Agricultural Transformation Through ICT in India: Addressing Challenges

1. Indian Agriculture and Applications of ICT: Challenges Ahead A presentation at DA-IICT Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat On 30th October 2004 Ajit Maru by

2. Outline • Major Challenges to Agricultural Development • Hunger, Poverty and Agricultural Trade • Ongoing Transformation of Indian Agriculture • From Self Sufficiency to Market Participation • Agriculture and ICT • New models of Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems • The National Agricultural Research System Model • The Agricultural Innovation Systems Model • Conclusions

3. Millennium Development Goals The first among the eight MDGs is to “Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger”

4. Major Global Challenges to Agricultural and Rural Development • Eradication of hunger • Alleviation of extreme poverty • Enabling more equitable participation in agricultural trade

5. World Hunger

6. Nutritional Insecurity

7. The Fight against Hunger

8. Interrelationship of the Challenges Eradicating Hunger Stable Household Incomes, Reduced Conflicts, Improved Food Distribution Rural to Urban Migration Source of Food, Increased Export Earnings Equitable Participation In Agricultural Trade Alleviating Poverty Sustainable Livelihoods, Rural Capital Formation

9. Relating Hunger and Poverty

10. Relating Hunger and Poverty

11. Relating Hunger and Poverty

12. Relating Hunger and Poverty

13. Hunger, Poverty and Development

14. Relating Hunger to Agricultural Trade

15. Relating Hunger and Poverty to Agricultural Trade

16. Conditions for Market Integration

17. Global Scenario of Agricultural Trade • OECD Countries Subsidy to Producers (Estimated to be USD 300 Billion in 2002-2003) • Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers • Emerging Agricultural Technology Market such as for GM Seeds • Asymmetry in Market related Information • Reduced Public Sector Investment in Agricultural Research and Development

18. Development in the Indian Context • Agricultural development = Rural development • 65% of population • 26% contribution to GDP • 50% rural livelihoods depending directly on agriculture • Rural development = National development ?

19. Output Support To “Surplus” Producers Input Support To Basic Food Grain Producers “Protective” Agricultural Policies Such as Essential Commodities Minimum Support Price Market Intervention Mechanisms National Self – Sufficiency In Food Irrigation Energy Seed Fertilizers Direct Taxation Information Change in Policies Such as “Liberalization” and Introduction of New Marketing Structures With Transparency Withdrawal of Direct Inputs Support Allowing Inputs to be Exposed to Market Forces Greater Market Orientation Ongoing Transformation of Indian Agriculture

20. Issues Market Participation brings the need for new knowledge on a wider range of topics beyond that available with local communities

21. Issues • Market Participation brings New Actors from the Market Chain such as: • Input Suppliers • Banks & Financial Institutions • Farmer Organizations • Post Harvest Processors and Traders • Market Intermediaries • Service Providers • Consumers

22. Issues Market Participation brings new sources of information for producers and market chain intermediaries: • Input suppliers • Banks and Financial Institutions • Farmers and Farmer Organizations • NGOs and Community Based Organizations • Government Organizations • Private-for-Profit Organizations • Regulatory Authorities • Agricultural Innovation System • Markets • Consumer Bodies

23. Issues Market Participation brings an enlarged Agricultural Innovation System consisting of: • Public Sector Agricultural Research Institutions • Universities • Non Government Organizations • Private Sector • Farmers and Farmer Organizations

24. Agricultural Technologies • The transformation of Indian agriculture will require innovation and new technologies • Most current technologies are not scale neutral i.e. they cannot be applied with the same effectiveness and efficiency in both large and small farms to improve productivity e.g. GM Seeds, Precision Agriculture and even ICTs are primarily “large” farm oriented

25. ICTs embedded in innovations that transform and/or automate Agricultural Input, Throughput, Output or Markets To Improve Productivity Seed Soil Water Labor Nutrient Disease Management Agricultural Commodity Cultivation Profit Input Throughput Output Market ICTs used for Information, Knowledge and Skills Transfer, Learning, Decision Support And Negotiation for Productivity Improvement Using ICTs in Agriculture

26. Farm Size: A Strength or Weakness?

27. Corporate Farming “Corporatization” Of Agriculture Contract Farming Small Producers “Supermarkets” Status Quo? “New” Marketing Structures Other Markets Community Based Organizations such as Cooperatives Alternative Development Scenarios

28. Current Information Flow in Agricultural Research and Extension Organizations (NARS) Farmers Research Manager Extension Support Researcher NARO Stakeholders Policy Makers

29. Agricultural Market Value Addition Chain Pesticide Supplier Seed Supplier Farmer Fertilizer Supplier Consumer Transport Storage Retail Packaging Market Retail Marketing Processing Retail Processing Bulk Transporter Packaging

30. Pesticide Supply Seed Supplier Farmer Local Transporter Fertilizer Seller Consumer Storage Retail Marketing Market Retail Packaging Processing Bulk Transporter Retail Processing Packaging Issues Multiple Sources and Pluralistic Information Flows Farmers Extension Support Research Manager Researcher NARO Stakeholders Existing Policy Makers Future

31. Issues Conventional Extension System Research Extension Farmer It is apparent that this Public sector/ Government sponsored extension system is inadequate to support farmers to participate in Markets

32. Issues Do we use ICT to improve the existent Extension system? (A) Research Extension Farmer Or: (B) Research Extension Farmer

33. Issues • Should we have a Technocratic, Top-Down Approach with ICT used: • To automate extension processes through use of FAQs, Databases, Decision Support Systems, Expert Systems • “Informationalize” users through providing access to information directly or, if needed, through Intermediaries

34. Issues Should We have a Participatory Approach with ICT used to create “Shared Information Spaces” of Stakeholder Communities which enable: • Development of capacity and competence to manage their own information and disseminate it • Multi-Stakeholder Learning to articulate their desirable visions, needs and negotiate actions to achieve their vision • Use of ICT to manage their information space, relate and partner with other information spaces and learn from their information

35. Negotiation Multi-Stakeholder Learning Articulation Of Desirable Visions and Needs Action Shared Community Information Space Appropriate ICT Access Create Use Store Disseminate Information Policies And Strategies that enable, enhance and enlarge Community Information Spaces External Information Sources Support to develop Community Information Spaces Transforming Extension: A Framework

36. Focus on Operational Issues such As Systems Design, Organizational Structures Focus on Infrastructure Such as Rural Connectivity, Content, Capacity Focus on Management And Control Issues Including Intellectual Property Rights Focus on Strategic Use Issues Level Of IT Adoption Levels of Economy Adapted from V.K. Agarwal and Abid Haleem: Information Technology: Implementation Issues in India Stages of ICT Implementation Current Stage for India Cost of ICT Implementation

37. A Generic Framework to enable ICT use for Small Farmers Information And Knowledge Intermediaries Clients And User Communities Information “Bus” Information Platform ARD “Information” Organization

38. A Generic Framework to enable ICT use for Small Farmers Information And Knowledge Intermediaries Capacity development to access and use Information and knowledge Advocacy and New Technologies for enabling access to information In Agricultural and Rural Communities Radio TV Cellular Telephones Websites E-Mail lists Clients And User Communities Information “Bus” Information Platform Capacity development to enable learning in communities ARD “Information” Organization “Integrating” ICM and ICT in work and Business process of ARD organizations through appropriate policies, strategies, resources allocation, capacity development, organizational structures and processes

39. Learning • Most Pilot Projects of ICT use in Rural Development suffer from problems with replication, scalability and sustainability. • ICT use projects in rural areas that focus on a single sector such as agriculture do not succeed • Projects that are not participatory for the targeted communities create both gainers and losers in the community and exacerbate several other divides such as of income, social and empowerment

40. Strategies for ICT use in Agricultural Extension India is at the Infrastructure Development Stage (In case of Rural Areas) so: • Rural Connectivity is crucial • Agricultural research and development organizations must be vocal with other actors in getting appropriate policies • Policy direction must be towards: • Bandwidth to be high speed • Fostering convergence of ICTs (Radio, TV, Telephony, Internet) • Creation of Local Private Entrepreneurship for Information • Sharing cost through Public-Private-Community Partnerships

41. Strategies for ICT use in Agricultural Extension • Rural Information Projects should support Multi and Cross-Sectoral activities which includes Health, Education, Agriculture, Livelihoods, Employment, Entrepreneurship, Governance, Social Interaction • May need new Coordination Organizations at Government and Community levels

42. Strategies for ICT use in Agricultural Extension • Rural Infrastructure such as • Electricity, • Roads & Transport • Local Markets is as essential as Telecommunication for Market Oriented Agriculture

43. Strategies for ICT Use in Agricultural Extension • Need for Agricultural Policies • To define Agricultural Research and Development • To define content for agricultural development • Need for Educational Policies for Rural Development • To provide human skills needed to use new information technologies

44. Strategies for ICT Use in Agricultural Extension • Need for Organizational Culture Change in Agricultural Research and Development Organizations • To act as intermediaries for development of new Institutional innovations to satisfy farmers needs • Support generation of innovations (Processes, Products, Skills, Technologies) needed by smallholder farmer to participate in markets

45. Strategies for ICT Use in Agricultural Extension • Need for Capacity Building for Learning • New Skills to articulate needs, seek and search useful and relevant information, negotiate actions, build partnerships etc. • New Skills to access, generate, use, repackage and disseminate information using ICT • New Skills to use ICT to learn in multi-stakeholder communities

46. Conclusions • The emergence of a new agricultural extension system from the use of new ICT is not yet visible in India. • The focus of issues in using new ICTs in agricultural and rural development is still on infrastructure. It will shift to operational issues as telecommunication infrastructure improves in these areas. • Development of capacity and competence to use information and ICTs for agricultural development will be needed to meet the challenge of operational issues

47. Conclusions • Significant changes in policies at various levels including Institutions are needed to use ICT in agricultural and rural development in India • There is a need to accelerate sociological and systems analytical research in the area to provide the theoretical basis for replication, scalability and sustainability of ICT enabled information systems for rural development

48. Conclusions • Key Issues to be addressed to ICT use for Rural Development are related to: • Connectivity • Content • Communication • Capacity and Competence • Community Participation • Capital Investment • Collaboration • Culture of Organizations

49. Thank You