U'S'India Knowledge Initiative on Agricultural Education, Research, Service and Commercial Linkages

1
U.S.-India Knowledge Initiative on Agricultural
Education, Research, Service and Commercial
Linkages aka AKI / KIA

• Kavitha Kuruganti
• Centre for Sustainable Agriculture

2
Importance of a debate on KIA.

• Supposed to attain and sustain the second and
  ever-green revolution in Indian agriculture
• Agreement at the highest level considered by
  many as the trade-off for Indias gains on the
  Indo-US Nuclear Deal
• GR processes were untouched by civil society for
  various reasons cannot afford to let another GR
  happen with similar results
• Science Democracy opening agriculture
  research institutions to democratic scrutiny

3
Why is this of significance to us?

• Content (per se) what the KIA proposes to do
  institutional mechanisms being used
• Links with the larger reality and with the past
  the analysis and the diagnosis
• Undemocratic processes adopted and being adopted
  even now
• The potential socio-political implications
  especially for Indian farmers

4
CRISIS in INDIAN FARMING

• MACRO-LEVEL
• Countrys food security shaky?
• Increasing imports more need to compete in the
  face of liberalisation even in domestic markets
• Ecological damage technology fatigue
• Climate change impacts
• Irrelevant agriculture research, collapsing
  agriculture extension systems public sector
  research share coming down steadily
• Major land use shifts land from agriculture to
  non-agricultural uses from food grains to
  non-food grains from food uses to feed for
  certain grains.
• Water crisis quality, over-exploitation,
  inefficient use.

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CRISIS FOR FARMERS.

• FARMER LEVEL
• Factor productivity coming down of land,
  fertilisers, seeds, water etc. etc.
• Cost of production increasing constantly
• Unremunerative markets unfavourable markets
• Displacement from land EXIT?
• No dignity and social status attached to the
  profession
• More margins shifting away from primary producers
• Land degradation and exploitation of water
  resources
• Lifestyle changes increasing income aspirations
• Indebtedness
• SUICIDES

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Indian Farming at Crossroads

• Further intensification (high external inputs)
  Vs. Internalisation into farming systems
  control over nature Vs. cooperation with nature
• Export markets Vs. Domestic markets
• Liberalisation Vs. Import Substitution
  (livelihood security)
• Genetic diversity Vs. Monocropping at the gene
  level
• Public good through public sector Vs. Agri agenda
  driven by commercial interests
• Centralised processes Vs. Community-upwards
  agriculture development processes
• Techno-centric Vs. Holistic development processes
  
• Institutionalised knowledge Vs. Knowledge with
  farmers
• FARMERS THEIR FARM LIVELIHOODS Vs.
  AGRICULTURE without millions of farmers!

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What are the policy-makers saying?

• Kisan Policy
• "Ecology, equity, economics and employment are
  the foundations of our report - Swaminathan
• Need for pro-nature, pro-poor, pro-women and
  pro-livelihood orientation.
• Land (assess soil fertility land consolidation
  prime farmland not to be diverted to SEZs)
• Water (more efficient use of water equity in
  water a drought code)
• Credit and Insurance (debt restructuring, expand
  credit, comprehensive insurance for farm
  families)
• Technology (diff. technologies for diff. kinds of
  farmlands low risk techniques in drought prone
  areas)
• Markets (Price Stabilisation mechanism Market
  Intervention Scheme Universal PDS Livelihood
  Security Box)

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NCFs draft Kisan Policy

• Specifically on Agri Research Extension
• The research strategy should be pro-nature and
  pro-small farmer.
• There is a growing gap between scientific
  know-how and field level do-how.
• In addition to the retraining and retooling of
  existing extension personnel, there is a need to
  promote farmer to farmer learning.
• The motto of these universities should be every
  scholar an entrepreneur.

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11th Plan approach paper

• Demand side intervention expanded rural-rural
  trade, through employment generation programmes
  amongst other things
• Supply side strategy exploiting potential of
  existing technology for cereals, pulses and
  oilseeds bridging knowledge deficit effective
  linkages between universities and farmers
  creating good extension system credit at
  reasonable terms addressing insurance and other
  risk management issues specific strategies
  needed for different agro-climatic zones
  Expansion of major and medium irrigation
  participatory irrigation management Increased
  focus on groundwater management in rainfed areas

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11th Plan approach paper

• Focus of the National Agricultural Research
  System (NARS)
• Clearer demarcation of responsibilities within
• NARS between basic research (may not
• contribute immediately to growth), and more
• immediate requirement to adapt and
• disseminate existing technology and provide
• region-specific problem solving capacity

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• "Our first Green Revolution benefited in
  substantial measure from assistance provided by
  the U.S. We are hopeful that the Knowledge
  Initiative on Agriculture will become the
  harbinger of a second green revolution in our
  country
• Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh,
• in the US Congress in 2005

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KIA Chronology of events

• July 18th 2005 Manmohan Singhs visit to the US
  KIA agreement finalized establishing a
  standing Indo-US Joint Working Group
• July 20th 2005 MoU on ST signed between India
  US
• November 12th 2005 Joint Declaration by Mangala
  Rai J B Penn
• December 15th 16th, 2005 1st Board Meeting
  Washington DC
• February 13th 14th, 2006 2nd Board Meeting in
  Delhi
• March 2006 George Bush visits India,
  specifically Hyderabad
• (May 22nd 2006 USA approaches the WTO on Indias
  GM regulatory regime and invokes the joint
  collaboration in its questioning)
• June 6th 7th, 2006 3rd Board Meeting in
  Washington

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KIA budget outlays

• Education, learning
• resources, curriculum
• development training...65 crores
• Food Processing, Use
• of byproducts bio-fuels.45 crores
• Emerging Technologies...214.5 crores (61)
• Water Management..25.5 crores
• Over 500 faculty members expected to be trained
  over 3 years out of around 4450 scientific posts
  in ICAR

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Agri research budgets-trend

• 2001-02 (plan) 684 crores
• 2002-03 (plan) 775 crores
• 2003-04 (plan) 775 crores
• 2004-05 (plan) 1000 crores
• 2005-06 (plan) 1150 crores
• 2006-07 (plan) 1315 crores
• Indo-US Knowledge Initiative Budgets 350 crores
  over 3 years (115 crores per year on an average)
  about 9 of the plan outlay. From the USs
  side, no budgets put aside!

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Under Theme 1 of Agri Research Education

• Shifting of approach from
• (i) piecemeal to holistic solutions,
• (ii) commodity to production systems,
• (iiI) applied to basic and strategic research,
• (iv) mono-disciplinary to interdisciplinary
  research,
• (v) single institution to cross organization and
  trans country working and
• (vi) home-based consumer to market-driven
  agriculture.

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Objectives of re-orienting education, learning
resources, curricula training

• To enhance quality and relevance of higher
  education through reorientation and refinement of
  course curricula, learning resources and delivery
  processes.
• To develop and enhance human capacity in the
  emerging areas through training and faculty
  exchange
• To promote industry-academia interaction to
  enhance relevance of education and research on a
  changing time scale.

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Proposed activities

• Training (Inservice group)
• Faculty exchange (participation in collaborative
  research, team visits, post doctoral programmes)
• Workshops
• Consultancy
• Public-Private partnership
• Expected outcome includes graduates with more
• social responsiveness on issues such as
• environment, equity, poverty alleviation etc.

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Under Theme 2 Food Processing, Byproduct
Utilisation Biofuels

• Post harvest losses amount to 50,000 crores in
  India Value addition to agro-produce is 7
  compared to 60-70 in developed world
• OBJECTIVES
• Development of technology for innovative
  processed and value added products from plant and
  livestock produce.
• Development of technology for an economic
  utilization of agricultural byproducts.
• Development of technology for bio-fuels from
  agricultural biomass.
• Human resource development in critical areas of
  agro-processing and value addition.

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Budget estimates under this theme

• Food Processing 24.5 crores
• Byproduct Utilization 55 crores
• Biofuel 15 crores
• Expected Output
• Knowledge about hidden wealth in biological
  materials
• Availability of specialty foods and industry raw
  materials that meet consumer/ industrial need
  within India abroad

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Under Theme 3 of Biotechnology

• Genomics in crops, animals and fishes pigeonpea,
  water buffalo, finfish 90 crores of Rs.
• Molecular breeding in crops and animals pulses,
  wheat, okra etc. 30 crores of Rs.
• Development of transgenic crops, animals and
  fishes rice, wheat, mustard, banana, papaya,
  cassava etc. 25 crores of Rs.
• Molecular approaches for plant and animal health
  protection to detect GM from non-GM, for eg
  59.5 crores of Rs.
• Quality assurance, value addition and safety of
  food products 10 crores of Rs.

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Theme 4 of Water Management

• To develop and demonstrate water management
  strategies for enhancing water use efficiency and
  productivity from field to system/sub basin level
  in irrigated and rainfed areas.
• To evolve technological and institutional
  interventions for augmentation and effective use
  and reuse/recycling of poor and marginal quality
  water.
• To integrate modern technology with incremental
  methods to assist in planning, management and
  dissemination of information for sustainable use
  of water resources with special emphasis on
  uncertainty and risk management.
• To evolve enabling processes for influencing
  national water management policies.

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Water management.

• Sustainable use of groundwater resources 7
  crores
• Water quality management and remediation 6
  crores
• Use of Modern tools in water management 3
  crores
• Assessment and management of agricultural drought
  9.5 crores incl. cost effective
  agro-chemicals for enhancing water use
  efficiency, conservation agriculture etc.

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The Board of the KIA

• Board Members (Indian side)
• Honorary Adviser Dr. M.S. Swaminathan
• Co-chair Dr. Mangala Rai, Secretary, Department
  of Agricultural Research and Education Director
  General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research
• Government Representatives
• i) Dr. S. Jai Shankar, Joint Secretary (America),
  Ministry of External Affairs
• ii) Shri S.L. Bhat, Joint Secretary (Crops,
  Seeds TMOP), Department of Agriculture and
  Cooperation.
• Representatives from State Agricultural
  Universities/lCAR Institutions
• i) Dr. P.L Gautam, Vice Chancellor, Govind
  Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture
  Technology, Pant Nagar.
• ii) Dr. C. Ramasamy, Vice Chancellor, Tamil Nadu
  Agricultural University, Coimbatore
• iii) Dr. M.P Yadav, Director, Indian Veterinary
  Research Institute, Izatnagar,
• Representatives from Private Sector -
  Agri-business
• i) Shri Firoze Masani, Masani Farm, Nasik,
  Maharashtra.
• ii) Shri S. Sivakumar, Chief Executive,
  Agri-business, ITC Ltd., Secundarabad

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Board of the KIA

• Board Members (US side)
• Honorary Adviser Dr. Norman Borlaug
• Co-Chair Ms. Ellen Terpstra, Administrator,
  USDA/FAS
• Universities
• 1. Mr. Mortimer Neufville, Executive Vice
  President, National Association of State
  Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC).
• 2. Mr. Bobby Moser, Vice President and Executive
  Dean, College of Food, Agriculture and
  Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State
  University.
• 3. Mr. Surendra P. Singh, Professor, Agribusiness
  Tennessee State University.
• Non Government Organization
• Mr. Marshall Bouton, Executive Director, Chicago
  Council on Foreign Relations.
• Private Sector
• 1. Representative of Monsanto
• 2. Representative of Wal-mart.
• 3. Representative of Archer Daniels Midland
  Company

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Some issues of concern contention

• What similarities exist between Indian and US
  agriculture that we can learn from each other?
  Technology cannot be set in a social vacuum
• What lessons have been learnt from the GR? Is it
  a mindless repetition of a similar exercise? What
  was the context of the earlier GR and the present
  context?
• Why was the land grant philosophy abandoned for
  GR and why is the philosophy so uni-directional
  even now?
• Will techno-centric answers solve the problems of
  Indian farmers today? Is it the lack of
  technologies or research that is the cause of
  many problems witnessed today?
• How will any amount of technology upgradation on
  agri-processing and by-product utilisation help
  if basic trade issues are not resolved towards a
  level playing field?
• There is no thrust on increasing food production
  as a common thread that runs through the project,
  unlike in the case of the earlier Green
  Revolution

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Content of KIA per se

• On Agri Research, Education Extension
  Public-private partnership shift to basic
  strategic research Distance education,
  E-extension Will more and more virtual learning
  mean more distance from the farmers reality?
  Research tailored to meet needs of commercial
  enterprise
• Transgenic technology all the unresolved issues
• Bio-fuels promotion Contract Farming (for such
  contracts to work, shifts to varieties that are
  more suitable to processing!!)
• Community based water management models available
  within India. Similarly, drought-proofing is not
  a technical issue but more of a socio-political
  issue
• IPRs will be a major contentious issue
• Targeted at legal issues like biotechnology
  regulation, IPRs, contract farming and changing
  the regulatory regime in India

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Processes involved.

• If it is indeed the launch of the second Green
  Revolution, no debate at all was there an
  official assessment of the Green Revolution and
  lessons learnt? Were there any lessons picked up
  about innovations in civil society?
• No analysis apparent for the situation
  experienced today the problems are listed as
  exciting challenges opportunities!
• Though an agreement at the highest level, no
  parliamentary discussion
• Agriculture also a state subject no involvement
  of the state governments
• Farmers organisations were not consulted and all
  major organisations were against this deal!
• How were the issues selected for the joint
  collaboration? How was it assessed that India
  lacks expertise on the chosen issues or that it
  needs such expertise?
• Different even from the collaborations during GR
  private sector taking a lead now. IPRs a major
  issue now. The US paid at that time in the form
  of organisations like Ford Rockefeller.
• This time, not just erosion of farmers knowledge
  but also confusing them through the marketplace

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Many unanswered questions.

• Is this about India being a testing ground for
  several technologies?
• Will India have free access to public sector
  technology in the US? Who will hold IPRs for what
  is created?
• Is this only for facilitating agri-business
  investments in India? There is no mention of
  agri-business investments in the US from Indian
  side!
• Who will this deal have accountability to? No
  mention of any safety nets
• Technology generation and adoption was supposedly
  bridged by the extension department earlier
  what is the re-orientation of agri research
  telling us here?

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Potential socio-political implications

• Free access to our genetic resources
• Changes in our IPR regime here
• Lax regulation with GM crops and GM crops pushed
  in an aggressive manner
• Domestic retail sector taken over by MNCs
• Contract farming driving farming here small
  farmers thrown out of farming
• Public money from India paying for the firmer
  establishment of American commercial interests
  within India
• More legitimacy to companies like Monsanto and
  Cargill known for their anti-farmer policies
  legitimacy to biopiracy?
• The last nail on the public sectors coffin? Or
  the last nail on the Indian farmer?

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In Conclusion.

• By itself, KIA may not be able to bring about
  massive changes other than significant changes in
  terms of policy/legislative changes and creating
  more spaces for private players at the expense of
  Indian farmers and public sector
• A combination of KIA with other programmes and
  policies might create the last disaster for
  Indian farmers.