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Mr. Tinsley, In countries like India where illiteracy is a major problem, direct = contact is the best way to deliver knowledge and get the farmer to act. = To give an example, there are several knowledge related problem areas, = which inhibit India from realizing its potential in agriculture. They = are: 1. Lack of knowledge about basics: Inefficiencies and low incomes in the farming activity can largely be = attributed to lack of the knowledge on the farmers' of the following = critical issues (a) What to grow? (b) When to grow? (c) How to grow more? (d) How to store & preserve? (e) When to sell? (f) Where to sell? (g) What price to sell at? The above problems result into poor farm incomes in most parts of the = country. They affect the small and marginal farmers more than the large = farmers. The ITC Choupals in India are a demonstration of the impact of = direct contact in the form of connectivity at village levels does to = farm incomes. It addresses at least some of the above issues. = Information about plant population, fertilizer use, weed management and = other inputs can be sourced from Agri input dealers and private sector = field employees. 2. lack of water harvesting know how/lack of knowledge on farm = water management. There are very many examples like BAIF, Srijan, TBS, NM Sadguru = Foundation where civil society has worked with village communities to = successfully transfer knowledge about these issues. It took Annasaheb = Hazare years of efforts to get the village community in Ralegaon Sindi = to practice prudent water conservation practices which lead to = considerable increase in farm incomes in his region. 4. Lack of knowledge about and access to appropriate technologies / = products / inputs. The investments made by NGOs like IDE India in interventions in the form = of a Treadle Pump in the Ganga Brahmaputra Basin and a cheaper drip = system called " easy drip" has pulled out more than 200,000 farmers = above the poverty line. This organisations intervention has benefited = more than a million farmers in Bangladesh. The successful experiments on = drum kits and bucket kits for irrigation in tribal areas of Maharashtra = are demonstrations of contact extension. The end result of low levels of knowledge and awareness are low yields. = Yields for most key products are 25 to 40 percent of world-best levels. = Even in areas such as milk, fruit, and vegetables, where India is the = world's leading producer, yields are less than 40 percent of the world's = best. The scope for improvement is demonstrated by China. Although India = has 75 percent more arable land than China, it produces 30 percent less. = So direct contact is what will make the difference in countries like = India. The success stories are few and spread across a couple of = thousand villages as against the 600,000 villages in the country. The = answer lies in greater involvement of private sector and civil society = in direct contact extension which is market led. I have first hand experience of this sector as the co that I set up, 5 = years ago, Indian Agribusiness Systems Pvt. Ltd. (IASL), is an = organization specializing in agro-based information products and = services. The company has become a leader in the content field and is involved in = collating and distributing market reports on all the major commodities in India. redistributes quotes in India for = Bernama, Malaysia and Future Source, Australia. It produces research = reports on each commodity on daily, weekly and monthly basis. It also = publishes weekly newspapers for farmers and journals for the = agri-business community. The company has more than 11 publications in 6 = Indian languages out of which 4 are are branded under the Agriwatch = brand name reaching and 7 other for large agribusiness companies in = India which go to thousands of farmers on behalf of those companies. The = company uses Internet, Email, SMS and print for delivery of information = and knowledge to all its clients. For the farmers the delivery is mostly = offline and delivery of the online content is invariably through = information intermediaries in the form of internet centers or kiosks = which are being set up all over India under various initiatives. Sunil Khairnar Indian Agribusiness Systems Pvt. Ltd. E12, Greater Kailash I, New Delhi-110 048 Dir: 91 11 26416665 Brd:91 11 26423666/26426663/26426636 Mobile: +91 9810259221 URL: www.agriwatch.com Email: <address removed> ============================================================= To send a reply to this message that goes to all list members, make sure that you send your reply to <address removed> To unsubscribe from this list, send an email to "<address removed>", with the message body: unsubscribe science-and-technology <your-email-address>
Please visit dfid-agriculture-consultation.nri.org.