de la Inteligencia Artificial

In Maharashtra the major onion growing districts are Nasik, Pune, Ahmednagar, Satara, Dhule and Jalgaon. In the Ahmednagar district, Parner taluk is a leading onion area for its production. The onion growing farmers are not able to keep the benefits of production because of the dominance of middle men, highly fluctuating prices, poor storage facilities, a lack of holding capacity by farmers and post-harvest losses like sprouting and rotting of the onions. Due to this problem it was necessary to construct sheds for storing onions for up to a 4-to-6-month period and then market the onions.

The government of India has also declared the Ahmednagar district as an “Export Zone” area for onions. Taking this into consideration, in Ahmednagar, the onion growers have established the Ahmednagar District Onion Growers’ Cooperative Purchase and Sale Society Ltd. The society has membership with the NAFED, APEDA, NHB, Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB), Exporters, etc. Presently there are about 1100 members spread over in 300 villages in 14 blocks in Maharashtra. The society office is located at Ahmednagar. The packaging and grading center is at Supa in Parner taluk of the Ahmednagar district. The main objectives of the society are to provide technical information for increasing onion production, storage and market facilities, marketing information and the marketing of onions.

ACTIVITIES OF THE SOCIETY:

Inputs such as seed, fertilizers and organic pesticides will be supplied through the society to its members. In the case of seed, there is no credit facility available; whereas, for fertilizers the members pay the amount to the society within 2 to 3 months, for which no interest is charged by the society. In each block one salesman with an agricultural background was selected by the society, and he will go and collect onions from the village and send them to the packaging and grading center. Within 15 days the farmers receive payment in the form of a check or demand draft (D.D.) from Indian banks. Also, the salesman will get Rs. 2000 salary per month and 0.5 percent from the society’s service charges.

Two types of storage facilities are available at different levels. At the members’ level 25-ton storage units were provided by Central Bank on a loan basis with 8 percent interest. Preparation of bank proposals, sanctioning of the loan and assistance in construction of the RCC structure is done by the society. Presently 450 farmers have a storage facility of 25 to 50 metric tons. Remaining farmers are following traditional storage only. Packaging is done at Supa. Every day 10 tons of onions are packed through packaging machines in 40 to 60 and 80 to 100 mm grading in 25-kg, 50-kg and 100-kg bags.

Procured onion is graded and packed at the sub-division level. The society gets the information from the Saphal markets through National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) channels from Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai through telephone calls. Bags, transport charges and 2 percent service charges to the society have to be paid by the farmers only for local marketing. The society has received import and export code numbers for exporting onions to foreign countries from the marketing board. Presently, the society is exporting onions to UAE, other Arab countries, Singapore and Great Britain (MANAGE 2010).

TRAINING:

1. Crop cultivation practices for onions were given to the farmers by the Rajguru nagar Onion and Garlic Research Institute.

2. CDs were provided to farmers on cultivation practices.

3. One-day training has been given on sowing, weeding, applying fertilizer, harvesting onions, etc.

OUTCOMES OF THE SOCIETY:

1. Sharing farmers experiences—problems and solutions

2. Easily accessing innovations and techniques of common interest

3. Accessing credit facilities and enabling the use of such facilities to reach significant numbers of beneficiaries

4. Distributing improved varieties of seeds and other inputs 5. Sharing information on market trends

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Private extension through mass media is basically carried out by daily newspapers and journals in regional languages. In addition, there is large number of private channels operating in almost all parts of the country. There is a column exclusively for rural development and agriculture covering topical subjects. For example, a daily newspaper in Andhra Pradesh, publishing the district editions under the banner of “Eenadu,” provides brief information and guidelines every day on current problems faced by farmers under the regular column “Ryte raju.” The farmers’ monthly “Annadatha” has a circulation of about 0.2 million touching a large number of villages. Every month it provides detailed information on seasonal topics pertaining to agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, sericulture, dairy and livestock, poultry farming, fisheries, shrimp culture, etc. It has served as a guide to farmers for the past four decades. The crop plans formulated in the Zonal Research and Advisory Council Meetings of State Agriculture University for Agro-Climatic Zones are discussed in detail in the journal. “Eenadu” private television channel daily devotes 30 minutes with the Annadata TV Program and provides information on agriculture and allied sectors in the morning from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. in the regional language. The scientists of State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) in the respective states are involved in the program twice a week to highlight current topics of importance and use to farmers.

Most of the national private TV channels also arrange discussions on agricultural issues by eminent scientists, policy makers, industrialists that deal with agri-inputs and financial institutions. There are some initiatives in the Information Technology (IT) sector on which Subject Matter Specialists (SMSs) provide information—on market prices, weather forecast, inputs such as seed, fertilizer and crop management production technologies.

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In spite of building up a fairly large and extensive public extension system and considerably strengthening the decentralized research infrastructure for more effective transfer of technology, there is still a great need for the involvement of other players to reach the large number of farmers. The involvement of agencies outside the public sector extension system—Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs)—for extension services were found to be very useful. The NGOs are playing a vital role in rural development not only in Human Resource Development (HRD) but also in alleviating poverty through several programs based on specific problems. Presently, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), government of India, has come out with policy support for the involvement of NGOs by providing proper guidelines through the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA).

Though most of the NGOs have limitations in terms of infrastructure, work force and financial resources, they operate in small areas with effective delivery of extensive services to the farmers. For example, most of the NGOs have successfully provided services in the areas of organizing

farmers into Producer Groups (PGs) and Self-Help Groups (SHGs), providing study visits to farmers, procuring inputs and marketing farmers’ produce. A NGO, Ramakrishna Mission, Ranchi, made an effort to prepare the rural youth for self-employment through agri-programs in collaboration with Birsa Agricultural University (BAU) (Jasu, AK). Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra, Mysore, is organizing a biodiversity conservation program with the collaboration of the Department of Forestry and Environment (DoFE). These programs emphasize sustainable harvesting and processing of minor forest products like honey and herbal medicines (Nataraju, MS, et.al.). There are many NGOs such as Bharathiya Agro Industries Federation (BAIF) and other NGOs supported by the corporate sector and financial institutions that are playing a very important role in providing extension services to farmers.

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The changing agricultural scenario, due to economic reforms in the country, has paved the way for the entry of industrialists, businessmen and other elite groups in the agricultural sector led to the demand for technical advisory services. This situation necessitated the emergence of agricultural consultants to meet the present needs and address future strategies. These consultant positions were mostly filled by retired professors of State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), extension professionals, financial institutions, etc. These consultant were also provided by Agri- Clinics and Agri-Business Centers (ACABCs) who were trained by the MANAGE. Most of these agricultural consultant opportunities are offered in agriculture and allied activities, food processing, agro-industries, etc. This is a recent phenomenon in the country, covering high value crops.

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Most of the agri-business companies in India attempted various business models in the field of agriculture and allied sectors. These models include transfer of technology with market support. Each model is unique in its own way. Some of the successful models are discussed here under: E-Choupal http://www.echoupal.com/

Mahindra Shubhlabh, Mahindra-Smridhhi http://www.mahindra.com/

Chambal Uttam Bandhan http://www.indiamart.com/chambal-fertiliserschemicals/ Tata Kisan Kendrahttp://www.tatakisansansar.com/

EID Parry http://www.eidparry.com/