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Agricultural research took a center-stage in visualizing and ushering in what is universally acclaimed as Green revolution. Today India has emerged as the second largest producer of food materials in world after China. The responsibility of developing and transferring technologies for doubling food production by 2020 is mainly on agricultural research.
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Emerging Issues in Agrl. Res. Mgt. - Lecture for 85 FOCARS 12-2-2009
Agricultural research took a center-stage in visualizing and ushering in what is universally acclaimed as Green revolution. Today India has emerged as the second largest producer of food materials in world after China. The responsibility of developing and transferring technologies for doubling food production by 2020 is mainly on agricultural research.
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Agricultural research took a center-stage in visualizing and ushering in what is universally acclaimed as Green revolution. Today India has emerged as the second largest producer of food materials in world after China. The responsibility of developing and transferring technologies for doubling food production by 2020 is mainly on agricultural research.
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Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Formate disponibile
Descărcați ca PDF, TXT sau citiți online pe Scribd
National Academy of Agricultural Research Management,
Hyderabad 1. INTRODUCTION
In mid-sixties, the agricultural research took a center-stage in
visualizing and ushering in what is universally acclaimed as Green Revolution – envied by most countries but seldom replicated. After decades of deprivation and negative forecasts, Indian agriculture gained more confidence in increasing productivity and production which resulted in other revolutions viz., white (milk), yellow (oil), blue (fish), golden (horticultural). As a result of research led revolutions, today India has emerged as the second largest producer of food materials in world after China. But there are many areas of concerns like feeding more than 1.1 billion people from same cultivable land (and in fact reducing due to its conversion into real estate etc), requiring agriculture becoming profitable but also making farmers / growers/ fishermen economically better off than before etc. The country has lately been making great strides in economic field and emerged as one of leading economies of the world. While this looks very good, the growth rate and contributions to GDP by the agricultural sector has been going down. Presently, its growth rate is around 2.6 per cent and contribution to GDP is 17.47 per cent and going down. The spectre of large pulse and oilseed import(totaling more Rs.25,000 cr per year) is looming large ,forcing the top planners to once again focus on agriculture. A loan waiver of Rs.71,000 cr was announced by the Government of India. While its impact is beingwatched carefully , the next step is to save them from another debt trap(Swaminathan,2008).
The responsibility of developing and transferring technologies for doubling
food production by 2020 is mainly on agricultural research. The challenge to our food security has never been severer. Necessary steps need to be taken before it becomes too late , too little.
Food security is closely related to national security. If there is a huge food
deficit, it cannot be met by import. National Agricultural Research System(NARS)
The NARS, which had hitherto largely included the ICAR
Institutes and State Agricultural Universities, is itself undergoing a
transformation. And to-day ,the NARS also encompasses private
sector,trade, NGOs, other public/ private funded institutions which
are involved in agricultural research. The private sector is now
investing heavily in agricultural sector and many corporate and
MNCs are in fray(seed, chemical, fertilizers, retailing etc). In this
process of expanding family, paradigms in agriculture are bound
to shift quite fast.
2. PARADIGM SHIFTS IN AGRICULTURE OLD NEW
1. Input and experience 1. Output per unit input
based based, outcome focused 2. Production by large 2. Mass production by fewer masses(52 % population) people(25 –30 per cent) 3. Low technology levels 3. Intermediate and high technology levels 4. No/low concern for quality 4. High concern for quality
5. A way of life, little option 5. Profit making venture,
but to profess agriculture varied options 6. Production of all crops and 6. Demand based commodities customized production,
7. Low energy, inefficient use 7. Energy intensive,efficient
8. Heavy PH losses,low 8. use processing and value Reduced PH losses, high addition, poor market processing and value support addition, better market support 3. SCENARIOS IN AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
3.1 Scenario-I
i) Business as usual : agricultural development mainly
driven by market forces, guided by public policy
ii) Competitive, open and integrated global market as
driving force for change
iii) Market driven growth is generally accompanied by
rising demand for quality food, growing inequalities between regions, urban-rural divide and increasing gap between the resource rich and resource poor. It may also lead to acquiring of land by resource rich and thus increasing farm size to gain advantage of scale making small holders in-competitive. 3.2 Scenario – II • Knowledge and innovation driven transition to sustainable agricultural development
• It seeks to galvanize rapid agricultural development and
growth with attendant changes in rural livelihood and environmental sustainability through technological innovations(evolution,evaluation and adoption)
• It reaches the un-reached directly, without extension
intermediaries, direct scientist- farmer- consumer linkage
• It encourages participation of all stakeholders and the
development is all inclusive, benefits percolating to a large number, taking care of gender, equity and environment • It is based on premise of a co-evolution of technological advancement, structural adjustments and economic transformation resulting from application of knowledge in production – post production activities and social adjustments • It involves an innovation system where the generation ,application and transmission of innovations work in partnership mode(PPP Partnership) • It is farmer- centric rather than agriculture- centric approach, more profit to farmers/growers • It builds capabilities at individual, organizational and sectoral levels. • It requires changes in governance structure that reflects co-evolutionary dynamics of technology and institutions(not easy to achieve, though !). 3.3 Changing process of knowledge generation and use
From To
Knowledge elite Knowledge society
Paper used to store and share Digital media and web used to knowledge store and share knowledge
Research as the key tool to Research and consultation to
generate knowledge generate knowledge
Linear model of research, Interactive model, innovations
knowledge adaptation, use arise from a learning based of technology process that combines problems’ identification and knowledge generation Table - 1 : Key features of the research management and technology promotion approach, conventional and innovation agricultural research arrangements Institutional features Conventional agricultural Innovation task networks research arrangements
Partners Scientists from other Scientists, entrepreneurs,
public agencies and development workers from the public and private sectors, NGOs Selection of partners Predetermined by Coalitions of interest. institutional roles defined Determined by the nature by the arrangement of of task, national the research system institutional context and skills, and resource available Role of partners Fixed. Predetermined by Flexible. Determined by institutional roles defined the nature of task, by the arrangement of national institutional the research system context and skills, and resource available. Institutional features Conventional agricultural Innovation task networks research arrangements
Work plan and activities Fixed at beginning of Flexible, iterative,course
project corrections
Mandate for research/ Fixed by institutional Negotiated through
task approach adopted norms of the research coalitions of interest system Knowledge produced Technical / scientific Technical / scientific and institutional
Indicators of In scientific terms to other In development terms to
performance scientists through res. donors. In terms of papers, patents etc. fulfilling role in task network to other partners Responsibility for Other agencies NARS Scientists and their achieving impact dedicated to extension partners in task networks and technology promotion Capacity building Trained scientists and Collective capacity of research infrastructure task network, social capital, partnership skills 4. NATURE OF INNOVATION AND INNOVATION PRACTICES IN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH • Research is an important component – but not always central component of innovation. Whole package, not the part of package should be our concern. • In the contemporary agriculture sector, competitiveness depends on collaboration for innovation. • Social and environmental sustainability are integral to economic success and must be reflected in interventions. • Market is not sufficient to promote interaction – the public sector has a role to play. Reaching the un- reached is largely public sector responsibility • Interventions are essential for building capacity and fostering the learning to enable a sector to respond to continuous competitive challenges both from within and without. • Organization of rural stakeholders is a central development concept. It is a common theme in innovation system development and in numerous agricultural and rural development efforts. • Actors that are critical for coordinating innovation systems at the sector level are either overlooked or missing. Strength of a chain is equal to the strength of its weakest link. Chains with weak links break easily. • A wide set of attitudes and practices must be cultivated to foster a culture of innovation. • Enabling environment is a key component of innovation capacity. 5. CHARACTERISTICS OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS Resources & Research Outputs Users Outcomes Planning Operations Knowledge Farmers Increased Personnel Research Technology Extension production Funds Testing / Procedures system Cost reduction Infrastructure adaptation Publications NGOs Profit Research Reporting Services Academia Achievement Strategy, goals Dissemination Consumers of objectives
and Procedures – Agricultural Research Organizations : The Assessment and Improvement of Performance. Discussion Paper, ISNAR, The Hague, Netherlands, July) If viewed as a production system, agricultural research organizations have certain basic features. With differing structures and organizational process, they use resource as inputs (personnel, funds and infrastructure) in research operations (research, testing, reporting, and disseminating results) that generate various types of outputs (knowledge, technology, procedures and publications), users' attempt to transform the outputs into positive outcomes (increased production, cost reduction and profit) and impact. In this sequence of events, performance assessment and feedback mechanisms are required at different levels to ensure that research organizations use their resources efficiently and produce relevant and useful/high impact outputs. Performance of public sector research organizations are influenced by certain special characteristics, as under: • As partners in the overall development efforts, these reflect the national goals and objectives; • Have multiple social and economic objectives; • Operate in a dynamic policy and funding environment; • Due to the mutatis mutandis adoption of finance/ service rules, have very little flexibility either to suitably reward better performance or to punish non- performance; • Difficulty in attributing positive outcomes to organizational efforts due to the activities of multiple institutional actors; and • Have more diverse accountability requirements. 6.RESEARCH MANAGEMENT ISSUES
6.1 What is being looked forward ?
* A learning, forward looking organization
• An inspiring and caring leadership which listens, inspires and guides
• Good working conditions where the management tries to provide and
maintain good facilities and environment for work
• An institution with its goals spelled and in unambiguous terms an
institution having a focused, rigorously debated program of work
• A responsive system in place that seeks to pursue human resource
development as one of its major missions and thereby provides working environment and career advancement opportunities that bring out the best from a researcher. Journey and destination both are important, a journey without destination is a waste and destination cannot be arrived at with an aimless journey. Both destination and road map for journey should be selected with due deliberation. The individual interest should subordinate to that of the institution. 6.2 Available research management options
• Public-private-people(PPP) partnership for generating and sharing
the research benefit and monetary returns.
• Prioritizing researches depending upon resources available. There
is no point in attempting all and succeeding in none. Priorities based on consultation and analysis.
• Integrated resource management including outsourcing, ensuring
best material and human resource
• From inter-disciplinary to inter-sector research for looking beyond a
sector, breaking man-made barriers. For example, biotechnology encompassing crops-fish-livestock. The gene flow has no barriers.
• Scientists should be thinkers and planners.Leave routine matters to
technicians. High impact, time bound research • Focus on largely missing basic and anticipatory research through active collaboration with reputed public/private institutions within and outside India. • A strong and functioning monitoring mechanism with well defined responsibility and accountability for all. • Discouraging piece meal / open ended research . Emphasis on output quality, recognition by peers, quantifiable outcome, wider impact and encouraging publications only in highly rated journals, not in proceedings of conferences, symposia etc. • Increased use of precision farming with use of GIS, GPS and other tools. • Generation and integration of databases on soil, crop, livestock, fish, catchments / command areas,socio-economic situations, ITK etc . • Post-production management for saving scarce resources and timely operations, improving quality, longer shelf life, value addition, higher returns. • Reduction in cost of production and reducing/eliminating losses for increasing profitability in crop, livestock and fish. • Value chain management 6.3 Identification of research priorities (indicative) * Low in external inputs sustainable agriculture(India has 16 percent population,but only 2.4 percent land and 4.3 percent of water of world) • Agri- horti- forestry models for degraded /waste lands for crop and animal husbandry • Agro-eco region suitable farming system with different suitable crop varieties and species of livestock and fish • Integrated farming systems for different agro-eco regions, efficient use of resources • Development / selection of suitable varieties for processing, better storage life, higher quality • Medicinal and aromatic plant production , processing and storage • Precision farming for high sustainable productivity • Surface covered cultivation •Integrated weed/pest/disease management with emphasis on bio-chemicals •Organic farming and processing for high value crops, initially •Integrated nutrient management with emphasis on bio-fertilizers •Biotechnology : structural and functional genomics to develop plant/animal/fish with pest / disease resistance and quality attributes, use of nano-tecnology in agriculture and information and communication technology for knowledge enhancement and technology absorption •Effect of climate change on crops, livestock, fish and microbial productivity, • carbon trading •Enhancement in input use efficiency •Evolution of productive and processable varieties , productive breeds •Development of management practices suitable for biotic and abiotic stress conditions •Intellectual property management including ITK, commercialization of technologies •Post-harvest processing, value addition and by product utilization in crops and commodities. •Disaster prevention, assessment and management. •Comfortable Structures/ sheds/shelters for livestock, poultry and fish culture ponds 7. EPILOGUE Agriculture is passing through a critical phase, probably a losing race against time. It has to grow @ 4 percent to sustain economic growth of 9 percent. The problems of today cannot be resolved by tools of yesterday. Research is basically an enabling exercise taking recourse to different tools to solve the mysteries and problems on one hand and improving the efficiencies of present systems/practices on the other. Public funded agricultural research is saddled with resource(human, material) crunch, tougher competition from private sector and global challenge. Obviously, the strategies are due for a revisit and review. The agriculture is facing technology deficit, the ICAR has to remove this deficit most quickly and take it to users most effectively. The NARS will have to take a closer look at the programmes and projects, deciding whether to take up everything or take up work selectively which others not willing/being able to take up through priority setting, closely looking at resources and efficient monitoring . And these have to be essentially the cutting edge researches with high impact and futuristic implications. The other role the NARS will have to play is of knowledge generator and manager so that the un-reached could be reached quickly. The suitable strategies should be worked out and implemented so that food security of the nation is assured. The ICAR-SAUs will have to sustain their role as Research Leader.
The country never needed the researchers more. Let us
come up to the expectations of the country. This is the best opportunity India has to emerge as food basket of the world. The onus is largely on us scientists, so be prepared to play our role well. The country cannot survive without a resurgent agriculture. If agriculture fails, what succeeds ? Agriculture should not wait.