agriculture.
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Mahindra & Mahindra Limited

Farm Equipment Sector
Corporate Leadership Award 2009

Mahindra Tractors is one of the worlds top tractor brands and is the largest manufacturer of tractors in India with undisputed market leadership since 26 years. Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, Farm Equipment Sector with two large tractors brands Mahindra and Swaraj today enjoys a market share of more than 40% in the domestic market. Today it has a large customer base of 2.1 million satisfied customers. It is also the only tractor company in the world to win the coveted Mahindra & Mahindra FES gets Corporate Deming Application Prize and the Japan Quality Medal, two Leadership Award. Mr. Anjanikumar Choudhari, of the highest quality accolades. The Sector has also found President, recieving the Award significant success in the international market. Mahindra tractors are present in 38 countries across six continents. Mahindra (China) Tractor Co. Ltd. manufactures tractors for the growing Chinese market and is a hub for tractor exports to the USA and other western nations. Mahindra tractors enhanced its value proposition by entering the agri value space by starting an unique initiative of Mahindra Samriddhi, with aim of increasing productivity of the farmers through innovative farming techniques. Mahindra tractors has also started a host of initiatives such as conserving energy, reducing waste, recycling resources and various other initiatives to protect the environment. The corporate leaders motto of ushering in prosperity for its customers, dealers, employees, society and all other stakeholders is being accomplished by the unparalleled quality and reach in the market.
Nuziveedu Seeds (Pvt) Ltd.

Nuziveedu Seeds (Pvt) Ltd. (NSL), the largest seed company in India, was established with a progressive vision and solemn objective of developing and providing quality cotton seeds to the farmers at reasonable price. NSL has now emerged as a leader in R & D, production and marketing of not only cotton hybrid seeds but also the hybrid seeds of other field crops such as Corn, Rice, Sunflower, Sorghum, Pearlmillet, and Vegetable crops. With a world class R&D Centre and dedicated team of breeders, NSL has initiated work on developing high yielding varieties and hybrids in Wheat and mustard. NSL is the first Indian seed company to reach a turnover of Rs. 500 Crores in India. This leader of Indian seed industry has also set up a Charitable Trust viz., Mandava Foundation, which aims to find solutions for various problems by which the agriculture productivity can be increased and the farming community can be empowered with knowledge. The company has strong national brand equity for providing advanced technology solutions to farmers through a range of quality seeds and serve the farmers through a nation wide marketing network and Mr. M Prabhakar Rao, MD, Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd., receiving the Corporate Leadership Award thus contributing to Indias rural prosperity.
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Bayer BioScience Pvt. Ltd

Bayer BioScience Pvt. Ltd, a forerunner in the arena of seed business in India, is engaged in research, development, production and marketing of high quality hybrid seeds of field crops for more then 30 years. Realizing the potential of hybrid rice in increasing the production and productivity, Bayer pioneered the development of suitable hybrids by modern innovative breeding techniques and bringing products able to out Mr. Mahesh Girdhar, MD recieving the Award. yield the existing inbreds by at least 20%. Bayer Bioscience Bayer Bioscience Pvt Ltd. gets the Corporate is also credited with introducing Indias first BLB Leadership Award. resistant hybrid rice. Bayer BioSciences cotton hybrids have been acclaimed by farmers as having unsurpassed fibre quality. Besides rice and cotton hybrids, Bayer has also brought out hybrids of pearl millet and corn. Bayer BioSciences products today enjoy immense brand equity with more than one million farmers and its high productive quality seeds are sown in approx. 4 million acres of land, across the country year after year. The company nurtures a vision to provide farmers the cutting edge technology solutions with highest quality hybrid seeds, and thus contribute towards seed led agriculture growth.
Ayurvet Limited
Ayurvet Limited, a Dabur Group company, one of Indias leading animal care companies specializes in 100% natural & safe herbal products. Ayurvet, has over the years evolved considerably to include in its ambit, innovative health as well as nutritional solutions for across a range of animal species. The key to success of Ayurvet has been the innovation that they have strived hard to maintain through intensive research, strictly adhering to the principles of Ayurveda. Uncompromising on quality assurance and hence consumer satisfaction, Ayurvet has elaborated its presence to more than 21 countries across the globe. The efficacy and quality of their products are the result of a well thought-out, planned scientific approach to the collection of herbs, standardization of ingredients, processing of all the raw materials and proper packaging of formulations. Ayurvet has also forayed in to preservation and propagation of medicinal plants by self and contract farming of medicinal herbs and their propagation by standard techniques like tissue culture. Since inception, Ayurvet has been working towards promoting safe and sustainable agriculture Mr. MJ Saxena, MD, receiving the Corporate and animal husbandry practices.
Leadership Award for Ayurvet Ltd.
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Shri Sopan Kanchan

Farming Leadership Award 2009
Shri Sopan Sakharam Kanchan, Chairman of Grape Growers Federation of India, Pune is a stellar example of leadership and association. An agriculture graduate from Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Mr. Kanchan went on to become a towering figure in promoting the cause of farmers and agriculture. He established a network of pre-cooling and cold storage units in the State of Maharashtra for export of fresh Mr. Sopan Kanchan, receiving the Farming fruits and vegetables under the aegis of Leadership Award MAHAGRAPES, a co-operative marketing body. He was also in the forefront of imparting training and knowledge to farmers through interactions and seminars, especially for maximizing their output. He served as a link between farmers and different stakeholders like research Institutes, market boards, policy makers and exporters. He worked on transforming grape farmers from just a producer to become exporter and helped substantially expand their incomes. He also played critical role in cut flowers project in Pune under the aegis of Poona Flowers, a voluntary organization. Mr. Kanchan is also playing national role in horticulture development as President, Confederation of Indian Horticulture, Chairman, Poona Grape Growers Coop. Society Ltd., Director, National Horticulture Board, Member, Managing committee, ICAR, Director, MANAGE and Executive Partner, MAHAGRAPES among many other roles.
Dr. E. Vadivel
Farming Leadership Award 2009
Dr. E. Vadivel, Professor of Horticulture at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and Nodal Officer of Tamil Nadu Precision Farming Project , has empowered the farming community technically, economically and socially through the implementation of the pioneering project on precision farming, the first of its kind in India at Dharmapuri District in Tamil Nadu. The technical inputs, information and market linkages provided by the university, under the guidance of Dr. Vadivel, the entrepreneurial professor, empowered the farmers to gain better access to the technology and market; applying less inputs and getting better yields and better prices. Under his guidance, the farmers empowered themselves to the status of incorporating a Public Limited Producer Company. The company has realized break even in a short period of two and half years, which has inspired them now to incorporate a Farmer Owned Mega Market Company Ltd. The Union Planning Commission noted the success of the project and accepted it as flagship project to be scaled up across the country. More than technology, inputs and procedural issues, the way the farmers have been developed as social capital by Dr. Farming Leadership Award for Dr. E. Vadivel Vadivel, was the single factor for the success of this being presented by Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia project.
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Shri Y.C. Nanda

Life Time Achievement Award 2009
Shri Y.C. Nanda, a post graduate from the Delhi School of Economics, where he proved his mettle by winning a merit scholarship and securing the first rank in the University. He chose banking profession, where his career spanned across many reputed banks such as State Bank of India, Reserve Bank of India and NABARD. He was appointed Managing Director of NABARD in 1998 and subsequently the Chairman in 2000. NABARD made tremendous progress under his leadership from 1998 to 2003. He is considered to be the Father of MICRO Mr. YC Nanda, former Chairman, NABARD, Finance in India especially the Self Help Group Bank Linkage receiving the Life Time Achievement Award Programme, which has become the largest and the fastest growing micro finance outreach programme anywhere in the world. He has also chaired APRACA (Bangkok) during 1999-2001. In 2004 he was appointed as the Member of the National Commission on Farmers by the Government of India. Shri Nanda has also been a consultant to many International organizations of repute like the FAO, IFAD, UNOPS, GTZ and national institutions like NCER, SRTT etc. He was also appointed as the Chairman of the working group by the Planning Commission on agriculture credit and credit cooperatives for the formulation of the XI Five Year Plan. Shri Nanda is closely associated with a number of institutions in the field of micro finance, rural development and several management institutes as Trustee/ director, and is today the most recognized and admired face of Indias rural credit field.
Dr. M. Mahadevappa
Dr. Madappa Mahadevappa, an accomplished plant breeder, geneticist and seed scientist of international repute, has made significant contributions to green revolution in India, particularly in rice improvement for having pioneered hybrid rice research in India and developed first rice hybrid that intensified hybrid research in India. His research at IRRI, Philippines focussed on frontier areas like Rice - Ratoon Cropping Pattern and developing varieties for adverse soils. As an able administrator, he headed prestigious institutions like Agricultural University, Dharwad and Agriculture Scientists Recruitment Board. In his tenure UAS, Dharwad bagged ICARs Outstanding Institution Award in the year 2000. His Eco-friendly Parthenium Weed Management Technology is also widely acclaimed. Dr. Mahadevappa brought many radical changes to national institutions such as ICAR, CSIR, DBT and Commodity Boards. His recently completed Seed Village Project impacted 21 districts of Karnataka enhancing the income of more than 5000 farmers and also obviating their dependence on spurious and costly seeds. He has authored twenty books in English and Kannada, which have transmitted technology knowledge to the scientific and farming communities, Dr. M. Mahadevappa, former Chairman ASRB, and significantly contributed towards knowledge receiving the Life Time Achievement Award growth in agriculture at regional and national level.
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The State of Gujarat

State Agriculture Leadership Award 2009
In recent times, Gujarat has emerged as front runner in achieving higher agriculture growth with 9.6% average, owing to the proactive policies adopted by the state Government. The states innovative extension program Krishi Mahotsav has touched every village transferring knowledge and technology to farmers, thus underwriting success in enhancing agriculture production. Gujarat has emerged as the Cotton Bowl of India. Realizing that water is the lifeline of Agriculture Mr. PN Roy Chaudhary, Principal Secretary under the erratic monsoon, Gujarat Government has Agriculture, receiving the Award for Gujarat State achieving best growth in agriculture created the largest storage-cum-recharge program wherein nearly three lakh check dams, farm ponds and bandharas have been constructed. The innovative e-Krishi Kiran Program has made Soil Health Card of farm lands available to 17 lakhs farmers. Moreover, the program has also covered all villages for soil health monitoring so that farmers can do sensible nutrient management. Gujarat has extended IT connectivity to each village panchayat under eVishwagram Project. Uninterrupted power supply in agriculture under Jyotigram has provided great relief to farmers. The state has invested heavily in rural roads, Health Centers, Primary Education and Dairy infrastructure by institutionalized approach enabling the farmer community to achieve record production in many crops and spreading prosperity to rural areas.
State of Sikkim
State Leadership Award 2009
With a clear goal, policy thrust and dynamic leadership provided by the State Government to the development of horticulture, Sikkim achieved an increase of over 30%, in the production of horticulture since 1994 - 95. The state initiated several plans for promoting fruit cultivation with focus on non traditional fruits like kiwi and pear and succeeded in reviving the apple cultivation at Lachung Valley, after about three decades. The vegetable cultivation also received a major shot in the arm with the introduction of hybrid varieties and adoption of improved technologies, including protected cultivation. Sikkim has at present emerged as a front runner State in Cymbidium orchids with about 20 Ha area under this flower. Sikkim is the first State in the country aiming to be Organic. More than 8424 hectares area has been brought under organic certification. A revolutionary concept for water management has been introduced in this state with construction of community water tanks. East Sikkim has been declared as Agri Expo Zone for Floriculture and the whole of state as AEZ for Ginger and large Cardamom. Commercial mushroom production is a highly lucrative venture and to promote this sector, an Integrated Mushroom Unit is being set up. The state leads in cultivation of exotic flower species and outshines Mr. Dawcho Lepcha, Minister - Horticulture, the rest of the Indian states in the area of developing receiving the Award for Sikkim State achieving value added horticulture. best performance in horticulture
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The State of Maharashtra

The Best Performing Agriculture State Award 2009
Agriculture is an important source of livelihood to the rural people of Maharashtra. The State has taken many farsighted policy initiatives, leading to better management of farm resources, cropping diversification under NHM, promotion of seed production programs, extension reforms, launching soil health program, substantially expanding irrigation potential and strong market linkage system for farm produce, resulting into farmers taking up diversified cropping systems and innovative farming models, which have enhanced their Mr. Prabhakar Deshmukh, Commissioner returns and impacted the rural economy positively. The state Agriculture, receiving the Award for Maharashtra has emerged as the leader in the production of seedless Grapes, State achieving overall best performance in banana, mandarin oranges, onion and tomatoes. The state holds agriculture the distinction of having highest number of poly houses owned by small farmers for cultivation of flowers. Maharashtra also leads the sugar industry sector with 150 productive cooperative sugar mills. The State has the highest area under drip irrigation and thus stands first in the country. It is the first State to adopt Dry Land Farming Technology and a pioneer in Horticulture Development through EGS to promote higher income & more employment in farming sector. The State is also the torch bearer in Co-operative network.. The State has pioneered many new concepts in precision farming and agri marketing and today has the most diversified farming system. Its achievements assume much significance in the backdrop that the State has only 18% irrigated land. Besides strong policy initiatives by the State Government, the credit also goes to farmers for their hard work, innovations and entrepreneurial spirit.
Dr. AR Kidwai
A scientist, researcher, author, educationist, scholar and administrator par excellence, Dr. AR Kidwai is a distinguished son of the soil. Born in 1920 in Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh, he joined the freedom struggle under Mahatma Gandhi in 1930 onwards and actively participated in Quit India Movement in 1942. After his education at Jamia Millia Islamia, University of Illinois and Cornell in USA, Dr. Kidwai served AMU Aligarh as Professor and Dean, Faculty of Science from 1951 till 1967, when he joined Union Public Service Commission as Member and was quickly elevated and served as Chairman UPSC till 1979, when he was appointed as the Governor of Bihar and held the office till 1985. He was appointed as the Governor of Bihar the second time in 1993 and held the office till 1998. He also held the office of the Governor West Bengal from 1998 1999 and the Governor of Haryana from 2004 2009. During this period Dr. Kidwai also served as the Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, Chairman of Bombay Mercantile Bank, Chairman of Institute of Marketing & Management and the Chairman of Selection Committee of Scientists Pool, besides holding many other important positions. In all the offices that he served, Dr. Kidwai is credited for introducing transparency, reforms and taking landmark decisions. During his stints at UPSC, he took the historic decision of allowing the examination in all the Indian languages, and not necessarily the English. As Member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, Dr. Kidwai influenced the policies for better outreach of farm credit, marketing linkages, processing and the development of livestock sector. Dr. Kidwai Dr. AR Kidwai, former Governor of Haryana, is rarest of the rare, who served the nation for over six decades receiving Special Award for his contribution to with highest dedication, integrity and with great distinction. the agriculture sector
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