Date:29/08/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/29/stories/2007082954981100.htm

Karnataka

Rs. 1,200 crore for farm research

Nagesh Prabhu

The fund will be spent over the
next five years

BANGALORE: The National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) will spend Rs. 1,200 crore in the next five years (2007-11) on fine tuning the country’s agricultural research.

The NAIP, a joint initiative of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the World Bank ($ 200 million), would support innovative farm-related projects to improve the livelihood of the poor in the most backward regions.

It would finance the development and implementation of agricultural innovations through collaboration among farmers, private sector, organisations, and agricultural universities, Mruthyunjaya, national director, NAIP, told The Hindu .

The project has four components, including one in which the ICAR acts as the catalysing agent for the management of change of the national agricultural system (NARS). ICAR would provide leadership and empower the NARS and the expanding group of other research providers to adapt to emerging challenges.

The other components involved research in production and consumption systems; research on sustainable rural livelihood security; and basic and strategic research in the frontier areas of agricultural sciences, the director said.

The project also had a component — visioning, policy analysis and gender (V-PAGe).

The role of various development agents/actors would be analysed under the component, with special focus on empowerment of women, said Dr. Mruthyunjaya, who visited Bangalore last week and attended a workshop on agriculture.

During the last few months, it has received 992 proposals from various agricultural universities and institutes on various topics. It is likely to clear 45 innovative projects soon.

The University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bangalore, is expected to get a project for ensuring livelihood security to the farmers of rain-fed Chitradurga district. The project would cost Rs. 19 crore, he said.

The NAIP, which is a pilot project, will suggest how to improve agricultural research, extension and education system with a view to benefit all the stakeholders with special emphasis on the farmers.

The market demand for products such as fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, fish, milk, sugar, and edible oils has increased.

While agricultural development has long been supply oriented, he said its future will be more market driven, he said.