Village life

ISAP OCP project in Karnataka

IPM interventions were taken up in all the demo plots with preventive application of pesticides and insecticides. Full sets of inputs have been provided to the lead farmers conducting demos, including neembased products and other bio pesticides. Project farmers under each lead farmer have also been advised to adopt similar field interventions towards crop management. Farmers have come to recognize IPM intervention as good and timely.

At present, the mobile phones of all field functionaries are being used for Querry Redressal Service. The toll free connection (fixed telephone line service) has been received and will become operational in first week of October. Collaboration in this activity will be extended by the experts of Agri- university, Raichur, and K V K located in Gulberga, Bidar and Raichur for project as well other farmers of respective districts.

Exposure visits were the main feature of this month in the Project area. Lead farmers along with their respective group farmers, a total of 2190 farmers, were taken to KVK / ARS Gulbarga / UAS Raichur. inSeptember 2010. Some of project farmers have also got the benefits of Kisan Melas (Farmers' Fair) during their visits.

A special visit of project lead farmers was also organized at ICRISAT in Hyderabad. Project Lead farmers and Pulses millers' meetings were also organized during the Pulses Conclave at Hyderabad. Chairmen of Millers' Association, general secretary of Gulbarga Pulses Millers Assosciation, Mr Jayechandran have agreed for a joint meeting of pulses trade persons and lead farmers and some of the aggregators during

October/ November 2010 at Gulbarga.

A follow up meeting was also held at association at Gulbarga in connection with need-based microfinance facility, being offered by rural banks. Mr Mallan Gouwda Unit Incharge (Basix) Chaudapur, will examine feasibility of business operations in the OCP-AES area in Afzalpur block. The bank has several products such as insurance, livestock and micro finance. Interactions with institutions other than BASIX is also to be explored. Need based intervention will start in September 2010.

Separate meetings were held by ISAP CEO and Technical Director with Tata Chemicals Ltd (TCL) senior Officials in Hydrabad and Mumbai where procurement of farmers' produce(pulses) from project districts were discussed and as follow-up TCL have also sent a senior officer Mr Amit Sridharan to Gulbarga for market scanning and meeting with OCP AES team.

A demo of transplanted pigeonpea in Aland block of Gulberga

OCP-AES Farmers on Exposure visit to ICRISAT, Hyderabad

Update- Project SHARE

The rain gods have been benevolent in project geography and the amount of rainfall received in all the four districts has been above normal, especially its distribution has been very congenial for crop growth - both for cotton and for maize. The crop condition is excellent and the rainfall pattern has so far kept any pest incidence also under control. Not only that, the soil moisture profile is so good that a majority of farmers are planning a second crop, giving them a chance for 200% cropping intensity under rainfed situation, which has not been achieved any time during the last 3 years. Going a step further, cropping intensity for some of the project farmers will go up to 250% where pigeonpea is taken as intercrop in the kharif cotton or maize crop. The average crop yields during the current year on individual crop basis, as compared to the last year are bound to go up by about 15 to 30 percent or even more, for different farmers while on farm area basis increments of 50 -75 percent are expected, as compared to last year.

A proposal has been extended to all farmers groups to form a "Farmer Society" in each block so as to raise funds which can be deployed for farmers' benefit in various ways. The interest earned from this amount can help employ one or two people to promote market linkages on a sustainable basis, and to act as aggregators of the produce to market the produce. They can also handle documentation required for them to qualify to get a NABARD admissible grants of Rs.10,000/- per annum. This can in turn, be utilized to give low interest loans to purchase hybrid seeds/micro nutrients etc.

Narayana's cotton demo on "Paras Sudarshan BG- II" Vill Pulimadugu. (M) Utnoor

Mr Dilip Aade of Ajni village in Amravati with his demo of cotton hybrid "Paras Brahma BG-II"

Demo of early maize hybrid DKC 7074 by Shanti Lal, vill. Mataji Ka Khera, Block Shahabad, Bhilwada. Note cobs borne at same height in different plants

Golden Ray Project in Rajasthan

ISAP has also been associated with implementation of the Golden Ray Project of Monsanto meant for the backward and in some case, primitive tribals called 'Sahariya' ( means Residents of Jungle) in Shahabad and Kishanganj panchayat samitis of Baran district. These blocks are declared as sahariya region by the State Government. Sahariya's live in infrastructurally weak and remote areas not connected through road/bridge network. Other local communities like Maali, Kirads and mostly Bhil tribals. The communities love to stay in mud house and they have lack of exposure to modern life. Their primitive habits have lead to historic exploitation by local landlords. Superficial support extended through govt subsidyto them has, in most cases been wasted in booze rather than strengthening their agricultural resources or productivity

The project activity provides for giving Dekalb Prabal hybrid maize seed to 2000 sahariya tribals (5 kg per beneficiary) which was distributed by ISAP field functionaries during June 2010. Along side the seed distribution, these farmers were also given training on package of practices to grow hybrid maize, take good care of the crop and obtain high yield from this crop. This is the first time when Sahariya's are growing hybrid maize by replacing their traditional crop of Bajra.or the age-old open-pollinated maize varieties. The crop condition is very good and the farmers are expecting a very good harvest with marketable surplus - a phenomenon which they have not witnessed earlier. It is an attraction towards agriculture and maize. Farmers are gearing up to the possibility that this good crop will also help them to get excellent green matter to address their fodder problem. Officials of the department of Agriculture, Rajasthan have also participated in the project activities and happy to see the progress of project

A Saharia family growing Prabal maize hybrid

Young tribal farmers of Baran growing hybrid maize

Be "Certified" by American Society of Agronomy, USA

We at ISAP are pleased and proud to share with you the fact that the India CCA program has taken a significant step forward, and conducted a pilot exam on behalf of American Society of Agronomy, at IRRI office, Pusa Complex, New Delhi on 8 August 2010. As many as 22 candidates took this beta exam, out of which 13 have been declared successful. The next exam will be on a regular basis open to all eligible candidates and is scheduled to be held on 12 December 2010. This exam will be held at five centres -Delhi, Amritsar, Hisar, Chandigarh and Hyderabad. Detailed information for prospective candidates regarding this India CCA exam, is available on the website www.certifiedcropadviser.org/india. Candidates can also get the information from the Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals at +91-11-43154100 or through e-mail at indiacca@isapindia.org.

India Certified Crop Advisor certificate is recognized world-wide, This certification has been launched inIndia by American Society of Agronomy (ASA) in collaboration with Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP) & International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). This examination comprises a comprehensive syllabus covering four major competency areas viz., Crop Management, Soil & Water Management, Nutrient Management and Integrated Pest Management.

The program was started by American Society of Agronomy (ASA) in 1991 in United States of America (USA) and was later extended to another north American country, Canada. India is the first country outsideNorth America to provide this opportunity for Certification of which "continuing education" is a significant and attractive feature for renewing the certification, as well as for updating scientific knowledge with practical work. The "India CCA Certificate" will be issued by American Society of Agronomy (ASA),Madison, Wi, USA. and will be valid in USA, CANADA and INDIA. The program is open for all the Agriprofessionals and agri graduates who are engaged in Farm Advisory activity whether in private or public sectors or even those who have just completed their graduate degree. India CCA program aims at improvement in the quality of farm advisory services and those personnel engaged in this activity across all sectors of Agriculture

Entrepreneurship Development Program

ISAP is running Entrepreneurship Development Program in 9 states under the aegis of MANAGE. This training is provided to unemployed agriculture and allied sector graduates. After training, ISAP provides active hand-holding support to these trained agripreneurs for the setting up their own business venture. ISAP has so far trained 1378 agripreneurs in Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, J&K, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Punjab. Some of the agripreneurs have established their independent business successfully. We share one such success story with our readers in ISAP newsletters.

Success-story (Himachal Pradesh)

Mr. Abhishek Toppo a resident of Barkakana (Distt. Ramgarh, Jharkhand) completed his 2-month training at ISAP training center in Bokaro with ID No- JHA0761. Subsequent to this training, he started a piggery & agriculture extension unit in May 2010 with own investment of INR 2.0 lakh. He's now earning average income of Rs 7,000/- per month from this enterprise. This is first time ever that a piggery unit is opened with agriculture consultancy services in Jharkhand. ISAP wishes Mr. Toppo continued success in his venture.

Mr Abhishek Toppo outside his piggery Unit

Conferences & Seminars

ISAP-Agriwatch-ICRISAT Pulses Conclave Held on 4-5 Sept 2010, Hyderabad

A Conclave of administrators, policy makers, commodity organizations, pulses traders, processors, millers, educationists, research scientists, farmers and retail chain promoters of pulse crops was held inHyderabad on 4-5 Sept 2010 at International Crops Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) under the joint aegis of AGRIWATCH, ISAP and ICRISAT. The Conclave was attended by about 250 delegates and presided over in different sessions by dignitaries including Mr Raghuveera Reddy, Hon'bleMinister for Agriculture, Govt of AP, Mr William Dar. Director-General ICRISAT, Mr Rakesh Kacker, Additional Secretary, Govt of India in the Dept of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Dr S A Patil, Chairman Agriculture Commission, Karnataka, Mr R Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director Tata Sons who are promoting the i-Shakti brand of pulses in the retail market, and Mr Vijaywargi and Mr B Krishnamurty, prominent traders of national and international status. An added and much applauded attraction was the active participation of the actual pulses farmers from Gulberga, the district with highest area under pulses and largest number of pulse milling units in the country.

The theme of the Conclave was "Increasing Pulses Production and Beyond". This kind of joint platform offered by this Conclave, where a diversity of stakeholders on this important group of commodities - pulses - come together for mutual discussions, was indeed a unique feature of the Event. The task of the Conclave was to identify a roadmap for overall growth of pulses, starting from creating new seeds, seed production, cultivation, milling, processing, commercial aspects leading upto the consumer in various forms raw, or characteristic to India's diversity of cuisines and tastes. Mr William Dar, Director General ICRISAT lucidly related the success stories associated with production of chickpea and pigeonpea and how the state of Andhra Pradesh had transformed the geography of endemic environment for these pulses and how this state had increased chickpea production to 5 times the amount produced 20 years ago. Mr RGopalakrishnan, ED Tata Sons, called for a new Mission on pulses that should involve all those engaged anywhere in the value chain leading upto the consumer. He proposed a strong project based approach to pulses production - reiterating that the kind of projects being handled by ISAP, Rallis, ACMF and many others need strong support from government and that the real solution lay there. He strongly supported marketing tie ups between farmers and retailers. Mr Kacker, Secretary in the Department of Consumer Affairs also advocated that main problems were encountered in kharif pulses and they deserved a special attention. Mr Raghuveera Reddy, Hon'ble Agriculture Minister A P stated that if GM pulses were an answer to higher productivity he was prepared to accept them if he was advised by competent and dispassionate scientists that GM pulses were safe for human consumption and for our already fragile environment. He also advised the organizers of the Conclave to come back to him with conclusions and action program at the conclusion of this meet. The Proceedings and Recommendations of the Conclave have been prepared and circulated. Follow up action is being taken by ISAP.

The event was marked by an extraordinary confluence of almost all stakeholders in pulses R & D, production and value chain. Picture above shows (L to R) Ms VN Saroja, CEO Agriwatch, Mr R Gopalakrishnan, Exec Dir. Tata Sons, Mr Rakesh Kacker,Addl Secy,(central govt) Mr William Dar, Dir-General ICRISAT, Dr S A Patil, Chairman Karnataka Agriculture Commission, Mr BKrishnmurty, Importer and Exporter, and Mr Vijaywargi (standing) Miller, Importer and Exporter.

Mr Raghuveera Reddy, Hon'ble Minister of Agriculture, A P, addressing the Agriwatch - ISAP Pulses Conclave at ICRISAT Hyderabad

6 ^th Global Pulses Summit 2010

Theme of the event: India needs Indians to consume more pulses

Having identified Pulses as an important and potentially worrying issue for India, Agriwatch launched its Global Pulses Summit Series in 2004. After successfully holding regional conferences on Pulses in Indoreand Hyderabad in 2010, Agriwatch announces the 6th Global Pulses Summit On 4th and 5th December, 2010. Over the years, Indian per capita consumption of pulses and indeed proteins has declined. This is contrary to our expectations of the world's largest consumer of pulses with increasing disposable incomes. Hence the 6th Agriwatch Global Pulses Summit will focus on how to increase the consumption to support the nutritional needs of the growing nation. To reach the target of recommended 80g per day per capita protein consumption from the current 43gpd is not an easy task. It requires the entire industry to get together and create innovative solutions that benefit all. Clearly,

1. Production in India and globally needs to be increased to make available the demand
2. Capital investment must be increased in warehousing and milling and transportation.
3. Consumption of a variety of pulses encouraged by mandate and education
4. Prices need to be managed to make the pulses accessible for all
5. Working in the pulses arena must be made attractive to all stakeholders

The Summit plans to engage all stakeholders to bring out their perspectives and ideations on how to increase the consumption of pulses in India.