BOA July Aug

FARMING
BILLIONS
from the
publishers desk
Agreed. Money doesnt grow on trees. However, it can be minted in the fields and that is
the sine qua non for our initiative Business of Agriculture (BoA).
Our Cover Story Farming Billions explains the dire necessity of a magazine
on 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 are
enormous, and they are very succinctly laid out.
The time is ripe for an agriculture renaissance in India. The Union Budget 2014
brought the focus back on agriculture. BoA gets agriculture industrys 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 to
sustain agricultural growth, investment in agricultural research must be increased.
India-Israel Cooperation focusses on the collaboration between the two countries
in R&D. Israel: The Leader in Agriculture Innovation highlights the effective
agriculture model of developed countries, which Indian agriculture industry can
always look up to.
The financing, 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 fill the much-needed gap in the industry, which is at the cusp of
unprecedented 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 way
agriculture 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 mans
business.
Enjoy Reading!
Linda Brady Hawke
Publisher
Contents
July-August 2014
July-August 2014
Edited, Printed & Published by

Linda Brady Hawke
Owned by
L. B. Associates (Pvt.) Ltd
H-108, Sector 63, Noida - 201301
U. P. India
COVER STORY
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Editor-at-Large
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DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed

in this magazine are solely those of the authors
and do not necessarily reflect 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.
4 Business of Agriculture | July-August 2014
News & Happenings
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 Indias Biotech Agriculture Industry
R&D
31 Promoting Productivity in Agriculture through
R&D vs Poverty Alleviation
36 R&D in Agriculture
NGO
39 Vermicomposting & Womens Empowerment
CASE STUDY
43 Malt Barley Development Programme Saanjhi
Unnati
FINANCE
46 Financial Services: Crucial for Agribusiness
Development
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 can
help Indian Agriculture
66 International News
Business of Agriculture
July-August 2014
Modi Govt Eyes 4 Percent Agricultural Growth

The Narendra Modi-led government has targeted higher farm growth of four percent
in 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.
NEWS & HAPPENINGS
HAPPENINGS
Farm output in India grew at 4.7 percent in the fiscal year to March 2014 after monsoon
rains 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 higher
productivity..., 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 years
ago, ending dependence on imports.
Israel to Open
Centres on AgriHorticulture in
Bihar
Israel is planning to open two
centres of excellence at Nalanda
and Vaishali in Bihar in the field of
vegetables and mango respectively,
to help cultivators increase their
productivity.
Demand for Agriculture

Loan Goes Down
The overall economic slump led to a slump in the
demand for agriculture loans in India. The demand
went down, but the amount disbursed increased
by `10,000 crore in 2013.
According to the latest report issued by the State
Level Bankers Committee (SLBC), agriculture
loans in 2013 saw a fall of over 6,000 applicants
from the 2012 figure as recoveries continued to
come in from farmers. However, the demand in
terms of money increased as the cost of farming
equipment and other materials has increased.
The number of applicants is decreasing year-byyear as farmers are becoming more self-reliant
and yields are increasing. We have also recorded
a steady recovery in this segment as the NPA has
fallen to 2.75, a bank official said.
In these centres, Israeli agricultural

experts along with local farm
scientists would impart knowhow of the latest technology to
growers to help them raise the
production level, Ohad Horsandi,
Israeli Embassy spokesman said.
Bihar has fertile land and grows
fruits like mango, litchi, banana
and various vegetables including
potato. If farmers are told about
latest technology, their productivity
would rise many-fold, he said.
NABARD Sanctions Loans

Worth Over `19,100 Crore
National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development,
NABARD sanctioned loans worth more than `19,100
crore to states for agriculture and allied activities,
NABARD Chairman H K Bhanwala said.
The loans were sanctioned under the Rural
Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF). NABARD
sanctioned `6,000 crore in loans for 33 projects under
agricultural and allied sector, 250 and 804 projects
under the rural connectivity sector and the social
sector, respectively.
NABARD decreased the refinance rate by 0.20
percent for state cooperative banks and regional rural
banks as well as primary urban cooperative banks.
HAPPENINGS
Himachal to Reduce
Fertiliser Use
To reduce the use of fertilisers, Himachal Pradesh is
going to check samples of soil under the Soil Health
Programme.
The government has asked the farmers to get soil
from their fields tested free of cost, Agriculture
Director J C Rana said.
He said that the department has set a target of
checking 63,750 samples of soil during the current
kharif season.
FCI Wasted Over `370

crore in 6 Years: CAG
The report of the test samples would be recorded in

the soil health cards of the farmers so that they could
make judicious use of fertilisers.
The state-owned Food Corporation

of India (FCI) wasted more than `370
crore over a period of six years by not
utilising available storage space in Punjab
and Haryana, the Comptroller & Auditor
General of India (CAG) said.
The department had set up 11 soil testing laboratories

and four mobile laboratories in the state.
The government is also promoting organic farming, in
which over 30,000 farmers in the state are engaged.
FCI is the governments nodal agency

for procurement, storage as well as
distribution of food grains in the country.
In its latest report, which was tabled in
Parliament, CAG said, Failure to utilise the
vacant storage space due to short planning
of direct delivery of wheat resulted in
avoidable expenditure of carryover charges
of `375.52 crore during the period 200607 to 2011-12.
July-August 2014
El Nino May Hit Indian Agriculture
NEWS & HAPPENINGS
HAPPENINGS
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 a
significant fault-line in the grain-delivery chain.
At a conference held at Goa on Global Grain and Feed Forum, Vikas
Bharadwaj of the Singapore-based BTG Pactual Commodities, in his
presentation El Nino and its impact on grains and oilseeds, suggested that
the phenomenon could trigger a downside in the production of soyabean
and corn this year.
Indias projected soya production in the coming year could be anywhere
between 10.2, 9.9 and 8.2 million tonnes in case of a weak, moderate or
strong El Nino, he said.
Govt Hikes Onion MEP to

$500 per Tonne
The government hiked the minimum export
price (MEP) of onion to $500 per tonne to
improve the domestic supply and curb prices.
MEP is the rate below which no exports are
allowed. Retail prices of onion have risen to
about `25-30 per kg, while the wholesale
prices are ruling at `18.50 per kg in the national
capital.
The decision to increase the onion MEP
was taken on June 30 by an Inter-Ministerial
Committee.
Keeping in view, the rising retail and wholesale
prices and delayed monsoon, the Committee
unanimously decided to fix the MEP at $500
per tonne which translates to `30 per kg with a
view to arrest domestic price rise and augment
domestic supply, an official statement said.
Biotech Companies Ready to

Launch Trials of GM Crops
Biotech companies are gearing up for the launch of
field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops in the
ongoing 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 certificates to different
companies to conduct trials, said industry officials.
Biotech companies such as Monsanto and Syngenta
are preparing to launch trials. An official with one of
the biotech companies said trials will begin in maize
and cotton.
The Ministry of Environment & Forests had in July
2011 made it mandatory for companies, institutes
and research bodies to get no-objection certificates
from the states concerned before conducting trials.
RCF to Expand Fertiliser

Manufacturing Capacity
Public sector giant Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) has two
operating 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 fertilisers
and a wide range of industrial chemicals.
Having been given the Miniratna status by Government of India, RCF
is now working to get the Navaratna tag. During 2012-13, the company
had a turnover of `6,987 crore with a profit of `281 crore.
As part of RCFs constant drive towards sustained growth, our most
recent thrust areas have been the revamping of existing plants to
bring down energy consumption, improve production of fertilisers and
achieve reliability in operations and safety. All the plants at the Trombay
unit have been revamped and, as a result, their energy efficiency is
quite good-this despite the fact that the plants are low capacity and of
old vintage, R G Rajan, Chairman and Managing Director, RCF said.
HAPPENINGS
TAFE to Train Women in

Farm Management
Indias 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 companys
lab-to-land initiative to train the farming
community, it has decided to extend the
programme to women farmers.
A pilot project to train women farmers in farm
management, which includes soil conservation,
pest management, yield improvement, tractor
driving and implement usage, will be launched
soon, it said.
Fertiliser Ministry Seeks

`15,000 cr Subsidy for Sept
Quarter
The Fertiliser Ministry has sought `15,000 crore
towards subsidy from the Finance Ministry for the
July-September quarter of the current financial year.
A sum of `15,000 crore is sought as fertiliser subsidy
for September quarter. We are analysing it and will
soon decide on the amount to be paid to them, a
senior Finance Ministry official said.
Earlier in September, the Finance Ministry had
approved a `5,500 crore Special Banking Arrangement
(SBA), under which fertiliser companies can take
loans against subsidy receivables. This was against
the demand of additional funds of `15,500 crore
under SBA.
The Government has budgeted the fertiliser subsidy
for current fiscal at `65,971.50 crore, roughly around
the same level of ` 65,974 crore budgeted in 2012-13.
July-August 2014
COVER STORY
Business of
Agriculture
Farming Billions
By Alankar Srivastava
COVER STORY
greed. Money doesnt grow on trees.

However, it can be minted in the fields
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 jutelike fibres, India is No 1. Besides being a leading
producer of spices and plantation crops as well as
livestock, fisheries 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 mans 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 inflation, agricultural sector is more
relevant than ever before. It is time we put
agriculture right there on top of our priority list.
July-August 2014
11
The business of agriculture is increasingly

stabilising the industry, making the worlds oldest
profession more lucrative and creating employment
opportunities both at the production and marketing
stages. The diversification and commercialisation
of agriculture will improve the social and physical
infrastructure of India.
Whosoever involved in the business of agriculture
must understand the changing consumer
preferences. It is significant and helps in extracting
the maximum out of your business. The agroindustry mainly comprises of the post-harvest
activities of processing and preserving agricultural
products for intermediate or final consumption.
COVER STORY
On the account of rising consumption, Indias

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 Indias per
capita GDP is expected to increase by 320 percent
in the next 20 years...agricultural output (at farmgate 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 Indias 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
worlds 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 qualified 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.
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.
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.
Redefining Market Dynamics

Nisarg Nirman Agro Products, a Mumbai-based
firm headed by the Churis, grows and sells
exotic fruits and vegetables to five-star hotels
in India.
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
We first 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.
COVER STORY
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
field.
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
Indias top rice exporter, KRBL, has redefined

the entire market dynamics. Chairman and anaging
Director Anil Mittal, gave India one of its bestknown brands, India Gate. The company has
achieved sales of `2,100 crore in basmati.
Indias agricultural exports are booming at a
time when many other leading producers are
experiencing difficulties.
July-August 2014
13
COVER STORY
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
government
schemes
Agricultural Inputs
Efficient 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 five 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 Indias 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
Corporation (CWC) and State Warehousing

Corporation (SWC).
it has become a one-stop shop for supply chain

management through the entry of private sector.
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 government
schemes.
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.
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 Government of India introduced The

Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act
in September 2007. It seems the policy makers
are finally 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,
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 beneficiaries under the
scheme are cooperatives and marketing federations.
Further, we are in process of funding private
entrepreneurs for the first time under the scheme
those who have shown interest, Dr H K Bhanwala,
Chairman, NABARD said.
COVER STORY
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.
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.
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 a
new technology that will significantly reduce the cost and time of research on plant tissues.
The cost effective and highly efficient protocol to isolate nucleic acid from a tree tissue to extract the DNA
and RNA, the fundamental requirements for molecular biological studies and research in plants would
enable smaller institutes to carry out scientific research projects, which were hitherto unaffordable for them.
The institute has entered into a tripartite agreement with Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL), a firm
promoted by the Centres Department of Science and Technology which assessed the technology and
declared it as viable for commercialisation, and Rapid Genomics Solutions, a Coimbatore-based private
research and development company that will market the technology.
The commercial kits of this technology will hit the market in about nine months.
July-August 2014
15
COVER STORY
The corporate
sector is
responding
to the
opportunities
that exist in
the business of
agriculture
for food manufacturers in India. According to

Euromonitor International, a privately owned,
London-based market intelligence firm, 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 Nestl India Ltd, Britannia
Industries Ltd, Hindustan Unilever Ltd and FritoLay 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
Lets 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.
INNOVATION
Poor Monsoon
No Excuse for Price Rise;

Govt Needs to Act and
Mitigate Farmers Woes
By Ashok B Sharma
INNOVATION
he 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 countrys official 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, fish and vegetables pushed
up the wholesale price inflation to a five-month high at 6.01 percent in May. The Wholesale Price Index
(WPI) based inflation was 5.2 percent in April and 4.58 percent a year ago.
July-August 2014
19
INNOVATION
The IMDs final 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 deficient 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 Pacific waters above

its normal range. The warming, in Nino 3 and
Nino 3.4 regions of the Pacific 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 deficient, 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 Rejuvenation
Santosh Kumar Gangwar said completion of irrigation projects gets delayed due to various reasons such as
land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation of the affected population, clearance from the Ministry of
Environment 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 years
and that of medium irrigation projects as 5-8 years, he said the major projects started prior to 1997 and
medium projects started before 2004 could be implicitly considered as having overrun the time of completion
with consequent cost escalation.
alternate crops in case of poor rainfall. Adequate

power and diesel subsidy should be given to draw
water for irrigation. Drip irrigation materials should
be 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.
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
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
deficient 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 offload 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 inflation.
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
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 deficient
rainfall
INNOVATION
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.
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 at
264.38 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.
may be reached at ashokbsharma@gmail.com.
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 lending
rates 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 has
reduced the overall interest rates by 50 to 350 basis points. He also said that the banks rate could remain
at 10 percent.
The reduction will not affect personal segment loans, including home and retail, loans sanctioned under
specific schemes. Mr Kumar said that the bank has already reduced the rate for the segments and individual
borrowers during the past two months.
July-August 2014
21
Nematode: An Important
INNOVATION
By Malka Mustaqim
Facts about Nematodes:

90 percent of nematodes reside in
the top 15 cm of soil;
Nematodes do not decompose
organic matter, but, instead, are
parasitic and free-living organisms
that feed on living material;
Nematodes can effectively
regulate bacterial population and
community composition - they
may eat up to 5,000 bacteria per
minute;
Nematodes can play an important
role in the Nitrogen cycle by way
of nitrogen mineralisation.
Fauna of Soil Ecosystem
Nematodes
are an
evolutionarily
successful
group of
organisms.
They are
ubiquitous in
all habitats
that provide
available
organic carbon
sources
Nematodes are an evolutionarily successful group

of organisms. They are ubiquitous in all habitats
that provide available organic carbon sources.
They are the planets 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 identified 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.
July-August 2014
INNOVATION
oils as a dynamic system produced

by 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 influence 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.
23
INNOVATION
Nematodes are microscopic, worm-like organisms

that live in water films and water-filled 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
need adequate
soil moisture,
temperatures
within the
tolerance levels
for the specific
nematode,
and protection
from UV
radiation
(direct
sunlight)
during
application
Nematodes can be classified into functional

groups based on their feeding habits, as bacterialfeeders (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 fungalfeeders, 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
beneficial 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. Beneficial 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
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 modification 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 influenced by environmental conditions.
Nematodes need adequate soil moisture,
temperatures within the tolerance levels for
the specific nematode, and protection from UV
radiation (direct sunlight) during application.
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 properties
as 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.
INNOVATION
As nematodes feed on a wide range of soil

organisms and are dependent on the continuity
of soil water films 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.
Malka Mustaqim is Research Associate at Nematology

Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim
University.
Bihars Agriculture & Food Industry May Touch `1 lakh cr by

2015: ASSOCHAM
Agriculture and Food Industry in Bihar has the potential to reach `1 lakh crore mark by 2015 with processed
food products cornering 45 percent share as the State is uniquely placed with abundant agro-based raw
materials available at competitive prices, cattle wealth, water resources and above all a pro-active industrial
policy, according to a recently concluded ASSOCHAM study.
About 15 million tonnes (MT) of cereals comprising rice, wheat, maize along with a wide range of fruits
and 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 states 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 states total workforce
and 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 and
development of agro and food processing sector in Bihar, said National Secretary General of ASSOCHAM
D S Rawat.
July-August 2014
25
Finally, Govt Focussing on
Agro-technology
TECHNOLOGY
Agriculture is back on the agenda, or so it seems given the industrys 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
inflation, 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
benefits 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 figure.
How is agro-technology going to benefit from
the Budget proposals?
Finally, the government is focussing on agrotechnology. `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 agrotechnology. 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 significant 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.
Indias Biotech
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, reflecting 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 fish. 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 first 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
TECHNOLOGY
Agriculture Industry
2050. This decline is due to urbanisation and the
rise of industrial belts, growth of bio fuel crops, soil
erosion and climate change.
Indias declining self-sufficiency in certain foods such
as pulses and oilseeds has added to the problems.
From being largely self-sufficient in oil seeds in 199394, the country is now the worlds 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 worlds largest
importer of pulses, an average Indians 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
Indias bio-agriculture sector is currently estimated
at $7.8 billion, including crops developed through
July-August 2014
27
TECHNOLOGY
genetically modified 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 solutions
provided by biotechnology and use it in a more
comprehensive manner.
Biotechnology
offers multiple
innovative
techniques
to develop
high-yielding
crops that
can counter
the biotic and
abiotic stress
associated
with Indian
agriculture
High Yielding Seeds: Bio agriculture yields better

results than traditional techniques while maintaining
the stability and fertility of soil. High yielding seeds
significantly 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 Fortification: Bio fortification 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 fortified foods.
Nutrition: Biotechnology techniques fulfil 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
significant 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 GM
BT 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 200912. 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 field 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: Indias R&D spending on bio
agriculture products is fragmented, hindering
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 benefits 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 Governmentapproved 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
significant lessons from other countries that have
become self-sufficient after infusing bio technology
in agriculture. For example, Brazils agriculture
TECHNOLOGY
pooling of resources to conduct result-oriented

research. Indias 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 the
budget 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
810 years to commercialisation and ambiguity on
intellectual property (IP) ownership. Going ahead,
the challenge for the government will lie in forming
mutually beneficial public-private partnerships.
The real value of this can be realised only when
there is a clear, identified 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.
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 $3437
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 selfsufficiency and those for exports;
July-August 2014
29
TECHNOLOGY
Establish a framework to take to market

successful research projects developed at public
institutes; ensure concerned scientists get
commensurate benefits;
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 benefits; and,
Develop a framework for sharing licensing fee/
trait fee in a transparent manner.
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 scientific facts; and,
Set up procedures and targets with clearly
defined 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-sufficiency 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:
Targeted Initiatives: Of late, the bio agriculture

sector has been in the news for all the wrong
reasonscontroversies and growing opposition
to GM seeds. In Indias 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 benefits of bio
technology among farmers;
Form official 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 industrys vision for
2025 and to recommend measures various stakeholders must
take to realise this vision.
R&D
Promoting Productivity in
Agriculture through R&D vs
Poverty Alleviation
By Dr BB Mishra
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 insufficient 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 scientific base
of sustainability.
Productivity in agriculture is linked with a
complex system that is made up of specific 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 farmers doors
without any significant sharing of middlemen.
In such breakthrough, corporate sectors may
contribute significantly. Let the Indian Government
declare the agriculture as industry and develop
infrastructure in rural areas and villages so that
agri-business may flourish to the peak. However,
the SAU-KVK may be the wheel of productivity
promotion in a very specific planned manner.
Agricultural Education: A Key

Component towards Sustainable
Development
As per my recent report, higher education is
virtually aimed at the accomplishment of five basic
July-August 2014
31
R&D
Agricultural
education unlike other system is not only
confined to
classrooms and
laboratories,
but equally
with farm experimentation
and farmers
interaction
objectives viz to innovate the students 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 field of interest could successfully
get his/her employment across the globe. Entire
approaches including infra-structures, capacity
building, 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 todays 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 students 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 confined to classrooms and laboratories, but
equally with farm experimentation and farmers
interaction. There is need to integrate text-book
knowledge with indigenous knowledge obtained
through local farmers in order to develop a
research project to find some reliable solution. By
and large, the higher education in agriculture must
be location specific in a given soil-water-climatevegetation-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 field 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 students
contribution towards a meaningful development
outcome in days to come.
Agricultural Management: An Integral

Part 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 flood, 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 specific set
(crop rotation in case of agronomical crops)
and lastly;
specific 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 and
railway tracks following an additional 5-10 km river
compartments in succession for fish cultivation.
In a detailed description, it is suggested that the
flood water from flood affected areas could be
shifted to other areas too, but flood water cannot
be permitted to move to ocean. The project is
highly aspiring and if executed successfully, it will be
proved profitable. 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
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 identification, 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
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 five years), while
1.62 Mha land was recorded to be put to nonagricultural 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.
R&D
(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 efficiencies and so.
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,
July-August 2014
33
R&D
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.
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
confidence
that brings us
nearer to the
truth
Restoration and enrichment of the inherent soil

health (potential) in order to exploit the soil/land
on 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 profitable;
Socially acceptable and reachable;
Locally feasible and available;
Biologically diversified 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 confidence 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. Lets think on wellarticulated 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 defined
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 specific modes. As
such, any development of a country depends on
a strong base of research planning and priority in
respective field, wherein a well-articulated problem
statement for respective development forms a
key-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) confirm 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 identification,
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 diversified land use choice and dependable
enterprises within a scientific 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
significantly through application of classical laws
of science following the reliable and appropriate
research methodologies.
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 second
succession, there have been numerous reforms
including reforms during green revolution, mostly
technological reforms. Such reforms have definitely
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.
(a) To enrich the infrastructures as the

assumptions for the success towards adoption
of the respective management as well as
technical training at farmers doors viz road,
water, electricity, banks, self-help groups,
internet access/training, transport, market
access etc including location specific 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-specific agribased 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
The proposed components may be set in or

improved in the framework of agri-business
management in a way to assure farmers with
maximum profit. 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.
R&D
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 farmers 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:
production to sustain livelihood and economic

growth.
The above four point programme at farmers 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 ClassificationWG, International Union of Soil Science. He may be reached
at bbmsoil@rediffmail.com.
July-August 2014
35
R&D
R&D in
Agriculture
Potatoes & 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-plantatmosphere 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 first 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 significant differences in
plant response that they attributed to the variation
in solar radiation, which in turn affected plant

water-use efficiency and dry matter production.
With all other growth factors being equal, the
plants in the first 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.
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 are
less likely to have the capacity to observe invasive
species than affluent, technologically-advanced
nations. Using GDP and scientific 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 worlds most important
food producing nations. Dr Dan Bebber said, Crop
pests pose a significant and growing threat to food
Crop Pests pose Danger in Developing

Countries
R&D
The abundance of crop pests in developing

countries may be significantly underestimated,
posing a threat to some of the worlds 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 first 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 scientific
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 worlds 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
July-August 2014
37
security, but their geographical distributions are

poorly understood.
pathogen free 40 days after exposure to the

infected scions.
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 of
pests increased slightly with rainfall.
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
R&D
Aspirin-like Compound to improve Plant

Defence
The largest
numbers of
crop pests were
reported by the
USA, followed
by India, China,
France and
Japan
For thousands of years, humankind has extracted

salicylic acid from willow tree bark to alleviate
minor pain, fever and inflammation. 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
USDAs 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 first 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 wasnt treated.
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
significant long-term benefits for biodiversity, said
Sean Tuck of Oxford Universitys 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 team visually checked for disease symptoms

and analysed leaf samples for the phytoplasmas
unique DNA fingerprint, which turned up in 94
percent of samples from untreated plants and 47
percent of treated ones. Significantly, the remaining
53 percent of treated plants were symptom and
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).
NGO
Vermicomposting
& Womens Empowerment
he contribution of women to rural

economy has often not only been
neglected but underestimated as
well. They are, even today, seen
only as caretakers and home
makers. As a consequence, they have less access
to productive resources and opportunities land,
education, financial services, technology and rural
employment. In spite of this gender bias, the
contribution of women to household income has
been changing over the years in rural areas.
Development efforts by governments, NGOs,
womens groups, CBOs and civil society have
helped create awareness among rural women about
their true, but underutilised potential. Rural women

are being encouraged and supported to get out of
their conventional roles and take on a more active
role in agriculture and other related and allied
activities. The motives behind these community
efforts can be summarised as follows:
Sustainable practices of agriculture has the
potential to address in an effective manner the
current crisis of decreasing yields, depleting
natural resources, pest and disease problems of
the agriculture sector;
Sustainable practices like vermicomposting have
a considerable effect on soil fertility management;
and,
July-August 2014
39
INTERNATIONAL
NGO
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 (SHGs) and
the formation of these groups in rural areas have
sufficiently impacted the rural economy. As a
collective, the SHGs have helped women get out
of the confines 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
financial 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 womens
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 confidence, 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;
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 groups 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,
NGO
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).
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 fixed 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
July-August 2014
41
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.
NGO
Observations
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 efficient 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 fine tuning
the production process. There has been enough
demand locally to absorb the present production
This womens 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 confident of speaking in public and voicing
their opinions, are profitably managing rural agribased 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
By Rajeswari Kurup
The initiative is part of SABMillers 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
CASE STUDY
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 finally buy back the
barley thus produced directly from the farmers,
eliminating middlemen and hence shrinking the
market spread.
July-August 2014
43
CASE STUDY
farmers across the African continent from largescale commercial growers to near-subsistence
smallholders to boost yields, incomes and economic
growth. Says a SABMiller spokesperson, Were
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 countrys 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 significantly increased its contribution
to Zambias 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 five 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 benefits 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 five 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
India Barley Development Program Planning for 2012-013 - Jan 2013

Rajasthan
Haryana
Uttrakhand
Punjab
MP
Total
No. of centres
Particulars
18
32
Seed Sold (Mt)
1118
53
28
99
1298
Acreage (Ac)
24,047
1,546
866
75
2,449
28,983
No. of Farmers
8,110
696
100
1,362
10,274
Purchase (Mt)
for 2013-2014
34,850
1,800
675
100
2,400
39,825
to improve overall standard of their living, says the

spokesperson.
Saanjhi Unnati & its Functioning
CASE STUDY
SABMiller India actively manages the day-today 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.
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 certified
seeds, fertilisers and pesticides can be bought.
During 2012-13, through these centres farmers
purchased about 1200 MT of certified 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 benefitted
in getting an assured market for their barley,
transparent transactions, and fair pricing structures.
Benefits to Farmers
The Rajasthan government provides SABMiller India
with the appropriate permissions and licenses to
sell government certified 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 benefits 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
Government certified 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;
Scientific 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.
Benefits 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.
July-August 2014
45
Financial Services
FINANCE
Crucial for Agribusiness

Development
By Sameer Abbas
griculture is the dominant sector in

Indias 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 efficient marketing systems and
agribusinesses. The efficient production, processing
and marketing of agricultural commodities is often
linked to access to efficient and reliable financial
services. As farm and nonfarm businesses grow
and become more sophisticated, they often need
sophisticated financial services offered by formal
financial institutions. Government institutions and
private lenders have devoted a significant amount of
resources in India to the task of providing loans and
other financial services to agribusinesses.
Significance of Financial Services in

Agribusiness Development
Capital Formation: It is a concept used in

macroeconomics, national accounts and financial
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 firms.
FINANCE
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.
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
finished and the cash in the community exhausted,
the traders leave. When a financial 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.
July-August 2014
47
Intermediation: It means organising extra liquidity

as savings deposits from those who have it and
lending it as loans to the qualified borrowers who
need it. Financial institutions have systems to
ensure that loans are made to low-risk borrowers
or financially sound parties.
Types of Financial Services Relevant for

Agribusinesses
FINANCE
Agribusinesses generally need loans that are large

enough to cover their seasonal investmentthat
is for cash-flow or liquidity purposesor 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 cant
repay loans on a weekly or monthly basis as is often
demanded by microfinance institutions.
The highest priorities for rural agribusinesses are:
Access to savings services:
o Enables them to accumulate money at seasons
end for the next seasons 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 finance:
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 financing
on the businesss cash flow.
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 Agrifinancing

India ranks second in farm output worldwide. In
India, agriculture and allied sectors like forestry,
logging and fishing 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 significant 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 Agriculture

India, which is a major agricultural producer in the world, has strongly opposing targets set at United
Nations climate talks in Doha that would require developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions 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 is
released during livestocks digestive process.
Indian officials said that the agriculture is very important for the country and it is unfeasible for the
country 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 a
source of economic growth for the country, but millions of people in the country depend on the sector
for 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 developing
nations.
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 research
and information network, and development/
strengthening of agricultural marketing
infrastructure, grading and standardisation.
In terms of the requirements of finance 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 finance enables
the farmers to advantageously use seeds, fertilisers,
irrigation, machinery, etc, they have to invariably
search for a source, which supplies adequate
finance and farm credit.
The source of agriculture finance can be divided

into two categories institutional finance and noninstitutional finance. Institutional finance consists
of cooperatives, scheduled commercial banks and
To Conclude
Agricultural finance 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
financial institutions are needed to cater to the
requirements of finance 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.
FINANCE
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).
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 agriculture
and allied activities. The NABARD is the apex
institute at the national level for agricultural credit
and provides refinance assistance to the above
agencies.
Sameer Abbas is a freelance business journalist.
India, Netherlands to Strengthen Cooperation in

Agriculture
India 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 bank
and 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 harvest
management, 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 Modi
later this year.
The minister informed the ambassador that the top priorities of the Narendra Modi government included
support 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.
July-August 2014
49
FINANCE
Bail Out Agriculture through

Farmer-Centric Approach, Plan for
Vibrant Rural Economy
By Ashok B Sharma
griculture in India is ceasing to be

a profitable enterprise. The most
unfortunate part is the growing
distress among the farmers, the
provider of countrys 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 profitable 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 fixation 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 benefit
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 deficient 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 floods in the

long run, Modi government has plans to interlink river basin. According to several experts,
this measure may lead to severe consequences
including soil salinity. Nearby small links will,
however, prove to be beneficial and this had been
the traditional practice so far. Large inter-state
river 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.
Governments 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.
Modi governments 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.
FINANCE
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 desertification released by Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 2007,
shows that about 69 percent of the land in the
country is dry.
According to Government, steps will be taken to

convert farming into a profitable venture through
scientific practices and agro-technology. But
the technology needs to be region specific taking
into consideration the agro-climatic conditions.
In the name of introducing scientific technology,
the government should not allow introduction
of genetically modified (GM) crops, particularly
GM food crops that have conceived health and
environmental risks.
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 ashokbsharma@gmail.com.
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 getting
capital investment into agriculture, NABARD Chairman H K Bhanwala said.
The `200 crore allocation to producer organisations given the reducing landholdings. `5,000 crore
allocation for long-term farm credit is also a very welcome move and will make farming much more
productive. 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, the
chairman added.
July-August 2014
51
FINANCE
Union Budget 2014
Big Plans to Boost

Agriculture
by Aamir H Kaki
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.
FINANCE
he 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 deficit 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.
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 scientific warehousing, to allow farmers to
store their products for long periods.
July-August 2014
53
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 and
Rajasthan, 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.
FINANCE
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 fiscal. This channel would, Mr
Jaitley said, provide real time information on various
issues related to farming and agriculture.
Other agri-initiatives proposals include setting up

a National Adaptation Fund to deal with climate
change with an allocation of `100 crore, and
financing five 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 longterm 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 refinance
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
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 governments 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 reorient 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
fisheries.
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 `5,000
crores from the target given in the Interim Budget
to `25,000 crores in the current financial year.
Allocation of STCRC (Refinance) Fund: In
order to ensure increased and uninterrupted
credit flow 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.
The budget was as I had expected. There

was focus on bringing growth back, reduce
inflation and maintain fiscal deficit targetted.
There were no radical changes for shortterm 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.
Food Security:
Restructuring FCI, reducing transportation and
distribution losses and efficacy 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.
Elementary education gets a fillip with funds

for teacher training and so does agriculture.
Agriculture industry gives mixed reaction to the

Budget 2014-15. The Budgets 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 shortterm measures to tackle food inflation. 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.
Ranganath NK, Managing Director,

Grundfos Pumps India Pvt Ltd
FINANCE
Producers Development and Upliftment

Corpus (PRODUCE): The issue of profitability
of small holding based agriculture has assumed
importance in view of increasing proportion of
small and marginal farmers in the country. To
supplement NABARDs Producers organisation
development fund for Producers 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.
Budget Views
No significant 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.
Reference sources:
indiabudget.nic.in
www.commodityonline.com
profit.ndtv.com
www.livemint.com
economictimes.indiatimes.com
July-August 2014
55
Israel-India Cooperation
Yields Big Returns in Agriculture
srael is a world leader in agriculture

technologies. The countrys 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 flourishing agriculture sector in a
difficult environment with limited water resources.
INTERNATIONAL
The cooperation between the governments of

India and Israel in the area of agriculture has been
longstanding. According to the Ministry of External
Affairs, Government of India, in December 1993

India and Israel signed a bilateral agreement for
cooperation in agriculture. Under the agreement
the first 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,
Thus, amongst the many fields 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 fields. 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 Israels 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
July-August 2014
INTERNATIONAL
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.
57
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 benefit.
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 concept of COE is based on a triangular of

applied research, field extension and a farmer.
The head of a cluster has a crucial role in

sustainability of the project: professional guidance
to other project officers in cultivation, but also at
every step of centres establishment (tenders, field
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.
INTERNATIONAL
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;
Intensification 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.
Success Stories of Israel-India

Cooperation
Karnal, Haryana State: During its first three
years of operation, the effectiveness of the Israeli
technologies became evident showcasing a dramatic
five 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
Table 1:
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
Table 2:
Dapoli, Maharashtra State

Mango Rejuvenation (per season)
Before
Density:
Yield:
100 trees/hectare
After
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 is
also being established in Roha. More centres will be
ready by the end of 2014.
Tamil Nadu: Open field cultivation for vegetable
production has started in Reddiyar Chathram and
field preparations for flower centre in Krishnagiri.
Delhi, The Indo-Israeli cooperation in agriculture

is taking a significant 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 will
surely benefit the Indian farmers and consumers.
Private Players
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
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.
Rajasthan: Centres for fruits in Kota and

pomegranates in Bassi will be sanctioned in the first
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 postharvest support for banana and date growers.
A joint venture
between the
Rajasthan State
Agricultural
Marketing
Board and
the Israeli
company,
Indolive was
signed in 2006.
Nearly 112,000
olive plants of
seven varieties
were brought
from Israel
INTERNATIONAL
Karnataka: Centres of Excellence are planned to

be established for vegetables and pomegranates. A
mango centre will be inaugurated in the first half of
2014.
Private sector players from both sides have also

invested in the agriculture sector. Indias Jain
Irrigation company purchased 50 percent stake in
Israels Naan-Dan irrigation in 2007 and became
the worlds second largest irrigation company.
Netafim, 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 Israeli
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 flowers and fruits in 2012.
NABARD Reduces Refinance Rates

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) reduced the rate of interest by 20 basis
points (bps) on their long-term refinance facility to banks with an objective to promote investments in
agriculture.
The rates of refinance will now be 9.50 percent for 5 years and above and 9.70 percent for 3-5 years period.
To combat food inflation, efficient agricultural technologies get a further incentive of 50 basis points. In
addition, NABARD shall further give 50 basis points reduction, for innovative agricultural activities which
enhance production and productivity.
July-August 2014
59
Israel: The Leader
in Agriculture Innovations
INTERNATIONAL
hough small in size, Israels

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 significantly decreased, while the
farms themselves have become much larger and
more efficient. 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 Israels 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. Israels
agricultural sector serves as an excellent laboratory
for the development of new agro-technologies,
which are then disseminated around the world for
the benefit 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.
Israels 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 efficiency and productivity,
in a country where more than half of the land is
classified as desert land.
Agriculture Engineering
Israels agricultural engineering industry is wellknown 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, greenhouse
equipment, 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 significant 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 flower 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 flower bulbs
and corms according to size, hot-water washing
systems for fresh produce, accurate vibrating seizers,
flower 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 specific purposes
are developed and manufactured in Israel.
New sprayers developed for narrow paths in
INTERNATIONAL
July-August 2014
61
Global Positioning Sensors (GPS), Satellites or aerial

images, and Geographical Information Systems
(GIS) to assess and understand in-field variability.
Development of sensors and technologies for
selective application of fertilisers and pesticides
take into account health-care considerations
and environmental and economic factors. PA
contributes to efficient crop production and
optimised inputs, leading to reduced costs and
environmental impact.
INTERNATIONAL
Green Houses
greenhouses and others suitable for orchards are

under development and implementation. Solar
soil disinfestations are already widely practiced,
using plastic films with special properties.
Energy consumption in greenhouses has been
reduced significantly 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
dehumidification (CHD) was developed to artificially
dry the air in closed greenhouses while maintaining
the desired humidity and temperature. The energy
efficiency 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
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 flexibility.
The total area covered with greenhouses, shadehouses 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 floriculture,
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 flower
production.
In recent years the main field 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
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
fields, and about 280 tons of short cucumbers per
hectare. In addition, plastic greenhouse structures
have recently been introduced for housing
livestock, poultry, and fish. 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
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
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 Israels private-sector seed companies,
and also by the agricultural research institutes.
Market demands also influence 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 interspecific hybrid cotton, which
combines the advantages of two cotton species and
is characterised by longer, stronger fibres.
INTERNATIONAL
Insufficient water availability has long been a major

constraint in Israeli agriculture, exacerbated by
seven consecutive years of drought. Over an
expanse of 500 km, Israels 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 efficient 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 filtration, low-discharge sprayers and
mini-sprinklers, drippers, and sprinklers.
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.
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-sufficiency in food and water supplies.
Source: This article is an extract from the report titled
Israels Agriculture. The report was released by the Israel
Export & International Cooperation Institute.
Farming Goes hi-tech in Tribal Hamlet

A 400-sq m polyhouse for vegetable cultivation on the slope of a hillock with the financial 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 80
families. They erected the polyhouse as part of the Integrated Tribal Development Initiative of the MS
Swaminathan 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 roads
and power connection.
July-August 2014
63
Adapting Israeli R&D to

Local Conditions can help
Indian Agriculture
INTERNATIONAL
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.
Israel is the world leader in agriculture
technology. Indias 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 first
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 diversification of
its food basket. Israel and India share many similar
challenges and India can take advantage of Israels
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 (20122015) includes setting up Centers of Excellences
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
Excellences 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 find
the Indian farmers very enthusiastic to adopt new
proven methods that can increase their productivity.
In the case of olives in Rajasthan, you find 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 first batch of Indian olive
oil will be ready. They are very open-minded to
implementing new methods.
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 fields in the
water industry including water management. Israeli
experience in recycling water is unparallel. Today
Israel 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 confident that India can benefit from
Israeli expertise in water.
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 field of agriculture in India is
conducted mainly through MASHAV, Israels 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.
INTERNATIONAL
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.
Israel hosts important agriculture events

such as Agritech and Agrivest. Has there been
significant participation by India in these events?
Agritech, one of the worlds most important
exhibitions in the field of agricultural technologies,
is held once every three years. The exhibition
showcases advanced equipments and technologies,
cost saving production and other innovations
in the field 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 Naan
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, Naan 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,
Netafim, 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,
significant 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

July-August 2014
65
NEWS & HAPPENINGS
INTERNATIONAL
Goldman Sachs Very

Positive 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 agriculture
sector, theyve all become a lot more closely
connected. Whats happening right now in the
US with the drought is the main driver of the UK
wheat market in the last few days, Jesse said.
Nufarm Shuts Down Plant in

New Zealand
Nufarm, a leading agricultural chemicals manufacturer,
has said that it is planning to close down its plant in
New Zealand.
Nigeria to Double
Agriculture Credit in Two
Years to Cut Imports
Nigeria, Africas top oil producer, plans to double
agricultures share of banks credit to 10 percent
in two years as it seeks to cut food imports,
Agriculture Minister Akinwunmi Adesina said.
We made a fundamental shift that agriculture
is not a developmental activity, agriculture is
a business, Adesina said in an interview with
Bloomberg TV Africa at the World Economic
Forum in Davos. And so it shifted the mind-set
of the banks. Its 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 five percent, at
the end of last year from less than one percent in
2011, Adesina said.
The Agriculture Ministry is partnering with the
Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for
Agricultural Lending, a unit of the Central Bank
of Nigeria, to provide credit guarantees to enable
banks lend to farmers.
The company has also said that it is planning to shift its

regional production to Victoria. The company believes
that consolidating its production will generate annual
cost savings of $3 million. The move will result in a
loss of 59 jobs at the Otahuhu factory, in Auckland,
according to the company.
Its A Fair Deal! CCI Approves

COFCOs 51 Percent Stake buy in
Noble Agri
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved
agriculture firm Cofco (Hong Kong) Ltds proposed acquisition of
majority stake in Bermuda-based Noble Agri Ltd, saying the deal
does not raise any competition concerns.
The proposed deal relates to acquisition of 51 percent of the equity
share capital of Noble Agri by Cofco.
In India, Cofco is into trading of non-agricultural commodities such
as 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 appreciable
adverse effect on competition in India, CCI said.
INTERNATIONAL
New Approach to
Studying Fungus Attack
on Soybeans
A new laboratory technique developed by
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists
could speed the search for soybean plants with
resistance to the fungus that causes Phomopsis
seed decay (PSD) in the legume crop.
A disease primarily caused by the fungus
Phomopsislongicolla, PSD physically degrades
soybean seed and reduces the quality of its
protein and oil.
Applying fungicides, rotating soybeans with
non-host crops and tilling the soil are among
strategies used by growers to prevent PSD.
However, breeding for resistance to PSD is the
most effective long-term strategy, according
to Shuxian Li, a plant pathologist with the ARS
Crop Genetics Research Unit in Stoneville,
Mississippi.
As part of a Phomopsis resistance program
there, Li has sought to learn more about how
the fungus inflicts harm at the cellular level.
Towards that end, she and colleagues enlisted
the aid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, a species
of soil bacteria commonly used in genetic
engineering procedures to endow plants with
new traits.
July-August 2014
67
NEWS & HAPPENINGS
INTERNATIONAL
Poor Farm Technology

Responsible for Food Inflation:
Report
Poor farm technology and poor links between farmers
and food processing industry is responsible for persistent
food inflation in India, according to a fresh report by the
CII and McKinsey & Co.
The report revealed farmers, mainly producers of food
products, 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 processing
industry for the problem.
It also suggested that the asymmetry in the demand
and supply could be corrected radically improving the
production of some high value foods, such as potato, soya
bean, banana, mango and poultry.
Pest Sprays Poisoning World Food Supply: Study

According to a comprehensive scientific assessment of the chemicals impacts, worlds most widely used
insecticides have contaminated the environment across the planet so pervasively that global food production
is at risk.
The researchers compare their impact with that reported in Silent Spring, the landmark 1956 book by Rachel
Carson that revealed the decimation of birds and insects by the blanket use of DDT and other pesticides
and led to the modern environmental movement.
Despite regulations in place, the poisoning of almost all habitats continue. Creatures essential to global
food production from bees to earthworms are likely to be suffering grave harm and the chemicals
must be phased out.
The new assessment analysed the risks associated with neonicotinoids, a class of insecticides on which
farmers 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 farmed
environment equivalent to that posed by organophosphates or DDT, said Jean-Marc Bonmatin, of the
National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France, one of the 29 international researchers who
conducted the four-year assessment.
The report is being published as a special issue of the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science and
Pollution Research.

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FARMING

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DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed

4 Business of Agriculture | July-August 2014

News & Happenings

10 Business of Agriculture: Farming Billions

Modi Govt Eyes 4 Percent Agricultural Growth

NEWS & HAPPENINGS

Demand for Agriculture

6 Business of Agriculture | July-August 2014

In these centres, Israeli agricultural

NABARD Sanctions Loans

FCI Wasted Over `370

The report of the test samples would be recorded in

The state-owned Food Corporation

The department had set up 11 soil testing laboratories

FCI is the governments nodal agency

El Nino May Hit Indian Agriculture

NEWS & HAPPENINGS

According to experts, factors like grain-carrying sack, El Nino could have a

Govt Hikes Onion MEP to

8 Business of Agriculture | July-August 2014

Biotech Companies Ready to

RCF to Expand Fertiliser

TAFE to Train Women in

Fertiliser Ministry Seeks

10 Business of Agriculture | July-August 2014

greed. Money doesnt grow on trees.

Agriculture is the mainstay of Indian economy and a

Business of Agriculture is about breaking myths and

The business of agriculture is increasingly

On the account of rising consumption, Indias

12 Business of Agriculture | July-August 2014

and technology, and drastically transforming the

The much-talked about Gujarat model of

Redefining Market Dynamics

Agricultural entrepreneurs in India strive to

We first approach the farmers and check their

While the youth evincing interest in agriculture is

Indias top rice exporter, KRBL, has redefined

14 Business of Agriculture | July-August 2014

Research and Development (R&D) has played

Agriculture Warehousing in India

Corporation (CWC) and State Warehousing

it has become a one-stop shop for supply chain

The storage capacity available with government

Announced in the Union Budget 2013-14,

Because of the capital intensive nature and high

The Government of India introduced The

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

The warehousing capacity built over past 10 years,

NABARD has already sanctioned `2,200 crore for

The NWS scheme, approved by Union Finance

Packaged Food Industry: Growing by

Research on Plant Tissues Gets Commercialised

for food manufacturers in India. According to

16 Business of Agriculture | July-August 2014

forward. They used the strategy of developing

No Excuse for Price Rise;

18 Business of Agriculture | July-August 2014

The IMDs final forecast issued on June 9

El Nino is the warming of the Pacific waters above

163 Large and Medium Irrigation Projects Delayed: Govt