NABARD

1

Technical Digest Issue - 6

CREDIT SUPPORT FROM NABARD FOR DEVELOPMENT OF HORTICULTURALAND PLANTATION NURSERIES

Dr. M.R. Sharma

Articles

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development(NABARD) came into existence in July 1982. It isestablished for providing credit for the promotion ofagriculture, small scale industries, handicrafts and otherallied economic activities in rural areas with a view topromoting integrated rural development and securingprosperity of rural areas.NABARD provides refinance assistance for a broadspectrum of investment and production orientedactivities in the rural sector sprawled over MinorIrrigation, Animal Husbandry, Farm Mechanisation,Forestry, Land Development, Dry land Farming, MarketYards and Storage Godowns, Non-Farm activities, ruralbased industries and Horticulture and Plantation.Nursery - Certain Important Aspects :While it is the continuing endeavour of all the scientists,entrepreneurs and service providers to enhance theproduction, productivity and quality of every agriculturalcommodity, the importance of planting materialsdefinitely could not be underestimated certain aspects,which need to be attended to all the time for the successof this all around effort maybe enlisted as under;• Production of quality planting material, genetically

improved with assured higher productivity• Production of adequate quantity of quality planting

material sufficient enough to meet the demand inthe country.

• Establishment of commercial nurseries in localitiescloser to the demand for the convenience oftransportation of the product to the farmers’ fieldswith minimum or no damage.

• Making the planting materials available to thefarmers in right time and right stage is also equallyimportant.

Role of NABARD India being a country with widegeographical variations with distinct different agro-climatic conditions has the potential to grow a largenumber of horticultural and plantation cropscommercially. The field level experience and feedbackgathered suggest a wide gap between the requirementand availability of the planting materials in our country.Although the quantitative assessment of this gap is notreadily available, it can safely be stated to be sizeable.One of the most important inputs for bridging this gap isundoubtedly the institutional credit support to thenurserymen. NABARD has been extending refinancesupport for the promotion of all kinds of nurseries inappreciation of this important need. The wide range ofnurseries covered by the umbrella of refinance supportinclude those of fruit crops, ornamental crops, plantationcrops, tissue culture laboratory, green house, etc.NABARD provides its services to this sub-sector by the

following means :• Extends refinance support to the commercial and

cooperative banks.• Appraises commercial nursery projects to be

financed by the banks.• Prepares model schemes and guidelines for the

benefit of the bankers in particular.• Publishes a quarterly scientific journal namely

“Technical Digest” covering technical and economicaspects of different activities including nurserydevelopment.

• Support R&D projects on technological improvementin production of quality planting materials byproviding assistance from R&D grant.

• Providing the technical support to the Bankers• Organising the workshops and seminars for the

benefit of the Bankers.Credit Support for Promotion of Nurseries Theactivities and items related to nursery development forwhich credit support is available through the banks maybe enumerated as under• Land development - Land leveling, bunding,

terracing, preparation for raising the nursery, etc.• Raising the mother plants and the nursery - their

maintenance and upkeep.• Irrigation - Well, pumpset, pipeline, water storage

tanks, sprinkler system, etc.• Civil structures such as green house, laboratory,

godown/storage, watchmen’s quarter, worksheds,etc.

• Erection of fencing• Procurement of all kinds of machinery, equipments

and tools necessary for raising the nursery.Each project, however, needs to be technically feasible,financially viable and bankable to be eligible for bankfinance and NABARD’s refinance support.

2


NABARD refinance support for NurseryDevelopment :

A. Soil-based Nurseries :NABARD has disbursed a sum of Rs.2041 lakhs duringthe last seven years for the development of differentsoil based nurseries in India to different banks as shownbelow

Year Amount (Rs. Lakhs)1995-96 131.001996-97 159.001997-98 88.001998-99 236.001999-00 555.002000-01 872.002001-02 3787.34Total 5828.34

Except in the year 1997-98, the refinance disbursementtrend has been upward. The same during 2001-02 is aquantum jump (Rs.3787.34 Lakh), covering about 65%of the total of the last seven years. However, this shouldnot be the matter of complacent as it is realised thatthere is substantial potential for tapping this resourceas the supply of planting materials still falls far short ofthe requirement.Our disbursement figures of the last seven years furtherindicate the following facts :• 33% of the disbursement (Rs.1912 lakh) is for

plantation crops nurseries, remaining 67% (Rs.3916lakh) is for horticultural nurseries.

• 50% of the plantation nursery refinance is for rubbercrop alone (Rs.959 lakh out of Rs.1912 lakh).

• Only 6.5% of the horticultural nursery refinance isfor fruit crops and about 88% for ornamentalnurseries (Rs.253 lakhs and Rs.3439 lakhrespectively out of Rs.3916 lakh). Out of Rs. 3439Lakh disbursed for Ornamental nurseries, 99% (Rs.3406.21 Lakh) was disbursed in Uttar Pradesh andUttaranchal during 2001-02 only.

A look into the statewise distribution ofNABARD refinance support during the same period (videAnnexure I) reveals the following:• Undivided Uttar Pradesh has availed the lion’s share

(more than 58%) of our refinance support. The majorchunk of this was for development of ornamentalnurseries only.

• A small state like Tripura has availed good share ofthe assistance (16%) for raising rubber nurseries.

• Southern states of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, TamilNadu and Karnataka have availed almost 20% ofthe total refinance, Kerala alone availing about 8%.

• Out of 16 states availing NABARD support for this

purpose, 94.40% being availed by 6 states, (UP,Tripura and 4 South Indian states) leaving as littleas 5.6% for other 10 states.

• Out of these 10 States,Rajasthan is the only oneavailing more than 1% (1.74%) of ourrefinance.Everyone of the other 9 states haveavailed less.

The available information indicate a consistency in allthe four Southern states and West Bengal in availingrefinance support over the last 7 years. In all otherstates, this is very irregular.It is apprehended that once the demand for rubberplanting materials come down in Tripura, there wouldbe a decline in total refinance disbursement in thepresent trend. Tripura availed Rs.354 lakh and Rs.569lakh out of a total of Rs.555 lakh and Rs.872 lakhcontributing as high as 63.8% and 65.3% respectivelyduring 1999-2000 and 2000-01.The overall picture of inflow of credit into this subsectoris undoubtedly quite disturbing.

B. Tissue Culture Laboratory (TCL) :

In view of the importance and success of the tissueculture technology in fast multiplication and productionof quality planting materials, NABARD has beenextending full support for establishment of tissue culturelaboratories in the country. In total 32 such units havebeen granted our refinance support to the tune ofRs.52.69 crore so far. More than Rs.30 crore havealready been disbursed. The statewise number of TCLschemes and refinance availed are presented in TableII belowTable II : Statewise number of Tissue Culture Laboratoryschemes sanctioned by NABARD and RefinanceAssistance availed since 1994-95 :

RefinanceState No. of TCL Assistance

Schemes availed Share (%)(Rs. Lakh)

Andhra Pradesh 3 293 9.7Gujarat 2 72 2.4Haryana 1 — —Karnataka 2 592 19.6Kerala 3 27 0.9Madhya Pradesh (Undivided) 1 — 0Maharashtra 11 571 18.9New Delhi 1 183 6.1Rajasthan 1 — 0Tamil Nadu 2 746 24.7Uttar Pradesh (Undivided) 3 529 17.5West Bengal 2 5 0.2TOTAL 32 3,018 100

3


What we observe from Table II above are as follows :• Maharashtra leads in having largest number of TC

Laboratories (11 out of 32 in total) with NABARDsupport, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Kerala andUttar Pradesh each having 3 units.

• Tamil Nadu has availed the highest amount ofrefinance assistance sharing about 25% of the totaldisbursement of Rs.30.18 crore. Karnataka,Maharashtra and UP are the other states availingnearly 20% each.

• It is clear from these data that the major part of thecountry is still unaware of the benefits of TC plantsfor which this activity has not come up commerciallyas fast as it should have.

Constraints faced by the financial institutions toextend credit for nursery development :

The major constraints faced by the financial institutionsin extending credit support may be enumerated as under:i. One of the major problems experienced by some

banks is non-repayment of loans extended to manynurserymen in right time and amount. This resultsin increase in NPAs of the banks, frustrating theinterest of the banking community.

ii. Lack of entrepreneurship for promoting nurseryactivities.

iii. Lack of awareness amongst the farmers about thebenefits of TC plants

iv. Inadequate experience amongst bankers inappraising nursery schemes/TCL schemes forfinancing purpose.

Future Strategies :

In order to promote horticultural and plantation nurserydevelopment in commercial scale in our country, certainstrategies have to be adopted. They are :i. Effective extension services have to be rendered

by the state governments with right earnest to makethe farmers aware about the importance of qualityin planting materials in order to harvest the bestpossible benefit of growing horticultural andplantation crops.

ii. State governments may explore the feasibility ofenacting laws such as Nursery Act, to have controlover the quality and genuineness in production ofplanting materials by the nurserymen.

iii. Minimum facilities for testing soils, providingtechnical guidance and important inputs should bemade easily available to the rural entrepreneurs.

NGOs can play a very important role in this respect.The concept of agri-clinic can also be implementedfor this purpose.

iv. Banks at present are shy of financing agricultural/horticultural activities in general and nurseries inparticular. In order to meet the ultimate objectiveof improving the overall economic condition of thefarmers, the importance of quality planting materialsmaking available in adequate quantity and in righttime cannot be underestimated. The role thefinancial institutions have to play in making thispossible, it appears, is not appreciated adequatelyso far. Imparting proper training to the bankers andappreciation of this importance at appropriate levelsin these institutes are the need of the hour.

v. Normally, nurserymen are small or marginal farmerswith exception to TCL promoters. Non-availabilityof assistance from the financial institutes should notbe a problem to the eligible nurserymen, providedthe scheme is considered techno-economicallysound. A positive mind set of all concerned withthese activities is, of course, a pre-requisite.

vi. A matter of serious concern today in the financialinstitutes is increasing default in repayment of loansby nurserymen. The Indian NurserymenAssociation can conveniently and convincingly playvery positive roles in close co-ordination with thelending institutes for improving the recovery andcontinuing assured repayment of loans by thebeneficiaries.

vii. There is a need to have the complete synergy inthe sytem.

Developmental Role of NABARD :

NABARD keeps close liaison with ICAR, AgriculturalUniversities, Government of India, financial institutesand NGOs for promoting agricultural and horticulturalactivities, in the country. In order to facilitate institutionalcredit for the smaller projects, it introduced AutomaticRefinance Facilities (ARF) system. Under this, banksare not required to submit the scheme to NABARD forrefinance support; instead they can claim refinanceassistance directly after financing the cause, if therefinance amount is Rs.15 lakh or less. As such, mostof the nursery schemes are likely to be eligible for ARF.As an effort to help the bankers and other concernedwith the financing agri-export projects, NABARD haspublished illustrative model guidelines in the form ofbrochure entitled “Model Bankable Projects on

4


Biotechnology - Plant Propagation by Tissue Culture”.However, as stated elsewhere, there is urgent need forgenerating awareness in large part of the country aboutthe definition and importance of quality plantingmaterials, particularly amongst the farmer community.

Conclusion

Despite the constraints, it is felt very important topromote nursery development in our country in theinterest of faster economic growth with concerted effortsof all the agencies concerned, including financialinstitutions. The Indian Nursery Association and localnurserymen Associations may play very vital role inenhancing the credit flow into this subsector. In themutual interests of nurserymen, farmers and financialinstitutes, Nurserymen Associations should beconstituted at local level all through out the country (asin case of rubber planters in Kerala) and Federation ofsuch Associations may be formed, possibly under theleadership of Indian Nurserymen Association This papermakes an effort to go into the details of a commercialmodel horticultural scheme with cost and economicsfor the benefit of all interested. The costs shown are,however, indicative ones only.

Annexure I

State-wise distribution of refinance support forNursery Development from NABARD

during 1995-96 to 2001-02

State Total Amount Share (%)(Rs.Lakhs)

Andhra Pradesh 389.92 6.70

Assam 53.29 0.9

Bihar (Undivided) 4.50 0.10

Gujarat 10.00 0.2

Karnataka 157.40 2.70Kerala 461.86 7.9

Madhya Pradesh (Undivided) 1.00 Negligible

Maharashtra 45.63 0.8

Orissa 14.30 0.3

Punjab 2.00 Negligible

Rajasthan 101.27 1.7Tamil Nadu 145.07 2.5

Tripura 932.00 16

Uttar Pradesh (Undivided) 3415.21 58.6

West Bengal 54.48 0.9

Haryana 40.41 0.7

TOTAL 5,828.34 100

Development of Ornamental nursery -A model Scheme for institutional finance

There has been increasing demand for horticultural andplantation crops, more particularly of fruits andornamental ones in both urban and rural areas of India.Commercial nurseries have come up well particularlyin and around the cities and towns.

Soil and Climate : The species selected for raising inthe nurseries would be based primarily on the climaticcondition and the market preference. They may beseasonal, annual as well as perenial, may be indoor oroutdoor, pot plants, ball plants and poly bag plants, asper market demand.

Physical Programme : For this model, the followingphysical programme is considered :

Year - I II II onwards

1 Development of mother

plants (250 Nos. of plants

of different varieties) 530 sq.m - -

2 Raising pot plants (Nos.) 500 800 1000

3 Seedbed nursery :Polybag seedlings (Nos) 15000 18000 21000

Ball seedlings (Nos.) 15000 18000 21000

Work-shed : A work-shed of 6m x 4.5m with thatchroof and locally available materials like bamboo, wood,etc. may be constructed. A total amount of Rs.5400.00@ Rs.200/- per sq.m has been considered for thispurpose.

Green House : A green house of 9m x 4m dimensionwith 90 cm. brick wall, 3.6m tall rhombus netting withexpanded metal and polythene roof supported by localmaterials like bamboo, wood and planks, may beconstructed. The cost estimated for such a house isapproximately Rs.250.00 per sq.m. An additionallumpsum amount of Rs.1000.00 may considered forconstruction of wooden racks inside in green house.

Cost Involvement : The following items and amountsof investment are considered for different purposes asenvisaged in the physical programme.

5


A. Establishment and maintenance of mother plants :

No. of plants : 250 [Fig. in Rs.]

Sl.

No. Items Year I II III

1 Field preparation, pit digging

& filling. 1000

2 Application of manures and fertilizers

[including micronutients] 1500 1000 1000

3 Planting materials @ Rs.30/- each

+ 10% excess for infilling. 8250

4 Planting 500 - -

5 Watering 2250 2500 3000

6 Interculture 2250 2500 2500

7 Pruning, cleaning the plants - 300 400

8 Plant protection 250 350 500

Total (A) 16000 6650 7400

B. Establishment of Pot Nursery :

No. of pots : Yr. 1 - 500

2 - 800

3 - 1000

(Figs. in Rs.)

Sl.

No. Items Yr.I II III

1 Earthen pots @ Rs.8/- each

[including transportation &

5% damage] 4200 6720 8400

2 Soil @ Rs.250/- per truck load. 500 750 1000

3 Application of manures and fertilizers

[including micronutrients, etc. 1500 2400 3200

4 Mixing fertilizers and manures

with soil, filling pots. 700 1100 1400

5 Planting materials @ 20/- each

[from outside] 10000 8000 2000

[100%] [50%] [10%]

6 Planting in pots @ 50 plants/manday 500 800 1000

7 Watering 1800 2000 3250

8 Interculture 3750 5000 6000

9 Plant protection 250 350 500

Total - B 23200 27120 26750

C. Establishment of Seedbed nursery :

Yr.I II IIIPolybag seedlings (Nos.) 15000 18000 21000Ball seedlings (Nos.) 15000 18000 21000

(Figs. in Rs.)Sl.No. Items Yr.I II III1 Land & Beds preparation. 1000 1500 20002 Application of manures and

fertilizers. 600 750 8503 Seeds & sowing 400 500 6004 Polybag [15cmX10cmX150G] 1200 1440 16805 Seiving soil, mixing with manures

& fertilizers, filling sleeves andtransplanting 50% of seedlingsfrom beds. 1500 1800 2100

6 Watering. 600 800 10007 Interculture 750 900 10508 Plant Protection 100 150 200

Total - C 6150 7840 9480

D. Equipments & Implements :

Sl.No. Items Yr.I II III1 Sprayers 3600 - 12002 Spades, forks, knives,

Khurpis, secateurs etc. 2500 - 8003 Water pipes, water canes,

buckets, etc. 2500 - 800Total - D 8600 - 2800

E. Goat proof fencing (For 0.5 acre plot; 650 runningfeet) : Rs.13000.00

F. Supervision-cum-Salesman : Monthly basis - Rs.2000.00 per month in Yr.I [With an increment of Rs.200/-

- Rs.2200.00 per month in Yr.II- Rs.2400.00 per month in Yr.III

Summery :Items : Yr.I II IIIWork shed 5400 250 250Green house 10000 - 1000Mother plants 16000 6650 7400Pot nursery 23200 27120 26750Seedbed nursery 6150 7840 9480Equipments, etc. 8600 - 2800Supervisor-cum-Salesman 24000 26400 28800Goat proof fencing 13000 - -Total - F 106350 68260 76480Approx. 106400 68300 76500

Annexure ‘A ’

Repayment Schedule for Model Scheme on Horticultural (Ornamental) Nursery

(Figs. in Rs.)

Year Bank Loan Interest Net Repayment of Net

loan (85%) Outstanding @ 12% p.a. Income Principal Interest T otal Surplus

1 90440 90440 10853 (-) 35525 Nil Nil Nil Nil

2 - 90440 10853 50000 15440 21706 37146 12854+ accumulated10853 = 21706

3 - 75000 9000 74325 40000 9000 49000 25325

4 - 35000 4200 87225 35000 4200 39200 48025

Total 90440 - 34906 - 90440 34906 125346 -

Yield Estimates :

Items Yr.I II III IVonwards

1 Pot plants [Nos.]

[Saleable 90%] Nil 450 720 900

2 Bouquets [Nos.] Nil 100 120 150

3 Seedlings - [Nos.] :

a] Polybag seedlings. 13500 16200 18900 18900

b] Ball seedlings 13500 16200 18900 18900

Sale price estimated [A verage] :1. Pot Plants - Rs.65.00 each.2. Bouquets - Rs.40.00 each.3. Seedlings - a] Polybag - Rs.5.00 each b] Ball - Rs.25.00 per 100 nos.

Maintenance cost (average): Rs.76,500.00 p.a from year IV onwards.

Economics :Cost of development = Rs.106400.00 only (1st year

cost capitalised)Bank loan (85%) = Rs.90,440.00Margin money (15%) = Rs.15,960.00Rate of Interest = 12% p.a.

Income (Rs.) :Yr. I II III IV onwards

70875 118300 150825 163725

BCR - 1.54 : 1.00IRR - >50%

Repayment Schedule : Repayment within 4 yearsincluding 1 year grace period. Details are presented inAnnexure ‘A’.

Special conditions : The following conditions willhave to be adhered to for such schemes :1. Source/s of planting materials must be clearly

mentioned and it/they should be a reputed andreliable one.

2. Sources of irrigation water must be within or invicinity of the nursery. Sprinkler system of irrigationis not advisable at the beginning.

3. The beneficiary must develop mother plants of hisown. However, about 10% planting materials maybe procured every year from outside source tointroduce new varieties in the locality.

4. The plants / seedlings must be protected from cattledamage by providing goat proof fencing.

5. The beneficiary should invariably arrange at leastone outlet [sale depot] in the nearby city/town formarketing.

6. After availing of the bank loan, the beneficiary mustraise the nursery consecutively for the period till theloan amount is liquidated.

The costs may be worked out with necessarymodifications to suit the local conditions of the schemearea and the physical programme as envisaged by thebeneficiary.The labour wage assumed for this model scheme isRs.50.00 per manday. The wage rate fixed by theconcerned State Government for agricultural labourersunder the Minimum Wage Act should be considered forpreparing the cost estimate.

1


Growing awareness for vegetarian food and Ayurvedaas alternate medicine in the developed world may opena new opportunity for trade in fresh fruits. US healthdepartment has laid stress to increase cereals,vegetables and fruits in their food intake and cut downconsumption of meat. Europe is scared of mad cowdisease and more and more people are showinginclination for vegetarian food nowadays.Under this situation, India has immense opportunity toincrease her fruit production and export. Thoughdeveloped world is producing horticultural products likevegetables, cut flowers and fruits like strawberry inplastic green houses they are unable to grow tropicalfruit trees due to high costs under controlled conditionsexcept Japan which has citrus orchard area of nearly4000 Ha. under plastic houses. Green house vegetables,cut flowers and nursery production are a big industry inWestern Europe, North America and Japan. Howeversome countries have established their export trade ona strong foot. For instance: Mexico (Tomatoes to theU.S), Columbia (Cut flowers to the U.S), Israel (Flowersand vegetable to Europe), Kenya (cut flowers to Europe),Spain, The Canary Islands and Morocco (Vegetables toEurope). They have adopted hi-tech farm practices onpar with competing producers in the developed world.Over the years these countries have built reputation asthe reliable suppliers. These successful exporters haveworked closely with partners, investors or importers in

HORTICULTURAL EXPORTS -WHY NOT FRESH FRUITS NATIVE TO INDIA ?

R.N.Hegde

changed export scenario. New Zealand with 3 millionpeople has 64 million heads of sheep and lot ofgrasslands and suitable climate for sheep rearing. Hencethey could sell sheep meat to Europe. Salamon-farmingin Chile has made great progress and it has now becomefourth important export industry after copper, fish andfresh fruits.Israel has 900 mango growers with a production of 11000tons of which only 4000 tons are sold in local marketwithout packing whereas 7000 tons are put for valueaddition like grading, packing and labeling. Out of thisvalue added mango produce 5000 tons are exportedand rest is kept for local retail sales. Whereas Indiaproduces 11 million tons of mango but hardly 45000MT is being exported with some value addition.Sometime this author wonders, when India has plentyof arable land, good water and almost round the yearsunshine why cannot we produce fruits native to ourown country and export? These fruits have been quotedin Vedas and revered by Indians. Now let us see whichare these fruit trees native to India .Mango, Banana, Kagzi lime(popularly known as lemon),Ber(Chinese date), Aonla, Phalsa, Jackfruit, Bael,Karonda(Christ’s Thorn), Kokam and Jamun.The scientists consider these eleven crops belong toIndia but now spread all over tropical countries throughtravellers, invaders and settles over the period.It may also be said here for the sake of academic interestthat following fruits have been brought to India from

the developedc o u n t r ymarkets whocontinuouslyhelp the formerto fine tunet h e i rp r o d u c t i o ntechniques tosatisfy thes t r i n g e n tq u a l i t yrequirementsof thesemarkets.Globalizationof markets andd i s t r i b u t i o nprocess has

Mango - The Indian national fruit

An aonla growing family - Sharing the happiness of harvest

Cou

rtes

y : A

dike

Pat

rike

Articles

2


Sea Area, Pomegranate from Iran, Papaya and Custardapple from Central America, Fig from West Africa,Strawberry from North Pacific Coast, Tamarind fromTropical Africa.We must be very proud that though India has only 2%of world’s land area but she possesses 6% of world’sbiodiversity, one third of which is found nowhere else.We are one of the top ten richest countries in biodiversityin the world. Some of the eleven Indian native fruitsquoted here above, have become leading commercialfruit crop of the world outside India. Today banana hasbecome a leading tropical fruit in the world marketswith a highly organized and developed industry. Afterall, outside Hawaii, the U.S. does not grow bananasbut several big US companies control big efficientbanana plantations in Central and Latin America.Europeans import bananas on a large scale from theirformer colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific,the present major banana growers for export. Mango,the National fruit of India, has a share of 60% of worldproduction but not able to reach world markets on alarge scale, due to various reasons. Today world mangoproduction is equivalent to about 1/3 of world bananaproduction. Now in mango exports we have competitorslike Pakistan, Philippines, Israel, Mexico, Brazil, Peru,Chile, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. In some of thesecountries, thousands of hectares of mango have comeup in corporate sector with a single variety, which givethem advantages in post harvest management. Majorityof Indian fruits have a potential to be sold in thedeveloped world with Indian logo and branding themas ‘exotic fruit from India’.

What are the qualities of these Indian fruits, which makethem very special or exotic in the west? The mango isconsumed as fresh and has a delicious taste, excellentflavor and used for juice, jams and tinned and driedproducts. Banana is considered as the most importantenergy producing food and is a source of mineral saltsand vitamins. Lemon is the best source of health andbeauty. The lemon juice taken in a glass of water addedwith a tea spoonful of honey in the morning helps tokeep one slim.Aonla is one of the richest sources of vitamin ‘C’ and itis used as ingredient in 135 Ayurvedic medicines. It hasa potential to slow down graying and falling of hair. Theaonla fruit tree is suitable even for wastelands particularlyin salt affected soils. The fruit juice contains nearly 20times as much as vitamin ‘C’ in orange juice and a singlefruit is equal in anti ascorbic value to two oranges. Beris an important, most hardy fruit of dry lands on whichsages lived during vedic period in India. Phalsa fruitsmake an excellent juice and squash. The Jamun fruitsare very rich in iron and calorific value. It is reportedthat jamun fruits diminish the quantity of sugar in urinevery quickly and in some cases even permanently.The kokam fruits have an agreeable flavour with sweetishacid taste. The fruits can be eaten raw and used inpreparing syrups and squashes. Kokam has a potentialto replace hydroxy citric acid , an ingredient used in manyslimming medicines. Bael fruits have many medicinalproperties and are effective in treatment in dysentery. It

foreign landsince ages andthey haveacclimatized sowell that it is verydifficult to believethat they areoutsiders. Forinstance: Orangeand Litchi fromChina, Sapotaand Guava fromMexico, Applefrom Asia Minor,Pineapple andCashew fromBrazil, Grapesfrom CaspianKokum fruit - A source of health drink

Jackfruit - One of the largest among fruits

also makesan excellentsquash. Thetrees arep l a n t e dinvar iab lynear Shivat e m p l e s .Karonda isa hardy,t h o r n yevergreenshrub plant.The fruitsare moreuseful inp i c k l i n g ,c h u t n e y sand forc u l i n a r ypurposes.

3


The jackfruit bears large fruits, which can weigh up to40 kgs. The raw fruits are used for cooking and theripened one for table purpose.What is required to make them popular abroad is tocombine production process with professional marketingtechniques on the lines of any consumer product by aMNC. Many of these fruits are not commercially grownat present like kokam, jamun and jackfruit on an orchardscale. On the lines of electronic export processing zonesestablished in Mumbai and Cochin long back which arerunning very successfully, we may create specific fruitzones in India based on agro-climatic requirementswhere an integrated infrastructure could be created forproduction, processing, marketing and necessarylogistics for a single fruit crop for export. Choicevarieties, acceptable in the markets of Europe, the USand Japan may be brought for new cultivation. Newtechniques of production infrastructure like formationof Self-Help-Groups, high density planting, dripirrigation, Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) andIntegrated Disease and Pest management(IPM) couldbe encouraged. Adoption of quality systems such asISO 9000/Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points(HACCP) for exports units is necessary. Establishment

of vapour heat treatment facilities for elimination of pestsfor products especially like mangoes is essential to gainbetter access to overseas market.WTO regime coming in to existence since April 2001and with the lifting of quantitative restrictions (QR) onimports of agricultural products, on the export front too,India has to face a great challenge to adhere to stringentquality, food safety norms and contamination factorslike microbial and chemical besides tariff hurdles.Consumer education should get top priority. Marketingstrategy for creation of India’s image through symbols,brand images for quality since they are understood betterthan written word. Cold chain from farm to shops inconsuming centers is essential. More than anything else,enlightened and committed people for achieving thegoals are important. Because if we see the example ofIsrael, country’s spirit made them today, a supplier ofquality fruits to Europe. Horticulture research scientists,farmers, government organizations have to work inharmony.Let us hope India will emerge as a formidable force inthe worlds tropical fresh fruit export market in the comingyears.

Low Cost Fuel by Blending Diesel with Oil Extracted from plant

For several years folks in the tribal belt of Bastar have been using oil extracted from the plantjatropha curcas to run motor cycle and farm equipment instead of conventional fuels. Studieshave shown the extract to be superior to diesel and petrol. And the vehicles do not need anymodification in engines to be run on this alternative fuel.A task force in Planning Commission has now proposed to blend the oil extracted from this plantwith diesel to bring down the emission levels, Dr. D. N. Tewari, who heads the task force on devel-opment of bio-fuels, says the blend could make diesel Euro/ Bharat III compatible and its cost isestimated to be Rs 14 per litre. The government would be able to achieve multiple goals � liveli-hood for millions, green cover for wastelands, and in the longer term, a lower oil import bill and acleaner environment, says Dr. Tewari.The task force has almost finalized an interim report on the benefits of the bio-fuel. The reportwould be circulated to the concerned ministries and PMO in a next few days. The final report wouldbe prepared within a month, said Dr. Tewari.The task force estimates the introduction cost of bio-diesel at around Rs 17850 crore during Tenthfive year plan period, with Rs 14000 to 15000 crore being spent on nurseries and wages for peopleemployed. The balance would be spent on setting up seed procurement, oil extracting and blend-ing centers. The plan would create arount 10 million employment. It is estimated that 5 tonne perhectare of seed can be harvested at the end of the first year and its cost is estimated at Rs 30000per hectare. The oil recovery is estimated to be 30 � 40 %.Dr. Tewari says, Department of Foreign Investment and development (DFID) and Ford Foundationhave already evinced interest to support the programme.

(Source: The economic times: 22 November 2002)

1


In the year 1980, ICAR had initiated a Model WatershedDevelopment Programme involving 47 modelwatersheds located in various agroclimatic regions ofIndia. These models have generated rich experience.NABARD in association with ICAR and ICRISAT tookinitiative in organizing a workshop to identify“transferable technology in dry land agriculture” atICRISAT, Hyderabad during 1983. The workshopamong other things, inter alia recommended that creditfor dry land development should not be treated on parwith irrigated agriculture. Sequel to thisrecommendation, a few Dry Land Farming(DLF)projects were started with credit support. During 1985,guidelines were issued for taking up watershed baseddry land farming projects on a large scale. In 1987,NABARD initiated dialogue with the DevelopmentCommissioners/as one of the inputs for drylanddevelopment. In the same year cyclical credit to purveymuch needed crop loan uninterruptedly was alsolaunched in the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradeshand Tamil Nadu. NABARD also issued severalguidelines to promote credit for dryland developmenton watershed basis. The drought like situation during1971 in Maharashtra, left indelible marks in the mindsof prople. Several dedicated NGOs and people of thestate took initiatives and developed replicable watershedmodels subsequently. NABARD is involved in Fund(WDF) was constituted in 1999 with a corpus of Rs.200crores, with a contribution of Rs.100 crore fromNABARD and GoI.

A.Indo-German Watershed DevelopmentProgramme (IGWDP)

Introduction : During late eighties various voluntaryagencies in the state approached donars in Germanywith a request to provide funds for undertakingcomprehensive water shed development works. Thedonars accepted to provide grants or watersheddevelopment and NABARD accepted the responsibilityof a legal holder and executing agency with supervrisoryand advisory role in this endeavour. In terms of bilateralagreement between Govt. of India and Govt. ofGermany an assistance of 12 million DM has beensanctioned by KFW under phase-I for improvingproductivity of soils, crops and animals on watershedbasis in state of Maharashtra. On the basis of success

WATERSHED DEVELOPMENT –NABARD INITIATIVES

Dr.B F Hulagur

during phase-I, another grant for 25 million DM has beensanctioned for Maharashtra under Phase II. Thenegotiations pertaining to sanction of grant of 39 millionDM for III phase are under advanced stage.

Objectives : The ICWDP is one of the important projectsbeing implemented through NGOs in Maharashtra withemphasis of participatory grass-root level developmentinitiatives. The main objectives of the programme areas under:-• Integrated and comprehensive development of

micro watersheds for achieving sustainableproduction.

• Mobilisation of human potential of rural communitiesin selected watersheds through village watershedcommittees (VMCs) and NGOs & mobilize theenvironmental resources of their area for survival.

• Supporting of the exchange of information anddissemination of experience amongst various NGOsworking with the programme.

Partners in the Programme:

German : a) GTZ for Capacity BuildingPhase (CBP) and

b) KTW for Full Implementation Phase(FIP)

Indian : a) VWC (Village Watershed Committee) forcarrying out

b) NGO (Non Governmental Organisation)to act as a guide and philosopher besidesproviding technical advise to the VMC;

c) PC (Programme Coordinator)coordinates the programme at all levelsand solves pending issues withgovernment agencies. Till 31, March2001 and PC for the programme wasWOTR. From 1 April 2001 aPCU(Programme Coordinator Unit) with1 member each from NABARD HO &RO and 2 members from WOTR hasbeen formed to coordinate theprogramme.

d)NABARD as legal holder and executingagency with supervisory and advisoryrole.

Articles

2


Phasing of Programme:

a) Phase –I - 9 years(1992-2000)b) Phase-II - 10 years (1997-2006)

The programme has been extended to the states ofGujarat and Andhra Pradesh also in the third phase

Major Principles of the programme

• Participatory approach• Development from Ridge to Valley• Community contribution• Social Fencing (Free grazing & tree felling)• Women Development• Integrated Sustainable Development• Maintenance fund

5. Current Status

No. of Watershed Projects: TOTAL: 101 projects(Details are as under)- Projects completed : 58- Projects prematurely closed : 13- Projects in Full Implementation Phase : 26- Projects in Feasibility report preparation stage : 22No. of NGOs involved so far : 59No. of Districts covered so far : 22Area covered under watershed project : More than 1,00,000 ha.Cumulative Grant disbursed under IGWDP :Rs.64.76 crores

Functioning

Selection of projects and implementation ofCapacity Building Phase (CBP): An NGO, WatershedOrganisation Trust (WOTR) is the nodal agency for CBP.The interested NGOs will select the village afterassessing the project area and villagers. The data sheetof the entire watershed will be submitted to WOTRwhich will examine the technicalitiesof the watershed,if found suitable the data sheet and particulars ofwatershed will be submitted to NABARD for consent.After this the CBP process starts with four daysmandatory shramadan of eligible families followed byvarious treatments as per the net plan.Sanction of grant for preparation of FeasibilityReport and Finalisation of Feasibility Reports forProjects: After incurring an expenditure of 60% of thesanctioned amount in CBP the projects will be evaluatedfor the readiness to take up Main Phase and permission

will be given for preparation of Feasibility Report. Forcontinuation of watershed treatments during FeasibilityReport (FR) preparation an Interim Phase will beprovided. The FR will be scrutinized and finalized toplace it before Project Sanctioning and SteeringCommittee (PSSC) for sanctionMonitoring of Projects: NABARD visits eachwatershed, both under Interim Phase (IP)and FullImplementation Phase (FIP), once in six months formonitoring. The monitoring study covers all aspects oftechnical nature viz. progress of project treatments,progress in implementation as per sanction andapproved parameters, implementation from ridge tovalley, suitability and effectiveness of various identifiedtreatments and social nature viz. effective people’sparticipation in planning and implementation of theprogramme, contribution towards shramdan,maintenance fund, their meeting including VWC andgramsabhas. Certain minor problems of routine natureare generally solved during visit itself. For thewatersheds which have been under implementation rotwo to three years, a one day karyashala duringmonitoring visit was initiated to establish a link betweenvillagers with bankers and officials of variousgovernment departments.Meetings: Coordination meetings, Project Sanctioningand Steering Committee, Programme CoordinationUnits meeting etc. are being conducted and attendedby NABARDReview of Progress: All participating NGOs arerequired to submit half –yearly progress reports toNABARD. A comprehensive review along with the halfyearly progress inturn will be sent to KfW by NABARD.Workshops for NGOs: As an effort to purvey muchneeded credit to to the watershed dwellers workshopsare conducted for the completed/nearing completionwatersheds. During the workshop various issues arediscussed with bankers/govt. departments. Theinformation on various ongoing schemes of government,technological innovations in agriculture and alliedactivities, eco friendly and Indigenous TechnologyKnowledge (ITK) are also disseminated.Regular contact with VWC/NGOs/PCU/KfW:NABARD functions as a resource center for newer NGOsbesides keeping a close contact with all implementingagencies and stake holders through one-to-one contact,correspondence, karyashala, workshops,etc.Credit support in Watershed Villages: With a view to

3


fulfill the increased credit needs of villagers in treatedwatersheds NABARD has embarked upon preparationof banking plans for the watershed villages.

Opportunities for Bankers in IGWDP Watersheds

Capital formation in the form of on farm and non-farminvestments is necessary in villages of IGWDPwatersheds. Lending risks are considerably reduced dueto IGWDP project activities. Banks can do good businessby addressing the credit needs of the watershed dwellersthrough participatory approach. Branch managers canprepare individual watershed credit plans by involvingwatershed community, VWC members NGO. This willhelp the watershed community to derive monitarybenefits from newly created investment potential in theform of community to derive monetory benefits fromnewly created investment potential in the form ofincreased availability of ground water, development ofsoil fertility as also increased quantity of fodder/bio-mass. Dairy activity in particularly picking up in allwatersheds apart from credit requirements for renovationof old wells, pump sets, small pipelines, drip irrigationand other activities. Crop loan requirement hasincreased several folds due to increase in croppingintensity and introduction of high yielding varieties (HYV)and hybrids of crops.The increase income level of community will help toencourage thrift habit of the community. Further, a lotof SHGs have been promoted in the watershed villages.Much of the funds of watershed maintenance fundcorpus may have to kept in secured deposits in banks.There is a lot of scope for increasing deposit businessof banks in the watersheds.The SHGs have matured / maturing in their workingand women empowerment has taken place due toIGWDP implementation mainstreaming of genderinvolvement in watershed project strategy. The womenSHGs are practicing internal lending. The SHGs arenot only gaining experience in funds management butalso ensuring 100% recovery of internal loans. Thesewomen SHGs are also managing sizable IGWDP projectfunds for drudgery reduction and income generationactivities through their Sanyucta Mahila Samiti(Federation of SHGs). The SHGs are also borrowingmicro-finance from other agencies. Hence, the SHGsof watershed villages can become good clients of banks,if linked for credit under SHG-Bank linkage programmewith pro-active and helping initiative of the concernedbank branches.

VMCs over a period of 4-5 years are empowered andhave gained experience handling public funds. Duringthe process they have also lerntaccounting book andrecord keeping. For graduating VWCs as financialintermediaries NABARD has also initiated a pilot projectof purveying credit through VWCs.Banks operating in the watershed villages can takeadvantage of the Vikas Volunteer Vahini(VVV)Programme of NABARD and actively promote Farmer’sClubs to further linkage strengthen the linkage of theirbank branches with watershed villages and thus trulypromote “Development through Credit”.

Opportunities for Government Departments/Agencies

Watershed development under IGWDP made effortsto create basic potential (like conservation of soil fertility,recharge of ground water, increase in fodder availabilityetc.)which need further impetus to harvest the benefitsfrom the assets created under the programme Duringthe implementation period so far, significant productivepotentials have already been created in somewatersheds through effective soil and moisture –conservation measures. There is a remarkableimprovement in groundwater table and vegetativetreatments including grass seeding which has led to anabundant availability of forage, legume and fodder grass.The cropping pattern changes and better irrigationpotential will further increase green and dry fodderavailability. There is a urgent need for proper extensionsupport especially for dairy activity and judiciousdevelopment of water resources as also evolving asustainable cropping pattern through transfer ofappropriate farm technology packages includingpromotion of short durationed, water efficient and moreremunerative high yielding varieties of crops/ andhybrids. Popularization of advanced irrigation systemslike drip and sprinkler, farms’ awareness training, etc.,may help to harvest the benefits from the basic potentialcreated in watershed. Further, provision of veterinaryservices, training for livestock management, dairylinkage, etc., may also create a conducive atmospherefor proper use of fodder available in watershed and forsizable supplementary income to watershed dwellers.Agro processing for value addition also provide scopefor attracting better price farmers produce. The lineDepartments of Government specially agriculture canplay a crucial role in this regard.

4


The main aim of this programme is to create replicablemodels of watersheds which act as demonstration unitsfor undertaking the watershed development works on alarge scale.Introduction: Consequent upon the announcement bythe Hon’ble Union Finance minister during budget for1999-2000. NABARD has established a WatershedDevelopment Fund (WDF) with a contribution of Rs.100crore. A matching unfront contribution of Rs.100 crorehas been made by the Government of India. Thesuccess of Indo-German Watershed DevelopmentProgramme (IGWDP) unify the multiplicity of watershedprogrammes and treat the programme as highlyparticipatory and through the involvement of villagecommunities, gram panchayats and NGOs.’The principles and other aspects of this programme issimilar to that of Indo-German Watershed DevelopmentProgramme. Both grant and Loan components to thestate governments is involved in this programme.Ten states namely Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand,Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu,Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are implementing theprogramme. The status of WDF is given in followingtable.Under WDF, Government of India desired that Stategovernments are involved alongwith NABARD in

implementating the programme. From CBP stageonwards the projects are being monitored by NABARD.NABARD and State Governments together monitor theprogress in implementation of the projects during FullImplementation Phase. Increased responsibilities arebestowed upon state governments during the mainphase.Impact : IGWDP’s success in Maharashtra proved thatcomprehensive watershed development with people’sparticipation is a feasible proposition and can be viewedas an efficient and effective way of not only restoringthe environment and its productivity but also ofaddressing poverty directly and on more sustainablebasis. Based on success of IGWDP, Government ofIndia (GoI) has announced formation of WatershedDevelopment Fund (WDF) in the UnionBudget of 1999-2000. Government of India has included the coreprinciples of IGWDP like Shramdan, CBP, MaintenanceFund (MF) in NWDPRA. Common guidelines developedby GoI are mostly on the basis of IGWDP experience.Government of Maharashtra also has issued a GRadvocating the employment of IGWDP experience inimplementing DPAP and IWDP.

State No.of No. of No.of Geogra- Area Grantdistricts Watersheds NGOs/ Phical Under sanctioned

sanctioned PFA Area (Ha) CBP(Ha) (Rs.)

Andhra Pradesh 6 20 11 22,911.4 1,611.22 9,335,372

Gujarat 6 18 7 19,731.95 1,855.19 16,093,485

Jharkhand 1 2 2 1,791 130.6 836,100

Karnataka 17 33 12 34,315.25 2,170.84 14,104,644

Maharashtra 8 41 15 41,499.2 4,065.16 20,259,912

Orissa 4 6 6 4,626.02 343.94 1,572,861

Rajasthan 7 11 3 12,683 960.62 4,472,035

Tamil nadu 5 9 7 7,325.82 2,170.75 12,158,052

Uttar Pradesh 3 25 4 23,945.82 2,170.75 12,158,052

West Bengal 6 10 5 6.196.53 610.7 3,605,448

Total 63 175 72 175,024.97 15,679.86 86,904,350

1


Introduction

Pearl has a history more fascinating and more regalthan any other gem. Pearls from India are known fromtime immemorial. Admired all over the world as thefinest of ‘Oriental Pearls’ they were in high demand allover the world. However natural pearl resources in Indiaas in other parts of the world have depleted and pearlfishery was stopped in India about four decades ago.There is a huge gap between production and demandand the only option left is culture of pearls. The worldtrade of cultured pearl is reported to be over US$ 3billion per year. The major pearl producing countriesare Australia, Tahiti, Indonesia, Japan and China. Indiais one of the major importers of pearls importing pearlsworth US $ 4 million every year to meet the growingdomestic market demand.India has a wealth of marine pearl producing oystersand fresh water pearl mussels. Pearl producing oystersin India are Pinctada fucata in Gulf of Mannar, PalkBay and Gulf of Kutch and P.margeretifera in Andamanand Nicobar Islands. Fresh water pearls have beensuccessfully produced in three species of bivalves, viz.,Lamellidens marginalis, L. corrianus and Parreysiacorrugata.

PEARL CULTURE - EMERGING INVESTMENT AVENUE

M.A.Upare and K.S Maya Devi

mussels need to be reared in natural pondenvironment.b. In case of marine pearl oyster culture, farmingcan be either ‘on farm’ or off shore/open sea. Offshore culture can be of different types: FloatingRaft, long line systems or racks fixed on stacks.

Floating Raft Culture

In this system, the oysters are placed in box cages of40/40/40 cms. and suspended from the raft at 5m depthin the sea. All the cages containing implant oysters arestitched with velon screens of 1.5 mm mesh at thebottom to prevent the rejected nuclei from falling intothe water. In a box cage, 85-100 oysters of the size 40-45 mm can be accommodated. The cages arenumbered with aluminum/plastic plates. Once in twomonths the cages are lifted to remove the predatorsfrom the cages. The duration of post operative culturevaries from 4-18 months depending on the size ofnucleus and maturity of the pearls. These floating raftsare used for farming oysters in the open sea.

Fixed Rafts

In shallow sheltered bays racks are employed. In racksystem which is a fixed culture, teak wood polls aredriven vertically into the sea bottom and the rack isconstructed by lashing horizontal and cross polls on themwith coir ropes at a convenient height of 0.5 m above

Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI)has standardized the technology of culture of marinepearls and Central Institute of Fresh water Aquaculture(CIFA), that of freshwater pearl. Hatchery technologyof P.fucata has also been successfully developed. Anumber of entrepreneurs in Orissa, West Bengal, AndhraPradesh and Maharashtra have adopted the technologyof Fresh water pearl culture and a Few projects withinstitutional finance and NABARD refinance have takenup in Andhra Pradesh for producing marine pearls. It isonly a humble beginning and there is need for moreconcerted efforts for developing pearl culture in India.Pearl Culture TechnologyThe culture of pearls involves the following steps. culture1. Collection and conditioning of native pearl mussels2. Surgical implementation of mantle grafts and

appropriate nuclei in the internal organs of therecipient mussel

3. Post operation care of the implanted mussel.a. For fresh water pearl mussel culture, implanted

Japanese Akoya Pearls

Articles

2


the water level so that the rack thus erected remainsalways above the water. The oyster cages aresuspended from the wooden frame.

Institutional finance for pearl culture

Pearl culture is an eligible activity for bank finance andNABARD refinance. For pearl culture NABARDprovides refinance facility to eligible institutions like StateCooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank(SCARDB), Regional Rural Banks, Commercial Banks,Agriculture Development Finance Corporation (ADFC)and other financial institutions approved by RBI. Theloan is up to a period of 15 years. The ultimatebeneficiaries of the investment finance may beindividuals/partnership firms, companies, statecorporations or cooperative societies.

Items of investment

The following items of investment are eligible forfinancial assistance from banksa. Capital Investment:• Cost of land• Land and site development : clearing,leveling,

fencing• Building and civil works : (Preparation ponds / tanks,

bunds, feeder canals, drains, sheds, generatorrooms, pump house, inlets/outlets, diffuser tanks,office building, water intake system, internalapproach roads)

• Plant and machinery: Motors, Generators, Ironstands, Fibre cages,

• Vehicles• Preliminary and preoperative expenses• Technical know how fees• Deposit for electricity• construction of rafts, racks,stacks, cages, longlines,

anchors

b. Recurring expenditure/Working capital• Cost of seed, feed, nuclei, surgery charges,

harvesting charges, fuel/electricity charges, repairsand maintenance of plant and machinery,maintenance of civil works, staff salaries,administrative expenses, processing charges,laboratory equipments.

Pearl culture and Rural Development.

CMFRI and CIFA have over the years adopted an openpolicy of training. Dr. Richard Fassler, a world authorityin pearl culture remarked that while all countries aresecretive regarding their pearl culture technology, Indiais the only country, which has an opentraining programme. The marine pearl culture forrural upliftment through participatory approach wassuccessfully carried out at Vallinokkam, a small coastalvillage of Tamil Nadu in South east coast of India.Following the success of this experiment, the M.S.Swanithan Foundation has embarked on an ambitiousrural programme in the coastal villages of Gulf ofMannar to create alternative livelihoods and additional

source of Income for the poor fishers. The programmewith the technical know how from CMFRI is aimed atsustainable management of the fishery resources aswell as conservation of the biodiversity of the Gulf ofMannar. Fresh water pearl culture has beensuccessfully tried in some states along with fish culture.

Constraints for commercialization

Pearl farming on commercial scale failed to catch theinterest of entrepreneurs in a large scale,though thetechnology of marine pearl production was successfullydeveloped as early as in 1973 and fresh water pearlproduction in 1989. Even where pearl culture wascommercially adopted, the returns were very low. Thereasons have been attributed to ecological conditionof the seas around Indian coast, scarcity of the protectivebays, roughness and heavy wave actions of the opensea, heavy silt conditions in some areas which resultedin increased mortality of oysters and the absence ofhigh primary production . The recurring expensesand the high labour involved is yet another reason forlow returns. The rate of rejection of nucleus andrelatively low survival rate of implanted oysters in Indiamake pearl farming less remunerative to be taken up.The quality and size of pearls now produced in India donot fetch very high price in the international market.Large pearls have superior value. The technology forproducing the steel black pearls from the black-lip pearloyster, Pinctada margaritifera predominant in Andamna& Nicobar islands has to be developed in India. Pearlsproduced by giant pearl oyster P.maxima is only next inprice to Black pearls. Myanmar is one of the leadingproducers of these pearls. We share a common seawith Myanmar. Survey has to be done to locate P.maxima beds and if not available P.maxima need tobe transplanted to our waters to produce quality pearls.At present we are depending on imports of nuclei fromAmerican fresh water mussel shell for implantation.Imported shells are costly. Indigenous production ofhigh quality nuclei will help in reducing the productioncost of pearls. All these issues need to be addressedfor commercialization of pearl culture.

Initiatives needed

In an era of globalisation it is imperative to improveproductivity in terms of quality and quantity of pearlsproduced in India. Considering demand in domesticand International market the following initiatives areidentified for developing pearl culture activity as anindustryi. Mapping of suitable sites for pearl farmingii. Genetic selection experiments to produce oysters

with larger depth, faster growth and good qualitynacre.

iii. Appropriate leasing policyiv. Participation of local fishermenv. More awareness programmes.vi. Coordinated efforts of all stakeholders.vii. Demonstration regarding economic viability of the

project

1


1. Introduction:

1.1 In today’s energy crisis, it is recognized thatrenewable energy sources can be the alternablesources of energy to provide the basis for sustainableenergy development on account of theirinexhaustible nature and environment-friendlyfeatures. India is endowed with abundant sunlight,wind, water and biomass to act as renewable sourcesof energy and over the last two decades vigorousefforts have been made to tap these renewableenergy sources for a variety of end use applicationsi.e., cooking, water heating, drying, water pumping,lighting, power generation etc. and for meeting thedecentralized energy requirements both in villagesand urban areas. India today has the world’s largestprogramme for renewable energy.

1.2 During the last two decades, several renewableenergy technologies have been developed anddeployed in villages and cities. The Ministry of NonConventional Energy Sources (MNES), establishedin 1992, and there before known as the Departmentof Non Conventional Energy Sources (DNES) i.e.from 1982-1992, a separate ministry created underGovt. of India, is playing a major role in promotingand developing various renewable energytechnologies in the country. Indian RenewableEnergy Development Agency (IREDA), the financialwing of the said ministry, is also playing a key roleby providing monetary support towardsoperationalization of programmes and policies ofthe ministry. Apart from it, various extensionagencies, R&D institutes and financial organizationsare also actively involved in accelerating the paceof development to meet the emerging needs. Thetechnologies being developed and propagated areimproved chullhas, biogas plants, biomass gasifiers,solar thermal and solar photovoltaic systems, energyrecovery from urban, municipal and industrialwastes, hydrogen energy, ocean energy, fuel cells,electravans and gasohols.

2. Sources of renewable energy:

RENEWABLE SOURCES OF ENERGY: POTENTIALS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

S.K. Patra and P.P.Datta

study, the gross wind power potential has now beenestimated to be about 45,000 MW at 50mtr. hubheight. Against the same, the total installed capacityin the country by the end of 1999-2000 stood at 1167MW. Among the renewable sources of energy, thissource has been exploited to the maximum in viewof the comparatively simpler technology and easeof operation.

2.2.1.2 India now ranks 5th in the world after Germany,USA, Denmark and Spain as regards installedcapacity is concerned. Commercial projects haveso far been established mainly in Tamil Nadu,Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra andKarnataka. The largest installation of wind powerturbines in the country so far is in the Muppandal-Perungudi area of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, withan aggregate capacity of about 400 MW. The highestcapacities so far have come up in Tamil Nadu (720MW), followed by Gujarat (167 MW).

2.2.1.3 In order to give impetus to the wind energysector in the county, MNES has issuedcomprehensive revised guidelines in 1997. TheGuidelines relate to preparation of Detailed ProjectReport (DPR), micro siting, selection of wind turbineequipment, operation and maintenance,performance evaluation, etc. These have helped theState Electricity Boards, State Nodal Agencies,manufacturers, developers and investors aboutplanned development and implementation of windpower projects. Apart from the same, promotionalpolicies such as accelerated depreciation, taxholidays, soft loans, custom and excise duty reliefs,liberalized foreign investment procedures etc. havebeen announced by MNES. Moreover, the conceptof “Wind Energy Estates”, a joint sector initiativewith the participation of the private sector, StateGovernments and MNES/IREDA has been proposedby MNES. A large number of demonstration projectswith aggregate of 55 MW have also been establishedin the country at 25 different locations.

2.2.1.4 Today India has about 15 manufacturersengaged in the production of Wind EnergyGenerators (WEGs). The annual production capacityof the domestic WEG manufacturing industry in thecountry is about 500 MW. Besides, there are foreigncompanies who are also providing the technologies.Inspite of all the above, the progress of the sector istardy and concerted efforts are needed to identifythe bottlenecks and tie the loose ends to give

energy:1. Wind2. Biomass3. Biogas4. Solar5. Hydro2.2.1 W i n dPower2.2.1.1

Accordingto a recent

2.1 Renewable sources ofenergy can be definedas those sources ofenergy, which arerenewed and can betapped for an infinitetime period withoutexhaustion or depletionin the potentiality of thesource to providepower.

2.2 Sources andachievements:

Power from the renewablesare generally derived fromthe following sources of

Articles

2


impetus to the programme.

2.2.2 Biomass power

2.2.2.1 Biomass Power/ Co-generation programmespromote utilization of biomass such as straw, stalks,stems and fines, agro-industrial processing residuessuch as shells, husks and deoiled cakes, forestryresidues and woody biomass grown in speciallydedicated energy plantation, for power generationthrough conversion technologies (viz. combustion,gasification, incineration, pyrolysis etc.) using gas/steam turbine, dual fuel engine/ gas engine, orcombination thereof, either in power alone or in co-generation (of more than one energy forms- steamand power mode).

The progress made in harnessing the Biomass power isas follows:

Table-I

Items VIII th plan IX th plan

Year 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-2001

Target (MW) 25.00 45.00 40.00 40.00 60.00

Achievement(MW) 86.00 41.50 43.50 51.00 NA

Source: MNES, GoI, New DelhiNA: Not Available

2.2.2.2 The MNES, GoI has taken a large number ofinitiatives in development and promotion of BiomassPower. Some of the measures taken are as follows:

i. MNES has launched the National Biomass ResourceAssessment Programme (NBRAP) to cover all statesand union territories with the objective of providinginputs for preparing National Biomass ResourceAtlas.

ii. A Lead Programme Partnership Initiative has beenlaunched for facilitating commercial Biomass Power/ Co-generation projects.

iii. The MNES has also provided support to the limitedDemonstration Co-generation projects inCooperative / Public Sector Sugar Mills through JointVenture Companies (JVC) set up by state govt. orIPP mode projects.

iv. Fiscal incentives such as concessional customduties, exemptions of excise duties and central salestax, tax holiday, accelerated depreciation etc. arebeing provided to the developers.

2.2.3 Biogas

2.2.3.1 In the country the development of Biogas isbeing under taken through the centrally sponsoredBiogas Development Programme (BDP), whichcommenced in the year 1981-82. The Biogasdevelopment programme has got three maincomponents namely

i. National Project on Biogas Development (NPBD),which also caters to the family type biogas plants.

ii. Community, Institutional and Night Soil basedBiogas Plants (CBP/ IBP/NBP) programme.

iii. Research and Development on Biogas Production

and Utilization Technology.The National Project on Biogas Development (NPBD)was started in 1981-82 with the following objectives:1. Providing fuel to rural households for cooking

purposes.2. Organic manure for application in agricultural fields3. Mitigating the drudgery of rural women4. Reducing the pressure on forests5. Recycling human waste by linking toilets with biogas

plants, thereby improving sanitation.The Community and Institutional Biogas DevelopmentProgramme was initiated in 1982-83, with the schemefor setting up of night soil based plants in communitytoilet complexes being added in 1993-94. It was startedwith the objective of recycling the large quantity of cattledung available in the villages for the benefit of theweaker sections of society. The biogas generated isgenerally used for meeting the fuel requirements ofmotive power and electricity in addition to meetingcooking gas needs of the rural populace. Through theprogramme:1. Indigenously developed models of biogas plants,

namely floating drum type and fixed dome type ofbio-gas plants are being popularized.

2. Central Financial Assistance, including CentralSubsidy, turnkey job fee, service charges or staffsupport, training and publicity support, etc. are alsobeing provided.

Research and development on biogas is taken up inthe identified thrust areas, such as:1. Studies in the field of microbiology, biochemistry,

and engineering for increasing the yield of biogas,especially at low and high temperatures.

2. Development of cost effective designs of biogasplants, and using alternative building material andconstruction methodology for cost reduction.

3. Diversified use of digested slurry for value addedproducts, etc.

2.2.3.2 Cumulative achievementThe total potential of 12 million biogas plants exists inthe country.The achievements at the end of the FY 1999-2000indicate:1. 3.28 million rural families have been benefited,

indicating coverage of 27% of the total potential ofbiogas.

2. About 3600 night soil based and institutional biogasplants have been set up.

3. Research and development projects have beentaken up to develop new designs and improveoperational efficiency of the biogas plants. Theseplants have helped in saving 42 lakh tones of fuelwood and in producing 430 lakh tones of manureequivalent to 9.5 lakh tones of urea per year. Inaddition an estimated 5.5 million person-days ofemployment has also been generated in rural areas.

2.2.4 Solar Power2.2.4.1 India is a solar rich country. Realizing theimportance that solar power can play in supplementingthe power requirement in the country, MNES has comeup with the following measures:

3


• MNES is setting up a number of solar observatoriesespecially in the solar rich areas of the country witha view to collect data on sunshine hours, global solarradiation, direct and diffused solar radiation onnormal surface, ambient temperature, humidityrainfall etc. It is proposed that these data can beconsidered for implementation of large solar powerprojects in the country.

• MNES is also implementing grid interactive solarphotovoltaic power projects in the modules of 25KWfor voltage support application to the rural grid inrural areas and roof top peak saving application inurban centers. The scheme is being implementedthrough the state electricity boards, state nodalagencies and private entrepreneurs. So far underthis scheme, 17 grid-interactive solar photovoltaicpower projects aggregating to 1165 KW powercapacity have been installed in 8 states and 2 unionterritories. Another 8 projects aggregating to 500KW power capacities in 5 states and 2 unionterritories are under installation.

• A Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) Programme is also beingimplemented for the last two decades which hasthe following components:n Solar Lanternsn Home Lighting Systemsn Street Lighting Systemsn Non Grid connected SPV Power Plantsn Refrigerators for medicines and vaccinesn Other applications of PV technology including

new applicationsAs on 31st March 2000, 2,78,335 solar lanterns, 1,16,775home lighting systems and 38,916 street lightingsystems have been distributed / installed. In addition,stand alone SPV power plants of more than 1 MWaggregate power capacity have been commissioned orare under installation in the country.2.2.4.2 In order to promote the SPV technology, theMNES is providing Financial Assistance towards thesale/ installation of SPV systems. The pattern offinancial assistance being provided is as follows:

Table-II

Pattern of central financial assistance

S.No. SPV systems Central subsidy Service charge

1 Solar lanterns Rs. 1500/- (fixed) Rs. 100/-

2 Home lighting Rs. 6000/- or 50%systems / solar of the ex-works cost,home systems whichever is less Rs. 200/-

3 Street lighting Rs. 12,000/- or 50%systems of the ex-works cost,

whichever is less -

4 SPV power plants Rs. 2,00,000/- per kW/ other systems of PV array capacity or

50% of ex-works costwhichever is less. Rs. 10,000/-

Source: Background Note for Annual Renewable EnergyConference on Policy Prospectives-2000-2012

2.2.5 Hydro Power

2.2.5.1 Small hydropower programme is one of thethrust areas of the MNES. In order to promote activitiesin this sector and to exploit the Small Hydro Power (SHP)potential in the country in a systematic manner, theministry has adopted a multi pronged strategy. Amongthe major initiatives taken in this regard are:i. Identification of potential sites and their feasibility

studies.ii. R&D cum demonstration projects with new and

innovative approach; andiii. Technical and financial support to states to set up

grid-connected as well as decentralized small hydroprojects.

MNES has created a database for the potential sitessuitable for small/ mini/ micro hydel projects by collectinginformation from various sources including the stategovernments. The database now includes 3349 potentialsites with aggregate capacity of 2852 MW for projectsupto 3 MW capacity and 662 identified sites withaggregate capacity of 5519 MW for projects of 3-15MW.2.2.5.2 As part of the R&D cum demonstration projectswith new and innovative approach, schemes for portablemicro hydel sets and scheme for development/up-gradation of water mills have been launched by theMinistry. Under the scheme for portable micro hydel sets,light weight portable micro hydel sets upto 15 KW arebeing distributed in the hilly areas and north easternregions of the country for providing decentralized powersupply. The ministry is meeting the full cost of the setswhere as the cost of civil works and transmission linksare borne by the local bodies/ communities concerned.The other financial incentives being provided under theprogramme are as follows:

Table -III

Category of water mills Promotional incentives1. Water mills with : Rs. 30,000 or 75%

mechanical output of actual cost,facility only whichever is less

2. Water mills with : Rs. 60,000 or 75%electrical output of actual cost,facility only whichever is less

3. Water mills with both : Rs. 60,000 or 75%mechanical and of actual cost,electrical output whichever is lessfacilities

Source: Background Note for Annual Renewable EnergyConference on Policy Prospectives-2000-20122.2.5.3 As part of technical and financial support tostates to set up grid-connected as well as decentralizedsmall hydro projects, the MNES has introduced aninterest subsidy scheme through financial institutions.Till 1999-2000, under this scheme, sites with totalpotential over 1900 MW have been offered forcommercial usage. Interest subsidy is available for SmallHydel Projects (SHPs) upto 25MW. Some of theimportant incentives provided under the scheme are asfollows:

4


Table IV

For SHP projects in Hilly Area, North Eastern States, Sikkim and Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Capacity of SHP projects

Upto 1 MW Above 1 MW Above 5 MW Above 15 MWand upo 5 MW and upto 15 MW and upto 25 MW

Interest subsidy 7.5% 5% 3% 2%Eligible capital cost ceiling Rs. 6.00 crore Rs. 6.00 crore Rs. 5.00 crore Rs. 5.00 crore

per MW per MW per MW per MWInterest subsidy support ceiling Rs. 1.25 crore Rs. 4.00 crore Rs. 6.00 crore Rs. 7.00 crore

Source: Background Note for Annual Renewable Energy Conference on Policy Prospectives-2000-2012

Table VFor SHP projects in other areas

Capacity of SHP projects

Upto 1 MW Above 1 MW Above 5 MW Above 15 MWand upto 5 MW and upto 15 MW and upto 25 MW

Interest subsidy 5% 2.5% 2% 1.5%Eligible capital cost ceiling Rs. 5.00 crore Rs. 4.00 crore Rs. 4.00 crore Rs. 4.00 crore

per MW per MW per MW per MWInterest subsidy support ceiling Rs. 0.75 crore Rs. 1.50 crore Rs. 3.50 crore Rs. 4.00 crore

Source: Background Note for Annual Renewable Energy Conference on Policy Prospectives-2000-2012

3. Potential & Achievements:

The estimated potentials via-a-vis achievements in theRenewable Energy Sector in the country as on 31st

March 2000 is as follows:

Table-VI

Source / Approximate AchievementSystem Potential (as on 31.3.2000)

Biogas plants ( No.) 120 lakh 29.78 lakhImproved Chullhas(No.) 1200 lakh 320 lakhBiomass power 17,000 MWand Bagasse basedCogeneration 3500 MW 222 MWBiomass Gasifier — 35 MWSolar Photovoltaic 20 MW/ sq.km. 50 MW equivalent

(about 7.0 lakhIndividual Systems)

Solar Thermal 35 MW/sq.km. —Solar Water HeatingSystems 30 million sq. m —Collector Area 4,67,692 sq.mtr. —Wind Power 45,000 MW 1167 MWSmall Hydro Power(upto 15 MW) 10,000 MW 216.97 MWIntegrated RuralEnergy Programme 860 Blocks (old)

Source / Approximate AchievementSystem Potential (as on 31.3.2000)

Energy Parks 190 nos.Wind Pumps 640 nos.Hybrid Systems 88 KWSolar PV Pumps 3062 nos.Solar PhotovoltaicPower 1310 KWSolar Cookers 4,74,674 nos.Energy recoveryfrom wastes 1700 MW 15.74 MWBattery operatedvehicles 227 nos.

MW= Mega Watt KW= Kilo Wattsq. km = Square Kilometer

Source: Ministry of Non Conventional Energy Sources,Govt. of India, New Delhi

4. Common incentives and policy framework forrenewables

Activity specific incentives were discussed under eachsource of energy, however only common incentives arediscussed here.

4.1 Renewable Energy Technologies in India arebeing promoted through R&D, demonstration projects,dissemination projects/ programmes supported bygovernment subsidies and fiscal incentives outlined

5


below:From Central Government1. Income tax holiday2. Accelerated depreciation3. Concessional custom duty/ duty free import4. Capital / Interest subsidyFrom State Governments1. Energy buyback, power wheeling and banking

facilities.2. Sales tax concession/benefits3. Electricity tax exemption4. Demand cut concession offered to industrial

consumers who establish power generation unitsfrom renewable energy sources.

5. Capital Subsidy.

5. Organizations involved in extension work

5.1 Organizations at Central and State LevelAt the national level, MNES is playing an importantrole in designing the policies and guidelines for givinga firm direction to the development of renewablesources of power. IREDA, a centralized agency andthe financial wing of the ministry is playing an activerole by financing the policies and programmes of theministry for popularization and development of newinnovative technologies as well as foroperationalization of renewable energy projects.Financing of the various renewable energy prgrammesat the state level is being done by the concerned statenodal agencies such as Gujarat Energy DevelopmentAgency (GEDA) in Gujarat and Maharashtra EnergyDevelopment Agency (MEDA) in Maharashtra etc. Thestate departments of “Agriculture” and “ Agro IndustriesCorporation” of various states are also playing a keyrole in dissemination of information about availabilityof low cost indigenous technologies and popularizationof the same.5.2 R&D, Private and Non GovernmentalInstitutions and Private Manufacturers of EnergyHarnessing EquipmentsResearch and development of new, innovative, lowcost and indigenous technologies play a key role inharnessing power from various renewable energysources. Various institutions like the IITs, RECs, andthe state level agricultural universities are involved indevelopment of low cost innovative renewable energytechnologies. The Indian Council for Agriculture andResearch (ICAR), a council under governorship of theMinistry of Agriculture, through it’s research instituteslike CIAE, CIPHET, CIRCOT etc. are also developingnew technologies and are making earnest efforts inpropagating the technologies.The private institutions are also playing a key role inprocess documentation and research anddevelopment of renewable technologies. Some of theimportant agencies are the Tata Energy ResearchInstitute (TERI), Centre for Science and Environment(CSE), M.S. Swaminathan Foundation etc. Non-governmental agencies like the DHAN Foundation,Ramakrishna Mission Loksiksha Parishad, AnARdeFoundation etc. are also making worthwhile efforts in

the development and promotion of renewables in thecountry.Private manufacturers of renewable energy harnessingequipments are also playing a key role in the developmentof renewables in the country.5.3 Banks, international funding agencies and otherfinancial institutionsVarious banks and international financial institutions arealso involved in financing the development anddissemination of improved renewable energy technologies.Some of them are the World Bank, Asian DevelopmentBank, US Exim Bank etc. The World Bank had providedinternational assistance amounting to US $ 275 Million toIREDA for the development of renewables in the country.Likewise ADB has also provided financial assistance tothe tune of US $ 100 million to IREDA for theabovementioned purpose. Apart from the same, variousinternational funding agencies like the Royal NetherlandsEmbassy (RNE), DANIDA, UNDP’s GEF Fund and KfWfrom Germany have provided international financialassistance to the tune of 18 Million Dutch Guilders, US $15 Million, US $ 5 Million and DM 120 Million till date toIREDA for development of renewables in the country.NABARD being the apex agricultural and ruraldevelopment banking institution in the country has got aprime responsibility in the development of renewableenergy technology in the country. Some of the importantcontributions made by NABARD in this sector are asfollows:1. NABARD has been promoting the development of

renewable energy sources in the country in a big way.Refinance is invariably being provided for installationand commissioning of Biogas units in the country.Apart from the same, NABARD also supports SolarPhotovoltaic (SPV) centrifugal pumpsets for on-farmirrigation purposes, solar cookers, wind mills, briquettemaking unit etc. under the renewable energyprogramme.

2. It has been providing grant and other financialassistance to premier research institutes/ NGOs etc.from it’s Research and Development Fund for carryingout applied research activities in the field of eco-friendly renewable energy technologies.

6. Summary

MNES, IREDA, and its state level nodal agencies aremaking a holistic approach aimed at tapping the renewablesources of energy. The task in hand is a gigantic one.Though numerous success stories are there in the field, alot still remains to be done. The areas where moreattention is required for a sustainable growth in the sectorare technology development and deployment, qualityassurance, fiscal and promotional incentives, creditinfrastructure, legislative and infrastructural support,human resource development and institutionaldevelopment.Therefore, an integrated approach involving the govt.departments, local level extension agencies, financialbodies, R&D institutes is required with proper delegationof power for success of the programme.

1


1.0 Introduction

Rural Poultry Sector though contributing nearly 30% ofthe national egg production, is the most neglected one.The fact is that village poultry eggs and meat fetch amuch higher price than that of commercial poultry.However, 70% of the poultry products and eggs areconsumed in urban and semi-urban areas and theirconsumption in rural areas is very low. This lowconsumption is attributed to limited availability and tosome extent poor purchasing power of rural people. Inorder to overcome this problem, it may be necessary totake up specific rural poultry production programmeswith low input technology to meet the requirements ofthe rural sector where the poultry farming constitute asource of subsidiary occupation, generating subsistenceincome to boost the nutritional standards, income levelsand health of rural masses. The rural poultry (backyardpoultry) units require very little hand feeding and providehandsome returns with minimum investment. Thus ruralpoultry farming not only generates income levels,employment opportunities to small farmers includingwomen but also bring about desired socio-economicchange in rural areas which are vital for ruraldevelopment and rural prosperity.The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying,Government of India has proposed to study the existingscheme on poultry marketing in rural areas for inclusionunder the proposed venture capital fund of theDepartment for the X plan period. Accordingly, acommittee was constituted to study the rural poultry unitsin selected states with the following terms of reference.• To study the present situation of rural poultry units

in selected state.• To study the concept of rural poultry units and the

backward and forward linkages.• Identification of potential areas and new investments

for assistance under rural poultry units activities.• To study the incremental income of those families

associated with rural units.• To work out model economics for popularizing the

rural poultry units on the country side.

2.0 Study Area

As considerable work was done by Keggfarms Pvt. Ltd.,Gurgaon in Eastern Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal,the study was taken up in the selected districts of thesestates and visited mother (brooding) units, dealers,vendors and rural poultry units in these two states.

FINANCING RURAL POULTRY PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES IN INDIA

Dr. K.R. Rao and C.O. Reddy

3.0 Data Collection and Compilation

Primary data on cost of chicks and feed purchased,expenditure on medicines, electricity and other relatedaspects from the farmers, number of birds purchasedand sold, supply of feed, medicine and other servicesprovided by the dealers to the mother (Brooding) unitsand the information on the number of birds sold by thevendors, their area of operation, investment andmaintenance expenses and other related parameterswere collected from the respective people directly.

4.0 Present Scenario of Rural Poultry Units

The rural households were normally maintaining the desibirds under scavenging conditions. However, it wasobserved that in some of the areas especially in tribalareas and villages predominantly with Muslimpopulation, rearing of a few strains of coloured birdsintroduced by Government as well as private agencies.Department of Animal Husbandry has taken up inassociation with Indian Council of Agricultural Researcha targeted programme for upgradation of low inputtechnology birds through their All India CoordinatedResearch Project on poultry and have since developedand released birds like Vanaraja, Krishibro, Krishilayer,Caribro, Carired, etc. for rural poultry activity. Duringthe year 2001-02 the Govt. of India had supplied about1.90 lakh parents and about 6.0 lakh commercial chicksto the State Govt. farms as well as rural farmers in thecountry respectively. Similarly, the AgriculturalUniversities like UAS, Bangalore; Agricultural University,Jabalpur; CARI, Izatnagar and Project Directorate onPoultry (ICAR), Hyderabad had also suppliedconsiderable number of commercial chicks in therespective regions. Among private sector hatcheries,Kegg Farms Pvt. Ltd., Gurgaon was supplying about 15million chicks per annum in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal,

Mother Unit

Articles

2


parts of Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh,Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

5.0 Concept of Rural Poultry Units andBackward & Forward Linkages

M/s.Kegg Farms had developed a new bird named as‘Kuroiler’ to address food security and povertyalleviation at the rural household level. The bird whichwas developed is a multicolour dual purpose birdcapable of producing more number of eggs and goodquality of meat. The birds could survive and thrive wellon village/household waste. Since day old chicks werevulnerable to predators in free range conditions, KeggFarms encouraged mother units or brooding centres runby rural entrepreneurs for brooding of day old chicksunder reasonably controlled conditions for 3 to 4 weeksby which time these birds were capable of thriving inopen range conditions.The concept of rural poultry farming adopted forimplementation by M/s.Kegg Farms Pvt. Ltd. in variousstates is as under.

Breeding Farm / Hatchery

Chicks

Dealers

Feed, Chicks & Medicines

Mother (Brooding) units

3-4 weeks old growers

Periwalas (Cycle vendors)

3 - 4 week old growers

Rural Farmers in interior areasKegg Farms with their network of poultry breeding farmsand hatcheries located in various places were producingcommercial day old Kuroilers for supplying to the motherunits owned by the individual entrepreneurs through theirdealers. The services provided by Kegg farms includefarmers training, technical assistance, organizingseminars and workshops, circulating the literature onmanagement practices in local languages etc.

5.1 Mother Units

The Mother units located in different villages maintainedthe day old chicks up to 3 to 4 weeks (depending uponthe practice being followed in a particular area) and soldthe grower birds to cycle vendors (perriwalas). Theseunits procure chicks, feed and medicines from thedealers on credit or cash payment. Normally a farmerrear nine batches of brids from second year onwards.

Based on the field observations and interaction with theentrepreneurs as well as the officials of Kegg Farms,the investment cost and economics of mother unit ofthe size of 2000 chicks per batch was worked out(Table 1) for both thatched and asbestos roof of sheds.The unit cost of a mother unit of thatched and asbestosroof sheds were Rs.72600 and Rs.1,02,600 respectively.This unit leaves a gross surplus of about Rs.5000 permonth after repaying the bank loan.

5.2 Cycle Vendors (Perriwalas)

Cycle vendors buy thegrower birds on creditfrom mother units/dealers and repay thesame from the saleproceeds after 2-3days of business. Onemother unit of 2000chicks would supportthree vendors with anaverage profit of Rs. 3-5 per grower sold bythe vendor. Thisactivity may not require large sums but loan may beconsidered for purchase of cycle, basket/cage, feederand waterer which may be around Rs.1700-1800 pervendor. The investment cost and economics of a cyclevendor is given in Table 2.

5.3 Rural Poultry Units

In villages, the households prefer coloured birds whichproduce more eggs and meat under scavengingconditions with minimum mortality. There are variationsin husbandry and management practices of poultry inthe selected states. Generally, males are sold for meatpurpose and hens are retained for egg production. Itwas observed in the field that village householdspurchase the 3 / 4 week grower birds from the perriwalas@ Rs. 22-25 per bird and grown in the house itself. Anight shelter was provided with small built up nest costingaround Rs. 100 for 8-10 birds. Birds scavenge in thenatural habitat and little expenditure is incurred on feed,

ÞÞ

ÞÞ

ÞÞ

ÞÞ

Perriwalah

Rural Poultry Units

medicine, etc.Birds attaineda weight of 1.0kg in about 45-50 days andaround 1.5 kgin 90 days ofs c a v e n g i n gand sold formeat purpose@ Rs. 60 perbird of 1 kg

3


body weight. Economics of Rural Poultry Units with batchsize of 20 birds is presented in Table 3. A unit of 20birds will provide an average in come of around Rs.250per month.

6.0 Limitations of Study

The team could not study the Rural Poultry units withcolored birds supplied by public sector organizations aswell as other private organizations as their supply wasvery limited and not well organized.

7.0 Recommendations

1. Encourage rural households to adopt low inputtechnology coloured birds for supplementing theincome as well as to improve the nutrition standards.

2. The existing facilities of State Govt. poultry farmsshould be made use of for production and supply ofcommercial coloured birds to the households in ruralareas.

3. The poultry breeding farms/ Regional Directoratesof GOI should provide training and also technicalservices especially to the Mother Units.

4. Encourage NGOs, poultry associations, privateorganisations/bodies etc. through incentives to setup rural poultry units.

5. GoI may encourage low cost poultry production byway of granting financial assistance to theentrepreneurs taking up the activity in rural and semi-urban areas.

6. Assistance may be extended to mother units andvendors (perriwallas) by way of bank finance andincentives to establish and carry out the operationsin rural areas.

7. GOI may arrange to conduct survey through someagencies in potential states like Chattisgarh,Jharkhand, Bihar, MP, West Bengal, Orissa and N.E.States for wider coverage of rural poultry units.

Table 1 : Economics of Mother Units (2000 DOCs)

I. Investment Cost

(Amt. in Rs.)

Items of Investment Thatched roof Asbestos roof

A. Fixed Costs

(a) Shed - 1000 sft. @ 35/s.ft. 35000 @65/sft. 65000

(b) Equipment Cost

Feeders-40 @ Rs.80

Waterers-20 @ Rs.40 4000 4000

(c) Misc. equipment 1000 1000

Sub Total 40000 70000

B. Recurring Cost (For one batch of 2000 birds) (a) Cost of DOCs 2000

@ Rs.8.5 / chick 17000 17000(b) Feed upto 30 days @ 700

gm / bird @ Rs.9 / kg. 12600 12600(c) Medicine, vaccine -

@ Re. 1 / bird 2000 2000(d) Misc. expenditure litter,

electricity, kerosene etc. 1000 1000@ Rs. 0.50 / bird Sub Total 32600 32600

C. Total Cost (A+B) 72600 102600D. Margin Money 10% 7260 10260E. BANK LOAN 90% 65340 92340 say 65300 92300

II Techno-economic Parameters

1 No. of batches reared - first year 7 - second year onwards 92 Mortality rate (%) 43 Maintenance Cost of Sheds (Rs./annum)

Asbestos NILThatched (second year onwards) 1000

4 Sale price of growers (Rs./bird) 205 Sale of manure (Rs./bird) 0.506 Depreciation (%) Sheds – Thatched 10 Asbestos 5 Equipment 107 Rate of Interest (%) 128 Repayment period (years) 4

III Economics

Sr. No. Particulars Years

I II III IVA. Income i) Sale of growers -

1920/batch 268800 345600 345600 345600ii) Sale of Manure -

Re.0.50 / bird 7000 9000 9000 9000Total 275800 354600 354600 354600

B. Expenditure i) Purchase of DOC -

2000/batch 102000* 153000 153000 153000ii) Feed Cost - 700 gm/

bird @Rs.9.00 / kg. 75600* 113400 113400 113400iii) Medicines & Vaccine

Cost @Rs.1/bird 12000* 18000 18000 18000iv) Misc items-litter,

kerosene, elect. etc.@ Re.0.50 / bird 6000* 9000 9000 9000

v) Repairs & Maintenanceof shed - Thatched — 1000 1000 1000

Asbestos — — — —Total - Thatched Shed 195600 294400 294400 294400

Asbestos Shed 195600 293400 293400 293400

4


C. Gross Surplus Thatched shed 80200 60200 60200 60200 Asbestos shed 80200 61200 61200 61200D. Repayment of loan Thatched 21483 21483 21483 21483 Asbestos 30367 30367 30367 30367E. Net Surplus

Thatched 58717 38717 38717 38717 Asbestos 49833 30833 30833 30833

* Other than capitalized cost

Table 2 Economics of cycle vendors (Perriwala)

I Investment Cost

Particulars Amount ( Rs.)1 Cost of cycle 16002 Cost of Basket / Cage 2003 Cost of feeder / waterer 504 Cost of feed (3kg / @ Rs.9/ kg.) 27 Total Cost 1877 Margin Money 10% 177 Bank Loan 1700

II Techno-economic parameters

1 Number of days of work available/month 202 Number of birds sold / month 5003 Expected life of cycle (years) 34 Rate of Interest (%) 125 Repayment period ( years ) 3

III Economics ( Amount in Rs. )

S. Particulars YearsNo. I II IIIA. Income :

Sale of birds - 6000 birds@ Rs.24 / bird 144000 144000 144000

B. Expenditure : i. Cost of purchase of birds –

6000 @ Rs.20/ bird 120000 120000 120000ii. Maintenance cost of cycle

@ 60 / month 720 720 720iii. Feed for birds @ 50 gm/bird 2700 2700 2700iv. Wages @ Rs.50 / day for 240 days 12000 12000 12000v. Expenditure on Food

@Rs.20/day for 240 days 4800 4800 4800Total 140220 140220 140220

C Gross surplus 3780 3780 3780

D Repayment of loan Principal 600 600 500Interest 204 132 60

E Net Surplus 2976 3048 3220

Table 3 Economics of Rural Poultry Unit - for meat(20 birds under scavenging condition)

I ) Investment cost

Particulars Amount ( Rs.)A) Fixed Costs

i) Cost of small nest for night shelter 200ii) Cost of feeders and waterers 100

Sub Total 300B) Recurring Cost

i) Cost of 4 weeks old growers 20 [email protected]/bird 480ii) Cost of feed - 1 kg/bird upto 45-50 days 120

@ Rs.6/kg for 20 birds Sub Total 600

C) Total Cost 900D) Margin money (10%) 90E) Bank loan (90%) 810

II. Techno-economic Parameters

1. No. of growers purchased at 4 weeks old 202. Mortality up to rearing period of 45-50 days (%) 53. No. of growers sold per batch after 45-50 days 194. No. of batches reared per annum 65. Live weight of grower at the age of 45-50 days (kg) 16. Sale price of grower (Rs./bird) 607. Repayment period (years) 38. Rate of Interest (%) 12

III. Economics

Amount ( Rs.)S. Particulars YearNo. I II IIIA) Income

Sale of birds – 6 batches @19 birds /batch @ Rs.60/bird 6840 6840 6840

B) Expenditurei) Cost of 6 batches of growers - @ Rs.24 per bird 2880 2880 2880ii) Cost of feed @ 1 kg/bird for 6

batches @ Rs.6.00/kg 720 720 720Total 3600 3600 3600

C) Gross Surplus 3240 3240 3240

D) Repayment schedulePayment of Principal 270 270 270Payment of interest 97 65 32

E) Net surplus 2873 2905 2938

The authors are thankful to Dr. Iqbaluddin, Jt.Commissioner (Poultry), Govt. of India, Dept. of AH andDairying, Ministry of Agriculture and Kegg Farms forgiving an opportunity to study the Rural Poultry Units inselected states, based on which the present paper isdeveloped.

1


Imagine a new Gymnospermous tree discovered asrecently as in late 1994 and which was thought to belong extinct and that has existed since Dinosaurs roamedthe earth. The discovery was not only interesting butalso unimaginable and aroused considerable interest inthe world scientific media. The ‘New Scientist’ wrote‘Pine dinosaur lurks in gorge’; The Houston chroniclereported ‘A Botanical discovery for the ages’; ‘Natureand Resources published ‘The Wollemi Pine:discovering a living fossil’. These are only a few of thepublications that had given extraordinary importance tothe discovery. Again the tree is a living fossil, since itwas known previously only from fossil pollens. As faras our knowledge on Gymnospermous living fossil treesare concerned, only two trees have around such interest

THE DISCOVERY OF A DINOSAUR TREE

Dr.M.S.Haque

crown effect. Successive whorls of primary branchesarise from the vertical leading shoot. Older trees canbe clearly seen to have a branched crown. Male andfemale cones resemble to that of Araucaria and it is onthese cone features that the Wollemi pine has beenplaced in the family Araucariaceae, most closely relatedto Agathis, although more resembling Araucariasuperficially.There is some sort of dimorphism in leaf characters i.e.juvenile leaves are soft in texture and dark green abovewhile the adult leaves are stiff and yellowish-green onboth the surfaces. Bark of the tree has been linked tobubbling chocolate, chocolate crackles or coco pops. Itis another unique feature of this unique tree and quitedifferent from the bark of related species in the familyAraucariaceae.

in the past. Theearliest one wasGinkgo biloba – themaidenhair tree,when it wasdiscovered byKaemfer in Chinain 1690, otherwiseknown only fromfossil records. Theother tree wasM e t a s e q u o i aglyptostroboides –the dawn redwoodalso discovered inChina in the late1940s, previouslyknown only in fossilstate.The Wollemi pinewas discovered bythe officers of theNational Park andWildlife Service ofAustralia, growing

in Wollemi National Park, just 150 km of Sydney.‘Wollemi’ is derived from an aboriginal word meaning‘watch out’ or ‘look around you’. The pine has beennamed Wollemia nobilis, commemorating the WollemiNational Park in which it occurs, as well as both DavidNoble, the officer who discovered it and the stature ofthe trees.

Morphological features

The Wollemi pine is a large tree growing upto 40m tall.It has a unique pattern of branching resulting in a double

How was itdiscovered ?

The WollemiNational Parkoccupies on areaof 496,000 ha.m o s t l ycomprising highlyd i s s e c t e doutcrops ofT r i a s s i csandstones thatwere deposited200 million yearsago. It is analmost entirelyunspoiled area ofscenic grandeur.The extremelyrugged nature of

Articles

2


the terrain coupled with low fertility of the soils hasdiscouraged exploitation and thus remained undisturbed.Access to many parts is so difficult that a large treesuch as the Wollemi pine remained undiscovered untilnow, despite the proximity of a major city and a countrywith a well developed scientific and technicalinfrastructure. The Wollemi pine resembles Araucariain an unusual feature that it cannot shed leaves, rathershed the entire branch. This gives the litter on the forestfloor a very distinctive feature. It was this litter in thestream that first alerted David Noble to the presence ofthe trees.

How could it manage to survive?

The trees produce epicormic shoots which are adaptivefeatures that increase the tree’s chance of survival incase of environmental disturbances, such as storms,drought, fire or even rockfall. It has also capacity todevelop new shoots and eventually new trees frommature trees at or below the soil land. This capacity isknown as coppicing and eventually leads to large oldplants with multiple trunk of different ages, some oldtrees have as many as 60 separate stems developedthrough coppicing and in many cases the original trunkis long gone. Such trees are potentially of great age,conceivably pre-dating the Roman empire. Hence it isthought that coppicing with epicormic shoot productioncoupled with in accessability has ensured the survivalof this unique tree for such a long time.

Geological history

The Wollemi pine belongs to an ancient group of seedbearing plants dating back to 300 million years ago inCarboniferous period. The family Araucariaceae, whereit is placed now along with two other living genera,Araucaria and Agathis, is also an ancient group withfossil representation as old as the Triassic (over 200million years ago). The outer skin or cuticle of plant,leave and pollens are extraordinarily durable and arefrequently pressured as fossils when all are lost. Thecuticle of Wollemi pine shows some characters ofAgathis and Araucaria, but exactly matches neither.Adult and juvenile foliage also displays differentcharacteristics. The Wollemi pine has now beenmatched with fossil pollen that was previously somewhatof a mystery. The pollen known as Dilwynites wasabundant in the Australian record from mid Cretaceousto mid Teritiary (94-30 million years ago). Several formsof Dilwynites pollen are known, corresponding mostprobably to different taxi, some of these match Wollemipine extremely well. The genus Wollemia was evidentlyonce widespread and abundant in Australia, although

now restricted to a single occurrence in the WollemiNational Park.

Research and Development

As a rare and endangered species, the Wollemi pinehas become a focus for research in several fields. Ithas been observed that the tree can coppice easily. Itcan be propagated by cutting and rooting of shoots.Viable seeds are easily identified and germination hasproved successful. As regards the prospects of tissueculture, simple cloning of the Wollemi pine has beenachieved using shoot explants placed on a nutrientmedium, with dormant buds growing out to form newshoots.At the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, DNA sequencesare being studied and compared with related groups.Ecological studies are being conducted by the NationalParks and Wild Life service. As part of a speciesrecovery plan, the Mount Annan Botanic Garden isestablishing an ex situ collection to complement in situconservation measures. A representative collection ofindividual trees are being kept at Royal Botanic Gardenand plants are being distributed to other Botanic gardensworldwide. The second strategy involves thedevelopment of a rapid propagation system to releaseplants to Horticulture industry. Only time will tell whetherthe Wollemi pine can be adopted as a Horticulture/Forestry species, but efforts are being made in thisdirection.

Significance of the discovery

Every year around 13000 to 15000 new species of plantsand animals are added to 1.75 million species that havebeen so far described and named by Science. But mostof the new species belong to lower forms of life, mainlymicrobes and insects, hardly there is any scope todiscover a tree species and that too a Gymnospermwhich is a ‘living fossil’.Wollemia is one of the World’s rarest trees, with lessthan forty adult plants known to exist in two small stands.One reason suggested for the extreme rarity of the treeis depression of fertility, due to inbreeding within thesmall population and consequent accumulation ofharmful recessive genes. However, there are numerousseedlings and some saplings of varying ages present atboth the sites. Thus, fertility may not be the only reason.Obviously, more studies are necessary on these aspectsto know the truth. The discovery of Wollemi pine hashowever set an example of what each of us can discoverif we open our eyes to the world around us – truly anappropriate name assigned to Wollemia nobilis.

1


1.0. Introduction

1.1. India is one of the few countries in the worldendowed with abundant land and water resources. Theaverage rainfall in the country is estimated to be over4000 cubic km spread over the geographical area of328 m ha of which 185 m ha is culturable. Due to tropicalclimate conditions, India experiences vast spatial andtemporary variation in the rainfall. About one third ofthe country’s area is drought prone. The Southern andWestern parts of the country comprising States ofRajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are droughtprone. On the other hand, the areas subjected to periodicfloods are mainly in the Northern and North Easternparts of the country comprising States of Uttar Pradesh,Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and the seven NorthEastern States.1.2. There is wide variation in the average per capitaavailability of water in the various river basins. It is as

IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT - PROBLEMS AND STRATEGIES

S. M. Mendhekar and M. L. Chalakh

high as 14000 cubic metre in Brahmaputra / Barak valleyto as low as 300 cubic metre in Sabarmati, whereassome of the river basins like Mahi, Tapi and Pennar arealready water stressed. The availability of less than1000 cubic metre per capita is considered as scarcityas per International Standards and remedial measures,as possible, need to be planned. Thus, scarcityconditions already exists in some parts of the countrywhich needs to be mitigated.

Table : Water Resources of IndiaGeographical Area 328 m haCulturable Area 185 m haRainfall 4000 cubic kmUtilisable Water 1122 cubic km (includingResources 432 cubic km from

Groundwater)Ultimate irrigation 139.9 m hapotential

1.3. Out of the ultimate irrigation potential of 139.9 mha, by 1996-97, 90.81 m ha is already created including44.93 m ha from surface water and 45.88 m ha fromgroundwater.

2.0. Future Demands2.1. Drinking WaterUnited Nations has projected that by the year 2025 A D,the population in India would be around 1394 millionadopting medium projections. As per National WaterPolicy highest priority is accorded to drinking watersupply. Therefore, the likely need of the increasedpopulation would have to be met in the long termplanning to ensure drinking water supply.2.2. IrrigationIt is estimated that by the year 2025 A D, the utilizationof the resources are likely to go up to 1050 cubic kmconsisting of 700 cubic km from surface and 360 cubickm from groundwater. Thus, almost the entire utilizationof water resources of the country would be required toput to use by the year 2025 A D. However, even beforethis there would be many regions which would be facingserious shortage of water, especially Western Rajasthan,Maharashtra, Rayalseema in Andhra Pradesh, and most

Article

2


parts of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat States. At the sametime, there would be regions which would continue toremain surplus due to availability of large waterresources potentials but inadequate culturable lands.2.3. Demand for Food GrainsAt present, the average annual food grains productionduring the last three years in the country is around 200million tonnes, besides, sugar and edible oils etc. Thefuturistic demand for food grains upto 2025 A D woulddepend on population, per capita requirement and needfor exports. The food requirements by then would goupto 400 million tonnes per year. Therefore, concertedefforts would have to be made to step up the presentproduction through efficient management of both landand water resources. However, the most crucial yetdetermining factor would remain to be the availability ofdependable irrigation water.3.0. Irrigation Potential3.1. The assessment of ultimate irrigation potential ofthe country made in 1972 has been revised, mainly onaccount of reassessment of groundwater potential bythe Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) from 40 mha to 64.05 m ha. The ultimate irrigation potential forminor surface water schemes was also revised from 15m ha to 17.38 m ha. Consequently, the ultimate irrigationpotential stands revised from 113.5 m ha to 139.9 m haas per the details furnished in table below:

Table : Irrigation Potential (million hectare)

Ultimate Irrigation Potential (m ha)Sector Existing Revised

i) Major & Medium Irrigation 58.46 58.46ii) Minor Irrigation

a) Surface water 15.00 17.38b) Grounded water 40.00 64.05

55.00 81.43Total (i + ii) 113.46 139.89

3.2. If, one assumes a moderate growth in demandcoupled with the efficient irrigation practices leading tohigher per ha crop yield from existing 2.5 tonne toachievable 3.5 tonne, the present irrigated potentialwould be sufficient to meet the projected foodrequirements. Shortages and large scale import of foodgrains is likely to be socially unacceptable even inglobalized economy. This makes imperative to adoptother non conventional methods of increasing irrigationpotentials. The non conventional methods thought of,at present, are:(1) Conservation of water use and optimization of water

use efficiency;(2) Artificial groundwater recharge to further increase

groundwater potential;(3) Conjunctive use of surface and groundwater; and(4) Inter basin water transfer.

4.0. National Water Policy

4.1. The National Water Policy as adopted by National

Water Resources Council in its Fifth meeting on 1 April2002 describes: “Water is a prime natural resource, abasic human need and a precious national asset” - henceplanning, development and management of waterresources need to be governed by national perspective.It emphasizes the need of well-developed informationsystem for water related data at national and state levelfor resource planning through which water resourceavailable to the country should be brought within thecategory of utilizable resources to the maximum possibleextent. It recommends, economic developments andactivities including agriculture, industrial and urbandevelopment should be planned with due regards to theconstraint imposed by the configuration of wateravailability. There should be water zoning of the countryand the economic activities should be guided andregulated in accordance with such zoning. To implementthis broad principle, it is necessary to create awarenessabout water as a scarce resource commodity and createconservation consciousness amongst people throughregulations, incentives and dis-incentives.4.2. Agriculture Sector, being the biggest consumer ofwater, has to be sensitized to the need of respectingwater as a scarce resource, even where it is plenty, atpresent. Efficient water use in crop production is indeedan inter-disciplinary subject and requires inputs fromengineers, agriculture scientists, social scientists andfarmers.

5.0. Employment and Income Impact

Irrigation is playing an important role in generatingemployment in rural areas. Since, employment andincome dynamics of irrigation extend far beyond farmsector, irrigation expansion plays a vital role in regionaldevelopment. The additional employment generateddue to irrigation is estimated at 8.7 million person-years(MPYs) including 2.6 MPYs in works and 6.1 MPYs infarm and non-farm activities. It is also estimated thatirrigation helps to induce 5 per cent increase in additionaloutput in manufacturing and 14 per cent in the tertiaryservice sector.

6.0. Problems of Irrigation Sector

Despite its remarkable agricultural and micro economiccontributions, the irrigation sector faces many problemsboth from within and outside the sector. Problems nowfaced are not only sectoral issues but economic withintheir ramifications, as well. Solution to the irrigationsector problems will have a strong bearing on agriculturalsustainability and economic stability.6.1. Problems in Surface IrrigationThe surface irrigation projects would continue to play astronger role. The weak physical, financial andinstitutional foundation on which the irrigation sector isoperating makes it doubtful whether the sector cancontinue to deliver production, income, employmentbenefits at the present level. Although, surface irrigationprojects have brought prosperity, the projectsthemselves have tended to remain unviable with thewater rates covering less than 5 per cent of Operation

3


and Maintenance (O&M) costs. Water logging, salinityand alkalinity is one fall out of poor management of thesystem and the others being distressed tail enderfarmers. It is expected that the present surface irrigationsystems are woefully inefficient causing manyenvironmental and ecological problems. Nevertheless,if these resources are well-managed, better-planned andoptimally- and efficiently-utilized, the potential presentlycreated would be adequate to meet the future demandof irrigated agriculture without investing in new projects.6.2. Problems in Groundwater6.2.1 Although, the groundwater works, which areindividually owned, have better efficiency andproductivity, the main problem is of developing anadequate and potent kit of policy instrument that canenable policy makers to bring a modicum of order in itspresent chaotic development under private initiatives.6.2.2 Free or highly subsidized availability of power hascaused more damage to groundwater. The urgent need,therefore, is to check pumping an overdraft ofgroundwater keeping in view the groundwater dependentagricultural economy. Besides, declining water levels,groundwater is also confronted with the problem ofchemical quality. Capital intensive technology availableto elite and influential farmers has created iniquitousdevelopment and emergence of informal water markets,thus treating water as a tradable commodity in absenceof effective legislation.

7.0. Challenges

7.1. The new economic policy which underlines financialdisciplines and market based approaches to economicmanagement and acceptance of WTO, which hasinitiated global agricultural trade liberalization, hasplaced Indian agriculture amidst a host of challengesand opportunities. This necessitates stipulating a 4.5per cent growth rate against all time 3 per cent. This ispossible, if there is a higher productivity anddiversification to high value farm production, which canhappen only through irrigation. The sector is posed withtwo main formidable challenges, one, the greenrevolution which having shown high agricultural growthis now showing signs of lethargy due to progressiveexhaustion of technological potential and deteriorationin natural resources, and two, the land resource basedagriculture is gradually declining due to land degradation.7.2. Besides this, the other challenges are:(1) Limitations on physical expansion of irrigation

particularly in major river basins which is fastapproaching its ultimate potential;

(2) Competitive use of water from other sectors. Theshare of irrigation in the total water use is expectedto decline from 83 per cent to 73 per cent duringnext decade as a result of four fold growth in nonirrigational sectors;

(3) Fiscal constraint to expansion is also becomingincreasingly binding. For instance, the share ofirrigation in the total Plan expenditure has comedown from 22 per cent from the First Plan (1951-

1956) to 6.5 per cent in the Ninth Plan (1997-2002).Irrigation contributes significantly to the revenuedeficits of the States.

8.0. Performance Improvements

In the context of present situation, it is not onlyimperative but compulsive to improve the performanceof the irrigation sector. Unlike the expansion strategywhich faces formidable exogenous constraints, the majorproblems for the performance improvement strategyhave to be manageable and largely endogenous to theirrigation sector. The issues confronting the performanceimprovement are many, varied and inter linked. Thesecould be classified as physical issues, economic &financial issues and institutional issues describedhereunder:8.1. Physical IssuesThe physical conditions of irrigation system is in badshape limiting its capability and realibility. Inefficiencypervades from catchment to the drainage networkleading to under utilization of the highly costly resources.Physical deterioration leads to considerable water wastedue to which it is impossible to deliver water in the rightamount at right time and the ultimate result is reductionin irrigated areas; and the ultimate toll is economicperformance.8.2. Economic IssuesThe economic and financial issues are intertwined andhave their origin in current related policies like waterpricing, cost recovery and expenditure prioritization.Despite Government agreeing to revise water rates, theuneconomic old water rates continue even at present.As serious as the financial manifestations of currentinvestment and water pricing policies are theirdeleterious economic consequences on the productionfront. Subsidized water rates disenthuse farmers to optfor the tenets of water use efficiency and conservation.8.3. Institutional IssuesThe fundamental cause of all critical issues is the weakinstitutional foundation. The institutional issues include;(1) Gaps and weaknesses in the organization base of

water distribution and management;(2) The problems and limitations of existing plan and

administration; and(3) Lack of organic linkages between water delivery

mechanism and agricultural inputs, credit andextension services.

9.0. Strategies and Perspectives

9.1. There is urgent need to reform the current irrigationpolicy and strategy to further its contribution toagriculture, generate employment, income andeconomic growth. Such reforms shall gear up theirrigation sector to effective distribution for productionoptimization, accept challenges induced by economicliberalization, grass root level demand for decentralizedpolicy and making management accountable. Theperformance improvement strategy would provide anopportunity for redressing the irrigation sector and thusmaking it more responsive to current as well as future

4


needs. The proposed strategy therefore involve a shift:a) From the current emphasis on physical expansion

to performance improvement;b) From the current focus on water supply with limited

goal of agricultural production to focus irrigation asa critical tool for augmenting production and bringefficiency in its use;

c) From Government control to client oriented focus;d) From dependency on Government budget to

collection of commercial water charges;e) From Government controlled institutions to

commercially oriented, effective and efficientautonomous service institutions with minimumoverall costs; and

f) From Government ownership to privatization andparticipatory management.

9.2. The above strategy calls for simultaneousintervention in the institutional, financial, technologicaland social areas. Irrigation agencies need to berestructured, water users’ association (WUA) fosteredfor operation and maintenance of irrigation works,expenditure reprioritized and water rights introduced.The action plan to effect these changes is suggestedbelow:9.3. Restructuring of Irrigation Departments9.3.1. The Irrigation Departments are required to bereformed and restructured to accept new challenges for:(1) Making them more autonomous, less construction

oriented and more client focussed;(2) Improving their internal structure and making them

more decentralized;(3) Enhancing their internal and external

communications and linkages; and(4) Enhancing their skill and performance.9.3.2. The specific modalities of restructuring woulddiffer from state to state and might be situation specific.To make the Irrigation Departments more clientfocussed, it is necessary to develop political andadministrative will, staff incentives and rewards systems,internal communications and feedback mechanisms asalso skill updating. The financial self sufficiency by thenew institutions (e.g., WUAs, NGOs, Private SectorFirms, Autonomous Service Institutions) could beachieved through recovery of the recurrent cost byrevising the water rates, cutting down administrative costwithout compromising on quality and efficiency andpromoting irrigation management transfer.9.4. Irrigation Management Transfer9.4.1. The past two decades emphasized onaddressing the management dimensions of irrigation butthis management focus sought ways to improve theperformance of irrigation, managers did not address themore fundamental issue of who those managers shouldbe. It was assumed that the management wouldcontinue to be with the Government and that the role offarmers would be only as a tertiary willing participants.However, recently there has been an active thinking andaction on transfer of irrigation works to farmers or NGOs.Recognizing the fact that irrigation management transfer

is an evolutionary process, Water Users’ Associationwill have to be created in a phased manner. The BharatChamber of Commerce and the participatorymanagement of the tubewell by the Panchayats in WestBengal have proved successful. Promoting irrigationmanagement transfer involves legal, financial, socialchanges. The State Government may have to play agreater and intense role for such a transfer and NGOscan play a catalyst role in organizing farmers to developand manage their water resources. The financialinstitutions may have to provide funds to the WUAs fortheir success.9.4.2. Many of the tasks currently carried out by thenational and state governments can be performed bythe private sector firms who are becoming more andmore sophisticated and can provide a more focussedapproach for creation and effective management of theresources.

10.0. Points Need Attention

10.1. The design and performance of public irrigationsystem still follow some principles, which are not anymore in tune with the current and future needs of thefarmers and the country. Most schemes do not operateas planned. It would be a mistake to rehabilitate existingschemes or design new ones without using moreadvanced design principles and co-managing these withthe private institutions and farmers. Many changes inthe present concepts of water supplies are overdueparticularly in regard to:(a) Increasing irrigation intensity;(b) Recycling surface irrigation water;(c) Developing conjunctive use;(d) Improving canal efficiency;(e) Introducing dynamic regulations;(f) Transfering completed works to farmers; and(g) Improving water management at chak level and

ensuring simultaneous completion of on farmdevelopment works.

10.2. To sum up, to fulfill the tasks ahead, would entail:a) Reforming the State Irrigation Department by putting

them on a sound financial basis and improving theirlinkages with the agricultural institutions;

b) Fastening the creation of Water Users Association(WUA) and turn over of irrigation projects foreffective management, O & M care of the minorand distribution canals;

c) Establishing the water rights; andd) Rehabilitating and modernizing the irrigation

systems.10.3. Improving irrigation-financing would entail uponmaking the Irrigation Departments autonomous and self-financing through increased water charges, improvingcollection rates and developing instruments to captureprivate sector investments in development andmanagement. The thrust of the new strategy would beon integrated approach to irrigation performance andagricultural growth, where reforming both the irrigationsystem and the irrigated agriculture interface would bethe primary vehicle for sustainable agricultural growth.

1


NEWS BRIEFS

OXFAM SAYS EU DAIRY POLICY DESTROYS THIRDWORLD LIVES

The EU’s milk and dairy subsidies destroy the livelihoodsof some world’s poorest farmers, who are underminedby the bloc’s large-scale dumping of surplus produce,British-based aid agency Oxfam said today. Europeantaxpayers financed their dairy industry to the tune of 16billion euros each year-the equivalent of about 40 percent of output by what was the most importantagricultural sector in most EU member, Oxfam said inreport. “This is equivalent to more than $2 per cow perday-half the world’s people live on less than this amount”,the report said, adding that export subsidies accountedfor about half of total EU expenditure on diary in recentyears. “But EU exports come at high price for poorproducers in developing and transition countries, manyof whom live in acute poverty, and face unfaircompetition from cheap subsidies EU produce in theirlocal markets and in export markets,” it said. Theseexports did not benefit European farmers but dairyprocessing and trading companies, which receivedmore than one billion euros in export subsidies eachyear to bridge the gap between high internal EU pricesand lower world prices, it said.Despite a complex system of member state productionquotas to keep supply roughly balanced with demand,the EU still turned out more milk and milk products suchas butter and milk powder than it needed to satisfydomestic consumption, Oxfam said. That resulted in astructural surplus of dairy produce, absorbed internallyor dumped externally using subsidies,which “EUsurpluses of milk and milk products are dumped on worldmarkets using costly export subsidies, which destroypeople’s livelihoods in some of the world’s poorestcountries,”it said. The EU introduced quotas in 1984within its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to try tostop over-production of milk in Europe.Alongwith the quotas and export subsidies, the EU alsoapplied a labyrinthine system of price support and importcurbs to protect its internal market for competition,Oxfam said. “Import restrictions are the flipside of theexport subsidy system,” the report said.“Without tariffs, the high internal EU prices for dairyproducts would attract large volumes of imports.Therefore, the EU maintains high tariffs against importsof dairy produce in order to protect domestic producersfrom competition.”Current policy on quotas has been effectively frozen asthe dairy sector only comes up for reform in 2008. Inthe meantime, the executive Commission has beenstudying various proposals and the quota system looks

set to survive in some kind of shape. The two mainoptions under discussion are to keep the status quo orto build on the reforms already agreed-meaning reducedsupport prices for butter and skimmed milk powder,offset by direct payments to farmers and raisedproduction quotas. The other alternative are to abolishquotas, a move that the Commission says would triggera 25 percent fall in prices, or to introduce separate quotasfor internal consumption and exports. The last optionhas now been largely discarded. Oxfam said theapproach to reform favoured by European Commissionand most member states was based on an obsessionwith defending Export market shares, regardless of cost.What was really needed, it said , was a sharp cut inproduction quotas to end dumping, alongwith measuresto redistribute agricultural support to small-scale farmers.

GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDIES REACHUNSUSTAINABLE PROPORTIONS: WTO

Though the WTO has been advocating for reducing farmsubsidies, it has been facing resistance from the USAand EU countries who consider that the reduction offarm subsidy would be harmful to their economy. ButWTO states including the third world countriescommitted themselves to make efforts to free in farmproducts, cut subsidies and provide greater access toeach other’s markets at the Doha talks. Other trade areaslike services and industrial goods are also to beliberalized, according to a report received here.A top WTO officials pleaded for progress in efforts tofree up the politically-sensitive area of farm tradeyesterday, saying failure could jeopardize a new globalround of commerce talks, the report said.He said the European Union in particular needed toreform its controversial, subsidy-heavy farm policy andthat the EU and the United States needed to patch uprecent trade disputes.“Agriculture is one element of trade which has beencrying out for basic reform for so long,” Sergio Marchi,Canadian WTO ambassador and head of the GeneralCouncil of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), told aconference. He cited figures which showed rich statesspend $1.0 billion a day supporting agriculture and Britishaid group which has said $2.20 a day are spent on eachcow in Europe while three billion people in poor nationssurvive on less than that.“However we measure the numbers, global agriculturalsusbsidies have reached absurd and unsustainableproportions” he told the conference, organised byBrussels-based think –tank the Centre for EuropeanPolicy Studies. Marchi, also chairs meetings of the

News Briefs

2


General Council, the second highest decision-makingbody in the group, and oversees the negotiations whichbegan last year in Doha to further liberalise world trade.Canada is one of the world’s top agricultural exportersand has long campaigned against EU and U.S.farmexport subsidies.“ Equally the European Community will have to makeprogress on reform of the Common Agricultural Policy(CAP).Without real progress on agriculture, there willbe no Doha round”, he saidOn farm talks, the WTO has a March 2003 deadline todecide the framework of how the negotiations willproceed. A senior WTO official is also to produce aprogress report on the proposals made so far by Dec.18this year. Marchi said overall he was confident of a WTOdeal by the end of the Doha round, due in 2005 , andhoped EDU would come up with proposals in time forthe WTO December progress report.The EU is in talks on reforming the CAP, which swallows40 billion euros(dollars) almost half the EU budget, ayear.The EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler, architectof CAP reform with a radical blueprint that would removemany trade-distorting subsidies, said his proposal fordecoupling- breaking the link between production andaid- was essential in the WTO talks.“As negotiators acting on behalf of the European Union,we need to maximise our negotiating capital. If we cangive a bit more, we can get a bit more” he told EU farmministers. “Hence our proposals for decoupling couldbe crucial in getting the best deal for the Europeanmodel of agriculture”.Fischler’s bold plans would go some way towardsplacating critics of EU farm policy but remain deadlockedbetween ministers, with little chance of headway of somemonths.

MORE CROP PER DROP

The role of agriculture is essential in resolving the world’swater problems.12 March 2002 — As the International Year ofFreshwater, 2003 is an opportunity to focus on the roleof water as a precious and finite resource that we mustuse carefully. To feed an additional 2 billion people by2030, water needs to be used more efficiently.Agriculture is the biggest water consumer. It uses around70 percent of all freshwater withdrawals worldwide. Witha growing world population, agriculture will face morecompetition from industrial and domestic water users.This is why agriculture will have to use water moreefficiently.Rainfed agriculture accounts for 60 percent of foodproduction in developing countries on 80 percent ofarable land. Only 20 percent of the arable land indeveloping countries is irrigated, but it produces around40 percent of all crops and close to 60 percent of cereal

production.The contribution of irrigation to world crop production isexpected to increase in coming decades: the irrigatedarea in developing countries is expected to increase by40 million hectares (20 percent) by 2030. This is lessthan half of the increase over the last 35 years (99 millionhectares).The reasons for this slowdown are:• The growth rate of food demand will decrease.• Suitable areas for irrigation will be increasingly

scarce in some countries.• The cost of irrigation investment will rise.Irrigation expansion will be strongest in land-scarceareas where irrigation is already very important: mainlyin South and East Asia, and in the Near East and NorthAfrica.There will be no overall shortage of land or water forirrigation, but serious problems will persist in somedeveloping countries and regions. One in fivedeveloping countries will face water shortages by 2030.Agriculture will have to improve the performance of bothirrigated and rainfed production. Investments for smarterwater-saving agricultural practices and better watermanagement are urgently needed. Agriculture’spotential needs to be unlocked to resolve the world’swater problems and to use scarce water resources muchmore productively.The technical solutions to produce ‘more crop per drop’exist. But investments and political will are often lackingto improve rainfed production and modernize irrigationsystems and to respond to the needs of people in ruralareas.Unless national governments and funding agenciesmake strategic choices in favour of agricultural watermanagement, agriculture will not be in a position tomaintain necessary water allocations for food producedby irrigation.It is therefore essential:• to recognize that agriculture is the sector where the

potential for water productivity gains is highest,• to accept that all sources of water (rain, surface

water, groundwater and wastewater) are importantto achieve food security where water is scarce,

• to create the right policy, institutions and marketincentives to increase water-use productivity inagriculture,

• to move from supply-to demand-driven and service-oriented water management,

• to realize that rural development may be betterserved by investments in sectors other thanirrigation. The best option depends on thecircumstances in each country.

The International Year of Freshwater will be a great stepforward if the International community focuses moreattention on the Importance of water management inrural areas.

1


The IV World Neem Conference was organised byNEEM Foundation in collaboration with Industries andResearch Institutions during 27 to 30 November 2002in Hotel Taj Lands End, Bandra, Mumbai. Theundersigned represented NABARD RO, Pune. Theparticipants included 250 experts, entrepreneurs,researchers from India and 50 from overseas.

I. Inaugural Session

The inaugural function was chaired by Shri MohanDharia, a well known social worker and environmentalist,President Vanarai, Pune. Key note address wasdelivered by Dr. P.Pushpangadan, Director, NationalBotanical Research Institute, Lucknow. Dr.N B Godrej,Chairman, Steering Committee of IV World NeemConference, NEEM 2002 in his welcome speech,described neem tree in poetical language wherein heclearly brought out that China has already plans to growneem tree on a grand scale. There is, therefore, anurgent need for India to wake up and exploit potential ofNeem so as to improve health of living beings, bringprosperity and wealth to the country in particular andhuman kind at large. He also pleaded for permission tourea coating with neem which would increase the priceof urea marginally but improve its efficiencytremendously, especially in country’s vast rice fields.Dr.Pushpangadan, in his key note address, brought outinnumerable advantages of neem to the mankind.Archaeological evidences indicate that neem leaveswere used for grain preservation even during Induscivilisation. Neem was preferred for preservation ofgrains and for medicinal value since time immemorial.More than 160 uses of neem have been identified. Healso traced the use of neem in Siddha and Ayurveda.Revival of neem patent in favour of India was anHerculean task. Neem Mission, India under theleadership of One Man Army and doyen of neem ShriC M Ketkar of Pune played a pivotal role in this regard.Now, it is therefore necessary that India should provideleadership in neem by enlisting various uses of neemso that the products would be available for use at areasonable price and also conveniently made availableto the other people on globe for their betterment. Further,benefits could be harnessed by Indian institutions asindigenous technology and not forced to purchase fromother countries if they are patented. Shri Mohan Dharia,in his presidential address, underlined the importanceof greening the earth through watershed development

IV WORLD NEEM CONFERENCE - NEEM 2002

activities. He described neem as a golden tree of 21stCentury, kalpavruksha and miraculous tree of India. Healso strongly pleaded for inclusion of 10% of neemplantation in afforestation programme of Social ForestryDepartment of the country. The Inaugural function cameto a close with vote of thanks by Dr.Vyas from GodrejAgrovet.

II. Plenary Lectures

Dr.Shmutterer delivered his address on Three Decadesof Neem Research in Germany. In his address, hebrought out Insecticidal properties of neem and itsbyproducts and their use in integrated pest management.Azadirachtin content of neem have been effectiveindicator of its efficacy. There were 13 more invitedlectures depicting various activities of neem. Theimportant ones included1. Role of neem products in management of insect

pests with neem and global perspective.2. Utilisation of neem products in enhancement of

fertiliser efficiency.3. Review of indigenous knowledge of neem from 1500

BC to 1900 AD.4. Neem from disenfranchised tree to an industry crop.5. Role of neem in animal health.6. Neem in nematode management.7. Neem research - Italian experience.8. Issues relating registration of neem pesticides in

different countries.9. Intellectual property rights and related issues.10. Constraints relating to development of neem industry

and11. Concept in neem pest contribution and its medicinal

properties.Dr. Venugopal systematically reviewed the indigenous

Research Communications

2


knowledge of neem and vividly brought out multifarioususes of neem for its medicinal, insecticidal, pesticidal,regulator of nitrification, fertilizer and for several othervalues. Dr. Vyas elaborated on the utility of neem inenhancement of fertilizer use efficiency. He also quotedextensively from the basic research works of Hulagurand Shinde from India carried out during 1970s and1980s.

III. Technical Sessions

There were 16 concurrent technical sessions. The topicsincluded for technical sessions were. Insect control,Environment and socio economic issues, Animal andhuman health, Chemistry, Nematode control, Funguscontrol, Process and product development, Geneticimprovement and afforestation, Socio-economic issues,Chemistry and fertiliser.Dr. M R Sharma, Principal Technical Adviser, NABARD,HO, Mumbai also presented a paper on credit supportfrom NABARD for development of medicinal plantsincluding neem in India.Shri Suresh Prabhu, M.P. also addressed participantson 28 November 2002 and drove home the dire needfor cataloguing multifarious uses of neem and itsbyproducts and creation of research data base in theirsupport so that India will have ligitimate claims on thoseknowledge bases as it formed an integral part of itsIndigenous Technology Knowledge (ITK).Dr. B F Hulagur, DGM, NABARD worked as a judge fordeciding award of prizes for papers presented in postersession and also was a co-chairman for technical sessionon Socio Economic Issues. During the deliberations,he informed that the local level institutions like Self HelpGroups (SHG), Village Watershed Committees (VWC),Village Development Committees (VDC), SayunktaMahila Samithis (SMS) - federation of women SHGs,etc. that were formed and strengthened underWatershed Development Programmes implemented byNABARD with the assistance of WatershedDevelopment Fund (WDF) and other external aidedprogrammes in the country could be used for collectionof quality neem seeds. Non-aerable lands of thesewatersheds are also producing healthy and good qualityneem plantations.

IV. Valedictory Session

Dr. D N Tiwari, Member, Planning Commission was theChief Guest during valedictory session. In all 141 paperswere presented, of which 90 were oral presentationsand 51 poster presentations. Also, 14 were invitedlectures / plenary lectures on various topics in the field.Based on the discussions during four days, the following

recommendations were made :

V. Recommendations

1. International technical cell of experts be establishedto encourage cooperation to provide help andaddress issues relating to scheduling, registrations,specifications, standardization, etc.

2. In order to focus on the Neem for SustainableDevelopment, a Neem Technology Mission shouldbe constituted by Government of India.

3. Declare Neem as National Tree of India and urgeupon the Ministry of Environment and Forestry aswell as Wasteland Development Boards to take uplarge scale neem plantations programme throughoutthe country.

4. Since Neem is indigenous to India, there exists awealth of knowledge about Neem, India should leadthe neem movement for the benefit of humanity.

5. Ministry of SSI and Ministry of ARI, through itsvarious agencies should establish TechnologySupport Centres for Neem in collaboration with StateGovernments having potential for developing Neembased products industry clusters.

6. Respective departments of Government of Indiashould provide policy and fiscal support for existingand promising Neem Technologies, e.g. excise andsales tax exemption for Neem based plant protectionproducts, clearance for manufacture and sale ofneem Coated Urea and so on.

7. States with major population of Neem trees takesteps to increase neem seed collection and establishdemonstration centres for primary processing ofseeds and fruits.

8. Agriculture extension network should be sensitizedto promote the organic farming especially ofvegetables and fruits, which would eventually leadto increased usage of neem products.

9. In order to have focused development of soundtechnologies, respective departments shouldestablish nodal institutes in identified areas. Thepossibilities of upgrading the existing technologycentre to nodal national centre should be examined.

10. The work on Genetic Improvement aimed at earlyfruiting, increased fruit yields, higher limonoidcontents, high oil content, wider adaptability orspecific varieties for specific regions be undertakenat the institutes of ICAR, ICFRE, CSIR, etc.

11. Certain new areas of research in addition to Insectand Nematode Control about the role of Neem suchas a herbicide, plant growth enhancers, have cometo the light and research on these need to be takenup on large scale.

3


12. All gaps in research to be identified and addressedto increase the acceptability of neem productsworldwide.

13. A census of neem trees in the country be taken upby Ministry of Environment and Forestry.

14. Newly created Aromatic and Medicinal Plant Boardshould take necessary steps for popularization,technology generation and promotion of neem basedtechnologies.

15. ICAR should examine the possibility of establishingNational Research Centre on neem on lines ofexisting individual crop based centres.

16. To ensure the quality of the product, there is needto establish / identify a National Agency /Organisation.

17. Various sources of data indicated that the neem treepopulation in India ranges from 17 to 20 million. Inview of the tremendously increased demand forneem and neem based products, extensivecultivation of neem be undertaken in vast dry lands/ waste lands in India and other African countries.

18. There should be free access to knowledge andexchange of information on neem for its widespreaduse.

The next World Neem Conference is proposed to beheld in Africa, preferably in Nairobi. Dr. Tiwari in hisaddress informed that a stamp on neem will be releasedby President of India. Further, he elaborated that neemhas capacity to contribute pure water and air to theenvironment and hence it is eco-friendly. Neem is afriendly tree as it contributes to preventive health care.Further, he emphasised that the knowledge ofgermplasm should be shared at world level. Restrictionsin this area to be removed. In a liberalised economy,we will be moving in this direction to ensure economicgrowth for all and poverty alleviation at the global level.India being the custodian of traditional knowledge andwisdom on Neem, would like to give a lead so that theneem serves as saviour for solving the manifoldproblems of mankind.

VI. Observations

The undersigned also had an opportunity of attendingthe World Neem Conference held in Bangalore during1993. Unlike that, the present one was dominated bybusiness community as against the researchers then.In view of the liberalised World economy, worldpopulation is drawing closer to each other in a closeknit. Entrepreneurs world over, would use neem forbetterment of mankind, apart from making grandiosesums for themselves. Business community world over

should also note true and noble qualities of neem inproviding healing touch to all the living beings. It couldalso be said that the “Neem could try to satisfy allpossible NEEDS but not all GREEDS.”Growing world population and its ever increasingdemands has led to over exploitation of naturalresources leading to their degeneration beyondrecuperation. The ‘NEEM’ because of its multifarioususes appears to be the sole saviour that can providesoothing effect and thus, save the living ones on earth.Hence, Neem deserves special treatments like“Millenium tree, Wonder tree, TREE of INDIA”. Releaseof commemorative stamp will be a small beginning inthe right direction.

VII. Utility to NABARD

The programme has been highly useful to theundersigned in particular as it enabled him to haveexposure to the latest knowledge and understanding onthe subject. NABARD being a developmental bank hasa special interest in the development of vast stretchesof parched dry lands and nearly 34 million hectares ofdegraded lands of the country. Greening these landsand their upgradation could be enhanced by plantingthem largely with neem as part of afforestationprogramme, alley cropping, bund planting, shade tree,timber tree, medicinal plant, etc.Mobilisation of local institutions like VWC, VDC, VVVClubs, SHGs, SMSs for collection and processing ofneem seeds / kernels will be a big step in providingmillions of landless people, widows, aged people withjob opportunities which will enable them in earning theirlivelihood in their respective livelihood space. Severalindustrial houses and private entrepreneurs are alsoimparting training programmes on collection of qualityseeds / kernels and their agro processing.Further, by-products of neem are finding new and highlybeneficial uses like medicines for deadly and incurablediseases such as HIV AIDS, cancer, heart ailments, etc.Urea coating can save huge foreign exchange. Neemcan also provide cheap, hygienic and near naturalcontraceptive. It is also effective controller of Malariawhich afflicts millions in tropical and sub-tropicalcountries including India.Assisting in development of commercial products byexploiting the useful traits of neem could give NABARDample opportunities in expanding its businessavenues and simultaneously providing service as adevelopmental organisation in the near future.

Dr. B F HULAGUR

READER�S OPINION

Dear Sir,

We are in receipt of your letter dated 1 April, 2003 along with the technical digest issue 5 July – September

2002. I have gone through it with interest and the articles included are very topical. The printing and presentation

is very good. Through the areas covered in the digest it very clearly brings out the active participation of

NABARD in establishing “knowledge connectivity” as pointed out by the Hon’ble President in his Independence

Day broad cast. The subjects cover some very interesting field and exhibit the resourcefulness/innovational of

the entrepreneurs. The article on “Diversifying Agriculture” registering the brilliant achievement of Sri Darbara

Singh Tabiba is very inspiring and eye-opener. Many more like him are needed to meet the challenge of

globalization.

One particular aspect I wish you to request to consider is the reader of your digest in case they are farmers. If

it could be in regional language it will have much greater reach. All said and done journal is excellent and I wish

it all success. - Swami Shashankananda, Secretary- Ramakrishna Mission Ashram

Dear Sir,

Thank you very much for sending me the Technical Digest a quarterly journal of NABARD (issue 4 & 5 April-

June and July –September 2002). I found the issues very informative and useful. I am sending the issues to our

library to their wider use. - K. Prathap Reddy, Director, Institute of Rural Management, Anand

Dear Sir,

Thank you very much for sending technical digest issue-5 of NABARD. This magazine is informative. I hope,

you will continue to send technical digest issues to us in future. - Dr. R J Bojan, Director, MPEDA, Kochi

Dear Sir,

Many thanks for forwarding the above issue of Technical Digest to us DDMs directly. In various forums in the

District, the DDM of NABARD is looked upon as a resource person and there are occasions such as in BLBC

meetings where various grassroots level doubts, some of which are of technical nature, need to be clarified.

Articles and research studies published in the Technical Digest therefore come in handy for the DDM to deal

with such queries. - Julius Machado, DDM-Junagadh

Dear Sir,

Thank you very much for your letter enclosing the ‘Technical Digest’. Please accept my congratulations.

- Dr. S. Ayyapan, DDG Indian Council of Agricultural Research

NABARD

Documents

shri mohan

technical

village watershed

water users

international

kegg farms

wollemi national

dry land farming