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NEW INITIATIVE IN AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

NEW INITIATIVE IN AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

First Edition : 2018

ISBN : 978-3-96492-081-2

Price : Rs. 800 (€ 10)

Copyright © Author

Disclaimer : The authors are solely responsible for the contents of the bock chapters compiled in this book. The editors or publisher do not take any, responsibility for same in any manner. Errors, if any are purely unintentional and readers are requested to communicate such errors to the editors or publisher to avoid discrepancies in future.

Printed & Published by :

No 78737, Aussere Webserstr.57 02763 Zittau, Germany e-mail : [email protected] Website : www.weserbooks.com Editors

Dr. Rashmi Nigam Assistant Professor Plant Pathology Janta Vedic College, Baraut, Baghpat, UP

Dr. Joginder Singh Assistant Professor Horticulture Janta Vedic College, Baraut, Baghpat, UP

Dr. Wajid Hasan Scientist Entomology Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jehanabad (BAU Sabour) Bihar

Dr. Neelesh Kapoor Assistant Professor, Dept. of Fingerprinting College of Biotechnology Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology, Meerut (U.P.)

Dr. Shoji Lal Bairwa Assistant Professor cum Junior Scientist Department of Agricultural Economics Dr. Kalam Agricultural College, Kisanganj, Bihar

Dr. Manoj Kumar Guest Faculty Department of Agricultural Extension NDUAT, Kumarganj, Faizabad, UP

Mr. Ashwani Kumar Assistant Professor Department of Agricultural Extension CSSS (PG) College, Machhra, Meerut, UP Weser Books Zittau, Germeny PREFACE

The book ‘New Initiative in Agriculture and Rural Development’ is about recent advances in some of the important fields that are on-going in Agriculture Research and Rural Development. Agriculture is central to human survival it provides food and fuel and other ecosystem services, is an important source of livelihood, and plays a crucial role in economic development, it also plays a role in improving economy of the country. Emphasis of present day agriculture is to produce more with lesser land, water and man power. Agriculture has been quite helpful in keeping pace with the demands of every increasing human population and in improving the quality of human life. Rural development can play increasing and dynamic role in national development. Economic development mainly belongs to new technology and structural changes. The book aims to provide a comprehensive view of advanced agriculture development approaches. The present book is a collection of literature contributed by experts, scientists, professors, and researchers from all over the world; it mainly emphasizes work of concerned scientist used for enhancement of agricultural production.

The book is very useful for researches, teaching post graduate and undergraduate students in universities and other tertiary institution. The book should prove to be valuable resources for agronomist, biochemist, molecular biologist, plant biotechnologist, pharmocogologist and pharmacist; plant breaders and geneticsts; ethonobotanist, ecologist and conservationists.

I wish to express our deep sense of gratitude and indebtness to those who helped us directly or indirectly during the preparation of the manuscript of this text. I would like to thanks all the authors whose works have been quoted in this book. I hope that the book will be great use and benefit to student of agriculture field and interesting to readers, teachers and students and would create in them the urge to know more about recent researchers going related to advances in agriculture for increasing crop productivity and rural development.

Dr. Rashmi Nigam

Dr. Joginder Singh Dr. Wajid Hasan C0NTENTS S. No. TITLES AND AUTHORS Page No.

1. AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SYSTEMS IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW 1-9 Abhilash Singh Maurya and Kshitij Parmar 2. ROLE OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION THROUGH PRADHAN MANTRI 10-19 JAN DHAN YOJANA Akkamahadevi Naik, Ashokkumar. B and L. Mahesh 3. IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT POLICIES OF SUSTAINABLE 20-30 AGRICULTURE AND ALLIED SECTORS ON FARMING PRACTICES OF FARMERS Alka nigam, Pratima tiwari, Pratima sachan, Rohit maurya 4. GENDER ISSUES: CHALLENGES OF WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE 31-36 Angelina Patro, Santosh Kumar Paramanik and Murchana Malakar 5. DESIGNER FOODS FOR DIABETES 37-42 Anita kumara1 & Maya Kumari2 6. AGRICULTURAL POLICY IN INDIA 43-49 Avinash Jangid*, Mahendra Kumar Gautam1, Mukesh Kumar Nayak2, Satyanarayan Regar3 and Abhisekh Shukla4 7. DOCUMENTATION OF VARIOUS ITC INITIATIVES IN DAIRY 50-58 EXTENSION SERVICES Awadhesh Kumar Singh1*, Amit Baranwal2 , Himadri Roy3, Himanshu Shekhar Rai4 8. WOMEN EMPOWERMENT SCHEMES 59-70 Babu Lal Dhayal1, Anil Kumar Malik1, Amit Kumar1 and A.K.Godara2 9. ATTRACTING AND RETAINING YOUTH IN AGRICULTURE (ARYA): 71-76 AN INITIATIVE TO PREVENT MIGRATION OF RURAL YOUTHS FROM AGRICULTURE Himanshu Shekhar Rai1, Himadri Roy2 and Awadhesh Kumar Singh3 10. ROLE OF MOBILE PHONE TECHNOLOGY IN IMPROVING SMALL 77-82 FARM PRODUCTIVITY Kiran Bala and Nisha Tiwari 11. AGRI-STARTUP 83-88 Murchana Malakar1 and Angelina Patro2 12. IMPACT OF KISAN MOBILE ADVISORY (KMA) ON AGRICULTURAL 89-93 TECHNOLOGY DISSEMINATION Nisha Tiwari and Kiran Bala 13. ADOLESCENT DRUG ABUSE - AWARENESS AND PREVENTION 94 -101 Pratima Sachan, Pratima Tiwari and Alka Nigam

14. SMART VILLAGE –AN APPROACH FOR SUSTAINABLE VILLAGES 102-110 Pratima Tiwari*, Pratima Sachan*, Rohit Maurya **, Anamika Singh*, Alka Nigam* 15. AGRI-PRENUERSHIP AS A TOOL TO UPLIFTMENT OF 111-115 AGRICULTURE Purva Dayya1and Rahul Singh Chowhan2 16. ROLE OF AGRICULTURE AND ALLIED SECTORS (ANIMAL 116-121 HUSBANDRY, FISHERIES, SERICULTURE, FORESTRY) IN INDIAN ECONOMY Rahul Singh Chowhan1 and Purva Dayya2 17. TRAINING NEEDS OF YOUNG RURAL GIRLS IN SELECTED 122-128 VOCATIONS Sonika Sharma1 and Devendra Kumar Meena2 18. ASSESSMENT OF IMPACT AND EFFICACY OF EXTENSION 129-147 TECHNIQUES IN DOUBLING THE FARMER’S INCOME: AN ANALYTICAL APPROACH Surjyakanta Roy1 , Vikash Kumar2, and Avinesh Sharma3 19. SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT: TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES 148-180 Surjyakanta Roy1 Vikash Kumar2 and Avinesh Sharma3 20. ROLE OF CO-OPERATIVES IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA 181-190 Veeresh S. Wali and Vinoda Shankara Naik 21. IMPLEMENTATION AND AWARNESS OF MINIMUM SUPPORT PRICE 191-209 Vikalp Sharma*, Arjun Singh Rajput*, Anju Yadav*, Rashmi** 22. ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN AND YOUTH IN 210-220 AGRICULTURE Vinoda Shankara Naik and Veeresh Wali 23. PARTICIPATION OF RURAL WOMEN IN DECISION MAKING 221-229 PATTERN ON FARM AND HOUSEHOLD RELATED ACTIVITIES (Anuradha Ranjan Kumari, D. P. Singh, M. K. Pandey and R. N. Prasad)

24. FULL LENGTH RESEARCH ARTICLE FOR PUBLICATION 230-235 KITCHEN COMPOSTING MODULE FOR PLANT GROWTH Pankaj Chhabra 25. INTEGRATED WEED MANAGEMENT IN RICE 236-244 Dharminder*, Vishal Kumar, A. K. Devedee, R.K.Singh, Avinash Patel, Abhishek Shori and Sudhanshu Verma 26. ‘‘VERMICOMPSOT’’ 245-252 Deen Dayal Bairwa 27. PLANT DEFENCE MECHANISM 253-262 1Amit Kumar Shukla, 2Rohit Kumar Singh and M. K. Gautam 1,2Asistant Professor

New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development

AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SYSTEMS IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW

Abhilash Singh Maurya and Kshitij Parmar Department of Extension Education, CCS Haryana Agricultural University,Hisar- 125 004 (Haryana), India Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Modipuram, Meerut (UP) E mail: [email protected]

INTRODUCTION

Agricultural extension in India has grown over last six decades. It is supported and funded by the national government through its Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and other allied ministries. The share of agriculture in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has declined from over half at the time of independence to less than one-sixth. Indian agriculture sector has an impressive long-term record of taking the country out of serious food shortages despite rapid population increase, given its heavy reliance on the work of its pluralistic extension system. In India, there are five major agricultural extension systems devoted to extension: (i) The Ministry of Agriculture at central level, including the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Directorate of Extension (DoE) (ii) State Departments of Agriculture (DoA), as well as the State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) (iii) The Departments of Agriculture (DoA), Animal Husbandry (DAH), Horticulture (DoH) and Fisheries (DoF), as well as the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs) and, more recently, the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) at the District level (iv) Also, there are a wide variety of producers groups, including cooperatives and federations of milk, fruits, cotton, oilseeds, coconut, spices etc. (v) Civil society organizations, such as the Non-governmental Organization (NGOs). The main responsibility for extension activities rests with state governments, since agriculture is a state subject. The central government also implements several technology transfer plans through state governments. Also, Indian agriculture is becoming increasingly more pluralistic in nature, where a large number of private sector firms and civil society extension service providers (e.g. NGOs) co-exist with this public extension system.

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SWOT Analysis of Indian Extension Systems

Strengths: India is in process of transforming its agricultural extension and technology transfer systems to become more demand-driven and responsive to farmers‘ needs. There is need to develop skill and knowledge on scientific agriculture. Its wide extension system could be visualized through these following facts- (1) India has second largest extension system in the world in terms of professional and technical staff. More than 90,000 technical personnel constitute its extension system. Hence, needs to utilize these large human resources in the effective transfer of technology process. (2) There are 100 million farm families supported by the large agricultural extension services, which is financed by state governments. Since independence, it has used different extension approaches with mixed results supported by over 90,000 staff members. Weaknesses/Constraints: Existing weaknesses/constraints in Indian agricultural extension system are mentioned as the problems and constraints of extension system as identified by Singh et al. (2006) are: (i) Top-down approach

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(ii) Being commodities and supply-driven specific (iii) Declining farm income (iv) Lack of farming system approach (v) Accountable to government than farmers (vi)Weakening research-extension linkages, and (vii) Little focus on empowering farmers. Swanson and Mathur (2003) reviewed agricultural extension system constraints as; (i) Multiplicity of public extension systems (ii) Narrow focus of agricultural extension system (iii) Co-mingling of government schemes and extension activities (iv) Lack of farmers involvement in extension program planning (v) Supply rather than market-driven extension (vi) Lack of transparency and accountability (vii) Inadequate technical capacity (viii) Lack of local capacity to validate and refine technologies (ix) Lack of emphasis on farmers training (x) Weak research-extension linkage (xi) Weak public sector linkages with private sector firms (xii) Inadequate communication capacity (xiii) Inadequate operating resources and financial sustainability (xiv) Since T & V system ended, there has been little donor support for extension, and reliance almost solely on state government funding. Extension system of 1990s has been described as weak, ineffective and inefficient (Raabe, 2008 and Suman, 2014). (xv) Extension services are characterized by biases that result in tending to neglect poor farmers, particularly women. There has been a wide range of chronic problems in public providence. (xvi) High staff vacancy rates, low social status, low rank in the administrative system, lack of operational funds for effective field work and high turnover. Major constraints emphasized in 11th Five Year Plan recommendations were: (i) Lack of convergence in operationalization of extension reforms (ii) Lack of provision for dedicated manpower at various levels (iii) Inadequacy of funds (iv) Lack of infrastructural support below district level, and

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(v) Inadequate support for promotion of farmers‘ organizations and their federation.

Opportunities: Public sector extension in both developed and developing countries is undergoing major reforms. Agricultural extension continues to be in transition as governments and international agencies are advancing structural, financial and managerial reforms to improve the pluralistic extension system. Decentralization, pluralism, cost sharing, cost recovery, participation of stakeholders are some of the elements in extension's current transition. Views on extension have changed from an agency of technology dissemination with emphasis on agricultural production to helping farmers organize themselves, linking of farmers to markets (Swanson, 2006) and providing environmental and health information services. The recent reform-oriented initiatives have been directed towards creating a demand-driven, broad-based and holistic agricultural extension system (Planning Commission, 2005). This has involved the design and introduction of a multitude of integrated measures that on the demand side-enable service users to voice their needs and hold service providers accountable, and-on the supply side influences the capacity of service providers to respond to the needs of the extension service users (i.e., the farmers).

Challenges /Threats: In current scenario, where a numbers of stakeholders are involving in agricultural extension, hence, opportunity to reach a greater number of farmers is increasing. In this context, private sector is incorporating extension services within existing service provisions and experimenting with ICT. But inherent challenges each sector faces in reaching different farmers means that partnership and coordination between sectors will best serve the interests of farmers. Hence, addressing of current challenges is necessary. Public Sector Extension System In Indian extension system, information flow within public sector moves linearly, with content focusing on transfer of technology for enhancing agricultural production. A wider definition of agricultural extension, beyond improving crop productivity, has not been embraced. Information flow is supply-driven and not need based or area specific, therefore farmers see the quality of information provided by public extension staff as a major shortcoming (NSSO, 2005). There are also insufficient funds for operational costs, training, and capacity development, which limits the activities and continual development of the extension staff (Swanson, 2006). However,

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development it was experienced that there are about 90,000 on the job, which is an adequate number of extension workers for the number of farmers (about 130 million). Various line departments at the state and district levels have been criticized for working in isolation, with weak linkages and rare partnerships. The research extension link has been criticized for not absorbing or using feedback from farmers and extension staff. Extension personnel and farmers are passive actors, and scientists have limited exposure to field realities. Numerous components of public-sector extension system suffer from duplication of programs, without convergence. While ATMA is pushed as the platform through which the multiple agencies can converge, the implementation difficulties are proving great for effective integration, with shortages of both personnel and funds. Private Sector Extension System To diffuse agricultural information directly to farmers, private-sector examples are developing context-specific models and using ICT tools. In India, private sector is playing an important task in extension services. The public sector recognizes this, with the policy framework for agricultural extension referring to the need for public extension services not to crowd out private services. Additionally, policy framework for agricultural extension notes that ―public extension by itself cannot meet specific needs of various regions and different classes of farmers‖ (India, DAC, 2000). In the pluralistic extension systems, private sector can provide services related to proprietary goods, while the public sector can provide extension services related to public goods, which tend not to be addressed by private-sector firms Furthermore, private sector serves a corporate interest, working with individual farmers, so social capital is not built. Moreover, private extension can only work well if farmers are willing and able to pay indirectly through the sale of inputs. It was suggested that private sector could serve the needs of medium-size and commercial farmers, while the public sector could work in remote areas, which are currently not serviced well. This sort of system would require Public-Private Partnership (PPP) that currently does not exist in India. It would mean changes in the way the public sector views and interacts with the private sector. Relying on the public sector may also be difficult for remote and resource-poor farmers, considering the existing problems and poor reach of the public sector in those areas. Civil Society (NGO) Extension Systems Within information value chains, the capacity of farmers to articulate their needs will influence their ability to obtain information they need. Considering a large number of marginal

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development and small land holdings in India, both the Farmers Interest Groups (FIGs) and Self Help Groups (SHGs) can play important roles in articulating the needs of men and women farmers to knowledge intermediaries. These FIGs/SHGs can operate side by side with either NGOs or the public sector. However, challenges exist in both sectors (i) Public capacity to build FIGs and SHGs is limited, while NGOs, which are not numerous, rely on donor funds and would need public support to develop the technical skills to facilitate groups (ii)Building social capital is critical in overall agricultural development strategies for reducing rural poverty. (iii) In a large country like India, through public extension system, meeting of scientists with farmers and visit of farmers to research institutes is a time consuming and difficult task. Both FIGs/SHGs are already emerging as an effective mechanism for both the transfer of technologies and the empowerment of the rural poor. Adoption of this approach can reduce the extension cost and workload of extension functionaries. (iv) For that, ICTs could be useful tools to increase connectivity between the various FIGs/SHGs and different extension approaches. Covering the whole country where diversities and complexities are prevalent in agriculture as well as mentally makeup for converting into social capital (especially of the downtrodden, like landless labourers, smallholders, rural women etc.,) is a herculean task. (v) Capacity building of SHGs/FIGs and promoting development of leadership and management skills are utmost needed so that farmers can demand information they need. It is therefore an important component of agricultural extension approaches (Bharati et al., 2014).

LESSONS LEARNT In the present scenario of changing climate, fragmented and small land holdings, non-judicious use/limited water availability, indiscriminate application of inputs, increasing fuel costs, lack of efficient market opportunities etc.—farmers want access to timely, reliable, and relevant information which can support the complexity of their farming systems. Presently, Indian agricultural extension has wide mandates and despite the pluralistic extension approaches, its coverage and use of services is limited; particularly in rain-fed regions that are represented by marginal and smallholder farmers‘.

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(i) There is need to develop ―need-based‖ capacity building of small-scale men and women farmers, as well as gaining access to reliable information in increasing their productivity and profitability for livelihoods improvements. (ii) Local contexts necessitated the innovative extension approaches in India; evolved over time which has expanded beyond the linear transfer-of-technology approach, but this still has shallow roots within the public extension system. However, Indian public extension system is still a major source of knowledge for the needy men and women farmers and receives significant investment from the central government. ATMA is the key component, which proved very useful during the pilot study and is now functioning throughout India. (iii) At the national level, it still carries some of the deficiencies of the public-sector extension system, which has reduced its impact due to limited staff, poor capacity, and weak links to the research system (especially the KVKs), as well as limited reach to farmers. Hence there is need to delink public administration from extension and the need to be more closely linked with the research system, especially the KVKs at the district level, where specific technologies are largely generated. (iv) India‘s pluralistic extension system includes public sector, private sector and NGOs, all playing different roles; however, these sectors still tend to work in isolation. The difficulties of working with the public sector mean that the private sector has few partnerships with public- sector extension. It should be noted that agri-clinics and agribusiness centres supported by MANAGE–has proved to be a very successful PPP that should be strengthened and encouraged. It can strengthen the link between agri-preneurs and agribusiness companies, as input supply is considered to be an important component of many agri-clinics. There must be softness at the local level to facilitate PPP so that complementarities can be achieved to meet the needs of men and women farmers. Nevertheless, the need to inculcate the PPP concept in their culture and attitudes is not common. (v) Building social capital is critical in overall agricultural development strategies aimed at reducing rural poverty. FIGs/SHGs have already emerged as an effective mechanism of empowerment and development of rural poor. Efficient transfer of technology to the user population is also evident from different studies. It can reduce the extension cost and workload of extension functionaries to a greater extent. Contacting farmers (FIGs/SHGs) is an innovative idea for public extension, while ICTs can increase the connectivity between the various FIGs/SHGs and extension.

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(vi) India‘s pluralistic extension system must be capable to tackle the diverse emerging issues in agriculture. This system should also support and deal with the pertinent areas beyond the production aspect, such as processing and value addition, market access, trade, agribusiness management, natural resource management, gender, climate change etc. Within this paradigm of innovation systems, extension agencies can act as innovation intermediaries or innovation brokers, working with many partners to strengthen linkages and provide support for innovations including extension delivery.

CONCLUSION In agricultural innovation systems, there are still large gaps between research and extension approaches. Hence, there is need to evaluate the performance and socio-economic impacts of research and extension programs. Also, a greater understanding of Public Private Partnership (PPP) is also required; including the mechanisms that help encourage partnerships. There is a want for a thorough evaluation of extension approaches in order to identify best practices and to understand their impact on farming communities in reaching small-scale and marginal farmers.

REFERENCES  Bharati RC, Singh KM, Chandra and Singh AK.20014. Economic condition of eastern region of India-An statistical evaluation. Journal of Agri Search 1(3): 173-179.  Birner R and Anderson J. 2007. How to make agricultural extension demand-driven? The case of India‘s agricultural extension policy. Discussion Paper 00729.Washington DC, International Food Policy Research Institute.  India, Department of Agriculture & Cooperation.2000. Policy framework for agricultural extension (draft).Extension division, DAC, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi.  Meena MS, Bhagwat VR, Jain RK and Ilyas SM. 2003. Self-Help Group: An Effective Instrument for Transfer of Technology. CIPHET Extension Bulletin-1.Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering & Technology, Ludhiana, India.  Meena MS, Jain Dilip and Meen HR.2008. Measurement of Attitudes of Rural Women towards Self-Help Groups, The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension 14(3): 217-229.

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 NSSO (National Sample Survey Organization) .2005. Situation assessment survey of farmers: Access to modern technology for farming, 59th round (January–December 2003). Report No. 499(59/33/2). New Delhi: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.  Planning Commission. 2008. XIth Five Year Plan (2007–12). Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New Delhi.  Raabe K. 2008. Reforming the agricultural extension system in India: What do we know about what works where and why? IFPRI Discussion Paper 00775. Washington, DC.: International Food Policy Research Institute.  Reddy MN and Swanson BE. 2006. Strategy for up-scaling the ATMA model in India. In Proceedings of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) 22nd Annual Conference, Clearwater Beach, Florida, U.S.A.  Singh JP, Swanson BE and Singh KM. 2006. Developing a decentralized, market-driven extension system in India: The ATMA model. In AW van den Ban and RK Samanta, eds. changing roles of agricultural extension in Asian nations pp. 203–223.  Suman RS.2014. Attitude of farmers towards sustainability of vegetable cultivation. Journal of Agri Search 1 (1): 1-3.  Swanson BE and Mathur PN. 2003. Review of the Agricultural Extension System in India, The World Bank, July 2003.  Swanson BE. 2006. The changing role of agricultural extension in a global economy. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education 13(3): 5–17.  Working Group on Agricultural Extension. 2007. Recommendations of working group on agricultural extension for formulation of eleventh five-year plan (2007–12). New Delhi: Planning Commission.

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ROLE OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION THROUGH PRADHAN MANTRI JAN DHAN YOJANA

Akkamahadevi Naik1, Ashokkumar2. B and L. Mahesh3 Department of Agricultural Extension,UAS, GKVK, Bengaluru-65

INTRODUCTION Indian is known as country of villages and the agriculture and allied activities are the backbone for the economic development of the country. Agriculture Sector assumes vital importance since it provides livelihood to 3/4th of the country‘s population besides becoming significant source for raw material for many industries. Thus, agriculture is an important engine for economic growth of the country. After the nationalization of commercial banks in 1969, ―social and development banking‖ was declared to be an official policy objective of rural banking. Formal institutions of credit provision, mainly commercial banks, emerged as important sources of finance to agriculture, countervailing usurious moneylenders and landlords. The policy of social and development banking was supply-led; it aimed at augmenting the supply of credit to rural areas and providing credit at affordable interest rates. Financial inclusion plays a major role in driving a way the poverty from the country. Suggesting that India, home to the largest number of poor in 2012, may have been overestimating the number of its poor, the World Bank has detailed how a shift in the way consumption expenditure is recorded alters the country‘s poverty rate from 21.2 per cent to 12.4 per cent for 2011-12. Financial inclusion efforts received a big fillip with the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) coupled with synchronized efforts by the Reserve Bank. To simplify credit dispensation, the need to submit „no due certificates to scheduled commercial banks by individual borrowers, including self-help groups (SHGs) and joint liability groups (JLGs) for all types of loans, irrespective of the amount involved, was discontinued Financial inclusion has been a buzzword for the policymakers and governments for a long time. Realizing the financial inclusion for economic growth and development, attempts have been made by the policymakers and financial institutions to bring large sections of the rural population within the banking system. Financial inclusion is must for the economic development, of the country, because a large chunk of total population remains outside the growth process. Though there are few people who are enjoying all kinds of services from savings to net banking, but still in our country around 40 per cent of people lack access to basic financial services like

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development savings, credit and insurance facilities. In order to reduce the degree of ―financial untouchability‖ the government has come up with a big bang action plan which is popularly known as ―Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana‖. It‘s a mega financial inclusion plan with the objective of covering all households in the country with banking facilities along with inbuilt insurance coverage. The purpose is to accelerate growth, alleviate poverty and to empower the last man in the last row in Indian economy.

Financial Inclusion: It is defined as ―the process of ensuring access to financial services and timely and adequate credit where needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low income groups at an affordable cost‖ (Rangarajan, 2008).

Who are Financially Excluded?  Poor, Socially under-privileged, Disabled, Old as well as children, Ethnic Minorities, Uneducated, Mobile population, Underprivileged section in rural and urban areas like, Farmers, small vendors, Agricultural and Industrial Labourer, People engaged in unorganised sectors, Unemployed

Why financial inclusion

• Affordable access to banking services • Availability of government benefits directly to bank account • Loans and remittance facilities • Empowerment of women • Release from clutches of money lenders • Improvement in Economic Status • Speeding up economic development • Reducing migration to urban areas • Helpful for increasing the market share

Timeline for financial inclusion in India  1904: Enactment of the Cooperative Societies Act and subsequent establishment of the credit cooperatives  1955: Nationalisation of the Imperial Bank of India and its conversion to State Bank of India

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 1969: Nationalisation of 14 major commercial banks  1978: The integrated rural development programme (IRDP) was launched  1980: Nationalisation of six more commercial banks  2004: RBI set up a committee under HR Khan to study different aspects of rural credit. RBI instructed the banks to make available a basic ‗no-frills‘ banking account to achieve greater financial inclusion  2005: For the first time the term ‗financial inclusion‘ was used in the annual policy statement presented by RBI governor Y Venugopal Reddy  2008: The committee on financial inclusion headed by C Rangarajan submitted its report and suggested that each branch of PSU banks should open 250 new accounts every year  ―2014: Launch of the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)‖

Financial Inclusion – Scope  Bank accounts – check in account  Immediate Credit  Savings products  Remittances & Payment services  Insurance – Healthcare  Mortgage  Financial advisory services  Entrepreneurial credit

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) & its objectives  It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28th August, 2014 in order to open at least one bank account to every household. PMJDY is a National Mission for Financial Inclusion that envelops an integrated approach to bring about comprehensive financial inclusion of all the households in the country. It is basically to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance facility, Need based Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner. This ambitious scheme was launched on 28th August, 2014 by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. This scheme is being run by Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance. With the slogan

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―Mera Khata- Bhagya Vidhata‖, the scheme is a financial scheme covering all households in the country with banking facilities, ensuring a bank account for each household. It lies at the core of development philosophy of ―Sab Ka Sath Sab Ka Vikas‖.  Initially, the PMJDY targets the opening of bank accounts for 7.5 crore families in a year, by August 15th, 2015. Around 2 crore bank accounts were opened on the 1st day of the scheme‘s launch. Eventually, the target is to include every eligible Indian in the banking system.  The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (https://www.pmjdy.gov.in/scheme) (PMJDY) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s flagship financial scheme – has led to the opening of nearly 29.6 crore accounts in the last three years, 17.7 crore of which are in rural areas and 11.9 crore in urban areas. The number of RuPay cards has increased to 22.7 crore. The progress has been impressive.  Zero balance accounts have declined from 76.8% in September 2014 to 21.4% by August 23, 2017. The number of accounts opened by women are 14.5 crore. The amount of money in these accounts is Rs 65,900 crore, implying an average of Rs 2,234 in each account as compared to Rs 837 in January 2015. The largest number of accounts, 4.6 crore, have been opened in Uttar Pradesh, followed by 3.1 crore accounts in Bihar and 2.8 crore in West Bengal.  The public sector banks did the herculean task, with State Bank of India accounting for more than ten crore accounts, followed by Bank of Baroda with 2.1 crore accounts. This scheme is a grand success taking into account the fact that total accounts in the banking sector in March 2014 – before the launch of PMJDY – were just about 125 crore.

PMJDY: How it helps bring the excluded poor into economic mainstream?? PMJDY is important for including people left out into the mainstream of the financial system. The beneficiaries of the scheme can get money of government schemes directly in their bank accounts. They can transfer money to any account in India, anytime, anywhere. Under this scheme, there is no need for maintaining minimum balance. The beneficiaries can get RuPay debit card, by which they can withdraw money from any ATM, anytime, anywhere. They also can get interest on money deposit. After satisfactory operation of the account for 6 months, an overdraft facility will be permitted to the beneficiaries of the scheme.

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Table No 1: No. of accounts opened with zero balance in Public, RRB and Private sector under PMJDY

As on Public % in RRBs % in Private % in Total Banks Total Total Banks Total

31.12.14 6,0404902 78.91 14124374 18.45 2021674 2.64 76550950

30.12.15 49553071 78.51 10577715 16.76 2984261 4.73 63115047

28.12.16 51119409 80.86 9109787 14.41 2987364 4.73 63216560

Source : www.pmjdy.gov.in , 2017

Table 1 Shows that the total number of accounts opened under PMJDY by commercial banks, private sector banks, and RRB both in rural and urban areas. In the year 2014 104482467 accounts opened under PMJDY out of which 59.67 percent accounts were opened in rural areas, and 40.33 percent accounts were opened in urban areas. In the year 2015, 198384533 accounts opened under PMJDY out of which 61.01 percent accounts were opened in rural areas, and 38.99 percent accounts were opened in urban areas. And in the year 2016, 262019458 accounts opened under PMJDY out of which 60.92 percent accounts were opened in rural areas, and 39.08 percent accounts were opened in urban areas. On the whole, it is noted that the rural enrollment has been increased from 65348872 to 159609882. And the urban enrollment has been increased from 42133595 to 102409576.

Table : 2 Targets and Achievements for Agricultural Credit (Rs billion)

Scheduled End Commercial Cooperative Bank RRBs Total March Bank

Target Achieve Target Achieve Target Achieve Target Achieve ment ment ment ment

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2013-14 4,750 5,090 1,250 1,199 1,000 927 7,000 7,116

2014-15 5,400 5,997 1,400 1,384 1,200 1,025 8,000 8,406

Source: RBI Annual report (2014-2015)

Table 2 shows that the target for agricultural credit is fixed by the Government every year. Led by the performance of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs), the actual flow of credit to the agriculture sector has been consistently higher than the target in recent years. Co-operative banks and regional rural banks (RRBs), however, could not achieve their targets for 2013-14 and 2014- 15

The implementation of PMJDY rests on the following six pillars

During the 1st year of implementation under Phase I (15th August, 2014-14th August 2015), three pillars as mentioned below are targeted to be covered:

1. Universal access to banking facilities: This requires working at district level by mapping of each district into Sub Service Area (SSA). This will be done in a manner that every habitation has access to banking services within a reasonable distance say 5 km by 14 August, 2015. Certain parts of the country with telecom and infrastructure constraints like J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, North East and the Left Wing Extremism affected districts would spill over to the Phase II of the program (15 August, 2015 to 15 August, 2018)

2. Financial Literacy Programme: Access is held complete only with awareness. Building financial literacy as part of the pillars would ensure beneficiaries make the best use of the financial services made available to them.

3. Providing Basic Banking Accounts with overdraft facility and RuPay Debit Card: The first effort would be to cover all excluded with banking facility by opening an account and account holders would be provided with RuPay Debit card with inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh and Kisan card. OD facility would be extended to the extent of Rs.5000 only after six months of satisfactory operation and credit history. Aadhar numbers will be seeded to make account ready for direct transfers.

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Phase II, beginning from 15th August 2015 upto15th August, 2018 will address

4. Creation of Credit Guarantee Fund: This fund will be built for coverage of defaults in overdraft A/Cs 5. Micro Insurance: Provide to all willing and eligible, and then carry forward on an going basis, and 6. Unorganized sector Pension schemes like Swavlamban. Advantages of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

Loan benefit against Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana Individuals whose Jan Dhan account completes 6 months are eligible to obtain loans of up to Rs.5000. Although the loan amount seems insignificant as compared to that offered as standard loan by various banks, but is quite substantial when we think of the economic status of individuals that this scheme is aimed at uplifting. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is aimed at financial inclusion of the economically weaker section of the society. Most importantly it aims to cover people from the rural areas as well as the unorganised sector of the urban and semi- urban areas.

Mobile Banking with Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana Mobile Banking is not a new innovation anymore. Various private and public banks offer mobile banking facilities to customers. However, keeping in mind the economic status of people below poverty line, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana aims to make available certain basic financial transactions via ordinary mobile phones and not smart phones. This step will ensure that even people from rural areas and those from the unorganized sector have access to quick and convenient banking options. The idea behind this feature is to innovate as much as possible to ensure financial inclusion as well as financial security to as many Indians as possible.

Insurance benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana The best and the most significant benefit of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is that it brings under the purview of insurance, a lot of people who could not have availed insurance out of their own pocket. The scheme offers a life cover of Rs.30,000 to customers who comply with certain norms of the scheme and offers Rs.2,00,000 as insurance sum in the event of death due to accident.

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Zero Balance Requirements To open a Jan Dhan account is free of cost and does not require any amount to be deposited initially. Most savings bank accounts require an initial deposit to open a bank account and also a minimum balance to be maintained on a monthly or quarterly basis. But with a Jan Dhan account, these requirements are done away with so that anyone can open this account even if they do not have money to deposit right away.

Interest on Deposits Deposits made into the Jan Dhan accounts are eligible to earn interest at the rate declared which is subject to change from time to time. Interest rates will be similar to that offered by various public and private banks. Cheque Book Facility Account holders can avail a chequebook from their bank if they require. This will be helpful in making payments without cash. To get a cheque book, there is a minimum balance required in the account.

Savings for the family The Jan Dhan scheme provides for an account for each family. This facility ensures they have some form of financial inclusion that allows them to start saving and growing their money.

Debit Card Facility Along with the Jan Dhan bank account, every family will get a RuPay debit card. This gives account holders easy access to their money when they need it. They can deposit the money and earn interest on it and withdraw it from an ATM when the need arises.

Overdraft Facility After completing six months of satisfactory operations of the Jan Dhan account, an overdraft facility of Rs.5000 might be offered. In case the overdraft availed is paid back promptly, the bank may increase this limit to Rs.15,000, at its own discretion. Although the loan amount seems insignificant as compared to that offered as standard loan by various banks, it is quite substantial when we think of the economic status of individuals that this scheme is aimed at uplifting. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana targets the economically weaker section of the society. Most importantly, it aims to cover people from the rural areas as well as the unorganised sector of the urban and semi-urban areas.

Mobile Banking

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Mobile banking is a very important feature of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. This facility is not designed for smartphones but rather any mobile phone. The aim of this is to ensure people from the rural and unorganised sectors have access to their bank accounts and certain facilities that will provide convenience to the account holders. This feature will help achieve the objective of financial inclusion and provide financial security to many. The mobile banking feature allows account holders to transfer money from their phone and also withdraw money without an ATM card.

Life Insurance The best and the most significant benefit of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is the provision of insurance. The opportunities of insurance coverage are limited in the rural areas and to most it is impossible to think of paying the premium for a policy. With the Jan Dhan account, customers who fulfill the eligibility conditions will receive Rs.30,000 life cover which will be payable to the beneficiary upon the death of the account holder.

Personal Accident Insurance The scheme also provides for personal accident insurance under the following conditions: The Rupay card holder must have performed at least one financial transaction successfully within 90 days from the date of accident. Non-financial customer-induced transactions will also be included. Transactions should be carried out at any bank branch, bank mitra, ATM, POS, or E- com channel. This accident insurance is provided under the Rupay Insurance Program 2016-17.

Aadhaar-Linked Account Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana is an aadhaar-linked scheme which helps avoid fraud related to account opening. Individuals who receive various benefits under various government schemes like LPG subsidy can now receive the amount directly into their PMJDY accounts. Aadhaar- linking ensured transparency, eliminates fraud and proves to be highly beneficial for the government and the citizens.

Access to Pension Schemes Holding a Jan Dhan account will provide easy access to pension schemes available from the government. It is important for every citizen to start saving even a small amount to ensure a dignified old age.

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Easy Transfers Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan account can be used to transfer money to and from various other public and private banks across the country. Account transfer for Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana can be done from one bank in the country to another. This is possible since all participating banks are connected via the core banking solution.

How to open the Zero Balance Account? o The applicant simply needs to go to their nearest bank. o Submit whatever documents he/she could best afford and consult the bank officials. o Once the account is opened, they would be issued with a RuPay debit card, which they can use for normal transactions, which is equivalent to a saving account debit card..

Implementation Challenges o Demand side challenges are: o Low literacy levels. o Lack of awareness about financial products and services. o Lack of trust in formal banking mechanisms

Supply side challenges are: o Limited service providers o Higher levels of regulations o Non -availability of rural branches.

CONCLUSION Financial inclusion broadens the resource base of the financial system by developing a culture of savings among large segment of rural and urban population and plays its own role in the process of economic development. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana moves forward with the mantra of Sab Ka Saath Sab Ka Vikas by bringing low income groups within the edge of formal banking sector and protects their financial wealth and other resources. This scheme also mitigates the exploitation of vulnerable sections by the money lenders by providing financial services and solutions.

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IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT POLICIES OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND ALLIED SECTORS ON FARMING PRACTICES OF FARMERS Alka Nigam1, Pratima Tiwari1, Pratima Sachan1, Rohit Maurya2 1CSAUAT Kanpur 2 NDUAT Faizabad E mail: [email protected]

INTRODUCTION

The Agriculture sectors comprise establishments primarily engaged in growing crops, raising animals, and harvesting fish and other animals from a farm, ranch, or their natural habitats. Allied activities in agriculture means the activities which are in some way related to agriculture in a direct fashion so that the nett agricultural output is affected by it. These activities include: - Agricultural Inputs: Seeds, Fertilizers, Pest Management, Agricultural Implements and Machinery etc. Agriculture and allied activities constitute the single largest contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), accounting for almost 33% of the total. They are vital to the national well-being as, besides providing the basic needs of the society and the raw materials for some of the important segments of Indian industry, they provide livelihood for almost two thirds of the work force. The share of the agricultural products in the total export earnings, both in primary and processed forms, is very significant. Over the last four decades, agriculture has made important strides in our country. It has been able to meet the growing demand of the increasing population for their essentialtion but also acceleration of agricultural production gains are critical for meeting the increasing demands due to the increase in population as well as due to Improvements in incomes, particularly of the poor sections of the society. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure that the process of development is sustainable.

Importance of Agriculture and Allied sectors:

Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 58 per cent of India‘s population. Gross Value Added by agriculture, forestry and fishing is estimated at Rs 17.67 trillion (US$ 274.23 billion) in FY18

The Indian food industry is poised for huge growth, increasing its contribution to world food trade every year due to its immense potential for value addition, particularly within the food

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development processing industry. The Indian food and grocery market is the world‘s sixth largest, with retail contributing 70 per cent of the sales. The Indian food processing industry accounts for 32 per cent of the country‘s total food market, one of the largest industries in India and is ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth. It contributes around 8.80 and 8.39 per cent of Gross Value Added (GVA) in Manufacturing and Agriculture respectively, 13 per cent of India‘s exports and six per cent of total industrial investment.

Market Size:

During 2017-18 crop year, food grain production is estimated at 279.51 million tonnes, as per third advance estimates while rice and wheat production in the country is estimated at 111.52 MT and 98.61 MT, respectively in the same period. Milk production was estimated at 165.4 million tonnes during FY17, while meat production was 7.4 million tonnes. Total area in India, sown with rabi crops reached 64.29 million hectares in February 2018.India is the second largest fruit producer in the world. Production of horticulture crops is estimated at record 307.16 million tonnes (mt) in 2017-18 as per second advance estimates.

Investments:

According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the Indian agricultural services and agricultural machinery sectors have cumulatively attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflow of about US$ 2.02 billion and US$ 466.31 million, respectively, during April 2000 to December 2017. The food processing sector attracted FDI of US$ 8.37 billion in the same period.

Some major investments and developments in agriculture are as follows:

1) The first mega food park in Rajasthan was inaugurated in March 2018.

2) Sugar production in India is expected to reach 27.2 million tonnes in 2017-18 season (October-September).

3) In January 2018, India Agri Business Fund II (IABF-II), co-sponsored by Rabobank, the UK‘s CDC Group and Asian Development Bank (ADB), made an investment worth US$ 10 million for a minority stake in Global Gourmet Pvt Ltd, a frozen food products exporting company.

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4) A loan agreement of US$ 318 million was signed between the Government of India, Government of Tamil Nadu and the World Bank in December 2017 for the ‗Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernization Project' through which is expected to benefit around 500,000 farmers in the state.

5) Cotton output in India is expected to increase by 9 per cent in 2017-18* to 37.7 million bales.

Government Initiatives:

Some of the recent major government initiatives in the sector are as follows:

 In March 2018, the Government of India extended the urea subsidy to the farmers till 2020 with the aim of ensuring supply of urea at statutory controlled prices. Urea subsidy for 2018-19 is estimated at Rs 45,000 crore (US$ 6.95 billion).  As of March 2018, the Government is working on a plan to provide air cargo support to promote agriculture exports from India.  The implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) will be made faster and the government is aiming to increase the coverage under the scheme to 50 per cent of gross cropped area in 2018-19.  The Government of India is going to provide Rs 2,000 crore (US$ 306.29 million) for computerisation of Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) to ensure cooperatives are benefitted through digital technology.  Around 100 million Soil Health Cards (SHCs) have been distributed in the country during 2015-17 and a soil health mobile app has been launched to help Indian farmers.  With an aim to boost innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture, the Government of India is introducing a new AGRI-UDAAN programme to mentor start-ups and to enable them to connect with potential investors.  The Government of India has launched the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) with an investment of Rs 50,000 crore (US$ 7.7 billion) aimed at development of irrigation sources for providing a permanent solution from drought.  The Government of India plans to triple the capacity of food processing sector in India from the current 10 per cent of agriculture produce and has also committed Rs 6,000 crore (US$ 936.38 billion) as investments for mega food parks in the country, as a part of

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the Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters (SAMPADA).  The Government of India has allowed 100 per cent FDI in marketing of food products and in food product e-commerce under the automatic route.  A new platform for selling agricultural produce named e-RaKam has been launched by the Government of India and will operate as a joint initiative of Metal Trade Corporation Limited and Central Railside Warehouse Company Limited (CRWC).

Road Ahead

India is expected to achieve the ambitious goal of doubling farm income by 2022. The agriculture sector in India is expected to generate better momentum in the next few years due to increased investments in agricultural infrastructure such as irrigation facilities, warehousing and cold storage. Furthermore, the growing use of genetically modified crops will likely improve the yield for Indian farmers. India is expected to be self-sufficient in pulses in the coming few years due to concerted efforts of scientists to get early-maturing varieties of pulses and the increase in minimum support price.

Agriculture Govt policies

Agricultural policy describes a set of laws relating to domestic agriculture and imports of foreign agricultural products. Governments usually implement agricultural policies with the goal of achieving a specific outcome in the domestic agricultural product markets. Outcomes can involve, for example, a guaranteed supply level, price stability, product quality, product selection, land use or employment.

Important Govt. policies:

1) National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA):

The National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), which is one of the eight missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) seeks to address issues associated with climate change. Adaptation and mitigation strategies need to address food security, equitable access of food resources, enhancing livelihood opportunities and contributing to economic stability of the people at the end. Mission, therefore, focuses to transform Indian

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development agriculture into a climate resilient production system through suitable adaptation and mitigation measures mainly in the domain of crops and animal husbandry. Mission interventions are judiciously embedded in research and development activities, absorption of improved technology and best practices, creation of physical and financial infrastructure and institutional framework, facilitating access to information and capacity building. While dryland agriculture will receive focused importance by way of developing suitable drought and pest resistant crop varieties with necessary institutional support, the mission would also expand its coverage to rainfed areas for integrating farming systems in farms with local agroecology and also in management of livestock and fisheries, so that the agricultural production system continues to grow in a sustainable manner on one hand and natural resources are also conserved and utilized.

NMSA as a programmatic intervention made operational from the year 2014-15 aims at making agriculture more productive, sustainable, and remunerative and climate resilient by promoting location specific integrated/composite farming systems; soil and moisture conservation measures; comprehensive soil health management; efficient water management practices and mainstreaming rainfed technologies.

2)Sub-Mission on Agroforestry (SMAF):

Sub-Mission on Agroforestry under the framework of National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) has been launched during 2016-17 with an outlay of Rs.935 crore for a period of 4 years (2016-17 to 2019-20). The aim of the Sub-Mission is to expand the tree coverage on farmland in complementary with agricultural crops. Liberal transit regulation rule for transport of timber is a precondition for availing the benefit of the Agro-forestry programme by the States. For the Year 2016-17, budget provision of Rs. 75.0 crore has been made to implement the programme.

3) National Agro Forestry Policy:

National Agroforestry Policy, 2014 has been formulated with the objective to bring coordination, convergence and synergy between various elements of agroforestry scattered in various existing Missions, programmes and schemes of the Government. The policy will provide a platform to stimulate the growth of agroforestry in India. It will encourage farmers for agroforestry as an integral component of farming system which will lead to meet the ever increasing demand of

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development timber, food, fuel, fodder, fertilizer, fiber, and other agroforestry products; conserving the natural resources and forest; protecting the environment & providing environmental security; and increasing the forest / tree cover.

A major role for agroforestry is emerging in the domain of environmental services. Agroforestry is known to have the potential to mitigate the climate change effects through microclimate moderation and natural resources conservation in the short run and through carbon sequestration in the long run. Agroforestry species are known to sequester as much carbon in below ground biomass as the primary forests, and far greater than the crop and grass systems.

4) Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana(PMKSY):

The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) was launched on 1st July, 2015 with the motto of ‗Har Khet Ko Paani‘ for providing end-to end solutions in irrigation supply chain, viz. water sources, distribution network and farm level applications. PMKSY not only focuses on creating sources for assured irrigation, but also creating protective irrigation by harnessing rain water at micro level through ‗Jal Sanchay‘ and ‗Jal Sinchan‘. Micro irrigation is to be popularised to ensure ‗Per drop-More crop‘. PMKSY adopts State level planning and projectised execution that allows States to draw up their own irrigation development based on District Irrigation Plans and State Irrigation Plans.

PMKSY has the following components:

Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP): To focus on faster completion of ongoing Major and Medium Irrigation, including National Projects. This component is being implemented by Ministry of Water Resources, RD &GR.

PMKSY (Har Khet ko Pani): Source augmentation, distribution, ground water development, lift irrigation, diversion of water from water plenty to water scarce.areas, supplementing rain water harvesting beyond IWMP & MGNREGA, repair, restoration, renovation of traditional water bodies. This component is being implemented by Ministry of Water Resources, RD &GR.

PMKSY (Watershed): Ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, soil and moisture conservation, water harvesting structure, livelihood support activities and other watershed works. This component is being implemented by Department of Land Resources.

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PMKSY (Per Drop More Crop) being implemented by DAC & FW. This component includes two sub-components i.e. Micro irrigation and Other interventions. Per Drop More Crop component supports Micro level storage structures, efficient water conveyance & application, precision irrigation systems, topping up of input cost beyond MGNREGA permissible limits, creation of secondary storage, water lifting devices etc. For the Year 2016-17, budget provision of Rs. 2340.0 crore has been made to implement the Per Drop More Crop component. The details of allocation, release and utilisation of Central Share reported by States under Micro irrigation and Other interventions sub compPMKSY(Per Drop More Crop) - Micro Irrigation :onents are as under:

PMKSY (Per Drop More Crop) - Micro Irrigation :

Since January 2006, the Government of India has been implementing Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Micro Irrigation with the objective to enhance water use efficiency in the agriculture sector. Under the scheme, technological interventions like drip & sprinkler irrigation systems are promoted to encourage the farmers to use them for conservation and saving of water & improved yield.

Salient features of the micro irrigation scheme under PMKSY are as under:

1) The rate of assistance (subsidy) comprising of both Central Govt. share and State Govt. share ranges from 35 to 60% for small, marginal and other farmers in DPAP/DDP & non- DPAP/DDP areas. The funding pattern between Central Govt. share and State Govt. share since November 2015 has been 60:40 for all states except North Eastern & Himalayan States. For North Eastern & Himalayan States the funding pattern is 90:10.

2) Under Operational Guidelines of the scheme, indicative/average/ normative cost has been laid down for various crops/lateral spacing and different micro irrigation systems for the purpose of calculating financial assistance. Twenty five (25%) higher cost, over & above the normative cost for all systems has been fixed for North Eastern & Himalayan states for this purpose.

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3) Scheme is applicable in all states and all districts in the country. Support to each farmer is restricted to 5 ha per beneficiary. Assistance on the same land can be availed again only after a period of 10 years.

4) Location and crop specific technologically appropriate irrigation systems are propagated under the scheme ensuring least cost burden to the farmers.

5) All horticultural and agricultural crops are covered under the scheme. At least 25% of the funds allocated to the State under scheme are to be used necessarily for agricultural crops.

6) At least 50% of the allocation to state is to be utilized for small and marginal farmers, of which, at least 30% has to be women beneficiaries/farmers. Further, 16% and 8% of the total allocation or in proportion of Scheduled Cast (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST) population is to be utilized for Special Component Sub-Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) respectively.

7) Equipments adhering to Indian Standards (BIS Standards) are only eligible for financial assistance under the scheme.

8) Information & Communication Technology (ICT) has been extensively deployed for ensuring transparency in scheme implementation process and for effective monitoring of the programme. PMKSY website has been operationalized at the Central level. In many states also similar websites have been set up by the respective state governments.

9) PMKSY has an end to end approach for development of irrigation chain from creation of water resources to field application of water in an integrated manner. Accordingly, all components of PMKSY are to be implemented in complementation with each other. Adoption of micro irrigation is providing economic benefits to farmers: Micro Irrigation which includes drip and sprinkler irrigation is a proven technology which has gained immense popularity amongst the farmers in India. Strengths of this technology include -

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efficient deployment of inputs such as water, electricity, fertilizers, labour etc, increase in crop productivity, better quality of produce leading to higher realization of sale price resulting in increased income of farmer and prosperity. With this technology, additional area can be irrigated with the same amount of water compared to conventional method of irrigation. In addition, water deficient, cultivable waste land and undulating land areas can easily be brought under cultivation due to ease of irrigation. With this technology, there is also a good scope for using it in closely spaced crops like rice, wheat, onion, potato etc. Benefits of this technology lead to control of ground and surface water pollution. In nutshell, following benefits have been accrued to farmers with micro irrigation :  Saving of irrigation water from 20 to 40%  Energy saving from 10 to 17%  Saving of labour cost from 30 to 40%  Saving of fertilizers from 15 to 50%  Increase in crop production and net annual income of farmer und and surface water pollution.

5) Agriculture Contingency Plan: Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), ICAR has prepared district level Agriculture Contingency Plans in collaboration with state agricultural universities using a standard template to tackle aberrant monsoon situations leading to drought and floods, extreme events (heat waves, cold waves, frost, hailstorms, cyclone) adversely affecting crops, livestock and fisheries (including horticulture). Total 614 district agriculture contingency plans are placed in the ‗farmer portal‘ of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

6) Rainfed Area Development Programme (RADP): Rainfed Area Development Programme (RADP) was implemented from 2011-12 to 2013-14 as a sub-scheme under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) with the aim of improving quality of life of farmers‘ especially, small and marginal farmers by offering a complete package of activities to maximize farm returns. The broad objectives of the scheme are:

 Increasing agricultural productivity of rainfed areas in a sustainable manner by adopting appropriate farming system based approaches.

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 To minimise the adverse impact of possible crop failure due to drought, flood or un-even rainfall distribution through diversified and composite farming system.

 Restoration of confidence in rainfed agriculture by creating sustained employment opportunities through improved on-farm technologies and cultivation practices.

 Enhancement of farmer‘s income and livelihood support for reduction of poverty in rainfed areas.

 Convergence of relevant developmental programmes in project area for optimal utilisation of resources by establishing an integrated and coordinated system involving different sectors and institutions.

7) National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA): The scheme of National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA) was launched in 1990-91 based on twin concepts of integrated watershed management and sustainable farming systems. The scheme was subsumed under the Scheme for Macro Management of Agriculture (MMA) in the year 2000-2001 and was implemented as a component of Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Macro Management of Agriculture (MMA) in 28 States and 2 UTs. Funds were released to the States based on Approved Annual Work Plan. The Scheme was discontinued due to closer of MMA Scheme w.e.f 1st April, 2013.

The objectives of the NWDPRA are:  Conservation, development and sustainable management of natural resources.

 Enhancement of agricultural production and productivity in a sustainable manner.

 Restoration of ecological balance in the degraded and fragile rainfed eco-systems by greening these areas through appropriate mix of trees, shrubs and grasses.

 Reduction in regional disparity between irrigated and rainfed areas.

 Creation of sustained employment opportunities for the rural community including the landless.

CONCLUSION

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Agriculture and allied sectors are farmer welfare- centred approach that can empower the rural masses with higher income and employment and make balanced development a reality. Hence, govt agricultural policies enhancing sustainable development as well as farming practices of rural farmers.

REFERENCE

 http://agricoop.gov.in/divisiontype/rainfed-farming-system/programmes-schemes-new- initiatives  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_policy  http://eands.dacnet.nic.in/PDF/State_of_Indian_Agriculture,2015-16.pdf  https://www.ibef.org/industry/agriculture-india.aspx

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GENDER ISSUES: CHALLENGES OF WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE

Angelina Patro1, Santosh Kumar Paramanik2 and Murchana Malakar3

1 Department of Extension Education, OUAT, BBSR 2Department of Agriculture, MIPS, Rayagada 3 Department of Extension Education, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam E mail: [email protected]

“When women are empowered, a society with stability is assured”

- Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam

INTRODUCTION Since generations‘ gender issues have been a predominant concern of our country, therefore several debates and studies have been undertaken to identify the gender gaps in different aspects of development and many works have been done towards equalizing the benefits for the women of our country. These debates and studies on women have been quite influencive in bringing the women to the forefront in most of the fields and letting them hold an indispensable role in the development of our nation. It has been observed that women‘s participation in employment has always acted as a catalyst. They share abundant responsibilities to perform wide spectrum of duties both in the home and outside but there participation is considered customary by the society. Their active participation and responsibilities had often led to serious consequences due to the uncomfortable technologies or technology of performance. As a result of usage of these traditional technologies, the work efficiency is reduced and they have always remained as ―silhouette workers‖. Therefore to prevent these consequences, there is a necessity to bridge the gap between the technology producers and the users. Many technologies have been developed but have not reached the women at grass root level. Gender roles mediate substantial influence across all five pathways, particularly in relation to increased food availability and income. Thus, the best possible pathway through which agricultural development could improve health and nutrition outcomes is by considering gender roles and gender equity in agriculture. The gender bias modifications can be incorporated if new technologies are introduced which will tend to bring the farmwomen into the main stream of national development.

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WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE

In recent times, agriculture being the key industry of our country has taken up many initiatives towards the implementation of various government policies, NGO‘s and private agencies immense growth is recorded in this industry. In India, agriculture defines familial tradition, social relations and gender roles (Anon, 2016). The scenario of agriculture has completely changed in this span of time, but from centuries one thing that didn‘t change is the visualization of women as key labour in this industry. Though, agricultural sector as a whole has strongly emerged with the infusion of science and technology but this emergence is not capable of plummeting the ignorance of women labour as an integral part of this industry. Women are the backbone of agricultural workforce but worldwide her hard work has mostly been unpaid. Besides engaging herself in a variety of activities both on the farm and at home, the farm women also contribute to the family income through their wage earnings. In developing countries like India, agriculture continues to absorb and employ female work force but fails to give them recognition of employed/hired labour. (Ghosh, 2014). A vast majority of rural women in India take part in agricultural field operations, playing dominant roles in gender division during crop production activities. They are supposed to be considered as the equal partner of their male counterpart but they are victim of gender biases at their workplaces. The women does the most tedious and back-breaking tasks in agriculture, animal husbandry, homes and also play a significant role in other agro based activities. Her daily work schedule is very demanding and arduous. It is estimated that during peak cropping period women work every day for about 8-9 hours in agriculture and 4 hours in household activities and there are certain agricultural operations in which female agricultural workers are considered better than male workers. India being the agriculture-oriented country, agriculture labourers are the integral part of total Indian labour force. The exploitation of women labourers in rural regions happens both horizontally and vertically (Mishra, 2009). The role of the gender division of labor in agriculture influences the amount of time women utilize for their self care and taking care of young children. The farm women are extensively involved in various farm operations like transplanting, weeding, harvesting, processing, marketing and selling of food grains, fruits and vegetables etc. These activities not only demand considerable time and energy but also involve high levels of drudgery.

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CHALLENGES OF WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE The cultural and socioeconomic factors affect women‘s involvement into development activities. Usually in patriarchal society, because of various aspects, it is rare to come across to the gender- based evidences. Despite of the major productive women labor force in agriculture their needs and problems are somewhat ignored by the rural development initiatives. Therefore, in this patriarchal society it is a challenge for the women to create their own identity. In every activity they work beyond their capacity and face different levels of challenges as individuals, but they never back off from any assigned activity. The devotion and contribution of farm women to the Indian agriculture is enormous as they contribute monetary and non-monetary inputs towards national income who occupy the low position in the socio economic index of India (Tiwari et al., 2015). The female labour force in developing nations still faces the oppressive status of being majorly responsible for family and household maintenance. In the rural areas of our country, it has been observed that the women are extensively involved in all forms of agricultural operations starting from transplanting to storage. They are not only involved in these arduous field operations but also perform the household chores and participate in other activities of the society, though the labour division between male and female labourers differs from region to region. But, as far as crop husbandry is concerned, women participate in almost all activities, right from preparatory tillage to harvest, and even in post harvest tasks like processing, storage and marketing. They get less and irregular wage and maintain lower living style remaining below poverty line. These problems of the rural women are further accentuated by the tribulations of illiteracy, underdevelopment and unemployment. It is estimated that during peak period women work every day for about 8-9 hours in agriculture and 4 hours in household activities and there are certain agricultural operations in which female agricultural workers are considered better than male workers. This exploitation of women labourers mostly in rural regions happens both horizontally and vertically leading to drudgery prone condition of the farm women. Long hours of work put in by women fulfilling their multiple roles hardly leave any time for leisure which ultimately gives ill effect on their both mental and physical and all most all farm women suffer physical drudgery in various operations in agriculture (Tiwari et al., 2015). Drudgery is generally conceived as physical and mental strain, agony, monotony and hardship experienced by farm women while performing these farm operations. This monotonous and challenging nature of work leads to various health and mechanical hazards creating physical exhaustion, fatigue and

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development low productivity. Farmwomen are discriminated both in their workplace and home, though they make enormous contribution to the agriculture and allied sectors.

According to Singh et al., (2010), all the household and farm activities are not only drudgerious but time consuming also. These women have very little access to the knowledge and skills of modern farm technologies and related resources. They mostly carryout different activities like weeding, transplanting, harvesting, threshing and storing grains, tending animals and providing fuel and water etc. While performing these agricultural activities they adapt to the unnatural body posture due to their exposure to non-mechanized or least mechanized work situations, resulting in physiological and musco-skeletal issues that declines the work performance. And further in extreme cases leads to highly sensitive drudgery which is the work demand per time, feeling of exhaustion, postural problems, manual loads operative, difficulty perceptions, work load perception. Pandey et al., 2013 reported that majority of the respondents in his study perceived farm activities as either moderately difficult or difficult. It can be assumed that a particular activity can be exertion or be drudgery for a particular group of people depending on its gender, geographical variation, race and ethnicity. An activity becomes strenuous when the workload is beyond farmwomen‘s‘ level and they force themselves for its completion. The farm women do not get sufficient attention, due to gender in a low socio-economic stratum and are often exposed to carryout farm operations manually in absence of any suitable labour saving and woman friendly mechanized or improved tools. Therefore, keeping in mind the present status of women in our society, time has come to recognize the invisible contribution of this section of our society and make their lives little comfortable.

REMEDIALS FOR THE CHALLENGES The future development of agriculture would essentially depend on the skills and abilities of the farm women in agricultural activities who constituted about half of the total workforce in rural area. The multitasking potentiality of female labour bought significant propositions for agricultural productivity, rural production, economic vitality, household food security, family health, family economic security and welfare. The technologies that are selected for intervention for reducing drudgery shall be fundamentally time saving and shall facilitate women in relieving them from postural stress, feeling of exhaustion and difficulty. The occupational health and safety of farm women is the most neglected area in agriculture. The technological empowerment

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development of farm women with occupational safety and better work output is the need of the day (Badiger et al., 2005). Therefore, there is need to select suitable technologies guided by identified drudgery experiences and moreover emphasis on education would build up their decision- making abilities and encourage them to face problems. Improved productivity and health are expected benefits out of drudgery reduction programmes conducted through technology interventions. The research efforts at the ICAR institutes have been tried to relieve the farmwomen out of the drudgery by providing time and labour saving tools. Upskilling them by giving trainings will help them enhance their work efficiency. Therefore participation in such activities would help them to be self–reliant and improve their management ability. Various tools and equipments are designed according to requirement of women, which are drudgery reducing farm technologies to perform different farm operations. These tools would enable them to participate more energetically and enthusiastically towards reducing the drudgery of farmwomen and increasing their work efficiency. Several programmes started at the National Centre for Women in Agriculture and Krishi Vigyan Kendras, are the right steps in this direction. The KVKs have started conducting vocational training programmes to impart skills to undertake different avocations. In extension activities the women is now the centre point and activities are being planned keeping her in view. As a way of enhancing the productivity of rural women, appropriate gender policy is necessary to enhance the welfare of the rural women and most importantly agricultural transformation is of paramount importance to reduce the drudgery of rural women. One possible pathway through which agricultural development could improve health and nutrition outcomes is by considering gender roles and gender equity in agriculture. Her enlightenment will change the face of rural India.

REFERENCES

 Anonymous, (2016). Women in Agriculture in India, retrived from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women in agriculture in India on 6th May,2017  Ghosh, M. and Ghosh, A. (2014). Analysis of Women Participation in Indian Agriculture, IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science, 19(5):1-6.

 Mishra, S. (2009). Life of Women Agricultural Labourers in Orissa, Orissa Review: pp. 6-9

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 Tiwari, R.; Tomar, D. S.; Dixit, A. K. and Saxena, A. K. (2015).Impact of Advanced Transport Machinery for Reducing Drudgery and Work Related Stress of Farm Women, International Journal of Bio-resource and Stress Management. 6(2):254-260  Singh, A.; Gautam, A. S.; Pannase, S. and Singh, A. (2010). Ergonomic Evaluation of Farm Women during Maize Shelling, Indian Research Journal Extension Education, 10(3): 41-44.  Pandey, S.; Purushottam, S. and Sharma, R. K. (2013). Sitting type groundnut decorticator for reducing the drudgery of farm women, Current Advances in Agricultural Sciences, 5(1): 84-86  Badiger, C. A.; Hasalkar, S.; Huilgol, S.; Hosakeri, M. and Kavita, P. (2005). Evaluation of Workload of Farm Women in Various Agricultural Activities, Karnataka Journal of Agriculture Science, 18 (3): 865-868

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DESIGNER FOODS FOR DIABETES

Anita Kumara1 and Maya Kumari2 1. S.M.S. (H.Sc.),Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Khagaria, Bihar 2. Scientist (H.Sc.), K.V.K., Sahibganj, Jharkhand

INTRODUCTION

Designer food refers to the food that is designed to have some health benefits other than its traditional nutritional value. ‗Designer food‘, ‗functional food‘ and ‗fortified food‘ are synonym, which refers to the food fortified or enriched with nutrient content already present in them or other complementary nutrient. The term was introduced in Japan in 1980s for referring processed food containing nutrient conferring of some additional health benefits apart from its own nutritional value (Arai 1996), whereas in China, designer food (referred to as health foods) is used in their traditional medicine. Complex carbohydrates have been a significant topic of scientific research and public interest. This interest has spanned four decades since the initial observations that populations consuming diets high in complex carbohydrates and their subcomponents suffered from a decreased prevalence of certain conditions such as coronary heart disease, diabetes etc. Recent dietary recommendations prescribe and increased intake of complex carbohydrates and fiber, with an emphasis on diets high in whole grain cereal products, vegetables and fruits. Functional foods are any foods, modified foods or food ingredients that provide structural, functional or health benefits, promoting optimal health, longevity and quality of life. In short, functional foods are food products that provide specific health benefits beyond the traditional nutrients they contain. Terms used to describe functional foods include designer, hyper nutritional, medical, pharma, prescriptive and super foods, as well as foodiceuticals and neutraceuticals.

Functional foods

Functional foods included a wide variety of foods and food components believed to improve overall health and well-being, reduce the risk of specific diseases, or minimize the effects of other health concerns (IFIC 2011). It can be produced by fortification or nutrification of conventional food. Most of the functional foods that meet the definition are derived from existing traditional foods by adding ingredients or modifying the composition. The added

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development ingredients are usually common food components. The functional ingredients range from cereal grains, pulses, fruits, vegetables, oilseeds, and dairy products etc. Table 1 lists examples of ‗traditional‘ micronutrients – vitamins and minerals,that have been used in functional foods. The health claims for some are well substantiated e.g., low-sodium foods reduce hypertension and high fiber foods are effective against constipation.

Table 1. Functional ingredients in the Indian context

Food group Specific food Functional component

Cereals and cereal products Barley, Oats Beta - glucan

Wheat, oats and rice bran Insoluble and soluble dietary fiber

Legumes/pulses Bengal gram, Kidney Beans, Galactomannan, fiber Soya Beans,

Millets Foxtail, Little, Barnyard Insoluble and soluble dietary fiber

Spices Fenugreek, Viscous fiber

Cinnamon, Garlic Bioactive principles

Vegetables Bitter gourd Galactomannan

Cruciferous fiber

Principles of Dietary management in diabetes

 Maintain ideal body weight  Provide all required nutrients  Avoid symptoms of hyper and hypoglycemia  Avoid acute complications  Minimize long term vascular complications

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 Improve overall health people with diabetes though optimal nutrition and physical activity

Table 2. Categorizing Food-Health relationships for Food product development

Health Category Food Characteristics

Diseases related to environmental degradation Eco-sensitive foods-produced in sustainable ways, biodegradable packaging

Food Shortage and PEM Technologies which minimize post harvest loss, increase shelf-life maintain platability.

Disease related to protein and fat quality, micro Nutrient-dense foods ; plant or microbial nutrient status surrogates

Physical inactivity and health Food of low energy density and high nutrient density

Phytochemical deficiency disorders Greater emphasis on plant-derived foods and their variety

Diseases of changing demography Aging Anti-aging foods-delay body compositional change, immune function

Anti-inflammatory foods

Rapid loss of traditional food culture and Maintenance of traditional foods in convenient, acquisition of new food cultures affordable and recognizable form

Food-borne illness and the microbiological Pre and pro biotic foods safety of foods Immune enhancing foods

New psychosocial stressors and mood change Foods which favorably effect mood

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Table 3 summarizes the health benefits of various designer foods. Fermentation is also a form of food modification. Folk medicine in various countries like China, Japan and India has the tradition of using fermented food for its health benefits, which includes red wine, yogurt, tempeh, red yeast rice etc.

Table 3. Summarizes the health benefits of designer foods.

Micro/Macro nutrient Designer foods Health benefits

Omega 3 fatty acid Omega 3 fatty acid enriched Management of egg, oil and milk Cardiovascular disease, hypertension, autoimmune, allergic, neurological disorders, maternal health (Hargis and Van Elswyk 1993), osteoarthritis (Roush et al. 2010) and rheumatoid arthritis (Kjeldsen- Kragh et al. 1992)

Conjugated linoleic acid CLA enriched egg and milk Antiadipogenic, anti- (CLA) carcinogenic, anti-atherogenic and anti-inflammatory (Magdalena et al. 2008)

Selenium (Se) Se enriched egg, broccoli and Prevents cardiac muscle milk degeneration, muscular dystrophy (Beale et al. 1990), reduce the risk and prevalence

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of prostate and colon cancer and antioxidant activity (Navarro-Alarcon and Cabrera-Vique 2008)

Glucoraphanin Glucoraphanin enriched Reduce the risk of cancer broccoli sprouts (Latté et al. 2011)

Probiotics Probiotic yoghurt Produces pro-inflammatory cytokines (Meyer et al. 2007), eliminates enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis, H. Pylori, prevents gastrointestinal (Odamaki et al. 2012) and lower respiratory tract infections (Jayakanthan et al. 2011), improves frequency and abdominal pain due to constipation in pediatric patients (Guerra et al. 2011), improves antioxidant status in type 2 diabetic patients (Ejtahed et al. 2011)

Vitamin D and calcium Vitamin D and calcium Lowers PTH fortified milk

CONCLUSION

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Advantages of designer food approach are that it does not require change in dietary habit/pattern of the population and it can deliver recommended amount of nutrients regularly. It can be easily merged with existing system of food production and distribution. In developed countries designer foods played a major role in improving the diet and eliminating nutritional deficiencies. For example, elimination of vitamin A deficiency leading to night blindness was achieved by vitamin A fortified margarine in Denmark and vitamins A and D fortified milk eliminated vitamin D deficiency and rickets in Europe and North America. In the developing countries, food fortification has gained importance since 1990s. Fortification of wheat flour with iron, vitamin A, folic acid and other B vitamins in Asian countries such as India, Indonesia and the Philippines was successful in eliminating these micronutrient deficiencies, whereas in Thailand, foods such as noodles and fish were fortified with micronutrients. Food products containing minimally processed whole grains, fruits, pulses, vegetables and edible plant materials are desirable because they have great market potential and can help prevent and ameliorate the effects of degenerative diseases and improve quality of life.

REFERENCES

 Arai S. Studies on functional foods in Japan. Bioscie Biotechnol Biochemi. 1996;60:9– 15. doi: 10.1271/bbb.60.9. [PubMed] [Cross Ref]  Asna Urooj, Vinutha, Shashikala Puttaraj, Haridas Rao and Leelavathi, 1998, Effect of barley incorporation in bread on its quality and glycemic responses in diabetics. Inti J Food Sci Nutr,, 49:265-270

 IFIC (2011) Background on functional foods. http://www.foodinsight.org. Accessed on 22 December 2011  Kjeldsen-Kragh J, Lund JA, Riise T, Finnanger B, Haaland K, Finstad R, Mikkelsen K, Førre O. Dietary omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and naproxen treatment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. J Rheumatol. 1992;19(10):1531–1536. [PubMed]  Meyer AL, Elmadfa I, Herbacek I, Micksche M. Probiotic, as well as conventional yogurt, can enhance the stimulated production of proinflammatory cytokines. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2007;20(6):590–598. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-277X.2007.00807.x.

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AGRICULTURAL POLICY IN INDIA Avinash Jangid*, Mahendra Kumar Gautam1, Mukesh Kumar Nayak2, Satyanarayan Regar3 and Abhisekh Shukla4 *3SKRAU-Bikaner, RAJ., 1IAS, BHU, Varanasi, UP1 2CCSHAU, Hisar, Haryana, 4CSAUAT-Kanpur,UP. E mail:[email protected]

ABSTRACT There are substantial empirical evidences on the positive relationship between agricultural growth and economic development. The transformation of agriculture from its traditional subsistence roots induced by technical change to a modernizing and eventually industrialized agriculture sector is a phenomenon observed across the developing world. During the last five to six decades Indian agriculture has witnessed numerous changes. Innovation coupled with investments in, irrigation infrastructure, expansion of credit, marketing and processing facilities led to a significant increase in the use of modem inputs. The discussion in this chapter is focused on the agricultural sector in India in relation to the production dimensions of major agricultural commodities and their export potentials and agricultural policy in India. Key word: Agriculture, agricultural policy, credit and developing.

INTRODUCTION Agriculture Policy formulation in India is very complex because agriculture is a state subject. Agricultural policy describes a set of laws relating to domestic agriculture and imports of foreign agricultural products. Governments usually implement agricultural policies with the goal of achieving a specific outcome in the domestic agricultural product markets. Outcomes can involve, for example, a guaranteed supply level, price stability, product quality, product selection, land use or employment. But some of the related subjects are in the centre list. The state policies have to be formulated in accordance with the national agenda. The present chapter traces the formulation of agriculture policy in India since independence. Since the decisions of the farmers are influenced by the changes in the input prices and output prices, agriculture price policy and fertilizer policies were also included in the review. Agriculture remains the largest single contributor to the livelihoods of the 75% of the world's poor who live in rural areas. Encouraging agricultural growth is therefore an important aspect of agricultural policy in the developing world. In addition, a recent Natural Resource Perspective paper by the Overseas Development Institute found that good infrastructure, education and effective information services in rural areas were necessary to improve the chances of making agriculture work for the poor. Policy making in agriculture is set with several difficulties. The following are some of the

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development problems in making agricultural policy. First, agriculture is an unorganized sector activity and therefore policy responses could not be predicted priori with objective probabilities. Second, the information flow to agricultural sector is not as quick as it takes place in other sectors. The information asymmetry poses problems in predicting outcomes. Climatic differences and their influence on agriculture is the third problem. The fourth issue is uneven distribution of land and assets in the sector. Apart from these above, the sector has a strong link with consumers and other industries. The aggregate growth of the economy of any country is sensitive to the fluctuations in this sector. Therefore, the impact of agricultural policies in India needs to be analysed in conjecture with other policies. Objective of Agricultural Policy The following are some of the important objectives of India‘s agricultural policy:  Raising the Productivity of Inputs:  Raising Value-Added per Hectare:  Protecting the Interest of Poor Farmers:  Modernizing Agricultural Sector:  Checking Environmental Degradation:  Agricultural Research and Training:  Removing Bureaucratic Obstacles:  Rebalance the policy package to foster sustainable productivity growth.  Strengthen the role of agriculture in enhancing food and nutrition security.  Improve agricultural institutions and governance systems.  Make trade work for Indian agriculture Policy tools An agricultural subsidy is a governmental subsidy paid to farmers and agribusinesses to manage the agricultural industry as one part of the various methods a government uses in a mixed economy. The conditions for payment and the reasons for the individual specific subsidies varies with farm product, size of farm, nature of ownership, and country among other factors. Enriching peanut farmers for political purposes, keeping the price of a staple low to keep the poor from rebelling, stabilizing the production of a crop to avoid famine years, encouraging diversification and many other purposes have been suggested as the reason for specific subsidies. Price floors or price ceilings set a minimum or maximum price for a product. Price controls encourage more

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development production by a price floor or less production by a price ceiling. A government can erect trade barriers to limit the quantity of goods imported (in the case of a Quota Share) or enact tariffs to raise the domestic price of imported products. These barriers give preference to domestic producers. History of agricultural policy in India India has been an agriculture based country. Various committees have been constituted to review and suggest policies relating to different aspects of agricultural sector like agricultural production, credit, processing, marketing etc. It is observed that India never had a formal and comprehensive policy on the agriculture in the five decades since Independence. In fact, there were a quite few: some on land redistribution, some on this or that specific input, infrastructure, on technology. Statement on food situation was plenty: but the policies, or absence thereof, they contain concern supplies for that public distribution system and only incidentally, production and productivity. A policy statement defines the role of agriculture in the overall economy. AGRICULTURAL SECTOR THROUGH FIVE YEAR PLANS First Five Year Plan (1951-56) . Agriculture sector was given topmost priority in the first plan period. . This plan mainly concentrated on increasing the food production as there was severe food shortage in India. . About one third of the plan outlay was allocated to agriculture sector. . The production of food grains increased from 54 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 65.8 million tonnes at the end of the plan period. Second Five Year Plan (1956-61) . During the second five year plan period priority was given to industrial sector. . The food production during this plan was 80.5 million tonnes, but the actual production was 79.7 million tonnes. . This plan was shortage in the production of all crops except sugarcane. Third Five Year Plan (1961-66) . The main objective of this plan was to achieve self-sufficiency in food grains and to increase the agricultural production to meet the needs of industry and export. . Specific programs like the Intensive Agricultural District Programme (IADP), and High Yielding Varieties Programmes were introduced.

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. Government popularized the HYV of wheat and rice developed in Mexico and Philippine respectively. . This was popularly known as Green Revolution. Fourth Five Year Plan (196-74) . Two important objectives relating to agriculture sector were set during this plan. . The first was providing the conditions necessary for a sustained increase of food production by about 5% per annum over. . Another was enabling a large section of the rural population including small farmers in the dry areas and agricultural labourers to participate in the process of agricultural development. . The actual production of food grain was 104.7 million tonnes in 1973-74 as against target increase of 129 million tonnes. Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-79) . Fifth five year plan was introduced under severe economic crisis. . This plan gave priority to the spread of High Yield Varieties cultivation, greater use of fertilizer, pesticides and insecticides to increase agricultural production. Sixth Five Year Plan (1979-83) . Agriculture sector grew at an annual rate of 4.3% and food grain production increased to 152 metric tons and this was named as second green revolution. . This has spread into eastern and central states include West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-90) . This plan emphasized on policies and programs for rapid growth in food grains production. . Public sector plan outlay in seventh plan relating to agriculture was Rs.10.52 crores but actual spending was Rs. 12.79 crores. Eighth Five Year Plan (1992-97) . Eighth five year plan was introduced in the changed economic environment. . This plan attempted to promote a regionally more broad based pattern of agricultural growth.

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. The salient feature of this plan was faster growth of the manufacturing and agriculture and allied sectors. . The public sector outlay in eighth plan related to agriculture was Rs. 22467 crores. Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002) . Priority to agriculture and rural development with a view to generate adequate production, employment and eradication of poverty. . Ensuring food security and nutritional security for all, particularly the vulnerable sections of the society. . Promoting and developing people‘s participatory institutions like PRI, Co-operatives and SHGs. Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07) . During the tenth plan Public sector outlay related to agriculture and allied sector was Rs.58933 crores. . During this plan period Ministry of Agriculture introduced several programs aimed at diversification of agriculture, strengthening technology validation, demonstration and dissemination, water saving and development infrastructure. . The programs are National Horticulture Mission, Micro Irrigation Programme, National Gender Resource Centre in Agriculture, Jute Technology Mission, National Agricultural Innovation Project, National Fisheries Development Board, National Mission on Bamboo Technology and Trade Development. Government decided to set up a Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in each rural district (578) in the country. Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12) . This plan emphasized inclusive growth to achieve a target growth of 4% per annum in GDP from agricultural and allied services. . The plan aimed to attracting higher public investments and promoting diversification to higher value crops and livestock, decentralizing decision making to address location specific local problems and to improve the accessibility of land, credit to the farmers. . Several programmes like National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikasa Yojana (RKVY), Macro Management of Agriculture (MMA), Integrated Scheme of Oil Seeds, Pulses, Oil Palm, and Maize (ISOPOM), National Mission for Sustainable

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Agriculture (NMSA), National Project on Management of Soil Health and Fertility (NPMSHF) were introduced.

Twelve five year plan (2012-2017) . The Twelfth Five-Year Plan of the Government of India has been decided to achieve a growth rate of 8.2% but the National Development Council (NDC) on 27 December 2012 approved a growth rate of 8% for the Twelfth Five-Year Plan. . The Final growth target has been set at 8% by the endorsement of the plan at the National Development Council meeting held in New Delhi. . The government intends to reduce poverty by 10% during the 12th Five-Year Plan. Ahluwalia said, ―We aim to reduce poverty estimates by 9% annually on a sustainable basis during the Plan period". Earlier, addressing a conference of State Planning Boards and Planning departments, he said the rate of decline in poverty doubled during the 11th Plan. Thirteen five year plan (2017- 2022) . The 13th five-year defence plan (2017-22) envisages an allocation of Rs 26,83,924 crore for the armed forces. . This includes Rs 13,95,271 crore under the revenue segment and the remainder for defraying the capital expenditure. . The total allocation for these aforesaid organisations, activities and defence pensions adds up to Rs 1,36,746.10 crore for the year 2017-18, with defence pensions alone accounting for Rs 85,737.31 crore. . Without factoring in any increase in the coming years, the requirement on this count for the plan period will work out to Rs 6,83,730.50 crore. Suggestion Agricultural reforms in India should focus on the following suggestions (V.S. Vyas, 2001). . Acceleration of the process of liberalization in domestic market. Un-freezing the lease market. . Thoroughly revising the agricultural price support system. . Carrying procurement operations on commercial lines. . Involving states and the lower tiers of Panchayat Raj in public distribution of food grains.

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. Dovetailing price and trade policies in an effective manner. . Establishing the principle of cost recovery in agriculture inputs and phasing out input subsidies. . Working out long term export strategy for ‗commercial crops‘ and other dynamic and high value crops.

CONCLUSION Agricultural policy should be oriented towards two major aspects. India should maintain ceiling on agricultural land holdings till the pace of diversification in the rural areas is accelerated and should not abandon the policy of food self-sufficiency till livelihood and consumption patterns change remarkably. It is observed that there is an increased awareness and efforts to promote sustainable agriculture focusing on conservation of natural resources. Land as an important resource in the sustainability of agricultural production has been given major thrust during the eleventh and twelfth plan periods.

REFERENCES

 Economic and Political Weekly, March 10, 2011.  In Gardinar B. and Rausser G. (Ed.) Handbook of Agricultural Economics, Elsevier ScienceAmsterdam, North Holland.  Making agriculture work for the poor" (PDF). Overseas Development Institute. 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2016.  Prabhu Pinjali (2006): Agricultural Growth and Economic Development - A View through the Globalization Lens, International Conference of Agricultural Economists, Gold Coast, Australia.  Radhakrishna R. (2002): Agricultural Growth, Employment and Poverty - A Policy Perspective. Economic and Political Weekly, January 19, 2002.  Ranis et al. (1990): Linkages in Developing Economies – A Philippine Study. ICS Press, San Francisco.  Rosenstein Rodan (1943): Problems of Industrialization of Eastern and South Eastern Europe, Economic Journal, 53, 202-11.  Scitosky T. (1954): Two Concepts of External Economies. Journal of Political Economy, 62, 143-51.  Timmer C.P. (2002): Agriculture and Economic Development.  Vyas V.S. (2001): Agriculture - Second Round of Economic Reforms.

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DOCUMENTATION OF VARIOUS ITC INITIATIVES IN DAIRY EXTENSION SERVICES

Awadhesh Kumar Singh1*, Amit Baranwal2 , Himadri Roy3, Himanshu Shekhar Rai4 1,2 Subject Matter specialist, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Ainthu , Lalabazar, Kalakankar, Pratapgarh, UP 3,4 Department of Extension Education, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, BHU, Varanasi, UP Email: [email protected]

INTRODUCTION

The emergence of India as a leading dairy nation of the world could be attributed mainly to the intensive growth in milk production. The importance of dairy enterprise in the national economy can be gauged from the fact that the value of output from milk group is highest among all the agricultural commodities, accounting for nearly one fourth of the value of output from agricultural sector. Dairying is one of the most important means of providing livelihood and nutritional security to the rural masses. Empirical evidences indicate that livestock is an important component of the agriculture system, providing an additional source of income and nutritional cover to a large section of the rural population, particularly the disadvantaged and poor households (Rao et al 2003; Birthal and Ali 2005; Ravikumar and Chander 2006, Singh et al 2007). The use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has revolutionized manufacturing and services the world over. In the developing countries, the use of ICT has become vital to improve productivity in dairy production especially through its application in clean milk production and dairy processing. It is of developing effective information systems for planning and monitoring dairy development programmes, improving dairy services and enabling learning for capacity development that use ICT effectively and efficiently. India will need to apply new ICTs effectively in improving these systems so that they support meeting each of the above requirements for its dairy sector.

II. Concept

A. Information technology (IT) is the term used to describe the items of equipment (hardware) and computer programs (software) that allow us to access, retrieve, store, organise, manipulate, and present information by electronic means. ―The term information technology embodies a

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development convergence of interest between electronics, computing and communications, all of which are leading to the rapid development of micro electronics‖ (Drew and foster, 1994).

B. Communication technology (CT) is the term used to describe telecommunications equipment through which information can be sought and accessed, for example, phones, faxes, modems, and computers.

C. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Collectively refers to the technologies, both hardware and software, that enable humans to communicate with one another. ―ICT includes electronic networks - embodying complex hardware and software – linked by the vast array of technical protocols‖ (Mansell and silverstone, 1996).

III. ICT Application

A. E-government

Implementation of e-government strategies focusing on promotion of transparency in public administrations and democratic processes, improving efficiency and strengthening relations with citizens.

B. E-learning

Developing domestic policies to ensure that ICTs are fully integrated in education and training at all levels, including in curriculum development, teacher training, institutional administration and management, and in support of the concept of lifelong learning.

C. E-agriculture Ensuring the systematic dissemination of information using ICTs on agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry and food, in order to provide ready access to comprehensive, up-to- date and detailed knowledge and information, particularly in rural areas.

IV. Potential IT tools for transfer of technology in agriculture & Dairying

A. RADIO

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Radio is the oldest IT tool and provides entertainment to masses to a great extent in recent past. All India Radio presently has 208 radio stations and 327 transmitters. Through Farm and Home program, AIR is broadcasting agriculture programme in general covering 60-100 minutes per day on an average.

B. TELEVISION

Undoubtedly, television is the most powerful media close to the rural masses. In transfer of technology process, TV plays an important role especially at the awareness and interest stage of adoption. Message through it can motivate, stimulate, induce and change attitude of the farmers.

C. TELEPHONE

Telephone has also established itself in the rural areas and is becoming quite popular both with farmers and farmwomen. The union cabinet has approved the floated plan for the call centers meant for the farmers. The call centers are known by the name ―Kisan Call Ceters‖ and answer queries in local languages. The call centers are in operation since 21st of January 2004. It is being operated through toll-free telephones bearing the number 1551 from eight selected locations covering all states and regional languages.

D. VIDEO

Video is another IT tool for generating and promoting interaction. Experiments with small format videotape have recently aroused the interest of farmers in developing countries. Videotapes are seen as an ideal medium to promote motivation, attitudinal change, behavior reinforcement, community participation and entertainment. Videotapes have tremendous utility in the training of extension personnel.

1. Various ICT initiatives by National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) for Dairy Extension Services

National Dairy Research Institute has developed information packages in the form of video films and multimedia packages on clean milk production, hygienic milk processing, packaging and scientific calf rearing etc. based on Information and Communication Techniques (ICT).

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Mechanisms for transforming the output of R&D efforts into viable technologies are being further strengthened by establishing National Demonstration Centers.

Table: 1. Various ICT initiatives by National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) for Dairy Extension Services

Sl. No. Particulars Language

Video film produced

1 Clean Milk Production Hindi and English

Hygienic milk and milk product processing and 2 Hindi and English packaging

3 Scientific calf rearing practices English

4 Success Story of a Dairy Entrepreneur Hindi and English

Success Story of women SHG (Anmol Mahila Dugdh 5 Hindi and English Samitee)

Multimedia Package

1 e-Book on Clean Milk Production English

2 Multimedia on Clean Milk Production Hindi and English

3 Interactive web module for dairy innovations Hindi and English

Information dissemination system

Web-Module for Dissemination of Dairy Innovations 1 Hindi and English among Farmers

Design and development of information dissemination 2 Hindi and English system for quality milk production

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Others

1 Messaging portal Hindi

1. Various ICT initiatives by Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Dairy Extension Services Indian Veterinary Research Institute is a premier institute in the field of livestock management, health and disease diagnosis. It has developed several ICTs related to dairying in the form of video films, educational softwares (PAKRSP and LPDIS), Audio Visual Aids, search engine and android apps.

Sl. No. Particulars Language

Video film produced

1 A short film on neonatal calf management Hindi and English

2 A short film on clean milk production Hindi and English

Educational software

―Pashudhan Evan Kukkut Rog Suchana Pranali‖ 4 Hindi (PAKRSP) for farmers

Livestock and poultry disease information system 5 English (LPDIS) for students and professionals

Audio-Visual aids

Health information system for dairy animals (video 1 Marathi CD)

Livestock disease and neonatal calf disease (Audio - CD)

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Search Engine

2 Digital pashu swasthya and pshupalan prashnottari Hindi

Android apps

1 IVRI dairy manager English

2 IVRI Pashu prajnan English, Hindi and others

3 IVRI Artificial insemination English

4 Organic Livestock Farming English

Table: 2. E-Governance Initiatives – India

Sl. No. ICT Initiator Remarks

Dairy Information  Its target for the booming dairy sector 1 IIM, Ahmadabad Services Kiosk  It is a automatic milk collection center

 It is a mobile based information technology 2 mKisan Govt. of India  Provide actionable information on crops, livestock, market prices and weather based advisories Shree Kamdhenu  Automatic milk collection system AKASHGANGA 3 Electronics Pvt.  It is a user-friendly, simple tools for ―The Milky Way‖ Ltd. dairy industry

4 Milk ―ATM‖ AMUL Dairy  ATM (Any Time Milk)  It is a milk vending machines

5 Dairy knowledge NDDB  provide an interactive dairy

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Portal information and education channel to the farmers

6 Massaging Portal KVK Pratapgarh  provide information on different dairy farming practices

Table: 3. E-Governance Initiative- World

Sl. No. ICT Country Remarks

 It is a website called fencepost.com  It is a unique community & business channel  Its provide personal output information, market 1 Fencepost New Zealand and commodity updates, free weather updates, industry-related news, expert advice, discussion groups, sporting news and email as well as special deals on farm goods  It is a mobile based information technology

2 e-dairy Sri Lanka  Its aim is to achieve self sufficiency in milk production  It is a user-friendly technology  SMS based information and education platform  The service aims at helping small scale farmers increase their productivity by giving them access to pivotal information 3 i-COW Kenya  It consists of three flagship features 1. Mashauri is the educational feature 2. Kalenda is a gestation calendar 3. Vetenari enables farmers to access 24/7 a database of registered vet's and AI's.

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CONCLUSION

Thus, the role of Information communication Technology to develop dairy and quality of life in rural area is well established. ICT can help an average Indian farmer to get relevant information regarding dairy-inputs, livestock production technologies, dairy processing, market support, finance and management of farm business. The agricultural extension mechanism is becoming dependent on ICT to provide appropriate and location specific technologies for the farmers. To furnish timely and proficient advice to the farmers, ICT can be a best mean not only to develop agricultural extension but also to expand agriculture research and education system.

REFERENCES

 Birthal P S and Ali J. (2005). Potential of Livestock Sector in Rural transformation. In:

Rural Transformation in India: The Role of Non-farm Sector (Rohini Nayyar and A.N.

Sharma, eds): Institute for Human Development and Manohar Publishers and

Distributors, New Delhi.

 Braj, M. and Singh, K. (2007). Role of ICT for developing better management skills in

agriculture and its allied sectors, Agriculture extension review, Jan-June,2007, 33-38.

 Das, P. (2006). ICT initiative in Agricultural Research and extension system in India 257-

288.

 Drew, E. and F. G. Foster (eds.) (1994), Information Technology in Selected Countries,

Tokyo: United Nations University Press.

 Jha, M.N. and Singh, R.C. (2006). Agricultural Extension Review. July-December, 10-

11.

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 Mansell, R. & R. Silverstone (1996), Communication by Design: The Politics of

Information and Communication Technologies. Oxford; OUP.

 Mishra, M. and Pant, S. (2007). Information Technology: the best tool for Agriculture

Research and Extension, Agrobios Newsletter Vol. VI, Issue no.3 43-44

 Rao K P C, Bantilan M C S, Rao Y M and Chopde V K.( 2003) Strategic Assessments

and Development Pathways for Agriculture in the Semi-Arid Tropics. Policy Brief

No. 4, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru,

Andhra Pradesh, India

 Ravikumar R K and Mahesh C.( 2006 )Extension Educational Efforts by State

Department of Animal Husbandry (SDAH), Tamil Nadu: SWOT analysis. Livestock

Research for Rural Development. Volume 18, Article #126. Retrieved February 15,

2011, from http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd18/9/ravi18126.htm

 Singh J, Erenstein O, Thorpe W and Varma A. (2007) Crop–livestock Interactions and

Livelihoods in the Gangetic Plains of Uttar Pradesh, India. Crop–livestock interactions

scoping study - Report 2. Research Report 11. ILRI (International Livestock Research

Institute), Nairobi, Kenya. 88 pp.

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WOMEN EMPOWERMENT SCHEMES

Babu Lal Dhayal1, Anil Kumar Malik1, Amit Kumar1 and A.K.Godara2 1Department of Extension Education, College of Agriculture, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India., 125004. 2Department of Extension Education, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India, 125004.

1. INTRODUCTION Women empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, educational, gender or economic strength of individuals and communities of women. Women‘s empowerment in India is heavily dependent on many different variables that include geographical location (urban / rural) educational status social status ( and class) and age. Policies on Women‘s empowerment exist at the national, state and local (panchayat) levels in many sectors, including health, education, economic opportunities, gender based violence and political participation. However there are significant gap between policy advancements and actual practice at the community level.

Empowerment of women is essentially the process of upliftment of economic, social and political status of women, the traditionally underprivileged ones, in the society. It is the process of guarding them against all forms of violence. Women empowerment involves the building up of a society, a political environment, wherein women can breathe without the fear of oppression, exploitation, apprehension, discrimination and the general feeling of persecution which goes with being a woman in a traditionally male dominated structure. Women constitute almost 50% of the world‘s population but India has shown disproportionate sex ratio whereby female‘s population has been comparatively lower than males. As far as their social status is concerned, they are not treated as equal to men in all the places. In the Western societies, the women have got equal right and status with men in all walks of life. But gender disabilities and are found in India even today. The paradoxical situation has such that she was sometimes concerned as Goddess and at other times merely as slave.

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2. Why Need of Women Empowerment It is revealed that into the ―Vedas Purana‖ of Indian culture, a woman is being worshiped such as Laxmi Maa, goddess of wealth; Sarswati Maa, for wisdom; Durga Maa for power. The status of women in India particularly in rural areas needs to address the issue of empowering women. About 66% of the female population in rural area is unutilized. This is mainly due to existing social customs. In agriculture and Animal care the women contribute 90% of the total workforce. Women constitute almost half of the population, perform nearly 2/3 of its work hours, receive 1/10th of the world‘s income and own less than 1/ 100th the world property. 70% of people living in poverty are women. Lower sex ratio i.e. 933, the existing studies show that the women are relatively less healthy than men though belong to same class. They constitute less than 1/7th of the administrators and mangers in developing countries. Only 10% seats in World Parliament and 6% in National Cabinet are held by women. (Shettar, 2015).

3. Challenges in Women Empowerment There are several constraints that check the process of women empowerment in India. Social norms and family structure in developing countries like India, manifests and perpetuate the subordinate status of women. One of the norms is the continuing preference for a son over the birth of a girl child which in present in almost all societies and communities. The society is more biased in favour of male child in respect of education, nutrition and other opportunities. The root cause of this type of attitude lies in the belief that male child inherits the clan in India. Women often internalize the traditional concept of their role as natural thus inflicting an injustice upon them. Poverty is the reality of life for the vast majority women in India. It is another factor that poses challenge in realizing women‘s empowerment.

There are several challenges that are plaguing the issues of women‘s right in India. Targeting these issues will directly benefit the empowerment of women in India

 Education: While the country has grown from leaps and bounds since independence where education is concerned. the gap between women and men is severe. While 82.14% of adult men are educated, only 65.46% of adult women are known to be literate in India. The gender bias is in higher education, specialized professional trainings which hit women very hard in employment and attaining top leadership in any field.

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 Poverty: Poverty is considered the greatest threat to peace in the world, and eradication of poverty should be a national goal as important as the eradication of illiteracy. Due to this, women are exploited as domestic helps.  Health and Safety: The health and safety concerns of women are paramount for the wellbeing of a country and is an important factor in gauging the empowerment of women in a country. However there are alarming concerns where maternal healthcare is concerned.  Professional Inequality: This inequality is practiced in employment sand promotions. Women face countless handicaps in male customized and dominated environs in Government Offices and Private enterprises.  Morality and Inequality: Due to gender bias in health and nutrition there is unusually high morality rate in women reducing their population further especially in Asia, Africa and china.  Household Inequality: Household relations show gender bias in infinitesimally small but significant manners all across the globe, more so, in India e.g. sharing burden of housework, childcare and menial works by so called division of work.

4. Ways to Empower Women: Women's empowerment is the process in which women elaborate and recreate what it is that they can be, do, and accomplish in a circumstance that they previously were denied. The need of women empowerment arose because of the gender discrimination and male domination in the Indian society since ancient time. Women are being suppressed by their family members and society for many reasons. They have been targeted for many types of violence and discriminatory practices by the male members in the family and society in India and other countries as well. Therefore, these possible changes will be quite helpful in women empowerment.  Changes in women‘s mobility and social interaction.  Changes in women‘s labour patterns.  Changes in women‘s access to and control over resources.  Changes in women‘s control over decision making.  Providing education.  Self-employment and Self-help group.

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 Providing minimum needs like Nutrition, Health, , and Housing Other than this society should change the mentality towards the word women.  Encouraging women to develop in their fields they are good at and make a career.

5. Major Women Empowerment Schemes of Government of India

Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India have come up with various schemes, programmes, social welfare schemes, Health and Nutrition, scholarship for women empowerment. This scheme provides assistance for Education, Training, Financial assistance/Cash, Subsidy on the loans, Scholarship, Nutrition, self-employment and other facilities. The prime goal is for empowerment, development, protection and welfare of Women & Child.

I. Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) : Rashtriya Mahila Kosh, sponsored by government of India was setup in March 1993 with the help of Department of Women and Child Development. RMK give the credit to poor and assets fewer women in the formal sector. The RMK entrepreneurs with the help of intermendiary organization (IMOs) for income generating activities @ interest rate of 6% its very less interest rate. The main features of the micro-finance services being provided by RMK are:  It is a tool for empowerment of the poorest, the higher the income and better the assets position of the borrower, the lower the incremental benefit from further equal doses of micro-credit is likely to be.  It is not just a financing system, but a tool for social change, especially for women – it does not spring from market forces alone –it is potentially welfare enhancing.

II. Beti bachao Beti padhao (BBBP): The mandate of ministry of women and child development MWCD, Government of India (GOI) is holistic development of women and children in the country. The ministry formulates plan, policies, and programmes coordinates the efforts of both governmental and non- governmental organization working in the field of women and child development. Based on the data from census of India 2011, it was observed that child sex ratio ( CSR), i.e. number of girls every 1000 boys in the age group of 0-6 years has declined to 918 from 976 in 1961. The main

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reason of this declined is low sex ratio at birth (SRB) means number of girls born per 1000 boys. To address the issue of declining CSR, GOI has launched Beti bachao Beti padhao (BBBP) scheme on 22 January 2015 by honourable prime minister at Haryana.With goal of celebrating girl child and enabling her education, the scheme has following objectives:

 Prevent gender biased sex selective elimination.  Ensure survival and protection of the girl child.  Ensure education for and participation of the girl child.

III. Mahila Samridhi Yojana (M S Y): The Mahila Samridhi Yojana (MSY) was launched on 2nd October, 1993 with the objective of empowering the rural women through building thrift habit, self-reliance and confidence the Mahila samridhi Yojana was started on 2 October 1993. Under this plan, the rural women of 18 years of above age can open their saving account in the rural post office of their own area with a minimum Rs. 4 or its multiplier. On the amount not withdrawn for 1 year, 25% of the deposited amount is given to the depositor by the government in the form of encouragement amount. Such accounts opened under the scheme account opened under the scheme account opened under the scheme are provided 25% bonus with a maximum of Rs. 300 every year. Up to 31 March 1997 2.45crore accounts were opened under this scheme with a total collection of Rs 265.09crore. The Department of Women and Child Development, the nodal agency for MSY, decided in April 1997 that now new MSY accounts should be opened form 1 April 1997 onwards but the existing account could be maintained.

IV. One Stop Centre Scheme for women(OSC) One Stop Centres (OSC) are meant to support women affected by violence, in private and public spaces, within the family, community and at the workplace. Women facing physical, sexual, emotional, psychological and economic abuse, irrespective of age, class, caste, education status, marital status, race, and culture will be facilitated with support and redressal. Aggrieved women facing any kind of violence due to attempted sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic violence, trafficking, honour-related crimes, acid attacks or witch-hunting who have reached out or been referred to the OSC will be provided with specialized services. OSC are set up in each State/UT. This scheme facilitates access to an integrated range of services including medical,

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The objectives of this scheme are as below:

 To provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces under one roof.  To facilitate immediate, emergency and non-emergency access to a range of services including medical, legal, psychological and counselling support under one roof to fight against any forms of violence against women.

V. Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme (MSK): Government of India has approved a new scheme namely, Mahila Shakti Kendra for implementation during 2017-18 upto 2019-20 to empower rural women through community participation and to create an environment in which they realize their full potential. It will provide an interface for rural women to approach the government for availing their entitlements also empowering them through training and capacity building. Community engagement through College Student Volunteers is envisioned in 115 most backward districts as part of the MSK Block level initiatives. Student volunteers will play an instrumental role in awareness generation regarding various important government schemes/ programmers‘ as well as social issue and association with NSS/NCC cadre students will also be an option. The scheme at the block level will provide an opportunity to Student Volunteers to participate in the development process by bringing change in their own communities and ensuring that women are not left behind and are equal partners in India‘s progress. In the first year (2017-18), Mahila Shakti Kendras (MSK) will be setup in 50 backward districts out of 115 backward districts covering400 blocks in 50 most backward districts (maximum 8 blocks per district) are to be covered under block level initiative. In the second year (2018-19), remaining 65 districts will be taken up along with the 50 districts from previous year. In the third year, activities will be taken up in all 115 backward districts covering 920 blocks (i.e. 8 blocks per district) for six months. At the end of second year, the scheme will be evaluated to decide expansion/continuation of the scheme. New District Level Centre for Women (DLCW) has also been envisaged for 640 districts to be covered in phased manner. These centres will

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development serve as a link between village, block and state level in facilitating women centric schemes and also give foothold for BBBP scheme at the district level. During the current FY (2017-18), 220 DLCWs will be set-up which will be manned by 03 staff in each selected district under the guidance of DC/DM. Please see the list of districts to be taken up during FY 2017-18. At the state level technical support on issues related to women is being provided through State Resource Centre for Women (SRCW) functional under the respective State Government /UT Administration. SRCWs are meant to facilitate implementation of all women centric schemes and programmers‘ of the government, including the district and block level component of MSK Scheme.

VI. Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP) The Ministry has been administering ‗Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP) Scheme‘ since 1986-87 as a ‗Central Sector Scheme‘. The STEP Scheme aims to provide skills that give employability to women and to provide competencies and skill that enable women to become self-employed/entrepreneurs. The Scheme is intended to benefit women who are in the age group of 16 years and above across the country. The grant under the Scheme is given to an institution/ organization including NGOs directly and not the States/ UTs. The assistance under STEP Scheme will be available in any sector for imparting skills related to employability and entrepreneurship, including but not limited to the Agriculture, Horticulture, Food Processing, Handlooms, Tailoring, Stitching, Embroidery, Zari etc, Handicrafts, Computer & IT enable services along with soft skills and skills for the work place such as spoken English, Gems & Jewellers, Travel & Tourism, Hospitality.

VII. Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA): Development of Women and Children in Rural areas (DWCRA) is an important poverty alleviation programme implemented as sub-scheme under IRDP, under this programme (DWCRA) the target group is rural women of below poverty line families who are assisted to take up various income generating activities. It was started in the year 1982-83, on a pilot basis, in 50 districts and has now been extended to all the districts of the country. The main activities of DWCRA are as follows: -

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 Dairy Activity, Gem Cutting Silk Weaving, Candles/Agarpathi making, Readymade garments, Canteen, Beedi-making, Multipurpose activities of Masala powder, Pickles etc.  The DWCRA groups of 10-15 members each are given a revolving fund of Rs. 25,000/-. The fund is utilized by the group for infrastructure support for income generation and other group activities.  The main strategy adopted under this programme is to facilitate access for poor women to employment, skill up gradation, training, credit and other support services so that the DWCRA women as a group can take up income generating activities for supplementing their incomes.

The programme also envisages that this target group would be the focus for convergence of other services like family welfare, health care, nutrition, education, childcare, safe drinking water, sanitation and shelter to improve the welfare and quality of life of the family and the community.

VIII. National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW): The Committee of Governors (CoG) set up to study and recommends strategies for speedy socio-economic empowerment of women recommended the ―Establishment of National Mission for socio-economic empowerment of Women‖. National Mission for Empowerment of Women was operationalised during the financial year 2011-12 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in April 2011. The focus was to bring convergence of efforts through inter-sectoral coordination amongst different ministries and programmers‘ with Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) as the nodal for achieving holistic empowerment of women. Following the restructuring of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) during the 12th Plan period, NMEW was approved for continuation as a sub-scheme of the Umbrella Scheme for Protection and Development of Women. The revised NMEW Scheme aims to achieve holistic empowerment of women through convergence of schemes/programmes of different Ministries/Department of Government of India as well as State Governments. Under the revised Scheme, technical support to Ministry of Women and Child Development is being provided by domain experts who are involved in the implementation and monitoring of new initiatives of the Ministry like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP Scheme), One Stop Centres, Women Helpline etc. and also facilitates convergence of

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development schemes/programmes of different Ministries/Departments with focus on women. At the national level experts engaged in the area of:  Poverty alleviation economic empowerment,  Health and nutrition,  Gender budgeting & Gender mainstreaming,  Gender rights gender based violence & law enforcement,  Empowerment of vulnerable & marginalised groups,  Social empowerment & education,  Media and advocacy and  Information technology. The scheme aims strengthen the conceptual and programmatic basis of women centric schemes/programmes implemented by the MWCD, other Ministries and State Government with the mechanism for convergence. Training & Capacity Building to enhance and strengthen understanding of gender issues, build a Resource Pool (trainers) at the National and State level to bridge gaps between knowledge and practice will be the other focus area of NMEW.

IX. Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY): The Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) is a maternity benefits scheme implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India. This scheme is for the pregnant and lactating women of 19 years of age or above for first two live births to contribute to a better enabling environment by providing conditional cash transfer for improved health and nutrition and to also promote health and nutrition seeking behaviour in them. It provides partial wage compensation to women for wage-loss during childbirth and childcare and to provide conditions for safe delivery and good nutrition and feeding practices. It provides cash maternity benefit to the women. The pregnant women of 19 years of age and above is entitled to a cash incentive of Rs. 4000 in three instalments for first two live births. The objectives of this scheme are summarized as below:

 To promoting appropriate practice, care and institutional service utilization during pregnancy, safe delivery and lactation  To encouraging the women to follow (optimal) nutrition and Young Child feeding practices, including early and Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months; and

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 To providing cash incentives for improved health and nutrition to pregnant and lactating mothers in order to contribute to better enabling environment.

X. Swadhar Greh: Swadhar Greh is a scheme for Women in Difficult Circumstances is meant to provide temporary accommodation, maintenance and rehabilitative services to women and girls rendered homeless due to family discord, crime, violence, mental stress, social ostracism or are being forced into prostitution and are in moral danger. It is a scheme initiated by the Department of Women and Child Development, Government of India. This scheme provides shelter, food, clothing, counselling, training, clinical and legal aid aims to rehabilitate women in difficult circumstance. Swadhar Greh scheme aims to achieve the following objectives:

 To provide to the basic need of shelter, food, clothing, medical treatment and care of the women in distress and who are lacking social and economic support.  To enable them to recover their emotional strength that gets hampered due to their encounter with unfortunate circumstances.  To provide them with legal aid and guidance to enable them to take steps for their readjustment in family/society.  To rehabilitate them economically and emotionally.  To act as a support system that understands and meets various requirements of women in distress.  To empower/encourage them to start their life afresh with and conviction.

XI. National Rural Health Mission (NRHM): The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched on 12th April 2005, to provide accessible, affordable and quality health care to the rural population. Under the NRHM, the Empowered Action Group (EAG) States as well as North Eastern States, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh have been given special focus. NRHM focuses on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child Health and Adolescent (RMNCH+A) Services. Institutional Mechanisms, Village Health & Sanitation Samiti (at village level consisting of Panchayat Representatives, ANM, Anganwadi worker, teacher, ASHA, community health volunteers.

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Basic objectives of NRHM are:  To reduce infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate  To ensure population stabilization  To prevent and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases  To upgrade AYUSH(Ayurvedic Yoga Unani Siddh and Homeopath) for promotion of healthy life style.

6. CONCLUSION Women empowerment is empowering the women to take their own decisions for their personal dependent. Empowering women is to make them independent in all aspects from mind, thought, rights, decisions, etc by leaving all the social and family limitations. It is to bring equality in the society for both male and female in all areas. Women empowerment is very necessary to make the bright future of the family, society and country. Women need fresh and more capable environment so that they can take their own right decisions in every area whether for themselves, family, society or country. In order to make the country fully developed country, women empowerment is an essential tool to get the goal of development. The government and other private institutions are supporting women in the leadership positions in public sector. Women and men both have unique and different experiences so both are important to bring influence into the decision making process. Equalising the rights of women and men in the society improves work quality and thus economic status of the nation. In order to really bring women empowerment in the Indian society, it needs to understand and eliminate the main cause of the ill practices against women which are patriarchal and male dominated system of the society. It needs to be open-minded and change the old mind set against women together with the constitutional and other legal provisions.

7. REFERENCES

 Baruah B. (2013) Role of Electronic Media in Empowering Rural.  Baruah, B. (2013). Role of Electronic Media in Empowering Rural Women Education of N.E. India. ABHIBYAKTI: Annual Journal, 1, 23-26.  Deshpande, S., and Sethi, S., (2010). Role and Position of Women Empowerment in Indian Society. International Referred Research Journal, 1(17), 10-12.

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 Dhruba Hazarika ―Women Empowerment in India : a Brief Discussion‖ International Journal of Educational Planning & Administration. Volume 1, Number 3 (2011)  Dr. Dasarati Bhuyan ― Empowerment of Indian Women: A challenge of 21st Century‖ Orissa Review, 2006  Duflo E. (2011) Women‘s Empowerment and Economic Development, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge.  Goswami, L. (2013). Education for Women Empowerment. ABHIBYAKTI: Annual Journal, 1, 17-18.  http://www.slideshare.net/puneetsharma5688/women-empowermentpuneet-sharma.  India: Women‘s Empowerment - IFAD / OE, 2000. The Republic of India; TamiluNadu Women‘s Development Project : Completion Evaluation, Report 340 – IN Rome, April.  Kadam, R. N. (2012). Empowerment of Women in India- An Attempt to Fill the Gender Gap. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 2(6), 11-13.  Kishor, S. and Gupta, K. (2009), Gender Equality and Women‟s Empowerment in India, NATIONAL FAMILY HEALTH SURVEY (NFHS-3) INDIA, 2005-06, International Institute for Population Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai.  Nagaraja, B. (2013). Empowerment of Women in India: A Critical Analysis. Journal of Humanities and Social Science (IOSRJHSS), 9(2), 45-52 [WWW page]. URL http: www.Iosrjournals.Org/empowerment.html.  Pankaj Kumar Baro1 & Rahul Sarania ―Employment and Educational Status: Challenges of Women Empowerment in India‖ , A Peer-Reviewed Indexed International Journal of Humanities & Social Science.  Suguna, M., (2011). Education and Women Empowerment in India. ZENITH: International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 1(8), 19-21.  Vinze, Medha Dubashi (1987) ―Women Empowerment of Indian : A Socio Economic study of Delhi‖ Mittal Publications, Delhi.

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ATTRACTING AND RETAINING YOUTH IN AGRICULTURE (ARYA): AN INITIATIVE TO PREVENT MIGRATION OF RURAL YOUTHS FROM AGRICULTURE

Himanshu Shekhar Rai1, Himadri Roy2 and Awadhesh Kumar Singh3 1,2 Research Scholar, Department of Extension Education, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University 3 Subject Matter Specialist (Agril.Extension), KVK, Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh E mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT Agriculture is a backbone of India. It employs over 49% of total workforce of India. However, climate change and frequent drought and floods make the agriculture extremely risky. New generation of rural areas are, by and large, disillusioned with agriculture and migrating to urban areas in bulk. To keep the agriculture a viable occupation, Indian Council of Agriculture Research has launched ARYA scheme. In this, 200-300 youths will be trained by each Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) in the agriculture allied sectors such as poultry farming, dairying, fisheries, value addition through food processing etc. This programme can help keep the rural youth attached to agriculture, directly or indirectly, without necessarily tilling the land. It has a potential to keep the educated youth within the rural areas. However, its success depends upon the improvement in quality life of rural areas at par with urban areas. Further, KVK itself is suffering with the money and manpower deficiency. So, it is highly desired to improve the base of the foundation while keep building the structure over it to exploit maximum from it.

INTRODUCTION

India is generally an agricultural nation where by far more than 50 per cent of the people is engaged in agricultural pursuits. However, a clear better part of the farmer does not desire their next generation to keep up their original livelihood, as of minimal cash flow from agriculture and also the inadequate standard of living within rural locations. With farming becoming a difficult proposition, more and more youth from farm families are migrating to the cities in search of livelihoods. To address this challenge and make agriculture attractive to the youth, the Union Government is rolling out a programme that offers bankable options for the youth in agriculture and allied sectors. The programme, Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture (ARYA), initiated by ICAR is aimed at attracting and empowering the youth in rural areas. It will cover both the youth with some land holding and landless youth.

ATTRACTING AND RETAINING YOUTH IN AGRICULTURE (ARYA)

Launched on 87th Foundation Day of ICAR i.e.25th July, 2015 in Patna. This project was proposed by ICAR with the help of K. Narayana Gowda committee (Indian Council of

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development

Agricultural Research) and approved by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and implemented by Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs)

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT ARYA

1. To attract and empower the Youth in Rural Areas to take up various Agriculture, allied and service sector enterprises for sustainable income and gainful employment in selected districts.

2. To enable the Farm Youth to establish network groups to take up resource and capital intensive activities like processing, value addition and marketing.

3. To demonstrate functional linkage with different institutions and stakeholders for convergence of opportunities available under various schemes/program for sustainable development of youth.

OPERATIONAL MECHANISM OF ARYA

• The project shall be implemented in 25 districts (one district from each state) through the KVKs of those districts with technical partners from Institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Agricultural Universities and others.

• One or two entrepreneurial development units shall be established at the KVK itself so that it/those serve(s) as entrepreneurial training unit(s) for the farm youth.

• The KVKs shall also facilitate youth for establishing various entrepreneurial units at the farm of the youths or group of youth.

IDENTIFICATION OF BENEFICIARY YOUTH

• Each KVK shall involve about 200 youths having less than 35 years of age.

• The selection of the youth shall be made on the basis of gender and social status.

• The implementing KVK shall evaluate the capability of each candidate (Youth) to select a particular suitable agricultural venture for him/ her.

• The District Committee constituted at KVK level for implementation of the ARYA project will also provide overall guidance in selection of the potential youth with entrepreneurial aptitude.

• Besides developing entrepreneurship capabilities, the youth shall be trained on the essential skills as per the requirement of selected enterprises and entrepreneurial units

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shall be established at their location within the selected district depending upon market potential of the enterprise and availability of fund.

• The purpose is to establish economic models for youth in the villages so that youths get attracted in agriculture and overall rural situation is improved.

• Skill development of rural youths will help in improving their confidence levels and encourage them to pursue farming as profession, generate additional employment opportunities to absorb under employed and unemployed rural youth in secondary agriculture and service related activities in rural areas.

• The trained youth groups will function as role model for other youths and will demonstrate the potentiality of the agri-based enterprises and also give training to other farmers.

NEED OF THE SCHEME

 Youth plays A vital role in meaningfully transforming Agriculture in India.  The youth population is estimated to be 47.9406 crores till 2021.  At present, 35 % of the total population is in in the age group of 15-35 years, out of which 70 % live in rural areas.  Large numbers of people, mostly young are moving away from rural areas to urban centres because there are fewer employment opportunities back home.  Out of total migrants from rural to urban areas youth account for 30 per cent., which has several implications for the future of Indian agriculture.  While the average age of Indian population is only 29 years, the average age of farmers is 55 years which indicates lesser youth participation in agriculture.  Furthermore, shifting out of agriculture is high among farmers below 30 years of age.  Given the growing disinterest of youth in this sector, there are risks to agriculture raising the question of -‗Who Will Farm In The Future…?‘  In order to create interest and confidence among rural youth in agriculture, there is a need to make agriculture more profitable.  Retaining youth in agriculture and making agriculture more profitable are thus, big challenges.

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 There is a continuous increase in the migration of rural youth to urban areas. ‗The difference in basic amenities, communication, health and education facilities between villages and urban areas also attracts the youth towards cities.  On the other hand, small land holdings are on the rise which poses challenge to food security for increasing population.  Thus, it was felt to bring a comprehensive model for the development of rural youth in general and agricultural youth in particular. WAYS TO MOTIVATE YOUTH IN AGRICULTURE

• Demystifying the negative myths about agriculture. • Agriculture in Education system since primary level. • Presenting agriculture as a profitable venture. • Availing special agriculture funding for youth. • Providing training opportunities in new technologies. • Modernizing agriculture. • Support youth in establishing and managing a youth networking agriculture. • Include youth in policy decision making and implementation. • Providing incentives to young people engaged in agriculture. • Preferential treatment for young farmers. • Availing fair market opportunities for youth. • Recognition and supporting young graduates as potential employees within the agribusiness sector.

WAYS TO MOTIVATE AGRI-GRADUATES TO OPT AGRICULTURE AS A PROFESSION

 Two-pronged strategy- 1) Farm School 2) ACABC.  Need for a few Centres of Excellence in Agriculture.  Agricultural University motto should be ―Every Student an Entrepreneur‖.  Universities should generate awareness of self-employment opportunities.

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development

SOME PROGARMMES INITIATED TO ATTRACT THE YOUTHS IN AGRICULTURE:

1) Nehru Yuva Kendra, Mini Dairy Scheme, 2) Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme, 3) Agri Clinics and Abri Business Centres Scheme, 4) Student Ready (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana), 5) Rural Agricultural Work Experience Programme.

YOUTH CENTERED FRAME WORK APPROACH

CONCLUSION

Technological and managerial up gradations of farm operations will definitely hold the youth in Agriculture and can help them to lead the decent living. For young people to take any profession and sustain in that profession, it should be economically rewarding and intellectually satisfying. And it is applicable to farming also. Unless farming becomes both intellectually stimulating and economically rewarding, it will difficult to attract or retain rural youth in farming. (M.S. Swaminathan, 2011). Young farmers of the nation are in dilemma to choose farming as a

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development livelihood option. So, the responsibility lies with the young graduates of Agricultural sciences, joining hands with extension personnel with the guidance of Agricultural institutions, to motivate the farm youth to be socially responsible, professionally sharp and nationally proud and ultimately change the agriculture scenario in the progressive and desirable way.

REFERENCES

 Swaminathan, M. S. (2011) Youth as Catalysts of accelerated agricultural and rural development. LEISA INDIA, Vol.13:6-7.  Padma S.R.and Rathakrishnan, T. (2018). Attracting and Retaining Youth In Farming. International Journal of Current Advanced Research. 7(6), pp. 13662-1366.

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ROLE OF MOBILE PHONE TECHNOLOGY IN IMPROVING SMALL FARM PRODUCTIVITY

Kiran Bala and Nisha Tiwari College of Community & Applied Sciences, EECM, MPUAT University, Udaipur, Raj. E mail: [email protected]

INTRODUCTION With this era, Technology is parts of our lives, and it is widely available to everyone. The main forms of technology in industry, farming and household are communication and mobile technology. More than half of populations use mobile phones, nearly 80% of world's population. Almost cent percent of farmers use mobile phones in developing countries, where mobile phones may be the only available widespread computing and communication technology. We have the ability to use mobile technology to help farmers improve their agricultural production. Most of the small and marginal farmers who comprise approximately 80 percent of all farming households and holding about 50 percent of the total cultivated land. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) could be one of solution for increasing the farm productivity, which depend on IT infrastructure and network communications. Among ICT tools, the mobile phone is an instrument for farmers with this they can solve their problems. A mobile phone with highly advanced features is called a smart phone, which is also used in receiving agricultural information. Now-a-days, the mobile Phone has generated many opportunity for the farmers with this they get the information about marketing and weather. Through this important technology, they directly keep in touch with market personals and offer their produce with reasonable prices. Mobile phone can increase farm productivity should there be a reduction in the constraints that limits the use of information available to farmers through their phones. Mobile phone is very important & useful to farmers during their farming preparation, farming, harvesting and marketing. Mobile phone application may have an effect on improvement of small farm productivity. The mobile phone has reduced the gap among traders and farmers and same time farmers directly communicate with buyers and customers to find the good price of their product. Although farmer

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development have no idea about market and transport management that most of the time they have faced so many problems regarding their products. Sometimes they are being forced to sell their products to local middlemen at dumped prices. Furthermore, information on seed, variety, cropping season, pest management, fertilizer application, harvesting time and post-harvest management information can be available by using mobile phone to gain better yield. ICTs dissemination in developing countries provides much opportunity to transfer knowledge and information by private companies and government department. Last many years mobile phone coverage has been spread fast in Asian, African and Latin American countries. It was indicated that more than sixty per cent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America had access to mobile phone coverage in 2009. In the past the adoption of the mobile phones was primarily by rich people residing in urban areas. Nowadays mobile phones have been adopted by rural and urban populations in developing countries and getting a good benefit and latest information regarding weather, market and other related issues (Aker and Mbiti, 2010). Mobile phones significantly have reduced communication and information costs for the rural people. This technology has provided new opportunities for rural farmers to obtain knowledge and information about agricultural issues, problems and its usage for the development of agriculture. Similarly, use of ICTs in agricultural extension services especially mobile phone services in the agricultural sector has provided information on market, weather, transport and agricultural techniques to contact with concern agencies and department (Aker, 2011). It is seen that those farmers, who had no access to mobile phones were facing so many problems to selling their produce and getting information regarding market compare with farmers who use phone users. In the context of the Malaysia most of the farmers are facing problem to contact with agriculture experts by due to lack of communication. These communities still are depending on conventional methods such as posters and voice amplifiers. By use of this method the information might not reach its intended. These situations indicated that communication is the main cause of the problems faced by the farming community (Duncombe, 2011.S, hiang et al., 2012). Smart phones and their applications are innovations bringing good solution for agriculture development in other to help farmers to have access to relevant information.

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Opportunities for agricultural development from mobile phone usage ICTs provide farmers a chance to develop their agricultural production and increase their incomes and increase food security. Agricultural production is a main part of a long product chain which involves a number of partners who need information from each other. Mobile phone usage has proved to be potential to link these partners. As most of the agricultural production systems in this region are rain fed, use of mobile phones in weather updates would increase agricultural productivity as farmers will be aware and plan when they able to plant appropriate crops to adapt to climate patterns. With establishment of rural tele center mobile phone could be a solution to internet connectivity because most rural areas lack communication infrastructure. Internet connectivity using mobile phone is an opportunity that the farmers in rural areas could explore to improve communication with outside world. Rural communities have embraced the issue of microfinance. With increase in microfinance schemes M-banking facilities like M-Pesa, M-Sente, Z-Pesa, Zap and the like is an opportunity farmers in rural areas could use to reduce transaction costs when one has to travel all the way to urban centers just for bank services. This will be a helping tool to save the cost of transport and even their will be lack of risk of theft in the process. Improvement of extension services where farmers are lead players in extension service delivery through public-private partnership, there are opportunities for farmers to use phone to contact service providers once they have a problem. For example use of phone web systems can be a convenient medium of communication between farmers and extension workers. Also a multimedia messaging service (MMS) application can help farmers to take a photo in case of disease incidences and send it to extension worker to enable more specific and precise advisory service delivery. On the other hand, in case of farmer learning groups, consultations with subject matter specialists could be enhanced through a group teleconference using a hand free application of the mobile phone where a group could ask questions directly to the technical person and receive answers promptly.

Agrivi mobile app Farm work isn't done from the comfort of the living room. Farmers are often far from their computers and laptops, but with Agrivi mobile app they can access with Agrivi account from anywhere. Agrivi helps farmer to improve productivity, lower operating costs and increase profits. With Agrivi mobile app farmers can:-

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development

 Manage their plantations, fields and check weather forecasts If farmers out in the field in the dirt and at the mercy of weather conditions. With the Agrivi mobile application, they can check log activities and rainfall conditions on the go.

 Register tasks execution, input usage and finances Whether farmers want to track expenses on each field or track spent item quantities, they can do that with this mobile application.

 Add reminders, check for notifications and more They can add reminders for registration of mechanization, meetings, contracts, or other deals. Agrivi will alert farmers a few days before due date. They can also add documents, pictures or contracts.

How mobile apps are helping agriculture in achieving Sustainable Development Disseminating agricultural related information to farmers in the poorest communities are made easier with the help of cloud computing, integrated IT systems, online education and rapid increase of mobile phones. A main benefit of connectivity and information flow is that it helps farmers make better field management decisions. For example, it can enable to monitor the soil condition with weather information in order to better plan the planting and harvest season. Similarly, Geographical Information Systems can be used to provide pre-emptive information on pests and animal diseases so farmers can respond accordingly to the level of risk. Most effective use of fertilizer, seeds and water can also be done by using mobile and cloud computing technologies. Farmers can also save money while reducing consumption. Examples of mobile applications from across the world Let‘s look at a few other examples from around the world. Reuters Market Light (RML), is a subscription-based SMS service that provides localized information on commodity prices, crop cultivation and weather. One of the most beneficial aspects of ICT in agriculture is real-time pricing information which helps farmers decide whether to sell or hold and to identify the best crop to grow, and RML helps fill this information gap. Smartphone mobile application designed and developed by Jayalaxmi agrotech from India are

the most commonly used agriculture apps in India. Their mobile apps are in regional language

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development are designed to break the literacy barrier and deliver the information in the most simple manner.

Several thousands of farmers across Asia are empowered with these apps.

FarmerLink is a mobile solution for enabling the coconut value chain in Phillipines. This was created by Grameen Foundation and combines satellite data and farm data collected by mobile- equipped field agents to help coconut farmers increase productivity, deal with crop pest and diseases, and increase sustainability of their other farms. Due to disease outbreaks in some coconut provinces in the Philllippines, the FarmerLink was initiated as it combines satellite data and farm data collected by mobile equipped field agents to predict and detect threats from climate-sensitive pests and disease. The Farmer Link will send warnings over their mobile phones. This is an example of an early-warning intervention.

In South Africa, Vodacom has partnered with GIZ (On behalf of the German government and

Manstrat Agricultural Intelligence Solutions to launch a mobile technology solution to support

South African smallholder farmers into commercial agriculture. These provide farmers with the services they need. It promotes sustainable agricultural practices, enhances productivity and reduces risk. Sourcing from smallholder farmers as a result becomes more realistic and executable for food manufacturers and retail businesses, increasing the number of smallholders and subsistence farmers in commercial agricultural value chains.

CONCLUSION

The information communication technologies increases day by day in developing countries for the development of different people such as educationist, doctors, and agriculturist. The farmers are one of the big communities in developing countries where they have not facilities in their area for increase their product and income. Mobile phone is increasing among farmers but still

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development there is a gap seen among business, customers and farmers. There is needing have intensify different project about mobile phone technologies where farmers could get easy access to communicate with people to sell their goods in market. The government and other related department should also plan to reach these farmers and provide latest information about seed, weather and market on the time and provide good price of their product.

REFERENCES

 Aker, J. C. (2011). Dial ―A‖ for agriculture: a review of information and communication

technologies for agricultural extension in developing countries. Agricultural Economics,

42 (6), 631-647.

 Aker, Jenny C. & Isaac Mbiti. Summer (2010). Mobile phones and economic

development in Africa. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 24 (3), 207-232.

 Shiang-Yen, T., Wei, L. H., Osman, M. A., & Malim, N. (2012).Agro-based industry,

mobile phone and youth: A recipe for success. European Journal of Scientific Research,

36 (1), 41-48.

 http://www.sourcetrace.com/mobile-apps-for-agriculture/

 http://www.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/Publications/PDFS/MM10320.pdf

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AGRI-STARTUP Murchana Malakar1 and Angelina Patro2 1Department of Extension Education, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam 2 Department of Extension Education, OUAT, BBSR E mail:[email protected]

INTRODUCTION

A startup is a young company that is just beginning to develop. They are usually small and initially financed and operated by a handful of founders or an individual. These companies offer a product or service that is not currently being offered elsewhere in the market, or that the founders believe is being offered in an inferior manner.

Incubators

An incubator is a collaborative program designed to help new startups succeed. It helps entrepreneurs solve some of the problems commonly associated with running a startup by providing workspace, seed funding, mentoring and training. The sole purpose is to help entrepreneurs grow their business. They can provide assistance via:

1. Access to financial capital through relationships with financial partners

2. Access to experienced business consultants and management-level executives

3. Access to physical location space and business hardware or software

4. Access to informational and research resources via relationships with local universities and government entities.

Why start up is needed and how to start it?

Start-up is needed to be one‘s own boss, exploring oneself, for being a job creator and create value for society. To create a start-up, we have to generate some new ideas then we have to make a model and repeat the actions thereafter. Thereafter a co-founder must be found who would help us in creating the start-up, register it, split the ownership and look for funding then launch it and follow up. It must be taken care of that the start-up grows 5% in a week which must keep growing and thereafter launch again.

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GOVERNMENT‘S PERSPECTIVE

India has to support 17% of the world‘s population on just 24%of its geographical area. Agriculture continues to be a vital component of India‘s economy contributing over 14.2% of India‘s GDP and providing employment to the majority (55%) of its population. Indian agriculture has achieved self-sufficiency and today takes pride in not only meeting the needs of our population but also playing a major role in agricultural trade. Ensuring farmer‘s security is far more vital for the nation to ensure food security to the country. Transformation of agriculture to agri-startups is an important strategy where farmers focus not only on production but marketing strategies. There are 74 agricultural universities in India which produces more than 40,000 agricultural graduates and diploma holders every year. The unemployment rate is very high i.e. 4.9% in India.

Unemployment Rate (%)

Japan 2.8

China 3.97 India UK US 4.4 US China UK 4.7 Japan

India 4.9

0 1 2 3 4 5

Source: www.tradingeconomics.com|ministry of labour and employment, India

Therefore, the Govt. of India launched Startup India on 16th January, 2016 under Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and opened a site wherein they defined it as ―Startup is an entity incorporated in India not prior to five years with annual turnover not exceeding INR 25 crores in any proceeding financial year working towards innovation, development, deployment or commercialization of new products, processes or services driven by technology or intellectual property.‖

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INDIA CHINA UK US 10,000+ 10,000+ NEED: 7,900+ CANADA 83,000+

6,100+

Source: Microsoft Ventures, Zinnov, NASSCOM Startup India report 2015

India‘s growth rate is much higher than US and China but as shown in the graph, the numbers of startups are more in China and US than India. So there is a huge scope for startups.

Pre-requisites in startup: Customers, Product, Timing, Competition and Finance

Start-ups in India

There are 10,000+ startups in India. Here it is shown the technology based startups and the non- technology startups, the main focus i.e. Agri-startups are 11% as a whole.

E-commerce Engineering Construction B2B 13 17 Agri products 33 Consumer 32 8 internet Textile Mobile apps 13 Printing & packaging 10 SaaS Transport & logistics 11 Outsourcing & support 12 Other 5 6 8 8 24 Other

Fig: Technology based startups Fig: Non-technology based startups

Source: Startup India: An overview, 2015

Indian Startup Scenario

India is the third largest startup hub where the average age of founders is 28 years with 9% of entrepreneurs being women with 480 startups in 2010 which has increased to 800 in 2015.It is expected to increase in 2000 by 2020.

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Agri-Startup and its need

Startup in the field of agriculture is referred to as agricultural startup.Agri-startup is the backbone of India‘s economy. It is India‘s biggest employer. There are huge employment opportunities for the farmers and agricultural graduates which promote rural welfare.

Present Scenario of Agri-startup:

Agri-startup has attracted less than 1% of the total startups, so funding has declined to 56 million from 123 million. In 2015, agri-startups raised money but 6 billion was invested overall for all.

PHASES OF A STARTUP:

Source: www.wikipedia.org

FUNDING

From an investors point of view there are 6 phases of investment; Self Funding (otherwise known as "Bootstrapping"), Friends and Family, Seed, Growth (otherwise known as "Early Stage"), Expansion, and Mezzanine

Startup Funding Process Public

Markets

Venture Sales Capital Risk

CONCEPT STARTUP GROWTH EXPANSION 86

New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development

Case studies:

Startups can be both offline as well as online.

Offline: Omnivore Partners invests in startups from India developing breakthrough technologies for food and agriculture. It was started by Mark Khan and Jinesh Shah by investing in August 2011, the Omnivore portfolio has grown to eleven companies, all of which are working to fundamentally transform India's rural economy.

Online: The agrihub.com is a one stop discovery platform for conventional agriculture and hi- tech agriculture. Theagrihub.com aims to connect genuine traders, companies and distributors to cater the need of farmers. The company is focused on stimulating the development of an open, collaborative and prosperous agriculture e-commerce ecosystem that benefits consumers, merchants and the economy as a whole. The company was founded by Rajeeb Kumar Roy in Jan 2016 and is privately held.

Extension efforts towards startup:

The First National Agripreneurs‘ Convention, Agri-Startups Exhibition and Award Ceremony organized by National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) at Hyderabad during 7-9th March, 2017 at HMDA Ground, adjacent to Prasad‘s IMAX Theatre, Necklace Road, Hyderabad is the first of its kind event in which 125 Stalls showcased Agri- Startups and Institutional support to Agri-Startups.

FUTURE PROSPECTS:

Since nearly half of India‘s population works in agriculture therefore improving the operational efficiency and building solutions to indigenous problems by being real and selling above cost solutions would help in iterating an elusive market across Indian farms.

CONCLUSION:

―We have a million problems, but at the same time we have over a billion minds that can solve these problems‖ - Narendra Damodardas Modi.

Agri-startups are an important stakeholder in agricultural ecosystems. The institutions can provide significant value addition by providing subsidized financing to improve the farming sector. Since many of the startups are inspired by western countries these do not fit in our

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development country. The kind of startups should be visualized with farmers point of view. Agricultural extension can play a significant role in helping the farmers to motivate them to take startups and turn into reality.

REFERENCES:

 http://www.franchiseindia.com/entrepreneur/interview/emerging/non- techpreneur/Young-startups-are-the-backbone-of-agriculture-sector-Jinesh-Shah- Omnivore-Partners-299/  https://yourstory.com/2013/04/arohan-foods-a-startup-in-north-east-india-receives-series- a-funding-from-omnivore-partners/  http://startupsclubpost.com/analysis/agriculture/  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/data-harvesting-makes-agri-tech- startups-hot-for-investors/articleshow/56726006.cms  http://www.omnivore.vc/images/pdf/omnivore-impact-report2016.pdf  http://startupindia.gov.in/  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startup_company  https://yourstory.com/2014/03/agriculture-startups-india/  http://www.startup-buzz.com/can-agro-startups-really-help-the-indian-agricultural- scenario/  http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/12/what-is-a-startup.asp  http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/incubatorfirm.asp  https://yourstory.com/2015/11/agro-startups/  http://indianexpress.com/article/business/business-others/huge-potential-but-bigger- challenges-for-agricultural-startups/  https://yourstory.com/2013/05/agri-logistics-in-india-challenges-and-emerging-solutions/  http://www.startupcommons.org/uploads/2/1/0/9/21090978/_growthacademy- curriculum.pdf  https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/276773  https://m.economictimes.com/small-biz/startups/features/for-indias-agri-tech-startups- the-wind of-change-is-finally-here/amp_articleshow/64714325.cms

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IMPACT OF KISAN MOBILE ADVISORY (KMA) ON AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY DISSEMINATION

Nisha Tiwari and Kiran Bala College of Community & Applied Science, EECM. MPUAT, Udaipur, Raj.

INTRODUCTION In recent past people like Indians used to believe in secrecy of information. But the concept of people living in this 21st century is totally reversed. Presently we like to share the information. Information is thus emerging as more and more power. Experts of this field confidently predict that our poverty line will no longer be measured in the terms of money, but in terms of information. It is merely possible because of the revolution of information communication technology which is responsible for wide spread penetration of computer technology as well as mobile services in to the social fabric. The technology in turn influenced the society, development and social environment. That is to say that in this age of information revolution, information technologies are being used in almost all walks of life. Today in every walk of life, Computer, Internet and Mobile are turning out to be extremely important. Well known communication scientist Marshal Mcluhan predicted in his pioneering book ―Medium is the Message‖ that due to information revolution the world would become very small. So small that it will be described as ―Global Village‖.His prediction is now turning out to be quite true. Information Technology (ICT) is today becoming as important as ‗roti‘, kapra, aur makan‘. Emerging Information systems and communication networks have redefined the way knowledge is shared, processed, stored and retrieved. Even in rural India, ICTs are having a profound impact changing the rationale of development activities and strategies. A number of initiatives have proved the potential of ICTs in meeting the information and communication needs of the people for agriculture and rural development. Kisan Mobile Advisory Services Indian agriculture is essentially small farm agriculture with the majority of farmers owning less than 1 hectare land. Small and marginal farmers now constitute over 80 per cent of farming households in India. The land and water resource base for an average farm holding has declined over the last few decades. There are wide gaps in yield potential and national average yields of

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development most commodities. "In addition to stressed natural resources and very inadequate rural infrastructure, there are clear evidence of technology fatigue, run-down delivery systems in credit, extension and marketing services and of insufficient agricultural planning at district and lower levels" (Planning Commission, 2011). Kisan Mobile Sandesh (KMS) or Kisan Mobile Advisory Services (KMAS) is one among several methods of ICTs working successfully for dissemination of latest information. KMAS is best on the liner model of communication, which involve four major component of communication process viz. Sender, Message, Channel and Receiver, Mobile phones, Short Message Service (sms) are important tools and can be used by the KVK specialist. The extension functionary is the user of the information while farmers are implementer at field level. Kisan Mobile Advisory Service was launched for sending information through SMS in Mehsana District through Krishi Vigyan Kendra during January 2014. The content of messages were typed in Gujarati language and information related to crop production, crop protection, vegetable and fruit production, spice crops, dairy farming, weather forecasting, post harvest management and other agricultural and allied related information sent to end users. Access to adequate information is very essential to increase agricultural productivity (Sharma et al., 2012) Agricultural extension services can play an important role in addressing many of these challenges. Perhaps, there is no agency at the ground level, other than agricultural extension services that can provide knowledge support to farmers and other intermediaries and at the same time support programme implementation. Considering the changing nature of agriculture and the evolving challenges, producers currently need a wider range of support, including organizational, marketing, technological, financial and entrepreneurial. To be successful, farmers require a wide range of knowledge from different sources and support to integrate these different bits of knowledge in their production context. Traditional public- sector extension services use a variety of extension programmes to overcome barriers to technological adoption without much success (Aker, 2010). Typically poor and illiterate, rural Indian farmers generally have very limited access to information regarding improved farm techniques (Jain, 2011). Farmers get the information through various means such as famers & farm women training programme, group contacts, scientist visit of farmer field, field day, farmer fair and other mass communication methods under Agricultural Extension Services. Several emerging challenges confront Indian farmers so far. These include limited land and water availability, which is further exacerbated by degradation of natural recourses; climate change; change in demand and

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development consumption pattern moving toward high value crop; increasing population pressure; and liberalization of trade (Lele et al., 2010). Agrawal et al (2014) found that, the variables age, education, annual income, information seeking behaviour, appropriateness of message were positively significant at 0.05 per cent level of significance. The profile analysis clearly indicated that majority of the KMS beneficiaries belonged to the young age group (57.26%) and were having education upto high school (47.00%). Their main occupation was farming (70.08%), possessed medium size of landholding (50.42%). Higher percentage of Kisan Mobile Sandesh beneficiaries (52.99%) had above 5 members in the family and belonged to medium annual income (46.16%) category. Patel et al (2015) found that messages were highly understandable for large majority 42.50 % of the members of farmer‘s category. It was highly understandable for 80 % and 50 % KMA member of in-service personnel and input supplier category respectively. Messages were needful and timely for 67.50% of KMA member of farmer‘s category and about 70% and 50% for inservice personnel and input supplier, respectively. As far as applicability of message is concerned, the messages were fully applicable for about 44 % of KMA member of farmer‘s. Majority of the framers 72.50 % were conveyed the messages minimum to one another farmers in social system. Mukherjee et al (2012) concluded study in Aligarh district of Utter Pradesh to find out factors associated with farmer membership in Tata Kisan Sansar and found that education, occupation, social participation, extension agency contact, economic motivation, innovation proneness and marketing orientation were positively and significantly correlated with dependent variatble farmers‘ membership in Tata Kisan. Constraints faced by Kisan Mobile Advisory- 1. Network busy problem 2. Problem in the network connection while calling to KCC 3. Illiterate farmers could not call and ask the KCC officials 4. Difficulties in getting complete information on the topic 5. Difficulties in getting recent and updated information on agricultural technologies 6. KCC agents not providing information on organic agriculture and ITK 7. Location specific needs of the farmer not solved by KCC officials. 8. Clarity of the information provided is not good and not in the local dialect of the region.

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9. Lack of Credibility in the information provided by KCC level I officials 10. Difficulties in explaining problems through phone 11. Delivery of information by KCC officials is very fast and not understandable. 12. Irrelevant answers from the KCC officials for the query asked. Suggestions given by the selected Kisan Call Center beneficiaries- 1. More information on low cost technologies can be provided. 2. More centers are required. 3. Reliable and daily Market and weather Information may be provided. 4. Location specific information may be provided. 5. Latest technological information can be provided. 6. Infrastructure of KCC should be increased to meet the needs of farming community. 7. Farm Machinery details may be provided. 8. All agriculture & allied sector government schemes information to be provided. 9. More awareness should be created among the farmers. 10. Information provided by officials should be practically applicable to the current situation. 11. Post-Harvest / Value Addition information of main crops may be provided.

CONCLUSION With the economic, social, political and cultural development in the village the technologies like mobile, internet, internet, teletext, video text and microcomputers should necessarily be used for communication with farmers. Indian agriculture has drastically changed after liberalization, globalization, marketization and privatization. The shift towards commercial and export oriented agricultural demands, information based approaches to agriculture communication is need of present scenario. Undoubtly, the ICT like Kisan Mobile Advisory offer great scope for collection and dissemination of agricultural and rural information up to the farmers and its initiatives confirms the fact that farming community is also geared to accept change.

REFERENCES  Agrawal S, Singh SRK and Rajan P. 2014. Correlation of technical knowledge of Kisan Mobile Sandesh beneficiaries in Jabalpur district: a case of mobile-based ICT application Journal Agriculture Update 9 (2) 237-242.

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 https://www.scribd.com/document/282345513/Assessment-of-Kisan-Mobile-Advisory- KMA-Service-for-Dissemination-of-Agriculture-Information  https://www.seea.org.in/special_issue/vol2/41.pdf  http://www.ijritcc.org/download/1437547032.pdf  Lela, U. et al. (2010). Transforming agricultural research for development. Paper presented at the global conference on agricultural research for development, Montpellier, France.  Mukherjee A, Bahal R, Burman RR, Dubey KS and Jha KG. 2012. Effectiveness of Tata Kisan Sansar in technology advisory and delivery services in Uttar Pradesh.  Patel VK. 1999. A study on impact of integrated rural development programme (IRDP) on income and employment generation with reference to dairy enterprises in Rampur Naikin Block of Sidhi District (M.P.). M.Sc. (Ag.) Thesis (unpublished), JNKVV, Jabalpur.

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ADOLESCENT DRUG ABUSE - AWARENESS AND PREVENTION

Pratima Sachan, Pratima Tiwari and Alka Nigam Research Scholar CSAUAT Kanpur E-mail:[email protected]

ABSTRACT Many unhealthy behaviors often begin during adolescence and represent major public health challenges. Substance abuse has a major impact on individuals, families, and communities, as its effects are cumulative, contributing to costly social, physical, and mental health problems. We conducted an overview of systematic reviews to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to prevent substance abuse among adolescents. We report findings from a total of 46 systematic reviews focusing on interventions for smoking/tobacco use, alcohol use, drug use, and combined substance abuse. Our overview findings suggest that among smoking/tobacco interventions, school-based prevention programs and family-based intensive interventions typically addressing family functioning are effective in reducing smoking. Mass media campaigns are also effective given that these were of reasonable intensity over extensive periods of time. Among interventions for alcohol use, school-based alcohol prevention interventions have been associated with reduced frequency of drinking, while family-based interventions have a small but persistent effect on alcohol misuse among adolescents. For drug abuse, school-based interventions based on a combination of social competence and social influence approaches have shown protective effects against drugs and cannabis use. Among the interventions targeting combined substance abuse, school-based primary prevention programs are effective. Evidence from Internet-based interventions, policy initiatives, and incentives appears to be mixed and needs further research. Future research should focus on evaluating the effectiveness of specific interventions components with standardized intervention and outcome measures. Various delivery platforms, including digital platforms and policy initiative, have the potential to improve substance abuse outcomes among adolescents; however, these require further research. Key World: Adolescent Abuse, Drug Abuse, Prevention Programs, Awareness

INTRODUCTION

Adolescence is recognized as the period for onset of behaviors and conditions that not only affect health limited to that time but also lead to adulthood disorders. Unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use often begin during adolescence; they are closely related to increased morbidity and mortality and represent major public health challenges. Unemployment, poor health, accidents, suicide, mental illness, and decreased life expectancy all have drug misuse as a major common contributing factor. Substance abuse has a major impact on individuals, families, and communities as its effects are cumulative, contributing to costly social, physical, and mental health problems. Several factors can enhance the risk for initiating or continuing substance abuse including socioeconomic status, quality of parenting, peer group influence, and biological/inherent predisposition toward drug addiction. This culminates in a

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development cycle where these individuals cease to perform as effective members of society and instead are consumed by their addictions. Today‘s youth face many risks, including drug abuse, violence, and HIV/AIDS. Responding to these risks before they become problems can be difficult. One of the goals of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is to help the public understand the causes of drug abuse and to prevent its onset. Drug abuse has serious consequences in our homes, schools, and communities. From NIDA‘s perspective, the use of all illicit drugs and the inappropriate use of licit drugs is considered drug abuse. Preventing adolescents from abusing drugs and alcohol means getting them through a vulnerable time in their life. Research has shown that people are more likely to develop an addiction if they start abusing drugs at a young age. Factors That Influence Adolescents to Substance Abuse Many adolescents get high from abusing substances which range from diverted prescription drugs to street drugs to inhalants to alcohol. Some of these teens will go on to a life of addiction, abusing increasingly dangerous substances. Some teens will have more short-lived experience, as abusing a drug or other substance even one time can be fatal. Parents and interested adults should examine the factors that lead teenagers to abuse substances in an effort to prevent this risky behavior. 1. Peer Pressure The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that peers have a large influence on drug-abusing behavior. Many teens use drugs for the first time to avoid being stigmatized by their friends or to impress others. The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign advises that the best way for adult to avoid succumbing to peer pressure is to be prepared in advance with ideas of what they want to say. Parents can empower teens by role playing situations. The parent assumes the role of the drug-using peer and the child practices reacting to being pressured into participating in drug use.

2. Genetics According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, scientists recognize that genetic predispositions to drug abuse exist, but they have yet to pinpoint the specific genes involved. This may have to do with a brain "feel good" chemical called dopamine, and a person's gene- controlled relationship with it. While one adult may try a hallucinogen one time, a adolescent genetically predisposed to have addiction problems may desire to use it again and again as they

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development naturally derive more pleasure from dopamine or have a deficit of it to begin with. While scientists figure all this out, parents should strongly caution teens who have might have a genetic relationship with a drug addict or alcoholic about avoiding substance abuse.

3. Family Growing up in a family that emphasizes getting "high" from legal or illegal substances can cause an adolescent to think drug use is acceptable. Mayo Clinic explains that this unhealthy family influence may be a factor in a teen's initial drug experimentation. Exposure to family members who reach for a substance to cure every pain or ailment can cause a teen to do the same. Teens get many of their values from parents and other adult influences, and often mimic what they see. Its never too late to establish healthier family traditions and set a good example for teens.

4. Thrill-seeking Tendencies Adolescent who have a tendency to seek thrills and adrenaline rushes may be at higher risk of abusing drugs due to the "high" feeling that is achieved from early substance use. While everyone enjoys a rush of feel-good chemicals from appropriate sources, some teens get a feeling from drugs that causes them to continue their use despite negative consequences. If a parent sees a pattern of thrill-seeking behavior in his child, he can discuss safe outlets for it versus unsafe drug use.

5. Stress Some teens, like some adults, reach for substances as an attempt to relieve stress. This can be the root of substance abuse in adolescents with underlying mental conditions such as generalized anxiety disorder or social anxiety disorder. Child abuse—past or current—can create the level of stress that triggers some teens to abuse drugs. If your child seems to be under undue stress, insist on a mental health evaluation and counseling if needed.

6. Low Self-worth An Adolescents with low self-worth is more likely to engage in self-abusive behaviors such as drug use. This likelihood is heightened if some of the other mentioned influencing factors are also present in a teen's life. Parents can help a child find skills in which she excels to help avoid or counteract low self-worth.

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7. Desire for Performance Enhancement According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, some adolescents begin using drugs as a misguided attempt to improve sports or academic performance. These adult often have a sense of immortality and do not feel that the drug's negative effects can harm them. All adult athletes should be educated on the dangers of performance enhancing drugs and all students should understand that doing the best they can in their schoolwork is all that is required for their parents to be proud of them.

1. Prevention programs should enhance protective factors and reverse or reduce risk factors.  The risk of becoming a drug abuser involves the relationship among the number and type of risk factors (e.g., deviant attitudes and behaviors) and protective factors (e.g., parental support).  The potential impact of specific risk and protective factors changes with age. For example, risk factors within the family have greater impact on a younger child, while association with drug-abusing peers may be a more significant risk factor for an adolescent.  Early intervention with risk factors (e.g., aggressive behavior and poor self-control) often has a greater impact than later intervention by changing a child‘s life path (trajectory) away from problems and toward positive behaviors.  While risk and protective factors can affect people of all groups, these factors can have a different effect depending on a person‘s age, gender, ethnicity, culture, and environment. 2. Prevention programs should address all forms of drug abuse, alone or in combination, including the underage use of legal drugs (e.g., tobacco or alcohol); the use of illegal drugs (e.g., marijuana or heroin); and the inappropriate use of legally obtained substances (e.g., inhalants), prescription medications, or over-the-counter drugs. 3. Prevention programs should address the type of drug abuse problem in the local community, target modifiable risk factors, and strengthen identified protective factors. 4. Prevention programs should be tailored to address risks specific to population or audience characteristics, such as age, gender, and ethnicity, to improve program effectiveness.

Identifying Risk Factors

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Prevention of substance abuse among adolescents requires awareness of characteristics that place youth at risk and targeting risk factors that are modifiable. Many studies have attempted to identify risk factors associated with adolescent drug and alcohol usage.

In its 2010 report titled ―Preventing Drug Use Among Children and Adolescents‖, NIDA lists several factors that can enhance or mitigate adolescent risk for initiating or continuing to abuse drugs. These factors include exposure to drugs, socio-economic status, quality of parenting, peer group influence and biological/inherent predisposition towards drug addiction4. A retrospective study by Dube et al5 measured correlations between the number of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and future substance abuse behavior. Adverse childhood events included abuse (physical, emotional or sexual), neglect (physical or emotional); growing up with household substance abuse, criminality of household members, mental illness among household members, and parental discord and illicit drug use. The study specifically compared the number of ACEs resulting in a greater likelihood of drug use initiation under 14 yr of age and also compared the number of ACEs associated with increased risk of developing addiction. The study demonstrated that each additional ACE increased the likelihood for drug use under 14 yr of age by two to fourfold and raised the risk of later addiction by five times. People with five or more ACEs were seven to ten times more likely to report illicit drug use than those with none.

Hawkins et al also reviewed many studies that attempted to identify risk factors for adolescent drug abuse. They discussed specific risk factors occurring at the societal/community level and at the individual level. Of the societal risk factors, the following were identified: laws and norms favorable toward behavior (including lower minimum drinking ages) and availability. Interestingly, socio-economic status did not seem to correlate with increased risk of drug abuse among adolescents; it was only in cases of extreme poverty in conjunction with childhood behavioral problems where increased risk was observed. The personal characteristics that positively correlated with drug and alcohol abuse are numerous and include low harm avoidance, poor impulse control, parents with a history of alcoholism and drug abuse, high levels of family conflict, lack of and/or inconsistent parental discipline, a history of academic failure and a history of antisocial and aggressive behavior.

Prevention programmes

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The 2010 NIDA Report emphasizes both the role of family and community prevention programmes as vital to deterring child and adolescent substance abuse. Their findings are summarized below:

 Family prevention programmes: The NIDA Report emphasizes strengthening protective factors through the family, including increasing family bonding and using appropriate discipline. The following family characteristics place children at a higher risk for substance abuse: parent with a history of alcoholism and drug abuse, high levels of family conflict, lack of and/or inconsistent parental discipline. It follows that eliminating these risk factors can reduce the risk of a child/adolescent abusing drugs and alcohol. Once these risk factors are identified, families may benefit from formal prevention programmes that can focus on enhancing family bonding, parenting skills (including communication, rule-setting, appropriate disciplinary actions) and changing parental behaviours that may place a child at risk for later abuse . One example of a family prevention/treatment programme is multi-dimensional family therapy (MDFT). This is a comprehensive family-based outpatient or partial hospitalization (day treatment) programme for substance-abusing adolescents and those at high risk for continued substance abuse and other problem behaviours. MDFT focuses on helping youth develop more effective coping and problem-solving skills for better decision-making and helps the family improve interpersonal functioning as a protective factor against substance abuse and related problems. Liddle et al compared multi-dimensional family therapy with individual cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and found that although both treatments were promising, MDFT was more efficacious in treating substance use problem severity, in addition to creating more long lasting effects than standard CBT.  Community and school prevention programmes Prevention programs in schools focus on children‘s social and academic skills, including enhancing peer relationships, self-control, coping skills, social behaviors, and drug offer refusal skills. School-based prevention programs should be integrated within the school‘s own goal of enhanced academic performance. Evidence is emerging that a major risk for school failure is a child‘s inability to read by the third and fourth grades (Barrera et al. 2002), and school failure is strongly associated with drug abuse. Integrated programs

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strengthen students‘ bonding to school and reduce their likelihood of dropping out. Most prevention curricula include a normative education component designed to correct the misperception that many students are abusing drugs.one of the many examples of school prevention programmes cited in the NIDA Report

Reconnecting Youth (RY); a school-based prevention programme for high school students with poor school achievement and a potential for not completing their education. Participants may also show signs of multiple problem behaviours, such as substance abuse, depression, aggression, or suicidal behaviours. Students are screened for eligibility and then invited to participate in the programme. The programme goals are to increase school performance, reduce drug use, and learn skills to manage mood and emotions. RY blends small group work (10-12 students per class) to foster positive peer bonding, with social skills training in a daily, semester- long class. Early experiments have shown that participation in RY improved school performance (20% improvement in grade point averages), decreased school dropout, reduced hard drug use (by 60%), and decreased drug use control problems, such as progression to heavier drug use. The Life Skills Training Program exemplifies universal classroom programs that are provided to middle schools. The program teaches drug resistance, self-management, and general social skills in a 3-year curriculum, with the third year a booster session offered when students enter high school. The Caring School Community Program is another type of school-based intervention. This universal elementary school program focuses on establishing a ―sense of community‖ among the classroom, school, and family settings. The community support that results helps children succeed in school and cope with stress and other problems when they occur. An indicated intervention that reaches high school students, Project Towards No Drug Abuse focuses on students who have failed to succeed in school and are engaged in drug abuse and other problem behaviors. The program seeks to rebuild students‘ interest in school and their future, correct their misperceptions about drug abuse, and strengthen protective factors, including positive decision making and commitment.

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CONCLUSION

The abuse of alcohol and drugs has resulted in significant morbidity and mortality among adolescents worldwide. Many of these youth will lose their lives to drugs and alcohol and a significant number are likely to grow up to become problem drug users. Although, the substance abuse problem is complex and large in magnitude, there is a substantial amount of evidence- based research available to physicians, community leaders and schools to implement interventions that can decrease adolescent substance abuse rates. Because this issue is not peculiar to any one community or culture, we recognize that individual interventions may not be universally effective. Therefore, we emphasize the NIDA strategy of targeting modifiable risk factors and enhancing protective factors through family, school and community prevention programmes, as a generalized framework for healthcare and community activists to use when researching programmes and strategies best suited for their own community.

REFERENCE https://www.livestrong.com/article/90399-factors-influence-teenagers-substance-abuse/ https://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/files/preventingdruguse_2.pdf http://www.ijmr.org.in/article.asp?issn=0971- 5916;year=2013;volume=137;issue=6;spage=1021;epage=1023;aulast=Chakravarthy https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3734705/

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SMART VILLAGE –AN APPROACH FOR SUSTAINABLE VILLAGES

Pratima Tiwari*, Pratima Sachan*, Rohit Maurya **, Anamika Singh*, Alka Nigam* * Department of Home Science, CSAUAT Kanpur208002 **Department Vegetable Science, NDUAT Kumarganj E-mail: [email protected],

INTRODUCTION A rural area is a geographic area that is located outside cities and towns, while rural areas are also known as Village in India. As per statists, maximum population of India lives in villages, so concentration on smart villages is as important as on smart cities. In these villages, Agriculture is the chief source of livelihood along with fishing, cottage industries, pottery etc. In India there are 6,00,000 villages out of them 1,25,000 villages are backward so there is a need for designing and building the village as a smart village. At present, one of the major challenges in India is growing population and rapid urbanization. This urban growth to certain extent is unavoidable, as the economic pursuits and aspirations of the population do change and evolve. This needs to be reversed and suitably managed through a balance between rural and urban quality of life. Just like smart cities, a smart village should be interactive and multifunctional; there should be active participation of people in various activities.

―Smart Village is a concept adopted by national, state and local governments of India, as an initiative focused on holistic rural development, derived from Mahatma Gandhi's vision of Adarsh Gram (Ideal Village) and Swaraj (Self Reliance). Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) or SAANJHI) on 2nd October 2014, Gandhi's birthday, in addition to Smart Cities" and "Digital India", as a development programme for India. The Parliamentarian's Model Village Scheme main goal is for each Member of Parliament and Minister to adopt a rural village and develop it into a model by 2019 under the SAGY guidelines. The vision of SAGY is an integrated village development plan, encompassing Personal, Human, Social, and Economic dimensions.‖ A smart village is a bundle of services which are delivered to its residents and business in an effective and efficient manner. Village is main criteria for development of nation. So, develop the village in such a way that which is self-dependent in providing the services, employment and

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development well connected to the rest of the world i.e. smart village. The main aim to smarten village by offering basic facilities, development in education, health, productive enterprise, clean water, sanitation, environmental sustainability, smart agriculture, organized settlements, road infrastructure, disaster management cell and participatory democracy which helps to support further improvement in access to energy. Now a day, our government also gives strong focus on smart village. Government implements so many schemes on smart village.

Concept of Smart Village

S Social, skilled and Zero tolerance for caste and creed and no discrimination on Simple . gender and religion. Skilled simple living and high thinking. M Moral, methodical and Moral values of Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda Modern . using modern (latest) methods. A Aware, adaptive and Awareness about global, social and economic issues adaptive Adjusting . and adjusting the fast changing environment. R Responsive and ready Ready to generate all resources for self -sufficiency and self- governance. Responsive for co-operative movements and collective wisdom. T Techno savvy and Techno savvy for IT and transparent mobile usage harmonic transparent relations

Figure no.1.Concept of Smart Village

1. Some parameters of Smart Village-

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•hygienic behaviour and •Soil health cards practices •Rural industrialization •Reducing risk behaviour •skills •Fostering healthy habits •Financial Inclusion

PERSONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT

SOCIAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT

•Universal access to basic •Social Jusitice health facilities •Good Governance •immunization •promotion of •education facilities voluntarism •Improving nutrition status

a) Personal Development b) Economic Development c) Human Development d) Social Development e) Environmental Development f) Basic amenities g) Good governance 2. Sectors of Smart Village: With an outline of this vision, we will now examine how it might work out so far as typical sectors of development are concerned and invite discussion. The following paragraphs outline generic features – the actual realisation of the smart villages concept will vary according to the country, region and specific context.

1. Educational facilities An ideal village should have proper arrangements of education for the children. There should be Primary schools and High schools so that the little children need not go out of the village for education. Primary education should be free and compulsory for every child up to a certain age.

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There should also be soft skills training centres and preferably an adult education centre for the elders who want to get education.

In addition to the above, some other facilities like a post-office, college, playground for children and a meeting place for elders should also be part of an ideal village.

2. Healthcare Centres and hospitals Besides food, the other most important aspect of human life is health. An ideal village should have proper facilities taking care of the health of the villagers as well as of their cattle and poultry. There should be one-two healthcare centres depending upon the population of the village. A small hospital also adds to the quality of such a village. Besides health centres for the villagers, veterinary dispensaries should also be there to take care of their live-stock.

3. Food security Approximately one in every seven people in the developing world is food insecure: unable to consume, or have access to sufficient food to sustain a healthy and active life. Energy provision together with ICT has the potential to help Smart villages to become more food secure as farmers take advantage of improvements in irrigation systems, weather forecasting, cold-storage infrastructure, and agronomic and market information4 Consequently, smart villages should be in a better position to gain from the benefits of agricultural modernisation, reduce wastage and capture more of the agricultural value chain.

4. Environment Smart villages can undertake a stewardship role for their local environment, aided by technologies to remotely monitor key environmental indicators, such as forest diagnostics, water quality, soil conditions and landscape changes. Pressure on deforestation can be reduced through the use of efficient cook stoves to decrease the use of traditional biomass energy sources (e.g. charcoal), which is currently a key driver of unsustainable forest use.

Participatory Democracy Rural communities tend to be politically disenfranchised due to their relative remoteness, and consequently to lack information on societal issues and to face difficulties in being actively involved in debates about how to address them. Through ICT, rural communities in smart villages can become more aware of their social, economic and political rights, engage in governance processes at all levels, and hold policymakers accountable.

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5. Good Connectivity Good connectivity is one of the most essential requirements of an ideal village. The village should be well-connected to other parts of the country by roads and also by rails, if possible. The streets and lanes of the village should also be well maintained so that people can easily commute from one part to another.

6. Houses The houses should be neat and clean. They should be well-ventilated to allow free flow of light and air. There should be good arrangement for proper sanitation and drainage system.

7. Proper sanitation and drainage facilities An ideal village should have good system of sanitation and drainage so that dirty water and waste can be easily drained out. It would help the village keep clean and free from many diseases caused by filthy water. It would also save the villagers from water-logging during the rainy season.

8. Wholesale market within the village Most of the people living in villages are farmers by profession. They grow food crops, cash crops and fodders in their fields. While they consume the food crops for themselves and the fodder for their cattle, the cash crops the other surplus products are sold in the market to meet their other requirements. There should be provision for wholesale market in the village itself so that the villagers can sell their surplus products there at reasonable rates and get good return. This would save them from the hands of the middle men and bring prosperity.

9. Cottage Industries An ideal village should have well-established small cottage industries so that the artisans and small farmers can utilize their skills and extra time to produce articles necessary for day to day use and earn a handsome profit by selling them in the market.

10. Irrigation Facility : Generally farmers live in the villages. They are largely dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Failures of crop can create a big financial problem for them and this is the reason of increase in the rate of suicide among farmers in our country. The main reason responsible for

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development failures of crops in our country is lack of irrigation facility. There should be proper linkage of canals, rivers and ponds in a village. Tube-wells should also be there in sufficient numbers.

11. Skill development training for economic activities: Considerable evidences are there for the marginalisation of rural populations and the incidence of poverty within rural areas. In terms of access to services, including education and training rural people in general, are the inaugurator. Rural people are most likely in many settings, to be amongst those who are not being reached in the drive towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Moreover, such problems are typically starker for rural women and girls, given their multiple burdens. Skills and knowledge are essential driving forces of economic growth and social development of any country. They have become even more important given the increasing pace of globalization, and technological change that is taking place in the world. Countries with higher and better levels of skills adjust more effectively to the challenges and opportunities of globalization. Smart villages should take best opportunities to showcase the area and region specific skills and wisdom to the world.

12. Street lights: Solar powered street lights have all the required means today to lighten up the villagers in terms of the sense of security. Solar LED street lighting will provide a high quality, sustainable lighting solution for people in remote areas who don‘t have access to the conventional electricity grid. It will help in increasing the level of safety on roads and streets and allowing for more economic and social activity.

13. Climate and Biodiversity: Climate change today is a reality and is no longer a fiction. Climate change directly or indirectly affects the culture, productivity, disease outbreak and many other socio-economic problems. Practical steps must be taken up today for the rural people to adapt their livelihood activities to secure and dependable food supplies. Every practical adaptation option to improve food security and resilience must be properly scrutinised and efforts be made to promote the better ones with priority. Biodiversity is the totality of the varieties, variability among the organisms and the habitats or the environment where they are found. It is an important natural resource. Conservation of biodiversity and renewable exploitation of the biodiversity shall help in

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development sustaining the economic, health and welfare of the villages. Investment towards the conservation of biodiversity without confronting the rights and welfare of the people shall pave a secured way towards attaining a sustainable society and a secured future for all. Conservation of biodiversity is for the sustainable rural livelihoods besides enjoying the fruits of the balanced conditions of the surroundings. Smart villages can translate into improved farm productivity, water conservation and economic independence to village youth. It makes great social, economic and political sense.

Need for Smart Villages: The smart village concept is needed for a sustainable and a secured future. This will act as a catalyst to appreciate and facilitate the challenges and welcome the outcomes of an empowered village. It is about understanding the villages towards the growth model which is inclusive. It‘s about achieving a higher goal without compromising the roots and the sense of belongingness of the masses. The concept of smart village is contemporary and very reliable today as there is a limit of the growth of cities where the population ratio and its related issues per km of land is way above the desired norms. A smart village should be interactive and multifunctional and provisions must be there for active participation of people in various activities. A smart village is one which will automatically link local production with local procurement and local distribution. A smart village will also have the power, knowledge, healthcare, technology, entrepreneurship and quicker connectivity in terms of information acquiring and dissipation besides being capable to execute the responsibilities to the best possible manner. A smart village will not only bring Internet connection to the rural lands, but will also provide support to sustainable agricultural practices. Simply parroting the much standardised views and ideas of some selected institutions shall not suffice the needs and requirements of our villages. We need customized solutions and procedures specific to the concerned villages. Indian villages are located in different geographies and ecosystems with definite and concretely embedded respective differences in terms of needs, cultures, values and requirements. Emptying villages is no longer considered a growth imperative. Focus on the village economy with sincere efforts to create economic conditions such that more and more people contribute to the growth of the village economy, farming on their own land, producing more from their own fields shall lighten the burden of the migrants to the cities looking for

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development menial jobs. The simplest method to push for rural-urban migration has been to starve agriculture of adequate financial support and keep the farmers impoverished by giving them low prices for their produce.

Value proposition of SAGY: Very rightly, SAGY aims to instill values in people that will form the basis for transformation of thought and lifestyle at the village level. The programme aims to focus on inclusiveness of all sections of the community and garner their support towards establishing common objectives of governance of their village. Its other objectives are:  Extending the 'Antyodaya' principle, enabling social and economic development of the poorest and weakest in society.  Guaranteeing social justice for all, while ensuring gender equality and respect to all women. Bringing back the spirit of community service through voluntary work, while ensuring dignity of labour for all.  Making cleanliness a lifestyle and ensuring a right balance of developing the village in consonance with preserving the ecology.  Encouraging self-help and self-reliance, while fostering the spirit of mutual cooperation, social harmony and peace amongst all.  Ensuring local self governance that stands on principles of transparency, integrity and probity in public life.  Ensuring that all activities are carried out as per values and guidelines, as assured in the Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Duties of the Indian Constitution.

Creation of opportunities for people in villages is the major requirement priority for a smart village programme and policy. Discouraging migration to cities should not be an advice or suggestion, rather making the village self-sufficient and serviceable shall surely attract the villagers to remain productive in their own homes and villages. Proper guidance and mentoring to small farmers on how to get the best yield for the market at remunerative prices must be provided. The benefits of schemes of the Government must be directed efficiently. Every villager must be educated to rediscover his strengths and opportunities available in his village. Creating

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REFERENCE o https://e4sv.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/05-Brief.pdf o http://www.indiastudychannel.com o https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sansad_Adarsh_Gram_Yojana

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AGRI-PRENUERSHIP AS A TOOL TO UPLIFTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Purva Dayya1and Rahul Singh Chowhan2 1 Research Scholar, Department of Extension Education and Communication Management, CCAS, MPUAT, Udaipur, Rajasthan 2Senior Research Fellow (Computer Science), Agriculture University, Jodhpur Rajasthan

INTRODUCTION A shift from agriculture to agribusiness is an essential pathway to revitalize Indian agriculture and to make more attractive and profitable venture. Agripreneurship has potential to generate growth, diversifying income, providing widespread employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in rural areas. First we talk about Entrepreneurship to understand agripreneurship. ―Entrepreneurship has traditionally been defined as the process of designing, launching and running a new business, which typically begins as a small business, such as a start-up company, offering a product, process or service for sale‖. It has also been defined as the "...capacity and willingness to develop, organize, and manage a business venture along with any of its risks in order to make a profit. Entrepreneurship is a concept that encompasses transforming an idea or vision into a new business or new venture creation, or the expansion of an existing business, by an individual, a team of individuals, or an established business. Agri-preneurship An agripreneur may be defined as someone who undertakes a variety of activities in agriculture and its allied sectors to be agripreneur. An agripreneur may start an agro business, change a business direction, acquire a business or may be involved in innovatory activity of value addition. Explicit an agriprepneur is a risk-taker, opportunist, initiator which deals with the uncertain agricultural business environment of the firm. A farmer to become a successful agripreneur needs to be active, curious, determined, persistence, visionary, hardworking, come up with ideas, communicative with strong

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development management and organizational skills, recognize suitable marketing opportunities, manage the optimum resources or bearing the risk. Why India promoting Agripreneurship India is the centre for biodiversity in plants, animals, insects, micro-organisms and accounts for 17 per cent animal, 12 per cent plants and 10 per cent fish genetic resources of the globe. In recent years, there has been a considerable emphasis on crop diversification towards horticulture (fruits, vegetables, ornamental crops, medicinal and aromatic plants and spices), plantation crops (coconut, cashew nuts and cocoa) and allied activities. The problems of unemployment, underemployment and disguised unemployment have swamped the country, especially the rural common people. Considering that 2/3rd of the Indian population is employed in the agriculture sector, providing viable and sustainable business opportunities in Indian agribusiness is essential for generating employment in the country. Process of Agri-preneurship

• New venturing • Managing and ideas resources and generation and new methods of taking risk production.

INNOVATION PRODUCTION

MARKET FINANCIAL

• To identify new • Managing the optimum markets and resources and creation of geographical new source of money to territories integrate them

Source-Edited by Christie Rudmann, Specific targeted research project SSPE-CT-2005-006500

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Important Steps in the development of Agro based Entrepreneurship programme; 1. Identification of and location of perspective self-employees 2. Selection of potential self-employed/entrepreneurs from amongst prospective candidates 3. Agro based entrepreneurship development training 4. Providing help/guidance in selection of product ad preparation of project report 5. Mobilizing different resources 6. Organisational support in setting a enterprise 7. Follow up Challenges/ Barriers faced by the agripreneurs- a. Lack of funds Lack of finance available to rural entrepreneurs is one of the biggest problems which entrepreneurs are bearing now days especially due to global recession. Major difficulties faced by rural entrepreneurs includes low level of purchasing power of rural consumer so sales volume is insufficient, lack of finance to start business, reduced profits due to competition, pricing of goods and services. Major sources of finance in rural areas are loans from regional rural banks or from zamindars but their rate of interest are usually very high. Government has various institutions for this purpose but the results are not up to the level expected. Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI), Industrial development bank of India, Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI), Small Scale Industry development bank of India (SIDBI) are some of the national level (SFC) institutions that are helping out rural entrepreneurs. Some state level institutions are also working like State Financial Corporation and State Industrial Development Corporation (SIDC). These institutions are providing assistance for setting up of new ventures and side by side for modernization and expansion of existing ones but their terms and conditions are very strict to be handled. b. Lack of infrastructure The growth of rural entrepreneurs is not very healthy in spite of efforts made by government due to lack of proper and adequate infrastructural facilities. c. Risk Rural entrepreneurs have less risk bearing capacity due to lack of financial resources and external support. d. Marketing problems and competition

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Rural entrepreneurs face severe competition from large sized organizations and urban entrepreneurs. Major problems faced by marketers are the problem of standardization and competition from large scale units. They face the problem in fixing the standards and sticking to them. e. Management problems I. Lack of technological dissemination Information technology is not very common in rural areas. Entrepreneurs rely on internal linkages that encourage the flow of goods, services, information and ideas. II. Legal formalities and regulations – Rural entrepreneurs find it extremely difficult in complying with various legal formalities in obtaining licenses due to illiteracy and ignorance in farmers. III. Availability of resources Procurement of raw materials is really a tough task for rural entrepreneur. They may end up with poor quality raw materials, may also face the problem of storage and warehousing. IV. Lack of technical knowledge Rural entrepreneurs suffer a severe problem of lack of technical knowledge. Lack of training facilities and extension services create a hurdle in the development of rural entrepreneurship. V. Quality Control Another important problem is growth of rural entrepreneurship is the inferior quality of products produced due to lack of availability of standard tools, techniques and equipment, lack of quality materials. VI. Low skill level among farmers Most of the entrepreneurs of rural areas are unable to find workers with high skills. Turnover rates are also high. They have to be provided with on the job training and their training is generally a serious problem for entrepreneur as they are uneducated and they have to be taught in local language which they understand easily.

Remedies to Solve These Problems

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Different organization like IFCI, ICICI, SIDBI, NABARD etc. are trying to sort these problems. Marketing problems are related with distribution channels, pricing, product promotion etc. In order to make the rural entrepreneurs to state the business venture, the following measures may be adopted: 1. Establishment of finance cells- The financial institutions and banks which provide finances to entrepreneurs must create special cells for providing easy finance to rural entrepreneurs. 2. Concessional rates of interest - The rural entrepreneurs should be provided finance at concessional rates of interest and on easy repayment basis. The burdensome formalities should be avoided in sanctioning the loans to rural entrepreneurs. 3. A suitable supply of raw materials - Rural entrepreneurs should be ensured of proper supply of scarce raw materials on priority basis. A subsidy may also be offered to make the products manufactured by rural entrepreneurs cost competitive and reasonable. 4. Offering training facilities- Training is essential for the development of entrepreneurships. It enables the rural entrepreneurs to undertake the venture successfully as it imparts required skills to run the enterprise. Presently the economically weaker entrepreneurs of the society are offered such training facility under Prime Minister‗s Rozgar Yojna. (PMRY) Programmed FICCI, (NGOs) Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs and voluntary organizations can also arrange such training programmes for rural entrepreneurs to provide them stimulation counselling and assistance . 5. Setting up marketing co-operatives - Proper encouragement and assistance should be provided to rural entrepreneurs for setting up marketing cooperatives. These co- operatives shall help in getting the inputs at reasonable rate and they are helpful in selling their products at remuneration prices. Hence, middlemen can be avoided and rural entrepreneurs derive the benefits of enterprise.

REFERENCES • file:///C:/Users/ADMIN/Downloads/Blog%2060-agripreneurmahesh.pdf • http://www.researchfront.in/14%20JAN-MARCH%202015/12.pdf • file:///C:/Users/ADMIN/Downloads/Agripreneurshipinup%20(1).pdf • Alex, Lwakuba (2011) A Review and Analysis of Policies on Farmers‘ Entrepreneurial Development, A publication of PELUM, Misereor, pp. 1-55.

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• Mittal, Ramesh (2009) Entrepreneurship Development through Agripreneurship in India: Crossing the Boundaries with Agri-Export Zones (AEZ), A paper presenting in ICARD at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi – 221005.

ROLE OF AGRICULTURE AND ALLIED SECTORS (ANIMAL HUSBANDRY, FISHERIES, SERICULTURE, FORESTRY) IN INDIAN ECONOMY

Rahul Singh Chowhan1 and Purva Dayya2 1Senior Research Fellow (Computer Science), Agriculture University, Jodhpur Rajasthan 2Research Scholar, Department of Extension Education and Communication Management, CCAS, MPUAT, Udaipur, Rajasthan

INTRODUCTION

Indian economy is classified in three sectors - Agriculture and allied, Industry and Services. Agriculture plays a vital role in India‘s economy. Over 58 per cent of the rural households depend on agriculture as their principal means of livelihood. Agriculture is the most important sector of Indian Economy. Indian agriculture sector accounts for 18 per cent of India's gross domestic product (GDP) and provides employment to 50% of the countries workforce. India is the world‘s largest producer of pulses, rice, wheat, spices and spice products. India has many areas to choose for business such as dairy, meat, poultry, fisheries and food grains etc. India has emerged as the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world. According to the data provided by Department of Economics and Statics (DES) the production of food grains for the year 2013-2014 is 264 million tons which is increased when compared to (2012-2013) 257million tons. This is a good symptom for the Indian economy from the agriculture sector.

As per the 2nd advised estimates by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the share of agriculture and allied sectors (including agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishery) is estimated to be 17.3 per cent of the Gross Value Added (GVA) during 2016-17. Total production of agriculture sector is $366.92 billion. Contribution of Agriculture sector in Indian economy is much higher than world's average (6.1%).

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Animal husbandry

Livestock plays an important role in Indian economy. About 20.5 million people depend upon livestock for their livelihood. Livestock contributed 16% to the income of small farm households as against an average of 14% for all rural households. Livestock provides livelihood to two-third of rural community. It also provides employment to about 8.8 % of the population in India. India has vast livestock resources. Livestock sector contributes 4.11% GDP and 25.6% of total Agriculture GDP.

Role of Livestock in farmer economy The livestock plays an important role in the economy of farmers. The farmers in India maintain mixed farming system i.e. a combination of crop and livestock where the output of one enterprise becomes the input of another enterprise thereby realize the resource efficiency. The livestock serve the farmers in different ways.

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1. Income: Livestock is a source of subsidiary income for many families in India especially the resource poor who maintain few heads of animals. Cows and buffaloes if in milk will provide regular income to the livestock farmers through sale of milk. Animals like sheep and goat serve as sources of income during emergencies to meet exigencies like marriages, treatment of sick persons, children education, repair of houses etc. The animals also serve as moving banks and assets which provide economic security to the owners. 2. Employment: A large number of people in India being less literate and unskilled depend upon agriculture for their livelihoods. But agriculture being seasonal in nature could provide employment for a maximum of 180 days in a year. The land less and less land people depend upon livestock for utilizing their labour during lean agricultural season. 3. Food: The livestock products such as milk, meat and eggs are an important source of animal protein to the members of the livestock owners. 4. Social security: The animals offer social security to the owners in terms of their status in the society. The families especially the landless which own animals are better placed than those who do not. Gifting of animals during marriages is a very common phenomenon in different parts of the country. Rearing of animals is a part of the Indian culture. Animals are used for various socio religious functions. Cows for house warming ceremonies; rams, bucks and chicken for sacrifice during festive seasons; Bulls and Cows are worshipped during various religious functions. Many owners develop attachment to their animals. 5. Draft : The bullocks are the back bone of Indian agriculture. The farmers especially the marginal and small depend upon bullocks for ploughing, carting and transport of both inputs and outputs. 6. Dung: In rural areas dung is used for several purposes which include fuel (dung cakes), fertilizer (farm yard manure), and plastering material (poor man‘s cement).

Fisheries Indian fisheries and aquaculture is an important sector of food production, providing nutritional security to the food basket, contributing to the agricultural exports and engaging about fourteen million people in different activities. With diverse resources ranging from deep seas to lakes in the mountains and more than 10% of the global biodiversity in terms of fish and shellfish species, the country has shown continuous and sustained increments in fish production since independence. Constituting about 6.3% of the global fish production, the sector contributes to

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1.1% of the GDP and 5.15% of the agricultural GDP. The total fish production of 10.07 million metric tonnes presently has nearly 65% contribution from the inland sector and nearly the same from culture fisheries. Paradigm shifts in terms of increasing contributions from inland sector and further from aquaculture are significations over the years. With high growth rates, the different facets of marine fisheries, coastal aquaculture, inland fisheries, freshwater aquaculture, coldwater fisheries to food, health, economy, exports, employment and tourism of the country. Fish and fish products have presently emerged as the largest group in agricultural exports of India, with 10.51 lakh tonnes in terms of quantity and Rs.33,442 crores in value. This accounts for around 10% of the total exports of the country and nearly 20% of the agricultural exports. More than 50 different types of fish and shellfish products are exported to 75 countries around the world.

Indian Fisheries Global position 3rd in Fisheries 2nd in Aquaculture Contribution of Fisheries to GDP (%) 1.07 Contribution to Agril. GDP (%) 5.15 Per capita fish availability (Kg.) 9.0 Annual Export earnings (Rs. In Crore) 33,441.61 Employment in sector (million) 14.0

Sericulture India is the second largest silk manufacture (around 20000 MT) contributing to 18% of the raw silk production. Sericulture is an important cottage industry in India contributing roughly to 5% of GDP. Majority of the raw silk produced in Tamilnadu and Karnataka. The market share of Indian silk exports in the global silk trade is 4 to 5%which is quite insignificant. 85% of silk goods produced in India are sold in the domestic market and 15% are exported. In India, this industry provides livelihood to 6 million families spread over 59000 villages.

Innovations like eco-friendly silk where the silk is extracted from the cocoons without killing the silk worms are good trends that indicate the progress of the silk industry. The Sericulture Research Institute of Andhra Pradesh has developed a virus-resistant transgenic silkworm. This

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development silkworm would help in stabilizing would help in stabilizing silk yield levels by reducing uncertainties like viral outbreaks.

Forestry

Forests play an important role in the economic development of a country. They provide several goods which serve as raw materials for many industries. Wood grown in forests serves as a source of energy for rural households.

Forests are the home for many species of wildlife including mammals, reptiles and birds. Some of these forms of wildlife are clearly valuable to man. Ecologists have been much disturbed at the reduction in wildlife numbers, sometimes to the point of extinction, as tropical forests are cleared.

As of 2010, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations estimates India's forest cover to be about 68 million hectares, or 22% of the country's area. The 2013 Forest Survey of India states its forest cover increased to 69.8 million hectares by 2012, per satellite measurements; this represents an increase of 5,871 square kilometers of forest cover in 2 years. forestry industry contributed 1.7% to India's GDP.

Some important services provided by forests are as follows:

(a) Water: Forests absorb rainwater and release it gradually into streams. It prevents floods.

(b) Watershed: Forests keep soil from eroding into rivers.

(c) Climate: Forests stabilize our ecological stability.

(d) Recreation: Forests serve people directly for recreation. National parks and biosphere reserves sanctuaries are a great attraction for tourists. Biosphere reserves are multipurpose protected areas created to deal with conservation of bio-diversity and its sustainable use. In biosphere reserves local area resources are developed. Agricultural activities are allowed to the local communities and employment is provided to the people. Tourism in parks, sanctuaries and biosphere reserves brings revenue to the authorities that manage them.

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(e) Maintenance of the Pool of Genetic Resources: Forests contain a diversity of species, habitats, and genes that are probably their most valuable assets. They provide the gene pool that can protect commercial plant strain against changing conditions of climate.

(f) Some Goods: Some goods provided by forests are food, biomass, pulp and paper, rayon, fibers, lac, wooden articles and medicine plants.

REFERENCES  Ministry of External Affairs (2015) India in Business. Investment and Technology Promotion Division, Govt. of India.  https://www.ibef.org/industry/agriculture-india.aspx  .http://dadf.gov.in/sites/default/files/Final%20BAHS%202014%2011.03.2015%20%202. pdf  http://www.indianmirror.com/indian-industries/2012/silk-2012.html  http://nfdb.gov.in/about-indian-fisheries.htm  http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/essay/role-of-forests-in-economic-development-of-a- country/39580  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forestry_in_India

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TRAINING NEEDS OF YOUNG RURAL GIRLS IN SELECTED VOCATIONS

Sonika Sharma1 and Devendra Kumar Meena2 1 Ph. D. Scholar, College of Agriculture, Udaipur 2 Assistant Professor, College of Agriculture, Bharatpur

CONCEPT OF TRAINING Training is part of human growth and development. Training refers to the coaching and learning actions which are carried on for the primary reason of serving members of a society to acquire and relate the mandatory knowledge, skill and attitudes to carry out their jobs efficiently. Training is totality of instructions, planned and directed activity to which a person is subjected to induce learning. The word ‗training‘ is accepted as synonym for all form of knowledge, skills, attitudinal development which a person needs to keep pace with the accelerating developments in life. Training has become a must for all professionals to update their knowledge and skills. Recognizing the need for new skills and deficiencies in formal educational systems to meet growing demands at fast pace, training has become integral part of work life. Lynton and Pareek (1967) stated that training consists largely of well- organized opportunities for participants to acquire necessary understanding and skills. ILO (1986) defined training as activities aimed to provide knowledge, attitude and skills required for employment in a particular occupation for exercising a function in any field of activity. Strayton (1986) defined training as acquisition and development of those knowledge, skills, techniques, attitudes and experiences which enable an individual to make his most effective contribution to the combined efforts of the team of which a person is a member. According to Wayne F Cascio (1995) ―Training consists of planned programme designed to improve performance at the individual, group, and organizational levels. Improved performance, in turn, implies that there have been measurable changes in knowledge, skills, attitude and/or social behavior.‖ Training is regarded as a instrument for Human Resource Development (HRD). Training has enormous potential in transmitting and utilizing leadership development, latest technical know-how, organization of people, mobilization of people as well as resources, formation of self-help-groups, empowerment of resource-poor rural mass, entrepreneurship development, etc. These all are considered crucial

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development components of HRD. According to C B Memoria (2000) ―Training is a process of learning a sequence of programmed behavior. It is application of knowledge and it attempts to improve the performance of employee on the current job and prepares them for the intended job‖. Training is concerned with development of people as an individual and helping them to turn out to be more confident and capable in their jobs and in their lives. The learning method is at the center of training and the ways of and opportunities for learning are abundant and diverse. According to Edwin B. Flippo (1978) ―training is the act of increasing the knowledge and skills of an employee for doing a particular job.‖ Thus, it can be concluded that training is a method that seeks to develop skills in individual to make them competent and confident in their jobs and their life. Consequently it is a process meant for changing theactions in such a way that the result would be useful for the upliftment of theassociation.

Training Need Training needs refers to the gaps between desired and expected levels of performance. One needs many different kinds of things to live life. People have their personal need to grow. Besides they need certain things to develop professionally. All the needs of personnel do not become training need. Only those needs that concern performance of employees refers to training needs. Thus a person needs training if there is gap in his attitude, knowledge, understanding or skills related with work. Training need is a gap between job requirement and job performance. That means it is gap between the existing and desired level of competency. Thus the knowledge, attitude and skills of a person are lower than desired if the gap is significant there is emerging need for training. Training need assessment refers to the process whereby such training needs are identified, prioritized and selected for specific action as part of a training programme.

Rural young girls and their status Rural India is the foundation of this country and Indian economy. India constitutes 6.40 lakh villages and its 60-70 percent of the population is residing in rural areas (CIA World Factbook, 2012). It can be concluded that sizable number of youth population is living in the rural areas. It has been observed that rural youth as compared to urban youth are under privileged with poor access to education, innovation and technologies, employment opportunities and other resources. These restrictions experienced by rural youth resulted in feeling of inability in competing with

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development their urban counterparts. Aspirations influence learning and guide students in making life- choices (Walberg, 1989). Aspiration level of youth in rural communities is more vulnerable to the social influences of a community due to factors of isolation, population size, and community culture. Difference between aspirations of rural youth and non-rural youth existed because of the lower socio economic status of many rural families. The literature reports that rural youth have lower educational and career aspirations than their urban peer (Breen and Quaglia, 1991). Among the rural youth, rural young girls who constitute large population lagged behind owing to many socio-cultural barriers to account equal opportunities for betterment as compared to their male counterparts. Very often they are being debarred from availing better opportunities like higher education, selection for career options of their choices due to pressure from family and non availability of these options in their villages. Unequal gender relations and traditionally gender roles also give rise to specific difficulties for rural girls in accessing education. Rural girls also have poor access to land ownership and other property rights, credit facilities, incomegenerating programmes. In Indian society, girls are taken in account of weaker sex and always be subordinate to menfolk in their family outside, throughout their life. The Indian culture made them dependedand executors of the decision taken by other male members in the basic family structure. They seldom can opt for career of their choice and need. Girls and young women are often deprived of various learning and income-earning opportunities that could improve their social status and living conditions. Vocational skills training are considered to be an effective way to help empower them. Yet, existing technical and vocational education institutions often do not cater to the needs of those girls and women with limited basic educational qualifications. Various non-formal educational training programmes targeting women exist, but they can fail to consider specific needs of the target population and potential decent income earning opportunities available. Such programmes, thus, result in having a limited or even negative impact on the trainees‘ lives that only reinforces female biases associated with their secondary position in families and society. Although young girls primarily enter the workforce to give support to their families financially, studies have revealed that they also give value to mobility and greater autonomy that may come up with employment. Girls are more reluctant than boys on opening their own business. Enterprises which are owned by them are significantly smaller and less represented in capital intensive sector. They also hesitate to borrow money to invest in their business. Girls might be

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development charged with higher interest rates and asked for more guarantees because some lenders thought that girls do not have capacity to meet their debt obligation. So they depend substantially less than boys on loans both for starting a new business and for financing their activities. In spite of all the social obstacles, in last few decades there has been a global move towards women empowerment and supporting gender focused development, women are attaining independence, becoming more excellent, entering into employment and starting their own ventures (Stevenson et. al., 2011). ―We believe that these girls can be agents of change. If we educate one girl, it will change a whole family and community,‖ Says Bhardwaj, (Executive Director Voice 4 girls, 2008). Rural young girls and women can play a significant role in national economy if they are linked to small and medium enterprises. It is also visible from the data as per the Third All India Census Report of small scale industries (2001-02) women own 10.11% of micro and small enterprises out of which 9.46 % enterprises were managed by them. They are coming ahead to the business activities and generating ideas to setup small and medium enterprises. They should be encouraged to start up small and medium scale industries on their own initiative. In another report (All India Census of MSME Units, Government of India2007) we can see that 20.21 lakh enterprises owned by women, out of which 2.15 lakh registered and18.06 lakh are unregistered. These records clearly point out that women are vigorously taking initiative to be self-reliant and self-employed. But still for developing nation as a whole there are 34 percent young women who are ―jobless-unemployed and out of the labor force. Because they might have less access to broad social networks to support in job search and as a result less information with which to make a good judgment on sector and occupation (Morrison and Andrew, 2008). Rural young girls can become the part of mainstream development if their potentials are properly channelized. It has been seen that mass media played an important role to influence and raise aspirations of urban as well as rural girls for making them self dependent to a greater extent. They are in need of certain vocations in which they can perform better and fulfill their aspirations which will generate self-employment. Young girls lack skills, work experience and financial resources to be self-employed. Hence, there is a need to increase their capacity to work, increase knowledge, augment their skills and improve their economic status. They need technological management and other skills to convert their survival activities into more profitable and productive employment. Development of such skills opens up the potential for

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Training needs in selected vocations Need based training programs acts as a catalyst for increasing the motivational level of training who in turn try to put their sincere effort to learn and gain maximum from training programs. Venugopalan (1992) emphasized that considering girl‘s involvement in wide range of activities it is evident that their production potentials can be realized only if they get the necessary training , technical know- how and support. Entrepreneurial talents and capabilities are latent in girls but translation to innovate actions depends upon appropriate stimuli and environment which can be generated by providing appropriate training. It does not limit itself to the home related skills of cooking, laundry, decoration and stitching. It orients young girls and boys towards preparation for several professions teaching, nursing, dietetics, research, welfare, management, art application, extension work and communication (Poonia, 2015; Ahlawat and Shekhar, 2010). Training need assessment is one of the crucial steps towards identifying the areas of women‘s interest, design and development of curriculum that can best suit to these areas. Rural young girls can play significant and decisive role in vocations like agriculture and allied sector, clothing and textiles, foods and nutrition and family resource management. Promotion of high value agriculture, precision farming, micro-propagation, hi-tech horticulture, enterprise like dairy, mushroom cultivation, poultry farming, apiculture, fisheries, and sericulture etc. requires well trained young girls with passion for farming and ability to take risks. Clothing and textiles branch of Home Science provides opportunities like stitching and fashion designing etc. They can become owner of a boutique, knitted garment unit, weaving unit and fabric enrichment unit. They can also conduct classes in garment construction, fabric enrichment, soft toy making, knitting, weaving for set a small business. In Foods and Nutrition area girls have option to own a restaurant or hotel as a manager, house-keeping in-charge etc. They can open their own confectionary stores, bakery, and ice-cream parlours. They can use innovative skill to evolve their own products which are more nutritive and different from the conventional ones and add variety at parties or at dining table. In the area of Family Resource Management they can

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development become an interior decorator, painter and event manager etc. With the fast growth of the beauty business, there is a corresponding demand for professionally trained personnel. Young girls are supposed to be trained on the various areas of the cosmetic and beauty industry so that they can learn and start their own beauty parlor or salon. Developing computer technology skills that align with market demand enhance their chances to secure employment and to achieve a successful career and business. Many of the people fail to acquire right skills to develop small enterprises effectively so there is a requirement to train young rural girls on technical and fundamental skills related to computer, internet and computer technology. This training may develop leadership, time management and qualifications of the rural youth. Based on the data from the 68th round of National Sample Survey Office (2015), it is estimated that only 4.69 per cent of India‘s total workforce has undergone formal skill training, compared with 52 per cent in the USA, 68 per cent in UK, 78 per cent in Germany, 80 per cent in Japan and 96 per cent in South Korea. It is also estimated that 104 million fresh entrants to the workforce will require skill training by 2022, and 298 million of the existing workforce will require additional skill training. India is required to capture the demographic power of India‘s youth. Government of India is also giving priority to rural girls for skill development for making them self- sufficient. Rural girls have enormous capacity which needs to be suitably guided towards constructive, absolute and determined goal by providing them approach to information and technology, quality education, chief attention towards quality of life and upbringing and coaching in better area. Providing training to assist individuals acquire skills and raise their productivity is one measure to increase earnings and employment in both developed and developing nation (The World Bank, 2004). Training for young girls is come out with one of the major tool for development. For this, an effective training programme should promote the economic and social empowerment of women along the side of men in employment and enterprises. Vocational skill training is an effective way to empower the rural girls. It includes development of technical potential entrepreneurship and business skills. Vocational trainingcan be seen as an activity or set of activities so designed to transmit theoretical knowledge and also professional skills that are required for certain types of jobs (Kotsikis, 2007). Vocational training is demand oriented and improves specific skills tailored to prospective employers‘ needs.

REFERENCES

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 Ahlawat, Santosh and Shekhar, S. 2010. Home Science in New Age: Entrepreneurial and Job opportunities. International Reference Research Journal, 1 (17): 22-23.  Breen, D.T., & Quaglia, R., 1991. Raising Student Aspirations:The Need to Share a Vision. The School Counselor, 38, 221-228.  Cascio, W.F. 1995. Managing Human Resourses: Newyork: Mc Graw Hill Inc.1995, 245.  CIA World Factbook, 2012.  ILO 1986.Vocational training, Glossary of selected terms, International Labour Office, Geneva.  Lynton, R.P. and Pareek, U 1967.Training for Development, Illinois, Richard D. Irwin Inc.  Poonia, A.2015. Career opportunities in nutrition and dietetics, Employment News, Retrieved from http:// employmentnews.gov.in/career opportunities.  Poonia, A.2015. Career opportunities in nutrition and dietetics, Employment News, Retrieved from http:// employmentnews.gov.in/career opportunities.  Strayton, R. 1986. Organization of courses and conferences in ILO, Chapter 21, International Labour Office, Geneva.  Walberg, H.J., 1989. Student aspirations: National and International Perspectives. Research in Rural Education, 6(2):1-6.

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ASSESSMENT OF IMPACT AND EFFICACY OF EXTENSION TECHNIQUES IN DOUBLING THE FARMER‘S INCOME: AN ANALYTICAL APPROACH

Surjyakanta Roy1 , Vikash Kumar2, and Avinesh Sharma3 1 M.Sc. Scholar, Division of Dairy Extension, ICAR-NDRI, Karnal-132001, Haryana 2 Ph.D. Scholar, Division of Dairy Extension, ICAR- NDRI, Karnal- 132001, Haryana 3Senior Research Fellow, Division of Dairy Extension, ICAR- NDRI, Karnal- Haryana E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT The lead policy makers should undertake extension investments as major public responsibility with focus on the performance of extension systems. Social Impact Assessment (SIA) could aid in the planning and decision making process of farmers by identifying the likely positive and negative impacts of policy actions, likely trade-offs and synergies, and thus facilitate informed decision-making. Accordingly, the paper outlines farmers‘ demand for information, the welfare economic characterizations of extension services, and the impact of organizational and political attributes that govern the performance of extension systems. The several extension modalities could be analysed for actual effectiveness through its impact study. The paper also provides a discussion of methodological issues pertaining to the assessment of extension outcomes, and a review of the empirical literature on extension impact.Thus, it can be ensured that the potential problems should be foreseen and addressed at an early stage in the projects planning and policy formulation. Indicators especially for technical, institutional, socio-cultural, commercial, economic and environmental aspects should be objective, so that it is amenable for precise quantification. Both quantitative and qualitative methods imply the core part of review paper which depends on impact level, availability of time, data and human resources which will come up with effective assessment report for the farmer‘s welfare. Key words: - Extension system, farmers, modalities, Quantitative methods, organization, social impact assessmentand welfare.

INTRODUCTION

It is widely acknowledged that farmers‘ performance is affected both innate and learned skills, including the ability to process the information (Jamison and Lau, 1982). Extension services being an important element in market and nonmarket entities and agents provides human capital- enhancing inputs, and flows of information as an aid to farmers‘ and other rural peoples‘ welfare; an importance recognized since long times (Roberts, 1989). Transfer of knowledge from researchers to farmers, enabling farmers to clarify their own goals and possibilities, advising and educating farmers about better decision making (van der Ban and Hawkins, 1996).

In the purview of developmental interventions and policy designing, social impact analysis plays major role. It is carried out to ascertain the impacts, which would occur due to implementation of the policy. The impacts of development interventions take different forms. While significant benefits flow in from different development actions, there is also a need to identify and evaluate the negative externalities associated with them. Such impacts not only need to be identified and measured but also need to be managed in such a way that the positive externalities are

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development maximized and the negative externalities are minimized. Efforts are made to mitigate impacts, which cannot be minimized during the planning stage. The Impacts Assessment is thus a systematic process of identifying and mitigating impacts on individuals or society in consultation with the individuals or society affected. A balanced development planning takes into account the environmental, social and biodiversity impact of economic development. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and biodiversity impact assessments are some of the methods that aid in the planning and decision making process. These impact assessments help in identifying the likely positive and negative impacts of proposed policy actions, likely trade-offs and synergies, and thus facilitate informed decision-making. Moreover, the need for impact assessment stems from the fact that:  Impact assessments enhance positive and sustainable outcomes associated with project implementation.  They support the integration of social and environmental aspects associated with the numerous subprojects into the decision making process.  The enhance positive social and environmental outcomes;  They minimize social and environmental impacts as a result of either individual subprojects or their cumulative effects;  They protect human health and minimize impacts on cultural property.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

BIODIVERSITY IMPACT OF POLICY SOCIAL IMPACT IMPACT

ECONOMIC IMPACT

Sustainable development is increasingly accepted as a fundamental objective for public policy and decision-making. It encompasses the economic, environmental and social dimensions of the development process. The growing acceptance of sustainable development as an over-arching policy goal has stimulated interest in assessing the impact of particular interventions on

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development sustainable development at aggregate, sectorial or project levels. Good environmental and social management practice is a well-established element of project preparation and implementation. Projects are usually situated within the ambit of specific policies and programmes. The impact of these projects can be economic, social and environmental.

The adoption of technology by farmers can inevitably be affected by many factors (e.g., Feder, Just and Zilberman, 1986). Educating farmers about such things as improved varieties, cropping techniques, optimal input use, prices and market conditions, more efficient methods of production management, storage, nutrition, etc are among such factors. Extension usually has maximal impact in the initial stages of diffusion of new technology, when the informational disequilibrium and the ―productivity differential is the utmost. Over time, as increasing awareness among farmers about specific technological thrust diminishes the impact of such extension technologies, until the opportunity and need for more information-intensive technologies (Byerlee, 1998) ascends. The dynamic resolution of the information disequilibrium associated with specific extension ―messages‖ makes observing the impact of extension very difficult to analyse. At the same time, the uneven flow of benefits from any particular extension message has important implications from a policy and program design point of view (e.g., Simmonds 1988).

Impact Assessments in the context of social development are:

 Processes through which the government departments/ agencies can better understand how the socio-cultural, institutional, historical and political contexts influence the social development outcomes of specific investment projects and sector policies.

 The means to enhance equity, strengthen social inclusion and cohesion, promote transparency and empower the poor and the vulnerable in the design and/or implementation of the project.

 The mechanisms to identify the opportunities, constraints, impacts and social risks associated with policy and project design.

 A framework for dialogue on development priorities among social groups, civil society, grassroots organizations, different levels of government and other stakeholders.

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 Approaches to identify and mitigate the potential social risks, including adverse social impacts, of investment projects. Thus, social impact assessments focus on the human dimension of environments, and seek to identify the impacts on people who benefits and who loses. Social impacts include changes in farmer‘s way of life, their culture, community, political systems, environment, health and wellbeing, their personal and property rights and their fears and aspirations.

The social impacts that occur due to these projects can be grouped into five overlapping categories: • Lifestyle Impacts: On the way people behave and relate to family, friends and cohorts on a day-to-day basis. • Cultural impacts:On shared customs, obligations, values, language, religious belief and other elements, which make a social or ethnic group distinct. The term also involving changes to the norms, values, and beliefs that guide and rationalize their cognition of themselves and their society. • Community impacts:On infrastructure, services, voluntary organisations, activity networks and cohesion. • Quality of life impacts: On sense of place, aesthetics and heritage, perception of belonging, security and liveability, and aspirations for the future • Health impacts:On mental, physical and social well-being, although these aspects are also the subject of health impact assessment Process of social impact assesement Social Impact assessment mainly involves the processes of analysing, monitoring and managing the intended and unintended social consequences, both positive and negative, of planned interventions (policies, programs, plans) and any social change processes invoked by those interventions. These assessments can enable the project implementing authorities to not only identify social and environmental impacts, but also to put in place suitable institutional, organizational and project-specific mechanisms to mitigate the adverse effects. They can also aid in bringing about greater social inclusion and participation in the design and implementation stages of the project.

The SIA ensures that:

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 Development interventions are informed and take into account the key relevant social issues;  Development interventions incorporate a participation strategy for involving a wide range of stakeholders. Social Assessment (SA), on the other hand, is a process that provides framework for prioritizing, gathering, analysing and incorporating social information and participation into the design and delivery of development operations for farmers (Rietbergen- McCracken and Narayan 1998).

SIA is a process of analysing the impact of public/government intervention on the social aspects of the farmers‘ living and environment. These aspects include:  The ways to cope with life through their economy, social systems, and cultural values.  The ways farmers use the natural environment, for subsistence, recreation, spiritual activities, cultural activities, and so forth.  The ways they use environment for shelter, making livelihoods, industry, worship, recreation, gathering together, etc.  Organization of the community, social and cultural institutions and beliefs  Preservation of the community identity.  A group's values and beliefs about appropriate ways to live, family and extra-family relationships, status relationships, means of expression, and other expressions of community.  The esthetical and cultural character of a community or neighbourhood-its ambience.

The major advantages of undertaking a systematic SIA could address the farmers‘:  Identifying and prioritizing social issues associated with policy  Mitigating negative impact on communities or farmers  Enhanced benefits to those affected  Avoids delays and obstruction in gaining development approval  Acts as a precautionary measure and avoids costly errors in the future  Builds the trust and cooperation between community and stakeholders that is necessary for successful implementation of the policy.

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THE IMPACT VALUE CHAIN-

INPUT

ACTIVITIES (Activities of concerned project)

OUTPUTS (Results that are measured)

OUTCOMES Impact = (Outcome with intervention)-(Outcome without any intervention)

GOAL ALIGNMENT (Alignment of outcomes with intended goals)

(The Goldman Sachs Foundation, 2003) Principles of social impact assessment Principle 1: Involve the diverse socio- economic groups

The first step is to identify and involve all potentially affected groups and farmers. It should be an active and interactive process, in which members of the public are full participants in the SIA business enterprise. Their involvement must reach out to groups that do not routinely participate in government decision making because of cultural, linguistic, and economic barriers.

Principle 2: Analyse impact equity

Identification of all groups likely to be affected an agency action is central to the concept of impact equity. While most policies are not zero-sum situations, and there may be varying benefits for almost all involved, SIA has a special duty to identify those whose adverse impacts might get lost in the aggregate benefits. Impact equity must be considered in close and sympathetic consultation with affected communities, neighbourhoods, and groups, especially

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development low-income and minority groups. Analysis should begin during scoping to ensure that important issues are not left out.

Principle 3: Focus the assessment

Most often, time and resource constraints affect the scope of the assessment and the extent to which it can be done within the time available. Social impact assessment practitioners need to focus on the most significant impacts in an order of priority, and all significant impacts for all impacted groups must be identified early using a variety of rapid appraisal or investigative techniques.

Principle 4: Identify methods and assumptions and define significance

The methods and assumptions used in the SIA should be made available and published prior to a decision in order to allow decision makers as well the public to evaluate the assessment of impacts. It should clearly describe how the SIA is conducted, what assumptions are used and how significance is determined.

Principle 5: Provide feedback on social impacts to project planners

Identify problems that could be solved with changes to the proposed action or alternatives. Findings from the SIA should feed back into project design to mitigate adverse impacts and enhance positive ones.

Principle 6: Use SIA practitioners

A trained social scientist employing social science methods will provide the best results. An experienced SIA practitioner will know the data, and be familiar and conversant with existing social science evidence pertaining to impacts that have occurred elsewhere, which may be relevant to the impact area in question. Having social scientist as part of the interdisciplinary EIS team will also reduce the probability that an important social impact could go unrecognized. In assessing social impacts, if the evidence for a potential type of impact is not definitive in either direction, then the appropriate conservative conclusion is that it cannot be ruled out with confidence.

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Principle 7: Establish monitoring and mitigation programs

Monitoring significant social impact variables and any programs that have been put into place to mitigate them are crucial to the social impact assessment process. Identifying a monitoring infrastructure needs a key element of the local planning process. Trust and expertise are key factors in balancing agency and community monitoring participation. Few agencies have the resources to continue these activities for an extended period, but local communities should be provided resources to assume a portion of the monitoring and mitigation responsibilities.

Principle 8: Identify data sources

Published scientific literature, secondary data and primary data from the affected area should be consulted for all SIAs. Published scientific literature includes journal articles, books, and reports available from similar projects. Secondary data sources are the Census, vital statistics, geographical data, relevant agency publications, and routine data collected by state and federal agencies.

Principle 9: Plan for gaps in data

SIA practitioners often have to produce an assessment in the absence of all the relevant or even the necessary data. Evaluation of the missing information and developing a strategy for proceeding becomes important even if the information is approximate.

Stages in Social Impact Assessment

According to the Inter-organizational Committee on Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment (1994), the SIA involves undertaking various actions in the following major stages which are explained hereunder.

1. Active participation of all stakeholders Developing and implementing an effective public participation plan to involve all interested and affected stakeholders is the vital first step. Groups affected by proposed actions include: (a) Those that live nearby; (b) Those that may be affected by the development intervention; (c) Those that may be displaced because of a project or policy; (d) Those that have interest in a new project or policy change but may not live in proximity.

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A wide range of participation techniques should be used to collect information about public response to a proposed action. This first step is vital as the public participation program follows throughout the implementation and monitoring. 2. Identification of Alternatives- It involves describing the proposed action and reasonable alternatives to it, including the no action alternative. During this stage, the proposed action is described in detail so as to identify the data requirements needed for the proponent to do a preliminary assessment. 3. Profile of Baseline Condition- Document the relevant human environment/area of influence of the project and the existing social conditions and trends. Baseline simply means a geographical and time line to start the assessment. Social impact assessment can be performed some times to get an overview of the social issues associated with the project in terms of some of the parameters:

(a) Demographic factors: number of people, location, population density, age etc. (b) Socio-economic determinants: factors affecting income and productivity, such as risk aversion of the poorest groups, land tenure, access to productive inputs and markets, family composition, kinship reciprocity, and access to labour opportunities and migration. (c) Social organization: organization and capacity at the household and community levels affecting participation in local level institutions as well as access to services and information. (d) Socio-political context: implementing agencies‘ development goals, priorities, commitment to project objectives, control over resources, experience, and relationship with other stakeholder groups. (e) Needs and values: stakeholder attitudes and values determining whether development interventions are needed and wanted, appropriate incentives for change and capacity of stakeholders to manage the process of change. (f) Participatory Assessment Methods: Social assessments can also be informed by field visits to communities and other local-level stakeholders to learn about their perspectives and priorities. The consultations make use of participatory assessment methodologies such as participatory rural appraisal (PRA*), SARAR* or Beneficiary Assessment*. These methodologies provide tools for collaborating with local people in analysis and planning, and can contribute to the development of action plans and participation strategies.

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(SARAR*-is an acronym of five attributes -- self-esteem, associative strength, resourcefulness, action planning and responsibility for follow-through -- that are important for achieving a participatory approach to development. SARAR is a philosophy of adult education and empowerment, which seeks to optimise people's ability to self-organize, take initiatives, and shoulder responsibilities. It is best classed as an experiential methodology, which involves setting aside hierarchical differences, team building through training, and learning from local experience rather than from external experts.) (PRA*-Participatory Rural Appraisal covers a family of participatory approaches and methods, which emphasises local knowledge and action. It uses to group animation and exercises to facilitate stakeholders to share information and make their own appraisals and plans. Originally developed for use in rural areas, PRA has been employed successfully in a variety of settings to enable local people to work together to plan community-appropriate developments.) (Beneficiary assessment*-is a systematic investigation of the perceptions of a sample of beneficiaries and other stakeholders to ensure that their concerns are heard and incorporated into project and policy formulation. The purposes are to (a) undertake systematic listening, which "gives voice" to poor and other hard-to-reach beneficiaries, highlighting constraints to beneficiary participation, and (b) obtain feedback on interventions.) 3. Identification and analysis of estimated effects- This essentially involves analysing and predicting probable impacts of the project proposal and the alternatives against baseline conditions (with versus without the action). This involves investigating the probable social impacts in terms of (i) Predicted conditions without the actions (baseline condition) (ii)Predicted conditions with the actions and the predicted impacts. The following are some of the methods for analysing and predicting social impacts [adapted from Taylor et al., 1998 and Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 2003]:

• Comparative method: This method examines how an affected community has responded to change in the past, or the impact on other communities that have undergone a similar action. The present is compared to the future with the proposed action. Based on past research and experiences in similar cases, determination of significance is made based on the comparative data presented.

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The experimental research design refers to experimental situations in which the control group and the experimental group are formed and their equivalence is established through randomization. That is, the subjects are assigned to groups randomly and the groups are assigned to treatments randomly. There are two type of experimental research design such as-

Pre-test post-test control group design, this design is similar to the previous one, except for the fact that it is also makes a provision for pre-test of both experimental and control groups before the treatment is administered. This is known as before-after design.

Time series analysis: This method takes an existing trend and simply projecting the same rate of change into the future; we assume that what happened in the past is likely to happen in the future. For example, visitations for recreation increase each year at about the same rate they did in the past.

Straight-line trend The straight-line trend is represented by the equation:

Yt = a +bX,

where Yt are the trend vales, a is the Y intercept or the value of Y when X = 0, b represents the slope of line or the amount by which Y variable will change if X is increased or decreased by one unit, and X variable is the time period. In order to determine the value of the constants ‗a‘ and ‗b‘, following two equations, called normal equations, are to be solved. ∑X = Na + b∑X

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∑XY = a∑X + b∑X2 , where N is the number of time periods. X The compounding growth is represented by the equation :Yt=AB

Where,

Ytmay be area/production/yield in year A is intercept B= 1+x/100 where, x refers to the percentage rate of compound growth rate of area/production/yield per annum By taking logarithm of both sides of the equation, lnYt=ln (A)+ x ln(B) The Logical Frame work: A log frame (also known as a Project Framework) is a tool for planning and managing development projects. It looks like a table (or framework) and aims to present information about the key components of a project in a clear, concise, logical and systematic way. The log frame model was developed in the United States and has since been adopted and adapted for use by many other donors, including the Department for International Development (DFID). LFA can be a useful tool, both in the planning, monitoring and evaluation management of development projects. It is not the only planning tool, and should not be considered an end in itself, but using it encourages the discipline of clear and specific thinking about what the project aims to do and how, and highlighting those aspects upon which success depends. Beneficiary assessment:

What is it? A participatory assessment method and monitoring tool that incorporates direct consultation of those affected by and influencing reform. Similar to PPA, it relies primarily on qualitative research though with less emphasis on the use of visual techniques and on community follow-up to the research process.

What can it be Has traditionally been used to evaluate projects or sectorial used for? reforms in the health, education, infrastructure, social protection and agricultural sectors, but can be adapted to assess or monitor the impact of some discrete policy interventions where transmission

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channels and affected groups are clearly defined. Can be used even for countries with limited capacity as an add-on to other economic tools. Used both to evaluate proposed reforms, to signal constraints to participation faced by target group, as well as to gain beneficiary feedback for ongoing reforms.

What does it tell What is the beneficiary perspective on the problem being addressed you? by the reform, their perception of the proposed policy, and of any migratory measures being considered? Provides insights into the likely reception the reform will receive, as well as issues that may arise during implementation. Tends to reach down to the community-level, but not focused exclusively on the poor or the community.

Key elements: Relies primarily on three data collection methods: (1) conversational interviews (2) focus group discussions, which in some cases have been combined with PRA tools; and (3) direct and participant observation. Although information collected may be qualitative in nature, also includes quantitative analysis of this beneficiary feedback.

Requirements:  Information- Background information on stakeholders, on cultural, ethnic, or socioeconomic variations, and on the variables determining whether specific groups would be affected (such as type of access) is required to properly design a BA and its sampling strategy.

 Time- Generally within three to four months, from design to presentation of the final report.

 Skill- Sociological or anthropological training are helpful, but good listening skills are paramount. Good knowledge of the program, historical and cultural setting also important.

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Limitation: Providing less contextual and historical background information, though also likely less resource intensive.

Scenarios Analysis: These refer to logical-imaginations based on construction of hypothetical futures through a process of mentally modelling the assumptions about the SIA variables in question. Scenarios include exercises to develop the likely, alternative or preferred future of a community or society. Scenarios can be used to compare different outcomes (e.g., best versus worst case).

What is it? Scenario analysis is a participatory exercise based on a facilitated process of brainstorming, rigorous data gathering to explore the issues raised in brainstorming and the creation of three to four plausible future situations (scenarios) in which a reform will play out. These scenarios are differentiated by plausible discontinuities (such as a change in government, a currency devaluation or a major shift in commodity or input prices), but take into account significant predictable factors (such as demographic trends).

What can it be Scenario analysis is forward-looking and is generally used to used for? analyze ―lumpy‖ investments or major changes in strategic direction. The process is particularly adapted to bringing the perspectives of different stakeholders together around contentious decisions.

What does it tell Scenario analysis lets policy-makers: (i) ―pre-test‖ the you? performance of a policy reform in different plausible situations, allowing for the creation of alternate plans; (ii) assess the level of ownership for a reform agenda among key stakeholders; (iii) get support for a reform agenda by including relevant stakeholders in discussions around scenarios to build a shared understanding of key issues in a reform.

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Key elements: The elements of a complete scenario analysis are: (i) preliminary scenario workshop which brings together relevant stakeholders to brainstorm the key issues around a reform agenda; (ii) data collection wherein a researcher assembles relevant information around the issues identified in a workshop; (iii) scenario-building workshop where relevant stakeholders build alternate scenarios; (iv) dissemination process where scenarios are shortened to one- page briefing notes and shared with the public via newspapers, television and radio.

Requirements:  Information- Scenario analysis requires: (i) economic information, including standard economic projections; (ii) demographic information; (iii) sector specific information relevant to the issues at hand; (iv) a basic profile of a country‘s political economy and of ethnic, linguistic and religious divisions within a country.

 Time- When used to challenge analytic assumptions rather than to build support among stakeholders, the scenario exercise itself could be completed in three to four staff weeks. A participatory scenario exercise is usually carried out in two to three workshops lasting several days each. These workshops are usually spread over several calendar months in order to allow time for data collection and to accommodate the schedules of participants.

 Skill- An individual with strong facilitation skills and specific experience running scenario exercises. Research skills, including familiarity with economic and demographic trends.

Limitation: Successful scenario analysis is based on the skill of facilitators and the choice of participants. Because the process is participatory and based on subjective understanding, it is best for strategic

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rather than tactical questions.

Application:  Maack (2001).

 Pruitt (2000).

 Civic Scenarios: Kahane (1996) on South Africa, Kahane (1998) on Colombia.

 Planning Scenarios: see experience of Utah at http://www.envisionutah.org/

4. Prediction and evaluation of responses to impacts- This is made to determine the significance of the identified social impacts to those who will be affected. Projecting the impacts through analysis is an important and also a difficult task, but the responses of affected parties frequently will have higher order significance impacts. After the direct impacts have been estimated, the assessor must next estimate how the affected public would respond in attitude and actions. The actions of affected public can be estimated using comparable cases and interviews with those affected about what they expect to do. Again, this involves targeted public participation. 5. The indirect and cumulative impacts- These are estimated to identify the subsequent, flow-on effects of the proposal, including the second/third order impacts and their incremental impacts when added to other past, present and foreseeable current activities. Secondary or indirect impacts are those caused by the primary or direct impacts; they often occur much later, both in time and geographic distance, than primary impacts. Cumulative impacts are those resulting from the incremental impacts of an action added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions regardless of which agency or person undertakes them. 6. Evaluation of alternatives and impact mitigation- The estimation methods described in step five apply here but usually on a more modest scale. Subsequently, a mitigation plan needs to be developed and implemented, in order of preference to firstly avoid, secondly minimise and thirdly compensate for adverse impacts. If the predicted impact is minimal and can be managed, mitigation measures must be put in place. These could be in the form of modification of the specific event in the project, operation and redesign of the

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development project or policy or compensation for the impact by providing substitute facilities, resources and opportunities. 7. Monitoring plan- This involves developing and implementing a monitoring programme to identify deviations from the proposed action and any important unanticipated impacts. This should track project and program development and compare real impacts with projected ones. It should spell out (to the degree possible) the nature and extent of additional steps that should take place when unanticipated impacts or those larger than the projections occur. The various other approaches are as follows 1. Private Extension Services and Cost Recovery The private-good nature of many extension services resulted in privatizing extension services (Lindner 1993). In reality now, most information services are provided freestanding of government, and farmers perceive public extension as only one option perhaps even a last resort in obtaining needed information services. Private consulting or advisory services address needs of commercial farmers. Developing private services for small-scale farmers often advocates public investment to develop capacities of service providers and various markets for services. Veterinarians and para-vets provide private service provision in some countries (de Haan et al., 2001) and, in crop agriculture, as well as pest control services for private service delivery. 2. Public Financing of Extension Public investment in extension It is justified when the farmers benefits more than the extension client, when government can provide services more cheaply or better, when extension services directly facilitate other programs, or when the private sector does not provide needed services (van den Ban, 2000). These conditions apply when there are positive externalities to innovation or market failure in service provision. Market failure is often due to: unorganized demand (small farmers do not recognize potential benefits, have limited purchasing power, and are not organized to access services) or unorganized supply (few individuals or institutions are capable of providing technical services or there is limited opportunity for private firms to charge for provision of easily disseminated information). 3. Public-Private Partnerships Wherever public financing of extension is justified, private service delivery is considered often more efficient in serving clients. This needs to design the strategies for contracting extension services and delinking funding from service delivery. Contracted extension strategies may take different approaches in to account to division of responsibilities for financing, procurement, and delivery of services, but most of reforms involve public funding for the delivery of private service (Rivera, Zijp and Alex, 2000). Competitive contracting instils a private-sector approach with view of cost-consciousness and results-orientation, even in public institutions when they are forced to compete in providing their services. 4. Decentralization The decentralization of extension services recalls for public delivery and public funding characteristics of centralized extension system, it transfers the responsibility for delivery to local

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development governments (district, county, etc.). The main expected advantage of the approach is that it ensures accountability, in which employees (if democratically elected) is keen on getting positive feedback on the service from the clientele-electorate. This was probable to improve extension agents‘ incentives, and induce better service. Some advantages may also be realized in coordinating extension advice with activities of other agencies, as presumably the costs of coordination are lower for local agencies operating in a smaller geographical area. CONCLUSION The due consideration of positive experience, to assist future extension endeavour, including reflection on the pros and cons of the specific formats of extension operations emerged in the past few decades need to be analysed and evaluated in terms of their impact and implication in present time with allowed flexibility and scope. Quite specific servicing methods to ensure efficiency gains through locally decentralized delivery with incentive structures based on largely private provision, and publicly funded extension efforts should be ensured and analysed. There is need to much yet to be done in bringing needed extension services to the poor and needy farmers around the world. So policy makers need to be cautious in designing and adjusting public extension systems by re-learning the lessons of the past in view of impact analysis to socio- economic condition of farmers.

REFERENCES  Anonymous. 2003. A User‘s Guide to Poverty and Social Impact Analysis. WTO.http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPSIA/Resources/490023 1121114603600/12685_PSIAUsersGuide_Complete.pdf  Anderson, J.R. and Feder, G., 2003. Rural extension services.The World Bank.  Anonymous ―Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment, Prepared by the Inter-organizational Committee on Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment‖ 1994.  Anonymous. 2003. ―Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal‖, volume 21, number 3, September, pages 231–250, Beech Tree Publishing, 10 Watford Close, Guildford, Surrey GU1 2EP, UK.  Anonymous. 2013. ―Social impact assessment: A discussion among Grantmakers‖, The Rockefeller & Goldman sachs foundation. New York city publishers. pp 13  De Haan, C., Van Veen, T.S., Brandenburg, B., Gauthier, J., Le Gall, F., Mearns, R. and Simeon, M., 2001. Livestock development: Implications on rural poverty, the environment, and global food security. The World Bank.  Glasson, J., 2009. Socio-economic impacts 1: overview and economic impacts. In Methods of environmental impact assessment (pp. 38-66).Routledge.

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 Jadoun, Y.S., Jha, S.K., Bhadauria, P., Kale, R.B. and Singh, R., 2015. Impact of ―Integrated Murrah Development Scheme‖(IMDS) on dairy farmers of Haryana state of India. Indian Journal of Animal Research, 49(3), pp.405-408.  Jamison, D.T. and Lau, L.J., 1982. Farmer education and farm efficiency.Johns Hopkins University Press.  Kusuma, D., A. and Prof. Sivasankar. PR Journal of Current Research, 10(02), pp.65889-65895.  Lindner, R.K., 1993. Privatising the production of knowledge: Promise and pitfalls for agricultural research and extension. Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 37(3), pp.205-225.  Maharjan, N.K. and Grover, D.K., 2017. Impact of national food security mission-pulses on state-wise area production and yield trends in India. Indian Journal of Economics and Development, 13(2a), pp.479-485.  Mazumder, S.G.G. and Maiti, S., 2012. Empowerment of women through self help group approach: Empirical evidence from west Bengal, India. African Journal of Agricultural Research, 7(48), pp.6395-6400.  Meena, B.S., Sankhala, G.O.P.A.L., Meena, H.R. and Maji, S., 2017. Impact of dairy production technologies on productive and reproductive performance of dairy animals in Haryana. Indian Journal of Animal Sciences, 87(2), p.234â.  Rietbergen-McCracken, J. and Narayan-Parker, D. eds., 1998. Participation and social assessment: tools and techniques(Vol. 1). World Bank Publications.  Rivera, W.M., Zijp, W., Alex, G., Ashworth, V., Van Crowder, L. and Anderson, J., 2000. Contracting for extension. Review of emerging practices. Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems Good Practice Note.  Roberts, N., 1989. Agricultural Extension in Africa.A World Bank Symposium.World Bank, 1818 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20433.  Van den Ban, A.W. and H.S. Hawkins. 1996. Agricultural Extension, 2nd edn., Blackwell, Oxford.  Van den Ban, A.W., 2000. Different ways of financing agricultural extension.In Unknown (No. 106, pp. 8-19).ODI.

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SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT: TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

Surjyakanta Roy1 Vikash Kumar2 and Avinesh Sharma3 1 M.Sc. Scholar, Division of Dairy Extension, ICAR-NDRI, Karnal-132001, Haryana 2 Ph.D. Scholar, Division of Dairy Extension, ICAR- NDRI, Karnal- 132001, Haryana 3Senior Research Fellow, Division of Dairy Extension, ICAR- NDRI, Karnal- Haryana E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

In view of the fact that development is an ever-growing process, its impact is also ever increasing, leading to rapid deterioration in environmental conditions and human health. Impact Assessment thus ensures that the potential problems are foreseen and addressed at an early stage in the projects planning and design. Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is a method that aid in the planning and decision making process. These impact assessments help in identifying the likely positive and negative impacts of proposed policy actions, likely trade-offs and synergies, and thus facilitate informed decision-making. Developed indicators especially for technical, institutional, socio-cultural, commercial, economic and environmental aspects, have to be spelt out clearly and objectively, so that it is amenable for precise quantification. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used in social impact assessment studies. Various methods along with suitable example implies the core part of those methodology. Although there are many more methods for impact assessment but which one is more suitable than others; that‘s totally depends on impact level, availability of time, data and human resources which will come up with effective assessment report. Key words: - Social impacts, Impact assessment, Quantitative methods, Qualitative methods, Parametric test and non-parametric test.

INTRODUCTION

In the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 (SDPWO Act) and the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (EP Act), the definition of ‗environment‘ includes social impacts that affect people and communities. Consequently, social impact assessments (SIAs) are a component of the EIS process for assessing coordinated projects (resource and non-resource) under the SDPWO Act and resource projects under the EP Act. This guideline applies to projects assessed under either the SDPWO Act or the EP Act.

Social impacts are the impacts of developmental interventions on human environment. Social Impact is carried out to ascertain the impacts, which would occur due to implementation of the project. The impacts of development interventions take different forms. While significant benefits flow in from different development actions, there is also a need to identify and evaluate the negative externalities associated with them. Such impacts not only need to be identified and measured but also need to be managed in such a way that the positive externalities are

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A balanced development planning takes into account the environmental, social and biodiversity impact of economic development. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and biodiversity impact assessments are some of the methods that aid in the planning and decision making process. These impact assessments help in identifying the likely positive and negative impacts of proposed policy actions, likely trade-offs and synergies, and thus facilitate informed decision-making.

Moreover, the need for impact assessment stems from the fact that:

 Impact assessments enhance positive and sustainable outcomes associated with project implementation.

 They support the integration of social and environmental aspects associated with the numerous subprojects into the decision making process.

 The enhance positive social and environmental outcomes;

 They minimize social and environmental impacts as a result of either individual subprojects or their cumulative effects;

 They protect human health and minimize impacts on cultural property.

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Sustainable development is increasingly accepted as a fundamental objective for public policy and decision-making. It encompasses the economic, environmental and social dimensions of the

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

BIODIVERSITY IMPACT OF PROJECT SOCIAL IMPACT IMPACT

ECONOMIC IMPACT development process. The growing acceptance of sustainable development as an over-arching policy goal has stimulated interest in assessing the impact of particular interventions on sustainable development at aggregate, sectorial or project levels. Good environmental and social management practice is a well-established element of project preparation and implementation. Projects are usually situated within the ambit of specific policies and programmes. The impact of these projects can be economic, social and environmental.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Social problems arise largely due to conflicts between economic development and natural resources. Economic losses and social costs from environmental degradation often occur long after the economic benefits of development have been realized. Most often, the development projects provide economic benefits and better living environment, but they also affect local people adversely. Social impact assessments help in understanding such impacts.

Impact Assessments in the context of social development are:

 Processes through which the government departments/ agencies can better understand how the socio-cultural, institutional, historical and political contexts influence the social development outcomes of specific investment projects and sector policies.

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 The means to enhance equity, strengthen social inclusion and cohesion, promote transparency and empower the poor and the vulnerable in the design and/or implementation of the project.

 The mechanisms to identify the opportunities, constraints, impacts and social risks associated with policy and project design.

 A framework for dialogue on development priorities among social groups, civil society, grassroots organizations, different levels of government and other stakeholders.

 Approaches to identify and mitigate the potential social risks, including adverse social impacts, of investment projects.

Social Impacts

The Inter-organisational Committee on Guidelines and Principles for Social Assessment (1994) (cited in Glasson 2000) defined social impacts as ‗the consequences to human populations of any public or private actions that alter the ways in which people live, work, play, relate to one another, organize to meet their needs, and generally cope as members of society‘.

It means the consequences to human populations of any public or private actions-that alter the ways in which people live, work, play, relate to one another, organize to meet their needs and generally cope as members of society.

Social impacts are the ‗people impacts‘ of development actions. Social impact assessments focus on the human dimension of environments, and seek to identify the impacts on people who benefits and who loses. Social impact assessment can help to ensure that the needs and voices of diverse groups and people in a community are taken into account.

Social impacts include changes in people‘s way of life, their culture, community, political systems, environment, health and wellbeing, their personal and property rights and their fears and aspirations.

Examples of projects with significant social impacts include: and disposal sites (perceived health risks, loss of amenity); power and industrial plants (community stress from influx of work force, pressure on infrastructure); dams and reservoirs (lifestyle

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development disruption resulting from relocation, land use alteration or long lead time to full impoundment); and roads and linear developments (dislocation of activity networks and relationships).

The social impacts that occur due to these projects can be grouped into five overlapping categories:

• Lifestyle Impacts: On the way people behave and relate to family, friends and cohorts on a day-to-day basis.

• Cultural impacts: On shared customs, obligations, values, language, religious belief and other elements, which make a social or ethnic group distinct. The term also involving changes to the norms, values, and beliefs that guide and rationalize their cognition of themselves and their society.

• Community impacts: On infrastructure, services, voluntary organisations, activity networks and cohesion.

• Quality of life impacts: On sense of place, aesthetics and heritage, perception of belonging, security and liveability, and aspirations for the future

• Health impacts: On mental, physical and social well-being, although these aspects are also the subject of health impact assessment

Social Impact Assessments

Social Impact assessment mainly involves the processes of analysing, monitoring and managing the intended and unintended social consequences, both positive and negative, of planned interventions (policies, programs, plans, projects) and any social change processes invoked by those interventions. These assessments can enable the project implementing authorities to not only identify social and environmental impacts, but also to put in place suitable institutional, organizational and project-specific mechanisms to mitigate the adverse effects. They can also aid in bringing about greater social inclusion and participation in the design and implementation stages of the project.

Social Impact Assessment (SIA) can be defined in terms of efforts to assess or estimate, in advance, the social consequences that are likely to follow specific policy actions (including programs/ projects and the adoption of new policies), and specific government actions. It is a

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development process that provides a framework for prioritizing, gathering, analysing, and incorporating social information and participation into the design and delivery of developmental interventions.

The SIA ensures that:

 Development interventions are informed and take into account the key relevant social issues;

 Development interventions incorporate a participation strategy for involving a wide range of stakeholders.

Social Assessment (SA), on the other hand, is a process that provides framework for prioritizing, gathering, analysing and incorporating social information and participation into the design and delivery of development operations (Rietbergen- McCracken and Narayan 1998).

SIA is a process of analysing the impact of public/government intervention on the social aspects of the human environment. These aspects include:

 The ways people cope with life through their economy, social systems, and cultural values.

 The ways people use the natural environment, for subsistence, recreation, spiritual activities, cultural activities, and so forth.

 The ways people use environment for shelter, making livelihoods, industry, worship, recreation, gathering together, etc.

 Organization of the community, social and cultural institutions and beliefs

 Preservation of the community identity.

 Art, music, dance, language arts, crafts, and other expressive aspects of culture.

 A group's values and beliefs about appropriate ways to live, family and extra-family relationships, status relationships, means of expression, and other expressions of community.

 The esthetical and cultural character of a community or neighbourhood-its ambience.

The major advantages of undertaking a systematic SIA include:

 Identifying project/ programme stakeholders

 Identifying and prioritizing social issues associated with project

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 Mitigating negative impact on communities or individuals

 Enhanced benefits to those affected

 Avoids delays and obstruction in gaining development approval

 Acts as a precautionary measure and avoids costly errors in the future

 Builds the trust and cooperation between community and stakeholders that is necessary for successful implementation of the project.

The Impact Value Chain-

INPUT

ACTIVITIES (Activities of concerned project)

OUTPUTS (Results that are measured) (The output could be any measurable results from an organization‘s activities, e.g., units of housing, number of people placed into employment, number of youth served, etc.)

OUTCOMES Impact = (Outcome with intervention)-(Outcome without any intervention) (The outcomes would be the specific changes in attitudes, behaviours, knowledge, skills, status, or level of functioning that result from enterprise activities, such as finding a job, avoiding getting sick, or reducing emissions by a certain amount.)

GOAL ALIGNMENT (Alignment of outcomes with intended goals)

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SOCIAL ASSESSMENT PROCESS CYCLE-

Social Assessment or Social Impact Assessment is process for ensuring that development activities are

(i) Informed by and take into account the key relevant social issues and formulate mitigative measures,

(ii) Incorporate a strategy for participation of wide range of stakeholders.

Social Assessment is an iterative process that has to be organized in a phased manner in several stages.

Ensure monitoring with Analyse active stakeholder project involvement and context modify it

Identify stakeholders Implement perform mitigation plan Social Stakeholder and public analysis participation Assessment

Process

Consult Identify social stakeholders factors/ and Develop variables mitigative Analyse data plans and assess priorities

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Principles of Social Impact Assessment

These principles are based on the expert judgment of widely varied professionals like sociologists, anthropologists, social psychologists, geographers, land-use planners, economists, natural resource social scientists and landscape architects. These principles are meant to ensure sound scientific inquiry and are based on the best practices established in the field over the last three decades. This section draws heavily from the guidelines and principles for Social Impact Assessment prepared by the Inter-organizational Committee on Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment consisting of U.S. Department of Commerce, Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Marine Fisheries Service.

Principle 1: Involve the diverse public

The first step is to identify and involve all potentially affected groups and individuals. Public involvement should be an active and interactive process, in which members of the public are full participants in the SIA enterprise. Public involvement must reach out to groups that do not routinely participate in government decision making because of cultural, linguistic, and economic barriers.

Principle 2: Analyse impact equity

Identification of all groups likely to be affected an agency action is central to the concept of impact equity. Trade-off always exists regarding a decision to construct a dam, build a highway or close an area to timber harvesting. But the cost of adverse social impacts should not be borne by one single category of persons or sections of the society that are considered as vulnerable due to age, gender, ethnicity, race, occupation or other factors.

While most proposed projects or policies are not zero-sum situations, and there may be varying benefits for almost all involved, SIA has a special duty to identify those whose adverse impacts might get lost in the aggregate benefits. Impact equity must be considered in close and sympathetic consultation with affected communities, neighbourhoods, and groups, especially low-income and minority groups. Analysis should begin during scoping to ensure that important issues are not left out.

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Principle 3: Focus the assessment

Most often, time and resource constraints affect the scope of the assessment and the extent to which it can be done within the time available. Social impact assessment practitioners need to focus on the most significant impacts in an order of priority, and all significant impacts for all impacted groups must be identified early using a variety of rapid appraisal or investigative techniques.

Principle 4: Identify methods and assumptions and define significance

The methods and assumptions used in the SIA should be made available and published prior to a decision in order to allow decision makers as well the public to evaluate the assessment of impacts. It should clearly describe how the SIA is conducted, what assumptions are used and how significance is determined. A social impacts statement needs to focus on impacts found to be significant in terms of context and intensity considerations. Context includes such considerations as society as a whole, affected regions, affected interests and locality (e.g., when considering site-specific projects, local impacts assume greater importance than those of a regional nature).

Principle 5: Provide feedback on social impacts to project planners

Identify problems that could be solved with changes to the proposed action or alternatives. Findings from the SIA should feed back into project design to mitigate adverse impacts and enhance positive ones. The impact assessment, therefore, should be designed as a dynamic process involving cycles of project design, assessment, redesign, and reassessment. This process is often carried out informally with project designers prior to publication of the draft assessment for public comment; public comments on a draft EIS can contribute importantly to this process of feedback and modification.

Principle 6: Use SIA practitioners

A trained social scientist employing social science methods will provide the best results. An experienced SIA practitioner will know the data, and be familiar and conversant with existing social science evidence pertaining to impacts that have occurred elsewhere, which may be relevant to the impact area in question. This breadth of knowledge and experience can prove invaluable in identifying important impacts that may not surface as public concerns. A social

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development scientist will be able to identify the full range of important impacts and then will be able to select the appropriate measurement procedures.

Having social scientist as part of the interdisciplinary EIS team will also reduce the probability that an important social impact could go unrecognized. In assessing social impacts, if the evidence for a potential type of impact is not definitive in either direction, then the appropriate conservative conclusion is that it cannot be ruled out with confidence. In addition, it is important that the SIA practitioner be conversant with the technical and biological perspectives brought to bear on the project, as well as the cultural and procedural context of the agency they work with.

Principle 7: Establish monitoring and mitigation programs

Monitoring significant social impact variables and any programs that have been put into place to mitigate them are crucial to the social impact assessment process. Identifying a monitoring infrastructure needs a key element of the local planning process. Monitoring and mitigation should be a joint agency and community responsibility and both activities should occur on an iterative basis throughout the project life cycle. Trust and expertise are key factors in balancing agency and community monitoring participation. Few agencies have the resources to continue these activities for an extended period, but local communities should be provided resources to assume a portion of the monitoring and mitigation responsibilities.

Principle 8: Identify data sources

Published scientific literature, secondary data and primary data from the affected area should be consulted for all SIAs. Published scientific literature includes journal articles, books, and reports available from similar projects. Secondary data sources are the Census, vital statistics, geographical data, relevant agency publications, and routine data collected by state and federal agencies. Examples of other secondary data sources include: agency caseload statistics (e.g., from mental health centres, social service agencies and other human service providers, law enforcement agencies, and insurance and financial regulatory agencies); published and unpublished historical materials (often available in local libraries, historical societies, and school district files); complaints produced by booster and/or service organizations (such chambers of commerce, welcome wagon organizations, and church groups); and the files of local news- papers. Primary Data from the Affected Area includes surveys, oral histories and informant interviews.

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Principle 9: Plan for gaps in data

SIA practitioners often have to produce an assessment in the absence of all the relevant or even the necessary data. Evaluation of the missing information and developing a strategy for proceeding becomes important even if the information is approximate.

Stages in Social Impact Assessment

According to the Inter-organizational Committee on Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment (1994), the SIA involves undertaking various actions in the following major stages which are explained hereunder.

8. Public Participation

Developing and implementing an effective public participation plan to involve all interested and affected stakeholders is the vital first step. This involves identifying the client population that will either benefit or be adversely affected by the project.

Groups affected by proposed actions include:

(a) Those that live nearby;

(b) Those that may be affected by the development intervention;

(c) Those that may be displaced because of a project;

(d) Those that have interest in a new project or policy change but may not live in proximity.

Some others include those residents affected by the seasonal influx of people who may have to pay higher prices for food or rent, or pay higher taxes to cover the cost of expanded community services etc. A wide range of public participation techniques should be used to collect information about public response to a proposed action. This first step is vital as the public participation program follows throughout the implementation and monitoring.

9. Identification of Alternatives-

It involves describing the proposed action and reasonable alternatives to it, including the no action alternative. During this stage, the proposed action is described in detail so as to identify the data requirements needed for the proponent to do a preliminary assessment. For example, in a new road construction project, the assessor would need to know the project location, land

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development requirements, need for ancillary facilities (transmission lines, sewer and water lines), construction schedule, size of the work force (construction and operation, by year or month), facility size/shape, need for local work force and institutional resources. This apart from the social issues such as poverty, age, ethnicity and gender would provide a broader context of the project and its stakeholder profile. The project alternatives, including no project option, shall be identified and their suitability can be examined on the basis of the information on the project, area and social issues and in consultation with the wider stakeholders.

10. Profile of Baseline Condition-

Document the relevant human environment/area of influence of the project and the existing social conditions and trends. Baseline simply means a geographical and time line to start the assessment. For example, with construction projects, a geographical area is identified along with the distribution of special populations at risk; but for policies, plans, programs, or other special assessments (such as, technology, health), the relevant human environment may be a more dispersed collection of interested and affected parties, pressure groups, organizations, and institutions. This information should describe the socio-economic traditions of the client group to be affected by the project (gender, no. of single headed households, family size, occupation, income and asset levels, education, access to health services, social organization, cultural distinctions, etc.).

Social impact assessment can be performed some times to get an overview of the social issues associated with the project in terms of some of the parameters:

(g) Demographic factors: number of people, location, population density, age etc.

(h) Socio-economic determinants: factors affecting income and productivity, such as risk aversion of the poorest groups, land tenure, access to productive inputs and markets, family composition, kinship reciprocity, and access to labour opportunities and migration.

(i) Social organization: organization and capacity at the household and community levels affecting participation in local level institutions as well as access to services and information.

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(j) Socio-political context: implementing agencies‘ development goals, priorities, commitment to project objectives, control over resources, experience, and relationship with other stakeholder groups.

(k) Needs and values: stakeholder attitudes and values determining whether development interventions are needed and wanted, appropriate incentives for change and capacity of stakeholders to manage the process of change.

11. Scoping of the Impacts-

This essentially involves identification and prioritization of the range of likely social impacts through a variety of means, including discussions or interviews with members of all potentially affected. The principal methods to be used by experts are reviews of the existing social science literature, public scoping, public surveys and public participation techniques.

a. Workshop based methods: Collaborative decision making often takes place in the context of stakeholder workshops, which bring stakeholders together to assess issues and design development projects collaboratively. A trained facilitator guides stakeholders through a series of activities to promote learning and problem solving.

Objectives-Oriented Project Planning is a method that encourages participatory planning and analysis throughout the project life cycle. A series of stakeholder workshops are held to set priorities, and integrate them into planning, implementation and monitoring. Building commitment and capacity is an integral part of this process.

 TeamUP was developed to expand the benefits of objectives-oriented project planning and to make it more accessible for institution-wide use. PC/TeamUP is a software package, which automates the basic step-by-step methodology and guides stakeholders through research, project design, planning, implementation and evaluation.

b. Participatory Assessment Methods: Social assessments can also be informed by field visits to communities and other local-level stakeholders to learn about their perspectives and priorities. The consultations make use of participatory assessment methodologies such as participatory rural appraisal (PRA*), SARAR* or Beneficiary Assessment*. These methodologies provide tools for collaborating

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with local people in analysis and planning, and can contribute to the development of action plans and participation strategies.

(SARAR*- is an acronym of five attributes -- self-esteem, associative strength, resourcefulness, action planning and responsibility for follow-through -- that are important for achieving a participatory approach to development. SARAR is a philosophy of adult education and empowerment, which seeks to optimise people's ability to self-organize, take initiatives, and shoulder responsibilities. It is best classed as an experiential methodology, which involves setting aside hierarchical differences, team building through training, and learning from local experience rather than from external experts.)

(PRA*- Participatory Rural Appraisal covers a family of participatory approaches and methods, which emphasises local knowledge and action. It uses to group animation and exercises to facilitate stakeholders to share information and make their own appraisals and plans. Originally developed for use in rural areas, PRA has been employed successfully in a variety of settings to enable local people to work together to plan community-appropriate developments.)

(BENEFICIARY ASSESSMENT*- is a systematic investigation of the perceptions of a sample of beneficiaries and other stakeholders to ensure that their concerns are heard and incorporated into project and policy formulation. The purposes are to (a) undertake systematic listening, which "gives voice" to poor and other hard-to-reach beneficiaries, highlighting constraints to beneficiary participation, and (b) obtain feedback on interventions.)

12. IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS OF ESTIMATED EFFECTS-

This essentially involves analysing and predicting probable impacts of the project proposal and the alternatives against baseline conditions (with versus without the action). This involves investigating the probable social impacts in terms of

(iii) Predicted conditions without the actions (baseline condition)

(iv) Predicted conditions with the actions and the predicted impacts.

Investigation of the probable impacts involves five major sources of information: (a) detailed data from the sponsoring agency on the proposed action; (b) record of previous experience with similar actions as represented in reference literature to include other SIAs; (c) census and vital

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Methods of predicting the future impacts are at the heart of the SIA process. Care must be taken to ensure the quality and transparency of methods and data, and to provide for critical review. The following are some of the methods for analysing and predicting social impacts [adapted from Taylor et al., 1998 and Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 2003]:

• Comparative method: This method examines how an affected community has responded to change in the past, or the impact on other communities that have undergone a similar action. The present is compared to the future with the proposed action. Based on past research and experiences in similar cases, determination of significance is made based on the comparative data presented.

The experimental research design refers to experimental situations in which the control group and the experimental group are formed and their equivalence is established through randomization. That is, the subjects are assigned to groups randomly and the groups are assigned to treatments randomly. There are two type of experimental research design such as-

 Post-test only, equivalent group design, here two equivalent groups of the same size are randomly selected from a population. One group, randomly given the treatment, is called the experimental group. The other group for which no treatment is given, is called control

Experimental group Equivalent Control group

Treatment

Post test Post test

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group. After the treatment is over, post-test are administered to both the groups and the difference is measured.

The use of control group automatically controls the two extraneous variable, namely, history and maturation. As the subjects are randomly drawn from population, it controls for selection bias and experimental mortality. No pre-test is needed for either group which saves time and money.

 Pre-test post-test control group design, this design is similar to the previous one, except for the fact that it is also makes a provision for pre-test of both experimental and control groups before the treatment is administered. This is known as before-after design.

Experimental group Equivalent Control group

Pre test Pre test

Treatment

Post test Post test

Source- Meena, B.S, et. al; ―Impact of dairy production technologies on productive and reproductive performance of dairy animals in Haryana‖, 2016

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The above diagram be evident that both the groups are randomly selected from the population and a pre-test is administered. The treatment is then administered to the experimental group only.

After the treatment is over, post-test is administered to both the experimental and control groups.

Source- Jadoun, Y.N, et.al; ―Impact of ―Integrated Murrah Development Scheme‖ (IMDS) on dairy farmers of Haryana state of India‖,2014

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The ex-post-facto research design is a systematic and scientific approach to research in which the researcher manipulates one or more variables, and controls and measures any change in other variables which is already happened.

The ex-post-facto research design is often used where:

• There is time priority in a causal relationship (cause precedes effect)

• There is consistency in a causal relationship (a cause will always lead to the same effect)

• The magnitude of the correlation is great.

Experimental group Matched Control group

Presumed Cause/effect (Assumed as an independent variable)

Presumed Effect/Cause Presumed Effect/Cause (Assumed as a dependent (Assumed as a dependent variable) variable)

Matching the groups is an important aspect of this design. Unless the experimental and control groups are properly matched on important variables i.e. made comparable, the investigator may come out with erroneous conclusion. The random selection of respondents makes the design valid.

Due to • The transfer and adoption of new technologies in dairy production system • Provision of regular artificial insemination services • Health care facilities at the doorsteps of the farmers • Dairy and crop production advisory services under one roof for the rapid increase in income and 166 productivity supported

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Source- Garai, S. et. al; ―Impact of extension interventions in improving livelihood of dairy farmers of Nadia district of West Bengal, India‖,2017

Source- Garai, S. et.al; ―Empowerment of women through self-help group approach: Empirical evidence from167 west Bengal, India ―, 2012 New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development

• Time series analysis: This method takes an existing trend and simply projecting the same rate of change into the future; we assume that what happened in the past is likely to happen in the future. For example, visitations for recreation increase each year at about the same rate they did in the past.

Straight-line trend

The straight-line trend is represented by the equation:

Yt = a +bX,

where Yt are the trend vales, a is the Y intercept or the value of Y when X = 0, b represents the slope of line or the amount by which Y variable will change if X is increased or decreased by one unit, and X variable is the time period.

In order to determine the value of the constants ‗a‘ and ‗b‘, following two equations, called normal equations, are to be solved.

∑X = Na + b∑X

∑XY = a∑X + b∑X2 , where N is the number of time periods.

X The compounding growth is represented by the equation : Yt=AB

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Where,

Yt may be area/production/yield in year

A is intercept

B= 1+x/100 where, x refers to the percentage rate of compound growth rate of area/production/yield per annum

By taking logarithm of both sides of the equation, lnYt=ln (A)+ x ln(B)

• The Logical Frame work: A log frame (also known as a Project Framework) is a tool for planning and managing development projects. It looks like a table (or framework) and aims to present information about the key components of a project in a clear, concise, logical and systematic way. The log frame model was developed in the United States and has since been adopted and adapted for use by many other donors, including the Department for International Development (DFID).

LFA can be a useful tool, both in the planning, monitoring and evaluation management of development projects. It is not the only planning tool, and should not be considered an end in itself, but using it encourages the discipline of clear and specific thinking about what the project aims to do and how, and highlighting those aspects upon which success depends.

LFA also provides a handy summary to inform project staff, donors, beneficiaries and other stakeholders, which can be referred to throughout the lifecycle of the project. LFA should not be set in concrete. As the project circumstances change it will probably need to reflect these changes but everyone involved will have to be kept informed.

It is a clear and concise visual presentation of all the key components of a plan and a basis for monitoring:

-How the project will work?

-What it is going to achieve?

-What factors relate to its success?

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-How progress will be measured?

Which ensures the relevance, feasibility and sustainability of a project.

LOG FRAME MATRIX

DFID describes the Logical Framework as "a tool to help designers of projects think logically about what the project is trying to achieve (the purpose), what things the project needs to do to bring that about (the outputs) and what needs to be done to produce these outputs (the activities). The purpose of the project from the DFID viewpoint is to serve our higher level objectives (the goal)".

• Beneficiary assessment:

What is it? A participatory assessment method and monitoring tool that incorporates direct consultation of those affected by and influencing reform. Similar to PPA, it relies primarily on qualitative research though with less emphasis on the use of visual techniques and on community follow-up to the research process.

What can it be Has traditionally been used to evaluate projects or sectorial reforms in the health,

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What does it What is the beneficiary perspective on the problem being addressed by the reform, tell you? their perception of the proposed policy, and of any mitigatory measures being considered. Provides insights into the likely reception the reform will receive, as well as issues that may arise during implementation. Tends to reach down to the community-level, but not focused exclusively on the poor or the community.

Key elements: Relies primarily on three data collection methods: (1) conversational interviews (2) focus group discussions, which in some cases have been combined with PRA tools; and (3) direct and participant observation. Although information collected may be qualitative in nature, also includes quantitative analysis of this beneficiary feedback.

Requirements:  Information- Background information on stakeholders, on cultural, ethnic, or socioeconomic variations, and on the variables determining whether specific groups would be affected (such as type of access) is required to properly design a BA and its sampling strategy.

 Time- Generally within three to four months, from design to presentation of the final report.

 Skill- Sociological or anthropological training are helpful, but good listening skills are paramount. Good knowledge of the program, historical and cultural setting also important.

Limitation: Providing less contextual and historical background information, though also likely less resource intensive.

Application: • Salmen (2002).

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• Salmen and Amelga (1998).

• For summaries of specific country application of both BA and PPAs see:http://www.worldbank.org/participation/beneficiaryassesment/beneficiary assessment.pdf

The approach relies primarily on three data collection techniques:

 Conversational Interviews

These interviews, which are in-depth in nature, are the foundation of the beneficiary assessment approach. In well-guided, naturalistic interviewing, people reveal their feelings, thoughts, and beliefs about a particular issue. The conversational interview is structured around a number of themes or topics directly related to planned or ongoing interventions targeting the community being interviewed. The interviews can be conducted one-to-one or in groups. Individual interviews allow for the freer expression of issues that may be suppressed or distorted in the presence of peers. This is a particularly important concern in interviewing women and the poor.

 Focus group discussions

This technique is used to interview target communities in groups. Such interviews are useful in interviewing persons from the same neighbourhoods, or those involved in making the same livelihoods. Usage of focus groups facilitates data collection of a larger sample group at one time, although precise attribution of findings and individuals is inherently difficult. To be effective, the focus group participants should not exceed 10-12 in number.

 Direct Observation and Participant Observation

Direct Observation is the simplest of techniques. It involves counting, noting behaviour traits and patterns, and other notable facets of a particular developmental situation. The potential for quantifying observed phenomena is major and immediate.

The participation observation method involves protracted residence of a researcher in a community of beneficiaries. During this time, a sufficient amount of rapport is established with key members of the community of interest. The researcher becomes involved in their day-to-day activities with the objective of fully understanding the living conditions of the targeted

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beneficiaries. The researcher resides with the beneficiaries from over a week to three months. Case studies of 5-10 households are used in collecting information. These households are visited many times over during the researcher‘s stay in the community. Emphasis is made on how topics identified in the interview guide are affected by the socio-cultural and political context in which the project beneficiaries live and work.

• Scenarios Analysis: These refer to logical-imaginations based on construction of hypothetical futures through a process of mentally modelling the assumptions about the SIA variables in question. Scenarios include exercises to develop the likely, alternative or preferred future of a community or society. Scenarios can be used to compare different outcomes (e.g., best versus worst case).

 A design scenario is a tool for thinking about, sharing, discussing and analysing design challenges. It describes a concrete and real challenge, and proposes a possible way of addressing it.

The aim is to access the general through the specific: tell about one specific problem you want to solve, in the exact situation in which it occurs.

Design scenarios borrow the form of design narratives, adapting it from an account of documented past events to a description of imagined future ones. Design scenarios retain the same basic components that constitute design narratives: context, challenge, theoretical framework, events and actions, results and reflections. However, these elements reflect a hypothesis about possible future states of the world. The context describes a current, existing situation, which is perturbed by the introduction of new material, social and intentional elements such as new technologies, new practices, or new objectives. Consequently, the challenge component may describe an existing conflict of forces, which is altered by the introduction of new contextual elements. Alternatively, it may consist of altogether new requirements arising from the reconfiguration of forces, such as the satisfaction of novel objectives.

What is it? Scenario analysis is a participatory exercise based on a facilitated process of brainstorming, rigorous data gathering to explore the issues raised in brainstorming and the creation of three to four plausible future situations (scenarios) in which a

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reform will play out. These scenarios are differentiated by plausible discontinuities (such as a change in government, a currency devaluation or a major shift in commodity or input prices), but take into account significant predictable factors (such as demographic trends).

What can it be Scenario analysis is forward-looking and is generally used to analyze ―lumpy‖ used for? investments or major changes in strategic direction. The process is particularly adapted to bringing the perspectives of different stakeholders together around contentious decisions. ―Civic scenarios‖ have been used to bring leaders from different political groups together to lie out alternative paths during government transition in South Africa and the transition away from violence in Colombia and Guatemala. Scenarios have also been used to bring community leaders, environmentalists, politicians and transport specialists together to make long-term strategic plans for state-level transport investment in the United States.

What does it Scenario analysis lets policy-makers: (i) ―pre-test‖ the performance of a policy tell you? reform in different plausible situations, allowing for the creation of alternate plans; (ii) assess the level of ownership for a reform agenda among key stakeholders; (iii) get support for a reform agenda by including relevant stakeholders in discussions around scenarios to build a shared understanding of key issues in a reform.

Key elements: The elements of a complete scenario analysis are: (i) preliminary scenario workshop which brings together relevant stakeholders to brainstorm the key issues around a reform agenda; (ii) data collection wherein a researcher assembles relevant information around the issues identified in a workshop; (iii) scenario-building workshop where relevant stakeholders build alternate scenarios; (iv) dissemination process where scenarios are shortened to one-page briefing notes and shared with the public via newspapers, television and radio.

Requirements:  Information- Scenario analysis requires: (i) economic information, including standard economic projections; (ii) demographic information; (iii) sector specific information relevant to the issues at hand; (iv) a basic profile of a

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country‘s political economy and of ethnic, linguistic and religious divisions within a country.

 Time- When used to challenge analytic assumptions rather than to build support among stakeholders, the scenario exercise itself could be completed in three to four staff weeks. A participatory scenario exercise is usually carried out in two to three workshops lasting several days each. These workshops are usually spread over several calendar months in order to allow time for data collection and to accommodate the schedules of participants.

 Skill- An individual with strong facilitation skills and specific experience running scenario exercises. Research skills, including familiarity with economic and demographic trends.

Limitation: Successful scenario analysis is based on the skill of facilitators and the choice of participants. Because the process is participatory and based on subjective understanding, it is best for strategic rather than tactical questions.

Application:  Maack (2001).

 Pruitt (2000).

 Civic Scenarios: Kahane (1996) on South Africa, Kahane (1998) on Colombia.

 Planning Scenarios: see experience of Utah at http://www.envisionutah.org/

Scenario analysis involves constructing or developing scenarios (steps 1-4 below), and integrating the content of scenarios into decision making (steps 5-8 below). During the exercise itself, it is important that both of these elements receive equal attention and that mutually acceptable triggers and measures of success be agreed as outcomes of the process.

1. Define a focal issue or decision. Scenarios are best suited to looking at the future through the lens of a specific issue, such as the likely outcome of a national election leading to a transfer of power or a currency devaluation. Without this grounding, there is a danger that they will be too general.

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2. Identify driving forces. These are the social, economic, environmental, political, and technological factors that are most relevant to the focal issue. They should be prioritized by the scenario team according to their level of predictability and importance in affecting the desired outcome.

3. Write scenario plots. These are the stories that explain how driving forces interact and what effects they have on the operation or strategic direction being discussed.

4. Flesh out scenarios. Good scenarios combine a solid understanding of relevant present trends with a clear focus on the outcomes sought by decision makers. They should incorporate lessons revealed by analysis of quantitative and qualitative data relevant to the assumptions underlying each scenario.

5. Look at implications. After scenarios have been fully developed, decision makers should study their implications for the outcomes being sought by the operation.

6. Choose ―leading indicators.‖ These indicators should help decision makers monitor changes in the external environment as well as developments in the project.

7. Disseminate scenarios. Once scenarios have been built and refined, they should be written in succinct, easy-to-read language and disseminated within implementing organizations and to the public.

8. Integrate scenario outcomes in daily procedures. Change the incentive system in affected agencies and areas to ensure concerted movement toward the strategic goals that have been formed on the basis of the scenarios. Use or modify existing systems to monitor progress toward operational goals as well as changes in the external environment.

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13. PREDICTION AND EVALUATION OF RESPONSES TO IMPACTS-

This is made to determine the significance of the identified social impacts to those who will be affected. Projecting the impacts through analysis is an important and also a difficult task, but the responses of affected parties frequently will have higher order significance impacts. After the direct impacts have been estimated, the assessor must next estimate how the affected public would respond in attitude and actions. The actions of affected public can be estimated using comparable cases and interviews with those affected about what they expect to do. Again, this involves targeted public participation.

14. THE INDIRECT AND CUMULATIVE IMPACTS-

These are estimated to identify the subsequent, flow-on effects of the proposal, including the second/third order impacts and their incremental impacts when added to other past, present and foreseeable current activities. Secondary or indirect impacts are those caused by the primary or direct impacts; they often occur much later, both in time and geographic distance, than primary impacts. Cumulative impacts are those resulting from the incremental impacts of an action added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions regardless of which agency or person undertakes them.

15. EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES AND IMPACT MITIGATION-

This involves evaluating alternatives in terms of projection of their consequences for affected and interested stakeholders. Each alternative or modification to the proposed action should be assessed separately. The estimation methods described in step five apply here but usually on a

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more modest scale. Subsequently, a mitigation plan needs to be developed and implemented, in order of preference to firstly avoid, secondly minimise and thirdly compensate for adverse impacts. If the predicted impact is minimal and can be managed, mitigation measures must be put in place. These could be in the form of modification of the specific event in the project, operation and redesign of the project or policy or compensation for the impact by providing substitute facilities, resources and opportunities.

16. MONITORING PLAN-

This involves developing and implementing a monitoring programme to identify deviations from the proposed action and any important unanticipated impacts. This should track project and program development and compare real impacts with projected ones. It should spell out (to the degree possible) the nature and extent of additional steps that should take place when unanticipated impacts or those larger than the projections occur.

DATA/TIME/ MAN POWER

LOW MEDIUM HIGH

Effectiveness analysis using -Beneficiary - -Simple comparison LOW assessment logical framework method

-Survey - Surplus approach -Monitoring -time series analysis

- Scenario Analysis -Resource mapping

IMPACTS

- Various HIGH -Efficiency measure -Simple comparison method  Qualitative (input-output ratio)  Quantitative -Trend analysis

Considerations in Choosing Impact Analysis Approaches

SIA practitioners need to guard against the following factors while performing social impact assessments:

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 Spatial bias: Information gathering focuses on accessible locations and overlooks remote or nomadic tribes

 Seasonal bias: SIA may be carried out at a time when it is difficult to gain representative information on an affected community, for example during harvest time or hunting season

 Personal bias: Consultation and interviews may be dictated by cultural traditions or power structures, for example limited to political leaders, elders or men

 Professional bias: Lack of interaction between disciplinary specialists may result in important links between the environment and society being omitted.

Some of the factors and considerations that need to be taken into consideration while undertaking social impact assessment include:

 Taking account of initial response to project announcement – support or opposition may be an impact itself or an indicator of the likely degree of community cohesion or conflict over social issues

 Qualifying data sufficiency and reliability – where SIA is hampered by a lack of adequate data, err on the conservative side in reporting any potentially significant impacts (e.g. stating that it cannot be ruled out with confidence rather than concluding it is not proven)

 Predicting key issues – it is better to be roughly correct on the matters that count, rather than quantifying the impacts that can be counted

 Team building – experienced social scientists need to be an integral part of the EIA team to predict these key issues and establish linkages to biophysical impacts. Often, team building must address cultural style as well as disciplinary differences, for example when relating an SIA to the EIA and project planning timetable on the one hand and the norms and traditions of an affected community on the other.

REFFERENCES

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 Anonymous ―Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment, Prepared by the Inter-organizational Committee on Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment‖ 1994..  Anonymous ―Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal‖, volume 21, number 3, September, pages 231–250, Beech Tree Publishing, 10 Watford Close, Guildford, Surrey GU1 2EP, UK 2003  Anonymous ―Social impact assessment: A discussion among Grantmakers‖, The Rockefeller & Goldman sachs foundation March 26, 2003, page-18, New York city publishers  Garai, S., Mazumder, G. and Maiti, S.; ―Empowerment of women through self help group approach: Empirical evidence from West Bengal, India‖; African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 7(48), pp.6395-6400, 20 December , 2012  Garai, S.,Garai, S, Maiti, S, Meena, B.S, Gosh, M.K and Dutta, T.K; ―Impact of extension interventions in improving livelihood of dairy farmers of Nadia district of West Bengal, India‖,2017  Glasson, J., Socio-economic impacts 1: overview and economic impacts, in: Morris, P. and Therivel, R. (ed), Methods of Environmental Impact Assessment, Spon Press, London and New York (2000)  Jadoun, Y.S et. al; ―Impact of Integrated Murrah Development Scheme (IMDS) on Dairy farmers of Haryana State of india; Print ISSN:0367-6722 / Online ISSN:0976-0555, 49 (3) 2015: 405-408  Maharjan, N.K & Grover D.K; ―Impact of National Food Security Mission-Pulses on State-wise area production and yield trends in india‖, Indian journal of economics and development, vol-13 No-2a:479-485; April,2017  Meena, B.S, Sankhala, G., Meena, H.R and Maji, S.; ―Impact of dairy production technologies on productive and reproductive performance of dairy animals in Haryana‖; Indian Journal of Animal Sciences 87 (2): 234–237, February 2017/Article  Rietbergen-McCracken, J. and Narayan, D.: ―Participation and Social Assessment: Tools and Techniques‖, The World Bank, Washington DC(1998).  Sivaraman N; ―Methods of Analysing Impact of Agricultural Technologies‖  Taylor N, Goodrich C and Bryan H, 1998. Social Assessment. In Porter A and Fittipaldi J (eds) Environmental Methods Review: Retooling Impact Assessment for the New Century (pp.210-218). The Press Club, Fargo, USA.  A User‘s Guide to Poverty and Social Impact Analysis; WTO, 2003  http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPSIA/Resources/490023 1121114603600/12685_PSIAUsersGuide_Complete.pdf

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ROLE OF CO-OPERATIVES IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA Veeresh S. Wali and Vinoda Shankara Naik

INTRODUCTION India is mainly an agrarian country with more than half of its population still residing in the villages. Rural sector is the major contributor to the overall GDP of the nation and hence lack of development in villages means lack of development in India. Cooperative societies are playing significant role in this and share a major credit in the growth of rural sector which along with government and private sectors contribute to the overall economy of India. Cooperatives cover more than 97% of Indian villages, some run by its members and some by the government. Needs of rural people are served by different forms of private and government organization including partnership firms, cooperatives, companies and charitable trust. Government each year spends lakhs to crores of rupees on rural development. But cooperatives working in rural areas are playing noteworthy role in this. Gujurat‘s Dairy cooperative and Maharashtra‘s sugar cooperative prove their contribution. Cooperatives are present in all the countries and in almost all the sectors, including agriculture, food, finance, health care, marketing, insurance & credit. A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise. Agriculture continues to be the engine of economic growth in most developing countries. Strong cooperatives are able to overcome many of the difficulties faced by the farmers; wherein in a country like India 85% are small and marginal farmers. Cooperatives work on the set seven principles, among these principles the seventh principle - Concern for the community derives cooperatives to work for the sustainable development of the community. There are a number of successful cooperatives in India itself like IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd.) and KRIBHCO (Krishak Bharti Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd.) in the fertiliser sector, the Institution like AMUL in Dairy Sector and Self Help Groups (SHGs) formed by various Institutions have immensely benefitted farmer members in increasing crop

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India since the country's independence from Britain in 1947 has seen a huge growth in Cooperative societies serving mainly the farming sector.

For example, most of the sugar production in India takes place at mills owned by local cooperative societies. The members of the society include all farmers, small and large, supplying sugarcane to the mill. Over the last fifty years, the local sugar mills have played a crucial part in encouraging political participation and as a stepping stone for aspiring politicians.

This is particularly true in the state of Maharashtra where a large number of politicians belonging to the Congress party or NCP had ties to sugar cooperatives from their local area. Unfortunately, due to a policy of "profits for the company but losses to be borne by the government", has made a number of these operations inefficient.

Cooperatives also play a great part in dairy marketing as well as banking. Cooperative banks in India serve both the rural and urban societies. Just like the Sugar companies, these institutions serve as the power base for local politicians.

Verghese Kurien in his book "I too had a dream" details the problems, solutions and experiences he had in setting up and developing the dairy co-operative society now known asAmul.

The potential of independent and genuine co-operatives as a tool for rural development is increasingly recognized by many governments, donors and non-governmental organizations across the globe. Agricultural and food cooperatives are already a major tool against poverty and hunger, but they can do much more. It is time to strengthen these organizations and facilitate

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development their expansion while creating a favourable legal, policy and social climate in which they can thrive. The scope for development of cooperatives is clearly indicated by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon when he says ―Co-operatives are a reminder to the international community that it is possible to pursue both economic viability and social responsibility‖. The United Nations Organization resolution titled 'Co-operatives in Social Development' recognizes the diversity of the co-operative movement around the world and urges governments to take measures aimed at creating a supportive environment for the development of co-operatives. The Co-operative Movement brings together over one billion people around the world. The UNO estimates that the livelihood of nearly half of the world's population has been made secure by co- operative enterprise. These enterprises continue to play significant economic and social roles in their communities (Anonymous, 2012a).

A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons who voluntarily cooperate for their mutual social, economic, and cultural benefit. Cooperatives include non-profit community organizations and businesses that are owned and managed by the people who use its services (a consumer cooperative) and/or by the people who work there (a worker cooperative) or by the people who live there (a housing cooperative). A 'co-operative' is a member-controlled association of individual farmers, households, etc., who share the risks and profits of a jointly owned economic enterprise. A co-operative is usually established in response to unfavourable market conditions, shared by all participating members, in order to gain leverage due to the combined size, capacity and capability of the whole group.

The origin of cooperative philosophy is found in the writings and activities of Robert Owen, Louis Blanc, Charles Fourier, and others in Europe. Robert Owen (1771–1858) is considered the Father of the Cooperative Movement. It was in the cotton mills of New Lanark, Scotland that the first co-operative store was opened. Spurred on by the success of this, Owen had the idea of forming "villages of co-operation" where workers grow their own food, make their own clothes, remove poverty and ultimately become self-governing.

Rural Development

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• Robert Chamber (1983) Rural development is a strategy to enable a specific group of people, rural women and men, to gain for themselves and their children more of what they want and need. • Agarwal (1989) rural development is a strategy designed to improve the social and economic life of rural poor.

Main objective - To raise the social and economic level of the rural people.

The specific objectives are:

1. To develop farm, home, public service and village community. 2. To bring improvement in producing of crops and animals living condition. 3. To improve health and education condition etc. 4. 4. To improve villagers with their own efforts. 5. To improve village communication. Need for Rural development • About three-fourth of India's population live in rural areas. • Nearly half of the country's national income is derived from agriculture. • Around 70% of Indian population gets employment through agriculture. • Bulks of raw materials for industries come from agriculture and rural sector Concept of Co-operation • Co-operation derived from Latin root • Co = together, Opus= to work • Fredrick Nicholson is father of Indian Co-operative movement • Huber Calvert(1904)- It is a form of organization, where in persons voluntarily associate together on the basis of equality for the promotion of common economic interest of themselves. Development of Co-operative Movement in India  F. Nicholson a British Officer suggested India to introduce Raiffeisen model of German agricultural credit Co-operatives  The first Co-operative Society Act was enacted in 1904  Co-operative Marketing Societies Act in 1912

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 Under 1919 Administrative Reforms, Co-operatives was made a provincial subject making each province responsible for Co-operative development  In 1942, the Government of India enacted the Multi-Unit Co-operative Societies Act  Comprehensive Act known as Multi State Co-operative Societies Act 1984.  Government of India enacted the Multi State Co-operative Societies Act in 2002  Provided democratic and autonomous working power to the Co-operatives Co-operative principles: 1. Voluntary and Open Membership: Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all people able to use its services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination. 2. Democratic Member Control: Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members—those who buy the goods or use the services of the cooperative—who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions. 3. Members' Economic Participation: Members contribute equally to, and democratically control, the capital of the cooperative. This benefits members in proportion to the business they conduct with the cooperative rather than on the capital invested. 4. Autonomy and Independence: Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If the co-op enters into agreements with other organizations or raises capital from external sources, it is done so based on terms that ensure democratic control by the members and maintains the cooperative‘s autonomy. 5. Education, Training and Information: Cooperatives provide education and training for members, elected representatives, managers and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperative. Members also inform the general public about the nature and benefits of cooperatives. 6. Cooperation among Cooperatives: Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures. 7. Concern for Community: While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of communities through policies and programs accepted by the members. Types of Co-operatives

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1. Credit co-operatives 2. Fertilizer co-operatives 3. Sugar co-operatives 4. Consumer co-operatives 5. Dairy co-operatives 6. Marketing co-operatives 1.Credit co-operatives  Provide ST, MT, LT, loans for farmers at low rate of interest. PACS provides inputs facilities to the farmers like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, etc.PACS through DCC Banks provides micro-finance facilities to the SHGs 2.Fertilizers co-operatives  They are engaged in production and distribution of fertilizers. Educating the farmers about balanced use of fertilizers and improved agricultural practices. IFFCO is also engaged in development of waste lands.  Examples:Indian Farmers Fertilizer Co-operative Ltd. -(IFFCO) : Headqurter - New delhi . 84.45 lakh tonnes Fertilizer production (Ammonia & urea complex) Krishak Bharati Co-operative Ltd. (KRIBHCO) : Main plant is located in Surat, Gujarat. 23. 35 lakh tonnes Fertilizer production (Urea, Ammonia). 48,000 Member- Cooperatives. 50 million individual farmer-members. Covering 37% of national fertilizer needs 3. Sugar Co-operatives  80 Cooperative sugar mills out of 390 mills. 30 million sugarcane growers. Produce 50% of total sugar production of the country Objectives:  To help the farmers to get fair price for their products  To undertake and assist in establishing industries associated with its by-products  To help in marketing of sugarcane produced by the members  To undertake developmental activities for their members Activities of Sugar Co-operatives  They also provide input supply to the farmers  They provide credit facilities in market tie-up basis

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 They carry out demonstrations about sugar cane production Example: Shankarrao Mohite Sugar Co-operative in Maharashtra 4. Consumer co-operatives  There are 1,476 Primary Consumers Co-operative Societies in the State. Societies are having share capital of Rs- 1,046.65 lakhs andTurnover of 11,504.01 lakhs Objectives  To provide essential commodities at reasonable prices to the weaker sections  To assisting the GOVT by strengthening the PDS in various parts of the country  To distributes essential commodities to tribal areas through LAMPS  To protect the consumers from exploitation and adulteration 5. Dairy Co-operatives Objectives:  To ensure assured market.  To make available quality milk and other premier dairy products  To facilitate rural development by providing opportunities for self employment at village level  To prevent migration to urban areas by providing sustained income Amul: Amul (Anand Milk Union Limited) formed in 1946.It is managed by Gujarat Co- operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF).The Amul Pattern has established itself as a uniquely appropriate model for rural development.Diverse Product Mix: Amul Butter , Milk Powder, Ghee, Cheese, Chocolates, Shrikhand, Ice cream , Nutramul , Milk. KMF-Karnataka Co-operative Milk Producers' Federation Limited: Brand name – Nandini. Procurement and sale of milk. Information Technology (IT) has played a very vital role by facilitating easy recording, retrieval, analysis and sharing of the Information. 6. Marketing Co-operatives Functions: Market the produce of the members at fair prices  Safeguard the members from excessive marketing costs and malpractices  Make arrangements for advanced credit facilities based on products  They provide credits for construction of processing units  They provide facilities of grading and marketing

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CAMPCO - The Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Co-operative Limited: It was founded in 1973 at Mangalore.The organization found to mitigate the sufferings of arecanut and cocoa growers.The cooperative produces chocolates and other products of cocoa both under its own brand and also for Nestle.TSS- Totgar‘s Co-operative Sales Society: To provide marketing facilities to the members. To give financial assistance- production loan, education loan etc., To supply cattle feeds and other consumer goods.

Advantages of Co-operatives  Economic benefits  Moral benefits  Educational benefits  Social benefits

Values, principles, ethics and business competence constitute the cooperative advantage for members and for the communities in which they operate. Cooperatives put people first – they are member-owned; they are controlled under democratic principles; and they are competitive enterprises which are at least as efficient in their business operations and use of capital as others in the market place. Yet, they are not driven by profit, but rather by needs. These important differences from traditional enterprises will enable them to compete and prosper in the new Millennium. Flexibility is one of the greatest advantages of the cooperative form of enterprise.

Challenges before Co-operatives

 Government Interference: Right from the beginning the Government has adopted an attitude of patronizing the Movement. The Government interference thus became an essential element in the working of these institutions.

 Mismanagement and Manipulation: Over the years, this truly democratic idea got corrupted and farmers with larger holdings grew more powerful thereby altering the power structure of the co-operatives. In the elections to the governing bodies money became such a powerful tool that the top posts of chairman and vice-chairman usually went to the richest farmers even though the majority of members were farmers with small or medium-sized holdings. Co- operatives do not enjoy level-playing field vis-à-vis private retail chains in the country.

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 Lack of Awareness: People are not well informed about the objectives of the movement, rules and regulations of co-operative institutions. Unfortunately, no special efforts have been made in this direction. People look upon these institutions as means for obtaining facilities and concessions from the govt. Lack of education, dirty local politics, caste-ridden elections to the offices of co-operative societies, bureaucratic attitudes of the Government officers at the lower rank are some of the hurdles in spreading the correct information about the Co- operative Movement and in educating the members about its true character and vital role in the society.

 Restricted Coverage: The Co-operative Movement has also suffered on account of two important limitations on its working. One is that the size of these societies has been very small. Most of these societies are confined to a few members and their operations extended to only one or two villages. As a result their resources remain limited, which make it impossible for them to expand their means and extend their areas of operations. Two, most of the societies have been single purpose societies. Such societies are unable to assess a total view of the persons seeking help, nor can they analyze and solve problems by themselves.

 Functional Weakness: The Co-operative Movement has suffered from inadequacy of trained personnel. Lack of trained personnel has been caused by lack of appropriate institutions for training of personnel and qualified and experienced personnel did not feel attracted or motivated.

Thus, there are several pitfalls. Poor infrastructure, lack of quality management, over- dependence on government, dormant membership, non-conduct of elections, lack of strong human resources policy, neglect of professionalism, etc. are the limiting factors. Indian co- operatives are also unable to evolve strong communication and public relations strategies which can promote the concept of co-operation among the masses.

CONCLUSION

In nutshell, it can be argued that cooperatives, especially the agricultural co-operatives have served the cause of economic progress of many countries including India. They continue to serve a larger cause of economic empowerment of people especially of poor and weaker sections. As such they hold great hope for a healthy and balanced development of regional and

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development global economies. However, undesirable it is, the fact remains that cooperatives are not getting due support from Governments. Neglect of co-operatives would lead to undesirable developments in the society, which need to be stopped. Global hoax is created about death of co- operatives when actually it is a murder in the strong hands. Therefore, it is high time global community gives adequate attention to promotion of co-operatives around the world and India cannot afford to remain isolated. To improve performance of cooperatives expert committees have recommended several suggestions. But, what is most desired is the political will of the rulers to see the benefits of cooperatives in a balanced, sustained and healthy growth of the society and act. Cooperatives since respect the rural culture & values and understand rural way of living, arethus in an advantageous position to understand the rural needs. These enterprises organize the rural peopleand improve their skills to optimise the local resources. Cooperatives involve and enthuse every section ofthe society irrespective of caste andreligion and ensures their active participation in rural development. These are having concern for community, haveconcerns for the natural resources of thatarea, do not over-exploit thus maintain rural eco-system. It can encourage the scaling up of rural successes and can connect rural effortsto national and international level making the rural efforts global. Therefore, cooperatives are the main tool for rural development.

REFERENCES  Dubey, A. K., Singh, A. K., Singh, R. K.,Singh, L., Pathak, M. and Dubey, V. K., 2009, Cooperatives societies for sustaining rural livelihood : A case study. Indian Res. J. Ext. Edu.9 (1): 43-46.  Kumar, J. and Murthy, H. G. S., 1992, Impact of dairy cooperatives on income and employment in Chittoor district, Andra Pradesh. Indian Coop. Review, 29 (4) : 382-388.  Kumar., Shavinder., Mehta, V. P. and Malik, D. P., 2005, Role of cooperatives in distribution of fertilizer in India. Indian Coop. Review, 43(1) : 540-554.  Patil, D. A., Pawar, C. B. and Dhare, A. M., 2007, Coperative sand rural development: a sociological case study of Malshiras taluka of Western Maharashtra. Indian Coop. Review. 45(4) : 322-336.  Ramananda, M. S., 2012, Dairy cooperative a viable tool for rural development. Int.J. of Res. in IT and Management, 2(11): 10-20.  Tanwar, P. S., Kumar, Y. and Aulakh, G. S. (2015), Impact of dairy cooperatives on milk production, income and employment generation in semi arid rajastan. Int. J. in Management and Social Sci., 3(3) :477-487.

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IMPLEMENTATION AND AWARNESS OF MINIMUM SUPPORT PRICE Vikalp Sharma*, Arjun Singh Rajput*, Anju Yadav*, Rashmi** *Department of Agril. Economics and Management, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur (Rajasthan)-313001 **Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension Education and Rural Sociology, CSKHPKV, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh-176062

INTRODUCTION

The food shortages faced during the mid-1960s pushed India to reform its agricultural policy and accordingly India adopted significant policy reforms focused on the goal of achieving food grain self-sufficiency. Series of institutional reforms were undertaken to boost the agricultural production and to modernize the farming practices. These included land reforms, structural changes in the agricultural administrative arrangements, agricultural extension schemes, initiation of price support policies including the introduction of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for major agricultural produces, introduction of new technologies (popularly known as the green revolution), strengthening of agricultural research, etc. Minimum Support Price (MSP) is a form of market intervention by the Government of India to ensure agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), Government of India, determines the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) of various agricultural commodities in India based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Cost and Prices (CACP).MSP is price fixed by Government of India to protect the producer - farmers - against excessive fall in price during bumper production years. The minimum support prices are a guarantee price for their produce from the Government. The major objectives are to support the farmers from distress sales and to procure food grains for public distribution. In case the market price for the commodity falls below the announced minimum price due to bumper production and glut in the market, government agencies purchase the entire quantity offered by the farmers at the announced minimum price.

HISTORY OF MSP

The MSP was declared first time in 1965 as a tool for agricultural price policy to meet the various objectives. Since then, the MSP performs an important function in realizing the various

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development objectives related to agricultural price policy. The Agricultural Price Commission was headed by Prof M L Dantwala and in its final report the Commission suggested the Minimum Support Prices for Paddy. The Price Support Policy of the Government is directed at providing insurance to agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices. The minimum guaranteed prices are fixed to set a floor below which market prices cannot fall. Till the mid 1970s, Government announced two types of administered prices:

1. Minimum Support Prices (MSP)

2. Procurement Prices

The MSPs served as the floor prices and were fixed by the Government in the nature of a long- term guarantee for investment decisions of producers, with the assurance that prices of their commodities would not be allowed to fall below the level fixed by the Government, even in the case of a bumper crop. Procurement prices were the prices of Kharif and Rabi cereals at which the grain was to be domestically procured by public agencies (like the FCI) for release through PDS. It was announced soon after harvest began. Normally procurement price was lower than the open market price and higher than the MSP. This policy of two official prices being announced continued with some variation upto 1973-74, in the case of paddy. In the case of wheat it was discontinued in 1969 and then revived in 1974-75 for one year only. Since there were too many demands for stepping up the MSP, in 1975-76, the present system was evolved in which only one set of prices was announced for paddy (and other kharif crops) and wheat being procured for buffer stock operations.

Determination of MSP

Commission for Agricultural Cost and Prices (CACP) makes use of both micro-level data and aggregates at the level of district, state and the country. The information/data used by the CACP, include the following:-

 Cost of cultivation per hectare and structure of costs in various regions of the country  Cost of production per quintal in various regions of the country  Prices of various inputs  Market prices of products and changes  Prices of commodities sold by the farmers and of those purchased by them

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 Supply related information - area, yield and production, imports, exports and domestic availability and stocks with the Government/public agencies  Demand related information - total and per capita consumption, trends and capacity of the processing industry  Prices in the international market and changes therein, demand and supply situation in the world market  Prices of the derivatives of the farm products such as sugar, jaggery, jute goods, edible/non-edible oils and cotton yarn  Cost of processing of agricultural products  Cost of marketing - storage, transportation, processing, marketing services, taxes/fees and margins retained by market functionaries  Macro-economic variables such as general level of prices, consumer price indices and those reflecting monetary and fiscal factors Government announces minimum support prices (MSPs) for 22 mandated crops and fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane. The mandated crops are 14 crops of the kharif season, 6 rabi crops and two other commercial crops. In addition, the MSPs of toria and de-husked coconut are fixed on the basis of the MSPs of rapeseed/mustard and copra, respectively.

Table 1. MSP OF VARIOUS COMMODITIES (FROM 2010-11 TO 2018-19)

Commo Variety 201 201 2012- 2013- 2014- 2015- 2016- 2017 2018 CAG dity 0- 1- 13 14 15 16 17 -18 -19 R(%) 11 12 Kharif Paddy Comm 100 108 1250 1310 1360 1410 1470 1550 1750 7.25 on 0 0 Grade 103 111 1280 1345 1400 1450 1510 1590 1770 7.00 'A' 0 0 Jowar Hybrid 880 980 1500 1500 1530 1570 1625 1700 2430 13.54 Malda 900 100 1520 1520 1550 1590 1650 1725 2450 13.34 ndi 0 Bajra 880 980 1175 1250 1250 1275 1330 1425 1950 10.46

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Maize 880 980 1175 1310 1310 1325 1365 1425 1700 8.58 Ragi 965 105 1500 1500 1550 1650 1725 1900 2897 14.73 0 Arhar 300 320 3850 4300 4350 4625 5050 5450 5675 8.29 0 0 Moong 317 350 4400 4500 4600 4850 5225 5575 6975 10.36 0 0 Urad 290 330 4300 4300 4350 4625 5000 5400 5600 8.57 0 0 Cotton Mediu 250 280 3600 3700 3750 3800 3860 4020 5150 9.45 m 0 0 Staple Long 300 330 3900 4000 4050 4100 4160 4320 5450 7.75 Staple 0 0 Ground 230 270 3700 4000 4000 4030 4220 4450 4890 9.89 nut 0 0 Sunflo 235 280 3700 3700 3750 3800 3950 4100 5388 10.93 wer 0 0 Soyabe Black 140 165 2200 2500 2500 2600 2775 3050 3399 11.73 an 0 0 Yellow 144 169 2240 2560 2560 2600 2775 3050 3399 11.33 0 0 Sesamu 290 340 4200 4500 4600 4700 5000 5300 6249 10.07 m 0 0 Nigerse 245 290 3500 3500 3600 3650 3825 4050 5877 11.56 ed 0 0

Rabi Wheat 1120 128 135 140 145 152 162 162 173 5.62 5 0 0 0 5 5 5 5

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Barley 780 980 980 110 115 122 132 132 141 7.68 0 0 5 5 5 0 Gram 2100 280 300 310 317 350 400 400 440 9.69 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 Masur 2250 280 290 295 307 340 395 395 425 8.27 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 Rapedeed/mustu 1850 250 300 305 310 335 370 370 400 10.1 rd 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Safflower 1800 250 280 300 305 330 370 370 410 10.8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 Toria 1780 242 297 302 302 329 356 356 390 10.3 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Other crops

Copra Millin 4450 452 510 525 525 555 595 650 751 6.76 g 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Ball 4700 477 535 550 550 583 624 678 775 6.45 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 Dehusked 1200 120 140 142 142 150 160 176 203 6.79 coconut 0 0 5 5 0 0 0 0 Jute 1575 167 220 230 240 270 320 350 370 11.2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Sugarcane 139.1 145 170 210 220 230 230 255 275 8.89 2

WHOLESALE PRICE, INTERNATIONAL PRICE AND MSP FOR WHEAT

Demand-supply situation of agricultural commodities can be best estimated by studying the price trends in market along with other parameters. The weighted average wholesale price is a better indicator of market prices as it captures price movements of major producing states. Analysis of trends in domestic and world prices plays crucial role in deciding the price policy for agricultural

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development commodities, which helps in maintaining the price stability. Following graph depicts weighted average wholesale prices and international price of wheat in the country. Market wholesale prices of wheat were ruling above MSP continuously from 2010 to 2018.It may be seen from the following chart that during the period from 2010 to 2015 that domestic wholesale price of wheat is consistently lower than the international prices. India benefitted from higher international prices and was able to export record quantity of 65.1 lakh tonnes in 2012-13 and 55.7 lakh tonnes in 2013-14, respectively. However, during the period from 2015 to 2018 wholesale prices as well as MSP of wheat were higher than international prices that led to decline in exports during this period. The international wheat prices are expected to remain under pressure during 2017-18 due to higher stocks in major exporting countries and it may be difficult for India to export despite bumper crop in 2016-17.

FIG 1: MSP, DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL PRICE OF WHEAT (2010-11 TO 2017 -18)

Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Finance for Domestic Wholesale Price and World bank for International Prices

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TABLE 2: RECOMMENDED MSP OF WHEAT CROP (Rs/qtl)

Crop Projected Costs MSP A2 A2+FL C2 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Wheat 642 817 1256 1525 1625 1735

Source: DES, DAC & FW

WHOLESALE PRICE, INTERNATIONAL PRICE AND MSP FOR RICE

Following figure reveals that domestic price of rice were generally lower than its international price during 2010-2018. This is a clear proof that Indian rice has remained export competitive baring a few occasions. Also the domestic price of rice, has been higher than MSP. MSP has been continuosly lower than international price during this period.

FIG 2: MSP, DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL PRICE OF RICE (2010-11 TO 2017 - 18)

Source: DES, DAC&FW for domestic wholesale prices and World Bank for International prices

TABLE 3: RECOMMENDED MSP OF RICE CROP (Rs/qtl)

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Crop Projected Costs MSP

A2 A2+FL C2 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 Paddy 865 1166 1560 1470 1550 1750

AWARNESS ABOUT MSP

In order to strengthen MSP operations, awareness about MSP and FAQ norms need to be created as many times farmer‘s produce is rejected on the basis of quality norms. Strong procurement operations need to be expanded to neglected regions, particularly eastern and north eastern regions. As per NSSO data, states where awareness of MSP is high are also the states where there is more procurement of wheat and paddy. This calls for giving wide publicity about MSP and procurement agencies by the state governments in regional electronic and print media and also through pamphlets, announcements in the villages regarding MSPs and FAQ parameters of important commodities at least 15 days before the procurement starts so as to reach out to farmers in far off areas. Commission is, therefore, of the view that there is a need to empower gram panchayats with sufficient financial powers to educate the farmers about the same. It has also been observed that often farmers of remote areas do not have sufficient access to APMC and their potential market is local haats and their produce is sold below MSP. Therefore, it will be beneficial for those farmers if procurement centers can be opened up in remote areas at gram panchayat level.

In addition, farmers need to be trained on FAQ norms and post- harvest handling of commodities so as to minimize post-harvest losses and better prices to farmers. Furthermore to boost confidence among farmers for procurement of their produce, a legislation conferring on farmers ‗The Right to Sell at MSP‘ may be brought out.

TABLE 4: STATEWISE AWARNESS OF FARMERS ABOUT MSP(%)

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States Rabi Kharif Punjab 52.94 48.93 Chattisgarh 37.09 47.20 Delhi 64.29 41.18 Odisha 9.85 36.23 Haryana 32.10 27.80 Uttar Pradesh 22.43 27.59 Bihar 22.84 27.49 West Bengal 19.29 26.23 Telangana 30.82 25.32 Kerala 19.47 22.09 Rajasthan 20.90 15.06 Karnataka 14.61 13.97 Jharkhand 4.96 13.25 Himachal Pradesh 10.24 13.24 Madhya Pradesh 30.47 12.19 Gujrat 9.97 12.02 Uttranchal 9.14 9.81 Jammu & Kashmir 6.03 8.21 Maharashtra 8.00 8.19 Tamilnadu 15.12 7.71 Arunachal Pradesh 7.39 6.49 Tripura 21.50 5.99 Mizoram 0.30 4.24 Assam 3.88 4.09 Nagaland 1.96 3.87 Chandigarh 6.67 3.13 Meghalaya 12.52 1.33 Manipur 0.14 0.48 Sikkim 0.00 0.00

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Note: MSP, Minimum Support Price

Source: NSSO data

TABLE 5: FARMER AWARNESS OF PROCUREMENT AGENCIES (%)

Procurement Agency Rabi Kharif Food Corportion of India 18.80 19.02 Jute Corporation of India 1.02 1.35 Cotton Corporation of India 0.62 2.13 NAFED 5.24 3.30 State Food Corporation 17.74 13.23 State Civil Supplies 7.73 9.13 Others 21.03 21.36 Did not know 27.83 30.48 Total 100 100 Source: NSSO data

TABLE 6: FARMER AWARNESS ABOUT MSP BY CROP GROUPS (%)

Crop Group Rabi Kharif Cereals 29.02 22.04 Pulses 10.10 8.67 Oilseeds 17.67 15.88 Sugarcane, cotton and jute 24.24 21.04 Total 17.51 17.16 Note: MSP, Minimum Support Price

Source: NSSO data

TABLE 7: REASONS QUOTED BY FARMERS FOR NOT SELLING TO PROCUREMENT AGENCIES (%)

Rabi Kharif Percentage of farmers not selling to procurement agencies 75.09 75.58

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Reason for not selling to procurement agencies Procurement agency not available 16.53 17.53 No local purchaser 6.63 6.9 Poor quality of crop 1.25 2.31 Crop pre-pledged 0.75 1.20 Received better prices 7.97 8.77 Others 66.88 63.26 Total 100 100 Source: NSSO data

Even after more than 40 years after its implementation, less than 25 per cent of farmers knows the MSP of crops they grow. Although MSP is announced for the whole of India, the operation is limited only to few states where the designated government agencies procure the produce from farmers.

In states where procurement of food grains through designated agencies is more active, like Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana, the awareness of MSP is also high.Further, 27.83 and 30.48 per cent of farmers are reported of being unaware about the agency that procures the food grains at MSP. There is a need for creating a good network of procurement agencies and also for awareness amongst farmers about the operation of MSP. Except for crops like rice and wheat, quantity procured is very limited leading low level of awareness. Even for rice and wheat, procurement takes place only in few states, and more farmers are aware of MSP in those states.

Minimum Support Price of rice and wheat is known to the majority of the farmers in Haryana, Punjab and Chhattisgarh; major states from where food grains are procured for buffer stock or PDS. Knowledge of MSP of rice and wheat is less in other growing regions like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. For important pulse crops like Tur and Gram, the share of farmers knowing MSP of crops is very less across all states.Less than 10 per cent awareness for most the pulses is another cause of concern . With India trying to increase the pulse production, support prices can act as an incentive if the government starts procurement through a good network of channels. Then only the benefit of support prices will reach farmers and be able to provide price security that it intends to. Out of proportion of farmers who were

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development aware of MSP, 75.09 and 75.58 per cent of farmers (in rabi and kharif, respectively) have not sold the produce to procurement agencies.

The role of MSP is to set the floor price, and if farmers have received a better price than MSP, it is fine. Only 7.97 and 8.77 per cent of farmers reported that they did not sell to procurement agency as they received a better price in the market. But nearly 25 per cent of farmers reported that there is no procurement agency/local purchaser available to procure the produce at MSP. Ideally speaking, the benefit of MSP should reach all farmers across all states and for which a good network of procurement agencies with required infrastructure is also must. But from a practical point of view, this may not be feasible. Government agencies are already facing difficulty in storage and maintenance.

IMPLIMENTATION OF MSP IN RAJASTHAN

The State Government‘s Supervision and Monitoring Cell of Food Supply Department looks after the implementation of MSP in the State. The nodal agency for wheat is FCI, for commercial crops it is NAFED and for cotton it is the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI). The state agencies involved in procurement of wheat are Tilam Sangh, Rajasthan State Co-operative Marketing Federation Ltd. (RAJFED) and FCI. The State agencies involved in the procurement of commercial crops are Tilam Sangh and RAJFED. A total of 268 centres have been set up, including 153 centres by the FCI, 102 by the Rajfed and 13 centres by Tilam Sangh for purchasing wheat at MSP. Committees have been formed under the chairmanship of the district collectors for transporting, handling and collecting of wheat at the local level and the committee will have the senior most official of the purchase agency, the district officer, the treasurer and the secretary of krishi upaj mandi as its members. The overall supervising responsibility of the Rabi marketing season in 2018-19 has been given to the district collectors.

The secretary of krishi upaj mandi or the agriculture supervisors have been given the charge for fixing the quality of wheat at purchase centres and patwaris have been directed through the district collector to provide land titles and revenue record to the farmers on time. Arrangements are made for mapping of purchase centres and godowns for storing wheat so that after the purchase, wheat can be sent to the godowns immediately. The procurement operations under MSP are carried out by the FCI and State agencies. Since Rabi 1992-93, the state agencies manage their own funds and FCI makes payments of the cost of grain, mandi fees and arhat

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(commission) charges on deposition of stocks in FCI/RSWC/CWC/ARDC godowns. Wheat is procured directly from the farmers as well as through the Kachha Arhatias by all the procuring agencies under price support scheme. The stocks purchased by the State agencies are deposited with FCI under central pool at the godowns of FCI/RSWC/CWC/ARDC as per the plan chalked out by the Area Manager concerned. In Rajasthan 216 centres have been set up in the state for purchasing mustard and 168 for gram.

Efforts are also made to ensure purchase at all cooperative societies, so that farmers need not have to go very far to sell their produce. Rajfed control rooms have been set up at sub-registrar offices at district levels and at registrar office at the state level, so that farmers do not face any problem.

TABLE 8: AGENCY WISE WHEAT PROCUREMENT DURING RMS 2017-18

Sr. No. Agency Procurement (in MT) 1 FCI 977188 (78.50%) 2 Rajfed 240628 (19.33%) 3 Tilam Sangh 25945 (2.08%) 4 Nafed 1111 (0.09%) Total 1244872(100%) Source: FCI

TABLE 9: WHEAT PROCUREMENT OF LAST 5 YEARS

Sr.No. RMS Wheat (MT) 1 2014-15 2154591 2 2015-16 1300017 3 2016-17 761562 4 2017-18 1244872 5 2018-19 1532133

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TABLE 10: WHEAT PURCHASE CENTRES IN RAJASTHAN

Sr.No. RMS FCI State Agencies Total 1 2016-17 119 78 303 2 2017-18 115 93 208 3 2018-19 127 102 229 Source: FCI

TABLE 11: PULSES PURCHASE CENTRE

Sr.No. Commodity FCI State agencies Total During RMS 2016-17 1 Chana 28 0 28 2 Masoor 9 0 9 During KMS 2016-17 1 Moong 14 0 14 2 Urad 9 0 9 Source: FCI

MARKET INTERVENTION SCHEME (MIS)

Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) is a price support mechanism implemented on the request of State Governments for procurement of perishable and horticultural commodities in the event of a fall in market prices. The Scheme is implemented when there is at least 10% increase in production or 10% decrease in the ruling rates over the previous normal year. Market Intervention Scheme works in a similar fashion to Minimum Support Price based procurement mechanism for food grains. Its objective is to protect the growers of these horticultural/agricultural commodities from making distress sale in the event of bumper crop

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development during the peak arrival period when prices fall to very low level. Thus it provides remunerative prices to the farmers in case of glut in production and fall in prices. Proposal of MIS is approved on the specific request of State/Union Territory (UT) Government, if the State/UT Government is ready to bear 50% loss (25% in case of North-Eastern States), if any, incurred on its implementation. Further, the extent of total amount of loss shared is restricted to 25% of the total procurement value which includes cost of the commodity procured plus permitted overhead expenses.

IMPLIMENTATION OF MIS

The Department of Agriculture & Cooperation is implementing the scheme. Under MIS, funds are not allocated to the States. Instead, central share of losses as per the guidelines of MIS is released to the State Governments/UTs, for which MIS has been approved, based on specific proposals received from them. Under the Scheme, in accordance with MIS guidelines, a pre- determined quantity at a fixed Market Intervention Price (MIP) is procured by NAFED as the Central agency and the agencies designated by the state government for a fixed period or till the prices are stabilized above the MIP whichever is earlier. The area of operation is restricted to the concerned state only.The MIS has been implemented in case of commodities like apples, kinnoo/malta, garlic, oranges, galgal, grapes, mushrooms, clove, black pepper, pineapple, ginger, red-chillies, coriander seed, isabgol, chicory, onions, potatoes, cabbage, mustard seed, castor seed, copra, palm oil etc. in the States of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Maharshtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar islands, Lakshadweep etc.

PRICE DEFICIENCY PAYMENT SCHEME

Government agencies like NAFED or FCI have to intervene in the market for certain crops like oilseeds, pulses, maize, etc. under Price Support Scheme (PSS) or Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) through state governments or on their own, whenever market prices of produce drop below MSP. Since, these crops are procured by Government and their disposal does not take place through PDS unlike wheat and paddy, it leads to high expenses because of costs involved in storage, handling, interest on capital and losses in disposal of the procured stock.To address this issue, the difference between MSP and market price should be paid directly to farmer‘s bank

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development account. This will minimise Government intervention in procurement of crops and also result in curbing loss of foodgrains incurred in terms of non-availability of storage as farmers will be able to sell their produce directly to traders and get the difference from the Government.

A. BHAWANTER BHUGTAN YOJNA (BBY)

Bhawantar Bhugtan Yojna (BBY) can be emulated using kharif 2017 season on pilot basis to safeguard the farmers from the fluctuations in the market prices of pulses (Urad, Moong, Tur), oilseeds (Soybean, Groundnut, Sesamum, Nigerseed) and maize in Madhya Pradesh. Under the Scheme, difference between the MSP and the Average Sale Price (ASP) of a produce in the APMC yard is paid directly to their bank accounts. Under the Scheme, direct payment of the difference between MSP and average sale price (ASP) to farmers selling his produce in APMC yards for these crops is done directly to their bank accounts. It has been observed by the Commission that under BBY, the cost incurred by the Government of Madhya Pradesh is significantly lower compared to the present system of procurement of produce under MSP and therefore, Commission is of the view that the Government should explore the possibility of implementing the Scheme on pan India basis. Farmers should be encouraged and incentivized to store their produce in accredited warehouses to avoid distress sale and allow farmers to sell when prices are most favourable. However, when farmers join the programme, they should receive a loan against their produce and be entitled to receive the benefit of Bhavantar Scheme if market prices in later months are below MSP. If market prices are higher, they can choose to sell in the open market and take advantage of high prices. Apart from these, transparent and efficient price discovery is essential for the success of PDPS. Therefore, there is a need to make e-NAM in these markets operational and create national market for the selected commodities on priority basis.

B. MARKET ASSURANCE SCHEME

Under this Scheme, states would be free to procure any quantity of crops from farmers for which MSP is announced except rice and wheat as these are already being procured by the centre for public distribution system. Centre will compensate states for any losses due to procurement, capped at 40 percent of the procurement cost. For hill states and those in the north-east, the ratio of compensation will be 50 percent. It will be the concerned states‘ responsibility to dispose-off the procured crops. The proposed Scheme comes against the backdrop of a record harvest of

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development cereals and pulses in 2016-17, which led to wholesale prices plunging below MSPs. The Scheme will thus strengthen procurement and ensure farmers do not suffer from marketing inefficiencies. However, there are few concerns for smooth implementation of MAS which need to be looked at:

1. Markets - Poorly functioning agriculture markets with lack of competition, cartelization and opaque price discovery is prevalent which causes price distortions and stand unaddressed. 2. Infrastructure - The scheme will require the deployment of huge manpower and creation of massive infrastructure for purchasing, transporting and storing. VARIOUS ISSUES AROUND MSP

Even after so many years of operation, the crop production is still increasingly unviable. The support prices that are being provided do not increase at par with increase in cost of production. This deceleration in rates especially at a time when agricultural prices in domestic market have become equivalent to the international prices, leading to rise in competition from low cost imports. The benefits of this scheme do not reach all farmers and for all crops. There are many regions of the country like the north-eastern region where the implementation is too weak.

Almost 2/3rd of the total cereal production is taken through the route of MSP, leaving only 1/3rdfor open market. As a result, a farmer who chooses the MSP route cannot take advantage of beneficial market prices and has to depend solely on the MSP. It prevents earning of profit by producers. This has created shortage of crops in the open market also which has a serious impact on consumption pattern. It has shifted consumption towards non-cereal foods (that are available more in open market relatively), but production has not risen simultaneously, causing a production-demand gap.This kind of procurement without sufficient storage has resulted in huge piling of stocks in the warehouses. The stock has now become double the requirements under the schemes of PDS, Buffer stock etc. So, many grains have rotten in the storages. India‘s MSP scheme for many crops has been challenged by many countries in the WTO. For example, Australia has complained of the MSP on wheat, US and EU complained of sugarcane and pulses MSP. They have been claimed to be highly trade-distorting by its method of calculation. If the current process continues, the country will face international criticism for breaching the 10 per cent norm for subsidy on farm production set by the WTO. In the recent budget, Government has

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development announced its historic decision to fix MSP at a level of at least 150 per cent of the cost of production for kharif crops 2018-19. The government has declared that the MSP for kharif will be above the production cost. This is an misleading announcement as there is no clarification regarding which production cost will be taken. Speculations are rife that the government has done announced it above A2 and A2+FL. Whereas it has been a long demand of the farmers to consider the cost of production-C2. The same has been recommended by National Commission on Farmers in 2006 headed by M.S Swaminanthan.

RECTIFYING MEASURES

1. In latest budget, states have been allowed to intervene in the agricultural markets to ensure that the prices do not fall sharply. The Centre will be bearing 40 percent of the losses that the states suffer. In case of northeastern states the Centre will bear the loss upto a limit of 50 percent. The coverage will be of every commodity except rice and wheat. This scheme has been named as ‗Market Assurance Scheme‘. 2. India has been able to gain some time by pushing for inclusion of a peace clause in the 2013 Bali Conference wherein every country agreed not to charge another country for its subsidy scheme until a permanent solution is drawn. Although the solution is yet to be drawn, the deadline for its activities are nearing, requiring immediate efforts. 3. The procurement must be done on priority basis for the states or farmers who are more in distress and require immediate assistance. It should be ensured that the MSP does not cause fall in prices due to the interventionist measures. Even after so much of criticism, it is undoubted that the scheme is a necessity in times of distress. There is a need to consolidate and relook into the scheme and ensure that it is properly implemented.

CONCLUSION

There is a need to raise awareness levels on MSP among farmers and explaining them on how it works to their benefit. This could be made possible by organising awareness drives, initially pushing the government agencies to foray into the non serviced villages to procure foodgrains directly from farmers rather than the farmers coming to the agencies.

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MSP has been highly favourable to rice and wheat production and has resulted in the shift of good quality land and resources to these crops, away from pulses, oilseeds, and coarse grains. Price support operations need to be extended to other crops like pulses and oilseeds to stimulate their production.

Farmers have no direct participation in the determination and selection of parameters which should form a part of calculation matrix for MSP. Since, it is not practically possible to hear the say of every farmer on MSP calculation process, the Government should encourage the larger farmer bodies and associations to take part on deciding the contributing factors for MSP. Other than this, there is a need to create a platform where farmers might be able to voice their concerns and suggestions.

REFRENCES

 Banerjee, Sumanta. (2016). Narendra Modi, Bob Dylan and Demonetisation, Economic and Political Weekly, LI (48): 21-22 (November26).  Boughton, James M. and Elmus R. Wicker. (1979). The Behavior of the Currency- Deposit Ratio during the Great Depression, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 11(4): 405-418 (November).  Chaudhuri, Saumitra. (2016). Even as world changes under Trump, India‘s currency shortages will stay for months, Economic Times Blogs, November 15, 2016. Retrieved from: http://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/et-commentary/even-as-world-changes- under-trump-indias-currency-shortages-will-stay-for-months/  Dhume, S. (2016, December 15).India‘s Demonetization Debacle. Retrieved from Wall Street Journal: http://www.wsj.com/articles/indias-demonetization-debacle-1481851086 Kumar, A. P. (2016). Demonetization and the Rule of Law. Economic and Political Weekly, 19-21  Hardy, Daniel and Ashok K. Lahiri. (1994). Cash Shortage in the Former Soviet Union, International Monetary Fund, WP/94/67, June 1994. Also published in Journal of Comparative Economics, 22: 119-140.  Hindu Business Line (2016). Coming soon to your wallet: ₹2,000 notes, October 21, 2016.

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ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN AND YOUTH IN AGRICULTURE Vinoda Shankara Naik and Veeresh Wali

INTRODUCTION What is Entrepreneurship? The word entrepreneur originates from the French word, entreprendre, which means" to undertake." Others:  One who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise. - Merriam- Webster Dictionary  One who brings resources, labor, materials, and other assets into combinations that make their value greater than before.–Economist Who is the Entrepreneur?  Entrepreneur, one who assumes the responsibility and the risk for a business operation with the expectation of making a profit.  The entrepreneur generally decides on the product, acquires the facilities, and brings together the labour force, capital, and production materials.  If the business succeeds, the entrepreneur reaps the reward of profits; if it fails, he or she takes the loss.

Need for Creating Indian Entrepreneurs A recent Mckinsey & Company-Nasscom report estimates that India needs at least 8,000 new businesses to achieve its target of building a US$87 billion IT sector. In the next 10 years, 110-130 million Indian citizens will be searching for jobs, including 80-100 million looking for their first jobs. In today‘s knowledge based economy is fertile ground for entrepreneurs, in India. It is rightly believed that India has an extraordinary talent pool with virtually limitless potential to become entrepreneurs. Therefore, it is important to get committed to creating the right environment to develop successful entrepreneurs. To achieve this, India must focus on the following area:

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 Create the Right Environment for Success  Ensure that Entrepreneurs have access to the Right Skill  Ensure that Entrepreneurs have access to ―Smart Capital‖  Enable Networking and Exchange  Government Support: Both the Central and State Governments should take more interest in promoting the growth of entrepreneurship.

Agricultural Value chain and Entrepreneurship Animal protein and : processing to add value and increase shelf life of the various animal product. Such as: Meat, fish beef, pork, poultry, eggs, milk and milk products, others.

Food preservation Food preservation requires epileptic power supply. The active portion of value chain especially in urban centres is delivery of ready to eat foods , semi-process foods ingredients and other intermediates . The online business for all form of product including appliance is booming. The list of participant in the business is growing daily .

Online business for food businesses  www.foodpanda.com  www.supermart.com  www.mile12plus.com  www.waiter.com.  www.justeat.com  www.zomoto.com  www.travelkhana.com  www.merafoodchoice.com Opportunities for Agri-Entrepreneurship

 Primary sector of our economy is agriculture  It has backward and forward linkages with secondary & tertiary sector.

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 Secondary sector involved in production, manufacturing, fabrication, construction etc. to facilitate operations of other two sectors.  Tertiary sector provides infrastructural support  The share of agriculture in the total value added to the economy, is still quite high. This implies that agriculture is likely to remain a priority, both for policy makers as well as businesses.

Opportunities for Agri-Entrepreneurship Food grains/oilseeds/pulse Dairy & Animal Husbandry

Vegetables Fish farming

Fruits Grading

Herbal Plantation Food processing

Agro Forestry Cold storage

Floriculture Value addition

Organic Seed Processing farming

Poultry Herbal produce cleaning

Livestock Feed Production Agri-Consultancy

Agro Tourism Organic Fertilizers

Landscaping Natural Dyes / Colour

Farm equipment manufacturing / Custom hiring of agri machinery repairing

Snail farming/rabbit farming/Grass HYDROPONICS –growing plants in water cutter farming/ Bee Keeping and implements

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Waste land plantation : Salicornia, Jatropha (for Bio fuel), Aloevera, Tree Planting Service, Lawn Care Service, Lawn Sprinkler Systems.

If Poultry, what aspect of poultry farming will you love to start?

Broilers breeding, Layers breeding, Poultry feed production, Poultry equipment manufacturing, Poultry consultancy.

Investment Opportunities in Fish Farming  Ornamental Fish farming and Aquarium construction  Table fish production  Fingerlings Production  Fish Feed Production  Brood stock Production  Integrated Fish Farming (Crops/Livestock)  Shrimp, Crab, Oyster farming  Pen and Cage Fish farming  Fish Processing/Value added fish products

Challenges of Agri-Entrepreneurship  Implementation constraints of policies promoting entrepreneurship  Simplification of process  Removal of process bottleneck  Sensitization of implementing officers in field/front offices  Lack of incubation system for entrepreneurship  Risk mitigation or start-ups

Role for Research and Training Institutes

 To Identify problems and constraints facing agri-rural sector.  To provide affordable, appropriate solutions backed by research.  To do testing and standardization

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 To make technologies available to the potential entrepreneur at reasonable rate for public good.

Role of ICT in Agripreneurship Agripreneures can develop media content regarding gaps, products/services, recent developments etc. On web/mobile based platforms to provide better services to their customers. Networking through ICT can help expanding business beyond geographical boundaries

Opportunities in Food Processing Sector in India India for Food Processing  India ranks 2nd in terms of total food production globally, next to China.  India ranks 1st in the world in terms of production of milk, bananas, mangoes, guavas, papayas, ginger, okra and buffalo meat.  India ranks 2nd in the world in production of green peas, potatoes, tea, tomato, sesame and many other key commodities.  The food processing sector ranks 1st in terms of employment & number of factories in operation and 3rd in terms of output.  The industry has witnessed a growth of 7.1% during 2013-14, much higher than the growth in agriculture sector and at par with the manufacturing sector.  Strategic geographic location and proximity to food-importing nations makes India favourable for the export of processed foods.  India witnesses nearly 4.6-15.9% wastage in fruits and vegetables annually, due to lack of modern harvesting technologies and cold chain infrastructure. Moreover, the processing levels in fruits and vegetables currently stand at close to 2%.The wastage levels in other perishables are also significantly high- 5.2% in inland fish, 10.5% in marine fish, 2.7% in meat and 6.7% in poultry.

Scenario in India Processing of various sub segments of food in the country is very low as compared to other developed nations. Overall processing level of perishable products – India (approx 10%), USA (80%), Malaysia (80%), France (70%), Thailand (30%), Australia (25%). The processing levels

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development for perishables in India are: Fruits & vegetables ~2%, Marine produce ~ 23% , Poultry ~ 6%, Meat ~ 21% , Dairy ~35%.

Sector wise Opportunities in Food Processing Dairy  India is the world leader in milk production, producing around 146 million MT of milk.  India's milk production is expected to reach 180 million MT by 2020, from current 146 million MT, while the demand is projected (by NDDB) to reach 200 million MT.  Changing lifestyle patterns, increasing disposable incomes and increasing health consciousness are the key growth drivers for milk and high value milk products in India.  To tap this surging demand most dairy players have entered the processed dairy products market with introduction of value added products like ghee, flavored yogurt, butter (with variants), flavored milk, cheese etc.  New value added dairy products, innovative packaging, cold chain and new technology for value added dairy product processing offer tremendous potential for technology suppliers, processors as well as service providers.

Fruits & Vegetables  India is the second largest producer of the Fruits and Vegetables in the world with a production of 256 million MT  India is the world's largest producer of bananas, papaya, mangoes & guavas and the second largest producer of potatoes, green peas, cabbage and cauliflower.  India witnesses nearly 4.6-15.9% wastage in fruits and vegetables annually, due to lack of modern harvesting practices and inadequate cold chain infrastructure. Processing levels in F&V currently stand at close to 2%.  This gives immense opportunity to invest in initiatives that help reduce wastage levels including adequate infrastructure (cold chain, processing infrastructure), R&D for processed food & packaging and innovative on farm preservation systems.

Meat & Poultry  India produces around 5.3 million MT of meat annually.

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 Wastages in poultry are comparatively higher at 6.7%, while in meat it is 2.7%.  The current processing levels in poultry are 6%, while for meat it stands at 21%.  Poultry is a highly vertically integrated industry in India and matches the efficiency levels of many western countries.  Modern abattoirs, logistics, processing and cold chain infrastructure is a huge opportunity in India, given the changing preference of Indian consumers for clean and safe meat and meat products.

Marine products  India, with a production of 9.6 million MT is the second largest fish producer in the world. India is endowed with abundant geographical resources suited for both marine and inland fisheries.  The wastage levels in inland fisheries are to the tune of 5.2%, while for marine fisheries they are close to 10.5%.  Processing levels of marine food in India are at 23%.  Huge opportunity exists in India for cold chain development for marine products, value added product development for domestic as well as export market as well as innovations in packaging for increased shelf life and product differentiation.

Cold Chain  India produces more than 400 million MT of perishables every year (horticultural produce+ dairy+ meat+ poultry + fish).  The wastage levels in perishables in India are significantly high- 4.6- 15.9% in fruits, 5.2% in inland fish, 10.5% in marine fish, 2.7% in meat and 6.7% in poultry.  Estimated annual value of losses of agri produce currently stands at ` 92,651 crores (USD 14 Bn). Annual value of losses in fruits and vegetables, meat, fish and milk is estimated at ` 50,473 crores (USD 7.6Bn).  Adequate and efficient cold chain infrastructure from farm gate to consumers is required to arrest the high losses in supply chain of perishables.  Baseline survey conducted by National Horticulture Board (in Dec 2014) has estimated the total cold storage capacity in India at 31.8 million MT.

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 Large unfulfilled gap exists in the sector for investments in cold storage, CA storage, reefers, ripening chambers, IQF, milk chilling and processing in India.

Export Scenario India's export of processed food was USD 36.2 billion in the year 2014-15 which includes share of products like mango pulp, dried & preserved vegetables, other processed F&V, Pulses, Groundnuts, Guargum, Jaggery & Confectionery, Cocoa products, Cereal preparations, Animal Products, Alcoholic & non alcoholic beverages and miscellaneous preparations. Major destinations for exports of processed food from India are USA, Vietnam, Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE.

Schemes of Ministry of Food Processing Industries  Scheme for Mega Food Parks by Ministry of Food Processing Industries. Government of India through MoFPI is putting up 42 mega food parks (35 approved). The parks have around 1,200 developed plots (of approximately 1 acre each) with basic infrastructure enabled, that entrepreneurs can lease for the setting up of food processing and ancillary units.  Scheme for Cold Chain, Value addition and Preservation Infrastructure by Ministry of Food Processing Industries.  Scheme for setting up/modernization of abattoirs (for Government abattoirs) by Ministry of Food Processing Industries.

Refresher Training Program on Business Opportunities in Horticulture A Refresher Training Programme on ―Business Opportunities in Horticulture‖ under Agri- Clinics and Agri-Business Centres (AC&ABC) Scheme‖ was con-ducted during 18th to 22nd October 2016 at Indian Institute of Horticulture Re-search, Bangalore, Karnataka. Twenty eight agripreneurs participated in the training programme. The programme covered aspects related to Horticulture, viz. Horticulture industry as a Business Opportunity in India, Business Opportunities in Nursery for Quality Planting Material Production with Precision Farming in Fruits, Vegetables, Ornamental and Medicinal Crops for Domestic Markets and Export Abroad, Designing and fabrication of structures and Protected cultivation of high value vegetables and

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development ornamental crops like flowers and fruits, Vegetable seed industry and Management, Integrated nutrient, water, pest and disease management including soil health management in horticulture crops, Business Opportunities for small scale entrepreneurs in Post-Harvest Management and Value Addition in Horticulture Crops, Business opportunities in production and export of plantation crops, Management of Tropical Mushroom Production. IIHR-Banglore was organized a visit to farmers fields.

Adding Value to ‗Raisins‘ – A success story of Sachin Gawali ‗Maha Fruits and Raisins‘ is a brand that has become increasingly popular across India. They deal with a wide variety of raisins such as Natural seedless, Thompson seedless, Sonacca, Super Sonacca and Clone-2. ―Being traditional grape growers we knew everything about grapes, but had no idea about its processing and marketing and were reliant on middlemen in this area‖, says Sachin Suresh Gawali (26) owner of Maha Fruits and Raisins. Due to climatic factors grape cultivation was not as remunerative as it used to be and Mr. Sachin wanted to star t a new avenue of earning. Being an Agriculture Graduate and with an enthusiasm to learn and achieve more, Mr. Sachin joined the two month residential training under Agri-clinics and Agri-Business centers scheme at Sriram Pratishtah Mandal Solapur, Maharashtra. During this training he imbibed key elements of business management such as conducting market survey, marketing, and accounting. An exposure visit to a Raisin pr ocessing unit gave him the much needed fillip and confidence to start a Raisin processing unit. Determined to succeed in a big way he planned to expand his business. With a project proposal, he approached Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), Tirhe branch, Solapur district for a loan to purchase equipment. Initially a loan of Rs.5 lakhs was sanctioned with which he purchased a Grape Vine sprayer and other machinery. Sachin says, ―Timing is very important in grape cultivation. When it comes to pest control, the stage of growth, the pest pressure and labour cost all have to be critically considered‖. With an atomized sprayer, spray- ing not only became less cumbersome and efficient but also significantly reduced the production cost, simply because of the fact that atom-ized spraying delivered the insecticide/pesticide effectively and uniformly at the target area. Sachin is growing grapes in 11 acres of land. Timely repayment of the bank loan helped Mr. Sachin to get a second tranche of loan Rs.7/- from the same bank, Mr. Sachin purchased a Raisin Sorting Machine - a versatile multi-purpose colour

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development sorting machine that gave better efficiency and greater sorting accuracy. Today ‗Maha Fruits and Raisins‘ is popular nationwide, and the supply of Maha fruit reaches as far as Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Uttar Pra-desh. With an annual turnover of more than Rs.1 crore Mr. Sachin nets an annual profit Rs.10-11 lakhs. He has provided employment to 4 persons but during the season the number goes beyond 50 from his village and he is able to cover nearly 200 grape farmers from an area of 30 to 40 villages and provide the much needed technical guidance and support. He also purch ases grapes from them and this brings him in direct contact with farmers. The message Sachin wants to extend to budding Agripreneurs is this - ―Success does not come easy, it is only hard work that brings success‖!

Entrepreneurial opportunities through horticulture in Assam Opportunities for entrepreneurs: Assam has blessed by the nature with an abundance of natural resources which provides numerous opportunities to invest and venture in following fields: – Banana plantation, cultivation and diversification of it‘s by products like banana powder, pseudo stem, leaves etc. – Processing and value addition of the horticultural products by dehydration of fruits and vegetables, fruit pulp and juices – Fruit processing (Jam and Jellies), vegetable product dehydration and canning of fruits, dehydration of vegetable and instant vegetable soup. – Cold storage, cold storage (fruits and vegetables), potato powder, flakes and granules with cold storage, Ware houses. –Cultivation and processing of spice crops vig., ginger, turmeric, garlic etc. for spice oil, dry powder, natural dyes etc. –Fruit based bread making plant, biscuits, bakery industry, vanilla aero mated chocolate etc. Contribution of technology mission for integrated development of horticulture (TMIDH) in Assam: For achieving integrated development of Horticulture Sector, the scheme ―Technology Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (TMIDH)―, a centrally sponsored scheme, is under implementation in Assam since 2001-02 which has received overwhelming response from farmers. The objective of the Scheme is to augment the productivity of horticulture crops with precise strategies in the form of Mini Missions. The specialty of the scheme is comprehensive which encompasses all the issues associated with development of horticulture right from generation of technologies (Mini Mission-I), increasing production and productivity (MM-II), storage and marketing (MM-III) and processing (MM-IV). The impact of this scheme in the

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State is gradually emerging in various fronts including products, productivity, infrastructure development, per capita income, commercialization etc.,

CONCLUSION There are many entrepreneurial opportunities for women and youth in Agriculture. Too many schemes and ICT‘s are also there to help entrepreneurs. So the youth and women should develop entrepreneurial habit and that can increase the level of their livelihood.

REFERENCES  www.manage.gov.in  www.mofpi.nic.in  www.apeda.gov.in  www.agriclinics.net  RITURAJ, B., SANKU M. S. AND APURBA, D., 2015, Entrepreneurial opportunities through horticulture in Assam. Rashtriya Krishi, Vol 10(1) : 43-45.  SHOJI L. B., KEROBIM, L, KUSHWAHA, S., MEENA, L. K. AND PRAVIN, K., 2014, Agri-preneurship development as a tool to upliftment of agriculture. Int. J. of Sci. and Research Publications, Vol 4(3): 1-4.  BRIJESH, P. AND KIRIT, C., 2013, Rural Entrepreneurship in India-Challenge and Problems. Int. J. of Advance Research in Com. Sci. and Manegement Studies., Vol 1(2): 28-37.  SUNITA, S. AND SRIJA, A. 2016, Entrepreneurship development in India-The focus on Start-ups. MSME special article, page no. 20-27.  JAYADATTA, S. S. AND AHMED S. A., Major perspectives of rural entrepreneurship in India. 2016 J. Advances Bus. Management, Vol 2(1): 49-52,

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PARTICIPATION OF RURAL WOMEN IN DECISION MAKING PATTERN ON FARM AND HOUSEHOLD RELATED ACTIVITIES (Anuradha Ranjan Kumari1, D. P. Singh2, M. K. Pandey3and R. N. Prasad4)

1. SMS, Home Science, Krishi Vigyan Kendra (ICAR-IIVR) Deoria UP 2. Senior Scientist & , Krishi Vigyan Kendra (NDUA&T) Mahrajgang U.P. 3. SMS, Plant Pathology, Krishi Vigyan Kendra (ICAR-IIVR) Deoria UP 4. Principal Scientist, ICAR-IIVR, Varanasi UP.

ABSTRACT In Indian Society both husband and wife participate in different household activities. Their role are generally complementary not only in physical participation in farm but also in the decision making process concerning major land use activities. Women play a pivotal and potentially benefiting role in all-round growth of resource poor farm families. But often they are neglected in decision making on farm and house hold matters which are mostly managed by them. Participation in decision making process especially in economic activities is an indication of empowerment. The present study attempts to investigate the level of women economic empowerment in resource poor farm families by analyzing their extent of participation in decision making on farm and house hold related economic activities. The study was conducted in Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh. Out of sixteen blocks three blocks i.e. Salempur, Bhatpar Rani and Bhatni were selected for this study. From each block three villages selected and from each village ten resource poor farm families were selected randomly from nine villages, thus a total 90 couples (180 respondents) were selected for the purpose of the study. The study revealed that wives played a major role to jointly decide purchasing or hiring of land (41.11 - 42.22%), borrowing for agriculture (35.55 - 40.00%) and selling of produce (20.00 - 38.88%). Decisions for milking and processing of milk, utilization of dung and sale of milk and milk products were dominantly taken by wives (86.66%, 54.44% and 17.77% respectively), where purchase and sale of animals (37.77 - 40.00%), type and number of animals to be kept (30.00 - 37.77%) and adoption of new animal husbandry practices (28.88 - 33.33%). Household economic decisions on building new house, household purchasing, selected of occupation for children, Marriage of the children, education of children and financial activities were mainly taken jointly (36.66-41.11%, 34.44-35.55%, 33.33-34.44%, 24.44-32.33% and 24.44-30.00% respectively). The findings of the study indicate higher level of women economic empowerment in animal husbandry and household sectors.

Key Words- Economic empowerment, Resource-poor farm families, Household related economic activities, Participation, Rural women and decision making.

INTRODUCTION Women empowerment especially economic empowerment is very important as it gives security to a woman. It is very crucial for progress of the society. Women play a pivotal and potentially benefiting role in all-round growth of resource-poor farm families. But often they are neglected in decision making on farm and household matters which are mostly managed by them. Participation in decision making process especially in economic activities is an indication of empowerment .In Indian society; both husband and wife participate in different household activities. Their role are generally complementary, not only in physical participation in farm but

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development also in the decision making process concerning major land use activities. In some of these activities, women take sole or joint decisions. Joint decisions were made in purchase and sale of land and management of animals where independent decisions were made in storage and marketing of produce (Seema and Prasad, 1991). Women played a major role in land management decision making process (Lotha and Brindha, 1994). Women were found to take 73 per cent decision concerning household consumption, 55.74 per cent production decision and 38.74 per cent in investment decision making in land management (Alagumani, 1990). Tripathi (1999) also observed that women of the household made 20 per cent land use decisions. In male headed household, 15 to 34 per cent of the females played major roles in land management decision making where their decisions were accepted in regard to farm production activities (Saikia, 1999). Globalization has offered tremendous opportunities for overall growth and development of both men and women. It has altered the socio-economic status, life style and life condition of women. Globalization has given women a stronger voice. People are more accepting of women‘s rights. There has been an increased emphasis on women‘s rights at the grass roots level. Women started to participate in social activities and their economic conditions have also improved. Even there, women at village level are not getting the benefits of the developmental programmes. Women influence the farmer in many ways. She influences the farmer in selection of crop, developing the farm with irrigation and other facilities, adoption of latest technologies, timely harvesting, a sifting the farmer in post harvesting and storage, timely marketing of the produce and in savings for the future. In spite of all these, women are not given proper attention. But the globalization has provided many ways and means for the overall development and empowerment of women. A resource-poor farmer cannot be entirely dependent on outside to work in his farm, instead all the able family members including the females of the family have to be involved themselves in various farming practices. Though women bear a crucial and potentially benefiting role in all round growth of resource poor farm families, they face indirect negligence and economic insecurity rendering their very simple but necessary wants to fulfill. Often they are not asked to take any decision in farm and household matters which are mostly managed by them. Participation in decision making especially in economic matters is a clear indication of empowerment. In the present study, an attempt has been made to investigate the level of women economic empowerment in resource-poor farm families by analyzing their extent of participation in decision making on farm and household related economic activities. METHODOLOGY The study was conducted in Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh. Out of sixteen blocks, three blocks i.e. Salempur, Bhatpar Rani and Bhatni were selected for this study. From each block three villages selected and from each village ten resource poor farm families were selected randomly from nine villages, thus a total 90 couples (180 respondents) were selected for the purpose of the study. A comprehensive list of important economic activities pertaining to farm (Crop cultivation and animal husbandry) and house hold activities was prepared in consultation with the experts, available literature and farmers of non-sampling area. The possible combinations taken for decision making were husband (H), Wife (W), along with spouse (HW) and in consultation with others i.e. including children, family members and relatives, neighbors and fellow progressive farmers and experts. Data were collected with the help of a pretested structured interview schedule by personal interview method. Appropriate statistical tools were used for analysis of

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development data. In order to measure the extent of association or agreement between husbands and wife responses. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In the present study, participation of wives of the selected farm families in decision making on crop cultivation, animal husbandry and household related economic activities was delineated by taking into consideration both husband‘s and wife‘s responses. Women participation in decision making on crop cultivation related economic activities: There are many decisions involved in crop cultivation related economic activities starting from selection of cropping pattern and cultivars to adoption of innovation. The data presented in Table 1and Table 2 reveal an overall picture of decision making pattern observed in farm households. Decision regarding selection of cropping pattern and cultivars was found mostly taken by husband (64.44%). Capital allocation to different crops was reported mainly decided by husband (57.77%) followed by both husband and wife (17.17-25.55%). Decision regarding procurement of inputs (type of inputs to be procured and the source of procurement of input) was found mainly taken by husband (70.00%). Table 1. Decision making pattern on crop cultivation related to economic activities [Husband‘s response (N=120)] Activities H W HW Others

F % F % F % F %

Selection of cropping pattern and Cultivars 58 64.44 0 0.00 3 3.33 29 32.22

Capital allocation to different crop 52 57.77 2 2.22 23 25.55 13 14.44

Procurement of inputs 63 70.00 1 1.11 4 4.44 22 24.44

Selling of produce 28 31.11 3 3.33 18 20.00 41 45.55

Purchasing or hiring of land 19 21.11 4 4.44 37 41.11 30 33.33

Borrowing for agriculture 31 34.44 2 2.22 32 35.55 15 16.66

Adoption of innovation 29 32.22 0 0.00 11 12.22 50 55.55

Decisions related to selling of produce like place of sale and quantities of sale were mainly taken jointly (20.00-38.88%) followed by husband alone (31.11%). The individual husband decision was observed lower in this case, because it was reported as the most important decision taken by the resource-poor farm families as profit is involved in this decision and collective decision used to be beneficial in this case. Purchasing or hiring of land was mostly decided jointly (41.11-42.22%) followed by husband alone (21.11%). Decisions pertaining to borrowing for agriculture (source, quantity, mode of repayment involved etc.) were predominantly taken jointly (35.55-40.00%) followed by husband alone (34.44%). Adoption of innovations regarding improved farming practices was mainly decided in consultation with

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development others (45.55- 55.55%). The major finding coming out from the above results is the higher degree of collectivity in decision making pattern and this will increase the degree of rationality in decisions which is most important for the resource-poor farm families. Some deviations were found in district regarding decision making pattern of farm households in crop cultivation related economic activities. Husband and wife joint participation in taking decision regarding purchase or hiring of land and borrowing of agriculture. Table 2 . Decision making pattern on crop cultivation related to economic activities [Wife‘s response (N=120)] Activities H W HW Others

F % F % F % F %

Selection of cropping pattern and Cultivars 41 45.55 6 6.66 10 11.11 33 36.66

Capital allocation to different crop 43 47.77 7 7.77 16 17.77 24 26.66

Procurement of inputs 40 44.44 5 5.55 14 15.55 31 34.44

Selling of produce 33 36.66 9 10.00 35 38.88 13 14.44

Purchasing or hiring of land 28 31.11 7 7.77 38 42.22 17 18.88

Borrowing for agriculture 30 33.33 2 2.22 36 40.00 22 24.44

Adoption of innovation 21 23.33 3 3.33 25 27.77 41 45.55

The overall finding of the study regarding decision making pattern in crop cultivation related economic activities finds some correspondence with the following studies. Roy (2015) reported that males were dominant decision maker in the areas of selection of cropping pattern and cultivars, capital allocation to different crops and procurement of inputs whereas decisions were mainly taken jointly in case of purchasing or hiring of land, selling of produce and borrowing for agriculture. Mishra et al. (2009) reported higher extent of joint decision making in case of marketing of produce. Baba et al. (2010) observed that men performed the dominative role in various decisions related to economic activities of vegetable cultivation while the role of women in majority of the cases was supportive in nature. Singh and Srivastava (2012) found very low or negligible role of female members in decision making regarding farm credit, investment of added profit and adoption of innovative technologies. Sharma et al. (2014) observed higher number of farm women in low category of decision making regarding agricultural operations. Tiwari and Tripathy (2014) reported that women‘s decision was negligible in farm activities like sale & purchase of land and taking of loan & advances. Women participation in decision making on animal husbandry related economic activities: Data presented in Table 3 and Table 4 give an idea about decision making pattern in animal husbandry related economic activities. It can be concluded that wives relatively dominated their spouses in decision making on this part. They mainly took decisions regarding milking and processing of milk by deciding type and quantity of milk processing (86.66%) followed by

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utilization of dung in terms of quantity and type (54.44%) and quantity and place of sale of milk and milk products (47.77%). Table 3: Decision making pattern in animal husbandry related economic activities [Husband‘s response (N=120)]

Activities H W HW Others

F % F % F % F %

Type and number of animals to be kept 31 34.44 24 26.66 27 30.00 8 8.58

Milking and processing of milk 12 13.33 57 63.33 16 17.77 5 5.55

Purchase of feed, dairy utensils, concentrates 19 21.11 33 36.66 28 31.11 10 11.11

Purchase and sale of animals 27 30.00 20 22.22 34 37.77 9 10.00

Sale of milk and milk products 25 27.77 46 51.11 15 16.66 4 4.44

Utilization of dung 14 15.55 53 58.88 11 12.22 12 13.33

Adoption of new animal husbandry practices 26 28.88 15 16.66 30 33.33 19 21.11

Majority of the wives reported that milk is the major nutritional source in their family and milk products like ghee is mainly prepared for family consumption. Feeding of children and other family members was entirely taken care of by wives. As a consequence, the wives mainly used to decide how much quantities of milk and ghee should be retained for family consumption and how much quantities of these should be given for sale. The greater involvement of wives in animal husbandry activities increased their economic decision making ability. Joint decision was found predominant in case of purchase and sale of animals which deals with type and number of animals to be purchased/sale (37.77-40.00%) followed by type and number of animals to be kept (30.00-37.77%) and adoption of new animal husbandry farming practices which includes adoption, rejection, discontinue etc. (28.88-33.33%). Individual husband decision was observed predominant in case of type and number of animals to be kept (34.44%) followed by purchase and sale of animals (30.00%) and adoption of new animal husbandry practices (28.88%). Consultation of others was mostly taken in case of adoption of new animal husbandry practices (21.11-31.11%). The decision making pattern in animal husbandry related economic activities varies from District to District. In Deoria district joint decision was taken in case of purchase of feed and concentrates, sale of milk and milk products. The overall finding of the study regarding decision making pattern in animal husbandry related economic activities shows communality with some findings of the following researchers. Upadhayay and Intodia (2007) also reported predominant join participation in deciding type and number of livestock to be kept. Shetter et al. (2005) observed that decision pertaining to the number of animals to be reared was mostly made by both men and women. Pandey et al. (2006) reported that females mainly decided the type and quantity of milk products

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development to be prepared. Chauhan (2012) found that tribal farm women play dominant role in making decisions related to animal husbandry enterprise. Table 4: Decision making pattern in household related economic activities [Wife‘s response (N=120)]

Activities H W HW Others

F % F % F % F %

Type and number of animals to be kept 30 33.33 20 22.22 34 37.77 6 6.66

Milking and processing of milk 3 3.33 78 86.66 4 4.44 5 5.55

Purchase of feed, dairy utensils, concentrates 33 36.66 18 20.00 24 26.66 5 5.55

Purchase and sale of animals 24 26.66 19 21.11 16 40.00 11 12.22

Sale of milk and milk products 18 20.00 43 47.77 22 24.44 7 7.77

Utilization of dung 4 4.44 49 54.44 33 36.66 4 4.4

Adoption of new animal husbandry practices 22 24.44 14 15.55 26 28.88 28 31.11

Women participation in decision making on household related economic activities: It can be observed from Table 5 and Table 6 that individual husband participation in decision making on household related economic activities was not found predominant in any activity and their relatively higher involvement in financial activities was observed in taking decision regarding building new house (37.77%) followed by household purchasing (32.22%) and education of children (22.22%). Table 5: Decision making pattern in household related economic activities [Husband‘s response (N=120)]

Activities H W HW Others

F % F % F % F %

Building new house 34 37.77 12 13.33 37 41.11 7 7.77

Household purchasing 29 32.22 16 17.77 32 35.55 13 14.44

Education of children 20 22.22 25 27.77 22 24.44 23 25.55

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Selection of occupation for children 15 16.66 27 30.00 31 34.44 17 18.88

Marriage of the children 16 17.77 18 20.00 26 28.88 30 33.33

Financial activities 43 47.77 17 18.88 22 24.44 8 8.88

Husband-wife joint participation was found predominant in decision making regarding building of new house that deals with deciding place, process, type, renovation, etc. (36.66-41.11%) followed by household purchasing which includes type, place of purchase, mode of payment, etc. (34.44-35.55%), selection of occupation for children which involves deciding type of occupation, place of occupation, etc. (33.33-34.44%), education of children in term of selection of school, selection of private teacher, level of education to be given, etc. (24.44-32.22%) and financial activities related to saving, borrowing, repayment, etc. (24.44-30.00%). Marriage of the children was found mainly decided in consultation with others involving family members and relatives (33.33-43.33%). Table 6: Decision making pattern in household related economic activities [Wife‘s response (N=120)]

Activities H W HW Others

F % F % F % F %

Building new house 28 31.11 20 22.22 33 36.66 9 10.00

Household purchasing 23 25.55 30 33.33 31 34.44 6 6.66

Education of children 19 21.11 26 28.88 29 32.22 35 38.88

Selection of occupation for children 22 24.44 31 34.44 30 33.33 7 7.77

Marriage of the children 15 16.66 24 26.66 12 13.33 39 43.33

Financial activities 32 35.55 23 25.55 27 30.00 8 8.88

The overall finding of the study regarding decision making pattern in household related economic activities finds some conformity with the following studies. Chauhan (2012) found predominant joint participation amongst tribal households in decision making regarding construction of new house, children‘s marriage and selling & purchasing of ornaments. Tiwari and Tripathy (2014) reported higher degree of joint decision making in household related financial matters like income of the family and savings in the family.

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CONCLUSION There are many matters where rational decisions are sought. These matters include establishment matters, farm management matters, child related matters, social and religious matters as well as financial matters like saving, borrowing, repayment, etc. If the rational and proper decisions are not taken in these matters, a family face problem, which adversely affects the family living. Again, analysis of decision making pattern in household activities reveals a clear picture of the position and importance of every member in the family and identifies the key decision maker of the family in household related activities. Analysis of women participation in decision making on farm and household related economic activities of a resource-poor farm family is essential to delineate the level of women economic empowerment in that family. Here an attempt had been taken in this direction. From the present study it can be summarized that males were dominant decision maker in the areas of selection of cropping pattern and cultivars, capital allocation to different crops and procurement of inputs whereas decisions were mainly taken jointly in case of purchasing or hiring of land, selling of produce and borrowing for agriculture. Most of the decisions related to animal husbandry were taken either by wives or jointly. Decisions regarding milking and processing of milk, utilization of dung and sale of milk and milk products were dominantly taken by wives, where purchase and sale of animals, type an number of animals to be kept and adoption of new animal husbandry practices were mainly decided jointly. Decisions for building new house, household purchasing, education of children, selection of occupation for children and financial activities were mainly taken jointly by husband and wife. Considering the extent of involvement of female members of the family in decision making process of farm and household related economic activities, it can be inferred that there is satisfactory level of women economic empowerment in resource-poor farm families and the findings of the study imply the necessity of training and capacity building of the women folk in the areas where they are key decision maker so that they can make right decisions. REFERENCES Tiwari, M. and Tripathy, N.N. (2014). Decision pattern among women performing agricultural activities. Indian Res.J.Ext. Edu., 14 (3): 31-34. Sharma, A., Singh, D. and Solanki, G.S. (2014). Role of farm women in agricultural operations and decision making pattern. Indian Res.J.Ext. Edu., 14 (2): 60-63. Chauhan, N. M. (2012). Involvement of tribal farm women in decision making. Indian Research Journal of Extension Education, Special Issue (Volume II): 172-174. Baba, S. H., Zargar, B. A., Ganaie, S. A., Yousuf, S and Sehr, H. ( 2010). Gender participation in vegetable cultivation in Kashmir valley. Indian Res.J.Ext. Edu., , 10 (2): 66-69. Mishra, A., Mishra, A. and Dubey, A.K. (2009). Participation of rural women in decision making. Indian Res.J.Ext. Edu., 9 (3): 23-25. Singh, B. and Srivastava, S. (2012). Decision making profile of women of Ummednagar village of Jodhpur district. Indian Res.J.Ext. Edu., Special Issue (Volume I): 235-237. Upadhayay, M. and Intodia, S.L. (2007). Involvement of women dairy cooperative society members in decision making process. Rajasthan Journal of Extension Education, 15:97-101.

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Tikoo, S. (2006). Problems of female agriculture workers. Haryana Economic Journal, 26(1- 2):58- 60. Pandey, S., Meena, B. S. and Sharma, P. (2006). Gender sensitiveness in animal rearing practices. Indian Res.J.Ext. Edu., 6 (1&2): 4-5. Agricultural Census Report, West Bengal. (2005-06). A publication of Land and Land Reform Department and Evaluation Wing, Department of Agriculture, Govt. of West Bengal. Shetter, S.S., Badiger, C. and Mulla, J. (2005). Rural women engaged in goat rearing enterprise and their socio-economic characteristics. Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 18(4): 1058-1064. Alagumani, T. (1999). "A Study on Decision Making Behaviour of Rural Women in Madurai District, Tamil Nadu". Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics. 54(3), 300. July-September. Saikia, Anubha (1999). "Role of Farm Women in Agriculture and Their Involvement in Decision Making - A study in Jorhat District of Assam". Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics. 54(3), 301. July-September. Lotha, N. and N. Brindha (1994). "Participation of Farm Women in the Seed Industry". Indian Farmers Times. 12(5): 21. Seema, B. and R. N. Prasad (1991). "Role of Farm Women in Decision Making Process of Farming Community". Agricultural Research Journal of Kerala. 29:38. Tripathi, R.S. (1999). "Role of Women in Hill Economy of Uttar Pradesh and Their Participation in Decision Making Process. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics. 54(3), 300. July- September.

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FULL LENGTH RESEARCH ARTICLE FOR PUBLICATION

KITCHEN WASTE COMPOSTING MODULE FOR PLANT GROWTH

Pankaj Chhabra

Deptt of Home science, ML&JNK Girls college, Saharanpur(UP)

Introduction-

Due to industrialization and urbanization, urban India generates about 750 gm kitchen waste per person. In urban India, kitchen waste is practiced to be thrown wrapped under the polythene by the people on road side marked as Municipality kura sangrah. This disposal system is not friendly to the environment and for human life. It becomes the source of pathogens of almost all the diseases. In this system, uncontrolled anaerobic degradation of kitchen waste produces large amount of toxins and foul odors. Anaerobic conditions at kura sangrah produces ethylene, phenolic acids and acetic acid as a result of decomposition of organic matter which are toxic to plants (Hillel, 2003; Lal and shukla, 2004). Kitchen waste typically contains 50 to 85% moisture (Myer, et al.1999). Due to high water content, plant tissues of kitchen waste start rotting and producing NH3 and H2S emissions which are harmful to the human causing serious burn to skin, eyes and respiratory tract. These gases cause serious water and air pollution. In , solid waste is started to be lifted from door to door, but after 24 or 36 hours rested in the house hold dust bins, it is taken by the sanitation worker, carriage of which is not hygienically safe to transport from one place to another. In this scenario, on site kitchen waste composting is the idea to protect from harmful emissions and pathogens due to uncontrolled degradation of kitchen waste. Composting is the process of decomposition by which nutrients are released from organic materials. Kitchen waste is defined as leftover organic matter from restaurants, hotels and household (Chen, et. al. 2009). Kitchen waste is a nutrient rich organic material containing high level of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and other organic molecules which can support abundant population of microorganisms(Wang, et.al.2001). Kitchen waste is usually acidic due to the action of acid fermentation bacteria such as lactic acid bacteria. This needs a buffer to make its environment less acidic. Cow dung offers basic buffers such as bile that neutralizes the acid environment of the kitchen waste. In the present study biodecompose buffer (BDB) is prepared to make an attempt for faster decomposition of kitchen waste.

Methodology----

Preparation of biodecompose buffer (BDB)---Biodecompose buffer was prepared. This was prepared by mixing 45 kg of cow dung compost, 8 kg of dry leaves mulch and 1 Kg of sand. Cow dung compost was taken from local dairy farmers of District Saharanpur. Dry leaves mulch was collected from local residential area.

Collection of kitchen waste---Daily household plant based kitchen waste was used. Kitchen waste included vegetable and fruit peels, used tea leaves, and foods not of use. The waste was kept open air in a trough type utensil instead of elongated dust bin.

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Composting process—1 empty wheat flour bag measuring 15‖ x 12‖was taken. 12 small holes were carved, scattering on whole of the bag (picture 1). Bag was kept under the sun at rooftop (atmospheric temperature maximum 35oC) and on soil based platform. 1 Kg of household plant based kitchen waste was thrown in the wrapper followed by top dressing of 2 handful of Biodecompose Buffer (BDB). Next day, on the top dressing of the first day, kitchen waste of next day was thrown followed by BDB. This was done daily till the wrapper filled up.

Picture 1 Picture 2

Compost analysis----Decomposing material was analyzed for moisture, temperature, efficacy of mass loss, pH value and C:N ratio for eight regular days once the wrapper filled up. Sample for analysis was taken from the central part of the filled wrapper. For pH measurement, sample was mixed with water in 1:10 to make solutions. The prepared solutions were left for 2 hours so that the maximum salts can be dissolved. The pH electrode was dipped in each sample prepared solutions and readings were recorded when it was stabilized (Monedero, et.al. 2001).The moisture content of the compost was determined by gravimetric method. In this method sample of composting process was taken to determine wet weight (minus the weight of the container).Then samples were sun dried to a point where all or nearly all of the water was evaporated. Now sample was weighted again. This weight was the dry weight. The difference between wet and dry weight is the weight of the water that the sample originally contained. Dividing the water weight by the wet weight & multiplied by 100 gave the moisture percentage in the sample. Compost temperature was measured by compost temperature thermometer model ATM-43424. Efficacy of mass loss was measured by scale.

Measurement of plant growth---After 8 days, decomposing material was transferred to a vegetable garden rows and brinjal plant was planted. Plant growth was measured in terms of weekly count of newer leaves, length, width added, and weight of the plant before and after 8th week.

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Results and Discussion---Day wise moisture content, temperature, efficacy of mass loss, pH and C:N ratio of decomposing material are shown in table 1 and weekly plant growth parameters were mentioned in table 2.

Relation of moisture and oxygen for growth of compost microorganisms--- Moisture and temperature are major factors impacting bacterial community. Imbalance of moisture and oxygen are causing the pile to cool. So moisture content affects temperature of the decomposing material. Microbes, worms, snail, insects and fungi decompose organic material aerobically which means they use oxygen as they breakdown the material in the pile. Bacteria are the powerhouse of the compost pile. Moisture content shown in table-1 as in decreasing order day by day ranged from 60.4 to 55.2%. From the 4th day onwards, it was observed as a wrung out sponge like consistency. This moisture range proved good for growth of compost organisms. That was the reason maximum mass loss was obtained by 4th day which was 6.5 inches. Moisture content of 50 - 60% is desirable in an active compost pile. Alfalk, 2015 advocated that majority of microorganism require relative humidity (RH) of 60% for maximum growth. Because of kitchen waste kept open air, small size of the decomposing pile and sufficient aeration through holes in the wrapper, moisture level was possible to control the level within limits. Dry leaves mulch had the capacity to absorb the moisture. Haug, 1993, Imbeah, 1997, Cronje, 2004 also consented 50-70% moisture range for almost all compostable materials. Moisture under control was helpful to give warmth and oxygen diffusion within the decomposing material. Composting organisms need a continuously supply of oxygen for their metabolic activities. Aerobic bacteria works better in continuously supply of oxygen. Aeration is affected on high moisture content (Tremier,et.al. 2009).

Relation of temperature with decomposition----Temperature is the result of organic matter oxidation by aerobic microbial population. Compost pile bacteria and other microorganisms generate heat when they digest kitchen scrap and turn it into nutritious, dark and crumbly compost. They breakdown plant matter and create carbon di oxide and heat. Decomposing material inside square wrapper could become hotter and quicker. Maximum temperature reached was 35oC on 3rd day. Temperature ranged from 30 to 35oC within the compost pile was obtained. Mesophilic organisms work better up to the temperature range of 25 to 45. At this temperature range mostly mesophilic microorganisms and fewer amount of thermophilic are active (Mustin, 1987). Cellulase production by cow dung compost was maximum at 30oC (Saraswati Bai, et. al.2012) which resulted the speedy mass loss.

Relation of oxygen with plant growth--- In aerobic decomposition, nitrates are formed as a result of protein decomposition which increases some elements such as Mn, Fe and sulfates and so the plant growth potential (Taylor & Ashcroft, 1972; Lal & shukla,2004). Oxygen is an important element for plant growth. Kitchen waste compost is the organic matter which increased the pore connectivity and porosity of vegetable seed bed for oxygen diffusion through pore matrix and so the plant physiological processes such as nutrients, water uptake as well as respiration and activity of microorganisms increased. Plant growth is shown in picture 2.Table 2 shows that on kitchen waste compost, plant obtained maximum growth during 6th week. It had added 100 new leaves. It was increased in 8 inches in length and 11.5 inches in width. Total weight of the plant by the end of the 8th week was 1011 gm. No nutrient absorption occurs at the root zone unless oxygen was present. As you increase oxygen levels at the root zone nutrient absorption continues to increase as well. Oxygen is required to get nutrients in, but calcium is required to make nutrients mobile within plant tissue. At a molecular level oxygen is required to transmit nutrients across the cell wall and into the roots.

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Table 1—pH, Moisture content, temperature and efficacy of mass loss of the compost

No of days Moisture content (%) Temperature(oC) efficacy of mass loss pH C:N ratio ( in inches)

After 24 hours 60.4 31 1.5 4.86 29:1

2nd day 60.0 31 1.0 6.12 29:1

3rd day 58.9 35 2.0 7.50 30:1

4th day 56.5 33 2.0 6.80 30:1

5th day 56.2 33 1.5 6.78 30:1

6th day 56.0 31 1.2 6.61 30:1

7th day 55.4 30 .6 6.60 30:1

8th day 54.2 30 .6 6.52 30:1

Table 2—Measurement of plant growth

No of weeks No of leaves added increase in length(inches) increase in width(inches) weight(gm)

1st 4 2 1.0 20

2nd 8 6 1.5 NM

3rd 16 7 6.0 NM

4th 30 6 9.0 NM

5th 80 6 7.0 NM

6th 100 8 11.5 NM

7th 78 7 3.0 NM

8th 74 6 2.0 1011

Total 610 48 40 1011

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NM- not measured, NB--Weight was measured without fruits. NB--Small leaves were counted pH of decomposing material and plant growth---pH values shows acidic ranges(4.86 to 6.12) for two days. This might be because; in initial stages of decomposition organic acids are formed which helped to breakdown the lignin and cellulose content of the decomposing material for faster decomposition of the kitchen waste. These way bacteria had speedy access of the nutrition of the kitchen waste. On third day it was 7.5.This was the highest alkalinity of decomposing material. pH was started stabilizing from 4th day onwards from 6.80 to 6.52 on 8th day. This pH favored for decomposition as well as availability of plants nutrients for plant growth. So after 8th day decomposing material can be fed to the plants. Due to near neutral pH of the compost, plants‘ ability to absorb certain nutrients was increased. Plant taken up maximum nutrients out of compost and gave maximum growth potential. C:N ratio, efficacy of mass loss and plant growth---Decomposing material observed C:N ratio of 30:1. Due to this C : N ratio, decomposition was fastest and efficacy of mass loss was seen. Table-1 shows total mass loss was 10.4 inches after completion of 8th day. Due to balanced C:N ratio of the decomposing material, fertility reached its height and Diversity of bacterial community was significantly improved during composting. Conclusion— Codigestion of kitchen waste with cow dung compost offers not only a better carbon and nitrogen nutrient balance which creates a positive synergy within the system but it provides decomposers in the form of microorganism and well as physical decomposers. Microbial activity occurs on the surface of organic particles including kitchen waste. Due to faster and aerobic decomposition, NH3 and H2S emissions may be reduced and instantly be used for plant growth. This module can easily be applied for plants growth at domestic level. If applied for home gardens, speedy use of kitchen waste is possible. This may be applicable for swachh bharat Abhiyan too. References— Hillel,D.2003.Introduction to environmental soil physics. Elsevier Academic Press, San Diego, California, USA Lal,R., and Shukla,M.,2004.Principles of soil physics.Marcel Dekker, New York,U.S.A.European journal of soil Science 56:683-684.doi:10.1111/j.1365-2389.2005.0756 C.X

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Myer,R.O.,J.H. Brendemuhl & Johnson,D.D. 1999.Evaluation of dehydrated restaurant food waste products as feedstuffs for finishing pigs.J.Anim.Sci.,77:685-692. Li,R.,Chen,S.,Li,X.,Lar,J.S.,He,Y.and Zhu,B.‖anaerobic Codigestion of kitchen waste with cattle manure for bogas production.‖Energy and fuels,2009,23:2225-2228 Wang,Q.,Yamabe,K.,Narita.,j.,Morishita,M.,Ohsumi,Y.,Kusano,K.,Shirai,Y and O gawa,H.I.‖Suppression of growth of putrefactive and food poisoning bacteria by lactic acid fermentation of kitchen waste,‖Process Bio chemistry,2001,37:351-357 Sánchez-Monedero, M. A., Roig, A., Paredes, C., and Bernal, M. P.2001. Nitrogen transformation during organic waste composting by the Rutgers system and its effects on pH, EC and maturity of the composting mixtures. Bioresource Technology, 78(3), 301-308. Alfalk,E. 2015, The effect of temperature and moisture on microorganism growth https://www.thecompressedairblo Haug,RT: The practical handbook of Compost Engineering.1993,Boca Raton:Lewis Publishers Google Scholar Imbeah, M: Composting piggery waste: a review.Bioresour Technol.1997,63:197-203.View Article Google Scholar Cronje,AL,Turner,C.Williams,A.G.Barker,A.J.Guy,S: The respiration rate of composting pig manure. Compost Science and utilization.2004,12:119-129. Tremier,A.Teglia,C.Barrigton,S.:Effect of Initial Physical characteristics on sludge compost Performance.Bioresour Technol.2009,100(15):3751-3758.10.1016/j.Biotech.2009.01.009 Mustin,M.:Le Compost,Gestion de la Matiere Organiqui.1987, Paris:francois DUBUSE Edition Saraswati Bai, Ravi kumar,M., Mukesh kumar, D.J., Balashanmugam,P., Bala Kumaran, M.D., Kalaichelvan, P.T. Cellulase Production by Bacillus subtilis isolated from Cow Dung.Archives of Applied science Research.2012,4(1): 269-278. http://schlolarslibrary.com/archive.html, ISSN 0975-508X,CODEN(USA)AASRC9 Taylor,S.A;&Ashcroft,G.L.,1972.Physical edaphology:The physics of irrigated & non irrigated soils. W.H.Freeman.San Francisco, California,U.S.A. http://m.wikihow.com www.jasons-indoor-guide-to organic-and-hydroponic Plant growth and the role oxygen plays- Hydroponic gardening

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INTEGRATED WEED MANAGEMENT IN RICE Dharminder*, Vishal Kumar, A. K. Devedee, R.K.Singh, Avinash Patel, Abhishek Shori and Sudhanshu Verma Department of Agronomy, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005, UP, India Introduction Globally rice is planted in about 150 million ha from which 497 million tonnes of produce is harvested annually. Of this, Asia accounts for 90% of the production and consumption of rice (Anonymous (b), 2015). India has the world‘s largest area under rice with 43.1 million ha and is the second largest producer (104.80 million tonnes in 2015, (Anonymous (a), 2015) next only to China. Within the country, rice occupies one-quarter of the total cropped area, contributes about 40 to 43 per cent of total food grain production and continues to play a key role in the national food and livelihood security system With a population of 1.35 billion, India is the second most populous country in the world. The population is expected to reach 1.7 billion by 2050, making it as the most populated country in the world. To feed the increasing population food production must increase by 70%. This challenge is critical in view of the declining per capita availability of natural resources, adverse effect of climate change on agricultural production and environment. Weeds are a perennial problem with the farmers. They are omnipresent and reduce yield and quality of crops substantially. Farmers spend a lot of resources to reduce their impact, many a times quite unsuccessfully. In India, the highest loss (33%) is caused by weeds, followed by pathogens (26%), insects (20%), storage pests (7%), rodents (6%) and others (8%) (Kulshrestha and Parmar, 1992). Boro rice pertains to rice cultivation in water logged low lying or medium land with irrigation grown during month of November to May in eastern states of India (West Bengal, eastern Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand) and North eastern India (Assam, Tripura and others) has got great potential to bring in additional rice to our food basket (Kumar et al., 2016). Its cultivation not only depends on assured irrigation but also in modern inputs. Boro rice is an ancient system of cultivation in non-productive water logged area in winter season from October-November to May-June. Boro is a Bengali term originated from Sanskrit word ―BOROB‘. Due to larger sunshine hours and less incidence of pests and diseases, boro rice usually gives better yield as compared to kharif season. In this Chapter, an effort has been made to collate the information on weeds and weed management in rice.

Seasons of rice in India There are four seasons: 1.Winter, 2. Summer, 3.Rainy and 4. Post monsoon.

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Sl Month Season

1 December to February Winter

2 March to May Summer

3 June to September Rainy (South western monsoon)

4 October to November Post monsoon, (North eastern monsoon)

Rice is grown in early- Kharif (Planting: Mar-May and harvest: Jun-Oct); mid- Kharif (Planting: Jun-Oct and harvest: Nov-Feb) and Rabi (Planting: Nov-Feb and harvest: Mar- Jun). Importance of Weeds in Rice Weeds are identified as a major biological constraint that hinders attainment of optimal rice productivity in major rice. Weeds were reported to reduce rice yields by 12 to 98%, depending on type method of rice establishment. Rice yield losses due to uncontrolled weed growth and weed competition were least (12%) in transplanted rice (Singh et al., 2011) and highest in aerobic direct seeded rice on a furrow-irrigated raised-bed systems (Singh et al., 2008) and in dry-seeded rice sown without tillage (Singh et al., 2011).

Series1, Series1, Rodent WeedsOthers, Series s, 6%, Pathogen8%,Series1, 8% 1, 6% Weeds, Storag Insect 33%, e Storage 33%pest Series1,pest… Series1, Insect, RodentsPathog 20%, Others en, 20% 26%, 26% Damage percentage An on-farm study indicated that the yield loss from weeds in un-weeded plots was highest in the rice-wheat system, followed by rice-pea-rice, and was least in the sugarcane system. Weeds not only cause huge reductions in rice yields but also increase cost of cultivation, reduce input efficiency, interfere with agricultural operations, impair quality, act as alternate hosts for several insect pests, diseases, they affect aesthetic look of the ecosystem as well as native biodiversity, affect human and cattle health. Weedy rice (O. sativa) has become a serious problem in India, and its spread is largely through the use of contaminated rice seeds (Chauhan and Mahajan, 2012). Growing rice with the

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development genotypically similar weedy rice (O. sativa f. spontanea) has created a serious problem in rice growing areas, threatening the food security of different countries in South Asia. The weed flora needs to be monitored continuously to assess the emerging weed problems and plan weed management strategies accordingly Methods of weed management 1. Manual The traditional method of weed control for small and marginal farmers is hand weeding by hand held hoe and hand pulling (Yaduraju et al., 2015). Depending upon the prevailing climatic condition, intensity of infestation and the nature of the crop grown, two or more than two weeding are done subject to availability of labour for successful growing a rice crop. Generally, one weeding requires 30-35 man days ha-1, depending on the type of soil and method of raising a crop. Without herbicide application, manual weeding in DSR systems needed to be performed three to five times to maintain the crop completely weed free (Chauhan and Opeña, 2013). More labour is needed for weeding upland direct-seeded rice field than lowland transplanted rice field. The non availability of labour during the peak period of crop growth or grand growth period may lead to drastic reduction of rice grain yield. In addition, hand weeding becomes more tedious and difficult in DSR particularly in heavy soils. 2. Mechanical To enhance the agriculture production mechanization of agriculture is today necessity and to make agriculture attractive & sustainable to future generations. Besides, mechanization reduces farmer drudgery and enhances the efficiency of weeding in one hand on other timely operation accomplishment. Weeders were reported to reduce 74% of the need for labour and 72% of the cost. 3. Tillage The traditional transplanting method of rice culture in India involves continuous submergence of paddy field and puddling the soil by repeated (crisscross) tillage practices. Weed control is the main reason for flooding and transplanting of rice besides reduces percolation losses. The land preparation‘s tillage operation comprises of two to three dry tillages and two to three wet tillage (puddling) operations. It results in a soft mud that forms a saturated root zone, for the transplanted rice seedlings establishment, above a compacted subsoil layer that reduces seepage of standing water. The puddling and transplanting operations require a huge amount of water and labor, which are becoming scarce along with rising input costs. Hence, the farmers are showing interest on non-puddled (zero or minimum till) direct-seeded rice in India (Gathala et al., 2013). However, weeds are the main constraint to the production of dry-seeded rice due to the absence of standing water at crop emergence to suppress weeds and the absence of a seedling size advantage between rice and weed seedlings since both emerge simultaneously in these production systems (Chauhan and Opena, 2012). In zero tilled rice, uncontrolled weeds caused grain yield loss of up to 98% (Chauhan and Abugho, 2013). Kumar and Ladha (2011) observed that grasses and broadleaf weed species under conventional tillage were 6 and 4 respectively, while in dry-seeded rice there were 15 grass species and 19 broad leaf species. Successful cultivation of direct-seeded rice requires

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development intensive use of herbicides. PRE and POST emergence herbicides are a necessity to keep weeds under check in direct-seeded rice. 4. Crop Diversification and Rotation Crop diversification of the rice systems ameliorates family incomes, minimizes peak labour demands and facilitates easier weed management for better yields. A legume crop (sesbania, sunhemp, mungbean, guara and cowpeas) that suppresses weeds and exhibits good nodulation activity is preferable in crop rotations because it provides a supply of balanced nutrients and enhances soil organic matter. The lower rice yield in Wheat-Fallow-Rice cropping because of high weed infestation when field was left fallow after wheat. In Wheat-Mungbean- Rice cropping system, there was very low weed infestation in DSR as against in Wheat-Fallow- Rice cropping pattern, suggesting that inclusion of mungbean in rice-wheat cropping system is an effective measure in controlling weeds in DSR. 5. Competitive Rice Cultivars Use of competitive crop cultivar is one o most effective and efficient method of cultural weed management practice, which has been in use for decades. Improved crop competitiveness can be achieved by following; a) seeding time b) closer spacing c) Planting pattern d) Geometry e) Use of optimal crop density f) seed rate and g) direction of planting h) early growth vigor, i) fast ground coverage and light interception, Farmers normally prefer high yielding varieties. Using high yielding crop variety competitive against weeds in combination with other methods of weed control is one of the most economical approaches to attain optimal crop yield. 6. Allelopathy Allelopathy was recognized as one of the means of natural weed management. However, it was not yet demonstrating beyond doubt that isolated chemicals are responsible for observed allelopathy under field conditions. The knowledge on rice plant allelopathy would offer an attractive alternative for weed control in rice-based cropping systems. Furthermore, the allolepathic potential of weeds offers an alternative option for weed control in rice. Allelopathic

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development rice varieties might reduce the application of herbicides by the farmers as those varieties may serve as a natural source of herbicides. 7. Intercropping Intercropping, involves cultivation of two or more crops in the same space and time, is a traditional and commonly used cropping practice. Intercropping is more popular in wide space crops but it equally effective in cereals also. In cereals intercropped Crotalaria juncea, Vigna sinensis, Glycine max or S. rostrata, could replace herbicide application or minimized the chemical weed management. Brown manuring (BM) is best option for rice to reduce or minimized the weed population below the economical threshold level, in brown manuring selective herbicide 2,4-D @ 500 g ha-1 is applied with knock sack spray at 30-40 days after seeding of Sesbania along with rice. The effective control of weeds in DSR by brown manuring of Sesbania. Brown manuring was considered as a potential alternative to herbicide application to increase rice productivity with reduced cost of production. 8. Preventive Measures There is very popular saying ―Prevention is better than cure‖ this is equally important if weed management. The prevention method as a pillar of integrated pest management and is the most cost-effective approach that a farmer can use. But, it is complex and involves the integration of a number of practices and policies that avoids introduction, infestation, or dissemination of weed species to fields free of those. Prevention measures should be adopted at all stages of crop production, from the use of machinery, seed, water and fertilizers, to crop harvest and processing. Preventive measures such as avoiding seed or propagule movement from field tofield and use of clean crop seeds and machinery, cleaning of bunds and irrigation channels are much cheaper and easier optionsin reducing weedy rice infestation rice ecosystems. The integration of preventionas a component of integrated weed management is essential for economic and effective weed management. 9. Irrigation Irrigation methods are also effective and efficiently control the broad spectrum of weeds in different crops. In rice cultivation flood irrigation is very efficient in controlling Narrow leaf, broad leaf weeds and sedges. Alternate method of irrigation is good for controlling aquatic weeds. 10. Herbicides A number of herbicides were found to be effective for pre-emergence and post- emergence control in transplanted and direct-seeded rice methods of establishments. The optimal productivity of rice established by direct-seeding is possible only with proper weed management with herbicides because there is shortage of labour more over it is not economical. The herbicide use has increased, during 2005 to 2015, by 2.5 times from 60 thousand to 150 thousand tons of formulated herbicides and the Indian herbicides market was projected to grow about 40% annually over the next 5 years. Rice consumes a major share of herbicides used in India. In India, thiobencarb, butachlor, 2,4-D, anilophos, butachlor, fenoxaprop, chlorimuron + metsulfuron,

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development ethoxy-sulfuron, oxadiargyl, pyrazosulfuron, pretilachlor, bis-pyribac sodium, and 2,4-D are more popular among rice farmers.It was concluded that sequential application of pyrazosulfuron- ethyl @ 20 g, cyhalofopbutyl @ 60 g /ha in saturation water regime may be recommended for effective and economical weed control as the combination proved to be instrumental in enhancing yield and weed management efficiency in rice under the System of Rice Intensification under temperate conditions. 11. Bioherbicides Microbial bioherbicide is a weed control product containing a microorganism as the active ingredient. It may play a relevant role to a certain extent in managing herbicide resistance, filling in for the death of new chemical products with new modes of action, responding to the need of organic agriculture sector, substituting for locally or regionally banned chemical herbicides, and controlling invasive and parasitic weeds. The first microbial bioherbicide to have come on the scene appears to be Luboa No.1 (China-1966). The introduction of second nad third microbial bioherbicides, DeVine and Collego, in the USA in 1981 and 1982 (Charudattan, 2015). 12. Integrated Weed Management (IWM) In today, scenario single weed control approach may not be able to keep weeds below an economic threshold level. The escalating problems of herbicide persistence and resistance in weeds associated with the herbicide use have lead to the emphasis on integrating herbicides with the physical, cultural, and biological weed management practices for reducing the reliance on herbicides alone (Buhler, 2002). Experiment results revealed that application of 10-5-5 kg ha-1 -1 N-P2O5 - K2O along with vermicompost @ 1 t ha , Sesbania green mulch, pretilachlor @ 750 g ha-1 and use of grubber 30 DAS recorded significantly lowest weed density at all growth stages studied. Therefore, an integrated weeds management approach is needed. Integration of herbicides with mulching: Covering or mulching the soil surface can reduce weed problems by preventing weed seed germination or by suppressing the growth of emerging seedlings. Mulches can be made from a number of materials: a living plant ground cover, loose particles of organic or inorganic matter spread over soil, and sheets of artificial or natural materials laid on the soil surface. Pre- emergence application of pendimethalin at 1.0 kg ha–1 + farm as mulch (7.5 t ha–1) + one hand weeding at 45 days after sowing (DAS) of direct-seeded rice resulted in effective weed control and higher crop yield (Singh et al., 2001). Weed Management in boro rice Bhattacharya et al.,(2000) conducted a field experiment reported that hand weeding (HW) twice at 20 and 40 days after transplanting (DAT) significantly reduced weed population and it was at par with quinclorac SC 15 at 0.12 kg a.i. ha-1 + 1 HW at 40 DAT and quinclorac 15 SC at 0.075 kg ha-1 + 1 HW at 40 DAT. Singh et al.,(2003) conducted a field on boro rice and reported that twice HW recorded the lowest weed population and weed dry matter among all the treatments. However, twice HW, Anilofos + 2, 4-DEE, and anilofos + 2, 4-DEE + HW were at par with each other respect to weed population and weed dry matter. Bhattacharya et al.,(2005) working on boro rice noted among herbicidal treatments, Oxizdiargyl 80% WP @ 100 g ha-1 and Butachlor 50% EC @ 1.25 kg ha-1 significantly reduced weed density and weed dry weight as

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development compared to other weed control treatments. Banerjee et al.,(2005) during boro season reported that among the different treatment of herbicides, application of Bensulfuron methyl + Butachlor @ 0.05+0.938 kg ha-1 as pre-emergence and gave the lowest dry weight (3.10, 8.14 and 10.31 g m-2 at 30, 60 and 90 DAT, respectively), weed density (7.33, 18.33 and 23.66 m-2 at 30, 60 and 90 DAT, respectively), weed index (5.49%) and also recorded highest weed control efficiency (75.21, 54.77 and 58.95% at 30, 60 and 90 DAT, respectively). Herbicide dose The major consideration for optimal dose is soil type and growing conditions. Light soil with low organic matter content requires lower dose than heavy soils with higher organic matter content. The pre-emergence herbicides perform better when applied to soil with sufficient soil moisture. Hence there is good scope for reducing the herbicide dose in irrigated crops. With post-emergence herbicides, the time of application is more critical. They perform better when applied early. Young and fast growing weeds are more sensitive to herbicide treatment (Yaduraju and Mishra 2018). FUTURE STRATEGIES

1) Weedy Rice: Weedy rice is a C3 weed in rice in many South Asian countries.The competition impact of weedy rice on rice in future may be greater due togreater physiological plasticity and genetic diversity among weedy rice relativeto cultivated rice under increased atmospheric CO2. Hence, weedy rice management is critical and would thus becomea major issue in years to come. 2) Climate Change: Changing and variable climates over the years have broughtin new dimensions to the agro-biodiversity, floristic composition and dynamicsin weed competition, thus making agriculture more difficult to manage in aprofitable manner. Though a clear linkage onoccurrence of weeds in rice fields and climate change has not been established yet (Sathischandra et al., 2014), further research is required to determine theimpact of climate change and climate variability on changes in weed flora andthereby the impact on production and productivity of rice, with special focuson invasive alien species References Anonymous (a), 2015. Agricultural Statistics at a Glance, Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, Directorate of Economics and statistics, pp- 72, 74 and 85, Anonymous (b), 2015. Indian Institute of Rice Research, Vision 2050, Indian Council of Agricultural Research Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500 030, Telangana State. Banerjee, H., Saha, M., Pal, S., Maiti, S. and Kundu, S. (2005). Herbicidal and cultural methods of weed management in transplanted rice (Oryza sativa L.) during Boro season. Journal of Crop and Weed, 1: 64-67. Bhattacharya, S.P., Das, D., Matti, S., Ghosh, B. and Ray, M. (2000). Bio-efficacy of quinclorac 15 SC in controlling weeds of transplanted Boro rice. Environment and Ecology, 18: 557-560.

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Bhattacharya, S.P., Saha, M., Pal, S., Banerjee, H. and Kundu, C.K. (2005). Bioefficacy of Oxzdiargyl 80% and 6% EC in controlling weed of transplanted summer rice. Journal of Crop and Weed, 1: 32-35 Buhler, D.D. 2002. Challenges and opportunities for integrated weed management. Weed Sciece. 50(3):273-280. Charudattan, R. 2015. Weed control with microbial bioherbicides. 25th Asian-Pacific Weed Science Society Conference on ―Weed science for sustainable agriculture, environment and biodiversity‖ held at Hyderabad, India, 1:79-93. Chauhan, B.S. and Mahajan, 2012. Role of integrated weed management strategies in sustaining conservation agriculture systems. Current science. 103(2):135-136. Chauhan, B.S. and Opeña, J. 2013. Weed management and grain yield of rice sown at low seeding rates in mechanized dry-seeded systems. Field Crops Research 141:9–15. Chauhan, B.S.and Abugho, S.B., 2013. Effect of Crop Residue on Seedling Emergence and Growth of Selected Weed Species in a Sprinkler-Irrigated Zero-Till Dry-Seeded Rice System. Weed Science. 61(3):403-409. Gathalaa, M. K. Kumar, V., Sharma, P.C., Yashpal S. S., Jat, H.S., Singh, M., Kumar, A., Jat, M.L., Humphreys E., Sharma, D.K., Sharma,S., Ladhaa, J.K., 2013. Optimizing intensive cereal-based cropping systems addressing current and future drivers of agricultural change in the northwestern Indo-Gangetic Plains of India. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 177 (2013) 85–97. Kulshrestha, G. and Parmar, B.S. 1992. In : Resource Management of Sustainable Crop Production Souvenir, 1992. Indian Society of Agronomy. 339-343. Kumar, M., Kumar, R., Meena, K.L., Rajkhowa, D.J. and Kumar, A. (2016). Productivity enhancement of rice through crop establishment techniques for livelihood improvement in Eastern Himalayas. Oryza, 53(3): 300-308. Kumar, V. and Ladha, J.K. (2011). Direct seeding of rice: Recent developments and future research needs. Advances in agronomy. 111:297-413. Sathischandra, HGAS, Marambe, B, and Punyawardena, R., 2014. Seasonal changes in temperature and rainfall and its relationship with the incidence of weeds and insect pests in rice (Oryza sativa L) cultivation in Sri Lanka. Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability. 2(2): 105-115. Singh, S., Ladha, J. K., Gupta, R. K., Bhushan, L., and Rao, A. N. 2008. Weed management in aerobic rice systems under varying establishment methods. Crop Protection, 27, 660-671. Singh, U., Singh, U.P. and Sharma, R. (2003). Influence of varying levels of N, P, K and Zn and weed management on weeds and yield of boro rice. Indian Journal of Weed Science, 35: 264- 265.

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Singh, V. P., Singh, G., and Singh, R. K. 2001. Integrated weed management in direct seeded spring sown rice under rainfed low valley situation of Uttaranchal. Indian Journal of Weed Science, 33, 63-66. Singh, Y., Singh, V. P., Singh, G., Yadav, D. S., Sinha, R. K. P., Johnson, D. E. and Mortimer, A. M. 2011. The implications of land preparation, crop establishment method and weed management on rice yield variation in the rice-wheat system in the Indo-Gangetic plains. Field Crops Research, 121, 64-74. Yaduraju, N.T. and Mishra, J.S. 2018. Smart weed management: A small step towards doubling farmers‘ income.Indian Journal of Weed Science, 50(1): 1–5. Yaduraju, N.T., Sharma, A.R., Rao, A.N. 2015. Weeds in Indian agriculture: Problems and prospectus to become self sufficient. Indian farming. 65, 02-06.

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‗‗VERMICOMPSOT‘‘ Deen Dayal Bairwa Ph.D Scholar, Department of Agronomy, RCA, MPUAT, Udaipur (Raj.)- 313001 Introduction Vermicompost is an organic manure (bio-fertilizer) produced as the vermicast by earth worm feeding on biological waste material; plant residues. This compost is an odorless, clean, organic material containing adequate quantities of N, P, K and several micronutrients essential for plant growth. Vermicompost is a preferred nutrient source for organic farming. It is eco- friendly, non-toxic, consumes low energy input for composting and is a recycled biological product. Vermicomposting has gained popularity in both industrial and domestic settings because, as compared with conventional composting, it provides a way to treat organic wastes more quickly. It also generates products that have lower salinity levels that are therefore more beneficial to plant mediums (Lazcano, et al., 2008). Vermicompost (vermi-compost, vermiculture) is the product of the composting process using various species of worms, usually red wigglers, white worms, and other earthworms, to create a mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and vermicast. Vermicast (also called worm castings, worm humus, worm manure, or worm feces) is the end-product of the breakdown of organic matter by earthworms. These castings have been shown to contain reduced levels of contaminants and a higher saturation of nutrients than the organic materials before vermicomposting (Ndegwa, et al., 1998). Vermicompost contains water-soluble nutrients and is an excellent, nutrient-rich organic fertilizer and soil conditioner. It is used in farming and small scale sustainable, organic farming. Vermicomposting can also be applied for treatment of sludge (Zularisam, et al., 2010). A variation of the process is vermifiltration (or vermidigestion) which is used to remove organic matter, pathogens and oxygen demand from wastewater or directly from blackwater of flush (Xing, et al., 2011) Base Materials The base materials needed for vermicomposting must be organic and biodegradable. They include: Cow dung from dairy farm, Goat and sheep dung, Organic sludge, Tree leaves, Crop residues, Saw dust, Sugarcane trash, Weeds, Coir waste, Slurry from the biogas plant, Poultry droppings from poultry farming and Vegetables wastes etc. Poultry droppings being high in nitrogen must be added in small quantities. Hotel refuse and organic wastes from agro or food industries can be also included in the compost material as feed for earthworms.

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Earthworm Species There are more than 3000 earthworm species in the world. They are diverse in nature and it is recommended to use the locally available variety since it is indigenous to the place and is naturally adapted to the particular geographical location. For commercial vermicompost project there are specific earthworm species available like Eisenia foetida, Perionyx excavatus, Eudrilus eugeniae, etc. Eisenia foetida, also called Red earthworm has a high rate of multiplication. Among these species, the ability and play an active role of Eisenia foetida to convert waste to vermicompost has been proven in many studies (Bansal & Kapoor, 2000). It converts the organic materials from the top, that is, it is a surface feeder. Conversion of organic matter into compost is done within 45-50 days. Types of earthworms Earthworms belong to phyllum Annelida of Animal Kingdom. They are long and cylindrical in shape and size having a large number of grooves. There are about 3000 species of earthworms in the world which are adapted to a range of environment. More than 300 species have been identified in India. Although, hermophrodite, two mature earthworms are required to propagate. At the time of egg laying, the clitellum is transformed into hard, girdle like capsule called cocoon. Shedding of cocoon ranges from 1 to 5, only a few of them survive and hatch. The juveniles and again formation of cocoons takes a period of 50-60 days. Normally, the average life span of earthworms varies with species ranging from 1 to 10 years. Epigeics (surface feeders) are important in vermicomposting. The epigeics such as Eisenia foetida and Eudrilus eugeniae are exotic worms and Perionyx excavatus is a native one being used for vermicomposting in India. Epianecic are feeders on leaf and soil at upper layers of soil. This group such as Lampito mauritii is indegenous and is active in in-situ decomposition of organic wastes and residues in soil. Both epigeics and epianecics groups of earthworms are slender, shorter in length and red to dark brown in colour. They have high reproduction activity and efficient in of organic materials. Increased attention has been paid to Eisenia foetida and Eudrilus eugeniae which have been found to be potential agent in vermicomposting of wide range of agricultural wastes and can grow at a wide range of temperature varying from 0-40 ◦C. However, the optimum temperature ranges from 20-30 ◦C.

Figure 1. Eisenia foetida Figure 2. Eudrilus eugeniae

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Diageic worms make permanent burrows and are deep dwelling in the soil. The organic litter is collected from the soil surface and stored in the burrows which are fed upon by the earthworms. The excrements are disposed on the outside of the burrows. Thus these are worms help in mixing the surface organic matter into the sub-terranian soil. They also help loosen the soil. Favourable conditions of earth worms in the composting material The key environmental factors affecting earthworm growth, reproduction, and health are temperature, moisture, aeration, pH (acidity-alkalinity), and food material. Temperature Earthworms live and breed at temperatures between 55 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. For commercial earthworm production, the ideal temperatures for growth and activity range from 60°F to 80°F. Bed temperatures should be between 60°F and 70°F to facilitate intensive cocoon production and hatching. If bed temperatures rise too high, they may be lowered by adding water, activating fans in or near the system, and reducing the amount of feedstock applied. The most decrease in carbon percentage and C: N ratio have obtained in this range of temperature in a study among three temperature ranges of 5-15, 15-25 and 25-35°C. Also it has been the best temperature for the worms' growth (Rostami, et al., 2009). Moisture Earthworms need adequate moisture to help them breathe through their skin. Beds need to sustain a moisture range of 60 to 85 percent and feel crumbly-moist, not soggy-wet. They should be sheltered from direct sunlight so they do not dry out and overheat. One method of increasing cocoon production after worms are fully established is to stop watering the beds for several days or until the top 1 or 2 inches are scarcely moist. Then dampen the beds enough to restore them to their recommended moisture content. Aeration Earthworms can survive in relatively low oxygen and high carbon dioxide environments and even stay alive when submerged in water if it contains dissolved oxygen. If there is no oxygen, however, earthworms can die. Oxygen may be depleted if earthworm beds are kept too wet or if too much feed is introduced. By reducing the amount of moisture, cutting back on feed, and turning the pile with a pitchfork or three-prong garden tool, oxygen will be restored. pH (acidity-alkalinity) The pH of soil indicates whether it is acidic (1 to 6), neutral (7), or alkaline (8 to 14). Earthworms will grow in a pH range between 5.0 and 8.0. For commercial production, however, earthworm beds should be kept at a pH range of 6.8 to 7.2. Check levels weekly with a pH kit, available in garden supply centers or feed stores. Take readings at different levels in the bed: the top feed area, 3 inches deep, and 8 inches deep. If an acid condition is detected in an earthworm bed, agricultural lime (calcium carbonate) may be mixed with bedding material to remedy the condition. Sprinkle half a pound of limestone on each 24 square feet of bedding surface, and water the bed. It is far less common for an over alkaline condition to exist. To remedy alkalinity, mix enough dry peat moss into the bedding until pH readings indicate a range of 6.8 to 7.2.

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Although, some studies showed that the worms can be alive in some higher or lower pH, but the recommended pH for vermicomposting is around 6-7 (Dickerson, 2001). In lower pH the bacterial activity decrease and worms which don‘t like it will escape to a place with better condition if they can find or most probably die. How to collect native earthworms? Identify worm-inhabited soils marked by visible earthworm castings on the soil surface. Dissolve 500 g jaggery (native sugar) and 500 g fresh cattle dung in 2 litres of water and sprinkle on an area 1m × 1m surface soil. Cover with straw lumps and cover with an old gunny bag. Keep sprinkling water for about 20 to 30 days. Native worms will aggregate in the spot and can be collected and used. Vermicompost Production Methodology i) Selection of suitable earthworm For vermicompost production, the surface dwelling earthworm alone should be used. The earthworm, which lives below the soil, is not suitable for vermicompost production. The African earthworm (Eudrillus engenial), Red worms (Eisenia foetida) and composting worm (Peronyx excavatus) are promising worms used for vermicompost production. All the three worms can be mixed together for vermicompost production. The African worm (Eudrillus eugenial) is preferred over other two types, because it produces higher production of vermicompost in short period of time and more young ones in the composting period. ii) Selection of site for vermicompost production Vermicompost can be produced in any place with shade, high humidity and cool. Abandoned cattle shed or poultry shed or unused buildings can be used. If it is to be produced in open area, shady place is selected. A thatched roof may be provided to protect the process from direct sunlight and rain. The waste heaped for vermicompost production should be covered with moist gunny bags. iii) Containers for vermicompost production A cement tub may be constructed to a height of 2½ feet and a breadth of 3 feet. The length may be fixed to any level depending upon the size of the room. The bottom of the tub is made to slope like structure to drain the excess water from vermicompost unit. A small sump is necessary to collect the drain water. In another option over the hand floor, hollow blocks / bricks may be arranged in compartment to a height of one feet, breadth of 3 feet and length to a desired level to have quick harvest. In this method, moisture assessment will be very easy. No excess water will be drained. Vermicompost can also be prepared in wooden boxes, plastic buckets or in any containers with a drain hole at the bottom. iv) Vermiculture bed Vermiculture bed or worm bed (3 cm) can be prepared by placing after saw dust or husk or coir waste or sugarcane trash in the bottom of tub / container. A layer of fine sand (3 cm) should be spread over the culture bed followed by a layer of garden soil (3 cm). All layers must be moistened with water.

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development v) Worm Food Compost worms are big eaters. Under ideal conditions, they are able to consume in excess of their body weight each day, although the general rule-of-thumb is ½ of their body weight per day. They will eat almost anything organic (that is, of plant or animal origin), but they definitely prefer some foods to others. Manures are the most commonly used worm feedstock, with dairy and beef manures generally considered the best natural food for Eisenia, with the possible exception of rabbit manure. The former, being more often available in large quantities, is the feed most often used. vi) Selection for vermicompost production Cattle dung (except pig, poultry and goat), farm wastes, crop residues, vegetable market waste, flower market waste, agro , fruit market waste and all other bio degradable waste are suitable for vermicompost production. The cattle dung should be dried in open sunlight before used for vermicompost production. All other waste should be predigested with cow dung for twenty days before put into vermibed for composting. vii) Putting the waste in the container The predigested waste material should be mud with 30% cattle dung either by weight or volume. The is placed into the tub / container up to brim. The moisture level should be maintained at 60%. Over this material, the selected earthworm is placed uniformly. For one- meter length, one-meter breadth and 0.5-meter height, 1 kg of worm (1000 Nos.) is required. There is no necessity that earthworm should be put inside the waste. Earthworm will move inside on its own. viii) Watering the vermibed Daily watering is not required for vermibed. But 60% moisture should be maintained throughout the period. If necessity arises, water should be sprinkled over the bed rather than pouring the water. Watering should be stopped before the harvest of vermicompost. ix) Harvesting vermicompost In the tub method of composting, the castings formed on the top layer are collected periodically. The collection may be carried out once in a week. With hand the casting will be scooped out and put in a shady place as heap like structure. The harvesting of casting should be limited up to earthworm presence on top layer. This periodical harvesting is necessary for free flow and retains the compost quality. Otherwise the finished compost get compacted when watering is done. In small bed type of vermicomposting method, periodical harvesting is not required. Since the height of the waste material heaped is around 1 foot, the produced vermicompost will be harvested after the process is over. xii) Storing and packing of vermicompost The harvested vermicompost should be stored in dark, cool place. It should have minimum 40% moisture. Sunlight should not fall over the composted material. It will lead to loss of moisture and nutrient content. It is advocated that the harvested composted material is openly stored rather than packed in over sac. Packing can be done at the time of selling. If it is

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development stored in open place, periodical sprinkling of water may be done to maintain moisture level and also to maintain beneficial microbial population. If the necessity comes to store the material, laminated over sac is used for packing. This will minimize the moisture evaporation loss. Vermicompost can be stored for one year without loss of its quality, if the moisture is maintained at 40% level. Procedure: Vermicompost can also be prepared above the ground by using cement rings (ICRISAT and APRLP 2003). It is mostly prepared in either pit or heap method. The dimensions either heap or pit are 10 x 4 x 2 feet. The length and width can be increased or decreased depending on the availability of material but not the depth because the earthworms‘ activity is confined to 2 feet depth only. First of all select a site which is not under any economic use and is shady and there is no water stagnation. The site should be near to a water source. ó 1st layer: bedding material of 1" thick with soft leaves ó 2nd layer: 9" thick organic residue layer finely chaffed material ó 3rd layer: Dung + water equal mixture of 2" layer. Continue the layer up to pile to ground level in the case of pit method and upto 2ʹ in heap or surface bed method. Protect the worms against natural enemies like ants, lizards, snakes, frogs, toads etc., Maintain proper moisture and temperature by turnings and subsequent staking. At the day of 24th, 4000 worms are introduced in to the pit (1m2 =2000 worms) without disturbing the pit by regular watering the entire raw material will be turned into the vermicompost in the form of worm excreta. The turnover of the compost is 75% (the total material accommodated in the pit is 1000 kg; the out turn will be 750 kg). Advantages of Vermicomposting Vermicompost indicate that it increases macropore space ranging from 50 to 500 µm, resulting in improved air-water relationship in the soil which favorably affect plant growth (Marinari, et al., 2000). The application of organic matter including vermicompost favorably affects soil pH, microbial population and soil enzyme activities (Maheswarappa, et al., 1999). Organic wastes can be broken down and fragmented rapidly by earthworms, resulting in a stable nontoxic material with good structure, which has a potentially high economic value and also act as soil conditioner for plant growth.  Vermicompost supplies a suitable mineral balance, improves nutrient availability and could act as complex-fertilizer granules.  Vermicomposting involves great reduction in populations of pathogenic microorganisms, thus not differing from composting from this point of view.  Vermicomposting also leads to decrease the environmental problems arising from their disposal, without needing in many cases to complete the process.  It should be realized that vermicomposting can be a useful cottage industry for the underprivileged and the economically weak as it can provide them with a supplementary income.  If every village can formulate a cooperative society of unemployed youth/women group, it could be a wise venture for them to produce vermicompost and sell it back to the village at a recommended price. The youth will not only earn money, but also aid society by providing excellent quality organic manure for sustainable agro-practices.

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Pests and Diseases of vermicompost Compost worms are not subject to diseases caused by micro-organisms, but they are subject to predation by certain animals and insects (red mites are the worst) and to a disease known as ―sour crop‖ caused by environmental conditions. To prevent these, treat the location/site with 5% neem based insecticide before filling the heap. Rate of application in various crops It can be applied at any stage, mixing in soil after broadcasting fatch more benefits. Usually any field crops require 6-7 tonnes/ha Any vegetable crop requires 11-12 tonnes/ha Any flower plants require 100-250 grams/square feet Any fruits trees require 6-12 kg/trees. Precautions Do not cover vermicompost beds/heaps with plastic sheets because it may heat and gases. Do not overload the vermicompost heap to avoid high temperature that adversely affects their population. Dry conditions kill the worms and water logging drives them away. Watering should be done daily in summer and every third day in rainy and winter season. Addition of higher quantities of acid rich substances such as tomatoes and citrus wastes should be avoided. Make a drainage channel around the heap to avoid stagnation of water particularly in high rainfall areas in rainy season. Organic materials used for composting should be free from non- degradable materials such as stones, glass pieces, plastics, ceramic tubes/bulbs etc. References: Bansal, S. & Kapoor, K.K. (2000). Vermicomposting of crop residues and cattle dung with Eisenia foetida. Bioresource Technology, 73(2): 95-98. Dickerson, G. W. (2001). Vermicomposting, Extension Horticulture Specialist, Guide H-164, Cooperative Extension Service College of Agriculture and Home Economics, pp. 1-4. ICRISAT and APRLP. 2003. Vermicomposting: Conversion of organic wastes into valuable manure. Andhra Pradesh, India: ICRISAT and APRLP. 4 pp Lazcano, Cristina, Gomez-Brandon, Maria, Dominguez, Jorge, (2008). "Comparison of the effectiveness of composting and vermicomposting for the biological stabilization of cattle manure". Chemosphere, 72: 1013–1019. Maheswarappa, H.P., Nanjappa, H.V. and Hegde, M.R. (1999). Influence of organic manures on yield of arrowroot, soil physico-chemical and biological properties when grown as intercrop in coconut garden. Annals of Agricultural Research, 20(3):318–323.

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Marinari, S., Masciandaro, G., Ceccanti, B. and Grego, S. (2000). Influence of organic and mineral fertilisers on soil biological and physical properties. Bioresource Technology, 72(1):9– 17. Ndegwa, P.M., Thompson, S.A., Das, K.C. (1998). "Effects of stocking density and feeding rate on vermicomposting of ". Bioresource Technology, 71: 5–12. Rostami, R., Nabaei, A., Eslami, A. & Najafi Saleh, H. (2010). Survey of optimal conditions for worm‘s growth and vermicompost production of prepared food wastes, 15(4): 76- 84. Xing, M., JianYang, N., Wang, Y., Liu, J., Yu, F. (2011). "A comparative study of synchronous treatment of sewage and sludge by two vermifiltrations using an epigeic earthworm Eisenia fetida". Journal of Hazardous Materials. 185 (2–3): 881–888. Zularisam, A.W., Zahir, Z. S., Zakaria, I., Syukri, M.M., Anwar, A., Sakinah, M. (2010). "Production of Biofertilizer from Vermicomposting Processes of Municipal Sewage Sludge". Journal of Applied Sciences, 10 (7): 580–584

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PLANT DEFENCE MECHANISM 1Amit Kumar Shukla, 2Rohit Kumar Singh and M. K. Gautam 1,2Asistant Professor School of Agriculture sciences Carrier Point University, Kota, Rajasthan, 324 005 and IAS, BHU, Varanasi, (U.P.) Introduction; Adjustment is probably, one of the most important virtue of a system that ensures it survival, be it host or parasite. On planet earth, the green plants (autotrophs) constitute the only biological system capable of converting solar energy (electro-magnetic radiations) into chemical energy. Plants as a biological system resist this exploitation, at all levels and by all means.The co evolution, forced by co-existence with pathogen, has led to development of defence mechanism in plants. Thus, resistance against any 'deleterious act' has become a natural and universal response of plant system. The resistance against parasites/pathogen is the heritable trait of plants by virtue of which they resist attack by parasites/pathogens or their activities. The defence mechanism(s) has ensured the survival of plants in spite of living amongst some of the potentiality devastating pathogens in addition to abiotic stresses. Plants have also developed ability to resist/tolerate various abiotic stresses. Plants represent a rich source of nutrients for many organisms including bacteria, fungi, protists, insects, and vertebrates. Although lacking an immune system comparable to animals, plants have developed a stunning array of structural, chemical, and protein-based defenses designed to detect invading organisms and stop them before they are able to cause extensive damage. Humans depend almost exclusively on plants for food, and plants provide many important non-food products including wood, dyes, textiles, medicines, cosmetics, soaps, rubber, plastics, inks, and industrial chemicals. Understanding how plants defend themselves from pathogens and herbivores is essential in order to protect our food supply and develop highly disease-resistant plant species. Types of Defence Mechanism; Plant defense mechanisms can be divided into two types: structural and chemical. A structural defense mechanism is simply part of the plant‘s form. Chemical defense mechanisms are more complex adaptations and include the production of chemical compounds and toxins. Chemicals may just make the plant taste foul to the animal, or even better from the plant‘s perspective, it may make digestion difficult, alter animal behavior and activity, or even cause death.

Defence Mechanisms:

A- Pre-existing or Passive; The first line of defence in plants is present in its surface. Several characters of the plants surface function as barriers to penetration which pathogen must breach to enter the host. The pathogens enter the plant host by penetrating the epidermis along with cuticle and cuticular wax and

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development number of natural openings existing before the onset of the pathogenesis can obstruct penetration. If the pathogen succeeds in penetration; it encounters pre-existing internal structural barriers. The external and internal structural barriers existing before pathogen attack are also called Pre- existing defence structures or passive/static or anit-infection structures. Wax and cuticle; The cuticle covers the epidermal cells of plants and consists of pectin layer, a cutinized layer and a wax layer. Cutin is composed of fatty acids. Waxes are mixture of long chain aliphatic compounds which prevent the retention of water on plant surface essential for spore germination. A negative charge usually develops on leaf surfaces due to fatty acids. This condition repels air- bone spore / propogules. Only few pathogens are known to dissolve cutin enzymatically. Examples: Monilinia fructicola penetrates cuticle of cherry leaves but not of Gingko biloba leaves; the latter contains abundant cutin than the former. F. solani f sp. Pisi produces the enzyme cutinase production by specific antibodies and inhibitors. Epidermal layer; Epidermis is the first layer of living host cells that comes in contact with attacking microbes. The toughness of epidermis is due to the polymers of cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin mineral substances, polymerized organic compounds, suberin etc. Potato tubers resistant to Pythium debaryanum contain higher fibre. Silicon accumulation in epidemal walls provides resistance against fungal attack. Suberization of epidermis confers protection against plant Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. Citri because of broad cuticulat lips covering the stomata. A functional defence mechanism has been observed in some varities (cv-Hope) in which stomato open late in the day when moisture on leaf surface has dried and the infection tunes have become non fuctional.

 Hydathodes are natural openings on the edges of leaves and serve to excrete excess water from the interior. They are easy entry pints of bacterial pathogens such as X.capestris pv. capestis (black rot of cabbage), Similar to hydathodes are the nectarthodes in inflorescence of many plants. They secrete sugary nectar and this serves as barrier to those organisms that cannot tolerate this condition and thus, can enter through nectarines.  Leaf hairs on leaves and on nectarines also resist entry of pathogens. High hairlines of leaves and pods in chickpea are resistant character against Ascpchyta rabei. Groundnut varieties showing resistance to Cercospora leaf spots have thick epidemis-cum cuticle and compact paslisade layer, few and smaller stomata and high frequency or trochomes on the abaxial surface of leaf.  Lenticles are opening in outer walls involved in gaseous exchange. They are weak points in defence unless the cork cells within them are suberized. After suberizatoin and periderm formation, lenticels are more resistant to invasion by pathogens.

Pre-existing biochemical defence; Plants liberate different chemicals, which interfere with activities of the pathogen and pathogenesis, thereby preventing or reduce infection. These chemicals and the biochemical

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development conditions that develop may act either directly through toxic or lytic effect on the invader or indirectly through stimulating antagonistic plant surface microflora. The compounds pre-existing in plants as constitutive antibiotics and those, which are formed in response to wounds as wounds antibiotics. Release of anti-microbial compounds; Plants while growing and developing release gases as well as organic substances, from leaves and roots (leaf and root exudates), containing sugars, amino acid, organic acids, enzymes, glycoside etc. These materials have profound effect on the nature of surrounding environment, particularly the phyllosphere, rhiizosphere microflora and fauna. Although these substances are ideal nutrients for microbes and help in germination and growth of several saprophytes and parasites number of inhibitory substances is also present in these exudates. Theses inhibitory substances directly affect the microorganism, or encourage certain groups to dominate the environment and function as antagonists of the pathogen. Inhibitors present in the plant cells; In many host-parasite interactions, pre-existing toxic substances in the cells form the basis of resistance. In resistant variety these substances life in abundance while in susceptible variety they may be less or completely absent. Several phenollic compounds, tannins and some fatty acid like compounds such as dienes pre-exisitg in high concentrations in cells have been implicated for the resistance or young tissues to parasitic fungi such as Botrytis. Many such compounds are potent inhibitors of many hydrolytic enzymes. Several other types of preformed compounds such as saponins (glycosylaled steroidal or triterpenoid compound) tomatine in tomato and avenacin in oats, have antifungal membranolytic activity. The fungal pathogens which lack enzymes (saponinases) that breakdown the saponins are prevented from infecting the host. Several preformed plant proteins have been reported to act as inhibitors of pathogen proteinases or of hydrolytic enzymes. Similarly lactins (proteins that bind to certain sugars) cause lyses and growth inhibition of many fungi. Plants surface cells also contain variable amounts of hydrolytic enzyymes such as glucanases and chitinases, which may cause breakdown of pathogen cell wall components. Lack of essential factors: Recognition factors; The first step in infection process is the cell-to-cell communication between host and pathogens. Plants of species or varieties may not be infected by pathogen if their surface cells lack specific recognition factors. If the pathogen does not recognize the plant as one of its hosts it may not adhere to the host surface or it may not produce infection substances such as enzymes, or structures (appresoria, haustoria). These recognition molecules are of various types of oligosaccharides and polysaccharides and glycoproteins. Host receptors and sites for toxins; In many host parasite interactions the pathogen produces host specific toxins, which are responsible for symptoms and disease development. The molecules of toxin are supposed to

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development attach to specific sensitive sites or receptors in the cell. Only the plants that have such sensitive sites become diseased. Essential nutrients and growth factors; The fact that many facultative saprophytes and most of the obligate parasites are host specific and sometimes are so specialized that they can grow and reproduce only on certain varieties of those species suggests that for these pathogens the essential nutrients and growth factors are available only in these hosts. Absence of these nutrients and stimulus make the other varieties and species unsuitable hosts. Defence mechanism: Induced or active; Plants have to face the wide variety of pathogens (enemies) standing at a place. Thus a strategically designed pre-existing (structural and biochemical) defence mechanism in plants exists. The real value of this system has not been critically examined. It appears that these pre- existing defence mechanisms help plants in warding-off most of microbes as nonpathogens. But it does not seems t be sufficient. The induced/active defence mechanism in plants may operate at different levels • Biochemical defence • Defence at cellular level • Defences at tissue level The activation or induction of defence mechanism may be both specific and non-specific type. Several structural changes are known to be induced by a range of biotic or abiotic elicitors. These dynamic defence mechanisms prevent further colonization or spread of pathogen. Active defence in plants involves cellular defences that rely upon preformed surveillance systems are encoded by resistance genes. The receptor-proteins are strategically located in cell membrane to detect the pathogen or factor translocated by pathogens. The ability of plant to mount an active defence response is again under genomic control. Disease occurs when 1. Pre-exisiting defence mechanism are not enough to check the entry of pathogen 2. A pathogen avoids timely eliciting active defence system in plant tissue or habits active Defence response by secreting metabolic toxins. INDUCED STRUCTURAL DEFENCE; Induced histological defence Even after the establishment of infection in plant cells, the host defence system tries to create barriers for further colonization of tissues. This may be at various levels.

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Lignifications; Lignified cell wall provide effective barrier to hyphal penetration. They also act as impermeable barrier for free movement of nutrient causing starvation of pathogen. Following are examples. Radish: Peronospora parasitica, Alternaria japonica Potato: Phytophtora infestans Wheat: Septoria nodorum Cucumber: Cladosporium cucumerium, Colletorichum lagenarium Carrot: Botrytis cineria

Suberization; In several plants the infected cells are surrounded by suberized cells. Thus, isolating them from healthy tissue. Corky layer formation is a part of natural healing system of plants. eg. common scab of potato and rot of sweet potato are good examples. Abscission layers; It is a gap between host cell layers and devices for dropping –off older leaves and mature fruits. Plant may use this for defence mechanism also. I.e. To drop-off infected or invaded plant tissue or parts, along with pathogen. Shot holes in leaves of fruit trees is a common feature.

Tyloses; The tyloses are formed by protrusion of xylem parachymatous cell walls, through pits, into xylem vessels. The size and number of tyloses physically block the vessel. The tyloses are inductively formed much ahead of infection, thus blocking the spread of pathogen. It suggests biochemical elicitors and movement of tyloses inducing facto (TIF) up the stem. eg. Sweet potato: Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Batatas. Gum deposition; The gums and vascular gels quickly accumulate and fill the intercellular spacis or within the cell surroundings the infection thread and haustoria, which may starve or die.

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Mechanism of host resistance; a. Lignification b. Abscission layer formation. C1 & C2 Cork layer formation, d. Tyloses formation and e. Sheathing of infection threads

Induced cellular defence; The cellular defence structures, i.e. Changes in cell walls, have only a limited role in defence. Following types are commonly observed. 1. Carhohydrate apposition (synthesis of secondary wall and papillae formation)

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2. Callose deposition (hyphal sheathing just outside plasma lemma around the haustorium which delays contact of pathogen (Phytophythora infestans) with host cells. 3. Structural proteins 4. Induced cytoplasmic defence that present last line of host defence and may effective against slow growing pathogens, weak parasites or some symbiotic relationship. Induced biochemical changes; The induced biochemical changes in host plants are the last line of host defence. This may condition a plant or plant tissue from susceptible to resistant to immune status as per their genetic potential. The role of bio chemical factor in host defence is based on the following four attributes. 1. The substance is associated with protection against disease at the site where protection occurs. 2. The substance can be isolated from the host showing protection against the disease. 3. Introduction of isolated substance to the appropriate susceptible host confers protection. 4. The nature of protection so induced resembles that of the natural agents of a resistant plant. Toxic substances produced; Rapid production/suitable modifications and/or/ accumulation of chemicals toxic to pathogen upto effective concentrations is an important component of overall active defence strategy of plants. Slow production or accumulation or low levels of similar chemicals have reported in susceptible host plants also.

Role of phenolic compounds; The phenolic compounds, viz., chlorogenic acid caffeic acid and ixidation products of floretin, hydroquinone hydroxyquionones and phytoalexins are main toxi chemical produced to inhibit pathogen or its activities. Some of these are performed toxic chemicals while others may be de novo synthesized or modified to more toxic forms. The enzymes involved in chemical pathways are present in host cell (pre-existing).

Role of phytoalexins; Most common response of plants to stress, biotic (phytoalexins/insects) or abiotic (wounding), is the production and accumulation of substrates that can inhibit the growth and activities of the biotic factors or may help in healing process. Muller and Borger proposed the concept of phytoalexins in their study on hypersensitive reaction of potato to avirulent P.infestans strains. Phytoalexins are antibiotics produced in plant pathogens interactions or as result reposnse to injury or other psychological simulation. Role of new protein synthesized; Post-infectional changes in host cells involve production and modification of large number of proteins (structural and enzymatic), which have important role in defence mechanism. The enzymes are required for various synthetic pathways (normal or modified) for production of

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New Initiative In Agriculture And Rural Development resistance related substances. In addition, phenol-oxidizing enzymes have vital role. The influence of these changes may be confined to infection site or nearby cells. Increased synthesis and activity of phenyl ammonia lyase (PAL) has been reported in several bacterial and vital pathogens in resistant reaction. PAL plays key role in syntheses of phenols, phytoalexins and lignin. The effectiveness of resistance depends on speed and amount of synthesized products and their movements to neighboring healthy tissues to create defensive barriers. Inactivation of enzymes and toxins; The role played by chemical weapons (toxin and enzymes) of pathogens during pathogenesis is well established. The necrotrophs and hemihiotrophs employ more of these substances fro causing those tissue damage as compared to speacialized obligate parasites. The defence strategy of resistant plants, through activity of phenols, tannins and protein as enzymes inhibitors, the phenolics are not anti-fungal but make pathogen ineffective by neutralizing their enzymes. In immature grape fruits catechol-tannin is known to inhibit enzymes produced by Botrytis cinerea. Toxins are known to be involved in pathogenesis to various edtents (pathotoxins/vivotoxins). The resistance to toxins, in host, will be resistance to pathogens. This can be achieved by detoxification or lack of receptor sites for these toxins. Role of altered biosynthetic pathway; The pose inflectional metabolism of host tissue is altered (stress physiology) to cope with the advancing activities of pathogen. New enzymes (proteins) are produced in an effort to synthesize defence related substances. Most of these compounds are formed through Shikmic acid pathway and modified acetate pathway. Respiration in diseased tissue is invariably increased; a part of glycolysis is replaced by pentose pathway, which yields four carbon compounds are formed through Shikmic acid pathway and modified acetate pathway. Respiration in diseased tissue is invariably increased; a part of glycolysis is replaced by pentose pathway, which yields four carbon compounds. It is possible that in early stages of infection the gene regulation of host cell is influenced and some specific genes.

Active defence to pathogens; Induction of host resistance, structural or biochemical seems to be universal I plants. Active defines responses have been reported against all classes of pathogens (fungi, bacteria, viruses, and nematodes). Active defence response may lead to incompatible host-pathogen interaction. Summary of induced biochemical defines reactions; 1. On entry of the pathogen, a temporary increase in cellular metabolic activities occurs in the host. Due to stress caused by increased metabolic activity cells die rapidly showing hypersensitive reaction. Rapid death of cells in correlated with increased degree of resistance in most diseased systems. 2. When the infected tissues are reaching the nectotic stage, metabolism of neighboring tissues is also increased and phenolics and other compounds are accumulated. In this process, the synthesized compounds move from healthy to diseased tissues.

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3. The reactions expressed by hypersensitivity form common phenols, phytoalexins, and other abnormal substances. The oxidized products of phenolics may detoxify the toxins or inactivate other weapons of the pathogen. 4. When spread of the pathogen is checked, the neighboring healthy tissues with accelerated metabolic activities try to isolate the damaged parts by forming new tissues and eliminate the disease/pathogen. Host defence, pre-existing or induced, is a multi-component strategy where several factors work together to fashion the final outcome. Figure below represents a case where more than on factors are responsible to condition resistance in immature grapes berries against Botrytis cinerea.

Multi component defense mechanism in young grapevine berries against Botrytis cincerea. Systemic acquired resistance; Induced resistance (cross protection) in plants is a phenomenon of significance, which has not been properly exploited for plant disease management, probably because of our poor understanding. Induced resistance,, localized or systemic, may be specific. The signal molecule, that propagates the resistance to distant places are vital in systemic induced resistance. The resistance is induced in manner comparable to immunization in mammals but the mechanism differs. The resistance may be induced due to any of the following: • Accumulation of PR proteins • Activation of lignin synthesis • Enhanced peroxidase actitivity • Suitable changes in plant metabolism

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Principle of induced resistance; Induced resistance is a phenomena where a lead treated with certain chemicals or inoculated with pathogen‘s avirulent strain produce a signal compounds that is transported systemically throughout the plant and activities its defence mechanism (making the entire plant resistant to subsequent infection) without its own physical presence at the site. The picture below explains a hypothetical mode to explain induction of SAR.

Representation of acquired resistance a) Local b) Systemic c) SAR

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