Sustainable Agriculture & Food Production

1. 3rd infoDev Global Forum on Innovation & Entrepreneurship and
National Seminar on Science Parks and Business Incubation
October 26-30, 2009 Florianopolis, Santa Catrina, Brazil
Plenary 6A 28th October 2009
Sustainable Agriculture and Food Production
N. Ganga Vidya – India MSSRF
1

2. 2
M. S. Swaminathan
Research
Foundation

3. 3
M S Swaminathan Research Foundation
100 Coastal Systems Research
200 Biotechnology
300 Biodiversity
400 Eco-Technology
500 Food Security
600 Education, Communication, Training and Capacity
Building
Founded in 1988-89
A Not-for-profit Research and Development Foundation

4. 4
Green Revolution (late 1960s) in India
Wheat Production 6 MT (1965): 17 MT (1968): 80 MT (2000)
Cereal Production 45 MT (1965): …… 205 MT(2003)
India’s image “Begging bowl” (1965):… “Bread basket” (1975)
Population 410 million: …… 1000 million (2001)
GR “Forest land saving agriculture”: – but for yield increase, India by
2005 would have had to convert 85 million ha of forest land to produce
200 MT of cereal.

5. 5
Initial Trials : Rabi 1963
Wheat Production – India now occupies the
Second Position in the World
Green Revolution* Wheat & Rice
Non-lodging , greater absorption of sun
light, better root system, higher harvest
index and photo-insensitivity
*(Forest / land saving agriculture)

6. Positive and Negative Impacts of Green Revolution
Positive
Food Production
Change faster than the
Growth rate of Population
55 million tonnes Rice and
Wheat
70 million including millets
200 million tonnes
Population 430 million 1000 million
Ecological Gain Begging Bowl to Bread
Basket
Rescued 85 million hectares
of forests from being taken
over for farming.
6
Negative
1. Fertilisers and Chemicals used in excess due to greed led to the
degeneration of the soil.
2. Perverse Subsidy of free electricity to farmers led to excessive tapping of
ground water and excess water and the stagnation of water on the soil led to
salinity and started destroying crops.

7. 7
(IMP)
(IMP)
“Intensive cultivation of land without conservation of soil fertility and soil
structure would lead ultimately to the springing up of deserts. Irrigation without
arrangements for drainage would result in soils getting alkaline or saline.
Indiscriminate use of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides could cause adverse
changes in biological balance as well as lead to an increase in the incidence of
cancer and other diseases, through the toxic residues present in the grains or
other edible parts. Unscientific tapping of underground water would lead to the
rapid exhaustion of this wonderful capital resource left to us through ages of
natural farming. The rapid replacement of numerous locally adapted varieties
with one or two high yielding strains in large contiguous areas would result in
the spread of serious diseases capable of wiping out entire crops, as happened
prior to the Irish potato famine of 1845 and the Bengal rice famine of 1942.
Therefore, the initiations of exploitative agriculture without a proper
understanding of the various consequences of every one of the changes
introduced into traditional agriculture and without first building up a proper
scientific and training base to sustain it, may only lead us into an era of
agricultural disaster in the long run, rather than to an era of agricultural
prosperity.”
Vision Of Prof. M. S. Swaminathan for “Evergreen Revolution” - Indian
Science Congress held at Varanasi in January 1968

8. 8
Transition from Green to Ever Green Revolution
ASM Journal Vol1(2) 2007
M. S. Swaminathan & P. C. Kesavan

9. 9
Sustainable Agriculture
Integration of Traditional Knowledge and Modern Science

10. 10
Population : 1300 million plus
o Cereals in storage : ~35 million tonnes
o People Suffering from Endemic Hunger : ~ 380 million
o Cause of Endemic Hunger : “Famine of Livelihood /
Jobs” and not the
“Famine of Food.”
Food Insecurity Scenario in India
(“Mountains of Grains on one hand, and Millions of Hungry
on the other”)
Solution is Productivity in Perpetuity without Ecological Harm
Famine of Foods is the Ecological Imbalance
Famine of Jobs or access to Livelihood is the Economic Imbalance

11. 11
Components of Evergreen Revolution
ASM Journal Vol1(2) 2007
M. S. Swaminathan & P. C. Kesavan

12. 12
Strategy for Agriculture
Low Input - Low Volume - High Value Agriculture
 Subsistence Level
Food grains - paddy (only when it is a choice both from the
ecological and economic points of view)
 Semi-Commercial Level
Vegetables, Oil seeds
 Commercial Level
Coconut, arecanut, spices, medicinal plants, orchids
“Organic agro-products estates”

13. 13
Forest Green Agriculture Eco-tourism
Evergreen Semi evergreen
Ecoenterprises
Matchstick,
honey collection
Orchids,
Herbs and
Medicinal
Shrubs
Mangrove Green agriculture
of millets, legumes,
vegetables, fodder etc
in
“mixed dynamic
farming” (i.e. crops,
vegetables, fodder,
cows, sheep, poultry)
Ecoenterprises
• Milk, meat, eggs,
vegetables
• Biopesticides
• Biofertilizers
• Vermicompost
Organic farming
coconut, arecanut,
and spices animal
husbandry.
Ecoenterprises
• ‘copra’ and coconut-
based furniture, coir
etc.
• spices, arecanut
marketing
• Oryctes baculo
virus
Fisheries
Culture
(SHGs)
(mud crab,
prawn)
Ecoenterpris
es
• Ornamental
fish
• Fish pickle
Capture
(Medium to
large)
State
operated
Processing
and export
P.C. Kesavan and M.S. Swaminathan in ASM Journal 2007
Social Entrepreneurship with Eco-friendly Livelihood

14. 14
Biovillage Paradigm
Biovillages
Natural Resources Conservation
and Enhancement
Sustainable Livelihoods
 Land
 Water
 Biodiversity
 Renewable energy
On-farm Non-farm
 Diversification
 Value Addition
 Market driven
Self Help Groups

15. 15
 Ecotechnology in Action.
 Human- centred development.
 Pro-nature, pro-poor and pro-
women orientation to job-led
economic growth.
 Involves knowledge, skill,
information and organisational
empowerment of rural families
with ecotechnologies based on a
blend of traditional wisdom and
frontier technologies such as
space and remote sensing,
renewable energy, nuclear energy
(eco-friendly), communication,
gene technologies.
Biovillage Society
Natural
Resource
Management
Micro
Enterprises
&
Micro
Credit
Institutional
Linkages
Training
Marketing
Linkages
Biocentre
Participatory Micro Level Planning
Social Mobilisation
Bottom
up
Approach
Job-less
Job-led
Biovillage Model

16. 16
Six Es in the crossroads for the planet Earth
Ecology : Avoiding “ecological overshoot”
Equity : Two time dimensions-intra-and inter-generational; also
gender equity
Economics : Ecological economics time dimension of infinity; Short-term
gains and long-term survival should not be mutually
antagonistic
Energy : Sustainable energy security mobilising all sources of
renewable energy-solar, wind, hydro -, biogas, hydrogen
energy etc.
Employment : Job-led economic growth
Ethics : Principle of social inclusion; Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of
“antyodaya” ( i.e attention to the weakest and the poorest
persons) – Also Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1944

17. 17
Biotechnology and organic agriculture

18. Agri – Entrepreneur & SRI Paddy Cultivation
18
The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a method of
increasing the yield of rice produced in farming.
Less Water and
Less Expenditure
gives more yields,
Beneficial for small and
marginal farmers.
As a savings in input costs

19. 19
Biomanure would be useful for organic farming and
sustainable agriculture, particularly increasing the
organic content of the soil, Bio manure production is a
sustainable form of livelihood
Agricultural Technology
Biomanure from the Banana waste

20. 20
Trichogramma egg parasitoid production
Vermiform compost
Eco-enterprises for Sustainable Livelihood

21. 21
Backyard Ornamental Fish Culture
Strengthening the livelihood security of women living in poverty

22. 22
Biovillage
Linking
Ecological
and
Livelihood
Security

23. 23
Ecotechnology Revolution
 Blending frontier technologies

with traditional wisdom and
ecological prudence. These then become eco-technologies with
pro-nature, pro-poor and pro-women orientation
 Ecotechnologies involve concurrent attention to Ecology, Energy,
Equity, Economics, Employment and Ethics.
 Ecotechnologies are in action in MSSRF’s Biovillages.
 (ICT, BT, Nano, Space, Nuclear)

24. 24
Major Technological Revolutions for Sustainable
Rural Development
1. Gene Revolution
2. Information and Communication Revolution
3. Eco-technology Revolution (Blending frontier
technologies with traditional wisdom and ecological
prudence in order to impart pro-nature, pro-poor and pro-
women orientation to technology development and
dissemination in the rural areas)
Ecotechnologies integrate ecology, energy, equity,
economics and employment.

25. 25
Mass Production (Factory Farming)
Vis – a – vis
Production by Masses (Farmer’s Farming)
An example, Milk Production in India (2001 – 2009)
Country Annual Milk Production
(Million tonnes)
Number of Farming Persons
(Million)
India ~ 108.0 ~ 90
( ~75 women & ~15 men)
USA ~ 80.0 ~ 0.20 (mostly men)
(Free trade ceases to be fair when masses or micro-enterprises (of
over 1 billion small farmers globally) having little access to
technology (e.g. r-BST: recombinant bovine somatotropin), credit
and adequate post-harvest infrastructure compete with few million
farm families in industrialized countries, supported by heavy inputs
of technology, capital and domestic support)

26. 26
Drudgery in Pounding

27. 27
De-Husking Mills, Value Addition and Organic Markets

28. 28
Reducing drudgery in millet processing through small mills
131.52
4.6
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Manual Mechanical
Duration in Minutes

29. 29
Still drudgery of women persists – in separating the smaller
stones before processing the grain
Agricultural Technology
Dehusking Minor Millet for Urban Market

30. 30
4 C Strategy for Millets
Conservation Cultivation
Consumption
Commerce
KHABCoFED
Village Millet
Resource Centres
(VMRCs)

31. 31
Samai Rice Thinai Rice Samai Uppuma Thinai Uppuma Samai Poorna Kozhukkatai Samai Kara Kozhukkatai Thinai Poorna Kozhukkatai Thinai Kara Kozhukkatai
Samai Sweet Puttu Thinai Sweet Puttu Samai Sweet Pongal Thinai Sweet Pongal Samai Sweet Idiappam Samai Thinai Kara Idiappam Thinai Sweet Idiappam Samai Thinai Sweet Paniyaram
Samai Kara Paniyaram Thinai Kara Paniyaram Samai Payasam Thinai Payasam Samai Idli Thinai Idli Samai Dosai Thinai Dosai
Samai Wheat Flour Dosai Thinai Wheat Flour Dosai Samai Kara Pongal Thinai Kara Pongal Samai Thinai Keera Roti Samai Bonda Samai Pakoda Thinai Bonda
Thinai Pakoda Samai Thinai Ribbon Pakoda Samai Thinai Omapodi Samai Thinai Adai Samai Thinai Vadai Samai Thinai Murukku Thinai Adhirasam Samai Thinai Kachayam
KOLLI HILLS TRADITIONAL RECIPES OF SAMAI (Little Millet) & THINAI (Italian Millet)

32. 32
Organic Products from Kolli Hills

33. 33
Market tie-ups were arranged for the
traditional crops of indigenous and rural families

34. 34
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
Ragi Malt Thinai
Payasa
Mix
Thinai
Laddu
Samai
Bajji Mix
Samai
Uppuma
Mix
Samai
Rava Dosa
Mix
Amount
(Rs)
Ingredient Cost Gross income Expenditure Net Income
Cost benefit analysis of Value Added Products in Millets

35. 35

36. 36
Frozen Seeds : Saviour of Sustainable Food Security
Community Gene & Seed Banks
National Gene Bank
Svalbard –
Global Seed Vault
Conservation continuum

37. 37
Gene Bank Seed Bank Water Bank
Grain Bank
Conservation - Cultivation – Consumption - Commerce
Building Community and Water Food Security Systems

38. 38
Traditional Storage Structures in Orissa and Kolli Hills

39. 39
Gene-Seed-Grain Bank

40. 40

41. 41
Agricultural (Marine) Technology
Community Fish Pickle Unit

42. 42
View of the Integrated
Seawater farm near
Chidambaram
Inner bund
TIDAL OUTLET
Mangrove plantation Grow out area
For fish, crab
Sea Water Farming

43. 43
Promotion of Alternative Livelihoods for the Poor
Pearl Culture Agar Plant
Artificial Reef
Mud crab Fattening

44. 44
o Promote ‘Sustainable development”: the development that meets
the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.
o Link Ecological security with Livelihood security (Koraput model)
(Community Gene – Seed – Grain – Fodder – Water Banks) –
Banks with a difference.
o Transform “Green Revolution” into “Ever – green revolution”.
Breaking the Vicious Spiral between Poverty and
Environmental Degradation

45. 45
The Village, the Land and the Sea are the Incubators
Micro-Enterprises - Training and Building

46. 46
Biotechnology
o Biological Softwares
Agricultural technology
o Precision farming
o Water Management
o Harvest and Post harvest, storage,
processing technologies
Information Communication Technology
o Connectivity
o Content (Locale-specific, demand
driven information)
Broad areas of Technologies highly relevant for
Sustainable Rural Development
Sustainable
Rural
Development,
Livelihood,
Health, Food
and Nutrition
Security

47. 47
Sensitive to the serious consequences of the growing rural urban divide in terms
of Investment, Infrastructure and Opportunities for Income and Employment.
Rural development which is knowledge intensive depends on the right tools from
the bouquet offered by the Information Communication and Technology for
Development (ICT4D) arena.
Information needs of the farm women and men are dynamic inputs relating to
meteorological, management and marketing factors as related to crops, animal
husbandry, fisheries, agro-forestry and agro-processing. It is now necessary for a
demand driven and value added information that is time and location specific.
Communication for knowledge transfers between and across rural
communities, scientists, educators, administrators, health care providers,
technology enablers on methods and techniques are the main stay. Lab – Land,
Land – Lab, Land – Land and Lab – Lab are the four arms of this network which
can be effected through a chain of Rural Knowledge Centres (RKC), (Gyan
Choupals).
Technology helps to achieve a paradigm shift from unskilled to skilled work and
thereby move large numbers of the rural poor from the primary to the secondary
and tertiary sectors of the economic activity.

48. 48
I
N
F
O
R
M
A
T
I
O
N
P
R
O
D
U
C
E
R
S
Universities 1992
National
Information
Centres
Remote
Sensing
Centres
Value
Adders
Information
Resources
Centre
Knowledge Centres
Rural Families
The concept of Village Knowledge Centre
Journey Begins …
VRC / VKC
Supported by : IDRC, ISRO, ITTO, UNDP and
CAPART

49. 49
External
Supra
Local
Local
Govt.
Dept.
KVK Univ.
Govt.
Dept.
Radio
TV
AO BDO
Market
Input
supplier
Bank
Credit
Other
farmers Farmer
Other
farmers
Trader
Strong Linkage Weak Linkage
Information Linkages in Rural Systems (1997)
Company
KVK : Farm Science Center | AO : Agriculture Officer | BDO : Block Development Officer

50. 50
Needs of the
communities
Locale Specific Demand
Driven Content
Awareness and Training
Programmes
Linkages
Knowledge - Action
Lab-Land, Land-Lab, Lab-Lab, Land-Land

51. Above Village Resource Centre and below Village Knowledge Centre
51

52. 52
VRCs / VKCs o Content – Feasibility and suitability of the
enterprises on the particular area: raw
materials availability, marketing potential,
schemes available in government
departments, etc.
o Hands on training on Micro-enterprises
o Linking with market institutions
o Disseminating SHG groups micro enterprises
through VRC / VKC network
o Helping the SHG members to prepare the
project proposal for getting loans from
financial and government departments
SMEs
Role of VRCs and VKCs in Micro-enterprises

53. 53
Inbound
Information
Logistics
Processing
for Value
Addition &/or
Conversion
Fit for Delivery
Outbound
Logistics
Dissemination
Outcome
in the Form
of Use
implementing
the use of
content
Collating
Sequensing,
Prioritising
Impact
in
Terms of
δ Change in
Social,
Economic or
Financial levels
Output
in the Form
of
Enhanced
Knowledge
&
Acceptance
The Knowledge Entrepreneurship

54. INCOIS Board
• Applicable only for coastal communities
• Provides navigable route for fishing in
terms of
• (a) Longitude and Latitude, (b) Wave
height,
• (c) Ocean Surface Status,
• (d) Sea Current
• (e) today’s and forecast for the week
• Provides early warning siren for tsunami,
which will be activated at the national
level and reach that machine by
providing 3 hrs advance information for
evacuation
• Fish shoal identification, species specific
identification and thermo cline zones
inside the water
54

55. 55
FFMA Brew Based Technology
CDMA. Disseminates the
information related to fishing
community in local languages
Wave height, Weather, Potential
Fishing Zone, Flash News,
Government Schemes /
announcements, Market, Rural
Yellow Pages and more all on the
click of a button on the mobile
phone.
Mobile Phone Application-1
FFMA (Fisher Friend Mobile Application)

56. Mobile Phone Application-2
M-Krishi TCS
Pesticide Assistance
पीछे
Climate
Pests
Help
Farmer Friend
Ok Back
Pests
Ok Back
This is the Pest application main screen. It captures an image of the plant leaves; which is then sent to a
centralized expert manned help desk for analysis. The advice from these experts is then displayed on
the handset.
56
Friend for the farmer provides
information on submission of
status details like soil condition,
moisture and other conditions
of the ground water and soil.
It also provides generic
information on the daily
weather and the weekly
forecast on weather and other
conditions of rain and cloud
formations.
We can also know the damage
of buds and bulbils due to
smog level changes and the
chemicals in dew drops.

57. Mobile Phone Application-3
IFFCO Airtel Green SIM Card
57
1.Works on a SIM based technology
and is independent of the instrument
used and requires only the purchase of
the Green SIM which is an innovation
on a Public Private Partnership
between the Indian Public Sector
Cooperative and Airtel the MNC.
2.They provide 5 fixed advisories per
day in 7 different languages of India
with regional inputs from regional
academic and research organization
support

58. Mobile Van with V-Sat Connectivity
58
It is with satellite connectivity which is
useful to have tele medicine, tele
ophthalmology and tele education, Soil
and water testing mobile unit.
Can be useful to have tele conference
with experts for disaster preparedness
(pre, during and post) and other above
operations. V-SAT connectivity may
be obtained from ISRO on a
partnership mode.
e VSAT on the top works only when the
van is stationed. So we have take the
van to the nearest location for the
Villagers to gather and then the satellite
on a stationary mode makes contact
with the satellite.

59. Rural Innovation Applications
• o Primary Eye Care Through
Rural Vision Centre
• o School Management
Software
• o e-Com Web Portal To
Facilitate Flow Of Funds Up To
Village Level
• o Participatory Community
Raining And e-Commerce
Adaptation
• o Village Centric Disaster
Management System
• o Preparation of Knowledge Kit
For Goat Keepers
• o BMDScan - Tool for Bone
Mineral Density Scan
• o Patient Logistics
Management for Hospitals
59
Facilitated by MSSRF and funded by Microsoft and IDRC

60. Tailor Made Software Applications
Software Applications
which are tailor made
for the rural users.
Eg. The Software
Accounting Package for
SHG Accounts
Maintenance
which is in the local
format in compliance
with the banks
requirements for loan
repayments.
60
Self-Help Group Accounting Software – Location Specific based on the
operations of local banks, government departments, NGOs, etc.

61. 61
Bridging the Digital Divide
– a powerful Tool for bridging the gender divide

62. 62
Ushering in a Rural Knowledge Revolution

63. Entrepreneurship +Technology +
Knowledge + Incubation
The potency of technology to reap efficiencies
in the functioning of agriculture markets and
in crop production cycles is clear. Timely
access to knowledge and market information
is critical to increasing yields, enhancing
product quality, control systems for animal
farms and getting a competitive price.
63

64. MSSRF Experience
Can the application of ICTs and the use of co-
incubation enhance market access for agriculture
producers in other countries? Other players, such as
spin-offs from Research Technology Institute.
Yes it is possible. We have been doing incubation in
the wall less lab called as “Village” with the Human
Resources “Community” and the Firm infrastructure
is the Village’s Natural Resources and their little
personal assets.
64

65. Value Chain in the Village
65

66. Productivity in Perpetuity
• Ecological Foundation Green Agriculture
• Process Millets
• Support Base Knowledge Connectivity
• Post Harvest Value Added Products
• Pro Market Customer to Business
and Business to Consumer
66

67. Enriching Livelihood Pattern
Through a combination of small and marginal
farmer business incubation, education,
training and outreach, MSSRF helps
individuals and communities gain access to
technology that will improve their lives and
bring improvement in their livelihoods.
67

68. 68
Universities/
Research
Institutions
Corporate
Sector
UN
Agencies
Technologists
NGOs /
CBOs
Financial
Institutions
Central/State
Governments
Departments
Media
Grameen Gyan Abhiyan – Rural
Knowledge Movement (Mission
2007: Every Village a Knowledge
Centre)
Different
Telecenter
Managers
International
Research /
Funding
Institutions
Hospitals

69. 69
Grameen Gyan Abhiyan (Rural Knowledge Centre) - Mission 2007 :
Every Village a Knowledge Centre
o 113,000 Common (Community) Service Centres to be in full operation by
2010
o 7,047 Village Resource Centres at all the block offices to come up by 2011
o 45,000 ITC e-Choupals to be in full operation by 2011
o 25,000 Community Technology Learning Centres functional by 2009
through the Microsoft Saksham Project
o 1,000 Community Information Centres of National Informatics Centre
functional by 2007
o 22 State Wide Area Networks to be functional by 2010 to reach upto the
Panchayat level. It is free for all the CSCs but the last hut connectivity may be
purchased from the local State Government
o In Addition all states have some or the other initiative eg. Bhoomi, Bhulekh,
Akshaya, e-Seva, Gyandhoot, Akashganga and others
o Mobile networks – IFFCO-IKSL-AirTel, QUALCOMM-TataTeleservices-
Astute Systems-MSSRF, etc.