Public- Private Partnership in Public- Private Partnership in Extension: ATMA ExperienceExtension: ATMA Experience

Dr.K.M.SinghDr.K.M.SinghDirector,Director,

State Agricultural Management and Extension Training State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute, BiharInstitute, Bihar

National Agriculture Summit 2006, 18-19 October 2006,National Agriculture Summit 2006, 18-19 October 2006,

Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, IndiaVigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, India

Organized by Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Organized by Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India and Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Government of India and Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

(FICCI)(FICCI)

Challenges before Extension SystemChallenges before Extension System

Food and nutritional security Poverty alleviation Diversifying market demand, & export

opportunities Linkages between producers and consumers of

these products Sustainable NRM Funding extension

System Constraints in Extension

Extension programs top-down Supply–driven and not Market–driven Extension not accountable to farmers Inadequate technical & managerial capacity No formal mechanisms to empower farmers Weak private sector involvement in extension Weak R-E-F-M linkages

Key Elements of the New Strategy

Shift from food security to diversifying into high-value products

Farmers organized, trained and linked to these new domestic and international markets

Implementing organization pilot tested under NATP was the Agricultural Technology Management Agency or “ATMA”

ATMA was the Mechanism Used ATMA was the Mechanism Used to Decentralize Extension:to Decentralize Extension:

Critical to a Building “Market-Driven” Extension SystemCritical to a Building “Market-Driven” Extension System

Regional and urban market opportunities tend to be “location-specific;” therefore,

Extension planning must be “bottom-up!” NATP replaced with “Support to State

Extension Programmes for Extension Reforms” by the Govt. of India

Coverage extended to 252 districts

Steps in Implementing the Strategy• Conduct PRA • Develop Strategic Research and Extension Plan

– Identify and evaluate “Success Stories”– Determine most promising products/markets

• Organize farmers into groups– Farmer Interest Groups (FIGs) at village level & Farmer

Associations (FAs) at block, district & state levels– Farmer leaders are critical to the success of FIGs– Exposure visits and demonstrations are used to motivate

FIG members.

• Investigate markets to identify interested manufacturers or wholesale markets (i.e., avoid traders; shorten the supply chain to avoid middlemen.)

Implementing the Strategy (cont.)

Collaborate with research (e.g. SAUs or KVKs) to develop and test production and post-harvest technologies and then train FIG members to produce to contract specifications.

Public-Private Partnerships are emphasized at block level; emphasis is on “contract farming” between FIGs and companies.

Many companies have entered in contractual production of high value crops like aromatic crops, exotic vegetables, organic farming

Building Social Capital Building Social Capital VIS-À-VIS MARKET DEVELOPMENTVIS-À-VIS MARKET DEVELOPMENT

Two basic types:

BondingResearch &Extension

Bridging

Local Markets

Urban Markets

Global Markets

FIG

FIGFIG

FIG

Farmer Federation

FIGFIG

FIGFIG

FIG

FIGFIG

FIG

FIGFIG

FIGFIG

Farmer AssociationFIG

Slide by Burt Swanson

And honey And mushroomsI.e., Building social capital

Organizing Farmers into Commodity-Organizing Farmers into Commodity-Based Farmer AssociationsBased Farmer Associations

Extension specialists teach women’s groups to produce high-value crops

Impact of this ATMA Model of Extension on Impact of this ATMA Model of Extension on Crop Diversification and Farm IncomesCrop Diversification and Farm Incomes

(Average changes in production area and income in 28 project districts between 1999-2004; IIM Lucknow data)

Horticultural Crops: 12 16% Oil Seeds: 3 11% Herbs and Medicinal Crops: 1 5% Sericulture: 0 1% Area planted to cereals declined: 55 47%, but

yields increased 14% During this period, average farm income increased

24% in project districts in contrast with only 5% in non-project districts

Conclusion: Key Elements of this New Conclusion: Key Elements of this New Extension StrategyExtension Strategy

• Refocus some research and extension resources to high-value crops/products, including market assessment

• Decentralize extension planning and decision-making; begin by focusing on local and regional market opportunities.

• Empowering Farmers — organize and train farmers so they can link to high-value markets; they must get organized to achieve economies of scale and to increase market power.

Experiences of ATMA, Patna

Using Private Sector and NGOs for Extension

Private Sector Companies:• Confederation of Indian Industry, Bihar Industries Association• Baidyanath Ayurved Bhawan, Patna, Fragrance Herbs, Patna• Ayurved Shri Herbals Ltd., Patna, Pamer Agro Ventures (P) Ltd.• Amrapali Foods, Ltd., Patna, Samrat Mushrooms, Patna• Micro Tech Nutracueticals, Patna, Raj Agrico, Patna NGOs

NGO:• DOLPHEN, Patna• Adarsh Gramin Vikas Sanstha, Patna• Prem Youth Foundation, Patna• RP Channel-5 Vitarani Krishak Samiti, Bikram• Paliganj Vitarani Krishak Samiti, Paliganj• Manjhauli Vitarani Krishak Samiti, Naubatpur• Nari Gunjan, Patna• Mahila Bal Jyoti Kendra , Katesar, Bihta

Partnership with Private Sector

Promoting Farmer to Farmer ExtensionPromoting Farmer to Farmer ExtensionTraining and deploying farmer resource personsTraining and deploying farmer resource persons

1. Sri Ajay Kumar Diversification in Agriculture2. Sri Krishna Prasad Marketing of Aromatic Oils and Medicinal Plants3. Sri G.N. Sharma Medicinal Plants cultivation4. Sri Ajay Prakash Aromatic Plants cultivation5. Sri Vijay Kumar Medicinal Plants Conservation6. Sri Ashok Kumar Singh Mushroom Production7. Sri Ramjeet Sharma Vermi Compost8. Sri Samarendra Kumar Floriculture and Exotic Veg.9. Sri Sanat Kumar Organic farming/ Diversification10. Sri Bageshwari Pd. Singh Zero Tillage11. Sri Sudhanshu Singh Seed Production12. Dr. Anand Sharma Input Supply & Aromatic Plants13. Sri Pappu Singh Commercial Floriculture 14. Sri Raju Kumar Lal Medicinal Plants15. Sri Anil Kumar Singh IPM and INM16. Sri Kumar Siddhartha Mushroom (Oyster)17. Sri Kaushal Kumar Mentha & Aromatic Plants18. Sri Hare Krishna Goat Rearing19. Sri Indrajeet Singh Organic & Exotic Vegetables 20. Sri Vibhesh Kumar Group formation21. Sri Vimlesh Kr. Singh Agro processing22. Sri Ranjeet Kumar Zero Tillage in Pulses23. Sri Arun Singh Manufacture& Marketing of Organic manure

Preparation of Directory of Service Providers and its release by Secretary (A & C), Govt. of India

Other Public-Private Partnership Initiatives

Between medicinal plant growers of Patna and M/s. Baidyanath Ayurved Bhawan

Buy-back Arrangement for MushroomsAgreement to Buy Fresh Organically Produced

Vegetables with M/s. Raj Agrico.Contract Between M/s. fragrance Herbs, and

FIG Members to Produce Essential OilsBaby corn buyback with M/s. Amrapali Foods

Ltd.

Other Field Outreach Activities Promotion of Agri Clinics & Agri Business

Centres Technical publications in local language Video films developed with help of private sector Success stories used as role models for extension Cyber marketing support to farmers with the help

of private entrepreneurs Networking with organizations working in the field

of extension Constant capacity building of stakeholders Gender issues given due priority

Process Interventions by ATMA• ATMA Single Window delivery point for Technology.

• Diversification dictated by market demand.

• Judicious Use of Mass media.

• R-E-F-M linkages strengthened with primary focus on farmer.

• Revitalizing the farmers through capacity building,

• Using farmers, Para-professionals and private entrepreneurs as Extension Agents.

• Group focus in all the interventions.

• Effective use of NGO’s, & private sector.

• Sustainability given due importance, with cost sharing being the key word in most of the interventions.

ATMA Model : LessonsATMA Model : Lessons LearntLearnt

Autonomy, financial flexibility and direct funding resulted in better outcome.

Better coordination, Convergence, pooling of resources

Integrated delivery of demand driven extension. Priority settings through the farmers involvement

(SREP , GB and FIAC). Strong R-E-F-M Linkage. ATMA an effective platform for PPP. SREP as a tool for bottom-up planning Capacity building through need-based trainings,

exposure visits, demonstrations, etc.

THANKTHANKSS