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Index - ISAP
Activities - Who’s
who in agriculture? -
Science & Technology - Do
you Know! -
Conferences & Seminars - News
Highlights |
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Indian
Society of Agribusiness Professionals |
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A Social Enterprise Committed to
Rural Prosperity |
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ISAP Monthly
Newsletter Volume 3, Issue- 2 (Date of Issue-Nov 01, 2010 ) |
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ISAP activities
We at ISAP are
pleased and proud to share with you the fact that the India “Certified Crop
Advisor” (India CCA) program has taken a significant step forward, and
conducted a pilot exam on behalf of American Society of Agronomy (ASA), at
the IRRI office, Pusa Complex, New Delhi on 8
August 2010. As many as 22 candidates took this beta exam, of which majority
have been declared successful by ASA, Wisconsin, USA. It is significant to
note that this certification is valid and recognized in USA and Canada also.
This India CCA Program is first in the series of the international promotion
of Certification by the ASA. The next
India CCA exam on an open, regular basis is scheduled to be held on 12
December 2010 at five centres – Delhi, Amritsar, Hisar, Chandigarh and Hyderabad. This certification has been launched in India by ASA in
collaboration with Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP) &
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). This examination comprises a
comprehensive syllabus covering four major competency areas viz., Crop
Management, Soil & Water Management, Nutrient Management and Integrated
Pest Management. An interesting and attractive feature of CCA program
consists of “continuing education” for renewing the certification, as
well as for updating scientific knowledge with practical work. The “India CCA
Certificate” will be issued by American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Madison, Wi, USA. and will be valid in
USA, CANADA and INDIA. The program is open for all the Agri
professionals and agri graduates who are engaged in
Farm Advisory activity whether in private or public sectors or even those who
have just completed their graduate degree. India CCA program will be very
helpful in improving the quality of farm advisory services and personally to
those engaged in this activity across various sectors of farming and
Agriculture. Detailed information for prospective candidates regarding this
India CCA exam, is available on the website
www.certifiedcropadviser.org/india. Candidates can also get the information
from the Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals at +91-11-43154100 or
through e-mail at indiacca@isapindia.org. ISAP – Progress of Project Share Rajasthan: SHARE farmers have received better yield as
compared to previous year and also as compared to other farmers in the
neighborhood. During a monitoring
visit to SHARE area, farmers reported that the results were encouraging.
Maize yield was reported by the majority of project farmers at 8 to 12 qtls per beegha (20 to 30 qtls per acre; or 5-6 t / ha). Interventions with “Seed
cum fertilizer drill” and “Matka pesticides” in
Rajasthan, has been immensely successful and project farmers adopted the
technologies quite willingly. Project SHARE Farmers Groups were trained on
low cost practices and community based
demos were laid out on vermi compost units, low
cost micro Irrigation units, including “rain gun”. A ‘Buyer -Seller
Meet on Maize’ was organized in Cheta village (block Hindoli)
on 28 October 2010 in Bundi Rajasthan, As many as
120 stakeholders including lead buyers
participate along with maize processors and aggregators from Bundi, Bhilwara and lead
farmers from project groups. Nabard district Manager , Mandi Secretary and
Chairman were also present in this meet. Issues and challenges of marketing
were discussed, buyers and sellers were introduced to each other and SHARE
team extended help in signing as many as 40 mutual contact letter (Sahmati Pattra). Another
outcome of this meet was that the District Manager of Nabard
agreed to associate with these farmers like with the Nabard's
farmers clubs in the district. ADILABAD: A visit by a 25-strong group of national media (from
Chennai, Banglore, Mumbai, Delhi, Nagpur, Hydrabad and Adilabad) was organized to project SHARE area in Adilabad AP on 21 and 22 October 2010. Ms Jyotsna Bhatnager, Director CSR Monstanto,
Ms Michelle,Lead PR
Monsanto and Mr Vedprakash
Sharma, National Project Coordinator from ISAP actively interacted with
farmers on sustainable yield initiatives being implemented under SHARE.
Performance of BG II Cotton hybrids Brahma and Sudarshan
was indeed impressive in the fields. The team also visited with SHARE Women
SHG members in Tribal village Salewada B in Utnoor Mandal. Their kitchen
gardens presented an impressive look while a farmers’ training programme on pre- and post- harvest management practices
was being conducted for project farmers next door. The intercropping of cotton with tur and soyabean at Manak Rao's field at Punna village and Mr Narayan
Ready's field in Kamagiri village in Ichoda Mandal were reported as
highly successful – so much so that farmers from other mandals
also visited these demos. The media team visited Manak
Rao's family at his residence and saw the
improvements in their livelihood pattern. Manak Rao’s son will be joining a Pharma
College and this will be a first for Punna village.
All 100 demos are
progressing well. Due to heavy rains nutrient deficiency was observed - spot
recommendations were made and crop has recovered the growth, with application
of macro- & micro- nutrients. Excessive vegetative growth is being
curtailed by apical clipping of growing shoots. Preventive application of Neemicin and Prophenophos is
being recommended.and adoption of
IPM (Preventive measures) are working well. Farmers’ visits to demos, KVKs,
Agricultural University, etc., is being enjoyed by a large number of farmers.
As many asl 2770 farmers visited selected demo plots and were
positively impressed with dibbling, transplanting and IPM practices. Also,2551 visited KVK and Agriculture Universities including Kisan Mela in October 2010.
Visits included Krishi Mela
at UAS Dharward, Farmers’ Getr
Together at KVK Bidar and KVK/ ARS Gulbarga. Twenty (20) Groups of Raichur
farmers were mobilized to a three days Krishi Mela at UAS Raichur.
Entrepreneurship
Development Program ISAP
is running Entrepreneurship Development Program in 9 states under the aegis
of MANAGE. This training is provided to unemployed agriculture and allied
sector graduates. After training, ISAP provides active hand-holding support
to these trained agripreneurs for the setting up
their own business venture. ISAP has so far trained 1378 agripreneurs
in Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, J&K, Madhya Pradesh,
Mizoram, Nagaland and Punjab. Some of the agripreneurs
have established their independent business successfully. We share one such
success story with our readers in ISAP newsletters.
Mr Jaswinder
Singh Sandhu, a resident of village Kallah, (Tehsil Khadur Sahib, Distt Tarn Taran) completed his two months training at ISAP training
Centre, Amritsar in November 2007 with ID number PUN 0454. Subsequent to this training, he started a
seed production unit along with cultivation of select crops for seed purpose
in 150 acres of land. He has installed the best processing plant available in
India with two indigenously made elevators & two additional machineries.
He has 5 members in his consulting teams. His unit supplies quality seeds to
the farmers and at the same time, provides know-how
and latest techniques of crop cultivation, nutrient management and
plant-protection. He uses internet,
cameras etc ., (all latest ICT techniques) to educate the farmers
about latest technologies of crop cultivation and plant protection Mr Sandhu has been earning INR 10 lakh per
year from his venture. ISAP wishes Mr Sandhu continued success in
his venture.
Who’s who in Agriculture?
(1843-
1947)
Sir Albert Howard
is referred to as father of modern organic agriculture. He did his graduation
in Natural Science from Cambridge in 1896. After this, he took diploma in
agriculture in 1897. He was a lecturer quite for some time for agriculture
and mycology in West Indies. Later (in 1905), he started working as agriculture advisor in Indore (India) It
was here that he learned and started promoting composting methods as a
process of returning nutrients back to the soil. Then, he developed and
documented many techniques of organic farming, which he spread to the world
with the help of UK-based Soil Association and the Rodale Institute in the
United States. In 1940, his book “An Agricultural Testament’ was published,
which is considered as a classic manuscript on organic farming. He’s been an
inspiration to many farmers and scientists having inclination in natural
sciences. Science & Technology For small and
marginal Women farmers, a hand operated, axial-flow maize dehusker-sheller
has been developed. Capacity of this machine is 100 kg maize-cobs per hour.
Average operation capacity of the machine was 80 kg per hour for both in
sitting and standing postures at a hand-cranking speed of 55 rotations per
minute. Even grain with moisture percentage of 13.4 had registered broken
percentage as low at 1%. Machine, therefore is very suitable for small and
marginal farmers for both in topographies of plain and hilly areas. The
estimated cost of this machine is INR 17000/- only. Source- ICAR Newsletter, S.P. Singh, Directorate of Research
on Women in Agriculture, Bhopal Centre (Madhya Pradesh), nrcwa@ori.nic.in Do You Know…! Agriculture
In (-credible) India -
India has the
largest area in the world under pulse crops. -
India is the
first in the world to evolve a cotton hybrid. -
About 80 percent
of India's farmland is used to grow India's main foods--grains and pulses,
the seeds of various pod vegetables, such as beans, chickpeas, and pigeon
peas. -
India has the
world's highest percentage of arable land to the total geographical area, in
the world. -
About 50% of
India's geographical area is used for agricultural activity. With the spread
of irrigation facilities, the introduction of high yielding variety of seeds
and farm mechanization, the vulnerability of the Indian agricultural sector
to the vagaries of the monsoons has been declining very fast.
Agriwatch
6 th Global
Pulses Summit 2010 Theme of the
event: India needs pulses for Indians to consume more Having identified
Pulses as an important and potentially worrying issue for India,
Agriwatch launched its Global Pulses Summit Series in 2004. After
successfully holding regional conferences on Pulses in Indore and Hyderabad
in 2010, Agriwatch announces the AW 6th Global Pulses Summit On 4th and 5th
of December, 2010. Over the years, Indian per capita consumption of pulses
and indeed proteins has declined. This is contrary to our expectations of the
world’s largest consumer of pulses with increasing disposable incomes. Hence
the 6th Agriwatch Global Pulses Summit will focus on how to increase the
consumption to support the nutritional needs of the growing nation. To reach
the target of recommended 80g per day per capita pulses consumption from the
current 43 gpd, is not an easy task. It requires
the entire industry to get together and create innovative solutions that
benefit all. The 6th Summit plans to engage all stakeholders to bring out
their perspectives and ideations on how to increase the consumption of pulses
in India. Honorable Agriculture Minsiter, Sh Sharad Pawar
will be inaugurating the event. This event is likely to witness a modest
gathering of 400 people. There will be an exhibition held parallel to the
conference. Machinery manufacturers like A-Mecs
International (RKG Enterprises), Sifter International and Sorting ASM etc,
are putting up stalls in this exhibition. AgriWatch
extends a warm
invite to all to join this mega conclave featuring
participation from Ministry of Consumers’ Affairs, Public Sector Units,
corporate and leading pulses processors, traders, exporters, importers,
brokers, assayers, logistic service providers, academicians, nutritionists,
scientists, research analysts etc from all across the country and abroad. For more
information, please visit – http://events.agriwatch.com
News Highlights Indian
tomatoes find good demand in Pakistan
2000
qtl H P potato seed for Leh
Farmers
Onion
prices up on good demand
financialexpress.com
Pakistan is
likely to remain out of onion business in International market this year, as
its production is badly hit due to recent floods in Sindh
and Punjab (provinces). Though, Pakistan is not a very big player, but its
absence is likely to favor other Asian players mainly India and China. Last
year, Pakistan exported a record 45,000 tonnes of
onion, which this year is expected to decline to just 20,000 tonnes. For this reason, prices of onion have increased
nearly by $100 / tonne in international markets.
Since, India also seems less inclined to scale up its onion export owing to
its own domestic demand; China is likely to take whole benefit of other Asian
players turning passive in onion export business. Lower
seed potato and tomato yield in Himachal due to rains
Himachal
set to market rotten-apple manure Government of
Himachal Pradesh has planned to try out an innovative idea of dealing with
problem of rotten apples. Production of apple in the state this year has
touched record 45 million boxes, which is more than triple of last year
harvest. So, problem of rotten apple is also high this year. HP government
will help apple growers in producing apple manure from rotten fruits through vermiculture. For this, Himachal Pradesh Marketing
Corporation (HPMC) has made collaboration with YS Parmar
University of Horticulture and Forestry to help apple growers in setting up
compost pits. Manure thus made of rotten apple will likely command premium on
quality basis, as apple fruit contains high percentage of nitrogen. This
manure is also proposed to be sold through IGNOU
launches certificate programs for West Bengal Farmers
Punjab to harvest 2
million tonnes
of potato this year Potao production in Punjab is likely to
register a slight decline this year partially due to shrinking of area, as
reported to media by official sources. Production of potato this year is
likely to remain 20 lakh tonnes
versus last year harvest of 21 lakh tonnes. Acreage under potato has marginally declined to
83,000 hectares versus 83,117 hectares last year. Potato crop in Punjab is
grown in Jalandhar, Kapurthala,
Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Moga,
Amritsar and Phagwara. Potato in Punjab is sown in
October and harvested in December/January. One of the goals of Punjab's
potato farmers is to grow it for seed purpose, which in fact is more remunerative
than for its usage for edible purpose. Punjab accounts for 60% share in seed
potato market. Main varieties grown in Punjab include Pukhraj,
Jyoti, Kufri Chandramukhi, Kufri Bahar and Kufri Ashoka. Farmers these days are also trying their hands on
imported varieties like 'Atlantic' and 'Lady Rosseta'
which are needed in potato processing industry. TN govt to promote vegetable cultivation
Attractive
tax structure for investment in food processing industries Government is
doing all its best to encourage investment in food processing industry, which
is the need of the hour, looking at the quantum of perishable losses that commodities undergo in waste
every year. On Tax front,100 percent tax exemption for first five assessment
years is now available to the industry under section 80-1B (11 A) of Income
Tax Act, 1961 towards the business of processing, preservation packaging of
fruits or vegetables. Also, a deduction from profits up to a specified
amounts is allowed under subsection (11 A) of section 80-1 B of the Income-tax
Act, 1961 in the case of an undertaking deriving profit from the business of
processing, preservation and packaging of fruits or vegetables, if such
undertaking began to operate such business on or after the 1st day of April,
2001. |
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Quotes Success has a simple formula: do your best,
and people may like it. ~Sam Ewing |
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Wishing you all a great Month ahead
ISAP Team
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