Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals

A Social Enterprise Committed to Rural Prosperity

Volume 3, Issue- 1 (Date of Issue-Oct 01, 2010 )

Index

ISAP File

Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP) is a non-government, non-profit organisation incorporated in 2001, under Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act.  It is a network of agriculture and allied sector professionals in India and developing countries. It is a growing network encompassing over 16,000 registered associate members, comprising 1500 Agri-Experts, 525 Partner NGOs, over 824 Individual users and more than 1050 researchers.

More about ISAP

ISAP activities

ISAP OCP project in Karnataka

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

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

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

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

October/ November 2010 at Gulbarga.

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

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

Update- Project SHARE

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

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

Golden Ray Project in Rajasthan

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

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

Be “Certified” by American Society of Agronomy, USA

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

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

The program was started by American Society of Agronomy (ASA) in 1991 in United States of America (USA) and was later extended to another north American country, Canada. India is the first country outside North America to provide this opportunity for Certification of which “continuing education” is a significant and attractive feature for renewing the certification, as well as for updating scientific knowledge with practical work. The “India CCA Certificate” will be issued by American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Madison, Wi, USA. and will be valid in USA, CANADA and INDIA. The program is open for all the 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 aims at improvement in the quality of farm advisory services and those personnel engaged in this activity across all sectors of Agriculture

Entrepreneurship Development Program

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

Success-story (Himachal Pradesh)

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

Conferences & Seminars

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

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

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

6  ^th Global Pulses Summit 2010

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

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

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

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

For more information, please visit – www.agriwatch.com/events

Science & Technology

ICAR scientists develop wilt resistant variety of tomato for NE Region

Scientists at ICAR research complex for North-East & Himalayan Region at Barapani have developed a new variety of tomato called Megha Tomato-3. This variety is resistant to most common disease in that region i.e. bacterial wilt. It can successfully be grown at regions of low temperatures. It can be grown in both irrigated and rainfed conditions. Megha Tomato-3 contains 2.30% acidity and 19.20 mg/100 g ascorbic acid. These two are responsible for Vitamin C and antioxidant properties in fruit. Also, this variety contains higher level of red pigment (called Lycopene), which is believed to have antioxidant and anti-cancer properties.

fnbnews

Do You Know!

Applicious

Apples are a member of rose family. Fresh apples float because 25 percent of their volume is air. Apples are high in fiber. One apple has 5 grams of fiber, supplying about 20% of the daily recommended dietary needs. Apple seeds are like human beings, as each seed will give a different type of apple from the planted seed. Science of growing apple is pomology and the French word for apple is “pomme’.

Chm.bris.ac.uk

News Highlights

Haryana CM proposes launching of Technology Mission on farm mechanization

In a meeting of Working Group on Agriculture Production presided by Honorable Chief Minister of Haryana, Sh Bhupinder Singh Hooda, stressed launching a technology mission on farm mechanization, which he feels is the only solution to overcome the productivity issues. According to him, even states like Haryana and Punjab, which are considered advanced in agriculture, are still under-mechanized. Sh Hooda added that we should try out technologies from countries like Japan and Korea, where in average land holding is small, similar to situation in our country. However, we have been following technologies, which are being used by countries like Canada, USA etc, where average land holding is far-far bigger. In this meeting, various aspects were discussed, which are needed to meet the future challenges of food shortage. A comprehensive report is scheduled to be submitted to Honorable Prime Minister, Sh Manmohan Singh for further consideration. 

Punjab Newsline

Lemon cultivation scheme for Assam farmers

Government has launched a long term scheme of lemon plantation in Baksa district of Assam, which is located on Indo-Bhutan border. Initially, some 16,000 plants of lemon will be planted on six bighas of land in Barengabari village under this scheme. Barengabari village is situated on the eastern side of the Manas National Park. In total, Rs 35 lakh has been allocated for this scheme. Inaugurating the scheme, Sh Hitesh Deb Sarma, Project Director, said that this scheme will not only help in clearing the wasteland, but will also help in creating the employment for labourers under NREGS scheme.  Other dignitaries present on this occasion include Mojammil Hussain (BDO, Gobardhana Development Block), Pabodh Kumar Brahma (Ranger Basabari Forest Range) and Mrigen Boro (Executive Engineer).

Assam Tribune

Govt seeking out Canadian investment in food processing

Ministry of Food Processing Industries is seeking investment of Canadian companies into food-processing in India, which is growing at the rate of more than 14%. In this regard, Honorable Minister for Food Processing Industries, Sh Subodh Kant Sahai himself is taking up initiatives at his personal level. He’s been involved in talks with Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, and agriculture ministers of Manitoba and Quebec provinces. There is reportedly a huge imbalance in FDI investment between India and Canada. Indian FDI investment in Canada is nearly $3 billion, while Canadian investment in India is just $600 million. Food processing is a scope area to balance out this difference, as India allows 100% FDI in Food processing. Also, there are huge tax concessions in this sector. MoFPI wants Canadian companies to venture in infra-structure segment like erecting cold-storage and warehouse facilities. India witnesses substantial loss of perishable commodities due to lack of warehouses and cold storages. According to a recent report of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), losses due to wastage of fruits and vegetable alone in year 2009-10 were Rs 63,000 crores (USD 14,000).

Economic Times

Pineapple is the favourite crop of Manipur farmers

Farmers of Manipur are finding cultivation of pineapple a very lucrative option. Climate in the state is perfect for pineapple, a crop of humid tropics. Annual production of pineapple in the state is around 72,000 tonnes. On Commercial scale, mainly two varieties of pineapple are grown - Kew and Queen. Kew variety of pineapple grown in Manipur is famous for its distinctive taste and flavor. This variety is also ideal for canning purpose, which increases the shelf life of product. More than 50% of pineapple grown in the state is consumed locally. Fruits in the state remain available for eight months during the year. Almost year round availability of fruit makes conditions propitious for setting up of processing units in the state. Export of pineapple is mostly done in canned form. 

   Assam Tribune

Is Marssonina bugging HP apple growers ?

Apple growers in Himachal Pradesh are facing fresh problem of Marssonina, which is a fungal disease causing premature defoliation and dropping of fruits. Problem has pre-dominantly occurred in Chirgaon, Jubbal, Ani and in some riverside areas in Kullu district. Under this infection, excess of ethylene is secreted by this fungus, which restricts the supply of water and nutrients to the leaves eventually resulting in yellowing and withering of leaves. Normally, leaves wither away in the end of November month just before the start of winter dormancy period. This disease also occurs in high humid conditions. So, growers are also blaming excessive rains in recent for this outbreak. However, this is not the first time that the problem has been encountered as it occurs due to ignorance of proper cropping technology. Proper pruning of lower portion of tree crown / canopy can help reducing its incidence. There are other chemical treatments also for control of this disease. State agriculture department has issued advisory to spray the recommended doses of fungicides to both infected and healthy plants to further check the spread of this disease.  

Tribune

Indian mangoes gain access to China markets

Now, after United State of America, Indian mangos are also getting access to Chinese market after a long gap. Export of mangoes from India to China had almost come to halt after China imposed strict phyto-sanitary regulations, post it’s joining of World Trade Organization (WTO), in 2001. However, there have been continuous efforts by Concerned Ministries all through these years to revive this trade with China. Chinese delegation have also been visiting India quite often to inspect Indian pack-house facilities, grading and sorting lines so as to ensure export of disease free product to China. According to Secretary General of the Federation of India Export Organization (FIEO), India has exported for the first time ever, some very popular varieties like Dashehri, Langra and Chausa to China this year. India is the largest producer of mango and accounts for more than 50% of world production of mangoes. Production of mangoes in India stood at around 12.75 million tonnes and it exported nearly 84,000 tonnes of mangoes in the same year.

  Fruit Net

Haryana Horticulture Department Claims area under horticulture increasing

Farmers in Haryana, which in general are more focused on wheat and rice, are now gradually shifting their attention to horticulture crops. Horticulture Department of the state is also trying to push area under cultivation of F&V in the state. Haryana Horticulture Department (HHD) has fixed a target of 3.25 lakh hectares to bring under vegetable cultivation during this financial year (2010-11) - compared to 3 lakh hectares under vegetable crop during 2009-10. As of now, total area under horticultural crops in the state accounts for 5.64% of total cropped area. HDD has set target of bring 5000 hectares of additional land under fruit cultivation in the next one year.

  Indian News

Himachal Pradesh procures 13984 MT apples under MIS

Harvesting of apple is in full swing in Himachal Pradesh. Horticulture Produce, Marketing and Processing Corporation (HPMC) is leaving no stone unturned to ensure availability of packing material and transportation of apple procured under Market Intervention Scheme (MIS). This is clarified by spokesperson of HPMC to media persons following recent reports of hiccups in its arrangement in some news-stories. He further clarified that HPMC is making cartons available at Rs 36.50 per carton this season, as was fixed in the beginning of the season. HPMC has so far supplied nearly 7 lacs apple cartons and 19,000 bundles of trays to apple growers. Also, demand from growers is high due to higher production this year. So far, HPMC has purchased 13,984 MTs apple under MIS. 

Orissa Diary

Cold storage centres alongside of railway stations

In a bid to reduce wastage of perishable commodities in transportation, railway ministry has initiated a project of setting up of cold storage centers alongside of railway stations. For this railway has invited expression of interest from private agencies under its Kisan Vision Project. For this, cold chain operators, agri-retail chain operators, freight forwarders, logistic service providers, food processing industries, state marketing federations and logistic service providers etc, are eligible to apply for this contract.  Honorable Minister of Railway, Ms Mamta Banerjee mentioned about this project while presenting railways budget last year (2009). Operators are supposed to facilitate cold chain movement of perishable cargo all through from collection, transportation, and storage and up to distribution point. Agreement will be valid for three years.  Last year only, honorable minister Ms Banerjee laid foundation stone for setting up of one such perishable cargo centre at Singur (West Bengal). This centre will have capacity of 1500 tonnes and will be set up with the costing of Rs 3 crore. Three of other sites identified for setting up of these centers are also in West Bengal itself namely Dankuni, Mechcheda and New Jalpaiguri. Another one is in Nasik (Maharashtra) and one in New Azadpur (New Delhi).

Business Standard

Who’s who in Agriculture?

Jean-Baptiste Boussingault

(Feb 2, 1802 – May 11, 1887)

Jean-Baptiste was a French Chemist. Although he’d no academic background in agriculture, but his findings & work in this sector are well recognized. He did his study on mining and worked as a mining engineer for quite some time in South America. After a few years, he returned to France and became  a Professor of Chemistry at Lyon. He was appointed as Chairperson of Agricultural and Analytical chemistry wing at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers in Paris in 1839. His initial work/papers on topic of mining were also appreciated. He actually started working on agriculture chemistry, vegetable physiology etc., from 1836. He confirmed in one of his papers that plants cannot assimilate free nitrogen from the atmosphere. He published papers on quantity of nitrogen in different foods, amount of gluten in different wheat varieties, the respiration of plants, the function of their leaves, the action and value of manures etc. Since, his wife had a share in an estate at Pechelbronn, he could actually carry out many agricultural experiments of his own. He co-authored with Jean Baptiste Dumas Essai de statique chimique des itres organists (1841). He also wrote Traite d’economie rurale in 1844.  He peacefully died at the age of 85 in summer of 1887 in Paris.

   Wikipedia 

Quotes

"High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation"

- Jack Kinder