Technology Milieu for Prosperity in India

INTRODUCTION

 

We have discussed in detail in the earlier chapter-3 about the causal connections for poverty and gender  inequalities. We have also discussed the approaches to provide prosperity for all.

There have been a number of schemes and programmes which have been attempted by the State and Central Governments and a few foreign agencies to address the question of Indian poverty in rural areas and urban areas. Many of them are independent of each other and have differing criteria. However, the effect of many of these have only been marginal (Ref. 1). There are also assessments that the bulk of the Government’s funding does not reach the rural areas directly due to various leakages in the transitional paths. As India aspires to become a developed country, with its own position in the comity of nations, poverty removal would become perhaps the utmost challenge. Though there are a number of programmes even now officially “operational”, some of which having very catchy slogans, it would be impossible to sustain economic development in the country (even leaving aside the humanitarian considerations about poor people) if India does not eradicate poverty totally both in urban and rural areas within a decade.

It is not enough to state through various statistics that so many percentage of people have been lifted above the poverty line. Author is aware of the fact that there are many intricate economic models and statistical techniques which have been developed or used to measure not only to poverty line and also as to how close people are near the poverty line or above etc. However, author would like to take a simple view that while all these complex models and resultant numbers have their own requirements and validity, the stark fact before the country is that for decades we have not been able to solve the crucial problems facing many millions of our people: to have a productive work and earnings for people to cover their food, clothing, habitat, health, education of their children and preparing them for a better future. The numbers of such deprived people does not seem to be decreasing (Ref.1). There are only many debates over the poverty line.

Unless the quantum of money available in the hands of people of the poor families increases very substantially and unless it continues to have some growth even in the subsequent periods, we cannot say that we have tackled the problems of poverty. Rural poverty can be removed only through prosperity i.e planning and implementing strategies for creating wealth in the villages through the efforts of people living there. The author has addressed these aspects to certain extent in his earlier two writings. One is “The promise of new technologies for poverty alleviation” (Ref.2) and another “A Vision for Rural Transformation: Science and Technology Based Initiatives” (Ref.3). These two articles provide a systematic view. Basic concepts from these two papers have been revised and updated and forms the Chapter-2 of this book. Several elements of these suggestions, have been successfully tested in a number of parts of India as briefly indicated in Chapter-2, Chapter-3 has provided a cogent structure of approaching the issue of prosperity for all, thus eradicating poverty once and for all.

Therefore the main thrust argument of the author is that we have to introduce selectively various forms of technologies (knowledge/ skills) into the lives of poor people in villages and also provide them with various forms of connectivities in order that they cut the vicious circle of poverty and further impoverishment as the country marches towards market driven transactional economy. India is a complex country having people with different levels of skills capability and therefore productivity. Therefore approach to actions will be as given in Chapter-3.  This chapter discusses in some detail, with examples how technologies have to be applied especially for the poorer segments of Indians.

When one talks of technology, it is not a uniform solution of one or two types knowledge and skill requirements (a la IT, BT, NT syndromes ie Information Technology, Biotechnology and Nanotechnology) but they are at various levels and sectors and would also require investments along with the same. Unfortunately a number of IT, BT or the other high tech solutions offered by many experts and agencies have not addressed the question of the levels of investment that can be done by the poor persons to derive benefits. The poor will also invest but at levels that they can afford, but need to get quick and better returns, as they cannot hold on too long. Poor in India understand, through practical experience, that they cannot for long live on subsidies or doles. Also they cannot depend upon the subsidy; already the public exchequer is under severe pressure. Also because in the past it has always been the experience that from what is proposed to be given as subsidy through public system, only very little of it reaches the poor. Therefore, the solution ought to be in terms of providing from public resources and otherwise, the right type of knowledge, skill and technological inputs and certain minimum infrastructure for connectivities and knowledge/skill inputs these can help the poor to come up with their own investments and also attract others’ investment. However, giving connectivity and knowledge/skill inputs is something which ought to be done with funds from public system but executed differently than what has been done during the past 50 years.

In yet another paper by the author which has appeared in a journal “Towards a Knowledge Society in India – Issues for Management “ (Ref.4) he has addressed this issue as to how different levels of knowledge and skills are existing in India and as to how one has to implement strategies to move these various levels to increasingly higher levels, that is, from the existing levels to better levels in terms in value addition. This concept is important to understand as there is a tendency to lump everything under the word “Knowledge” and the more powerful persons of the society who operate and high knowledge intensity levels and hence are wealthier, often try to push their agenda of knowledge which also often look “sexy”. This concept is important to understand as there is a tendency to lump everything under the word “knowledge” and the more powerful persons of the society who operate at high knowledge intensity levels and hence are wealthier, often try to push their agenda of knowledge which also often look “sexy”.

The chapter-3 of this book has also absorbed elements from the Reference 4 above and has expand the strategies to customize “knowledge” to different levels described in Figure 2 of that Chapter. Some of the experiences of the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC)  for enhancing the wealth in the hand of rural poor through Vision 2020 Mission Programme on Agriculture which led by the late Prof. S.K. Sinha at Bihar, Deoria (U.P.), Uttranchal, Kancheepuram and other areas are briefly described as examples as to how the knowledge skills can be customised to meet different levels of poor people depending on their affordability and needs of market forces in this chapter. Technology Milieu described here is an example and there are several other technologies available which can adapted in the form described here, to reach large number of poor persons.

TECHNOLOGY MILIEU

Details of technology milieu are discussed in Ref.2 and Ref.3 in specific terms. The foremost of the sector which will have immediate effect on poverty alleviation is agriculture, cattle rearing, poultry and such food related items and initial value addition to them through processing and other forms. The key issue is to provide the farmer with productivity enhancing knowledge / skills. Most of these activities will come under what is called “known science and technology”, but applied locally through systematic understanding of local habit and preferences and also choosing the produce, which can be positioned in a proper value chain in the nearby markets and even in distance markets, if there are comparative advantages. If necessary, the farmers have to be convinced to change some of their practices through practical demonstration.

The late Prof. S.K. Sinha who led the Technology Vision 2020 exercise of TIFAC on Agriculture & Food (Technology Vision 2020, TIFAC 1996)  during 1994–96, had later led the projects which precisely aimed at such demonstrations at the request of Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, then Chairman TIFAC Governing Council. The successes achieved by him and his network of scientific teams and villagers in Bihar, Deoria, Kancheepuran                                           etc are very encouraging. They have sustained and are spreading. These are briefly described in the following.

Technology Vision 2020 Mission Projects on Agriculture :

Technology Vision 2020 Document of Food & Agriculture, brought out by TIFAC during 1996 visualizes the that items that need to be addressed for the agricultural prosperity of the country in next 20 years. Keeping in mind the spread of wealth to people in different parts of India. It is a natural resource cum people based vision taking into account the emerging global and Indian demands and advances in S&T. Major items are listed in Chapter-1 of this book.

To demonstrate that what is envisioned can be achieved, the TIFAC started Vision 2020 Mission projects on Agriculture during 1998; TIFAC had launched several projects in the states of Bihar (Sone Command distributaries) Orissa (Nayagarh district), Eastern U.P. (Deoria), Tamilnadu (Kancheepuram), Chennai (NAF), Uttranchal (Pinder valley) and Sikkim. More are planned. For latest updates it is better to refer to TIFAC Website (Ref.5). A few success stories already achieved so far are very encouraging and a brief report about them is given in the following: (mostly derived from TIFAC Website).

Some Success Stories in Agriculture

Approach Followed in TIFAC Projects

·  Identification of farmer’s constraint on the agriculture as a whole and productivity upliftment in particular by through interaction with farmers, field visits etc.

·  Understanding of the existing management practices of different crops.

·  Proper documentation of the base line data.

·  Determination of soil fertility status through testing and other scientific methods..

·  Action plan decided in consultation with the farmers without making drastic changes in their existing practices.

·  Training is an important component. Extensive training cum demonstration are being given to the farmers before cultivation of each crop.

·   A few farmers were brought to Delhi, Punjab, Haryana to visit reputed agriculture institutes and also to the fields of farmers so that can get an idea how others progressive farmers are doing agriculture.

·  Arrangement of good quality right variety seed for the farmers from Delhi and other areas on cost to cost basis; the transportation cost is being borne from the project.

Technology as such

The technologies, which are being followed in these projects, are farmers friendly, inexpensive, basically optimisation of management practices. No modern technologies like Biotechnology, Genetically engineered crop are being used now as these will not suit them now. In a nut shell the technology is a combination of the following efforts:

Selection of right kind of variety of a particular crop synchronising with the climate, market potential, soil test value etc.

Advancement of nursery raising of Paddy synchronising with monsoon arrival which has helped in advancement of sowing of Wheat.

Reduction of seed rate in nursery from 30 kg per acre to 10 kg per acre in order to get good healthy seedlings.

Addition of balanced doses of fertliser, introduction of micro nutrient specially Zinc in the fertiliser schedule.

Proper irrigation at right time(s)

Taking plant protection measures

 

Scenario before start of the project in Bihar

 

Crop productivity of all crops very low, viz. productivity of Paddy and Wheat around 2 t/ha

Non-availability of good quality inputs – seeds, fertiliser and plant protection measure

Cultivation practices traditional and in many cases counter productive. For example:

Late raising of nursery and late planting of paddy, consequently late to very late sowing of wheat

Very high seed rate used in raising of paddy nursery, viz. 30 kg/acre

Local and own produce seed used

Imbalance use of fertilisers: Nitrogenous fertilizers applied in much excess, use of phosphatic and potashic fertilizers almost negligible, zinc never applied

Canal water released generally in excess due to field to field irrigation system

Plant protection measures either absent or defective for lack of knowledge

Farmers too vulnerable to existing market forces

 

Progress and Achievements

 

Year                   # Area of adoption(ha)                         No. villages involved                                 Results

                   Kharif(Paddy)     Rabi(Wheat)                     Kharif(Paddy)   Rabi(Wheat)              Productivity increased

 1999           2.4*                      16                                      5*          11                           Paddy – from around 2t/ha to around 5.8 t/ha

 2000          432                        1000                                  76         113                           Wheat - from around 2t/ha to around 4-5 t/ha

 2001          1200                      1300                                  110        144

 2002          1500                      >1500                                200       175

 2003           2000                        -                                     225          -

Note: * Demonstration of paddy crop undertaken by TIFAC with input costs. Farmers with their input costs followed the practice in 32 ha land from 9 villages. In the subsequent years all input costs borne by farmers themselves. TIFAC provided technical guidance, field level advice, training and limited linked support from time to time and provided revolving fund to impart sustainability in the system for availability of good quality seeds based on the advice of experts/lead persons.

# More area coverage indicates the area coverage during that particular year.

Paddy Crop in 2003 at Paliganj

Paddy Crop in 2003 at Paliganj

The project was initiated after doing a base line survey focussing on soil analysis, identification of resources, constraints of farmers, prevailing productivity scenario etc. Implementation of the project was started from Khariff '99 (Paddy crop) with a 2.4 acres demonstration using total systems approach and technology in RP Channel 5 and Majouli Distributories of Sone Command where all inputs were provided from project. Besides this, farmers adopted this technology with their own inputs in about 32 hectares of land in the Khariff ' 99 season itself. The average yield obtained by farmers was 5.8 tonne per hectare as against their traditional yield of around 2.0 tons per hectare.

In Rabi '99 (Wheat Crop) cropping season, the yield of wheat obtained in the demonstration trail was 4-5 tone per hectare as against the traditional yield of around 2.0 tons per hectare. Since there was a forecast that water will not be available in canal during Rabi '99 season, because renovation work of the canal was scheduled during that time, demonstartion was carried out only in 16 hectares of land.

Demonstration trial of potato cultivation was also conducted in 0.46 hectares with TIFAC input. Yield obtained was around 20 tons per hectare as against the normal yield of < 10 tons per hectare.

The self multiplication of this technology has been observed enormous in the subsequent years.

In Khariff  '2003 season, the area coverage has been further increased to 2000 heactare comprising 225 villages.In the Rabi '2002 season, the area coverage has been further increased to more than 1500 hectare comprising of 175 villages.

Farmers are getting trained for cultivation of vegetables using modern technology.

Training of farmers at village level:

Crops

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

Paddy

4 camps, 5 vill, 150 farmers

6 camps, 48 vill, 341 farmers

6 camps, 51 vill, 286 farmers

8 camps, 49 vill, 300 farmers

3 camps, 30 vill, 176 farmers

Wheat

4 camps, 11 vill. 176 farmers

8 camps, 82 vill, 438 farmers

10 camps, 77 vill, 603 farmers

8 camps, 49 vill, 270 farmers

-

Vegetables

 

------------------

 

-------------------

 

4 camps, 12 vill, 123 farmers

 

2 camps, 4 vill, 20 farmers

 

-

 

Pulses

 

------------------

 

-------------------

 

7 camps, 57 vill, 637 farmers

 

4 camps, 37 vill, 250 farmers

 

6 camps, 30 vill, 245 farmers

 

Institutional training of farmers:

 

Item

 

Institute

 

Year

 

No. of Farmers

 

Vegetable seedling production

 

Division of vegetable crops, IARI

 

2000

 

7

 

Wheat seed production

 

IARI, Regional Station, Karnal

 

2001

 

7

 

Poly house construction

 

Division of Agriculture Engineering, IARI

 

2001

 

5

 

Paddy seed production

 

IARI, Regional Station, Karnal

 

2001

 

8

 

Paddy Seed production

 

IARI, Regional Station, Karnal

 

2002

 

10

 

Training of Project staff at Patna

 

Patna

 

2003

 

6

 

Plant protection aspects of Kharif and Rabi season crop

 

Agriculture Research Institute, RAU, Meethapur, Patna

 

2003

 

11

 

Other Unique Initiatives

 

bull.jpg (5174 bytes)Improved seed supply: As farmers of these areas are used to use their own farm produce as seeds for both paddy and wheat year after year, the viability of these seed are very poor, which has direct negative impact on the yield. In this project good quality seed materials of different crops are arranged from IARI ( New Delhi, Karnal, Pusa & Patna) and were provided to farmers on cost to cost basis. This approach has contributed a lot in increasing the productivity of crops.

 

bull.jpg (5174 bytes)Seed Grower’s Co-operative: The system of arranging of seeds from outside may not continue for long. Hence inbuilt mechanism was developed for producing good quality seeds in the project areas itself. As a result Pataliputra Seed Grower Co-operative has been formed at Paliganj, which produced and distributed about 35 quintals of paddy seeds in Kharif’2001and 55 quintals of improved paddy seed in Kharif 2002-03. The members got trained at IARI, Karnal center on seed production technology.

 

bull.jpg (5174 bytes)Revolving Fund: To have sustainability in the system without assistance from outside, a revolving fund concept had been introduced. Initially for three years input material cost provided by TIFAC from project. These input materials are sold to farmers on cost to cost basis and with the money on realisation from farmers, revolving fund is created instead of putting the money back to the project cost. This revolving fund will be used by the farmers in revolving manner for variety of developmental needs including purchase of input materials from outside as and when required without further assistance from the project.

 

bull.jpg (5174 bytes)Storage Structure: Introduced low cost seed storage structure in the project areas. Pusa kothar was built with unbaked brick with polythene lining. This structure saves the stored grains from insects and environmental hazards. Three such kothars have been constructed in three villages viz. Biranchak, Shahar Rampur and Bhelura Rampur. Farmers were given training on construction of such kothars.

 

bull.jpg (5174 bytes)Institutional Training: Periodical trainings given to farmers on different traits at different institutes, mostly at IARI, New Delhi & its Regional Station at Karnal. The traits are vegetable cultivation technology, which were given in the division of vegetables, IARI; maintenance of agro-machinery & poly house construction in the division of Agricultural Engineering, IARI; seed production technology at IARI Regional Station, Karnal.

 

bull.jpg (5174 bytes)Educational Tour of Progressive Farmers: In order to provide an exposure to farmers on improved crop cultivation and farm management practices, progressive farmers in batches were sent on educational tour to visit IARI, New Delhi & Karnal Centers, P.A.U. Ludhiana, NDRI, Karnal, Darshan Singh’s Farm, Hayatpura, Punjab, G.B.Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar.

 

bull.jpg (5174 bytes)Women Empowerment Activity: An initiative under taken towards empowering rural women. Under this programme, two lady workers were trained on formation of Self Help Group (SHG), as a result seven women SHGs have been formed. These SHGs are encouraged to take  up different entreprenuership development activity on their own. They have been advised to take up agriculture related activities like, compost making, raising of seedlings, papar making etc.

 

bull.jpg (5174 bytes)Agro Service Centre: One Agro Service Centre (Krishak Seva Kendra) has been created. In this year 2003  6 sprayers & 6 dusters were provided from project to the Agro Service Center & these machines are utilised by about 200 farmers from 84 villages. Further, 442 bags of pure fertilsers are also sold by this centre

 

Deoria District. U.P

 

A project titled Demonstration of Systems approach towards increasing agriculture productivity in low productivity regions at Deoria district which is about 52kM away from Gorrakhpur and  has been launched, reaching out to the people of India under the Technology Vision 2020 Mission on Agriculture & Agro Food Sector.

Seeing the success of Bihar project, farmers from Deoria district approached TIFAC to include them with TIFAC programme and hence the project started in 2000 with demonstration of systems approach for cultivation of paddy crop in 9 villages of 3 blocks (Baitalpur, Pathardeba, Valuani) of Deoria district covering about 11 ha land. Before start of the project a benchmark survey was conducted.

 

Scenario before start of the project:

 

Crop productivity of all crops low, viz. productivity of Paddy and Wheat is around 3 – 3.5 t/ha

Non-availability of good quality inputs – seeds, fertiliser etc.

Traditional cultivation practices. Farmers use more quantity of seed (30 kg/acre) than the actual requirement (8-10 kg/acre)

Lack of knowledge of plant protection measures

 

Progress and Achievements

 

Year

Area of adoption(Ha)

 

No. villages involved

 

Results

 

Kharif

(Paddy)

 

Rabi

(Wheat)

 

Kharif

(Paddy)

 

Rabi

(Wheat)

 

Productivity increased

 

Paddy – from around 3-3.5t/ha to around 5.5-6 t/ha

 

Wheat - from around 3-3.5t/ha to around 4.5-5.5 t/ha

 

2000

 

11

 

40

 

9

 

9

 

2001

 

400

 

1200

 

110

 

155

 

2002

 

1300

 

1500

 

300

 

>300

 

2003

 

>1500

 

-

 

>300

 

-

Note: Input costs borne by farmers. TIFAC costs include training, technical guidance, field level advice and limited linked support from time to time based on advice of experts/lead person of the project

Farmers have been encouraged to grow fruits & vegetables. 500 good litchi plants have been distributed among the farmers on part cost basis. Further, initiative has been taken to increase the productivity of sugarcane, the main cash crop of the region. About 53 quintals of sugarcane seed has been arranged for the farmers from the Indian Sugarcanae Research Institute, Lucknow. More than 3 times yield was obtained.

 

Training of farmers at village level:

 

Crops

 

2000

 

2001

 

2002

 

2003

 

Paddy

 

7 camps, 9 vill., 235 farmers

 

6 camps, 88 vill, 535 farmers

 

6 camps, 20 vill. 125 farmers

 

6 camps, 33 vill. 165 farmers

 

Wheat

 

6 camps, 9 vill., 275 farmers

 

6 camps, 55 vill, 400 farmers

 

10 camps, 50 vill, 100 farmers

 

06 camps, 88 vill, 110 farmers

 

Pulses

 

-------------------

 

3 camps, 18 vill. 70 farmers

 

8 camps, 8 vill. 500 farmers

 

-

 

 

Institutional training of farmers

 

Item

 

Institute

 

Year

 

No. of Farmers

 

Vegetable seedling production

 

Division of vegetable crops, IARI

 

2000

 

4

 

Paddy Seed production

 

IARI, Regional Station, Karnal

 

2002

 

7

 

Other Initiatives

Zero tillage machine has been introduced for timely sowing of wheat which has great impact on productivity

With a view to improve the productivity of sugarcane, about 53 quintals of sugarcane seed was arranged for farmers from Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow. In this area, no sugarcane seeds were changed since last 10 years, which caused a lowering of productivity to a significant extent.

Farmers were encouraged to grow fruits and vegetables, about 500 good quality lichi plants were distributed amongst the farmers.

An effort has been made to revive the cultivation of chick pea in this region after almost 30 years. In 2001, chickpea cultivation was taken up in 25 acres land with bio control measures to prevent from pod borer attack. Farmers harvested about 26 q / ha yield. In the year 2002 also farmers in about 25 acres land took up chickpea cultivation. The yield was satisfactory

In addition to chickpea, mustard, pea, lentil have also introduced in the cropping system


 

Ballia District .U.P

 

Objective:

Overall upliftment of the socio-economic conditions of the rural people engaged in farming

a) Improvement of agricultural productivity of different crops mainly rice and wheat by incorporating total systems approach

b) Multi trait training to unemployed youth

Location: Ballia district adjacent to Deoria district, which is about 180 KM away from Deoria Sadar

Background: As a multiplier effect of Deoria project, the project activity started in Ballia district from Kharif season of 2002. The demonstration of paddy crop cultivation was taken up in 8 ha land from 20 villages in Beruarbari block.

Approach followed : The approaches followed in Bihar and Deoria project are also being followed in this project.

Scenario before start of the project : Similar agricultural scenario like Deoria project also exist in Ballia.

 

Progress and Achievements

 

Year

 

Area of adoption(Ha)

 

No. villages involved

 

Results

 

Kharif

(Paddy)

 

Rabi

(Wheat)

 

Kharif

(Paddy)

 

Rabi

(Wheat)

 

Productivity increased

 

Paddy – from around 3t/ha to around 5t/ha

 

Wheat - from around 3-3.5t/ha to around 4.5-5.5 t/ha

 

Maize crop is in field

 

2002

 

8

 

20

 

20

 

31

 

2003

 

52+12 for maize

 

-

 

44

 

-

 

Note: Input costs were borne by farmers themselves. TIFAC costs include training, technical guidance, field level advice and limited linked support from time to time based on advice of experts/lead person of the project

 

Training of farmers at field level:

 

Crops

 

2002

 

2003

 

Paddy

 

2 camps, 20 vill. 100 farmers

 

6 camps, 44 vill. 225 farmers

 

Wheat

 

7 camps, 31 vill, 225 farmers

 

03 camps, 47 vill, 160 farmers

 

Pulses

 

7 camps, 31 vill. 225 farmers

 

-

 

Institutional training of farmers:

 

Item

 

Institute

 

Year

 

No. of Farmers

 

Paddy Seed production

 

IARI, Regional Station, Karnal

 

2002

 

3

 

Other initiatives

Zero tillage machine has been introduced for timely sowing of wheat which has great impact on productivity

An effort has been made to revive the cultivation of chickpea in this region after almost 30 years.

In addition to chickpea, pea, lentil have also introduced in the cropping system

 

Agriculture Development Project in Uttaranchal

 

Location : Pinder Valley, Chamoli District and Bhageswar district, Uttaranchal

The approval of baseline determination, soil assessment, discussion with farmers etc were similar. However, the crops and the practices advised were different as the geographical area had different agroclimate features. Its comparative advantages and market linkages were kept in mind. (See TIFAC website).

OTHER AREAS

TIFAC has done several such successful demonstrations customised to local geographical areas such as Maharashtra (fisheries) and Tamil Nadu (Kancheepuram District). The key conclusions are that rural persons are capable of adapting to changes very fast and are fully aware of the importance of the market forces. The main thing they require is the knowledge and skill to take actions within their means. Once that is imparted they move very fast. The cooperation between themselves at community level for knowledge sharing is also remarkable. It is in this context  e-chaupal is a good concept. As a part of Public – Private – People (P – P – P) partnerships, if government agencies meant to help rural areas pool their resources and tie up with agencies like TIFAC, NAF, BAIF and others to provide technical expertise (not just through e-means but also through periodic visits of experts as physical presence helps a lot) and pay these agencies on a contractual basis (flexibly) , then many rural areas untouched by the earlier green revolution will raise their income levels considerably through agriculture and other land based activities like animal husbandry, poultry fisheries, and related efforts. Simultaneously, efforts should be made to empower women as well  using the similar linkages to markets and providing them higher and higher income earning avenues. Also educational and skill avenues may be introduced later.

Partners in Network

Similar efforts are being done under Vision 2020 Projects on Agro processing led by Smt. Lila Poonawalla in the milk sector and for cereal/horticulture value addition.  A major project was undertaken in the herbal sector at Uttaranchal to provide local value addition at the farm level so that the farmers get considerable earnings (and substantial returns on their investment) per hectare.  It is a question of stabilizing the agro technologies for the well chosen (market share wise) herbs and placing them in the correct places of value chain.  These projects in the herbal sector are sequel to a major report by the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SAC-C) and TIFAC (Ref.6).  A beginning was made in the fisheries sector under the leadership of Dr.S.A.H.Abidi in 2002. TIFAC also works closely with BAIF, National Agro Foundation (NAF) and other similar organizations.  TIFAC studies in 1993   on leather (Ref 7) have led a major mission implemented by Central  Leather Research Institute  (CLRI) Chennai as leather,  which again helps the poor to  grade themselves.  There were  other projects under the title of Home  Grown Technology (HGT)  Scheme dealing  with use of local waste materials  as value added  marketable products  ranging from wood substitutes and natural dyes. (Ref. 5 TIFAC  Websites: www. tifac.org.in; www.indianpatents.org; www.missionreach.org.in). There is also a major mission for technology for bamboo products executed by TIFAC.  This will greatly facilitate rural poor to earn through selling bamboo with value addition.

These examples are briefly mentioned because in addition to increasing agricultural productivity at the marginal farmer levels, there are several other recently proven technological initiatives by TIFAC with other partners and industries which demonstrate clearly that empowering rural poor with necessary tools is possible. They are successful in further multiplication. Through improvements in agriculture production and enhancing their earnings through supplementary income obtained from poultry, animals, fishing etc will be a major action to remove rural poverty in the short run. It is essential to diversify into other activities indicated above in order to avoid stagnation and also to avoid “income killing” competition between poor persons who are on the upward move. There has to be a continuous flow of new skills and knowledge to help the onward march of many poor persons towards prosperity levels. This will continue to be the public responsibility for at least two decades to come.

There are also many examples from the work of BAIF mostly around agriculture and animal rearing (Ref.9). NAF activities and success stories (and methodologies may be seen in the website www……………………….(Ref. 10).

CONCLUSIONS

There is an urgent need to empower the rural poor with technological (knowledge/skills) tools for various sectors at different appropriate levels and also crucial connectivities described earlier.  There are a number of technology milieus providing successful models which have been implemented in the recent years by TIFAC, BAIF, NAF and a few other agencies. Networking these efforts is important. TIFAC had entered into a memorandum of understanding with Akhil Bhartiya Gramodyog Mahasang (ABGM) to initiate such a process. It is important to remember that time is of essence.  Value addition at local levels (not necessarily total production and self sufficiency at these levels) is crucial because that alone ensures additional earnings at the villages. The approach should absorb the realities of the market forces of globalization and liberalization, so that they can be mastered by our people.  Experiments show they can be; but large scale and speedy actions are called for with technology milieus, on the lines suggested in this paper. As the capabilities of the villages change. The world and India will also be changing in markets, lifestyles, technologies and businesses. Continual adaptions of new knowledge and skills and newer technology milieus, would need to be done to keep up the growth, to avoid stagnation, and to help the poor to march towards prosperity in an accelerated way. If concerted actions a are taken all over the country in a professional manner, as briefly described here and in Chapter-3 in about 15 years it is possible that almost all poor persons would have become prosperous. Also endogenous capabilities would have been built in them to spot, absorb and disseminate (the then) new knowledge bases/skills. They would have become entrepreneurs themselves in the globalised and liberalised India. They can be choose to be employees and employers. They would also be in a position to choose the market places as they would have by then mastered the process of e-marketing and also the contents in the cyberspace would be market driven and therefore relevant and ……………Then alone we can consider that poverty has been eradicated and rural prosperity can sustain.

 

References

1. Kamal Taori Understanding Rural Industrialization in a book “Sustaining Rural Industries”  edited by Laxmi Das & D.K. Giri, published by Samskriti, New Delhi 2002.

2. Y.S.Rajan – “The promise of new technologies for poverty alleviation” – a paper presented in the conference “The role of new technologies in poverty alleviatin and sustainable development” held on 6 November, 2000 in Washington D.C., U.S.A, organized by Tata Energy Resources Institute – North America (TERI).

3. Y.S. Rajan – “A Vision for Rural Transformation:Science and Technology Based Initiatives” -  Chapter III of the book “Empowering Indians: with economic, business and technology strengths for the twenty-first century, by Y.S.Rajan. Har Anand Publications, New Delhi (2001)

4. “Towards a Knowledge Society in India – Issues of Management” – Y.S.Rajan.

5. TIFAC Website – www.tifac.org

6. SAC-C & TIFAC: Herbal & Natural Products (2001)

7. Leather Technology Vision 2010 (1993) by Dr.G.Thyagarajan & Dr.A.Amudeswari.

8. TIFAC Websites :www.tifac.org.

9. BAIF Natural Resource Management for Sustainable Livelihood – Replicable Models by Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation

10. NAF reference & website