Agriculture continues to offer the livelihood sustenance to over 85 per cent of the rural

dwellers in India. With the consistent longitudinal growth in human population over the years, per capita availability of land and other production resources have declined substantially. Despite agriculture being a major source of livelihood, the productivity as well as the profitability in agriculture has been gradually lessening in the country. Consequently, the agrarian populace are trapped in the vicious circle of debt and unemployment. The low productivity can be attributed to multipronged factors. These may include lack of awareness about modern agricultural technologies and practices, poor dissemination of technology, inadequate investment in agriculture, inefficient input supply system and weak communication and information services. Profitability reduction in agriculture is primarily because of increasing cost of production coupled with inadequate and inefficient infrastructure required for forward and backward integration, poor post harvest and processing facilities and poor market connectivity thereby dominance of a large number of middlemen. Agriculture in Indian context is considered as a family vocation and majority of the farmers continue to practice what their forefathers did or their neighbours do. This state of affairs demands the alternate options if agriculture is to be sustained on space and time. And, it in the above context that agriculture must be evolved as an enterprise having a sound management backstopping. Alike other enterprises, there ought to be a proper planning of demand estimation, choice of technology, inventory of resources, need for external inputs, skill level of the available human resources and their training needs, infrastructure and services needed for carrying out various operations and marketing. Moreover, the change in the mindset among farmers and extension personnel is the primary step for transforming agriculture to agri-business. Micro-enterprise in many cases has been successfully experimented for enhanced rural livelihood security. This gives ample stimulus for its scope in agricultural sector too. Hence, it is inevitable to tap the opportunities for promoting entrepreneurship in agriculture and allied fields, which in turn may address the present challenges related to agricultural productivity, profitability and income sustainability. OBJECTIVE: The major objective of the course is to sensitize and enable the extension personnel and officials for conceptual comprehension and skills inculcation for promoting micro-enterprise in agriculture and allied fields. TRAINING DESIGN: Training design will be a blend of sessions on theoretical concepts, practical exercises as well as study tours to successful entrepreneurs farms. The training sessions will facilitate interactive and experiential learning. Emphasis will be laid upon participatory methodology and use of simulation exercises. COURSE CONTENTS: Important subject areas for the training course will include: Prospects and experiences of Micro-enterprise promotion (MEP) in Agriculture, Horticulture, PHT, Dairy etc Capacity building for MEP

Entrepreneurial motivation, enterprise launching, enterprise management &marketing Organisational support for MEP, micro-credit support Role of extension education, business communication, ICT and training in MEP Gender involvement in MEP Role of NGOs/Civil Societies in MEP Scope of SHGs in MEP Government support and schemes for MEP Quality control Success cases

COURSE FACULTY: The core course team members responsible for the organisation of the course includes, Dr. J.P. Sharma (Course Director), Dr. S.K. Dubey, Dr. R. R. Burman, Dr. Nishi Sharma and Mrs. Shashi Gupta. Faculty and experts in micro-enterprise promotion will be invited from the host institute as well as from the organizations of national and international repute to cover the topics of course curriculum. DATE AND DURATION: The eight days course will be held from 12-19 September, 2011. ELIGIBILITY: The Course is for State, Regional and District level officers and Extension personnel of State Departments of agriculture/ Horticulture/ Animal Husbandry/ Fisheries. LAST DATE OF RECIEVING NOMINATIONS: The interested applicants may send their Bio-Data through proper channel from their parent organization. The application should reach the Course Director on or before 10th August, 2011 TRAVEL, BOARDING AND LODGING: The travel expenses will be borne by IARI to and fro on actual basis as per entitlement. Actual TA will be paid on production of a certificate by the participants. Free lodging and boarding facilities will be provided at the Institute premises WEATHER: During September, Delhi remains hot and humid with temperature range of 2534 degree Celsius. INDIAN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE :The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), popularly known as Pusa Institute, is the country's premier institution for research, education, extension as well as advance training in agricultural disciplines. The Pusa campus is self contained complex spread over an area of about 500 hectares. It is well connected to roadways, railways (located about 8 km west of New Delhi railway station) and airport. It is located at about 7 km west of Krishi Bhawan ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE: Dr. J.P. Sharma, Head & Course Director, Centre for Agricultural Technology Assessment & Transfer, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi -110012, Tel: 011-25842905(O) 09811721815(M), Fax: 011-25842905,

E-mail: jps_cat@iari.res.in / nishi_sharma@hotmail.com

Nomination Form
Model Training Course (MTC) on Capacity Building of Development Department Personnel on Micro Enterprise Promotion in Agriculture
September, 12-19, 2011

Capacity Building of Development Department Personnel on Micro Enterprise Promotion in Agriculture and Allied Areas
September, 12-19, 2011 Sponsored by
Directorate of Extension, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi

Model Training Course (MTC) on

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Full Name (in block letters): ............................................................................................................ Designation:....................... ............................................................................................................ Present employer and Address: ..................................................................................................... Address to which reply should be sent (in block letter): ................................................................. Phone: ..........................Fax:...................... Mobile:.............................E-mail:............................... 5. Permanent address: ...................................................................................................................... 6. Date of birth: .................................................................................................................................. 7. Sex: Male/Female, Marital status: Married/Unmarried 8. Nature of work and experience 9. Mention about the training attended during last five years Sl. No. Training Duration (Days) Year

10.Experience in Management. 11. List your training needs in Enterprise promotion : --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12. Academic record
Exam. Passed Bachelors degree Masters degree Other certificate Dip./degree Ph.D. Subjects (Main/ Subsidiary) Year of passing Class/ ranks, distinctions etc Univ. or Instt.

Date: ___________ Place:___________ 13. Recommendations of the forwarding Organization: Date:

Signature of applicant

Signature and designation of the Sponsoring Authority with Address

Dr. J.P. Sharma Head and Course Director Centre for Agricultural Technology Assessment and Transfer (CATAT) Indian Agricultural Research Institute New Delhi-110012