April 2020 AGRICULTURE TODAY 1Development Officer Vipesh Garg motivated farmers to execute this...

AGRICULTURE TODAYApril 2020 1

AGRICULTURE TODAY April 20202 AGRICULTURE TODAYApril 2020 3

President Dr. MJ Khan CEO & Group Editor Mamta Jain Editor Anjana Nair Executive Editor Sub Editor Sanjay Kumar

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Pages in the magazine: 60

Rajni Shaleen Chopra

From the CEO’s Desk...

Agriculture in India needs a new vision… To spread happiness among rural families!-Prof MS Swaminathan

A few contemporary issues that have popped out of nowhere have drawn my attention as they have adversely affected Indian Agriculture! Unanticipated rain due to climate change bamboozled the crop’s memory cycle and has damaged the yield beyond repair. Where internet and media have effectively worked in creating awareness on

the health threat posed by Corona Virus, social media has been fatally instrumental in spreading rumours that have sabotaged the poultry industry. The YES Bank fiasco has opened another Pandora’s Box! If the government is gearing up to bail out this bank, why are farmers left to commit suicide? Any thoughts…!?

The last two decades of Indian agriculture have witnessed a paradoxical situation… On one hand, there are massive scale success stories and innovative agribusiness models… And on the other hand, natural resources are depleting, rural-urban income gap is widening and farmers’ suicides continue unabated. A silver lining is that educated youth understand the potential of this sector and are engaging in farm ventures and agribusinesses… Greater involvement of industry and institutions is opening new vistas for farmers.

Leveraging upon these strengths, progressive farmers in India are innovating conventional practices to become successful farm entrepreneurs. They have been instrumental in the expeditious transformation of Indian Agriculture during the last decade... From subsistence to affluence; from traditional to technological; from undefined to precise; from a backyard activity to a multifold and multifaceted industry! This multi-tier realm involves millions of farmers, entrepreneurs, policy makers, bankers, scientists, academicians and other stakeholders who must logically connect to emulate the swiftly changing market dynamics.

Agriculture Today has been bridging the gaps since the last two decades!

India’s leading magazine, Agriculture Today has been a vanguard in disseminating information, influencing policies, creating business networks and recognizing achievers. Unleashing the potential of agriculture, the magazine scrutinizes topical and contemporary issues involving bio-technology, farm-mechanization, seeds, fertilizers, farm credit, crop protection, horticulture, animal husbandry, food processing, agribusiness, research and extension, marketing, high-tech agriculture and all key facets of the agrarian set-up.

The Agriculture Today Group is creating seminarial platforms, round table sessions and panel discussions for excellence and wisdom to converge and converse. These deliberations facilitate rational and astute decision making across all echelons of the domain. Apart from the Agriculture Today monthly magazine, the group delivers daily through Agri News Network and Agri News Service with topical updates and news bulletins. With a comprehensive and pragmatic approach, AT Group tirelessly felicitates the role models of this colossal sector at Agriculture Leadership Awards every year.

Join us to cultivate pride in Agriculture…

Happy Reading…

AGRICULTURE TODAYApril 2020


VOLUME XXIII | ISSUE 4 | aprIL 2020

C o n t e n t s

Water Conservation in agriCulture

industry leaders on Corona Crisis impaCt

cover feature

Dr. Harsh Kumar BhanwalaChairman, NABARD

NatioNal RouNdtable oN FaRmeR issues aNd agRicultuRe Policies

special feature

dr. R c agrawalDDG, ICAR

sh. sanjeev chadhaManaging Director, NAFED

24 42

environmentWatch

dr. m.H. mehta

21

1226

Editorial 03

AT GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

The Aftermath of Coronavirus Crisis andLessons for the Agri-Sector 08

nABARd SuCCESS STORy

Leading the path to agri boom 28

AT SCRuTIny

Way Forward for Indian Seed Sector 44Stakeholder Dialogue 46

Corporate Corner 52

SPECIAL fEATuRE

Perils of Ignoring livestock health 54

Short Notes 58

Sneak Peek – May 2020


Doubling India’s Agro Exports to Double Farm Incomes

Use fallen fruit to prepare bio-enzymes, boost farm yield

We need to strengthen the quality attributes of our agri exports

Indian agriculture, at $407 billion, accounts for approximately 8 pc of the global agriculture output at $5 trillion. But our share in exports is merely 2 pc – $38 billion out of global agro trade of $1.8 trillion.

This requires focused efforts to increase India’s share in the global market. Given the diversity of India’s agro basket and the climatic advantage of seasons, low cost of labour and rich soil and huge bio-diversity, doubling the exports from its current level should not be a big challenge.

The question asked for many years was – Why are exports so important when our domestic market itself is so large and growing, and we face a shortage in most commodities. But in the last a decade or so, India has been producing sufficient or surplus in most agro commodities, including the pulse production of 23 million MT. Today oilseeds is the only major commodity, mainly palm oil (60%) and sunflower (25%) that India imports, spending about Rs. 60,000 crore on 9.50 lakh MT. After the call given by Prime Minister Modi to double agro exports within days of his assuming the office in the second tenure, there is a visible change in perception and mindset to now fully focus on exports.

APEDA, the nodal body under the Commerce Ministry which accounts for 50 pc of the total agro food exports from India, geared up to this challenge along with other major exports promotion bodies such as MPEDA, Spices Board, Tea Board, Coffee Board etc. to draw up and execute ambitious programs under India’s first Agri Export Policy 2018. Prepared under the leadership of then Commerce Minister Sh. Suresh Prabhu, AEP 2018 spelt out a major role for state governments. Till now, state governments had little or no role in exports, while agriculture is a state subject under the Indian Constitution. APEDA accordingly reached out to all state governments, proposing them to sign up MoUs for State Specific Export Plans. Till last week, 12 states signed MoUs with APEDA, committing to work on specific plans to double exports from the States.

ICFA, which is focused majorly on farmer-market linkages and expanding India’s global engagement in food and agriculture, made a detailed presentation to states’ export nodal agencies recently. ICFA

proposed to them to prepare State Export Baskets, implement GAP standards and certification and traceability systems, improve agri supply chain, logistics infrastructure and protocols. Most importantly, ICFA urged the states to undertake massive scale capacity building programs for farmers, FPOs, exporters and other key stakeholders.

According to ICFA studies, linking agriculture to the exports market significantly improves the cost and quality of the produce, as well as the entire agri supply chain. Most importantly, it has an immense price stabilizing effect on the domestic agri market, even if

the exports are just 2 pc or less. The grossly inadequate budget for agro export

promotion, less than even $200 million for all the agro boards put together, is a matter of concern. In the last six months that we have got serious and have started working on a long term approach, comprehensively addressing the challenges and taking all key stakeholders on board. This has started showing results – exports grew from $30 billion to $38 billion in one year.

Another key concern is the export of low value added items, inconsistency in quality and pesticide residue. This results in export consignments being rejected. Pre export certification ensures regulatory compliance. It helps to meet the requirements of the countries and reduce chances of rejection. This will ensure the quality of the product and will create a brand as a reliable and quality exporter. A national portal to register the labs that test pre- export shipments is another way to fix the accountability of the testing agency. The portal will ensure audits, document checks and assessments of conformity, sampling, testing and analysis in fully accredited laboratories. With a renewed thrust on increasing agri exports from India, it becomes imperative that India evolve a serious strategy that can strengthen our export potential.

Dr. MJ Khan is chairman of the indian Chamber of Food and agriculture and can be reached at [email protected]

With fresh ideas, one is able to find new areas of income and growth with readily available material.

Two kinnow farmers of Punjab are using the peel and pulp of the fallen kinnow fruit to prepare bio enzymes. The enzyme solution is being used to boost plants and soil health.

The fallen fruit has to be regularly collected and buried. Otherwise, it rots and attracts pests, which damage healthy fruit on the tree. The move to make bio enzymes has been initiated by Punjab Horticulture Department. With the success of the pilot project, more farmers are being taken on board. This is a win-win situation for all.

Bio enzymes are powerful microorganisms. They have the potential to revive dying soil and boost fertility. The soil becomes healthier, needing less chemical fertilizer application. Bio-enzymes can be prepared from the waste of any fruit or vegetable. Kinnow occupies the largest area among fruits in Punjab, providing huge potential to prepare bio-enzymes from the fallen fruit.

According to news reports, Bhudhlada Horticulture Development Officer Vipesh Garg motivated farmers to execute this concept. Colonel Rashneel Chahal (retd) of Narinderpura village and Kuldeep Singh of Mal Singh Wala village in Mansa district prepared bio enzymes of 200 litres.

Kuldeep Singh has also used jamun waste to prepare bio-enzymes, and uses them in his chili fields. Kuldeep says that fallen kinnow fruit has life of about ten days only. Thereafter, the rot sets in, and it cannot be used to make enzymes.

Making bio-enzyme For making bio-enzyme of kinnow fruit, one needs 30 kg of fallen kinnow, 10 kg gud (jaggery) and 100 liters of water. The skin of the fallen fruit is washed. The skin and the pulp are put into a 200 liter drum. The ratio of jaggery, kinnow and water must be 1:3:10. The drum is covered with a lid and placed at a cool,

dry and airy place, avoiding direct sunlight.

If the bio-enzyme is made using yeast, the solution is ready in 40-45 days. During the first two weeks, the lid should be opened for a few minutes daily and stirred for some time. Thereafter, this exercise should be carried out once a week, till the 45-day period is over.

If the solution is made without yeast, it takes three months for fermentation. The lid of the drum should be opened daily for 30 days.

For the next 30 days, it should be opened twice in a week. Thereafter, opening the lid once a week is enough. The solution is filtered before use. The sediment that is left behind can be dried and used as fertilizer.

According to media reports, Punjab Director Horticulture Shailender Kaur said farmers can convert any fruit and vegetable waste into bio enzymes to use at the farm level. One litre of solution is mixed in 100 litres of water for spraying on plants. The enzyme serves as a powerful fertilizer, cutting down on cost of cultivation. It can be used effectively for fields, urban gardening and kitchen gardens.

Cleaning village ponds with bio-enzymesIn Andhra Pradesh, bio-enzymes were used to clean water bodies (mostly ponds) in and around Bhimavaram in West Godawari district. A research project at SRKR Engineering College, Bhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh found that after treating the pond water with bio-enzymes, the water bodies were cleaner, did not have a foul smell, and BOD-COD percentage in water reached permissible level after treatment. For water cleaning use, the ratio of jaggery, vegetable/fruit waste and water is 1:3:10 to prepare the bio-enzyme. The same solution can be used to clean floors and toilets effectively.

Rajni Shaleen Chopra is Executive Editor, The agriculture Today Group. She can be reached at [email protected]

from THE prEsIdEnT’s dEsk from THE ExEcuTIvE EdITor’s dEsk

AGRICULTURE TODAYApril 2020 7AGRICULTURE TODAY April 20206

dr. mJ kHAn

rAJnI sHALEEn cHoprA


ThE AfTERmATh Of

AND LEssONs fOR ThE AGRI-sECTORCoronavirus Crisis

Dr. Nimrod Israely is the founder and CEO of Biofeed. He is a leader in developing technologies to help farmers grow without insecticide sprays, and protocols for fresh produce exports, to enable smooth global trading free of quarantine pests and chemical residues

about the author

By comparison, the economic long-term worldwide effect of the 9/11 attack is estimated to be $ 2 trillion. There is no question that this economics will have a long-lasting effect on our lives, business, trade, regulations, economic development, etc. How will it affect the agri-industry, and more specifically, the fresh produce exports from Africa and elsewhere to premium markets?

Regulations make the World go round, or stop!Regulators control the world’s international trade. When there is a health/trade risk by a virus, a germ, a fungus or a pest, the Regulator will protect us and keep our future safe by prohibiting people and goods movement. This is true for times when the Regulator is fighting to prevent the entry of human virus carriers (e.g. Coronavirus) or agricultural quarantine pests.

Regulators know it well - unless you have an effective vaccination or pest control method, your best alternative to fight an epidemic or an invasive pest is through quarantine or Import Ban of any source of danger, be it people or agri-produce.

Coronavirus is the September 11 of worldwide bio-securityOn September 11, 2001, terrorists intentionally created horror, death, and economic damage. That changed our view of homeland security. On the Coronavirus crises – travelers unintentionally created horror, death, and worldwide large scale economic damage. Will that change our view of bio-security and the ways to cope with it? Will we see a Minister of Bio-Security? Maybe.

The Coronavirus crisis gives us a glimpse into the future of international trade and freedom of movement of people and goods. One can expect that future international

flights and trade in fresh produce will have stricter restrictions. How do we prepare, and thrive, in the coming turbulent future we are facing?

The steps forward should be in the following order - analyzing the situation, creating high probability scenarios, and

predictions. Next – setting goals, targets and a work plan of achieving it. Last – the the implementation of the work plan.

The Coronavirus of Agriculture “Bactrocera dorsalis is a highly invasive species” affecting “over 300 species of commercial/edible and wild hosts… is now found in at least 65 countries, including parts of America and Oceania, and Africa sub-Saharan countries…”

“The potential risk of its introduction to a new area is facilitated by increasing international tourism and trade… After introduction, it can easily disperse as it has a high reproductive potential… a rapid, dispersal, ability and a broad host range.”

“The economic impact would result primarily from the loss of the export markets,

and the costly requirement of quarantine restrictions and eradication measures.” - Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux International (CABI)

It is clear – Bactrocera dorsalis is not an ordinary pest. It affects the economics of fruit and vegetable growers, more than any other pest. It is the number one fruit pest in the world and the most invasive. Hence, it is on the top list of national and international quarantine organizations.

Dangerous resemblanceCoronavirus for humans = Bactrocera dorsalis for fruits/vegetables. Coronavirus is transferred by humans that on average transfer to two others. Bactrocera dorsalis infection is transferred (i.e. reproduced) by

each female fly to tens of fruits.

Regulation is the KingCORONAVIRUS - All countries first hesitated how to deal with the Coronavirus, but later realized that the best immediate action is: isolation and quarantine of any potential source of Coronavirus carriers.

FRUIT FLIES - are already subject to massive regulations, including export ban and severe quarantine requirements. These regulations are known to be somehow “flexible”. They allow export to continue even after repeated interceptions of produce infested by the quarantine pest. Hence fruit flies, and especially Bactrocera dorsalis, continue to expand to ‘new’ territories and bring enormous destruction wherever it arrives.

The Coronavirus crisis brings with it fear, morbidity, and considerable worldwide economic damage. The purpose of this write-up is to present reality as it is, and in particular to illuminate the foreseeable future with its business risks and opportunities so that the agri-sector can take advantage of it

EconomicsThe expected worldwide cost of the Coronavirus crisis is nearly $3 trillion.


GLOBALPERSPECTIVE

GLOBALPERSPECTIVE


ForecastIn light of the Coronavirus crises, one can expect that quarantine regulations will be imposed on any person, produce or goods that may pose a hazard to the introduction of invasive disease or pest. Agriculture is no exception to the role. Regulators active in the agri-sector will eventually decide or forced to adopt a stricter line of quarantine.

Zero Tolerance Like zero tolerance for the spread of infection among humans, Plant Protection and Inspection Services authorities are expected to adopt a stringent and stricter regulation, especially for imported fresh produce. Future bio-security inspections will be more diligent and approach towards non-compliance will be far less forgiving.

Future losers For one or two years following the crisis, one can expect to see a decline of the World Bank investments in developing countries, and the same trend with other banks and donors. Markets may shrink, as people will have less available money. Hence, the competition between exporters and fruit traders will be fierce.

It will take a while, but Investigative Committees will be established in many countries. They will probably recommend preventative measures to avoid future disastrous cases, e.g. Coronavirus of bio-security. It is clear that anyone who will be unable to meet future regulations will find himself outside the international trading market.

Those are very bad news for countries that today are unable to adequately control fruit flies and/or other quarantine pests. Unfortunately, for such countries, they may find themselves under strict Export Ban in a short while.

ImpactPremium markets of developed countries such as Europe, China, and the United States may place stringent quarantine requirements from exporting countries, including a demand to provide a continual proof of their ability to export fresh produce, which will be totally, and unquestionably, free of quarantine pests, in addition to the zero-chemical residues demand.

Future WinnersAs usual, any problem like the Coronavirus crisis will also create opportunities and winners. Opportunities take place where there is change. The Coronavirus crises bring about a huge change in all aspects of our life. This change will probably affect international business and trade for decades to come! Among others, it will create opportunities for disruptive business structures, technological solutions, protocols, and channels.

One of the measures will include demand for “Prohibition of entry to the country of people, and fresh produce unless there are evidence and a certificate showing that they are not carrying any quarantine disease/pest”.

Winners – will become those who will be able to provide a certificate of bio-security i.e. free of quarantine pests, free of chemical residues, and have the top-quality produce. They will gain smooth entry to the International Premium Markets and get a high price – reword of their efforts.

Beneficiaries Who will benefit from the coming changes? Anyone who will understand the opportunities that this unfortunate situation brings with it can benefit. The beneficiaries shall include agri-tech companies that will provide education and field-proven technological solutions for the strict regulatory requirements. Also, those service and know-how providers will gain who will provide adequate protocols accepted by the regulatory authorities in the premium markets; have the ability to implement such protocols and provide certification for standing up for the required demands.

Those countries shall gain which shall create the environment to grow and export fresh produce free of quarantine pests, will

actively support chosen pest control services providers that can assure the export quality of the produce, will provide the importing countries the trust, reliability, and comfort they need to enable an uninterrupted, continuous export. The attempt to certify the entire state as Free of Quarantine Pests is doomed to failure. It is therefore advised to start by certifying limited area/s as free of the main quarantine pest, e.g. Fruit Fly Certified Trade Zone.

FarmersThose who qualify for inclusion in the Certified Trade Zone initiative will gain access to export markets and therefore will significantly increase their income.

Fruit-fly certified trade zoneFruit flies are the number one reason for the inability to export fresh produce. Therefore, the focus should be on enabling farmers to export without the fear of fruit fly interception. That move will create the highest and fastest return on investment (ROI) for stakeholders and will bring prosperity and economic success.

Countries that will overcome the regulatory hurdle will soon turn into export centers for high-quality produce. Those export centers will expand and in the future will provide much of the global demand of a specific crop/s.

Inter-dependency and cooperation between countries is a proper direction that will encourage multi-national cooperation to invest and will decrease the tendency of armed wars or trade wars or any other kind of conflict between countries. We will see more economic international cooperation, and dependency, which in turn will bring more peace and prosperity to all.

GLOBALPERSPECTIVE


TransformingTheParadigm

Q. The government envisages to double farmers’ income by 2022-23. What is NABARD’s roadmap in helping the government to achieve this ambitious and demanding target?Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given impetus to a seven-point strategy for achieving the goal of doubling of farmers’ income. This encompasses water use efficiency, supply of high quality seed and study of soil health, investments in warehouses and cold chain, value addition through food processing, electronic national agriculture markets, promotion of diversification of agriculture market and increase in crop insurance coverage.

For ensuring irrigation (Har Khet ko Pani), NABARD’s Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) aims at fast-tracking completion of 103 identified major and medium irrigation projects. NABARD has sanctioned Rs 81,687 crore so far for the initiative, which carries irrigation potential of 81.3 lakh ha. Now projects are getting completed at a faster pace and water is reaching the fields of the farmers. A Rs 5,000-crore Micro Irrigation Fund (MIF) has been operationalized in NABARD with the aim to facilitate mobilisation of the resources in states for extending the coverage of micro irrigation which raises water use efficiency. Likely sanctions under the fund by March 2020 are to the tune of Rs. 2842 crore.

NABARD is working with all stakeholders towards bridging the gap in agricultural marketing infrastructure through a dedicated Agriculture Marketing Infrastructure Fund (AMIF) with a corpus of Rs 2,000 crore. The fund will soon be operationalised. The objective of the Fund is upgrading the agri marketing infrastructure in 22,000 Gramin Agriculture Markets (GrAMs) and linking them with 585 Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) to bring them under e-NAM, an online trading platform for agricultural commodities. This will go a long way in creating a unified agricultural market and linking village markets to larger national and international markets. This is expected to lead to not only better price discovery but also more remunerative prices for farmers.

In order to contain distress sale of agricultural produce by facilitating scientific storage, NABARD puts tremendous thrust on creating warehousing infrastructure and thus, operates a Warehouse Infrastructure Fund (WIF). An amount of Rs 9,615 crore has been sanctioned so far under this window. Cumulative disbursements are to the tune of Rs 6,421 crore, which enables creation of 12 million MT of storage capacity.

NABARD is extending credit support to public and private players under Food Processing Fund (FPF). The credit is extended to designated food parks and food processing units notified by the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industry. Rs 600 crore has been sanctioned so far for 11 mega food park projects, which is expected to add 2.36 lakh MT of dry storage and 0.65 lakh MT of cold storage apart from other infrastructure benefits like freezer storage, controlled ripening, pulping, aseptic packaging

Dr. Harsh Kumar

BhanwalaChairman, NaBarD

cover feature


and individual quick freezing facilities.As part of the diversification strategy,

special Funds, viz., Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) with a corpus of Rs 8,000 crore, Fisheries and Aqua Culture Development Fund with a corpus of Rs 7,500 crore were created with NABARD. Under DIDF, the cumulative sanction and disbursement is Rs 2,700 crore and Rs 1,110 crore respectively, with a milk processing capacity creation of 120 lakh litre per day. These would help in addressing the credit needs of these high growth areas.

NABARD is coordinating and facilitating the efforts of regional rural banks and rural cooperative banks for expanding the footprint of crop insurance. The bank is providing policy inputs to GoI on crop insurance issues.

Q. In 2019, you had flagged the significance of farmer producer organizations (FPOs). Please elucidate on the success of NABARD in this reference.The number of small and marginal farmers have more than doubled between 1970-71 and 2015-16, having grown by 153%. Consequently, the average land holding size has reduced from 2.28 hectare (1970-71) to 1.08 hectare (2015-16). There are limits to this growth on a reducing farm size. Small and fragmented land holdings, inadequate access to critical agri inputs, low marketable surplus coupled with long supply chains having multiple intermediaries, etc. are major challenges. FPOs are a practical and long-term solution to overcome some of these challenges. They can empower farmers through technology adoption. The FPO model has resulted in fall in the cost of crop cultivation while the producers have realised remunerative prices for their produce, due to bulk marketing and better linkages.

NABARD has so far promoted 4,317 FPOs covering 30 states and union territories. FPOs are treated on par with Cooperative Societies, for the purpose of extending various benefits by the State/Central Government under different schemes. This movement has brought over 10 lakh farmers together – 83 pc of them are small and marginal farmers. FPOs shall emerge

naBaRD has so far promoted 4,317 FPOs

covering 30 states and union territories. FPOs are treated on par with

Cooperative Societies, for the purpose of extending

various benefits by the State/Central Government under different schemes.

This movement has brought over 10 lakh farmers

together – 83 pc of them are small and marginal

farmers. FPOs shall emerge as potent entities that have the potential to transform

Indian agriculture and realise the benefits of economies of scale for the small and marginal

farmers.

as potent entities that have the potential to transform Indian agriculture and realise the benefits of economies of scale for the small and marginal farmers.

Q. Self Help Groups (SHGs) caught up in a big way when RBI issued a financing policy to commercial banks on ways to finance them. Do we have any such mechanism for FPOs?Since FPOs are a group of predominantly small and marginal farmers, their financial strength is weak. To strengthen their financial/equity base, a provision of Equity Grant Assistance to the extent of Rs 15 lakh per FPO has been provided. Credit guarantee cover up to Rs 1.50 crore per FPO is available to eligible lending institutions to improve credit flow to the FPOs. The guidelines are being formulated by GoI which envisages an elaborate monitoring mechanism. Setting up of Committees at national, state and district levels to review, monitor and suggest suitable measures for implementation of the scheme is also envisaged.

Q. Climate change is affecting farmers terribly. Farmers need to be equipped and trained for sustainable development by insulating them from climate risks like drought, heat etc. Is NABARD focusing on asset creation for farmers as a strategy to help them counter climate change? What steps are being taken to reduce income variability caused due to climate risk?Climate change is a real threat globally. Indian agriculture is vulnerable to climate change – mainly due to predominance of rainfed farming and a large number of small and marginal farmers with limited means to face the challenge. With the country witnessing growing incidences of severe weather and extreme climatic events, the adverse impact of climate change may impact agri GDP growth. The impact may also be felt in the fall in productivity of rice, wheat, maize and horticulture; shift in apple cultivation to higher reaches; heat stress on the livestock

affecting milk yield.Over the past two decades, NABARD has implemented

several development projects and sustainable livelihood models for conservation of natural resources. Recognising NABARD’s experience and expertise in financing climate action, the bank has been entrusted to manage three international and national funding mechanisms in India - Adaptation Fund (AF), National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) and Green Climate Fund (GCF). The cumulative climate finance under these mechanisms stands at Rs 1,820 crore involving as many as 38 projects for adaptation, mitigation and cross cutting interventions. These projects cover over 130 districts across 27 states and 1 union territory.

The focus of these climate change projects is on location specific adaptations to impart climate resilience while promoting water use efficiency, soil health improvement, climate-smart agriculture and contingency plan by introducing suitable crops and cropping practices. NABARD is working in a collaborative mode towards increasing the climate literacy.

Q. NABARD has always been a farmer-focused organization. It has a network that reaches the last social periphery of rural India. What is NABARD’s vision for the next decade to bring about a real change in the lives of smallholder farmers?Strengthening rural financial institutions like regional rural banks and rural cooperative banks is a major priority for NABARD with an objective of serving the farmers and rural communities. Upscaling of JLG mode of financing is another area of priority. NABARD is going for project-based collaboration with state governments and other entities in the field to improve infrastructure in agri markets.

To help in achieving financial literacy, NABARD has sanctioned Rs 350 crore and disbursed Rs 165 crore for holding 3.3 lakh financial and digital financial literacy programs. To give further momentum to SHG Bank Linkage Programme, the eShakti platform will be expanded to ensure enhanced credit flow to SHGs, especially women, which are availing Rs 60,000 crore credit annually. We shall facilitate creation of food grain storage at local level through women SHGs.

Q. How would EShakti programme launched by NABARD facilitate credit linkage of SHGs?NABARD pioneered the Self Help Group (SHG) movement in the country in 1992. Owing to our efforts, SHGs as a credible economic force in rural areas are well recognized worldwide and have taken deep roots as one of the alternate ways of reaching the last mile effectively.

NABARD intends to bring SHGs onto the digital platform through project EShakti. Our studies have suggested that there is an increase in credit availment in areas where project EShakti has been implemented. NABARD has set a target to bring 8 million SHGs in India onboard project EShakti to reach out to 100 million SHG members, directly and indirectly and is expanding the EShakti project to 250 districts across 25 States and 2 UTs.

Q. How do you foresee the role of technology in the context of agriculture in India?Strengthening of the agriculture-nutrition connect in agriculture through technology is an area which holds lot of promise. Micro irrigation has resulted in judicious use of water. Changes in farming technology have led to augmented drought resistance capacity of crops. Agri-tech has ensured better crop health monitoring, improved market connectivity and efficient use of agri-logistics among other things.

Artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning have helped enhance production and productivity significantly through real-time advisories and optimisation of resource use. Use of technology in the food and dairy sector has to be upscaled so that value addition takes place which benefits the farmers.

Q. What risk mitigation mechanism should be there to provide protection to farmers from price volatility?Crops like potato, tomato, onion and pulses bear the maximum brunt of price volatility. Distributed warehousing facilities, which are closer to production centres, should be created to address this challenge. On the production front, newer varieties of these crops need to be introduced which are more suitable for processing and processed products. Effective extension services should be deployed to encourage farmers and farmer collectives like FPOs to track future prices and hedge their price risk through commodity derivatives.

There is a need to give a relook at policies that tend to restrict private investment in post-harvest arena. Appropriate changes to APMC Act should be made to promote uniformity in agricultural marketing. Suitable modification should also be made to Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

We may also have to innovate beyond MSP for extending remunerative prices to farmers. The government has set up a committee to look into this aspect. Diversification and rotation of crops should be swiftly promoted to improve yield and preserve soil fertility. Farmers can be incentivised to shift from traditional crops to ones that are more remunerative.

cover feature cover feature


path to agri boomL e a d i n g t h e

Agriculture and allied sectors are the largest source of livelihoods in India. Several players are making concerted efforts to make agriculture viable and remunerative. National Bank for Agri-

culture and Rural Development (NABARD) is one such institution. This report takes stock of how the develop-ment bank is making a mark on the rural landscape

Farmers benefit from vital rural linkagesA newly built bridge and all-weather road connecting to the market has enabled hundreds of vegetable

Kisan Credit Card (KCC)The Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme was introduced in 1998 based on a model prepared by NABARD. It has provided to be a huge boon for farmers, along with the RuPay Kisan Cards issued to KCC account holders. The government’s Interest Subvention Scheme and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) have sought to wean farmers away from informal credit and have gone a long way in achieving financial inclusion of the unserved.

in villages as roads, bridges, godowns, electrification, schools, hospitals, etc., which would accelerate economic activities including agriculture. RIDF now covers as many as 37 activities of rural infrastructure creation under three broad sectors – agriculture, social and rural connectivity.

RIDF investments have led to creation of close to 5 lakh kilometres of rural road network and 12 lakh metres of rural bridges while 337 lakh hectares of irrigation potential has been either added or restored. The massive initiative has generated employment of 20 billion man-days.

The success of RIDF goes beyond statistics. Rural infrastructure, evolved over the years through this programme, has transformed the socio-economic fabric of Indian villages. It has led to growth in income and employment opportunities for the rural populace.

Plugging Warehousing GapNABARD’s Warehouse Infrastructure Fund (WIF) is making efforts to address the bottlenecks in the country’s agri-logistics ecosystem. Created in 2013-14 with a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore, the Fund provides affordable credit to meet the requirement for scientific warehousing for agricultural commodities. WIF provides financial assistance to public and private sector for construction of warehouses, godowns, silos, cold storage and cold chain infrastructure designed for storage of

Women Empowerment with EShaktiWhat started as a pilot project in 2015 as part of the Digital India initiative by NABARD, EShakti is transforming the self help group (SHG) movement. Project EShakti aims to bring all SHG members under the fold of financial inclusion, thereby helping them access wider range of financial services.The intent of EShakti is to use SHGs as a means to achieve faster and sustainable empowerment of women. At present, the EShakti portal hosts demographic, financial, social and livelihood data of nearly 62 lakh SHGs members from as many as 5.61 lakh SHGs. Efforts are underway to make the policymakers, state governments, banks, e-commerce companies and healthcare companies leverage this repository of big data to benefit the rural populace.

nabard success story nabard success story

growers in a village in Odisha to earn more profit by shunning the intermediaries. The farmers are able to reach the weekly market, over 10 kms from the village. NABARD is quietly shaping such transitions across India by directing its resources towards building a strong rural infrastructure funded by its Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).

Setting the FoundationRIDF was instituted over two decades ago to supplement public investment in rural infrastructure. NABARD uses this Fund to extend big-ticket loans to state governments for building such infrastructure



Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana - Grameen (PMAY-G)The government’s flagship housing with the focus on rural households was launched in November 2016. The scheme provides monetary assistance for the construction of a pucca house with basic amenities to all rural houseless households and those living in dilapidated and kutcha houses. In 2017-18 alone, under this scheme over 51 lakh permanent houses were built. NABARD extended loans to National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (NRIDA), the nodal agency identified by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) for borrowing funds from NABARD, towards part funding of central share under the scheme. At the end of FY 2018-19, 89 lakh houses have been constructed.

agricultural commodities. Financial assistance has also been extended for development of marketing infrastructure in Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs).

Adding Value to Farm OutputWith a view to providing affordable credit to food processing units on a cluster basis, the government instituted Food Processing Fund (FPF) with Rs 2,000 crore corpus under NABARD in 2014-15. This Fund is being utilised for setting up of designated food parks notified by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) and establishing food processing units.

FOOD PROCESSING11 Mega Food Park projects3 Food Processing Units Rs 531 crore loan commitment Rs 313 crore loan disbursed

As on March 31, 2019

Boosting MarketsAgri Market Infrastructure Fund (AMIF) was housed with NABARD for development and up-gradation of agricultural marketing infrastructure in Gramin Agricultural Markets and Regulated Wholesale Markets. AMIF will provide the state governments and union

territories subsidized loan for their proposal for developing marketing infrastructure in 585 Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) and 10,000 Grameen Agricultural Markets (GrAMs).

Powering Farmer CollectivesMost of the problems faced by small and marginal farmers can be mitigated by organising them into groups or producer organisations (POs). The Producer Organisations Development Fund (PODF) was set up by NABARD with an initial corpus of Rs 50 crore and further contributed out of own profit. Presently, more than 4000 FPOs have been promoted by NABARD out of around 6000 FPOs formed by various organisations including Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC), state government departments, development agencies, corporates, etc.

Shaping LivesNABARD’s Watershed Development Fund (WDF) supports soil and water conservation, climate change adaptation and mitigation, sustainable use of available water resources, skill development and employment opportunities, creation of additional employment potential for the small and marginal farmers and agricultural labourers, improvement of socio-economic status of the farmers, etc.

nabard success story

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environment Watch environment Watch

Solution tocrop-residue burning

Come the months of November and December and everybody starts complaining about the bad air, the crop residue burning in northern India

(and many other states) and the blame game starts. What is important is finding a practical, eco-friendly and easily applicable solution to this menacing problem, and initiating action well in advance.

In India, rice, wheat and sugarcane are prone to maximum crop residue burning. India generates more than 600 million tons of agro waste per year. Crop residue burning in north India is often blamed for contributing to air pollution and deteriorating soil and water fertility. Precious resource is wasted.

The problemBetween harvesting of paddy and subsequent sowing of wheat, farmers get just 15-20. To clear paddy stubble and to ensure timely sowing of wheat, farmers burn the paddy stubble as it involves no cost. Every year in Punjab, about 7 to 8 million metric tons of paddy straw is burnt between October and November. It is estimated that burning of one tone of rice straw accounts for loss of 5.5 Kg Nitrogen, 2.3 Kg phosphorus, 25 Kg Potassium and 1.2

Banana, Castor, Cotton etc. converting such wastes to useful Bio compost is a major challenge.

Any intervention targeted at arresting the residue burning will be significant and should be converted to action plan.

Agro-waste Utilization Alternatives Of the several alternatives suggested for crop residue utilization, in-situ treatment e.g. mulch preparation and bio compost are the most practical and easily adoptable by farmers. We must also remember that the solution has to help improve the soil quality and sustainability, and be economically attractive to the farmers.

Mulching and Microbial ConsortiaUnder the Mission of Agri Mechanization and to prevent air pollution, Rs 1,178 crore have been provided for north Indian states, according to media reports. Machines like Happy Seeder, Super Seeder, Mulchers, Disc Harrow etc are getting popular.

Dr. M.H. Mehta is the Chairman of the National Working Group on Eco Agriculture / Organic Farming – ICFA and Chairman of The Science Ashram and Gujarat Life Sciences, Vadodara. He is Ex-Vice Chancellor – Gujarat Agricultural University. He is the recipient of many national and international awards including the Padma Shri and the Asia Millennium Leader Award. He has been honoured by Beijing University, Cornell University (China), Royal Institute (Sweden) etc for his contribution to Ecology and Agriculture. Dr Mehta is among the world leaders for Sustainable Ever Green Revolution. He can be contacted at [email protected]

Re-Life, a microbial consortia technology, is a blend of fungal and bacterial micro-organisms. These are formulated with natural extracts, enzymes, growth regulators and a blend of N, P, K bio-fertilizers. The formulation is sprayed on crop residue mulch to enable faster decomposition. The farmer saves on input cost with improved fertilizer use efficiency and water use efficiency, eliminating air and soil pollution problems

Padmashri Dr. M.H. Mehta

Once mulch is prepared from the crop residue, the spray of multi-microbial mixture can bring several advantages. A consortia named Re-Life has been specifically developed by us with great deal for developmental efforts. It has been tried in different parts of India and also in some African countries.

Re-Life is a mix of micro organisms that are known to degrade cellulose, lignin, pectin and other hardy constituents of organic bio mass, taken through a selection process, fermentation and formulation. When

applied on the mulch, they break down the larger molecules, make the nutrients and micronutrients available and enrich the soil health by improved organic carbon and a rich wealth of good microbes.

What is Re-Life and Why It Is Important• Several micro-organisms are known to

degrade waste material and convert them into organic biomass

• These naturally occurring micro-organisms are very slow in action and could be ineffective owing to the environmental conditions

• Micro-organisms known to degrade cellulose, lignin, pectin and other hardy constituents of any organic matter are identified. They are put through a process of selection and the sturdiest are chosen

• Through the microbial consortia technology, a blend of fungal and bacterial micro-organisms are put together. They are further formulated along with natural extracts, enzymes and growth regulators

• Added to this is a blend of N,P,K bio-fertilizers and the final formulation thus prepared is Re-Life

Field trials and applicationsField trials and applications in various locations in India such as Vadali and Patiala (Punjab) for rice stubble, sugarcane waste (UP and Mauritius), banana and rice (Gujarat), rice (Haryana) in the last few years have demonstrated the success of consortia applications.

In a more systematic way, Eakpreet Singh (Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala) and Ranjod Singh (Department of Agriculture, Punjab) carried out Re-Life application at Vadali village, Punjab. They reported overall improvement in the

Result Of Experiment in Vadali, AmritsarMr. Eakpreet Singh (Thapar Institute), Dr. Ranjod Singh (Department of Agriculture, Punjab), Dr. Arjun Singh Mehta (Gujarat Life Sciences)

Ref: Final Report (2019- 2020); Application of Formulation1 (Re-Life) for bio-composting of Agricultural Waste on the field (in-situ) after harvesting

Element Sample before Re-Life Mg/kg Sample after Re-Life Mg/kg

EC 8.01 9.23

Zinc 0.32 0.38

Copper 0.09 0.12

Potassium (K) 1.16 4.11

Magnesium 18.14 21.12

Phosphorous 2.49 2.68

Iron 0.5 0.78

Microbial activity Count Count

5.61 x 108 CFU/ml 9.28 x 108 CFU/ml (after 25 days of application)

Kg Sulphur besides organic carbon. Crop residue burning is a potential source

of Green House Gases (GHGs), causing global warming. Burning of crop residue also emits large amount of toxic substances that are known or suspected carcinogens and could lead to various air borne/lung diseases. Smog and air pollution (including several highly toxic and carcinogenic compounds like Benzenides, methyl cynide etc) play havoc with the quality of air and health of soil and people!

On the other hand, average 25% of N and P, 50% S and 75% K is retained in the cereal residues making them valuable nutrient sources. Similarly for many other crops like

FARMER FRIENDLY, ECO-FRIENDLY, PRACTICAL• Eliminates air and soil pollution

problems.• Easily adoptable• Improves soil organic carbon,

availability of nutrients and micronutrients

• Retention of moisture• Saving in input cost and external plant

nutrient and micronutrients• Improved water use efficiency and

fertilizer use efficiency• Economic benefit to the farmerRoad Ahead • Large scale application in the coming

season

about the author


In December 2018, Dr Li Ji, Dean and Professor, Beijing Agricultural University wrote to Dr Mehta:“Direct returning crop residue into soil is the first choice and also the main practice. The use of microbial agent can be an effective way to degrade the crop residue, especially in those double-cropping or triple cropping regions where there were no spare time to remove the straw outside the land.

Dr Holly Little, Director, Acadian Plant Health International, California, Dec 2018 In California, we undertook the change away from rice stubble burning a number of years ago. It was a challenge, and met with resistance, however the change has been dramatic. We went from 95% of fields being burned after harvest, to only burning where over-wintering disease and pests with no other mechanism for control was documented. The environmental benefits of this have been amazing. I believe that techniques and products that help decomposition are an ideal fit.

increased availability of nutrients, micronutrients and nearly doubling of microbial count. The method of application was simple and easily handled by farmers. The final report was submitted to Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) in February 2020.

How to use Re-Life• Cut down the grass/stems

of the last crop after harvest • Shredding into smaller pieces

is recommended• For treating 1 acre worth of

agri-waste/residues, take 4 liters of Re-Life

• Add 100-150 liters of water• (Alternatively take 4 liters and mix with about 200 Kg soil/

bentonite mixture )• Spray evenly on agri-waste, mix well, provide irrigation• For optimum results, the C/N ratio can be adjusted with some

addition of 2% urea solution as reported by them.

ObservationsThe observations at the end of field trials are as follows. • Microorganisms have a symbiotic relationship with soil. Re-Life helps in composting plus enriched soil by providing good microbiota. Microbial growth in the soil increases almost in double number within 25 days of application. Re-Life helps to recycle nutrients back to the soil effectively and efficiently. • Increase in microorganisms= increase in degradation rate as microbes use straw as their food=increase in nutrients as microorganisms help make nutrients available to plants

Field ExperimentsAccording to local farmers in fields where trials were conducted, Re-Life is easy to apply, not costly (about Rs.400 per 1 acre), improves efficiency of fertilizers and water use etc. Farmers did not find any major visible change immediately but were explained about the gradual year by year improvement in the soil condition.

Larger scale field trials were also sponsored by PPCB through Ministry of Agriculture, Confederation of Indian

Industry (CII), Society for Indian Automobiles Manufacturers (SIAM) and other bodies. The real challenge is to scale up and convince various government and non-government bodies to take up a well coordinated, bold program for the benefit of all.

Solution is here!We are all concerned about a good practical solution to Stubble

Burning. Chief Minister Punjab Capt. Amarinder Singh, in an interview in December 2019, strongly appealed for a solution, saying that Punjab farmers contribute 28% of the rice consumed in the nation. They must to be given a positive and practical solution for crop residue burning.

We have seen that laws of punishments or threats to farmers do not work. Instead, when a practical, profitable alternative solution is demonstrated, they take it up willingly. Stubble burning is a huge problem but a positive solution is there. We all must plan right now for the coming season to implement for the good of all! It is the most important step towards eco agri revolution – a sustainable evergreen revolution.

environment Watch


NAFED’s Market Intervention in Kashmir provides a respite to Apple Cultivators in the region

The people of Jammu and Kashmir have been suffering from terrorist violence and separatism supported from across the border for the past many decades. On account of Article

35A, Article 370 and certain other Constitutional provisions, the people of this region were deprived of full rights enshrined in the Constitution of India, and the benefits of various Central Laws that were being enjoyed by other citizens of the country. As a result, full economic potential of the region could not be realized by the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Laddakh regions for the last 70 years.

Government of India revoked the special status to Jammu and Kashmir through Presidential Order of 2019, declaring abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir paving way to truly integrate it with the Indian Union.

The Government now aims to bring about development and good governance practices in the newly created Union Territories and has chalked out a road map for this purpose. Agriculture and allied sectors are one of the areas of focus, considering that these sectors are the main source of livelihood for majority of population of the Jammu & Kashmir. Over 70 per cent of the population in the region – more than 1.25 crore people are dependant directly or indirectly on agriculture and allied sectors.

Apple cultivation is one of the mainstays of Kashmir’s economy, with revenue of around Rs 1,200 crore a year. The state is the leading producer of apple in the country, contributing about 77 percent of the country’s production. During 2017-18, the production of apple

in the valley was 18.08 lakh MT out of the total production of 23.07 lakh MT in the country.

The production has improved considerably over the years when compared to the level of 10.41 MT during 2003-04. The production has consistently increased with effect from 2014-15.

In order to support the apple cultivators of Jammu and Kashmir, Government of India launched Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for procurement of apples in the region. The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd.

(NAFED) was appointed as the designated agency for implementing the program. The procurement was formally inaugurated by the Hon’ble Governor of Jammu & Kashmir on September 12, 2019. Physical procurement was started by NAFED in a record time on September 16 in coordination with the State Nodal Agency appointed by the Government of Jammu & Kashmir. The scheme has been subsequently extended till March 31, 2020.

NAFED organised procurement at five centers – Sopore, Shopian, Srinagar, Anantnag and Kulgam, and purchased 15,603 MT of apples worth Rs. 75 crore. The procurement of three grades (A,B,C) of the popular varieties of Delicious, American and Maharani was done. The purchase price ranged between Rs 15.75 to Rs. 54 per kg in September 2019, depending upon variety and quality grade. To benefit apple producers, the price was later enhanced to Rs.18 to Rs.60 per kg with effect from October, 2019 for different grades/varieties.

As soon as the decision for procurement of apples was received, NAFED acted swiftly and opened a branch office in Srinagar. A team of officers and staff were posted immediately and deployed

mode. It is for the first time in the history of J&K that such a direct benefit scheme has been introduced by the government.

According to Shri Sanjeev Kumar Chadha, Managing Director NAFED, even though the Federation had not been involved in operation of this kind earlier, he felt it was a great opportunity to serve the nation and live up to the people’s trust. It also served an opportunity to re-orient and adapt to the changing policy and eco system, said Mr. Chadha. The operation was undertaken in a transparent manner by registration of genuine growers through KYC, Aadhaar and Voter ID cards. The growers received a remunerative price for their produce which was higher than the prevailing market rates. This process also helped in elimination of the dependency on the middle men.

NAFED is now gearing up for the next season commencing from August 2020. It has planned to introduce Quick Response Code (QR Code) for enabling traceability of the produce based on grade and variety. The entire supply chain including procurement, transportation, storage and disposal will be digitized to make the operation more efficient and effective. Providing a ready market along with remunerative prices to the apple growers will go a long way in giving a boost to the economy and the financial security of the region. Despite the fact that NAFED entered the market at a short notice when most of the orchards had been sold, the response it got from the growers was very positive, and the scheme proved to be extremely beneficial.

special featurespecial feature

Even though the Federation had not been involved in operations of this kind earlier, it was a great opportunity to serve the nation and live up to the people’s trust. It also served an opportunity to re-orient and adapt to the changing policy and eco system

SHRI SANJEEV KUMAR CHADHA,Managing Director NAFED

at different centers for implementing the scheme. NAFED started the disposal of procured stocks using a multi-pronged approach. This includes direct sale in APMC mandis through open auction and disposal through the guaranteed brokers in diverse states through NAFED branches and also through NAFED bazaars. The stocks are being stored in controlled atmosphere stores and cold storages for protecting the shelf life and organize disposal in a phased manner to prevent a glut in the market.

Despite looming security and problems in communication due to shut down of internet and communication services in the valley, NAFED officers and staff bravely faced the challenges in the operation without fear for their life in order to meet the expectations of the nation.

The operation was hugely successful. A large number of growers/farmers received the financial benefit of the scheme, with the money getting transferred to their accounts directly through the Direct Benefit Transfer

Year Wise Production of Apple in J&K (in 1000 MT)


Before the Pesticide Management Bill (PMB) becomes an Act, it is critical to examine whether the proposed Bill addresses the needs of Indian farmers. Agriculture Today Group organized the National Roundtable on Farmer Issues and

Agriculture Policies at New Delhi on March 5. The roundtable was attended by ten eminent Parliamentarians, prominent farmer leaders, renowned agricultural scientists and leaders of the corporate sector. It was moderated by Chairman Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) Dr MJ Khan.

The group discussed strategies of doubling farmer income and doubling agri exports. The Pesticide Management Bill (PMB) and Seed Bill were the focal point of concern.

Opening the discussion, Chairman Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) Dr MJ Khan said that two major calls given by the PM for the agriculture sector are doubling farmer income and doubling agri exports. He said that the required policy reforms must be initiated in each sector to unlock the potential of that sector. Technology would help in incorporating best agricultural practices at farm level through judicious use of inputs. Dr Khan also highlighted the vital role played by farmer-industry-institutions partnerships.

Crop Protection chemicals have been playing a pivotal role in saving the produce of the farming community from diseases and pests at various stages of the crop cycle. PMB must address the need to introduce newer, safer and better pesticide products for the benefit of Indian farmers.

The major bottleneck is the lack of protection for regulatory data (PRD) for new innovations in India. Priority registration of new products must be provided in the Act by law. It must provide for Regulatory Data Protection for a minimum 5 years.

There is urgent need to revisit the Offences and Punishment clause for Misbranded/Substandard and Spurious (Criminal to civil procedure). The draft PMB-17 in fact made punishment more stringent. This ought to be revisited. Higher punishments are bound to enhance the renting and bribing in the system which is regrettably rampant.

It is essential for the Act to ensure the availability of quality pesticides to farmers and prevent the sale of sub-standard and spurious pesticides. There could be many other provisions which would need comprehensive consultation with various stakeholders. The government must ensure that PMB (later Act) addresses the vital concerns of all stakeholders.

atg NatioNal RouNdtable oN FaRmeR issues aNd agRicultuRe Policies

Pesticide maNagemeNt bill must addRess coNceRNs oF all stakeHoldeRs

“agri-clinics must be set up to equip rural youth to make bigger gains in agriculture, and partnership with private sector is important to boost growth”

Synopsis

Dr Khan highlighted that GOI is promoting organic agriculture, which is a 7,000 crore market internationally, but India has negligible presence here. Standardization and quality enforcement would help India make a mark in this sector. Dr Khan highlighted that it is important to make every crop globally competitive. If farmers have strong linkages with the national and international market, many challenges would be dealt with head-on and resolved, he said.

Dr RS Paroda, former DG of ICAR, said that Green Revolution and the consequent food security brought about complacency among vital stakeholders in the agriculture sector. It was time to face major second generation challenges like water scarcity, land usage and income stagnancy. Dr Paroda said agri-clinics must be set up to equip rural youth to make bigger gains in agriculture, and partnership with private sector is important


to boost growth. He expressed concern regarding the proposed Seed Bill and PMB, and said that these issues need attention on priority. The Essential Commodities Act, said Dr Paroda, must be repealed. Farmers are ready to pay for quality inputs and must be allowed to sell their produce on the price they want to. He urged the formation of Farmer Commissions at state and central level, and the formation of Agricultural Council on the pattern of GST Council to address vital issues of the farming sector.

Chairman Dha-nuka Mr RG Agar-wal highlighted that the proposed PMB has many shortcomings. He said that the Bill deprives the farmer of new tools and tech-nologies in the pesticide sector. Mr Agarwal said that the production of data and IPR in the pesticide sector is essential, but the bill does not provide for it. He emphasized that policies and laws must address current needs. He said KVKs across the country must be audited, because farmers are not being trained in the use of technology to maximize production.

Mr Agarwal said that the definition of pesticide is confusing in PMB. This way, any item could be called a pesticide. This would

lead to inspector raj and corruption. He expressed concern that timely registration is not being done, and demanded that a timeline must be followed for registration. Regarding the quality of pesticides, he said a government survey conducted two years ago in nine states had found that 58 pc of the inputs labeled as pesticides were fake. By increasing fine on manufacturers, only corruption would increase, he said. The laboratories designated by the government did not have proper infrastructure or human resource. The system must be transparent, he said, and joint tests must be conducted in collaboration with the private sector. It was essential to study the practices in the developed world and adopt those practices which were suitable for India, said Mr Agarwal.

Shri Naresh Sirohi, National Vice President of BJP Kisan Morcha, said that the proposed PMB addresses vital issues associated with agriculture, environ-ment, human health and pesticide business eco-system. He highlighted that in the inter-est of human health and also the environ-ment, it is important to promote the use of organic pesticides and also the natural pes-

ticides used in traditional agriculture. Shri Sirohi said that the use of chemical pesti-cides must be restricted to bare minimum. He revealed that while 1175 molecules for use as pesticides are available globally, only 270 such molecules are registered in India. Smaller nations such as Vietnam and Paki-stan have about 500 registered molecules. The US, EU, Brazil etc have 600 to 700 registered molecules. Shri Sirohi urged for greater research on safe and effective mol-ecules for use as pesticides. He added that the market nexus is very strong, and prices are routinely manipulated.

Farmer leader Shri Krishan Bir Chaudhary, execu-tive chairman of Bharat Krishak Sam-aj, said that the Com-mittee on Doubling Farmers’ Income, headed by Dr Ashok Dalwai, had made four major recommendations for the proposed PMB. The committee had recommended that the proposed bill must facilitate incen-tives for R&D by the pesticide industry within the country, reduce dependence on imported formulations, reduce input cost, create local jobs and aim at increasing the export of Indian agri-inputs. Shri Krishan Bir said that these recommendations must

be part of the PMB that is approved by the Parliament.

Former Harya-na Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shri OP Dhankar said a ma-jor challenge today is that farming has got deglamourized as an activity. In order to bring pride back into farming, Haryana started honouring farm-ers with agriculture leadership summits and other such events. Farmers excelling in the crop sector, horticulture, livestock farming, apiculture and allied areas were honoured at the state level. Following the initiative taken by Haryana, farmers from the state were awarded the Padma Shri. He said that with sustained focus on agriculture, the state was able to educate farmers about better water management. Apiculture was given a boost, and prawn farming was promoted on saline land. The state took measures to ensure that no farmer had to dump his produce, said Shri Dhankar.

Shri Yudhvir Singh, General Sec-retary of Bharatiya Kisan Union, vali-dated the efforts made by Haryana for boost-ing agriculture. He stressed that Europe and the US cannot be taken as role models by any state to ensure agricultural growth. Haryana can be the role model. Shri Yud-hvir Singh said that lakhs of our farmers have only one or two acres of land. He said that organic farming must be strengthened in India, and market linkages must be pro-vided. He expressed concern that fertilizer subsidy was given for chemical farming but not for organic farming, which was not right.

Shri Unmesh Patil, MP, said the sale of spurious seeds and substandard chemicals was a worrisome matter. He urged that research and innovation must reach

farm level. Shri Patil observed that while all sports channels are flourishing, India does not have a 24-hour channel dedicated to agriculture. He stressed upon the need for a vibrant discussion on PMB before it was taken up for discussion in the Parliament. Shri Patil urged that representatives of major stakeholders in the pesticide sector must organize a roundtable conference on the eve of the discussion of the bill to acquaint the MPs with their expectations from a robust Pesticide Management Act. This was echoed by all other MPs, who supported that a thorough discussion on PMB was essential the day before the Bill was scheduled to be taken up by the Parliament.

Mr. Raju Ka-poor, Director, Pub-lic Affairs, FMC Corporation said the pesticide industry is agreed that organic farming has huge po-tential. India must capture this market. He said that PMB 2020 had not been revealed to the industry yet, so the discussion would have to be limited to PMB 2017. Mr Kapoor expressed concern that several words had not been used judi-ciously in PMB 2017, and could be subject to misuse and corruption. He agreed that pesticide residue was a major concern for farmers. The farming sector needed new solutions for minimum pesticide residue.

He said that farmers were facing multiple issues like climate warming, intensification of farming etc. Locally developed tech-nologies must be examined to address these issues, he said. Mr Kapoor stressed that en-trepreneurs could not be held directly ac-countable for any lapse. The government must follow up on its promise of decrimi-nalization of the private sector, he said.

Shri Raja Ram Tripathi, Chairman, Central Herbal Agro Marketing Federa-tion of India, said that organic export has seen a decline over the last few years. It was sad to note, he said, that the world had a poor view of what India was doing in the name of organic farming. Strong measures would have to be taken to restore India’s glory in this sector. There must be greater thrust on research and innovating farming. Shri Tripathi said that there is nothing such as zero budget farming. In order to capture the international organic produce market, a holistic approach was required. He regretted that the Midas touch of agricultural scien-tists had not yet come to organic farming, to give it the much-needed scientific boost.

Shri Ravi Verma, MP, said that the protocol for sampling must be transparent. For crop insurance, farmers must get receipt so that they are able to get claim without any harassment. Shri Verma expressed concern that insurance norms are too rigid. Farmers are diversifying their farming activities, so they must be protected in all areas. Shri Verma said farmers need professional inputs and knowledge for crop protection. He regretted that even now, many farmers don’t know well about soil management. Agro waste management was also emerging as a major issue. Shri Verma advocated that villages must be developed as single production units. Poly-houses could play a major role for giving agriculture the required impetus, and farmers must be trained in poly-house production. Shri

“a government survey conducted two years ago in nine states had found that 58 pc of the inputs labeled as pesticides were fake. by increasing fine on manufacturers, only corruption would increase”

Chairman Dhanuka Mr RG Agarwal makes a point during the conference


Verma stressed that there must be strict quality control for organic pesticides.

Shri Pasha Pa-tel, farmer leader and Chairman, Ma-harashtra Commis-sion for Agricultural Costs and Prices, said that on a vital is-sue like MSP, farmers in states like Punjab and Haryana have dif-ferent concerns, and those in Maharashra have different concerns. Shri Patel said that the days of farming through raid-fed agri-culture were over. He expressed concern about the falling water table in Maharash-tra, and said bore-wells were now being dug 1,100 feet deep. He said agriculture was facing many crises. Shri Patel informed that Maharashtra State Commission for Agricul-tural Costs and Prices is planning to start a dedicated community radio channel to inform farmers about climate change and help in resolving their problems.

Shri Pushpendra Singh, president of the Kisan Shakti Sangh, said that at least 70 to 80 pc of what consumers are spending on agri products must come to the farmer. He said it is a matter of concern that farmers get only 20 to 30 pc of consumer expenditure on agri products. Shri Pushpendra Singh stressed upon the need for an Amul cooperative model for farming. Organic farming, he said, is the futuristic model. It was essential to educate farmers about ways to promote organic farming. He also advocated regulations for the pesticide industry. Otherwise, the industry would manipulate prices, and farmers would be exploited the way the telecom industry manipulated consumers. Shri Pushpendra Singh said that as part of PM Kisan Yojna, farmers must be given Rs 24,000 instead of Rs 6,000. This would boost rural economy and greatly benefit the nation, said Shri Pushpendra.

Shri Abhimanyu Kohar, national spokesperson of Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh (RKM), said that while

the niyat (intention) of the government is good, the niti (policy formulation) is not correct. He emphasized that Indian policies must address the Indian farmer from the perspective of local conditions. The effort could not be to compete with China, which has different conditions and different facilities.

Dr SP Baghel, MP and former UP Animal Husbandry Minister, stressed that farmers must adopt allied agricultural activities in order to boost their income. He said a farmer who rears livestock has a minimum income guarantee and does not commit suicide. Dr Baghel said that farming yields a poor income, and faces the vagaries of the weather. Sectors like fisheries, dairy, poultry etc can help a farmer tide over bad times. He also spoke about the problem posed by stray animals, especially bulls, which have no utilization with modern farming and dairy techniques. Sex sorted semen is the permanent and only solution to the problem of stray bulls, and also to ensure high quality cattle progeny, he said.

Ms Laxmi Devi, Special Correspondent with PTI, said that organic farming in Sikkim is being celebrated as a model, but it is not sustainable if people

don’t get agricultural products at the right price. She questioned the viability of organic farming if farmers were not able to meet the demands of the people.

Concluding the discussion at the national roundtable, Shri Ashok Bajpai, MP, said that this had been an important and contextual exchange of ideas, where members had provided highly valuable inputs and discussed the challenges before agriculture. Shri Bajpai said there was complete consensus that farmers must get quality seeds and pesticides. The challenge was that for lakhs of farmers, these were prohibitively expensive. Shri Bajpai said solutions must be developed to make quality seeds and pesticides available to farmers at reasonable rates. He said that spurious pesticides destroy farmers. Shri Bajpai reiterated the need for discussion on specific inputs before PMB is scheduled to come up for discussion in the Parliament. He also urged for discussion on a roadmap on how to increase farmer income, encourage farmers towards diversification of agriculture, adoption of multi-level farming and allied activities like fishery, poultry, dairy etc. All these alternatives must be explored, urged Shri Bajpai.


Moving towards PMB 2020

The National Policy for Farmers brought out in 2007 states that “the development, introduction and diffusion of environmentally safe and effective pesticides will be given priority” while “suitable quality control, safety evaluation and other regulatory

system would be strengthened”. The policy highlights the need for “incorporating the use of chemical pesticides in an Integrated Pest Management System”. The policy also states that “the sale of spurious and sub-standard pesticides would be prevented and bio-pesticides would be promoted”. Various Parliamentary Committees recommended stringent and deterrent punishment for manufacturers/sellers of spurious insecticides and the necessity of fixing of maximum residue limits for registration of pesticides.

Pesticide Management Bill 2008 was introduced in Rajya Sabha in September 2008 after 40 years of The Insecticides Act. The Bill is expected to regulate the import, manufacture, export, sale, transport, distribution, quality and use of pesticides with a view to: (i) control pests; (ii) ensure availability of quality pesticides; (iii) allow its use only after assessing its efficacy and safety; (iv) minimize the contamination of agricultural commodities by pesticide residues; (v) create awareness among users regarding safe and judicious use of pesticides, and to take necessary measures to continue, restrict or prohibit the use of pesticides on reassessment with a view to prevent

its risk on human beings, animals or environment, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

A fresh draft of the Bill was uploaded for public consultation in 2017 with more or less the same framework. Both the 2008 & 2017 versions consisted of 8 Chapters and 54 clauses.

Objectives of the proposed legislationThe manufacture of quality, safe and affordable pesticides needs to be encouraged while spurious and poor quality pesticides be stringently curbed. The proposed legislation seeks to achieve the following objectives: (i) to rename it as ‘pesticides’ which has a broader connotation

and includes insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, rodenticides, molluscicides, acaricides;

(ii) to provide for an elaborate definiton of pesticides to cover any substance of chemical or biological origin intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating or controlling any pest including unwanted species of plants or animals which will enable regulation of existing pesticides as well as new discoveries;

(iii) address all aspects of development, regulation and quality monitoring, production, management, packaging, labeling, distribution, handling, application, use and control, including post-registration activities and disposal of all types of pesticides;

Pesticides Management Bill 2008 to PMB 2017

(iv) define household pesticides, to prohibit their field applications and to enable delicensing of their retail sale for easy availability to the consumer;

(v) effective and efficient working of the Central Pesticides Board, Registration Committee;

(vi) fixation of tolerance limits of pesticides as pre-requisite to registration;

(vii) requirement of minimum qualification of licensees;

(viii) accredit private laboratories to carry out any or all functions of the Central Pesticides Laboratory;

(ix) prescribe an elaborate procedure for drawal of pesticide samples and inspection of pesticides;

(x) make punishments more stringent to check production and sale of misbranded, sub-standard and spurious pesticides;

(xi) the disposal of date expired, misbranded, sub-standard and spurious pesticides

As the Cabinet has approved the PMB 2020 draft and set for consideration of the Rajya Sabha, whilst the 2008 draft Bill also being proposed for withdrawal in the ongoing Parliamentary Budget Session, yet not many have a clue on the new draft 2020 version.

However, the word on the street is that

the following may be presumably highlights of PMB 2020:1. Any toxicity concern either national or

international can or may trigger a review process

2. Farmers compensation liabilities to be placed upon pesticide manufacturers and or dealers

3. For the first time product quality is the responsibility of both manufacturers and dealers

4. Data Protection not likely to be included

5. More powers to Executive body 6. Offences remain stringent both in terms

of fines and imprisonment liabilities of senior management

7. There seems to be no provision for invoking use of special use of pesticides under a declared national exigency scenario. This is important in the context of the latest massive pest infestations

observed by the nation i.e. the exotic pest invasion of the fall armyworm in maize, and the resurgence of the locust after three decades.

Biological control product registrationsBiological control product registrations will continue to be regulated under the PMB 2020. In its 2008 & 2017 draft versions, only mention of the same is in the definition as:

Clause 3 (t)t) “pesticide” means any substance or mixture of substances of chemical or biological origin intended for preventing, destroying, attracting, repelling, mitigating or controlling any pest in agriculture, in household or for public health including unwanted species of plants or animals during the production, storage, transport and distribution of agricultural commodities or animal feeds including substances intended for use as plant growth regulator, defoliant, desiccant, fruit thinning agents, or sprouting inhibitor and substances applied to crops either before or after harvest to protect them from deterioration during storage and transport.

The concerns over spreading of a rumour and trying to encash on the same by the chemical industry is the lacing/spiking/adding of bio-control products with chemical pesticides. This is often given as an excuse to draw attention from the products of chemical nature being treated as otherwise under the following definitions need to be revised:-

a. Section 3(p) “Mis-branded”b. Section 3(z) “Spurious”c. Section (Z)(c) “Sub-standard”d. Section 3 (t) “Pesticides”Hence, the concern over the offensive clauses

thus incorporated in the draft Bills from time to time.

products of biological nature for crop protection such as bio-pesticides, plant growth regulators will remain part of the proposed pmb. the latest move to regulate biologicals (bio-stimulants) and the like to be regulated under the Fertilizer Control order raises a question. is it time that biologicals be regulated separately because the nature and the concerns over biological control products differ immensely from those of chemical products?

Vipin Saini, CEO-BASAI

Mr. Vipin Saini is a regulatory affairs specialist, educa-tionalist, environmentalist, toxicologist, data analyst, writer and publisher with a combined experience of more than 25 years in the field of biosciences and re-lated regulatory aspects. He is CEO - Biological Agri Solu-tions Association of India (BASAI) and the Founder Trust-ee of Sunrakshan Foundation. He is actively involved in taking forward the recommendations of the Doubling of Farmer’s Income Report issued by DAC&FW

about the author


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Shri Naresh Sirohi is Vice President BJP Kisan Morcha (second simultaneous term) and Founder Advisor for DD Kisan, a 24-hour chan-nel. He has played an active role in formulat-ing strategies and draw-ing up the roadmap for the conservation, breed-ing and enhancing milk productivity of the indig-enous cow breeds

PMB 2019Resolution to protect the environment and farmers

On the occasion of India’s 73rd Independence Day, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said while addressing the country from the ramparts

of the Red Fort, “I want something from my kisan brothers. The Earth is our mother. Are we concerned with the health of our mother Earth? We are enormously using chemical fertilisers and in this way, we are ruining the Earth. We have no right to ruin our mother Earth. We will soon complete 75 years of our independence. Can we reduce the over use of chemical fertilisers? I trust our farmers will accomplish my wish.”

These words of Prime Minister were addressed not to the farmers alone. This was also an appeal to agriculture scientists and policy makers to formulate research work on natural resources and to inspire the adoption of traditional Indian wisdom in agriculture. The Prime Minister’s concern about the controlled use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and water clarifies that the government is highly concerned regarding soil health, misuse of water as well as entire environment. It is now obvious that government will not overlook this sector. The words of Prime Minister inculcate new hope. The PM’s call delivered from the Red Fort has been considered as the indicator of national policy, and a marker of government priorities. When the country’s economy is governed by agriculture, the goal of 5 trillion dollar economy cannot be achieved without taking care of the health of mother Earth.

After Green Revolution, there has been a major ascend in the costs of fertiliser, seeds, pesticides, weedicide, herbicide etc. On the other hand, due to irrelevant and ineffective laws, the indiscriminate sale of duplicate fertilisers, seeds and pesticides has become a flourishing business.

Such instances have worsened the situation of the farmers. This has also adversely impacted the environment and human health. In fact these agricultural laws of 60s should have been changed long ago. In 2008, Pesticide Management Bill was tabled in the parliament. It is still pending. PMB 2008 was the replacement of the 50-years-old Pesticide Bill, 1968.

The provisions of Pesticide Bill, 1968 are insufficient to address the contemporary needs of the sector. They are not appropriate to deal with the current pesticide-related challenges and expectations. As a result, many controversies and hurdles have gradually emerged. Keeping in view the existing changes, special provisions of scientific and technical development as well as international standards need to be included.

There is also a pressing need to frame rules and punitive provision for cost fixation. In June 2017, while issuing the draft of Pesticide Management Bill, 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture invited suggestions from concerned ministries, states, departments and stakeholders in this sector. In February 2018, this draft was uploaded on the website of the Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmer’s Development.

After including many the many suggestions and comments received from diverse quarters, the draft of Pesticide Management Bill, 2019 was documented. In this draft bill, vital concerns such as environment, human health and farmers’ interest have been addressed. After the sanction of the Union Cabinet on February 12, 2020, this Bill shall be tabled in the Budget Session of the Parliament’s which commenced from March 2.

This new Bill shall have a positive impact on significant issues such as agriculture, environment, human health and pesticide business. Henceforth, along with transparency among concerned rules and regulations, the Indian philosophy

of co-existence needs to be adopted. To protect the environment and human health, we should give priority to use integrated pest management and biological pesticides. These are an integral part of our traditional agricultural system. The Keet Pathshala movement initiated by late Shri Surendra Dalal, the agriculture scientist of Haryana, has become a strong and popular movement today. In this practice, insects are controlled by other insects.

Need for safe, more effective moleculesIn farming, only judicious use of chemical pesticides should be allowed. In the new bill, as per the international viewpoint, more safe and effective pesticides must be made available to the farmers. At present 1175 molecules are available in the world. But India has only 270 registered molecules. Vietnam and Pakistan are smaller countries than India, but they have 500 registered molecules. Countries like America, Europe and Brazil have 600-700 registered molecules. Therefore we need to focus on research of safe and more effective molecules.

In India, regulatory data for innovations are not safe and this is the biggest hurdle. In the proposed bill, research on those new products needs to be encouraged which could enhance the income of farmers. Lack of stringent provisions gives scope for the misuse of laws. This is a big challenge in pesticide management. The government is very serious about holding accountable all those people who are involved in adulteration. This is a very good sign.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while delivering her budget speech on 1 February 2020, emphasised the need for strict laws for the environment and agriculture-related offences. In many cases, usually civil cases were filed. Now these offences shall be considered as criminal cases. For this, along with company laws, essential amendments in other laws will be made.

With a domestic market valued at Rs 18 crore approximately, India is the fourth largest producer of chemical pesticides in the world. For this reason, certain pseudo power centres have been trying to damage this vast market for their vested interest. Now the government is committed and it may be hoped that Pesticide Management Bill, 2019 will soon be tabled in the Parliament.

Ministry of Agriculture has included some new provisions (compensation repository, automatic periodic review of all registered pesticides, making of a national pesticide register, advertisement regulation and necessary punishment provisions for offences against the violation of such regulations etc.) in the proposed Pesticide Management Bill. These initiatives

are commendable. Many farmers and environmental organisations had been seeking such favourable legislation since long.

In this proposed bill, government can give emphasis on the risk mitigation aspect. This is because pesticide regulation is needed to fulfil such objectives. Therefore in the foreword of the Bill, these aspects should be included, such as: “The objectives of the proposed bill are to control the harmful effects of pesticide on humans, other animals and environment, to regulate pesticide research, export-import, packaging, labelling, storage, distribution, transport, sale, advertisement and disposal, to ensure bio-safety and to reduce the use of pesticides”.

Vital addition of ten pointsBy adding the following 10 points, this bill can be made stakeholder-friendly.

1. The definition of pesticides should not create any confusion since vermin (pests) is listed in Indian Wildlife Conservation Act, 1972. So this term may create confusion. Herbicide, wormicide, pesticide, fungicide, rodenticide, molluscicide, insecticide, Ascaricide, nematocide, algaecide etc. should be clearly defined as a pesticide.

2. There should be a clear ban on controversy of interest in regulation: Central Pesticide Board (CPB) and Registration Committee (RC) should not nominate any member whose interests are in conflict with the regulation of pesticides. The clear provision of this intent should be made in the acts of establishing CPB and RC. By doing this, the incredibility of regulatory bodies would be increased and it would be ensured that the work of these bodies is stable and impartial.

3. Independent specialists in the areas of post modern science, ecology, consumer rights of insect management should be made available. In both CPB and RC, independent specialists (at least two from each) should be made available in the areas of non-chemical insect management, ecology and consumer rights. CPB should not be a consultant body but it should be delegated with important powers to implement the Act as well as to take care of regulatory systems.

4. There should be an independent permanent committee to review the pesticides: A Committee which registers the pesticides may not suitable for reviewing pesticides. An independent review committee wherein a bio-safety expert should be involved might be the part of the Act. All the pesticides should be reviewed automatically at an interval of five years.

5. Registration of pesticides should be made only when


required and when there is no option. Our National Agriculture Research system has developed many effective non-chemical solutions under organic and integrated management system. So all such pesticides which were registered without any data or incomplete bio-safety/effective tests or without the assessment of remaining of the highest limit (MRL) of all the molecules or other regulating conditions related to pesticides should be required to produce again all important missions (also need and option evaluation report). No pesticide should be allowed for registration which has been banned or its usage narrowed by two or more than two nations of the world.

6. Advertisement and higher sale movement of pesticides should be prohibited. Only those pesticides should be allowed for sale in any region which has been suggested by the local agriculture universities, because generally illiterate farmers depend upon the retailer’s advice. Hence it is important to save the farmers from being misguided by the retailers of the pesticide companies. This is a question which impacts the economic interest of farmers, our health and also the

environment. 7. State Government Rights: State

governments should be empowered to decide upon the grant of permission (or not) of the sale of pesticide in the respective area. They should also be empowered with enforcing a prohibition on the sale of pesticides. This right should not be bound for the period of one year only.

8. The clear definition of grants is important. Under the proposed Pesticide Management Bill, providing grants to affected people and establishment of a new fund is a welcome step. Affected people should be defined in such a way that the definition includes not only those people who are affected with the toxicity of the pesticide (where death is caused due to toxicity). The definition should also include those people where agricultural fertility of land is affected by the neighbour’s agricultural pesticide, or whose domestic animals are affected with the toxicity of the pesticide. Those should be included in the definition of ‘affected people’.

For this fund, money may be collected by making special cess on the sales of the

need for constructive debate on PMBCropLife India welcomes the early introduction of the PMB. Before the Bill becomes an

Act, it is essential to examine whether the proposed Bill addresses the critical needs of the Indian agriculture and farmers, and incorporates the learning of 45 years from the

Insecticides Act, 1968 (implemented in 1972).Indian farmers need far greater range of newer pesticides molecules to fight the battle against

pests, diseases, weeds and other attacks. Out of 1175 molecules globally available, commercially only about 270 are registered in India. Of this only about 75 molecules and their combinations are currently being used to protect 140 million hectare of diverse Indian agricultural crops.

The major bottleneck is the lack of protection for regulatory data (PRD) for new innovations in India. In the interest of the farmers and to meet the ever changing needs of crops and pests, weeds and disease attacks, the molecules that are introduced in the country should get a minimum of five years data protection from the date of registration in India. This must be incorporated as a provision in the PMB. This will also be in line with best practices globally and as per the Parliamentary Standing Committee recommendations (2008-09).

There is a need to revisit the Offences and Punishment clause for Misbranded /Substandard and Spurious products. The draft PMB has made punishment more stringent. This ought to be revisited in view of the budget announcement on 1st February, 2020 (clause 82), which clearly recommended necessary amendments (Criminal to Civil procedure) for the Companies Act and other laws. The industry unanimously recommends decriminalization of the agro-input manufacturing sector, since it may be counterproductive and create a negative investment climate. There are many other provisions which would need comprehensive consultation with various stakeholders. It is therefore requested that in the interest of Indian agriculture and farming community, the Bill should be referred to a Select Committee of Parliament for detailed consultation with concerned stakeholders.

pesticide industry. In addition, for inefficient pesticides the provision of compensation should be made in this Act. Farmers should not be compelled to act under the Consumer Protection Act as the use of Consumer Protection Act is difficult for the illiterate farmers of the country.

9. Provision for Crime and penalty: In case of the violation of rules, under the prevailing law there is provision for penalty of Rs. 500 up to Rs 75,000; imprisonment of six months to 2 years, or both. Although in the new Bill, the penalty has been enhanced to Rs 25,000 to Rs 40 lakh, three years imprisonment or both are proposed. If someone is dies with the effect of pesticide, penalty of Rs. 10-50 lakh or 5 years imprisonment or both shall be imposed. This is a welcome step.

10. Safety instruments: The responsibility to provide individual safety instruments for pesticide users should rest with manufacturers or retailers. The same mechanism should also be applicable for the disposal of unused and expired pesticides. It is also essential that through this act, aerial spray of pesticides by drone or any other technique should be completely prohibited in India.


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Asitava Sen is the Chief Ex-ecutive Officer of CropLife India. He has earlier worked in leadership and senior ad-visory positions for various international and multina-tional organizations such as The World Bank Group, The World Economic Forum, Ra-bobank etc. CropLife India is an industry association of 16 R & D driven member crop science companies, jointly representing approximately 70% of crop protection mar-ket and responsible for 95% of the molecules introduced in the country so far. Website: www.croplifeindia.org


Pesticide Management Bill must be examined

Pesticides are used for crops the way antibiotics are used by human beings. In order to save the crops from pest attack, it is essential to use insecticides in the right quantity, in the right manner, at the right time. Pesticides manufactured by Indian companies have

played a pivotal role in saving our nation’s crops from diverse pests. It is highly regrettable that the proposed Pesticide Management Bill has been drafted for protecting the interests of multi-national companies, and for handing over the huge multi-billion-dollar Indian pesticide market to them.

According to internationally accepted regulations, a patent is protected for 20 years. The bill provides for the data protection of off-patent products of multinational companies. This way, the MNCs shall manipulate the Indian insecticide sector as they please. They will exploit the Indian farmers and shall force the Indian pesticide industry to shut down.

India shall become wholly import-reliant for pesticides. Currently, insecticides manufactured by Indian companies are used globally, even by developed nations, on a big scale. In Europe, Latin America, the US, South Africa etc, the generic pesticides manufactured in India have a huge demand because of their efficacy.

Now, diverse tactics are being employed by the global pesticide industry to make India dependent on imported products. It is because of our corrupt system that since 2008, the registration of pesticides is being done indiscriminately and without the required technical evaluation. Since 2008, there has been a sharp hike in the import

of pesticides in India. MNCs have been manipulating the price of pesticides, and have looted the Indian farmers the way they pleased. They have monopolized the market and ensured heavy import of pesticides in India.

It is a matter of grave concern that the export of Indian pesticides is being restricted. Unfair practices have been adopted by MNCs and other sectors with vested interest to ensure that Indian pesticide manufacturers are not able to export their products. The Prime Minister has consistently emphasized on the need for higher export and to reduce India’s import bill. After the PMB becomes an Act, this dream shall not be fulfilled.

After the proposed PMB becomes an Act, the Indian pesticide industry shall be dealt with a death blow. The MNCs will take control of this billion dollar market. They will manipulate the prices and will exploit hapless Indian farmers the way they please. Indian farmers are already facing financial distress. With the proposed PMB becoming an Act, their situation shall go from bad to worse.

What is more, PMB does not care for country’s bio security. It allows to import bio agents such as bacteria, viruses etc.

In February 2020, Pesticides Management Bill (PMB) was approved by the Cabinet. It was hoped that it would be tabled in the Parliament for debate during the Budget Session. There are many critical issues in PMB that must be addressed by the government.

Review Offences and Punishment for Misbranded/Substandard and Spurious (Criminal to civil procedure)

The Finance Minister in her Budget Speech on 1st February,

2020 mentioned in (clause 82) – “There has been a debate about building into statues, criminal liability for acts that are civil in nature. Hence, for Companies Act, certain amendments are proposed to be made that will correct this. Similarly, other laws would also be examined, where such provisions exist and attempts would be made to correct them.”

It is a matter of concern that certain provisions in PMB will target and criminalize bona fide pesticide manufacturers for even minor offences with the threat of stiff punishment. This shall impact Ease of Doing Business in India. Such tough criminal liability with steep fine, severe imprisonment or both will have a negative fallout on Indian manufacturing.

Proposed changePMB should safeguard bona fide and genuine pesticide manufacturers. It should specify that such offence shall not be made out against manufacturer of registered pesticides, if the product complies with all provisions related to registration.

Offences against Directors of Companies Higher punishments specified against Directors of Companies are bound to enhance the renting and bribing in the system which is regrettably rampant. The experience has been that through misuse of law, bona fide business have faced the brunt and Directors have been prosecuted even though the product was genuine and complied with registration conditions.

Proposed changeWhere a company has different establishments or manufacturing units, the individual in charge of the establishment or manufacturing unit should be liable in case of any offence.

Compensation ClauseThere is concern in the pesticide sector about duplication of the compensation clause. The person who purchases a pesticide and has a complaint against it can seek relief under Consumer Protection Act. Giving additional relief through PMB will lead to possibility of harassment of bona fide pesticide manufacturers.

Proposed changeThere should be no duplication of compensation. PMB may give relief to those who cannot be regarded as consumers.

Price Control During discussion on the Pesticide Management Bill at various platforms, there has been debate on the concept of price control, which seems to have been introduced as a provision this time. Price control of pesticides may be an arbitrary move. This function should be left to market forces. If the Executive is entrusted with price control of pesticides, it may lead to misuse of power. Price control of pesticides by the Executive will be regarded as excessive delegation of powers by the legislature. An argument may be made that the introduction of this provision has been done under the Essential Commodities Act. But unlike drugs, pesticides are not essential commodities. The pesticide industry is highly competitive, which leads to balance and price regulation in the market. There is sufficient domestic production and supply of reasonably-priced quality products. Introduction of price control can harm the farmers, since it may lead to unavailability of quality plant protection measures.

Compromising GOI Stand on Ease of Doing BusinessIn the present Act, the ambit of the executive powers was to deliberate upon the efficacy and safety aspects of a pesticide. The Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and others have repeatedly stressed upon upgrading the ease of doing business. This ease may be compromised if manufacturers are intimidated by the registration committee or the licensing officers. Reports on the proposed PMB in the media indicate that power may be given to officials over diverse aspects such as development and availability of safer alternatives. The assessment of this task can be subjective in nature. It has no role to play in the core efficacy and safety of a pesticide. Any such provision must be reviewed accordingly.

Proposed changeIt is not right to equip a regulatory body with powers to take periodical review of a pesticide which has full compliance with specified conditions. If a regulatory body has the power to amend or cancel registration of a product, this power may be subject to misuse. It may create an adverse climate for the agro-chemical industry. Such a clause must be removed.

PMB must be closely reviewed by a committee that may be constituted by the Parliament. This committee may get the feedback from all concerned stakeholders so that a thorough review of all provisions is done before the Bill is tabled in the Parliament.

by a Parliamentary panel

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Dr Krishan Bir Chaud-hary is the President of Bharatiya Krishak Sa-maj. He is the author of a book titled Development Misplaced, the Editor of Kisan Ki Awaaz (an Eng-lish magazine), former Chairman of State Farms Corporation of India (a GOI undertaking) and former Chairman, Indian Sugarcane Development Council (GOI), former Director, NAFED and Founder Director, SFAC, GOI


Equipping the youthto be job-providers The Student READY (Rural

Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is giving

shape to the government’s vision of boosting rural entrepreneurship, and enabling youth to be job providers rather than job seekers. The program is geared to enable the rural youth to earn while they learn, by equipping them with the required knowledge, skill, ability and experiences. Student READY is an integral part of the last year of undergraduate education at Agriculture Universities in the disciplines of Agriculture, Agriculture Engineering, Biotechnology, Community Science (Home Science), Dairy Technology, Food Technology, Forestry, Fisheries, Horticulture and Sericulture. It offers them opportunity for experiential learning through

skill development, hands-on training and internship at work sites.

Such skill development and hands-on training serves a vital role in capacity building of the rural youth for envisaging a future as entrepreneurs. There is constant effort to make working conditions as realistic as possible, which will enable students to gain knowledge and skills for successfully undertaking diverse productive activities and

Dr. R C Agrawal is Deputy Director General, Agricultural Education Division at Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). He is deeply involved with initiatives that equip the students with life-skills to be successful entrepreneurs, and fulfill the aspirations of our rural youth

about the author

special feature special feature

farm operations. The students are provided opportunities to enhance their existing skills and also learn new techniques. A number of experiential learning units are devised for comprehensive hands-on training of students.

The Rural Awareness Work Experience (RAWE) imparts diagnostic and remedial knowledge to students relevant to rural field situations through practical training.

ICAR has established 485 such EL units in agricultural universities across the country. The objectives are:* End to end approach with carefully calibrated activities which help the students to

explore and discover their own potential and enhance team performance * Opportunity to develop analytical and entrepreneurial skills and knowledge,

confidence in their ability to design and execute an entrepreneurial project * Promote professional skills and knowledge through meaningful hands on

experience* Build confidence and ability to work in project mode* Acquire enterprise management capabilities

The communication skills of students are strengthened by the use of extension teaching methods for the transfer of technology. Students are encouraged to develop their confidence and competence to solve agricultural problems. RAWE also acquaints students with on-going extension and rural

development programs. The student Ready program has five

components 1. Experiential Learning – Business Mode2. Experiential Learning – Hands on Training

(Skill Development)3. Rural Awareness Work Experience

Experiential Learning on Food Processing (Canning line) AAU, Anand

Student work under ELP, YSPUHF, Solan

Experiential Learning of students in fabrication of greenhouses. Students selling vegetable seedlings produced under ELP, SKUAST, Srinagar

(RAWE)4. In Plant Training/ Industrial attachment/

Internship5. Students Projects

These components are interactive and conceptualized for building skills in project development and execution, decision- making, individual and team coordination, approach to problem solving, accounting, quality control, marketing and resolving conflicts, etc. with end to end approach.

The internship programs have immensely helped the youth who are part of the Student READY initiative. Students get the experience of functioning in an industrial environment, which provides them valuable working experience. The internship familiarizes the students with diverse materials, machines, processes, products and their applications along with relevant aspects of management. The students are able to understand the value of individual decision-making, team-work and the psychology of co-workers. They are able to evolve a functional approach to problems and understand the practices followed in the industry. Tie-ups are provided in various departments of the organization to make the students understand the scope, functions and undertake job responsibility.

These programs are also useful to students who want to go abroad for higher education. The students are equipped with analytical skills and the capability to work independently; to conceptualize, design and implement the proposed work plan; to solve a problem by applying project management skills; to learn implementation, fabrication, testing and trouble shooting.


indian Seed SeCtorWay Forward for

The future of agricultural production in India will largely depend on continuous development of high yielding varieties/ hybrids in different crops. Seed and plant

health are critical for sustainable agriculture. Plant health management includes control of plant pests, weeds and diseases. Therefore, the seed sector needs innovative technologies, enabling policy support, cost effective seed production and delivery services.

Considering that greater adoption of improved

varieties has a positive impact on crop productivity and production, it is essential to create awareness to improve seed replacement rate (SRR) in most of the crops. For this, a state-wise and crop-wise five year rolling plan for breeder, foundation and certified seed can lead to desired improvement in seed replacement rate (SRR) for the enhancement of productivity.

The informal seed system meets 39% of total seed demand (e.g., 31% in oilseeds, 36.4% in cereals, 55.5% in pulses). There is urgent need to improve the existing quality assurance system, especially for

the informal sector. There is considerable scope for the availability of good quality seeds at competitive price in the market. In addition, there is scope for improving the quality assurance system for seeds from the informal sector.

An effective mechanism/regulatory system has to be in place to ensure that unlabelled or farmers’ saved seeds meet the minimum quality standards, so that the small and marginal farmers are not at any disadvantage. In this regard, multiple accredited testing laboratories need to be set up throughout the country to enable and support assured high quality seed.

The institutes and private sector with the required infrastructure can be included with an independent monitoring mechanism. This will encourage the farmers to invest in quality seed for assured higher productivity. The government has taken positive steps periodically to address the new challenges and concerns of the seed sector, including introduction of Seed Bill 2004. Unfortunately, it has not yet been passed by the Parliament.

India has a great potential to emerge as an important player in the seed export market. The time is right to define a clear road map to promote seed exports through provisions of incentives and an enabling policy environment as well as establishment of new institutions such as National Seed Export Council.

While maintaining seed quality standards, some degree of harmonization with international standards of quality and testing will be essential for smooth seed trade. Such endeavours would help increase income from farming and make it a profitable profession.

Some policy-related issues that need consideration of the government of India are:

i) The Ministry of Agriculture must

Dr. Rajendra Singh Paroda is former Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), GOI. He was elected as the first Chairman of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), FAO, Rome from 1998-2001. Currently, he is serving as Chairman of the Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS)

about the author

harmonize seed related regulations, both at the central and state level. The Seed Bill, to be passed by the Parliament, should ensure an enabling environment for faster growth of seed sector in the country, ii) Quality-assured seeds produced by public and private seed organizations/companies should qualify for government subsidy. Subsidies be also linked to ensure greater area coverage under new HYVs/hybrids for increasing productivity of different crops.

It is well recognized that for faster growth of the seed sector, there is need for a separate Seed Technology Mission. This shall enable strong public-private partnership, access and benefit sharing (ABS) mechanism, the system of traceability, PRA and plant quarantine, including SPS requirements

There is also a need to develop effective linkages among government agencies for strengthening the plant quarantine system and its effective implementation in the country so that the much-needed germplasm and other planting materials could flow smoothly with required safeguards. In this regard, systematic survey and surveillance program on seed bore diseases in different agro-climatic regions of the country should be undertaken, along with establishment of central seed health testing laboratories with advanced facilities and consortium of plant

quarantine stations. The phyto-sanitary aspects of SPS Agreement require the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare to revise and harmonize our regulations and develop regulatory frameworks in tune with International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) to carry out PRA and to identify pest-free areas (PFAs).

In order to increase productivity, the role of the seed sector in the coming decade shall be of great significance. Also, there is potential for capturing the global seed market, especially in Asia and Africa. The seed replacement rate for hybrids in different crops needs to be accelerated to enhance productivity. There is expectation that the private seed sector will be able to play a prominent role in non-Green Revolution areas, particularly the eastern and north eastern region.

In this context, concerns of seed health and quality and easy availability of seed at affordable price to smallholder farmers is an important challenge. In addition, there is considerable potential for faster growth of seed sector provided enabling environment through the proposed Seed Bill 2019 and other policy initiatives for seed export. The existing Seed Technology Mission needs to be revamped for faster growth of the Indian seed sector.

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Stakeholder DialogueA Stakeholder Dialogue on Way

Forward for the Indian Seed Sector was organized by the Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS)

in collaboration with the Indian Society of Seed Technology (ISST) on February 22 at NASC Complex, PUSA. The main objectives of the Dialogue were as follows: i) to discuss the major constraints and find

possible solutions for faster growth of Indian seed sector

ii) to seek views of different stakeholders on the revised draft of Seed Bill 2019

iii) to suggest measures to strengthen seed health and seed quality assurance system in the country

iv) to review options of promoting seed export from IndiaThe following key recommendations emerged

from the meeting for urgent consideration of the government regarding The New Seed Bill 2020.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR URGENT CONSIDERATION

1. Seed Registration and Testing ProcedureThe proposed registration of varieties/hybrids under production and commercial use is a

welcome step. The variety registration process should be smooth and time-bound under the umbrella of an independent organization/board mandated for the purpose. The national registration of commercial varieties be got done based on trial data and the information provided by the developer concerned. The test period for value for cultivation and use (VCU) should be for one year only using multilocation testing system for well defined agro-ecological conditions (2 years testing be only in exceptional cases, where needed) using available infrastructure facilities with both the public and private R&D institutions.

2. Seed CertificationIn order to ensure production of good quality seeds/planting materials, the seed assurance and seed quality systems need to be revamped to match international standards. Seed testing/certification process should henceforth be only through accreditated laboratories/testing centers. These can be under public or private sector institutions including private service providers. Since only a few accreditated laboratories exist, there is an urgent need for accreditation under National Accreditation Board for Caliberation Laboratories (NABL), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), International Seed Testing Association (ISTA), etc. Seed Companies

of national stature need to be recognized through a process of granting National Seed License. This will eliminate the need for obtaining licenses from each state to sell their products, which takes considerable time. The manufacturing license for processing and packing of seeds from respective state government shall be continued.

3. Seed Price ControlThe provision of price control of seed by the Government is serving as disincentive affecting access to new innovation. This practice, which started lately, should be re-examined. The provision of price control in the Act should be only in very exceptional and emergent situations, under well defined guidelines by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW), GOI, and not by the state governments as at present.

4. Provision of PenaltiesCriminalization of violations and imprisonment may be categorized either as major or minor penalty. Clear guidelines be defined for proper understanding by the state government and all concerned. Deliberate violations with intent to cheat the farmers may be categorized as an offence for heavy penalties with provision of compensation to the farmers, once proved through assessment by an expert committee constituted for the purpose.

5. Promoting Seed ExportIn view of emerging opportunities and the strength of the Indian seed sector, time is ripe to promote seed export to various countries, especially in south Asia and Africa. The current contribution of India in the global seed market is only about 1 pc, which can be enhanced to 5 pc in the next one decade. This is possible if an enabling environment is created through long-term export policy. Those varieties meant exclusively for the export and not grown within India should be exempted from the registration process. Dry Port facilities are required closer to the production centres for quick movement of seed. Each such Port should have modern warehouses suitable for seed storage, good seed quality testing laboratories recognized globally and efficient processing and

packaging facilities. Export zones closer to Dry Ports should be established with necessary infrastructure involving private seed sector.

6. General Suggestionsi) An autonomous National Seed

Registration & Promotion Board (NSR&PB) must be established on priority for undertaking seed registration and certification processes to ensure faster growth of seed sector, including seed export. The Board shall be entrusted to ensure: i) variety registration process in a time bound and scientific manner, ii) promoting the use of seed of improved varieties by the farmers while increasing the seed replacement rate (SRR), iii) promoting research in seed technology and access to latest global technologies iv) ensuring more effective public-private partnership (PPP), and iv) regulating smooth seed movement (for both research and commercial export) within and outside India.

ii) There is a need to elevate the existing National Seed Technology Sub-Mission to a full fledged Mission for accelerating seed technology research, maintenance breeding, capacity building, and for building much needed strong PPP.

iii) There is an urgent need to build a reliable database on current seed situation in the country and prepare an effective seed plan for the next decade using big data analytic tools. Data needs to be also generated around actual availability and use of seed by different public and private sectors, crop-wise and specific variety wise.

iv) The provision of truthfully labeled (TFL) seed is expected to serve good purpose and may be permitted in the Act. Provision in the Seed Bill should

reduce the footprints of poor quality seeds by fly-by-night companies. As per Section 30(1) of the proposed Seed Bill, seed certification is being proposed as voluntary. Provisions in guidelines should ensure self-governance and accountability in order to maintain good quality of TFL seeds.

v) The Indian Minimum Seed Certification Standards (IMSCS) must be revisited particularly in case of vegetable crops, flowers and medicinal plants.

vi) Under the proposed Central Seed Committee (Section 4-viii), the Director, ICAR-Directorate of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research (DRMR) is also proposed to be a member. This is not necessary since Deputy Director General (Crop Sciences) and Deputy Director General (Horticulture Sciences) are proposed to be members. Instead, ADG (Seeds), ICAR, who coordinates production of Breeder Seed, be included as a member.

vii) Complementarity of existing public sector institutions and that of emerging vibrant private seed sector can be accessed through appropriate PPP. Successful models of PPP can be replicated. Long-term contracts between centre/state seed corporations, ICAR research institutions/SAUs, the private R&D seed companies, farmers producer companies (FPOs), farmer self-help groups (SHGs), etc. should be encouraged to undertake production and supply of quality seeds. This would require enabling policies, incentives and rewards. We also need to encourage the concept of exclusive licensing, be for an agro-ecoregion or a single state as the case may be.

viii) Under Section 14, the Bill doesn’t make specific provision for phytosanitary standards for the import of large quantity of seeds after pest risk analysis (PRA). These need to be specified in the guidelines after the Seed Bill 2020 is passed by the Parliament.

ix) Urgency of having the revised Seed Bill 2020 must be re-emphasized for the growth of the Seed Sector and Indian agriculture. We have lost considerable time since it was introduced last in 2004.

Dr Trilochan MohapatraSecretary, DARE & DG, ICAR

Dr RB SinghFormer President, NAAS

Dr Ram KaundinyaDG, Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII)

Dr Narendra K. DadlaniConsultant, Seed Business & Floriculture

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Farmers must have fundamental rights over seeds

In India, agriculture is not just a profession. It is a culture related to life and self-respect. In spite of all the economic troubles and disasters, Indian farmers have been doing agricultural

work without fail. Just as rituals and practices are a part of every house and every village, so it is with Indian agriculture. A festival is celebrated in many states of the country, called Vangadi. When paddy is planted, farmers give a party to their neighbours and relatives and celebrate with joy. This festival is called Vangadi. The exchange of seeds, manure, equipment used in agriculture and

sharing – this is the culture of farmers. In such a situation, if a farmer shares the seed with a fellow farmer, it is not only valid according to Indian law but also culturally compatible.

In April 2019, food and beverages giant PepsiCo had sued some farmers of Gujarat for cultivating the FC5 potato variety, which had been cultivated for its popular Lay’s potato chips. The multinational alleged copyright infringement by the farmers in growing this variety of potatoes, and alleged that farmers had grown and sold this special variety without its permission. The company filed a case against the farmers under the

Plant Variety and Farmers Rights Protection (PPV & FR) Act 2001.

PepsiCo stated that it had sole rights to grow potatoes of this species. It claimed that it had got the ‘exclusive right to produce this potato in India’ in the year 2016.

Farmers claimed that as per Section 39 of the PVP & FR Act, 2001, they have the right to save, use, re-sow, exchange, share their agricultural produce in addition to sow any protected variety of seeds or sell it. The farmer cannot brand these seeds and sell them. Hence if a farmer bought the seed, sowed it, saved the seed from the crop and exchanged it, it is considered his fundamental right. Under section 39 (1) (iv), if a person registers a particular variety, then the farmers of this country can also sell the seed of that particular variety, provided they do not sell these seeds by packaging or labeling them.

The MNC took a backseat after farmer organizations questioned its position. It withdrew its lawsuit against the farmers in May. Many serious questions have been raised in this case. Firstly, cultivation of any patented seed is legally not a crime. It is a fundamental right of the farmer to use the seed that he has obtained from the crop, exchange it or share the seed with fellow farmers.

Let us take the example of Neem tree which is grown in almost every house, and farmers trade Niboli in unorganized manner. Let us assume that an MNC comes into this business. It patents the processing, application methods and products of Niboli. Can the company now claim the Neem trees owned by farmers across the country or the Niboli produced from those trees? Certainly not. The same applies in the potato seed case too.

The time has come to suppress the vicious cycle in which multinationals play with the rights of farmers. The government must enact a separate law without delay to protect the fundamental rights of farmers.

The basic argument is that farmers must have fundamental rights over seeds. The deepening crisis of the agricultural sector is not only for India. Developed countries are bent upon abolishing the rights of farmers of developing countries to serve their own interest. Developed countries have made international intellectual property law their

weapon. In near future, corporate control over agricultural techniques and seeds is going to cause a serious crisis for the farmers of developing countries.

Keeping in mind these issues, a manifesto was approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations, which addressed the rights of farmers and others working in rural areas. This manifesto recognized the human rights of those farmers whose seed sovereignty is in danger. There were 121 votes in favor and 8 in protest, while 52 countries did not participate in it. Most of the developing and poor countries voted in favor whereas most of the developed countries did not vote. The United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Hungary, Israel and Sweden voted against the manifesto. Ideally, after this manifesto, efforts should have been made on a war footing to protect the interests of farmers in all countries. Unfortunately this does not appear to be happening.

In February 2019, a wonderful book titled Eating Tomorrow: Agribusiness, Family Farmers, and the Battle for the Future of Food was published. Author Timothy Wise posed a startling question in the book: Why are leaders ignoring the low-cost solutions to hunger and climate change all around them in favor of more expensive and less-effective agricultural technologies? Wise wrote that governments are suggesting measures for organized agriculture whose technology and seeds will be controlled by the corporate sector. Farmers are being misled by presenting these alternatives as solutions for the agrarian crisis. This will erode the rights of farmers.

Multinational companies want to seize the intellectual property rights of farmers. The government must immediately establish Farmers Judicial Authority on these issues, so that farmers can get speedy justice.

The relationship of farmer and soil is like the son and his mother. seed is the support strength of farmers. In India, seed is considered as the fundamental right of farmers, and has legal validity. Despite this, some farmers of Gujarat have been sued for damages by a multinational company asserting its authority over the seeds of a particular species of potato. In such a situation, a fresh debate has arisen about the rights of farmers over seeds, writes Dr Rajaram Tripathi

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Dr. Rajaram Tripathi is Chairman, Central Herb-al Agro Marketing Fed-eration of India (www.chamf.org) His company helps more than 22,000 farmers across the coun-try and is a pioneer in the export of medicinal herbs. Any farmer who wishes to be a member of the cooperative is given free training and saplings of the herbs

Farmers must have fundamental rights over seeds. the deepening crisis of the agricultural sector is not only for india. developed countries are bent upon abolishing the rights of farmers of developing countries to serve their own interest. developed countries have made international intellectual property law their weapon. in near future, corporate control over agricultural techniques and seeds is going to cause a serious crisis for the farmers of developing countries

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HIGHLIGHTSBioAg Asia Expo 2020 | BioAg Asia Awards 2020

Launch of BioAg Asia 2020 Outlook Report

22-24 April 2020National Agriculture Science Centre

New Delhi

Supported by

Bayer, Agribazaar join hands to unlock farming potential of smallholders Bayer and Agribazaar have joined hands to unlock the farming potential of

smallholder farmers. Agribazaar will provide market linkages to such farmers through its e-marketplace and Bayer will improve access of crop advisory and enable transfer of agri technologies to them. Bayer shall work in collaboration with Agribazaar, an Indian agritech platform as an alliance partner for Better Life Farming projects in India. Agribazaar will provide market linkages to smallholder farmers through its e-marketplace and help farmers get better prices for their produce. The collaboration aims to improve access of crop advisory and enable transfer of agri technologies to smallholder farmers.

Arya raises $6 million for investment in agri-storage

Ajinkya Rahane to invest in Mahindra backed MeraKisan

Swaraj Tractors recognises heroes of Indian Agriculture at the 3rd edition of Swaraj Innovation Awards

Delhi-based Arya Collateral Warehousing Services Pvt Ltd has raised $6 million in pre-Series B funding from Omnivore and existing investor LGT Lightstone Aspada. Arya’s clients include farmers, FPOs, financial institutions, SME agri processors, commodity traders and corporate agribusinesses. Arya provides bundled warehousing and warehouse receipt financing solutions for smallholder farmers and FPOs in rural India. Arya plans to use the funds to speed up growth of its agri-storage network, build its book in warehouse receipt financing, and lay the foundation for a pan-India agri warehousing marketplace. The company currently manages over 2.5 million tonnes of agri commodities in its 1,400 warehouses, with around 75% of its warehousing capacity located in primary and secondary (village and small mandi level) markets.

MeraKisan Private Ltd., a part of the USD 20.7 billion Mahindra Group, and a prominent player in the organic agri business market, with a focus on avant-garde organic food supply chains, today announced its partnership with Ajinkya Rahane, Vice-Captain of the Indian Test Cricket team. According to a statement issued by Mahindra, Ajinkya has invested his own equity in MeraKisan and will be its brand ambassador.

Swaraj Tractors, a part of USD 20.7 billion Mahindra Group announced the winners of Swaraj Innovation Awards 2020 at an Agriculture Conclave held in New Delhi on February 24. The awards were bestowed upon farmers and institutions, recognizing noteworthy contributions made by them in the field of agriculture. Hon’ble Union Minister of Agriculture, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar was the chief guest at the awards function. Shri Tomar appreciated the contribution of Swaraj tractors towards the welfare of farmers. Centering around the theme of ‘Transforming Indian Economy through Agriculture’, the day-long event was organized

in association with The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare, Government of India. In his keynote address, Mr. Harish Chavan, CEO Swaraj Division said, “At Swaraj we take pride in hosting the annual Swaraj Innovation Awards, which gives us the opportunity to recognise the achievements and contributions made by individuals and organisations in the agri sector. The awards offer participants and award recipients a platform to share best practices in farming and related sectors, for the larger benefit of the community. Agriculture plays a crucial role in economic growth of India and we need to adopt sustainable agriculture practices while ramping up our production.”

Corporate Corner

26-27-28 May 2020National Agriculture Science Centre

New Delhi


special feature special feature

Perils of Ignoring The author is former Secretary, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India

This builds a strong case for strengthening veterinary institutions and services. The most effective and economic approach to protecting human health is to control zoonotic pathogens at their animal source. Developing countries like India have much greater stakes in strong One Health systems. There is need for strict health and disease surveillance to incorporate domestic animals, livestock and poultry.

The size of our human and animal populations is almost the same; 121 crore people as per 2011 census and about 125 crore livestock and poultry. A network of 1.90 lakh health institutions across different levels in the government sector form the backbone of health governance. This is supported by private health facilities ranging from village medical practitioners to multi-specialty hospitals. But only 65,000 veterinary institutions tend to the health needs of 125.5 crore animals. This includes 28,000 mobile dispensaries and first aid centres. Private sector presence in veterinary services is negligible. Transporting the animal to the hospital poses a major challenge. This make a strong case for expanding and reinventing the Animal Husbandry sector so that it reaches every livestock farmer for disease treatment and prevention, control and surveillance, and minimize threat to human health. Early detection of diseases and infections at animal source can prevent transmission to humans, and also prevent introduction of pathogens into the food chain. A robust animal health system is the first and a crucial step in human health.

We need to quickly and surely move towards a strong and effective One Health regime establishing collaborative mechanism for joint surveillance and monitoring, strengthening the disease reporting and control programmes. Disease surveillance has to go beyond humans and encompass preventive health and hygiene in livestock and poultry for greater food safety and effective communication protocols between animal and public health systems. Let us keep ourselves healthy; the man, animal and environment.

domestic and wild animals, providing more opportunities for diseases to pass among one another. Climate change, deforestation and intensive farming cause further disruption in environment and habitat characteristics. Increased trade and travel result in closer and more frequent interaction, increasing the possibility of transmission of diseases.

According to the OIE, 60% of human infectious diseases are zoonotic. They are transmitted from animals to humans either through direct contact or through food, water and environment. 75% of emerging infectious human diseases have an animal origin. Of the five new human diseases appearing every year, three originate in animals. If this is not scary enough, 80% biological agents with potential bio-terrorist use are zoonotic pathogens. It is estimated that zoonotic diseases account for nearly two billion cases per year resulting in more than two million deaths -- more than from HIV/AIDS and diarrhea. One fifth of pre-mature deaths in poor countries are attributed to diseases transmitted from animals to humans.

The prognosis of Rabi was most encouraging – a once in a long time bumper harvest. The farmers deserved it too as the Kharif crop had been a

big let down on account of erratic monsoon. There was all round optimism in the markets. No one could foresee the Corona virus Covid-19 nor anticipate its debilitating impact on our agriculture.

The poultry industry in different parts of the country has been the worst hit amid rumours that the novel corona virus can transmitted through consumption of chicken. The farm gate price per bird is hovering in the range of Rs 20 whereas the cost of production is between Rs 75 to 80. It is estimated that jobs of about 2 crore people employed in the poultry industry across the country could be severely impacted. Prices have nosedived by as high as 75 pc at places for poultry, meat and fish.

Against this background, it becomes imperative to appreciate the importance of livestock health in the management of national and international economies in general and the rural agrarian economy in particular. Earlier, Avian Influenza (commonly known as bird flu) had created nationwide panic resulting in culling of millions of poultry

birds. The abiding concern for human health prompted the extreme reaction and subsequent establishment of protocols at the global level for managing the incidence of Avian Influenza. It is managed effectively now.

SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) had emanated in China in 2003. The emergency response included extreme measures such as travel bans, movement restrictions, quarantines, trade embargos etc. Fear and panic spread much faster than the virus. Besides direct economic losses, there were huge opportunity costs which we are paying as severe trade restrictions on

products of animal origin. The responses from governments in

the present crisis too are typical – travel bans, quarantines, trade embargo etc. These outbreaks should focus our attention on the philosophy of One Health which recognizes interconnectivity between human health, the health of animals and the environment.

The World Organization of Animal Health summarizes One Health concept this way: Human health and animal health are interdependent and bound to the health of the ecosystems in which they exist. As human populations grow and habitats expand, it results in greater human contact with

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The contribution of agriculture to India’s GDP is 15.4 percent, which is higher than world’s average of 6.4 percent. This massive contribution comes mostly through the use conventional farming practices. There is no estimated record on the

total benefits that new mechanized methods of farming can bring.

A report of ICAR’s Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering states that farm mechanization leads to input saving: in seeds up to 15–20 percent, fertilizers by 15–20 percent, and increased cropping intensity by 5–20 percent. Mechanization increases the efficiency of farm labour and reduces agricultural operation time by 15–20 percent.

However, India continues to practice farming through traditional, non-mechanized methods due to the small and scattered landholdings, a lack of information on available technologies and financial inefficiency, among other reasons.

Until a few years ago, Ram Pukar Khushwaha from East Champaran, Bihar, was one such farmer. Today he is a trendsetter in his region. He was one of first few farmers to adopt mechanization practices.

S M Sehgal Foundation (Sehgal Foundation), with support from partners, started working in Bihar on agricultural interventions that included promoting the use of agricultural machinery including potato planters, laser leveling, maize shellers, reapers, zero tillage, solar water pumps, and solar pumps. All these machines are well-suited for small agriculture.

Making farmers ready for smart agricultureWell aware of the constraints farmers face in adopting farm machinery, the Foundation team follows a capacity-building approach to sensitize farmers on the technologies available and their benefits before promoting them in the community. Farmers contribute partially to the cost of the machinery and use government subsidies for use of the equipment. Cost contributions instill a sense of ownership among the farmers. They are also trained on operations and maintenance of machines, along with asset sharing within their cluster.

The promotion of farm machinery supplements the farmer’s agro-based requirements. It has given them an opportunity to be entrepreneurs with a means to gain additional income by renting the machines to fellow farmers on an hourly or per acre basis.

Every extra rupee earned by a farmer from the use of these machines helps farmers better their livelihood. Those who take the machines on rent save on input costs and increase their crop productivity. Entrepreneurship builds confidence and makes farming remunerative, thus ensuring greater food security.

A boost to crop productivity and entrepreneurial spiritS M Sehgal Foundation

FarM MEchanIzatIon

short notes

UnIon BUDgEt 2020HAS MoRe THAN HIgHS AND lowS

The first pillar of the Union Budget is ‘Aspirational India’. This entails reforms across large swathes of the economy. It would also mean creating more jobs in the private

sector ensuring higher productivity and greater efficiency.

TRANSFORMATION OF THE AGRICULTURE SECTORThe government is committed towards doubling farmers’ income by 2022. This is indicated by the importance shown towards the liberalization of farm markets and promotion of technology in the sector. Price realization is linked to demand supply equations which means higher demand creation and ensuring supply at the time of higher demand. This will not only increase information flow but also create direct demand by allowing more players to buy easily and directly. This will further allow supply chain players to better predict supply and demand especially in agri commodities by creating solutions to fulfill demands like storage etc.

Policy Makers should also try to put in place a national forecasting system, especially in dry agri commodities, to reduce unplanned imports as they may jeopardize any long term investment in supply chain and thus product carrying cost can’t be recovered in those scenarios. With Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) and co-operatives already active in the agriculture credit space, the NABARD re-finance scheme will be further strengthened and expanded. The increase in the agriculture credit target from INR 12 lakh crore to INR 15 lakh crore, along with the government’s 16-point action plan is a step in the right direction towards the goal of doubling farmer’s incomes by 2022.

A physical infrastructure at the taluka level for storage, processing of agricultural products will allow public private partnership to further utilize them. A payment infrastructure is must for farmers to get quick loans against produce so that distress selling can be avoided. Farmer Produce Organizations (FPOs) capacity needs a significant boost especially in market linkages with Agri startups. The entire sector shall reap in the benefits of markets for agricultural produce being liberalized as it will bring more players on the demand side and will help the suppliers, i.e., the farmers, to get better and competitive prices for their produce.

WHEELS OF OUR ECONOMY: MSMESA Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has been created as a Unified Procurement System providing a single platform for procurement of goods and services. It offers a great opportunity for MSMEs to expand their businesses. We are looking forward to the new ‘National Logistics Policy’ to create a single window e-logistics market and focus on generating more jobs, developing the skills that will lead to MSMEs being far more competitive.

Prithwi SinghCo-founder and CEO,

Superzop


thE tranSForMatIon oF InDIa’S agrIcUltUrE SEctorThe traditional supply chain

model of agriculture involved an increased application of traditional inputs — land, labour, and capital. Farmers

had limited knowledge and resources. This limited their efficiency to generate higher production, along with challenges regarding getting the right price from retailers for their produce. Their understanding of profits was minimal. This led to them accepting imperfections in land tenure, marketing, supply systems, pricing of perishable agricultural commodities and their total income.

These farmers were vulnerable to price fluctuation, low productivity, lack of access to full-fledged markets, weak supply chains and lack of availability of adequate finances. The eco-system required a disruption in order to provide better opportunities to them for an improved livelihood.

Digital invasionThe transition from traditional agriculture to modernization has greatly benefitted the sector. Supply chain systems have become robust and streamlined, improving farmers’ income. This has been supported by the government’s ambitious target of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.

Digital innovations have led to a series of positive developments. These include higher and efficient productivity, the release of land and resources that shifted to higher-value crops like fruits and vegetables, along with livestock, improvement in the distribution/

supply of farm produce, and a relatively effective monetization of the produce.

With these advancements and the government’s push to the sector, there has been an ease of doing agri-business in the country. A number of agri-tech start-ups have leveraged the government’s support. Technologies like mobile application, artificial intelligence (AI) Internet of Things (IoT), big data, cloud platforms, and predictive analysis among others have streamlined the supply chain system. This has ensured holistic risk management for farmers and helped them to get the right price for their produce. These companies have a robust supply chain algorithm in place that connects farmers in different villages with retailers in metro as well as Tier II and III cities via efficient employees, delivery vehicles as well as collection centers and warehouses that are easily accessible. This system accelerates efficient processes followed by the company like timely pick up, supply and delivery of the produce in a seamless manner.

Empowering farmersBesides consistently learning about disruptive agritech ideas and concepts by optimising Artificial Intelligence, these start-ups are encouraging farmers to use modern farming technologies to help improve their yield. This is coupled with the provision of best-in-class fertilizers and seeds. There is a better credit system in place for farmers through which they can purchase these agri inputs on credit basis. Farmers have been able to upgrade every process of farming, leading to better quality

and quantity of crops. End-to-end guidance is given to farmers regarding cultivation basis demand, in order to gradually become well-versed with the concept of modern farming, and eventually generate higher income.

Several such agritech start-ups are working towards improving the livelihood of farmers in remote villages of the country in several ways. These include helping them open a bank account for their earnings, providing insurance (health and life), ensuring zero wastage of farm produce irrespective of prices. These benefits are aimed at empowering the farmer community to and fuelling the growth of the agri sector.

Bright future for an enterprising youth There is immense scope for generation-next to further revolutionize farming practices. Maharashtra has introduced ITI diplomas in agriculture through Agriculture Engineering Innovation Centers from the 2020-21 academic year. These developments can serve as an inspiration for enterprising youngsters to become agri-preneurs by executing business ideas in various urban and rural areas. They can also make the most of a number of employment opportunities created in the market today.

The youth can foray into the agritech/farm supply sector as a promising domain to not only build a lucrative future for themselves, but also directly/indirectly provide a helping hand to improve the lives of the highly deserving farmer community of our country.

Thirukumaran Nagarajan is the Co-founder and CEO of Ninjacart - India’s largest fresh produce supply chain company. He holds a PGDM in Finance and Operations from the prestigious IIM Kozhikode. Prior to starting Ninjacart, Thiru has worked with ABB, Axis Bank, Aavishkar & TaxiForSure in varying capabilities. He refers to himself as a ‘serial entrepreneur’, having founded EduRaft (Education Classifieds startup) and Shout App (Location-based social network app) earlier

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