Technology Delivery - M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation

M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
Chennai - 600113
Department of Science and Technology
Government of India, New Delhi
Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division
Food and Agriculture Organisation
Regional Office for Asia-Pacific, Bangkok
State Bank of India, Chennai
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
3 rd Cross Street, Taramani Institutional Area
Chennai – 600113, INDIA
Tel: +91-44-2254 2698/2254 2699
Fax: +91-44-2254 1319
Email: executivedirector@mssrf.res.in
Web: www.mssrf.org
Technology Development and
Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Mushroom Production
Trichoderma Production
Silk Reeling
Paper & Paper Boards
Crab Fattening
Trichogramma Production
Leaf Stitching
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
Pseudomonas Production
Value Addition of Tamarind
Integrated Farms
Biofertilizer Production

Self Help Group Members nurtured by MSSRF in handling
different Income Generating Activities
ARTI’s Household Energy Technologies
(See text in page 69-71)
Improved Laxmi Stove Sampada Gasifier Stove Vivek Sawdust Stove
Sarai Cooking System ARTI Biogas System
Charcoaling Technology – Rural
Charcoaling Technology – Urban

Technology Development and
Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation

MSSRF/PR/08/67
Editors:
Dr. Sudha Nair
Ms. Nandhini Iyengar
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
3 rd Cross Street, Taramani Institutional Area
Chennai – 600113, INDIA
Tel: +91-44-2254 2698/2254 2699
Fax: +91-44-2254 1319
Email: executivedirector@mssrf.res.in
Web: www.mssrf.org
Designed and Printed by AMM Prints

Contents
Preface 5
Inaugural Remarks 9
Technical Papers
Role of the State in the Technological Development of Indian Agriculture
Dr. R. Rukmani 21
Technology Delivery: The Precision Farming Experience of TNAU in
selected districts of Tamil Nadu
Dr. C. Ramasamy 32
Technology Delivery to Cotton Farmers in Vidarbha Region of
Maharashtra
Mr. Atul Sharma 42
Development Efforts and Technology Delivery – Extent of Inclusiveness
Dr. P. S. Geethakutty 47
Approach to Rural Development “Economy Decentralization”
Dr. Anil Joshi 51
Technology Delivery System - a Hub and Spoke Model - a case study in
Sunderbans, West Bengal
Dr. Ramalakshmi Datta & Dr. B. K. Datta 59
Enhancing Livelihood Security through Capacity Building for Organic
Farming.
Dr. K. Vijayalakshmi and Dr. A. V. Balasubramanian 63
Renewable Energy: Balancing Livelihood and Environmental
Sustainability
Dr. A. D. Karve & Dr. Priyadarshini Karve 69
Water Security and Livelihood Security
Mr. Jurgen Putz 75
Approaches for Health Security in Rural India
Dr. Nerges Mistry 82
Social Milieu for Technology Transfer: An Asian Perspective
Dr. Revathi Balakrishnan 89

Gender and Social inclusion for sustainable livelihoods: Insights from
the case studies an Overview
Ms. Mina Swaminathan 99
Women, Work and TechnologyA View through a Socio-Economic
and Gender Framework
Ms. C. P. Sujaya 110
Public Policies Required for Promoting Socio-economic and
Environmental Sustainability
Dr. Narayan G. Hegde 130
NABARD’s support to Technology Development and Distribution
A. Ramanathan 136
Financial Services for Promoting Technology Adoption
Ms. Vasumathi 145
Guiding Principles for Socially Inclusive Technology Development
and Delivery - Recommendations from the Deliberations 159
List of Participants 163
List of Acronyms 167

Preface
Knowledge and innovation are key drivers of the Indian economy. Today India has
positioned itself as a leader in the global scientific community in various fields. In the
home front, the Indian vision was one of science and technology-driven development
for improving living levels of the people. Since independence, the Indian government
has made significant investment, to utilize science and technology to improve
agriculture and rural livelihoods. India’s standing as a dominant actor in the global
economy symbolizes the outcome of its investment in science and technology. India
is also a country with a large population and a sizeable proportion of the population
lives and works in rural areas. A rural-urban development divide presents challenges
to achieve the goal of growth with equity. With a commitment to erase rural disparity
and meet the growing aspirations of the rural population, the country faces the task
of exploiting technology to improve rural livelihoods. Furthermore, competition in the
global economy demands a paradigm for development that advances the knowledge
of the rural communities to augment their livelihood with optimal application of
technology. It is no longer an issue of rural lag in achievement, but the absence of
the right technology among rural producers, with important implications for economic
growth.
The global consensus for closing the development gap resulted in Millennium
Development Goals that present targets for 2015. In the context of the important goals
to be addressed are eradicating hunger and poverty, pressuring the environment,
enhancing education and using science and technology for development and
partnership. It is being increasingly recognized that science and technology could
be a pathway to achieve sustained growth as well as to bridge the development
achievement divide. In India recent national initiatives to renew and reenergize
investment in knowledge systems and institutions of learning demonstrate the national
commitment to endow people with knowledge and information.
Within the broad canvas of the national agenda for knowledge empowerment for
development, a critical aspect is science and technology for rural livelihood. The
11 th five year Plan (2007-2012) is considering setting up “Rural Technology Delivery
Centres” and also proposing to take up a programme on “Science and Technology for
Rural Industrialization, Development and Employment” (STRIDE).
The investment in research and development at the national level should form the
basis to generate innovations acceptable and adoptable among people. Scientific
products become innovations that bear economic benefits for rural people. Such
an agenda would require that the scientific community acknowledges that science
5

and technology become innovations that transform rural livelihoods only when people
adopt and apply them in their productive endeavors.
The conceptualization of technologies for sustainable livelihood should incorporate the
dual objectives of a sustainable natural resource base for rural livelihood and sustained
access to household resources to guarantee economic, food and health security.
Hence, the rural people’s social and economic realities should shape technology
development, transfer modalities and technology service support processes. The
technology policies and programmes for improving rural livelihoods should assess the
relevance of technologies to achieve these dual purposes. The assumption that the
current technologies on the shelf or in the making would automatically cater to the felt
needs of the rural communities may have to be examined. Effectiveness of traditional
and emerging modalities for technology delivery to reach diverse social groups to
reap the benefits of innovations on equitable terms should be evaluated.
A broader perspective of the technology system would incorporate technology
development, technology transfer modalities, technology service packages and
policies and programmes for technology development, delivery and adoption. The
stakeholders would include of all actors involved in these processes within the
technology system. The convergence of purpose on employing technologies for the
advancement of rural livelihoods would be to design an inclusive technology system
that is responsive to the felt needs and adoption constraints of all social groups in
rural communities.
A national consultation on “Technology Development and Delivery Models for
Sustainable Livelihoods,” was organized to explore the four facets of the inclusive
technology system identified as technology development that is responsive to diverse
rural clients, technology transfer modalities, technology service processes that
transcend social inequities and policies and programmes for inclusive technology
development, delivery and adoption. The inclusive perspective examined the social
and economic inequities that perpetuate technology divide in rural communities.
The partnership considerations explored the multi-sector partnerships to improve
technology development and outreach among rural households. The consultation
generated recommendations to the policy makers, technology development and
transfer organizations, and other stakeholders to help the pathways of the multi-sector
stakeholders to refine and reform technology development and delivery modalities to
improve rural livelihoods.
We express our sincere thanks to the Department of Science and Technology, Govt of
India, the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
at Bangkok and State Bank of India, Chennai, for having supported us to organize
the National Consultation on Technology Development and Delivery Models for
6

Sustainable Livelihoods and bring this compendium of lead papers as a publication.
We also express our deep sense of gratitude to all the contributors and the persons
who participated in the Consultation.
I would like to thank my colleagues Dr. Sudha Nair, Director, J. R. D. Tata Ecotechnology
Centre, and Ms. R. V. Bhavani, Director Incharge, Food Security Studies, for ably
organizing the Consultation.
Achyut M. Gokhale
Executive Director
April 2008 M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
Chennai
7

Inaugural Remarks

Prof. M. S. Swaminathan
Chairman, M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
3rd Cross Road, Taramani Institutional Area
Chennai - 600 113
Email: swami@mssrf.res.in
Inaugural Remarks
I take pleasure in welcoming all the distinguished participants to this national consultation
on technology development and delivery models for sustainable livelihoods.
This consultation, co-sponsored by Department of Science and Technology (DST)
Government of India, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Bangkok and State
Bank of India, is a timely one because all over the country there is a discussion on
how to incorporate the concept of inclusion in every sphere of activity, in gender and
social terms.
Technology has always been the prime mode of change. Take for example, the cell
phone. It has changed the life of everyone and it is difficult to imagine living without a
cell phone now. So we see that technology is an agent of change, but how to use that
change for the betterment of the quality of life is the challenge.
Let me say a few words about sustainable livelihoods. At the time of independence,
the population in our country was 350 million, of whom 75 % were dependent on
agriculture for their livelihood. Now, 60 years later, the population is 1.1 billion and
many of them are still dependent on agriculture. One of our main difficulties in
poverty eradication is that we have not been able to diversify livelihood opportunities
in villages.
In terms of economic roles, there are 3 sectors. The primary role is that of agriculture,
the secondary role, that of processing and manufacture and the tertiary is the service
sector. In most advanced countries, the majority of the people belong to the tertiary
sector, but that is not the case in our country. Some of our neighbouring countries like
Thailand have been able to bring about a major diversification of livelihood opportunities.
We see, therefore, that one of the requirements for sustainable livelihoods is a multiple
channel of income, especially in the agricultural sector.
Agriculture is applied ecology, based on land, water and biodiversity. Therefore, the
conservation of natural resources and their enhancement becomes very important
for sustainable livelihood. When you want to increase people’s income, you have
to increase the economic value of every hour of their time. This is the challenge for
technology – it must be socially inclusive.
In the case of information technology, we have been trying in our Foundation¹, from the
beginning, to reach the unreached, because social inclusion must be the bottom line
in the use of ICT in rural development. We have Village Knowledge Centres or Gyan
¹ http://www.mssrf.org
11

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Chaupals as they are called. It has now become a national movement. Knowledge
empowerment is very important and timely in terms of disaster management and
livelihood information, market information and market access.
In the case of agriculture, we have been experimenting with a number of methods of
technology delivery, to reach the poorest farmers. We have insisted on training and
learning by doing. The next was lab to land and land to lab linking, which is a very
effective method of getting technology quickly into the field. Then came to farmer-tofarmer
or land-to-land learning, which has a high degree of credibility.
It is very important to ensure social inclusion in technology development because
otherwise it could become another source of division. We should develop a method
by which we can ensure that the divides are ended and technology becomes a great
source for unifying society and empowering every individual, especially those who are
socially and economically underprivileged.
I welcome you all once again and thank the sponsors for arranging this timely
consultation.
12

Dr. T. Ramasami
Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology
Department of Science & Technology, Technology Bhavan
New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi - 110 016
Email: dstsec@nic.in
Inaugural Remarks
Good morning to all of you. I thank the organizers for giving me this opportunity to be
here; inclusion in this case includes me as well.
As mentioned by Dr. Swaminathan, the role of technology, especially in bridging the
social divide, has been a subject for discussion and one I am conversant with. If we
look at the endowment garden, nature seems to have favoured rural communities in
developing economies, in the form of land, water, air and livestock. But manmade
facilities and infrastructure, built and aided by technology, seem to favour urban
communities. Is it the defect of technology or the technologist who designed it?
A scientist always looks for interesting problems to be solved. But the people are not
looking for problems, they are looking for solutions. The approach, therefore, should
be to connect these two. Of late, technology seems to have undergone a change in
mindset and is loaded in favour of economy of scale; more and more money is added
into the tools of technology utilization. We have to concentrate rather on technology of
numbers – that which can be used by the maximum number of people.
For this, I recommend the 4 D’s. The first is the design of technology, which provides a
viable solution for problems faced by many. It should be of a size and investment that
can be afforded by underprivileged social groups to be socially inclusive.
The next is development, in the context in which it is to be applied. We have many
designs but they are not of the right size to be of use to the groups who need them.
So technology must be developed and modified to suit the social context in which it
will be used.
Then there is the question of delivery. The technology has to reach the right people at
the right time to be effective and useful. There are many instances when this has not
happened and all the effort and expense has been a waste.
What will catalyse and spread the adoption of the technology is the dramatic effect
it produces. There was an instance of an age-old method being used which resulted
in poor yield, low quality and long process. But the scientists who were sent to rectify
the situation said they could not do anything. They were told to live with the people
and study the system. Slowly they established a rapport with the people and made
them accept the new ideas and technologies which reduced the time and increased
the yield. These dramatic results made it possible to introduce new technology where
there had originally been indifference and apathy.
13

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
When we discuss a programme or technology for sustainable livelihood, we have to
think of a chain from end to end. Otherwise the problem cannot be solved. The 4Ds
of design, development, delivery, and especially dramatic effect are necessary to fill
the gap that is seen and felt. In this context, the Department of S & T is morally bound
to participate in the process of technology delivery.
We are in the process of setting up a foundation-like structure which will bring scientists
to address social problems of high magnitude and provide the science-society linkage
to solve problems.
I am very grateful the MSSRF for giving me this opportunity to participate in this
process and look forward to the recommendations emerging from this consultation
process for the Department to act upon.
14

Mr. He Changchui
Assistant Director-General and
Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific
Inaugural Remarks
Distinguished participants, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to
welcome you all on behalf of FAO as well as on my own personal behalf to this
national consultation jointly organized by the Department of Science and Technology,
Government of India, the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, the
M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation and the State Bank of India. The theme
of this national consultation – Technology Development and Delivery Models for
Sustainable Livelihood – brings forth the commitment of all the collaborating agencies
to employ technology to improving the living conditions of all people. We are pleased
to collaborate with key Indian national government and NGO agencies that promote
technologies for improving the lives of people in all walks of life.
I congratulate the organisers for focusing on a theme that is both timely and important
as Indian economy is in transformation and positions itself as an important power in
global technological partnerships. The focus of the consultation demonstrates that
while Indian technological outreach is global and ushers prosperity for a segment of the
population, it also is crucial not to ignore the technology needs of rural communities.
The consultation I believe acknowledges the social reality that technology driven
prosperity should be shared equitably, and science and technology should be a driving
force in the local economy as it is in the global economy.
The history of India’s agriculture development is marked by many innovative approaches
to provide technologies to rural communities as well as to mobilise rural communities to
absorb technologies and innovative interventions. Achievements were made possible
by the contribution of diverse stakeholders such as Government ministries, agriculture
research systems, national extension systems, national financial institutions, the
private sector and civil society. Hence, the present consultation programme illustrates
the rich and long experience of diverse development professionals in promoting
technology and development intervention support to rural communities. For this
reason, I am sure that the presentations and deliberations will be productive and
pragmatic in approach to improve technology development and delivery to achieve
sustainable livelihoods. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization as the
focal technology agency for food security and rural development in the UN system
is very interested in learning about the outcome of this consultation: Technology and
sustainable livelihoods
As a knowledge organization, FAO contributes to capacity building or, to quote from
Prof. Amartya Sen, “on the actual opportunities of living”, indeed on various attainments
in human living like being well-nourished, avoiding premature mortality and taking part
in the life of the community.
15

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Even though the identification of poverty just with lowness of income is a wellestablished
tradition, FAO firmly advocates that technology development for improved
livelihoods should, first and foremost, concentrate on the deprived lives that some
people are forced to live and – by extension – concentrate our understanding of
social inequality in the light of the diversity of capabilities that different people and
communities enjoy.
Technology, to a large extent, offers the actual ability to live different kinds of lives that
a person or community has reason to value. Technology development is thus oriented
towards freedoms and opportunities, and incorporates particularly important features
for the making of public policies and its insistence on public discussion and interactive
public reasoning.
We hope that guided by these key objectives the consultation will promote collaborative
partnerships among diverse group of stakeholders across the technology system
from technology development to adoption. We are pleased that regional country
representatives are attending the consultation and thus are optimistic that a regional
network for improving technology with equity would emerge from the meeting.
I wish you all productive deliberations and a fruitful outcome during the consultation as
well as strengthening regional interactions on technology for sustainable livelihoods.
Be assured that FAO would be pleased to be a reliable partner in such efforts.
Again thank you all for your participation and cooperation with FAO to promote
technologies for sustainable livelihoods.
16

Dr. R. Chidambaram
Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India
Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India,
Vigyan Bhavan Annexe, Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi 110 011
Email: rajachid@nic.in
Inaugural Remarks
I am grateful to the organizers for inviting me to participate in this National
Consultation.
My work has been more in the field of nuclear science, but recently I have become
interested in rural development. Professor Swaminathan said that technology is at the
core of development. It has been said that yesterday violence was power, today wealth
is power and tomorrow knowledge will be power. But already, knowledge is becoming
the source of power. When we say knowledge, we are talking of information technology,
biotechnology, nano technology and the convergence of these technologies. Because
technology is power, countries and companies try to control technology and impose
intellectual property rights.
On the other hand, there is today a strong movement toward open access to knowledge,
which can help the poor and vulnerable sections of society. Any advance in science
must be important to science or society. A scientist is interested in natural phenomena
and how nature works. But knowledge should be related to society. Therefore, the
paradigm of basic research, applied research and technology has changed. It may
be called directed basic research. You have to allow the highest intellects to work
on fundamental problems; you can’t direct the research of a Ramanujan or a Raman.
But there are areas in the long-term interest of society that have to be considered.
The interest of industry is short-sighted in that it invests in only those areas which
bring quick returns to the stakeholders and shareholders. So basic research in the
interest of society must be supported substantially by the government.
The government must act on the principle of technology foresight and invest in areas
which are likely to benefit a large section of society. Directed basic research must
have a national perspective in the long-term interest of society. There must then be
pre-competitive applied research with a focus on industry and generic problems of
industry, controlled by the core group of R & D. We have to look at problems in a
consortia mode, where the academic and industrial communities are involved.
The steps in the process of development, therefore, are directed basic research, precompetitive
applied research and proprietary product development. When there is a
partnership between science and industry, we need some interfaces. Scientists in the
laboratory are not the best people for grassroot intervention. For that we need ‘people
scientists’, like Anil Joshi, who can take the advances in science to the common man.
There is a chain of research and delivery which stretches from the laboratory to
society with the help of industry. The greatest problem here is delivery. The solutions
17

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
that have been developed do not reach the people. To do this, we need the interface
of people who are familiar with the problems of rural India, who are trusted by the
people and whose advice will be accepted.
Dr. Swaminathan has achieved much in this area through self-help groups and micro
credit. Whether technology is used for rural or industrial development, it must employ
technology foresight, which is different from technology forecast. It adds to the forecast
of considering the possible advantages of any technology, an assessment of social,
economic and environmental considerations. So we are able to say, as in the case of
fast breeder reactors, that it is technology which is not merely good, but technology
that is important for India.
How do we measure the progress of science and technology in a country? Not merely
by the number of research publications, not even by the number of patents, though
they are important, but by the application of the technology on the shelf to improving
the productivity, stability and sustainability of the prevalent farming system. A telling
example of this is the use of power from streams to run mills for grinding flour in the
hill regions.
There should be an appropriate technology-driven delivery system and related public
policy, which is what we are discussing in this meeting. We have to focus on downsizing
technology which is already being used in industry to apply it in rural areas, without
losing the advantage of economy. I have tried to do this in my official capacity. I call it
rural technology delivery. The scientist cannot take his invention to rural communities,
but his work must benefit them, so we need the interface of government or a voluntary
organization. Essentially, it is a synergizing or catalyzing mechanism.
There is also the question of global climate change. Global warming has already
started and the government has set up committees to look at mitigating technologies
because developing countries like ours cannot afford to compromise on progress.
So in the 11 th plan we will look at all the aspects of science and technology, especially
possibilities for progress and implementation of technology for the benefit of society.
We will concentrate on rural technology delivery. Five centres for rural technology
delivery are to be set up for this purpose.
To conclude, I would like to repeat that my idea of a developed India is improvement in
the quality of life in our rural areas. This cannot happen without effective mechanisms
for rural technology delivery. This is what we have to work for.
18

Technical Papers

Role of the State in the Technological Development
of Indian Agriculture
Dr. R. Rukmani
Principal Coordinator, M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
3rd Cross Road, Taramani Institutional Area, Chennai - 600 113
Email: rukmani@mssrf.res.in
Technical Papers
This paper is an attempt at exploring the role played by the Indian state in the
agricultural development of the country. A large number of steps have been taken by
the Government of India to promote agricultural growth to achieve self sufficiency in
food grain production and reduce the country’s dependence on food grain imports.
Several strategies were adopted by the state to modernize the agricultural production
system in the country. While agricultural production and productivity in the country
has increased since the 1950s, there has been a slowing down in agricultural growth
from the 1990s and agriculture is in a severe crisis today. While the policies pursued
by the Indian state were responsible for promoting agricultural growth in the first four
decades since Independence, the neo-liberal policies followed since the early 1990s
has contributed greatly to the current agrarian crisis in the Indian economy.
This paper is organized in two sections: section 1 discusses the major developments
in agricultural production, with specific reference to technological progress since the
early 1950s and the positive contribution of the state in aiding this growth process while
section 2 highlights the state’s contribution to the current agrarian crisis. The paper
attempts to bring out the importance of the role played by the state in determining the
agricultural growth pattern of the country.
1. Major Developments in Agricultural Production in India
Adoption of modern technology in crop cultivation has been a very important feature
of agricultural development in the post Independence period in India. At the time of
Independence, productivity in agriculture was very low and India faced severe food
shortages. The planning process in Independent India laid emphasis on development
of agriculture and on increasing food production in the country. The First Five
Year Plan laid out 31 % of its total outlay for agriculture and irrigation leading to
significant investments in major and minor irrigation works as well as reclamation and
development of new land for cultivation (Chandra, 2000)¹. During the third Five Year
Plan, the agricultural strategy focused on intensive development of specific areas
through package programmes such as the Intensive Agricultural Area Programme
and Intensive Agricultural District Programme. Agricultural output over the period
1949 to 1965 grew at the rate of 3 % per annum and the growth was primarily through
an expansion in area under cultivation and irrigation. During the mid 1960s, in order
¹ Chandra, Bipan., Mridula Mukherjee and Aditya Mukherjee. 2000. India After Independence: 1947-2000. New Delhi: Penguin
Books
21

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
to achieve self-sufficiency in foodgrains, the Government of India decided to spread
the cultivation of semi-dwarf, High Yielding Varieties (HYV) of wheat and paddy,
based on germplasm received from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement
Centre (CIMMYT), Mexico, and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the
Philippines, (Swaminathan, 1993)² The propagation of High Yielding Varieties was
taken up as a full fledged programme from 1966 onwards.
The importance given to seed as the focal point of the modern agricultural strategy
of India, necessitated the expansion and strengthening of the agricultural research
system in the country. The National Agricultural Research System (NARS) in India
functions in two tiers, one at the central level and another across different States.
At the central level, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is the apex
body responsible for the organisation and management of research and education
in all disciplines of agricultural sciences³. At the other level, the State Agricultural
Universities (SAU), overseen by the State governments, address State-specific
problems. In 1957, All India Co-ordinated Research Projects (AICRPs) were initiated
under ICAR. The AICRPs, considered an important intervention in agricultural research
in India, are involved in building nation-wide co-operative, inter-disciplinary research
networks linking the ICAR institutes with the SAUs to focus attention on specific crops
(or commodities) of national importance. They carry out multi-location development
and testing of new technologies and varieties. By 2004–05, 91 AICRPs and networks
with 40 SAUs had been created.
As Table 1 shows, by 2004-05, ICAR had, under its direct administration, 48 Central
Research Institutes (CRI), 31 National Research Centres (NRCs), 5 national bureaux
and 12 project directorates. CRIs have been set up with a mandate to carry out
basic and applied research on a single crop or on selected groups of crops or in a
geographic area or on a specific issue. Most CRIs have a network of regional stations
covering diverse agro-ecological areas for developing area-specific technologies. The
NRCs, on the other hand, have been established to work with a mission approach,
on a particular crop (for instance, sorghum, soybean, groundnut, etc). ICAR has
established 5 national bureaux to collect, conserve, evaluate and document genetic
resources of crops, animals, fish and soil. Transfer of technology in the ICAR system
is through the establishment of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), where the technical
literacy of farmers is improved through front-line demonstrations and on-farm testing.
There were 496 KVKs across the country by 2004–05.
With the establishment of infrastructure for systematic research in crops, research
efforts have been directed towards developing varieties in almost all crops in India. The
Central Variety Release Committee (CVRC), set up under the Ministry of Agriculture,
² Swaminathan, M.S. (ed) 1993. Wheat Revolution – A Dialogue. Madras: Macmillan India Limited
³ The Imperial Council of Agricultural Research, established in 1929, was renamed as the Indian Council of Agricultural
Research (ICAR) in post-Independent India.
22

Table 1. ICAR Institutions, 2004–05
Technical Papers
Division Institutes National National Project
Bureax Research Directorates
Centres
Crop Science 10 2 7 6
Horticulture 10 12
Animal Science 7 1 7 4
Fisheries 6 1 1
Natural Resources
Management
8 1 3 1
Agricultural Engineering 6
Agricultural Extension 1 1
Agricultural Education 1
Total 48 5 31 12
Source: Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). 2006. Handbook of Agriculture. New Delhi.
receives proposals for release and notification of varieties from breeders, through
their respective institutes under ICAR or SAUs. 4 CVRC scrutinises the performance
of a variety and if it is found suitable for more than one State, it is then released as an
improved variety for the country as a whole. If a variety is suitable only for one State,
it is then released as a State variety by the respective SAU.
The ICAR system, with its elaborate network of research activities, has developed
and released more than 3300 high yielding varieties and hybrids pertaining to various
crops-almost all major and minor cereals, pulses and non-food crops (ICAR 2006). 5
Table 2 provides details on the number of varieties and hybrids released for nine
crops by the public research system over the four decades since the mid-sixties.
The most important aspect of the varietal improvement programme in India is that
the germplasm received from international research institutions have been used to
develop varieties suitable for Indian conditions. For instance, semi dwarf rice varieties,
Taichung Native-1 from Taiwan and IR 8 from IRRI were introduced in the country in
the 1960s. Closely following the release of IR 8, the first Indian dwarf variety Jaya
(developed by the Directorate of Rice Research) with as good a yield performance but
slightly earlier in maturity was released in 1968. In heralding India’s Green Revolution,
the role of Jaya is as important as that of IR 8.
4 The word ‘breeders’ here refers to State or Central departments or institutions that are licensed to produce breeder
seeds
5 Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). 2006. Handbook of Agriculture. New Delhi.
23

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
24
Table 2. Varieties and Hybrids Released by the Public Research
System in India
Crop Reference Number of Number of Number of
Period Varieties Hybrids Cultivars
Rice 1965-2004 693 18 711
Wheat 1965-2004 303 - 303
Maize 1961-2004 69 80 149
Sorghum 1964-2002 77 31 108
Sunflower 1972-2004 18 16 34
Soybean 1970-2004 82 - 82
Potato 1960-2005 32 - 32
Cotton 1970-2005 218 56 274
Sugarcane 1970-2006 203 - 203
Source: 2007. Measures of Impact of Science and Technology in India: Agriculture and Rural Development.
M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) Chennai
In the case of wheat, four semi-dwarf varieties from CIMMYT were grown in 1963
and 1964 on a trial basis at different centres in India. Out of different dwarf wheat
varieties obtained from Mexico, Sonara 64 and Lerma Rojo-64A were found superior
with regard to adaptability and yield. However, these varieties did not become popular
as the grains were red in colour. Subsequently, from advanced breeding materials
received from CIMMYT efforts were taken by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute
to produce multi-lines of commercial varieties, like Kalyan Sona, Sonalika and
Sharbati Sonara. As regards maize, the Indian maize germplasm, in general, lacked
the requisite degree of genetic diversity needed for the successful development of
high yielding maize hybrids, even though some of the indigenous maize varieties
were good. As direct introductions from the North American and Caribbean regions
did not suit Indian conditions, Quality Protein Maize (QPM), has been developed using
CIMMYT lines. In the case of sorghum, while the first variety, CSV 1 (Swarna), was a
direct introduction from the USA in 1968, subsequently new varieties were released
by crossing temperate and tropical germplasm.
Various plant breeding techniques have been used to develop varieties and hybrids of
crops with desirable characteristics. While improving crop yields is an important aspect
of varietal improvement, other dimensions of the programme include improving quality,
developing resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, altering the duration of maturity,
and developing photoinsensitivity. As far as rice is concerned, major achievements
have been in developing varieties with shorter maturation, with resistance to pests

Technical Papers
and diseases and improvement in grain quality. In wheat, the significant impact of
plant breeding efforts has been evidenced by a steady increase of yield levels as well
as in release of late sown varieties. Improving quality has been the major aspect with
regard to maize, sugarcane and oilseeds. Improving the protein content in maize, the
sucrose content in sugarcane, and the oil content in soybean have been important
achievements. In sorghum, apart from concentrating on grain sorghum, the programme
has concentrated on developing varieties exclusively for green fodder. Moreover, the
varietal improvement programme has also been concerned with altering the maturity
period for a given agro-climatic zone. This has happened in the case of soybean and
has resulted in a tremendous increase in the area cultivated with the crop. Varieties
suitable for processing, as in the case of potato, have also been an important focus.
While seed was the focal point of the modern agricultural technology promoted since
the 1960s, the approach, however, was a package programme referred to as the
seed-water-fertiliser technology. Improved crop varieties performed effectively only
in combination with water and fertiliser and this necessitated the development of
the agricultural input sector as well. Several public institutions were promoted and
various strategies were initiated to improve input supply (seeds, chemical fertilisers,
implements and machinery), credit and marketing. National Seeds Corporation was set
up in 1963 with responsibilities in the area of seed production. Agricultural Refinance
Corporation was also established in 1963 to facilitate commercial banks’ lending for
agriculture. Further, institutions such as the Commission on Agricultural Costs and
Prices and the Food Corporation of India were set up to ensure remunerative prices
to farmers, to maintain buffer stocks, and to contain the prices for consumers.
Public sector investment in technology development in agriculture, combined with
significant investment in irrigation and power, resulted in a rapid increase in agricultural
output in the country. Over the five decades since 1950-51, foodgrain production
increased from around 54 million tonnes in the early 1950s to about 195 million tonnes
by the late 1990s. Within foodgrains, production of cereals increased fourfold, while
the progress made by pulses has been very marginal. Major non-food crops, such as
oilseeds, sugarcane and cotton lint, have also registered a rapid boost in production,
increasing at an annual compound growth rate of more than 2 % over 1951–52 to
2001–02 (see Table 3).
Over the five decades from 1951–52 to 1999–2000, the area under cultivation as
well as area irrigated has increased: while net sown area has increased by 21 million
hectares, net irrigated area has increased by 35 million hectares. Increase in gross
cropped area is of the order of 56 million hectares, indicating an increase in cropping
intensity from 1.11 in 1951–52 to 1.34 in 1999–2000 (see Table 4). Development and
release of short duration varieties in various crops appear to have contributed towards
an increase in double or multiple cropping, resulting in a rise in cropping intensity.
25

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Table 4. Area under Cultivation and Irrigation in India, 1951–52 to 1999–00
(million hectares)
Triennium centred Net Sown Gross Net Irrigated Gross
around the year Area Cropped Area Area Irrigated Area
1951–52 120.53 134.26 21.01 23.01
1961–62 134.98 155.25 25.07 28.63
1971–72 139.04 164.38 31.49 38.56
1981–82 140.72 174.04 39.97 51.01
1991–92 142.45 184.56 49.32 64.97
1999–2000 141.59 190.43 55.98 76.92
Source: as in Table 2
Table 5 indicates the development over the years in the adoption of high yielding
varieties with regard to cereals. With the adoption of high yielding varieties, consumption
of fertilisers in the country as a whole increased rapidly, from 13 kg per hectare on
an average in 1970–71 to 95 kg per hectare in 1999–00. Apart from an increase in
the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the other major change experienced in
Indian agriculture has been the use of machinery for various agricultural operations.
Over the three decades from 1971–72 to 2002–03, the adoption of different types of
power-operated agricultural machinery has increased and this has been facilitated
by supportive policies that made access to rural credit relatively easy. The number of
26
Table 3. Production of Foodgrains and Major Non-Food Crops in India
(million tonnes)
Triennium
centred around
the year
Total
Cereals
Total
Pulses
Total
Foodgrains
Total
Oilseeds
Sugarcane Cotton
Lint*
1951–52 45.33 8.67 54.00 4.97 56.56 3.22
1961–62 69.63 12.00 81.63 7.22 101.96 5.33
1971–72 92.60 10.94 103.54 8.62 121.60 5.82
1981–82 119.47 11.33 130.80 10.48 176.71 7.47
1991–92 161.72 13.03 174.75 19.11 241.03 10.32
2001–02 182.96 11.86 194.81 17.98 291.58 9.41
Note: * Refers to production in million bales of 170 kg each
Source: as in Table 2

Technical Papers
Table 5. Area under High Yielding Varieties of various crops in India
Percentage of
area cultivated Quinquennial averages centred around year
with HYVs for
crops 1970–71 1975–76 1980–81 1985–86 1990–91 1996–97
Rice 15.11 32.45 45.04 56.14 63.69 73.99
Wheat 38.26 66.39 72.36 82.13 86.67 89.43
Maize 7.83 18.87 26.68 31.00 44.07 57.14
Sorghum 4.60 12.20 22.20 37.80 49.30 83.30
Note: Data for maize and sorghum are for individual years and not quinquennial averages. Maize and sorghum
percentages in the last column refer to the year 1997-98.
Source: as in Table 2
power sprayers and dusters used for fertiliser and pesticide spraying has increased
17 times over the last three decades. Machinery used for ploughing like cultivators,
disc harrows, mould board ploughs, etc. have also increased rapidly. The number of
tractors in the country has increased nearly sixteenfold over the three decades since
1971. From about 1.4 lakh tractors in 1971, the number rose to 5.1 lakhs in 1981 and
to 23.61 lakhs in 2003. (MSSRF.2007) 6
Adoption of high yielding varieties on a significant scale by farmers, combined with
modern methods of cultivation has pushed up the yield of almost all crops. Table
6 indicates that yield across all crops has registered a rapid increase over the five
decades. Yield of food grains has increased three times and that of oil seeds, sugar
cane and cotton have doubled from 1951-52 to 2001-02.
In sum, the major achievement of the agricultural strategy in post-Independent India
is the significant expansion of crop output made possible by a conscious decision of
the government to adopt mutually reinforcing packages of technology, services and
public policies. The role of the state has been extremely important in the promotion
of research, dissemination of technology, creation of an atmosphere conducive for
adoption of technology, and investments in irrigation and rural development.
While the performance of the agricultural sector has been significant if the entire
post-Independence period is considered, an analysis of agricultural growth across
decades indicates that the agricultural sector has fared dismally over the 1990s.
Though agricultural output has been registering positive growth over the five decades
since 1950-51, the rate of growth of production has declined across all crops during
6 M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF).2007 Measures of Impact of Science and Technology in
India: Agriculture and Rural Development. Chennai
27

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
the 1990s compared to the 1980s. Food grain production declined from a growth
rate of 2.94 % per annum in the 1980s to 1.09 % in the 1990s and that of sugarcane
from 3.15 % to 1.99 % while oilseeds and cotton lint registered an absolute decline
in production in 2001–02 compared to 1991–92. The decline in the rate of growth of
crop output over the 1990s is due to a decline in the rate of growth of yield of crops.
The annual rate of growth of yield of food grains declined from 3.16 % per annum in
the 1980s to 1.55 % in the 1990s. Annual growth rate of yield of oilseeds declined
from 2.81 % in the 1980s to 0.62 % in the 1990s while that of sugarcane declined from
1.26 % to 0.26 % and that of cotton lint from 3.79 % to -2.02 % over the same period.
(MSSRF, 2007) The declining rate of growth of yield and the declining rate of increase
in agricultural output during the 1990s had an impact on the growth performance of
the agricultural sector.
Analysing the growth performance of the agricultural sector over the five decades
in the country (see Graph) it is clear that there has been rapid growth in this sector
with the initiation of new agricultural strategy since the 1960s. Agricultural growth
increased from 1.51 % during the1960s to 2.95 % in the 1980s. However, in the
1990s agricultural growth remained more or less stagnant compared to the 1980s,
contributed largely by a declining rate of growth of agricultural output. Since late 1990s
there has been a rapid fall in agricultural growth rate from 3.23 % to 1.97 % in the
early 2000s. Clearly, the positive and proactive role played by the state in improving
agricultural output appears to have taken a beating in the 1990s with the onset of
Economic Reforms.
28
Table 6. Yield of Foodgrains and Major Non-Food Crops in India
(in kg per hectare)
Triennium Total Total Sugarcane Cotton Lint
centred around Foodgrains Oilseeds
the year
1951–52 546 (100) 445 (100) 31,539 (100) 87 (100)
1961–62 699 (128) 494 (111) 42,961 (136) 117 (134)
1971–72 848 (155) 519 (117) 48,902 (155) 128 (147)
1981–82 1,030 (189) 578 (130) 57,497 (182) 160 (184)
1991–92 1,406 (258) 762 (171) 65,142 (207) 232 (267)
2001–02 1,641 (301) 811 (182) 66,825 (212) 190 (218)
Note: Figures in brackets give the index w.r.to the year 1951-52
Source: as in Table 2

Technical Papers
Source: Chand,Ramesh. 2007. “Strategies to Accelerate Agricultural Growth”. Paper presented at the NCAP-ISAE National
Seminar on Agrarian Distress: Problems and Remedies, organized by National Centre for Agricultural Economics and
Policy Research and held at New Delhi, August 1-2
2. Some Concerns on the Changing Role of the State
The Economic Reforms that have been implemented in India since the early 1990s,
have had wide ranging implications for the country’s agricultural sector. Some of the
processes that had a direct impact on agricultural production and productivity are as
follows:
First, there has been a sharp reduction in the funding received by agricultural
research and education over the 1990s. “Total government funding for agricultural
research and education increased in real terms (1999 prices) from Rs. 2.5 billion
in 1961 to Rs. 7.9 billion in 1980. This further rose to Rs 25 billion in 2000. The
government funding grew at the rate of 3.2 % per annum in 1970s, 7 % in 1980s but
slowed down to 4.6 % in 1990s,” 7 Suresh Pal further shows that the expenditure on
agricultural research and education as a percentage of agricultural gross domestic
product increased significantly during the 1960s and 1980s but remained around
0.4 % during the 1990s. “This slowdown in research intensity is worrying, given that
the average intensity for all developing countries is 0.6 % and 1 % globally. China.
spends 0.43 % of her AgGDP on research as against 0.29 % in India (excluding
education).”(ibid)
Stagnancy in funding for agricultural research in recent years probably underlies the
absence of any technological breakthrough in varieties in the 1990s. It was observed
earlier that while most of the crops registered rapid improvement in yield levels in
the 1980s, the rate of growth of yield declined in the next decade, the 1990s. This
7 Pal, Suresh., Prasoon Mathur and A K Jha. 2005. “Impact of Agricultural Research in India: Is it Decelerating?”
National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research. Policy Brief 22.
8 Nagarajan, S. 1998. “Perspectives on Wheat Demand and Research Needs”. In Nagarajan et al. 1998. Wheat Research
Needs Beyond 2000 AD. New Delhi: Narosa Publishing House.
29

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
appears to be associated to the fact that there has been no breakthrough in technology
in the 1990s even to sustain the growth levels achieved during the earlier decade.
According to S Nagarajan 8 , “In rice for the last twenty five years, no genotype has
been developed with yield potential greater than IR 8 and Jaya (released in 1966
and 1968). The new varieties developed for different rice-growing ecosystems in
the post Green Revolution phase have not provided any genetic gain in yield. The
major achievement of the program has been in developing varieties with shorter
maturation, resistance to diseases, insect pests, grain quality and to abiotic stresses.
The success has been in varietal diversity and quickly replacing the ones that become
susceptible.”(Nagarajan. 1998) As far as wheat is concerned he comments that where
has been no breakthrough since 1995.”( Nagarajan. 2006). 9
Second, expenditure incurred on agriculture and rural development (minor irrigation,
power,fertilizer etc) as a percentage of Net National Product was 1.57 in 1974-75 in
India, rose to 3.80 in 1986-87 and from then on it has been declining and has reached
1.95 in 2000-01. Implementation of a deflationary policy with regard to development
expenditure in rural areas impacts the supply side factors (agricultural production and
productivity) as well as the demand side factors (employment and income).
Third, access to credit from formal institutions has dwindled for farmers. The share of
agricultural credit in total commercial bank lending rose from around 10 % in the mid
1970s to a peak of 18 % at the end of the 1980s.But it steadily declined and by 2004-
9 2006. “Sustaining Wheat Production and Ensuring Food Availability”. Paper presented at the seminar on Crop Biofortification
for Alleviating Micronutrient Malnutrition organized by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, and MSSRF,
at the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, February 13-14.
10 Ministry of Finance. Report of the Expert Group on Agricultural Indebtedness. 2007. New Delhi: Government of India.
30
Source: Suresh Pal, Prasoon Mathur and A.K. Jha, July 2005
(Chairman: R Radhakrishna)
Fig. 1 Trends in government funding to agricultural research and education in India

Technical Papers
06 it was around 11 %. From 1996 to 2005 more than 1000 branches of banks in rural
areas have closed down (MoF,2007) 10 .
In addition to the factors that directly impacted on agricultural production such as low
levels of investment in agricultural research, a cutback in public investment in rural
areas and a dwindling of credit from the formal system to farmers, there have been
other features of the neo-liberal policies that contributed to the agrarian crisis. For
instance, there has been a decline in profitability in farming in the recent years. An
analysis carried out by the Expert Group on Agricultural Indebtedness clearly shows
that income from pure agriculture is increasingly becoming inadequate to meet even
the basic consumption requirement of farm households, in particular the marginal
and small farm households (MoF,2007) 11 . The volatility of crop prices combined with
a weakening of public procurement of crop output, lead to a decline in the incomes
of farmers. Moreover, the agricultural sector is also assaulted with a deceleration in
export growth of agricultural commodities after 1996, while imports tended to increase
(MoF, 2007) 12 .
In sum, the systematic reduction in protection given to farmers, combined with a
cutback in public investment in rural areas as well as low levels of investment in
agricultural research, have contributed to the agrarian crisis that is gripping the
economy. If the neo-liberal policies pursued by the state are not reversed there is a
danger that all the ‘achievements’ that have been elaborated with regard to the growth
of agricultural output and crop yield since the 1950s will be allowed to collapse over
the coming years.
11 MoF 2007 ibid
12 MoF 2007 ibid
Rural Development Expenditure as a % of NNP
Source: Ministry of Finance. Economic Survey, various years,
New Delhi : Government of India
31

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Technology Delivery: The Precision Farming Experience
of TNAU in selected districts of Tamil Nadu
Dr. C. Ramasamy
Vice-Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore
Email: c_ramasamy@yahoo.com
Introduction
Agricultural extension is a significant social innovation and an important force in
agricultural development. Over the years, extension has been consistently viewed
as a public good and therefore financed by the public sector in India. Public
expenditure on agricultural extension and its control has been justified on the basis
that support for agriculture leads to reduced food prices and increased food security
which benefit the whole population (van den Ban, 2000)¹. Traditionally, technology
transfer mechanisms at SAUs were through KVKs, interaction with officials of State
Development Departments for technology transfer and training the extension personnel
of development departments.
Involvement of State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) in technology transfer increased
considerably with the initiation and spread of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs). At present
there are 415 KVKs in the country. SAUs initiated training programmes (for officials
and farmers), demonstrations and exhibitions and these were strengthened with
the establishment of the Directorate of Extension in each SAU. The Directorate of
Extension (of SAUs) implements and coordinates extension activities through its three
major units, viz., Training Unit, Communication Centre and Farm Advisory Services.
Research Extension Linkage
Several linkage mechanisms at the State and Regional levels exist in Tamil Nadu to
provide strong ties between research and extension system. The Scientific Workers
Conference (SWC), on the subjects of Agriculture, Horticulture, Agricultural Engineering
and Forestry, is an annual feature, in which the State level officials of the Extension
system and the scientists of TNAU participate. This forum provides an opportunity to
finalize the entries for inclusion in Multi Location Trials (MLT) and Adaptive Research
Trials (ART). The Research Council is convened once a year to review the research
activities of TNAU and to suggest future thrust areas in research and for setting
research agenda. The Extension Education Council (EEC) meets every year to review
the extension activities carried out by TNAU and to suggest improvements. Senior
officials of the State Department of Agriculture, the Director of Seed Certification and
TNAU scientists, besides nominated members, participate in these meetings.
The Regional Research and Education Advisory Council (RREAC) is convened twice
1 van den Ban, A.W. 2000 ‘Different Ways of Financing Agricultural Extension, ODI Agricultural Research & Extension’
Network Paper 106 b. London: Overseas Development Institute.
32

Technical Papers
every year in each agro-climatic zone of the state. This meeting is attended by TNAU
scientists, Joint Directors of Agriculture of the Zones and farmer representatives. The
main purpose of the meeting is to discuss location specific problems and generate
useful technologies to solve the problems. The Monthly Zonal Workshop (MZW) in
which the scientists of TNAU and district level Subject Matter Specialists participate.
is held every month. At this one-day workshops the messages that are to be passed
on to the farmers in the ensuing month are finalized.
Public extension has played a pivotal role in realizing self sufficiency in foodgrain
production, but in the recent past, it has been disappointing in ushering the muchneeded
transformation in terms of market-oriented agriculture. In the globalized
context, agriculture has become a global movement. Increase in per capita
income, concern for food safety, preference for value added food, organic food,
convenience food, herbal medicines, neutraceuticals, etc., have broadened the scope
of the agriculture sector. Growth in retailing and capital and commodity markets,
improvements in logistics, gradual emergence of supply chains, new institutional
arrangements, access to international markets, expanding avenues for use of modern
technologies for information and communication, technological developments in
value addition, food quality and safety etc., offer great scope for entrepreneurship and
employment. Besides, food and nutritional security, especially for the less endowed
segments of the population, is also on the top of the agenda of the government for
ushering inclusive development. There is tremendous scope for encountering the
challenges for achieving market-led agricultural development through the adoption
of technologies such as precision farming, green house technology, organic farming,
use of bio-inputs, food quality and safety, etc.
In this regard, it is imperative to orient the agriculture sector to a market-led
production system. In the market, there are several players involved in fulfilling the
needs of the consumers, viz., farmers, traders, transporters, processors, retailers,
etc. These separate organizations are linked with materials, information and financial
flows. These organizational units along a supply chain have to be integrated to fulfill
customer demands with greater efficiency (Stadtler and Christoph, 2000)². It is
essential to produce what we can sell rather than producing what we can produce.
The changing environment necessitates relevant polices, production technologies,
institutions, technology transfer processes that effectively utilize modern information
and communication technologies etc., that could improve the competitive capability
of Indian agriculture. In this paper, new initiatives of the TNAU, Coimbatore, for
technology transfer are discussed.
The new initiatives were introduced to cover all the stakeholders of TNAU apart from
farmers, i.e., input suppliers, agricultural services providers, extension personnel in
marketing, developing entrepreneurs, etc. The scope of extension service from TNAU
² Stadtler, Harmut and Christoph Kilger 2000. Supply Chain Management and Advanced Planning: Concepts, Model,
Software and Case Studies, New York, Springer.
33

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
transcends technology transfer and includes the creation of institutional arrangements,
enriching human resource and promoting agribusiness.
Stakeholders Meeting: There are several players involved in agriculture, either directly
or indirectly, who are capable of influencing the process of agricultural development,
such as Government development departments, private firms, NGOs, entrepreneurs
and farmers. They stake claim either as service providers or service users. Realizing
the importance of stakeholders, in recent times TNAU has conducted stakeholders
meeting. Representatives from each stakeholder group participate in the meeting
to discuss the issues encountered by each group and identify means for effectively
overcoming constraints and meet each other’s needs
Seed Villages: Despite implementation of the organized seed programme, the Seed
Replacement Rate (SRR) has only reached the level of 15 % and 85 % of the seeds
used are farm saved. To improve the stock of farm saved seeds for enhancing crop
productivity, the “Seed Village Scheme” is being implemented with assistance from
the Government of India. In the Seed Village Scheme, TNAU has received Rs. 81.925
lakhs to supply University labelled seeds of paddy, maize, blackgram and Gingelly
varieties to the farmers @ 50 % subsidy and also to impart seed production training
for about 22,000 farmers (including SC/ST and Women farmers). Each farmer will
be supplied with the seeds of any one of the above crops for an area of one acre.
Training will be given on seed production technologies in three stages i.e., at the
time of sowing, at the time of flowering and at the time of harvesting. Farmers in
each village can form groups and establish seed farms after completing certain formal
procedures. The scheme is implemented through 13 KVKs and three Agricultural
Research Stations (ARS in Bhavanisagar, Vaigai dam & SWMRI, Thanjavur) situated
in different regions of Tamil Nadu.
Distance Education: The advantage of distance education is that it helps to reach
the target group for whom the information would be of interest and is applicable.
The target group includes various segments of learners namely, entrepreneurs, State
Extension Personnel / field service providers, NGOs, Self Help Groups, Private sector
Institutions and especially school dropouts, small and marginal farmers and women
in rural areas. The University provides three PG Diploma prgrammes, three PG
programmes and 16 certificate courses.
Electronic Media: Realizing its importance, TNAU in collaboration with EID Parry Ltd.,
has established Agri Portals in Cuddalore district.
Weather Forecast: A weather forecast information web page has been dedicated
to the farmers of Tamil Nadu (http://agmet.tnau.ac.in/acrc/index.html). The bulletin
is available for four days and the current day is day 1 and is being regularly updated
at 10.00 AM. The surface weather parameters viz. temperature, wind and relative
humidity are available as charts at 0830 and 1430 IST for the whole of Tamil Nadu.
The rainfall forecast is available for 24 hrs ending 0830 IST, which is the regular
34

Technical Papers
measurement time for rainfall. The quantitative forecast for all the above weather
parameters are also provided for all the 385 blocks in Tamil Nadu, under their respective
districts. It contains district name, block name, central latitude and longitude of the
block, maximum and minimum temperature of the day, relative humidity and wind
speed at 0830 and 1430 IST and rainfall for 24 hours. The model forecast accuracy is
expected to improve, when we are able to use the satellite linked Automatic Weather
Station data provided to TNAU by ISRO and vegetation data available in the open
source from other satellites. This information could be effectively used by officials of
development departments and other service providers to formulate location specific
agro-climate based advisory services.
Agri Clinics and Agri-Business Centres: The main aim of the scheme is to train
agricultural graduates in agribusiness so that they can establish small agri-clinics or
agribusiness centres (ACCABC) at the village level and provide extension services to
farmers. The ACCABCs are financed through bank loans, and the central government
provides 25 % of the cost as subsidy. The agri-clinics provide testing facilities,
diagnostic and control services and other consultancies on a fee-for service basis.
The programme is implemented jointly with Small Farmers Agri-business Consortium
(SFAC) and MANAGE has attracted a large number of unemployed agricultural
graduates.
Four training programmes have been conducted since 2002, and a total of 82
agriculture and allied science graduates trained. Among them, 40 graduates have
already established Agri Clinics and Agri Business Centers and other related ventures
in Tamil Nadu. The trained candidates have formed State level associations and
created a National Federation of Agripreneurs with its headquarters at Bangalore.
The purpose of the association and federation is to cross network the business
interests of Agripreneurs cutting across boundaries and serve as a representative
forum for the cause of Agripreneurs in policy making bodies. The federation is actively
involved in negotiating terms with the Central Government for increased participation
in extension and other outreach activities of the related departments. The Tamil Nadu
State Agripreneurs Association was inaugurated on February 17 th , 2003.
Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell (DEMIC): TNAU, Coimbatore, has
established DEMIC for collecting data, analyzing it and disseminate market information.
The main objectives of DEMIC are to disseminate timely, comprehensive, current
and future price intelligence on agricultural commodities for better scientific decision
making by the farming community, traders, firms and researchers and suggest policies
to the government. To achieve this, it undertakes forecasting of supply, demand and
prices of major agricultural commodities and analyses of markets at the regional,
state and national levels. DEMIC disseminates the information on a regular basis
through newspapers, radio, television and website (www.tnagmark.nic.in). In addition
to information on prices, supply and demand, other useful information disseminated
are export procedures, export standards, agricultural export zones, food processing,
35

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
post harvest technology, etc. An e-mail newsletter “DEMIC Info Series”, focusing on
technical and market related information about domestic and international markets,
has been developed.
Diploma in Agricultural Extension Services for Input Dealers (DAESI): In Tamil
Nadu alone there are about 17,000-20,000 agri-input dealers. They have become
one of the important sources of information to the farming community, though they
are not equipped with adequate scientific knowledge. Considering that this dealer
network has spread out in almost all major villages of the country and is an important
mechanism to reach out to the large farming community, it was felt necessary to
expose them to a diploma course and build their capacity in handling field problems
and extension communication abilities, while increasing their skills in dealing with
inputs and discharging regulatory responsibilities. Therefore, the DAESI was launched
throughout the country. Currently, two states viz., Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh,
are offering the diploma and other States are yet to join in this venture. As on date, in
TNAU two batches have completed and the third batch of input dealers is undergoing
the course.
Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA): ATMA is a district level
autonomous institution with participation from all the key stakeholders involved in
agricultural activities for sustainable agricultural development in the district. ATMA
is responsible for all the technology dissemination activities at the district level. It
has linkages with all the line departments, research organizations, non-governmental
organizations and agencies associated with agricultural development in the district.
Research and Extension units within the project districts such as ZRS or substations,
KVKs and the key line Departments of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Horticulture
and Fisheries etc., are the constituent members of ATMA. Each Research-Extension
(R-E) unit would retain its institutional identity and affiliation but programmes and
procedures concerning district-wise R-E activities would be determined by the ATMA
Governing Board to be implemented by its Management Committee (MC).
Role of TNAU in Implementation of ATMA
• ATMA - State level Masters Training programme, organized at TNAU in collaboration
with MANAGE, Hyderabad trained more than 60 extension functionaries of line
departments, TNAU scientists and KVK scientists for preparation of Strategic
Research and Extension Plan (SREP) for the concerned districts and for facilitating
similar training programmes on ATMA at the district level.
• TNAU scientists have helped the line department officials in preparing SREP
documents and other activities related to ATMA for the concerned districts.
• As contemplated in the scheme, the Strategic Research and Extension Plan
(SREP) has been prepared jointly by the Extension Functionaries of Agriculture
36

Technical Papers
and Allied Departments, Farmers, NGOs etc., through PRA exercises in sample
villages of the different Agro Ecological Situations in each of the nine districts.
• The State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute (SAMETI)
has been established at the Directorate of Extension Education, TNAU, as a
registered society for organizing capacity building programmes for the extension
functionaries of the state line departments.
• Masters Training Programme on Public - Private Partnership have also been
organized in collaboration with MANAGE, Hyderabad for the benefit of District
ATMA implementing agencies.
Tamil Nadu Precision Farming Project
Tamil Nadu Precision Farming Project (TNPFP) is a Tamil Nadu State sponsored
turnkey project implemented at Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts in 400 ha with
a total budget of Rs.7.20 million for a period of three years. It is a State mega demo
to train the farmers and empower them as agri-entrepreneurs. The project has
adequately prepared the farmers for market-driven production at a time when MNCs
like Wall Mart, Carry Four, Tesco, WoolWorth, Reliance, Barti -Telecom are all set for
invasion into the retail vegetable market in India.
Objectives: The objective of the project is to improve the standard of living of the small
farmers by emphasizing market-led horticulture and by empowering farmers through
training and institutional arrangements.
Work Plan and Activity Chart of TNPFP - The process: The mechanism to identify the
beneficiary farmer was the first step. The district Collector, with the collaboration of
line departments, called for applications from farmers. The fields were scrutinized by
TNAU scientists on technical grounds and potentials of the clusters. The list of project
farmers was prepared without any criticism from the rest of the community. There was
a tripartite agreement between farmer, TNAU and the State Department of Horticulture,
which acted as a binding mechanism at the gross root level. The project farmers
were brought under an association called ‘Precision Farmers Association’, registered
under the Societies Act. There are 12 such associations at present. Consolidation
of holdings was not done as the farm holdings were too small and there was little
compatibility among the farmers.
This cluster approach was adopted for operational conveniences and to ensure
better logistics. This mechanism helped to identify the suitable variety for the season,
mobilize institutional support and undertake exposure visits to markets. The same
mechanism helped to solve the man-made problems during the implementation of the
project. It also rendered support to collective marketing through mutual consultations
and discussions. There were proactive farmers, active farmers and indifferent farmers
in each cluster at the beginning of the project but their awareness level at the end
37

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
of the harvest of the first crop improved enough to accept the change in perception
and mindset. They regularly meet in the first week of every month to discuss the
markets and interact with buyers and input suppliers. The Association is slowly getting
empowered and it acts as the redressal mechanism for the problems of the farming
community.
The process has finally led to the establishment of a producer company called
“Dharmapuri Precision Farmers’ Agro Services Ltd”, registered under the Companies
Act and this is the first Producer Company in Tamil Nadu where 150 farmers of
Dharmapuri district are member-share holders.
Special features Empowerment of Farmers and Farmers’ Forum: The beneficiary
farmers were organized under various commodity Forums: viz., Adhiyaman Precision
Farmers’ Forum, Dharmapuri, Rajaji Precision Farmers’ Forum, Krishnagiri, etc. There
are twelve such associations at present. The organizations are registered under
the Societies Act. The Forum has helped them to buy the inputs directly from the
manufacturers (cutting the cost down to minimum) and strengthened their bargaining
power while selling their produce.
38

Technical Papers
Insurance cover: The tomato growers were largely worried about loss due to the
hail storms in summer and theft of coils in the motors of the drip system. A meeting
between the Farmers’ Forum and the United India Assurance officials was organized
and eventually, the insurance cover was extended to the crop with a low premium of
four per cent.
Market tie-ups: Market tie ups for the crops raised were negotiated between the
Farmer’s Forum and the buyers like M/s. Planet Pickles, M/s. Green Global Company,
M/s Rasi Seeds, M/s Magritta Exports. The buyers are now frequenting the production
site for tie up for purchase of vegetables, as the quality of the produce is always good.
The produce from Precision Farm excelled in quality and commanded a premium
price in all the markets. Further M/s. International Food Staff Company Agri Biotech
(P) Ltd of Sri Lanka has discussed with Precision Farmers Association executives
and the MoU for forward contract for vegetables for export is in progress. Safal
market has rated the banana from the Precision farming site as of super quality, a
new grade status. Dole, Barti Telecom, and Reliance Fresh are now negotiating with
the associations for buy back tie up.
Reduction in pesticide usage: The farmers are now aware of the intricacies of pesticide
quality, the dosage, the time of spray and method of preparation. The practice of going
for 16 rounds of combination sprays have been avoided and a judicious combination
has been put into practice. The drip and fertigation technology advocates dry soil for
a depth of 3 cm and this helps to reduce the weed growth and spore multiplication.
Promotion of brand value: The Precision Farmers’ Association has developed a logo
and brand of their own and in each crate, the logo is pasted. The logo is now gaining
popularity and the buyers offer higher rate for crates with this logo.
Farmers’ Corporate: The corporate has four virtues, which make them successful and
is as follows: Quantity: They have the capability to honour any order of high volume;
Quality: They do the cultivation professionally there by the physical and nutritive
qualities are ensured; Uniformity: The first lot and last lot are strikingly uniform and
Timely delivery: They are able to deliver in time. These virtues viz., quantity, quality,
uniformity and timely delivery are inculcated in the minds of the farmers and the
Farmer’s Forum is now gaining the corporate qualities and thus becoming a Farmers’
Corporate, a new model to emulate in countries like India where holdings are too
fragmented and empowerment through Farmers’ Forum is the only way.
Farm documentation and record maintenance: Each farmer has been maintaining a
Daily Muster Schedule to record all the activities of the week, including inputs used and
the harvests made. This record also helps to work out the economics of production
and arrive at the cost benefit ratio. The newer laws in EU demand traceability which
is essentially through maintenance of records at the farm level. The records were
signed both by scientists and the farmers and it is a document to ensure food safety
in the long run.
39

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Impact Analysis
Economic impact: A study was undertaken to compare the performance of a TNPFP
farmer and a non-project farmer in the same area. The gross income of crops
for project farmers ranged from Rs. 1,20,000 to Rs. 5,00,000/ha. Among the 13
crops cultivated under TNPFP in Krishnagiri district, the highest gross income was
obtained in Chrysanthemum (Rs. 5,00,000 lakhs/ha) followed by marigold. Among the
vegetables, paprika (Bajji Chilli) has given the highest gross income of Rs. 2,92,500/
ha. The increase in net returns ranged from 43 to 221 % among the crops grown.
Among the different crops, the increase in net returns was the highest in cucumber
(221 %). In sugarcane, a yield of 275 MT /ha was recorded. In general, the profit margin
was higher in all the crops under TNPFP. This was achieved by increased yield and
reduced labour cost, particularly for irrigation and weed management. Besides higher
yields, improvement in the quality of the produce is also visualized. For example in
cabbage, the produce fetched a higher price in the market than the conventionally
grown crop because of medium size heads with more compactness. Similarly in
Goldenrod, the extraordinary stalk length and increased brightness in colour led to
market preference. This has brought the buyers to make a beeline to the project site
for buy back tie up.
Expansion of drip System: The precision farmers have invested on their own to expand
the area under drip irrigation to the extent of 30 %. Further, TNAU proposes to take
up this programme in 1,120 ha during 2007-08 with funding support from National
Horticulture Mission and micro irrigation project.
Resolving indebtedness: Indebtedness is a traditional illness of the farming community.
Irrespective of the category of farmer, marginal, small, medium or big, everyone
suffered from this illness. They could not resolve their long-pending debts. But a
few farmers were able to resolve their indebtedness through the income realized from
crop cultivation under the precision farming system. Now they are relieved, breathe
freely and are economically equipped to proceed with subsequent cropping.
Improvement in life-style: Many changes have been visualized in their life-style. At
this juncture, a small share of the money was utilized for personal development from
the income obtained by this project. Purchase of motorcycles, TV, VCD, and other
consumer durables has been witnessed. The farmers are economically prepared
enough to change themselves according to the changes in modern life. Besides, they
have also started to consume better and nutritious food items, and improve their dress
habits. In a nut-shell, TNPFP has helped them to lead a decent life in the modern
sense.
Post Harvest management: TNPFP has also sensitized the farmers on post-harvest
operations such as sorting grading, packing and marketing. They realized better
market prices for their quality produce from TNPF system because of their quality
40

Technical Papers
consciousness. Hence now they have switched over from ordinary packing to quality
packing and use of gunny bags to use of plastic crates. The plastic crates used are red
in color with their own logo ; a green triangle with a tomato inside. The traders gave
higher prices for products carrying this logo and the farmers were able to understand
and appreciate the brand image. Thus, the farmers have become agrientrepreneurs
from the level of agriculturalists.
Dharmapuri Precision Farmers’ Agro Services Limited: The precision farmers
association at Dharmapuri has established its own Agro service dealership for seeds,
fertilizers, pesticides, etc. In future, they would be able to procure and distribute better
inputs in required quantities at the required time at reasonable prices, with a good
margin to the concerned association member farmers. The firm was incorporated
under the Company’s Act and has started functioning from 01.02.07. It is a total
empowerment of the farmers to become entrepreneurs.
Conclusion
Through the TNPFP, farmers had an enhanced yield of about 60 % in almost all the
crops, attracted market tie up for their produce, got insurance cover and banking
support, and above all, the produces are gaining the brand image in all the markets
due to modern marketing practices and better quality. The State government had
scaled up the programme in seven more districts in 700 ha. The State government
has agreed in principle to scale up the programme in 1,110 ha for field crops, 150 ha of
banana and 30,000 ha in sugarcane. The World Bank has now sanctioned a project in
the name of “Irrigated Agricultural Modernization and Water Resources Management”
with inbuilt precision-system based, market oriented, cropping on the success of the
TNPF project with a budget of Rs. 2500 million for TN State and TNAU will operate
the precision farming system in all river basins covering 60,000 ha.
Thus through TNPFP, TNAU has clearly demonstrated a model for market oriented
agriculture that promotes very high adoption of modern technologies, marketing
practices and institutional arrangements by resource constrained small farmers, even
if it involves higher investment. The project highlights the scale economies realized
through backward integration process (purchase of inputs) and the bargaining
power of the farmers (assured marketing and remunerative prices) through farmers
associations and Farmers Corporate. The project is a holistic model that addresses
the procurement, production and marketing needs of farmers.
41

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
42
Technology Delivery to Cotton Farmers in
Vidarbha Region of Maharashtra
Mr. Atul Sharma
Project Officer, Community Polytechnic, Pipri, Wardha
Email: asharma@sancharnet.in
Insecticide resistance in cotton pests particularly Helicoverpa armigera, diminishes
the utility of insecticides in pest management. Resistance management strategies
aim at optimizing the use of insecticide in a manner that maximizes their efficacy,
minimizes intensity of their selection pressure and mitigates the adverse effect on the
ecosystem and the environment.
The dissemination of the technology was carried out as a farmers’ participatory
programme in nine villages of Wardha district with the collaboration and technical
guidance of CICR, Nagpur in about 1200-1500 ha land of 650 farmers for three years
from 1998-2001.
The farmers were assisted in cotton pest management throughout the cropping
season by conducting regular meetings, imparting knowledge on IRM (Insecticide
Resistance Management) strategies and insecticide use. The IRM technology,
designed for implementation, is a relatively simple but knowledge-intensive package.
It includes training in the identification of insect pests and their natural enemies, the
application of economic threshold levels in spray decision and use of recommended
sprays based on susceptibility levels and general agronomic management.
This experiment brought down the number of sprays from 12 - 13 to 0 + 01 without
any reduction in the yield. The success of this collaborative exercise with CICR
Nagpur, represented by then Plant Protection Division Head, Dr. S. K. Banerji, Senior
Scientist, Dr. Sheoraj and Dr. Keshav Kranthi, inspired the scientific community and
policy makers as well. Ministry of Agriculture, GoI in 2002 took the initiative to take
this “Wardha Model” of cotton pest management to selected districts of all 10 cotton
growing states under Technology Mission on cotton (TMC –MM-II).
Prior to the IRM the pest management status in Central India can be described as
follows:
• Farmers were not aware of insect pest and beneficial insects and their
importance.
• No agencies were there to inform about identification of insects, about ETL and
resistance problem.

Technical Papers
• Spraying at regular intervals with expensive chemicals and mixture of chemicals
was commonly practiced.
• More number of sprays was equated with effective plant protection.
• Farmers were not able to take spray decisions, but were influenced by so-called
“progressive farmers”.
• Farmers found it difficult to follow the recommendations of Departments and
Universities regarding ETL
• Even after such heavy use of pesticides, farmers were not confident about
bollworm control.
Cotton pest management was particularly affected due to insecticide resistance,
which was a consequence of excessive use of insecticide on the crop. Pyrethroid
resistance was found to be a function of the intensity of its use on Helicoverpa
Pyrethroid resistance in South India was found to be moderate at 25 to 207 in Tamil
Nadu during 1992 to 1999. However in Andhra Pradesh resistance was found to be
as high as 2,000 to 6,500 fold.
Several efforts were made all over the world to devise a region-specific Integrated Pest
Management (IPM) system. However, poor efficacy of insecticide due to insecticide
resistance in insects and performance inconsistencies of bio-pesticides and biological
control had been making IPM unsustainable.
Rationale of the IRM technology
A total of 1,326 species of insects have been recorded on cotton. Records show
that cotton crop harboured just a few insect pests but sheltered many species of
natural enemies that fed on the insect pests and kept their population below economic
threshold levels under pesticide free situations. Some key factors of the IRM strategies
were to reduce use of insecticides initially for at least 60 – 70 days after sowing, by
using sucking pest particularly jassids tolerant or resistant cultivar.
Use of organophosphates should be avoided, as they are broad – spectrum
insecticides, and strongly disrupt natural enemy population. Most of the chemicals
like, monocrotophos, chlorpyriphos dimethoate, metasystox, accephate etc of this
group do not qualify for IOBC (International Organization for Biological Control) safety
ratings and are generally categorized as harmful to beneficial insects.
It was again important to define the economic threshold levels to properly time
the insecticide application. Unfortunately, most ETLs followed by Departments of
Universities are not very farmer friendly. For example, scouting for ETLs of one egg
per plant or one larva per plant or 10 % damage to fruiting parts is cumbersome.
43

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
In the situation when farmers cannot identify insects and are not aware of their
different stages i.e. eggs, larvae, pupa and adult, it was very difficult to scout for eggs/
larva. The major contribution by IRM strategy, in my opinion, is the scouting method.
Instead of scouting for eggs/larva plants with flared up squares are considered infested
plants. Levels of 50 % infested plants during peak square phase and levels of 90-100
% infested plans during the peak boll formation phase are considered as economic
threshold levels of the conventional insecticide; endosulfan qualifies for a reasonable
slot initially in the season for an eco-friendly insecticide resistance management.
About 110-140 days after sowing, if 90-100 % plants are showing flared up squares,
organophosphates or carbonates can be used, as an effective larvicide. These
insecticides are very effective for bollworm control but have low ecological selectivity
and can be harmful to beneficial insects. The population of beneficial insects in
cotton ecosystem are generally low during this time and hence the application of
organophosphates and carbonates is rational. In India and elsewhere, resistance
problem has been most severe in H.armigera to pyrethroids, therefore the management
strategies over emphasize the management of pyrethroid resistance.
Thus avoidance of pyrethroids on the first new generations of H.armigera in cotton
and restricting the use to later generation of bollworms may help in preventing the
resistance problem in India (Russell et al 1998). With the scale up of this programme in
the 10 th five year plan by MoA, GOT under TMC-MM-II, Community Polytechnic Pipri,
Wardha has been entrusted with the responsibility to disseminate this technology in
the adjacent district Yavatmal, besides Wardha district.
The important features of IRM Programme are :
• Strategies were demonstrated in farmers’ own field.
• Technical backup support was provided throughout the cropping season.
• No free material input was provided.
• Whosever was willing could participate in the programme.
• Imparting confidence amongst the farmers through knowledge based strategies.
(identification , scouting for ETL, selection of chemical resistance).
• Simplicity of scouting for ETL.
• Drastic reduction in the spray expenditure of the participating farmers.
• Make them realize that health and environment issues are also related to cotton
production.
Procedures and methods followed to disseminate the IRM technology: Preparatory
44

Technical Papers
work; initial meetings to acquaint the farmers with the IRM programme; selection of
willing farmers and enrolment of farmers; selection of village youth as local field works
and their training and rapport building measures
Rapport building measures: Availability of plants (fruits and forestry) at cost in IRM
village; availability of bio-fertilizers at cost; demonstration of improved agricultural
tools and demonstration of improved cook stoves.
Demonstration and training for farmers: Identification of insect pests and beneficial
insects; scouting methods for sucking pests and bollworms; information about
insecticide groups and their merits/demerits; dose of insecticide and type of nozzles
to be used and demonstration of different types of pheromone traps.
Publicity and awareness campaign: Hand bills for different window strategies; Posters
to stop indiscriminate spraying; wall paintings (depicting 08 strategies per village);
banners at market places; school activity book and labels of beneficial insects for
school children; slide /CD show regarding insect pests and beneficial; Street plays;
Bhajan competition on IRM theme song and ‘Shivar feri’ (know your field).
Efforts made to reach more farmers: Treated IRM as an educational programme in
its totality. Efforts were made to educate farmers not only about cotton crop pest but
also about insects in general, their distribution of dominance in animal kingdom, ability
to develop resistance, role of beneficial insects and chemical hazards to ecosystem;
involvement of school children for identification of insects to reach more farmers i.e.
from child to parent approach; participation of women was ensured through SHGs
as they literally handle each cotton plant in the filed, during different operations like
sowing, weeding, fertilizer application and finally picking. (It is like doctor taking care
of a patient) and dealers of pesticides of the area were also informed about IRM
strategies and need of the programme.
Impact of the programme
Status of farmers enrolled for training for the year 2006-2007
District Less than
1 ha
1-4 ha 4-10 ha More than
10 ha
Total
Wardha 42 843 633 83 1,601
Yavatmal 11 686 456 62 1,215
Total 53 1,529 1,089 145 2,816
45

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
S.No. Details 2002
-2003
1 No. of taluka
46
Wardha
Yavatmal
2 No. of villages
Wardha
Yavatmal
3 No. of farmers
Wardha
Yavatmal
4 No. of ha
Wardha
Yavatmal
5 % reduction in spray
cost
Wardha
Yavatmal
6 Per ha saving spraying
cost over non IRM
villages
Wardha
Yavatmal
Impact of IRM at a glance
02
02
11
09
120
96
53
39
57
77
2003
-2004
02
02
21
11
221
126
94
95
71
77
NA 292
887
2004
-2005
06
02
25
21
1,351
1,157
994
1,364
61
67
1,810
804
2005
-2006
05
02
41
32
2,370
1,740
2,490
1,418
75
58
1,341
1,047
2006
-2007
04
03
68
62
2,203
2,365
3,048
1,528
79
61
1,080
1,312

Development Efforts and Technology Delivery –
Extent of Inclusiveness
Dr. P.S. Geethakutty
Professor & Head, Centre for Gender Studies,
National Institute of Rural Development,
Rajendranagar, Hyderabad – 500 030, Andhra Pradesh, India
Email: geethakutty@gmail.com
Technical Papers
The human and social context perspectives needed in a developing nation’s development
efforts necessitate the process of technology development and technology transfer to
be a customer-facilitating process. This is possible only through identifying the users,
their capabilities, assets, and constraints. India being a nation with a high percentage
of rural, resource-poor population, how far are its programmes of rural and agricultural
development streamlined as inclusive? How far are the mass of people who are
vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity helped with appropriate technologies to sustain
their livelihoods through development programmes? How close are the technologies
able to support and ensure the sustenance and sustainability of resources for the
rural millions? How close are the responsible actors of the development system to
identifying the ultimate users and facilitate the technology utilization as customised?
These are certain questions on which any serious discussion on inclusive approaches
in the context of technology delivery should ponder. This paper is an attempt to look
at the related issues of the development programmes in the nation and the focus of
the paper is to look at technology as an essential resource for rural livelihoods.
Technology, Development Sectors and Support Services
Technology in its simplest definition is a means to material development and the
goal of technology development is to improve living conditions through ensuring
livelihoods and providing quality living environment. DFID and FAO view the approach
of sustainable livelihood as people-centred, holistic and dynamic. It builds on the
strength that all households are viewed as possessing essentially, human capital,
nature capital, social capital and physical capital. The strategies of living any family
adopts will evidently depict how these assets are utilised for the well being by each
household, adjusting to their physical, social, economic and political environments.
The contexts in which households operate involve a number of threats that render
them vulnerable to negative livelihood outcomes. The households are viewed as
sustainable if they can cope with the threats without compromising their future ability
to survive shocks to their livelihoods.
In this context, the development efforts of the nation are to be analysed. First of all,
how far are they addressing the technology capital required for rural households?
Apart from the sectors which are expected to do the technology development
and technology delivery for certain commodities of farming related activities, do
47

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
the development efforts care and integrate the technologies as a component and
resource for livelihood development and its sustainability? It is a fact that India of late
has started to give thrust to poverty alleviation strategies with a focus on livelihood
security, institutional reforms, development of resource deficient areas, special
measures of employment, empowerment of poor, including women, and safety nets.
There are various programmes also under these thrust areas for self employment,
wage employment, housing, water and sanitation, watershed development, rural
connectivity, education information, etc. But to make these programmes really cater
to the needs of the people as appropriate and effective relevant technologies is
essential.
It is worthwhile to analyse how far these programmes are expected to be integrating
related technologies as an essential component. Are they in fact providing the necessary
skill, knowledge and support services required for its utilization as a livelihood? Is the
programme of micro credit ensuring the participant goes for micro-enterprise with
related technologies? Is the development programme enabling the participant to
analyse the market to choose the enterprise and equip the individual to acquire the skill,
knowledge and information? Is the programme enabling and escorting the individual
to access finance, quality inputs, value addition, market and market information? A
typical development system may wonder if these are responsibilities of the system.
But it is to be understood that, vulnerabilities, shocks, resource poorness, exclusion
from the institutions, mystification of development offices, vulnerabilities and the low
managerial and aspiration levels of the rural poor necessitate this enabling, escorting
and handholding by the agencies involved. In this context, a serious issue that has to be
raised, which often remains dormant or ignored, is the lack of integration or convergence
of technology development, technology delivery and necessary support services.
First of all, let us take the various technology-based development departments (which
remain commodity oriented largely) like agriculture, horticulture, sericulture, fishery,
animal management, agricultural engineering, forestry, processing in the field etc. It is
to be noted that among these parallel departments of NRM themselves there does not
exist any understanding or co-ordinated effort. Then, there is the lack of dovetailing
between these technology-based development departments and the parallel, support
service-oriented, rural development programmes. It can be noticed that in India, in
the agricultural and allied development departments, technology support is largely
confined to the land owning categories and the rural landless (including women as
they lack land rights) are overloaded. It seems their related systems of research and
extension are continuously under the blind belief that they are responsible only to the
land owning farmers and not to other stakeholders like labourers or women, who are
also in fact major actors in the scene.
Similarly, the rural development systems can also be observed to be largely led by
the notion that the efforts of rural development are meant to serve only the poor and
hence are in no way related or dependent on agriculture development. It is a fact that
48

Technical Papers
largely the people of the rural sector are not living in a water tight compartment of any
single sector confined to production, like crop, animal, fish or forest, as most of them
depend on many of these enterprises or labour opportunities and are in need of the
technologies, skills, inputs, local development, water, credit, food, market, shelter, food,
sanitation, health, childcare, education information and infrastructure facilities. They
are in need of the delivery of these technologies and development support holistically
and meaningfully. How far is this happening through the nation’s development effort?
It is an irony that the convergence of the above identified development departments,
which is a simple necessity for the rural folk, is not happening in reality. The rural
mass do not live in watertight compartments of any commodity/support service based
department, but in the reality of integrated life in the complex milieu of the rural socioeconomic
and political system. Hence it is essential to recognise the need and effort
for bringing the meaningful convergence of technology-based development efforts
and parallel support service system right from the grassroot level.
Technology, Gender and Social Inclusiveness
The second equally important dimension of inclusiveness to be taken care of in the
context of technology development and delivery is gender and social inclusiveness.
How far is the technology development system aware of the real customers the face
of the ‘users’ of the technology, their life realities, and socio-economic and gender
concerns. It is to be admitted that not only the lack of convergence of the development
systems themselves are excluding the real users from benefiting from the development
efforts meaningfully, but the gender divide is also a major barrier in various forms.
Even though such an analysis is to be presented holistically here the discussion is
largely limited to the technology dimension alone.
In the context of development and sustainable livelihoods, the majority of rural women
are in a disadvantageous position. The sustainable livelihood approach demands a
close look at the factors of capabilities, resources and opportunities available to the
rural women; this taken up in any given situation will reveal the realities about the lack
of inclusiveness of the various categories of women and the issues they face in the
context of technologies needed for their living and livelihoods. The situation should
persuade the R&D and the related research agenda setters and extension system to
repeatedly analyse the following. If technology is a necessary and critical resource
for development, in the present development system are they addressing the issues
of women and their gender roles? Are there enough technologies to reduce the
drudgery and occupational health hazards of women involved in productive sectors
and operations? Are there technologies to improve the effectiveness of women’s
performance with productive works? If any technologies are evolved for women’s
work are they made suitable and friendly for women’s use or are they again kept
as male oriented? Are the related systems of development and extension social
system, and women themselves, aware of enabling the women to use the available
women-friendly technologies through training, finance, ownership, and institutional
49

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
arrangements? Is there enough gender sensitivity among these institutions – functions
and functionaries-to bring these concerns into the agenda of reforms? It is to be
recognised that engendering or gender mainstreaming of technology development
and delivery systems should be effected through necessary capacity building and
policy advocacy. The technologies are to be evolved and delivered without adverse
gender impacts – are they suitable for women and men, reached by women and
men, owned by women and men and beneficial of both women and men participants?
How women are being deprived of the technologies through lack of access to the
institutions, skill, capital, credit, training, land ownership, market, profit, equal wages,
support services, ergonomically suited implements, etc., are to be taken care of in
these efforts. These issues are to be addressed through gender mainstreaming by
building the right mindset, proactive actions to change policies, designs, by-laws,
timings, criteria, norms, etc. These necessary changes can be initiated individually
or in chain, which in turn can bring about sweeping transformations directly and
indirectly in the development and utilization of technologies by women along with
men. There are lessons of success in these lines from isolated corners of the nation
by scientists, extension personnel, CBOs, commodity boards, NGOs etc., wherein
possibilities of breaking the status quo have been proved and have succeeded in
reaching and enabling the rural communities through integrated approaches of
development projects, to access, use and own the technologies. Their experiences
are to be recognized as our signposts and the way forward to take up social and
gender inclusive interventions in the context of an inclusive development approach.
50

Technical Papers
Approach to Rural Development “Economy Decentralization”
Dr. Anil Joshi
Founder, HESCO
Vill-Ghisadpadi, P.O. Mehuwala, Via Majra, Dist. Dehradun 248 001
Email: dranilpjoshi@yahoo.com; hescol@nde.vsnl.net.in
The Gandhian concept of development had its inspiration in the villages having their
own resources, directed to meet the optimum needs of the poorest of the poor. Gandhiji
was of the view that the process of development of the nation must begin from its
villages. In a country like India, where villages are in the majority, the prosperity of
the nation can be ensured only when farmers are considered as development units.
The economic liberty of the region, village or individual is the ultimate answer to the
prosperity of the nation. But the scenario currently prevalent in the country is quite
different. Overcrowded cities and deserted villages indicate two major gaps in our
plans. Migration has brought about a dearth of strong hands in the villages, resulting
in overcrowded cities, putting tremendous strain on the economy and resources in the
cities and ecology of the region in both rural as well as urban areas. This is not only
true of one region, but this scenario is discernible ubiquitously in the entire country.
The picture is more gloomy in the U.P. hills, now Uttaranchal state. Here, continuous
migration due to job scarcity has adversely affected the ecosystem. The people are
forced to accept any job which sustains them. The migration has become so intense
that rarely any strong menfolk can be seen in the villages. Out of total population of the
hills, it is hardly 1.6 to 4 % who are involved in cottage industry or in any other activities.
A minuscule number of able bodied people find jobs as labourers in the Government
Department, which constitutes only 4 %. Ultimately with menfolk migrating to the cities
and towns of the plains, women are left with all kinds of responsibilities, whether it
is family chores or any other related job. These factors have halted the progress of
the economy of the region. These developments indicate that our focus should be to
start economic development processes based on available regional resources having
the following basic issues: availability of resources; awareness about the natural as
well as human resource; access to technologies: upgrade/traditional/innovative and
local/commercial market need
When all the above components are directed to work in harmony, the prosperity of the
region can be ensured. In the context of the U.P. hills, un-utilized resources, in situ,
have been the main cause of intensive migration. The resources are numerous here,
whether conventional or nonconventional. They have never been identified in the line
of the above principle. There has always been an outflow of these precious assets for
other to take benefit of. The poor profit to the locals has been the major factor to bring
distress and lack of faith in local resources. The reasons for such an unrest were
unawareness of local people, lack of know-how of appropriate technologies and new
market avenues.
51

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
What is in fact needed is a decentralized technology for using local resources and
to market them. This would need integration of local human and natural resources
with the available decentralized technology and a market. This would suffice local
market needs besides generating a large number of local jobs. This may also lead to
the production of surplus, which can open as separate market avenues for the areas
where such products are not available. Again, in the context of the mountains, some
of the resources are particular to the area and environment specific, bestowed by
nature, for e.g. agriculture, horticulture, herbs or any other. Such resources could find
a niche market. This opportunity must be properly tapped.
Local Resources
Stretched over an area of 51.79 thousand sq.km., with a population of 59 lakh,
Uttaranchal is in a trauma of distressing ecology and economy. Full of resources,
dense forests, storming rivers and naïve humanity, Uttarakhand has been in turmoil
particularly in the last decade. The suppressed voice and disheartened faces have
begun to develop resentment which has been accumulated due to continuous
disregard in the past. These grudges are noticed in every human who has been the
resident of the mighty Himalayas.
Is it not ridiculous that a region which provides the country for its indispensable needs,
is devoid of minimum necessities for its inhabitants? This long neglect has stirred
vexation in people of all walks of life. By and large, if we analyse the reasons for this
resentment, we find only an inappropriate approach to overall development in the past
that has infused such indignation in the people of this region. The logic behind such
grudges is obvious, it cannot be overlooked that the poor approach to planning has
been the main cause. The facts highlighted below display the truth.
The land considered for Uttaranchal as per plan layout was to support 116 persons/
sq.km., as against 546 persons/ sq.km. In the other parts of the state such data, which
forms the basis of planning, are misleading. It is an eyewash because assessment
of pressure on Uttaranchal land is calculated on the basis of total available land in
the hills against its population. The facts are overlooked as the 67 % of the land is
under forest cover and it is only 33 % land that is left. According to this, the pressure
assessed comes to 354 person/ sq.km. If land is taken as direct support to the people’s
food-need, it is not amazing to find that out the available land, it is only 12.75 % that
is under cultivation. This implies that it is only 6518 sq.km., of land that can be placed
as cultivable land in the Himalayas, to support 58.74 lakh people. This means that
the pressure of dependence is 916.60 person/km. Our development approach should
consider this above mentioned data before deciding on any plan. The focus of the
plans already underway is more inclined towards the 18.30 % people who live in
cities. The 81.70 % people who form the true population of Uttaranchal are outside
concrete planning. The economic scenario of the region reveals that only 1.49 %
52

Technical Papers
people are involved in cottage industry. The main occupation is agriculture, involving
63.78 % people and hitherto is bereft of appropriate technology practices. Irrigation
technologies, improved seeds, appropriate composting and plant-based insecticide
should have been given top priority in the plan, as agriculture is the main occupation
here.
It is notable that in spite of a large section of people being involved in agriculture,
important grains have to be imported from the plains. It is because of inappropriate
inputs. It is an irony of fate that the Himalayas, which represent God’s abode for
blessings, have starving human population. Its resources need a great deal of
planning whether it is water, forest or minor produce. These resources have never
been tapped properly to generate local employment. Lack of appropriate technology
packages and awareness has prevented village folk from harvesting profit out of the
precious resources.
Resources in the mountain are plenty ranging from different forest produce to water
resources. Land and water, although the major assets of the Himalayas, have failed to
meet the local needs of its inhabitants, water is scarce for drinking and for irrigation.
Another unfortunate feature of this irony is waterpower. Large dams are being completed
and planned but traditional Gharats (watermill) have never been appreciated by the
planners. More than a thousand watermills are running at the same pace as they were
in 1947. This can be a single resource that can bring a revolutionary uplift in energy
supply.
Forest that is spread over 67 % of the land of Uttarakhand has been of least use
to its residents. Out of this resource, villagers get 0.5 % in the form of fodder and
fuel. These great forests have become an unnecessary liability for Himalayan folk, for
others to use.
The major horticulture products like apples, citrus fruits and potatoes are sold to the
market to meet the immediate needs of the locals. It has never been thought that
storage techniques and decentralized processing can make a novel impact on the local
economy. The area under horticulture is 7.4 lakh hectares (3.85 %), which produces
about 3.98 lakh tonne as compared to 4.6 lakh tonne produced by neighboring H.P.
This attractive production figure has not delivered any incentive to dwellers but in H.P.
almost a similar fruit production has ushered in a thriving economy. It is the reason why
inhabitants of Uttarakhand do not find orchard development a gainful preposition.
Another important resource that forms the ribs of Government revenue is herbs. This
resource could become an economy pursuit for the Government and contractors.
Corporate body like Bhaisaj Sangh are swindlers. The approach of this Sangh has
always been misleading. Himalaya, the source of herbs, does not have a single patent
53

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
right on its medicinal plants. The fate of its medicinal plant is likely to be paralyzed
in the absence of an appropriate package. Villagers are not aware of herbs as an
important economy asset. Their involvement in strengthening these resources has
never been in the plan approach.
Coming to a major resource available in the villages it is traditional wisdom only that
has marginal use. None of the cottage industries have been encouraged. The wool,
which had been a major asset of the tribals, is no longer more produced locally but
is imported from the plains. This has escalated the cost and has ultimately affected
the activity adversely. The potential and sustainability of an environment resource is
considered to be governed by: the role of the resource and how it can be defined i.e.
whether the resource is being used for basic requirements (employment leading to
income generation); the use of the resource is regular or occasional; the condition of
the resource base (in the case of land resources, soil fertility, stability and productivity)
depending upon climatic variations and the scale of demand placed on the resource.
Human Resources
Five decades of independence have failed to induce an appropriate rate of
development in India. This is especially apparent in the villages. Rural India, today
needs to develop, sustain and stabilize not only its environmental resources but also
its rich and diverse human resource. In general, the development, sustainability and
stability of any resource, environmental or human, depend on its judicious, mutually
beneficial, well-planned use. The potential and sustainability of the human resource
depends upon: The presence of the environmental resource; human skills and the
scale of demand placed on the human skills.
An age-old scenario of a village community reveals that earlier, villages had remarkable
sustainability and interdependence on each other as well as within a village itself for
their needs-be it common or an individual need. The sustainability scenario of a village
cluster was chiefly based on geographical limitations. Distance was an important
factor and interdependence within a cluster of villages served community needs. A
community of 5-6 villages used to live in harmony and interdependence-both for basic
need resources as also for human skills. By and large, skilled rural human resources
can be grouped into two major categories: technically skilled human resource and
culturally skilled human resource.
Mason, carpenter, blacksmith, sculptor, basketweaver, watermill owner, physician,
midwife, cobbler, tailor, barber, coppersmith, gold smith, cotton comber, oil-expeller,
woodcutter, ploughmaker, wood utensil maker, gold extractor, communicator, cowherd
and shepherd are technically the skilled human resource of a hilly region. Similarly
priest, community cook, exorcist, demigod, dramatist, oculist, guest entertainer, and
broker are culturally skilled resources.
54

Technical Papers
Within a cluster of villages, every resource was available, every skill was available.
Further, in early times, village folk used the “barter system” for fulfilling their needs.
In brief, this meant an exchange of resources (such as grain, fruit or vegetables) or
skill (such as the skills of a barber, mason, tailor etc.) for fulfilling the needs within
a village or among a cluster of villages. Slowly however this scenario of harmony
and interdependence changed, mainly due to the advent of readymade imported
products.
The unplanned and indiscriminate economic growth of the urban sector has spilled
over an adverse impact not on the rural environmental resources but also the rural
human resources. A number of development modules have been planned for the rural
sector but the rural human resource has been largely ignored.
Indiscriminate use of local resources and separation of the associated human resources
from their natural rights (for whatever reason) have chiefly been responsibile for
eroding the intra and interdependence of rural people and their values and for causing
a massive interdependent employment void in the villages or a cluster of villages.
Local Market
Here is a case study done in a couple of villages around a town called Gauchar. The
survey was carried out to assess the pattern of dependence of villages for different
daily need products from the near by town. The study revealed that a total of 18 needs
are there (Table-1). Out of this (the above value taken initially as 100 %) the local
community depends on some of the products partly (61.1 %) and in some absolutely
(38.9 %). The products where there is a part dependence can, up to some extent be
upgraded and where there is absolute dependence can also be replaced form local
resources, provided the technology is available. The present survey has revealed that
there is a possibility of producing need-based products from local resources (Table-2).
Besides, some of the other resources that can provide outside markets as surplus after
meeting local requirements are given in (Table-3).
The available technologies for such an approach has also been considered. It reveals
that the human skill available with the community can be trained with the new wisdom
of S&T for resource use.
Thus, the major reasons behind degrading village sustainability may be summarized
as ignorance, neglect and lack of the Gandhian philosophy towards local resources,
a lack of decentralized technologies and strong local markets. The Gandhian concept
of resource use for the local market with upgraded local technology could not be
synchronized. It is the reason why in most cases, inappropriate technology, raw
material scarcity and poor local market became limiting factors for the local economy
to flourish and this ultimately led to an exodus.
55

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Today, policy interventions are needed which will encourage a sustained management
of the local resources and human resources, as well as local market. The local, rural
people will have to be empowered culturally and technically so that they can have legal
access to their natural resource in association with its management responsibility.
This review reflects the possibilities of a resource independent community in the
rural areas of the country if human and natural resources are tapped in an integrated
manner, with due respect to local and outside community needs. This would be a
decentralized approach of development, which will be sustainable.
56
Table 1. Dependence Pattern on Resources
S. No. Items Local
Dependency (%)
1. Cereals 60 40
2. Pulses 50 50
3. Fruits 10 90
4. Oil 40 60
5. Spices 50 50
6. Clothes
� Cotton
� Wooden
� Medicines
� Synthetic
7. Construction material (House) 60 40
8. Others
� Candle/ lamp
� Tooth Paste
� Soap, Detergent
� Cosmetic
� Leather Articles
� Match box
� Stationary
100
75
85
100
100
90
90
100
100
100
100
Local
Availability (%)
--
25
35
--
--
10
10
--
--
--
--

Table 2. Possibilities of Replacement of Dependency
Technical Papers
S. No. Items Technology Available for
1. Clothes
2. Others
� Cotton clothes
� Synthetic clothes
� Candle
� Lamp
� Kerosene
� Torch
� Stove
� Cosmetics
� Leather articles
� Match box
� Stationary
Table 3. Surplus Produce for Other Area
S. No. Surplus Produce Marketing Technology
Available
Raw Processed
1. Spices � � �
2. Pulses � � �
3. Fruits � � �
4. Herbs � � �
5. Oil Seeds � � �
6. Millets � � �
The above explanations raise certain issues that need to be reviewed in the resent
context. Some questions need to be addressed immediately that can enrich S&T
policy for the hills
� Are we aware of rural resources?
� Are technologies to use them available?
� Is there any scope of improvement to ensure technology for better returns?
� Does technology developed in the past match expectation ?
� If not, how often has it happened that technology invented community skills have
not been locally useful?
�
--
�
--
--
--
--
�
�
--
�
57

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
The above queries will decide the S&T rural policy for mountain states. There are
three clear sectors where S&T in rural India should move. These are technology
development, products and technology, and marketing. The processes of technology
development immediately necessitate certain inputs. In the rural context, technology
development must be in close partnership with the local community. It is mainly
because some major issues are addressed, like appropriateness of technology is
ensured and respect to local wisdom with new knowledge is achieved; immediate
feasibility is taken care of and ensured repair and fabrication is possible.
The above issues become further useful while dissemination of technology is worked
out. This is also important for how technology can be transferred to the community. Thus
simple mechanism of transfer of technology will necessitate knowledge of resource
availability in the given region, demonstration and training, training on productivity and
marketing strategies, training from community to community, and organizational set
up. After technology development, skills of the local community should be involved
for marketing of technology. The product from technology must be targeted to the
local market initially and later to the urban. Technology thus can only set diverse
employment opportunities. All above, such issues need discussion, essentially among
the social workers and scientists who have been successful technology carriers in
the recent past. Rural development task forces can be instrumental in providing
increased access to rural services through S&T and may have responsibilities like
sourcing of technology; success case studies and their promotion; technology gaps
in rural Uttaranchal in different development sectors and strategies and partners for
technology transfer.
58

Technical Papers
Technology Delivery System - a Hub and Spoke Model - a
case study in Sunderbans, West Bengal
Dr. Ramalakshmi Datta & Dr. B.K. Datta
Vivekananda Institute of Biotechnology, Nimpith Ashram
South 24 Parganas 743 338, West Bengal
Email: vkdattasranvib@rediffmail.com; bkdattasramvib@rediffmail.com
All the wealth of the world cannot help one little Indian village, if the people
are not taught to help themselves. Our work has to be mainly educational both
moral and intellectual.
Swami Vivekananda
Vivekananda Institute of Biotechnology (VIB) works mainly to reach the people at
the grassroot level with relevant science and technological advancement. This effort
would throw some light on its method of technology delivery and how it works for
the rural farmers and the people at the bottom line to make them aware of scientific
advancement and its application to improve their living conditions. “Sunderbans” is
now a daily item in the menu of South Calcuttans. It is available in each Mother Dairy
milk booth in South Kolkata. The fresh mushroom grown by the mushroom growers
in the remote villages of Sunderbans is now reaching the Kolkata market in the brand
named “Sunderbans” through a chain linked by VIB and the Mother Dairy.
A few years ago, rotting neem fruits on the roads under the neem trees was a common
sight. Today it is a rare thing to be seen. The village men and women have realized the
importance of Neem Seed Kernel Aqueous Extract (NSKAE). They have learnt how to
Who are the Nodal Persons (NP)?
The NPs are selected unemployed rural youth from each Gram Panchayet of the target
blocks, preferably with an agricultural family background and with a qualification of 12 th
class (Science).
They are trained at Vivekananda Institute of biotechnology (VIB) on relevant agri –
biotech trades such as Biofertilizer Technology & Horticultural Biotechnology.
After the training these trainees go back to their area and invest their knowledge / skills
to address, manage and solve the problems faced by the rural people and farmers and
in turn earn an additional income.
The institute also provides them an identity, which elevates their status and increases
their acceptance in the villages.
They are the knowledge workers who are competent to develop the skill amongst
the village youth/farmers and they are the agri- biotech entrepreneurs who generate
income not only for themselves but also for others.
59

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
prepare it and apply it on their fruit and vegetable crops and paan (betel vine) from the
VIB’s Nodal Persons in their Gram Panchayat. Sri. Sitanshu Maity and Sri. Niranjan
Das of Namkhana get better price for their betel leaves in the market because of the
size, lustre and taste – thanks to NSKAE.
A nodal person (NP) of VIB is selected after an initial benchmarking. He / she has to
have a good knowledge regarding the target area, its problems and its potentialities.
He has to undergo training at VIB on different technologies which are thought through
different training modules.
The Components of Biofertilizer Technology includes modules such as soil testing &
fertilizer recommendation, production & application of Azolla in rice fields, production
& application of blue green algae in rice fields, production and application of microbial
inoculants, vermicomposting, production & application of Vesicular Arbuscular
Mycorrhizae (VAM) and Components of Horticultural Biotechnology includes plant
propagation (macro propagation), plant propagation (micro propagation), seed testing,
seed production, pomology, olericulture, floriculture. A compulsory module on plant
protection is also included.
After the training the NP reaches back to his or her Gram Panchayat (GP) with a
package of practices for the farmers of the villages under that particular GP. The
package of practices would include products such as vermiculture; vermicompost;
BGA & Azolla; carrier based culture of microbial inoculants; nursery of micropropagated
and conventionally propagated plantlets biopesticides and VAM as well as services
like plant pest and disease problems; cropping pattern / crop selection; cultivation
practice and soil testing and fertilizer recommendation.
Fig.1 shows a part of the hub and spoke model which an NP at a GP level creates
along with the farmers at the grassroot level and the VIB. A similar model is functioning
at the Sagar Women Technology Park initiated with support from Ministry of Women
and Child Welfare and DST, Govt. of India and implemented by VIB. Ms. Bina Khanra
Das, Ms. Uma Pradhan, Ms. Sutanushree Manna, Ms. Debashree Panda, Ms. Sumita
60
Fig.1 A part of the Hub and Spoke model

Technical Papers
Karmakar, Ms. Sonali Santra, Ms. Somashri Das and Ms. Somana Mishra are the
women entrepreneurs working as NP.
Some of the NP have expanded vertically, taking up other technologies also, like
biogas technology. They dreamt of opening up centers where the farmers of their target
area could undergo skill development training programs on relevant agricultural skills
and get the required products and services. These NP needed assistance in terms
of knowledge as well as logistics. With support from United Nations Development
Programme and DST, Govt. of India, VIB could promote four such centers in various
districts of West Bengal and are called Vivekananda Center For SKILLS (VCS).
One such nodal center of VIB is VCS 1 in Patharpratima in Sunderbans under the
leadership of the Sri. Chinmay Maiti. This knowledge and skill development center for
farmers is located in the heart of Patharpratima block of Sunderbans. VCS, as it is well
known to these farmers, is the place where they get the solutions to their farm related
problems, and information regarding new methods of farming and where they interact
with the academicians and researchers directly. Patharpratima block is a group of
islands. It comprises 15 GP. VCS, Patharpratima has a target to reach the farmers in
10 GP, fully equipped classroom; team of experts; identified skills; demand for new
skills; more than 600 farmers have undergone the training till now; the charge varies
from Rs. 30/- to 50/- per day and the multi skill package involves 60 skills.
VCS Patharpratima also reaches the farmers at the grassroot level through the nodal
persons who have been trained at VIB. They are Sri.Mrinmay Pramanik, Sri.Debashish
Ghorui, Sri.Gaurhari Acharya, Sri.Niranjan Giri, Sri.Siddhartha Barman,Sri. Kamal
Jana, Sri.Shyamsundar Satpati, Sri.Manoranjan Kar and Sri.Biswajeet Pradhan Sri
Narayan Jana, Sri Nishikanta Maity and Sri Abalakanta Bhuinya are a few of the farmers
who have undergone training at VCS, Patharprotima on aspects like importance of
soil testing, application of biocontrol agents, biofertilizers and organic manures on
their vegetable crops, betel vine and paddy. Apart from that, they also got NSKAE
and other similar escort services for their field application. They are now glad to be
associated with VCS, which has benefited them, their family & their neighbourhood
as a whole.
VIB has formulated the course curricula and provided quality instructional manuals
and promotional materials to the VCS. VIB is also providing the necessary resource
persons for the initial period. Another important point is noteworthy, i.e the concept of
escort services. The escort services provide the farmer access to different services
at his doorstep and help the center to survive in the initial years. Being benefited by
the training, the farmers are now coming forward to pay for undergoing the training at
VCS. The skill areas are decided on the basis of awareness and promotional programs
conducted at the field. As new areas are included VIB simultaneously consults the
concerned/included resource persons in the national / state laboratories / universities
and prepares the training material accordingly.
61

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Prof. Ramesh Chand of National Center for Agricultural Economics and Policy
Research has said, “If we have to make agriculture attractive again, we not only need
to increase productivity but also think of uplifting the farmers, their knowledge and
skills.” Vivekananda Center for SKILLS with its training model and modules for the
grassroot level people, especially the farmers, is a new concept. Here, the farmers
are paying to get the training whereas the standard practice in this region is to receive
free training under the Govt. sponsored subsidized programs. Though it is in its initial
stages, it is expected that the program will be a success and the center will be an
asset to the grassroot level community.
It would be apt to conclude with a statement of Prof. M.S.Swaminathan : “The advent
of biotechnology has generated new opportunities for skilled employment in villages,
through biological software industries, such as the manufacture of biofertilizers,
biopesticides and the establishment of biomass refineries” and we should tap this
opportunity.
62

Enhancing Livelihood Security through
Capacity Building for Organic Farming.
Dr. K. Vijayalakshmi K and Dr. A.V. Balasubramanian
Trustee and Director, Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems, Chennai
Email: ciksorg@gmail.com; ciks@vsnl.com
Technical Papers
Background
India is the home of great diversity, of both wild and cultivated crops. However, in
recent years, there has been a marked decline in the variety and diversity of cultivated
crops such as rice and cereals. With the advent of the Green Revolution, the emphasis
has been to a large extent on the increase of yield; consequently a small number
of paddy varieties selected solely for their capacity to give high yields in response
to the application of high doses of fertilizer are being promoted. As a result, today
the genetic base has narrowed down considerably. Industrialized agriculture favours
genetic uniformity. Typically, vast areas are planted with a single, high yielding variety
- a practice known as monoculture - using expensive inputs such as irrigation, fertilizer
and pesticides to maximize production. In the process, not only traditional crop
varieties, but long-established farming ecosystems are obliterated. Genetic uniformity
invites disaster because it makes a crop vulnerable to attack - a pest or disease that
affects one plant quickly spreads throughout the crop.
Growth of the Efforts
The Centre’s initial effort in on-farm conservation was in collaboration with NGOs in
different parts of Tamil Nadu. In Valayamapattu village, it actively collaborated with the
‘Save the Eastern Ghats’ Movement for setting up the community seed bank. After a
year CIKS expanded this programme to Tiruporur in Kanchipuram district with the help
of the Grammiya Munnetra Sangam (GMS), to Nedumbaram village at Tiruttani with
the assistance of the Centre for Development of Disadvantaged Peoples (CDDP), to
the Mosavadi village, Vandavasi, with the help of the VISA Peace Centre and to the
Manampathy village, Uthiramerur, with the help of the Women’s Welfare Development
Association (WWDA). In the year 1998, it started its work in the Kattankalathur block
of Kanchipuram district (the then Chengalpattu district) in a major way with the support
of the Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART).
Subsequently, this work has expanded to more than 125 villages spreading over the
districts of Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai and Nagapattinam. CIKS has
also been supported in this effort by different funding agencies like the IDRC, UNDP,
COMPAS project and Ford Foundation.
Survey and Collection of Indigenous Varieties
The Centre’s initial effort was to get access to indigenous varieties. In every area of its
work, detailed survey was taken up by CIKS field workers to find out the indigenous
63

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
varieties of paddy already available in that area. It found that at least in some villages
some farmers had the tradition of conserving these varieties for self consumption. CIKS
collected / purchased the seeds from these seed savers. Besides this, gazetteers,
district reports and travellers accounts, gave information about the traditional varieties
that were grown in these areas before the hybrids came in. An attempt was made to
get these varieties back to the farmers from other parts of the taluka / district or other
parts of Tamil Nadu if these varieties were still available.
Seed Collection through Biodiversity Contests, Bija Yatra and Participation
in Fairs and Festivals
Efforts were also made to collect indigenous seeds by involving youth particularly
students, by announcing contests (Essay & Oratorical Competitions) on this subject.
By means of this CIKS was able to not only collect information about the varieties
but also to create awareness about the importance of conserving these varieties in
farmers’ fields amongst village students, who are the future farmers of our country. A
Bija Yatra was undertaken by several voluntary organisations to document information
regarding the indigenous varieties available with the farmers and also information on
indigenous varieties. CIKS was also part of this bija yatra and collected information
and seeds during this yatra.
CIKS also participated regularly in agriculture fairs and festivals, where it displayed
its varieties and also exchanged varieties with farmers. Information regarding the
Centre’s efforts was distributed in the form of pamphlets which brought the Centre
in touch with more farmers who were interested in conserving these varieties and
also with farmers who were conserving these varieties. CIKS has also made some
attempts to get access to some indigenous varieties from the rice research stations
of Tamil Nadu such as Tirurkuppam, Ambasamudram and Aaduthurai. In every area
of CIKS’ work detailed surveys were made and an inventory of farmers in different
villages who cultivate these varieties were made. This inventory contains information
like the reasons for preservation of these varieties, special characteristics of these
varieties, mode of cultivation, etc.
Farmers Seed Banks for Seed Exchange Distribution and Utilisation
In every village where the Centre works farmers have been organised for exchange
of seeds and exchange of information. This is called an organic farmers sangam
(association). Several meetings with the farmers were held in different villages regarding
the importance of the indigenous varieties. Farmers set aside part of their land towards
conservation of indigenous grain varieties. They are provided with the initial supply of
seeds which has been procured by CIKS from that area and surrounding areas from
farmers who already grow it. These farmers who are part of the programme are given
the technical knowhow of manuring their field organically, treating pests by natural
control methods, use of vermicompost, etc. The farmers are provided seeds with the
understanding that at the end of the season they return twice the quantity of seeds
64

Technical Papers
that they have taken from the seed bank. Farmers are also provided with bio inputs
like biofertilisers (Azospirillum, Acetobacter etc) and neem seed cake.
Detailed documentation of every farmer is being maintained by CIKS. It has detailed
information about the crop at every stage, the type and quantity of inputs used, pest
control techniques used, characteristics of crop, yield obtained and other details.
Initially, farmers were cultivating indigenous varieties in a part of their land. Currently,
farmers have come forward to convert their entire land into organic fields. In several
villages farmers are cultivating organically as a group. Patches of land which are
adjacent to each other are all under organic cultivation. Our centre is monitoring
these lands and does the internal inspection for them and gets it ready for certification
by an external certifying agency. Farmers would now get a certificate as a group for
organic cultivation. We are also making efforts to see that the organic products are
marketed effectively and the farmer gets a good price.
A Marketing Support Programme for Conservation of Indigenous
Varieties
During the course of CIKS work on conservation of indigenous varieties, one of
the important constraints that the farmers met was that of finding a market for their
varieties. It was very depressing to note that they did not get a reasonable return in
the regular market. To overcome this, CIKS evolved a programme of linking up the
consumers with the farmers. Arogyam is a programme which has registered members.
These members ensure the purchase of organically grown indigenous varieties. This
programme is done on the initiative of the Centre and it provides a good market
for the farmers cultivating indigenous varieties organically. This pilot programme on
marketing has shown that it would be possible to make available organic products to
the consumer at rates on par with the existing inorganic products and also provide
the farmer a reasonable return. CIKS currently has other plans to strengthen the
marketing network. It is exploring the possibility of establishing a farmers’ institution
for taking care of the marketing activities.
In Situ Conservation Centres
During the course of its work in the last 10 years on indigenous seed conservation,
CIKS has collected more than 130 varieties of paddy suitable for cultivation in Tamil
Nadu. There is a network of farmers who cultivate these and conserve them year after
year. The farmers choose to cultivate one or two varieties depending on the soil type,
irrigation facility and agro climatic region to which they belong. However, all these
varieties have to be conserved year after year. They also need to be conserved in
more than one region so that they are not destroyed due to the vagaries of climate.
Besides this the Centre experiments with any new variety that it gets and cultivates it
at least for a few seasons before passing it on to the farmers. Sometimes the Centre
also gets access to rare varieties and the amount it gets may be a handful (say a few
grains). These have to be cultivated with great care and propagated. In addition to
65

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
all these, CIKS needs places where these varieties are cultivated year after year and
farmers can come and take a look at the standing crop and decide for themselves
what they would cultivate. For all these purposes in situ conservation centres have
been established in the experimental farm of CIKS and selected farmers fields. In
these in situ conservation centres more than 50 varieties are grown at a time.
During the Centre’s work with indigenous paddy cultivation it realised that the very
concept of home gardens was fast vanishing. When it did a survey to find out the
reasons, CIKS realised that the introduction of high yielding varieties and subsequent
loss of local varieties was one of the main reasons for the disappearing home gardens.
Women farmers could not afford the high price of hybrid seeds for home gardens
and even if they did buy the seeds paying a high cost, the germination capacity of
these seeds was very low. They could not use it for the next season. CIKS made an
intervention in this area also and succeeded in bringing back at least 50 indigenous
vegetable varieties which are cultivated in the home gardens of these women. These
women cultivate the vegetables organically and the Centre provides training for
the same. It has also trained women to produce good quality seeds. Every family
involved this programme produces at least Rs.300/- worth vegetables. This adds
to the nutritional security of the family. In addition to cultivating vegetables in these
gardens women are also encouraged to cultivate herbs which can be used in curing
common ailments. They are provided training in organic cultivation of herbs and also
the knowhow of preparing some of the medicines for self help. This is a 100 % women
based programme.
Training, Outreach Programmes and Production of Educational
Material
The Centre provides constant training to the network of farmers in organic cultivation
of indigenous varieties. They are also trained to prepare plant based biopesticides on
their own. Farmers are also trained in various composting techniques. This helps them
to become self sufficient as far as farm inputs are concerned and also saves them a
lot of money. Outreach programmes are conducted regularly to increase awareness in
other sections of the village community. Essays and oratorical competitions are held
in schools. CIKS has also produced a number of publications in the form of books,
posters and films on organic agriculture and biodiversity conservation.
Organic Farmers Sangam
After nearly 10 years into this programme, CIKS has come up with certain models for
the maintenance and sustainability of the effort. Currently, it has nearly 3,000 farmers
spread in about 125 villages, who conserve these varieties organically. There are
more than 800 households which maintain integrated organic home gardens. In every
village, CIKS is in the process of forming organic farmers sangam or groups. So far it
has established 37 organic farmers sangam. These sangam have members who come
together for the common cause of organic farming and indigenous seed conservation.
66

Technical Papers
The sangam members pay a monthly subscription which is maintained in a bank account.
Elected office bearers take care of and give directions to the working of the sangam.
The sangam maintain the village community seed bank. Storage structures for the
seed bank are initially provided through the programmes with a beneficiary contribution
and later it is maintained by the sangam. The borrowing and returning is controlled by
the sangam. Sangam may also be provided with certain agricultural implements like
sprayers, tarpaulin sheets for drying grains and so on, which are hired out for a nominal
rate. Some sangam also run biopesticide units as an income generating activity. The
basic knowhow and the infrastructure is provided by the Centre.
Constraints and Limitations
The following are some of the constraints and limitations that we have encountered
in this effort.
• Almost all of us start doing intense filed work in limited areas with the thinking that
we should test out and “demonstrate models”. The hope is that such models can
be used to influence thinking and activity of other groups and more importantly
the Government. However, influencing Government policies generally proves to
be more challenging and difficult than we envisage. Moreover, this kind of work
also seems to need a team with skills and talents of a very different kind than
that needed for field work. Hence, by and large, we tend to be restricted to small
areas which we may indeed get expanded even substantially (by the standards of
NGO efforts) but the impact remains very limited.
• A different kind of problem arises during the formation and nurturing of farmer’s
institutions. The traditional organisations of rural people have their own forms,
values and styles of operation. However, one is also forced to set up or nurture
modern institutions such as societies or trusts since quite often we need institutions
that can be identified as a “legal person” to deal with the government, banks
etc. These structures of-course may be parallel to the traditional institutions and
not replacing them. Nevertheless this poses a dilemma since the norms and
procedures relating to modern institutions are quite different. This means one
has to be renegotiating the work of the institutions about making of decisions,
distribution of power, etc.
• One other factor of great concern is the very low level of preference and extremely
poor answerability of various Government institutions, particularly those relating
to agriculture and extension services. A large number of funding agencies that
support NGO efforts expect (quite reasonably) that our efforts relating to agriculture
must attempt to link up with efforts of the Government. However, in practice, this
often proves to be very frustrating. One can think of several examples where
these linkups have lead to the “Governmentisation of NGOs” with the attendant
loss of flexibility and ability for quick response, which are indeed the strength of
NGOs.
67

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Conclusion
Despite all these limitations one feels that there is still a lot that is positive. It is
heartening to see that the farmers have generously contributed land, materials and
labour for setting up biopesticide units and seed banks. There is also a gradual but
definite change in the environment, which is now more supportive for sustainable
agriculture efforts. There is a growing realization among the general public about health
benefits of organic foods. Increasingly, the Government and many other agencies are
providing support for such efforts. “Organic” has moved away from being an “off beat”
to a serious alternative proposition. All these are indeed signs of great hope.
68

Renewable Energy: Balancing Livelihood
and Environmental Sustainability
Dr.A.D. Karve & Dr. Priyadarshini Karve
President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute,
Maninee Apartments, Survey No.13, Dhayarigaon, Pune 411 041
Email: adkarve @vsnl.com
Technical Papers
Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI) was founded by a group of scientists,
technologists and social workers in April 1996. Its main aim is to develop and transfer
innovative rural technologies to rural people for income generation and improving the
quality of their life. So far, more than 25 technologies have been developed, mainly in
two areas of importance to rural population, viz. agriculture related technologies, and
household energy related technologies.
ARTI has also developed several novel approaches for dissemination of its
technologies. It has created two commercial organizations for this purpose. The agrihorticultural
technologies are commercialised through Sahyadri Technical Assistance
and Industrial Co-operative Ltd, and the energy technologies are commercialised
through Samuchit Enviro-Tech Pvt. Ltd. (SET).
Rationale Behind the Energy Technologies
Biomass represents a very handy form of renewable energy. It is plentifully available
in rural India in the form of agricultural waste, weeds and roadside vegetation, and
also in urban areas as garden waste, kitchen waste, waste paper, cardboard and
urban leaf litter. Burning biomass in a traditional stove or in the open air creates air
pollution, due to imperfect combustion of pyrolysis gases, but use of improved stoves
and conversion of waste biomass into high quality fuels has solved this problem. The
cleanly burning biomass based fuels in solid form are wood chips, densified pellets of
light, torrefied or charred biomass and charcoal. Liquids consist of ethanol, vegetable
oils, lard and biodiesel. The gaseous forms are represented by wood gas, coal gas,
pyrolysis gas and methane. These fuels can be easily produced by using relatively
simple technologies, practicable even at the village level. Therefore, producing
cleanly burning high value fuel products based on biomass, and fabrication and sale
of cooking devices using biomass based fuels, can form the basis of many sustainable
rural enterprises.
The technologies developed by ARTI are based specifically on waste biomass,
generated by urban centres as well as by agri-horticultural activity in rural areas.
ARTI’s Household Energy Technologies*
Improved Laxmi Stove: This two pot hole fixed stove with chimney is an improved
version of the Laxmi stove that was being promoted by ARTI and several other
* Photos given in inside back cover
69

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Technical Backup Units during National Programme on Improved Chulha. The stove
has a metallic grate at the bottom of the firebox, with an air tunnel below the grate. This
ensures adequate air supply to the fuel and better combustion. The inner dimensions
are properly matched with the chimney to ensure good air flow through the stove body.
The shape and size of the pot holes have been optimized to ensure minimum leakage
of air and smoke around the cooking vessels. The chimney consists of three interlocking
pieces, which can be easily dismantled, cleaned, and reassembled from within the
house itself. The stove can be operated using wood sticks or woody biomass as fuel.
Sampada Gasifier Stove: This is a portable metallic stove. The fuel should be in the
form of dry woody twigs or small blocks/chips of wood. The fuel is burned under a
limited supply of air in a special fuel chamber, where it pyrolyses. The pyrolysis gas
produced in this chamber is combusted by providing additional secondary air to it. For
longer duration use, there is a provision for adding fuel through a side opening. The
special feature of the stove is that charcoal is left behind in the fuel holder after the
stove operation. Thus, the stove not only delivers clean cooking but also produces a
valuable by product in the form of charcoal.
Vivek Sawdust Stove: This is a portable metallic stove specially designed for using
sawdust and other powdery biomass as fuel. The fuel needs to be packed in the
stove, around a metallic cylinder. The cylinder is then removed leaving an L shaped
cavity in the packed biomass. A small burning stick of wood is inserted through the
inlet near the bottom. The exposed layer of biomass in the vertical tunnel ignites, and
the heat is utilized for gasification of the inner layers. The pyrolysis gas comes into
the tunnel and rises up, igniting just under the cooking pot placed on the pot holders.
Due to its optimal design, the stove produces a clean blue flame. One full charge of
fuel (about 2-3 kg sawdust) keeps the stove burning for about 2 hours.
Sarai Cooking System: This is a portable stainless steel device operating on the
combination of the principles of steam cooking and retained heat cooking. This has
been hailed as one of the cleanest ways of using charcoal for household cooking. In
the medium sized system, just about 100-125 gm of charcoal is sufficient for cooking
dal, rice, and a vegetable or meat for a family of 5 persons. The charcoal to be used
can either be ordinary wood charcoal, or charcoal left over in a wood burning stove,
or char briquettes made from agricultural waste. The Sarai system comes in two sizes
– the medium size is for a family of 4-5 persons, whereas there is a large size for a
family of 8-10 persons. In case rice is the prime food, it is recommended to go for the
large size version even for smaller family sizes.
ARTI Biogas System: This is a floating drum type biogas system made of plastic. The
feedstock consists of material having high nutritional value, such as waste grain flour,
left over food, food waste, non-edible fruits, seeds and rhizomes, spoiled vegetables
and fruits, spoilt milk, non-edible oil cake, etc. The standard model consists of a
digeter of 1000 lit, and a gas holder of 750 lit. This system can produce about 800 lit
70

Technical Papers
of biogas every 24 hrs, using just 1 kg of feedstock. This will keep the biogas burner
on for about 2 hrs, adequate to cook a meal for a family of 4-5 people. The system
can be scaled up to utilize larger amount of feedstock, and to satisfy larger cooking
requirement.
Charcoaling Technology – Rural: Several hundred million tonnes of agricultural waste
is either burned in situ or allowed to rot in the field. Transporting agricultural waste
from hundreds of small farms to a central processing unit was found to be too costly.
Therefore a portable kiln was designed by ARTI for charring the agrowaste at the farm
site itself. This kiln generates about 50 kg char or about 100 kg torrefied biomass
in an eight hour shift. The char or the torrefied biomass is transported to a central
processing unit, where it is mixed with a suitable binder and extruded into cylindrical
briquettes.
Charcoaling Technology – Urban: ARTI has designed a small, portable charring kiln
for charring urban waste, such as cardboard and wooden crates, paper waste of
various kinds, leaf litter, lopped branches of trees and trimmings of lawn and hedges
etc. This kiln can be easily carried around, even in a bicycle riksha. It can produce
daily about 35 kg of char from the biomass mentioned above.
A Sustainable Technology Dissemination Strategy
ARTI has been developing and disseminating sustainable rural technologies for the
past 12 years. Our general strategy is presented below, using the char briquettes
technology as an illustration :
Step 1: Identification of a problem or a new concept for rural development: ARTI
workers identified sugarcane trash as a potential source of fuel. Maharashtra has
4,50,000 ha under sugarcane, which generate annually 4.5 million tonnes of dry
leaves called sugarcane trash. Being highly lignified and silicified, these leaves are
not consumed by cattle. They are also hard to decompose, and therefore they interfere
with the agricultural operations of the next season. Therefore, farmers get rid of the
trash by burning it in situ. Converting it into fuel briquettes by compression requires
heavy machinery and high energy. Such a unit cannot be moved from its location.
Transporting light biomass from hundreds of small farms to a centrally located unit
was found to be too costly.
Step 2: Conceptualization of technology design: It was therefore decided to char
this material. Charring reduces the weight of the target biomass by 70 % and also
adds value to it. Char can thus bear the cost of transport .from the field to a central
briquetting unit. The traditional charring kiln that is used for making wood charcoal
was not found to be suitable for sugarcane trash, as it turned all the trash into ash. A
method was devised to pyrolyse the trash under exclusion of oxygen. The next step in
the technology development was to design a cooking system that would use charcoal
in a highly efficient manner. Charcoal was extensively used as cooking fuel about
71

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
60 years ago. A survey of the cooking utensils of that era led to the discovery of the
simple steam cooker.
Step 3: Developing a laboratory scale working model: This was achieved in the case
of the charring kiln by using a technique called the oven-and-retort system, in which
biomass filled in a closed container, called a retort, is heated from outside in a kiln, called
the oven. The char obtained from this kiln is mixed with starch paste and extruded into
cylindrical briquettes, which are dried in the sun. A centrally located briquetting unit
can serve as the mother unit for several kilns being operated at different locations,
independently of each other. Designing a highly efficient cooker was achieved by
fabricating a modern stainless steel cooker that combined a non-pressurised steam
cooker with the hot box principle. This devise is called the Sarai cooker.
Step 4: Replicating the model using locally available materials, skills and processes:
Local village level fabricators could easily copy the kiln by using steel sheets from
scrapped 200 litre barrels. Stainless steel water containers of cylindrical shape are
ubiquitously available in the market. They served as retorts in this model.
The briquette extruder could be fabricated by modifying commercially available meat
grinders. They come in different sizes, from small manually operated models to larger
models fitted with 1 h.p. electric motor. The cooker was fabricated by assembling
utensils that are normally available in the market. Only the charcoal brazier and the
outer jacket of the cooker needed to be fabricated.
Step 5: Assessing socioeconomic feasibility through multilocational field testing:
Members of a co-operative called Sahyadri Technical Assistance and Industrial
Cooperative Ltd. operated the kiln for two seasons in Tehsil Phaltan, Dist. Satara,
using sugarcane trash, wheat straw and many other categories of agricultural waste.
The co-operative also marketed the char briquettes and the Sarai cooker in Pune
and surrounding areas. The business proved to be economically successful. The
economics of this business is as follows: During the dry season, and using two kilns
in tandem, a team of 4 persons can produce daily about 100 kg of briquettes, saleable
at Rs.700. Assuming that the team worked for a period of 200 days, the gross earning
of the team would be Rs.1,40,000 and, allowing 100 % depreciation on the charring
equipment due to its corrosion, the net earning would be Rs.100,000. The income of
each person in the team would thus be Rs.25,000, or more than Rs. 3000 per month,
over the eight months’ period of working. During this period, each team would consume
100 tons sugarcane trash, equivalent to trash from just 10 ha. The sugarcane crop in
Maharashtra produces annually 4.5 million tons of trash, which can offer employment
to about 1,80,000 rural persons in Maharashtra.
Step 6: Developing a business model for dissemination of the technology in rural areas,
as well as training modules for technology implementers: This work of disseminating
72

Technical Papers
the technology was conducted in collaboration with ten NGOs operating in different
parts of Maharashtra. Kilns were provided to these NGOs and potential entrepreneurs
identified by the NGOs were trained in the technology of making char briquettes from
the locally available biomass. The lesson learned from this exercise was that this
business could become remunerative only if it was conducted continuously for a
period of about 180 days in a year. This was possible only in the case of sugarcane
trash because that was the only waste material that was continuously available for
this entire period. The business model required the participating NGOs to carryout
propaganda for the technology by arranging demonstrations in different villages in
their respective areas of operation. The charring and briquetting equipment was given
on loan to potential entrepreneurs, who wanted to try it out.
Step 7: Hand over technology to socially oriented commercial entity and including
training modules in awareness generation and training activities of the institute: This
particular technology required rural entrepreneurs to produce char briquettes, but there
did not exist any market for this product in the rural areas. It was therefore necessary
for a commercial enterprise to buy the char briquettes from the entrepreneurs and
to arrange for their sale in the cities. The NGOs were neither mentally nor physically
prepared to conduct a business of this nature, as trading was alien to the NGO
culture. Therefore, some members of ARTI established a firm called Samuchit Enviro-
Tech P.Ltd. (SET) for providing economic backing to the budding entrepreneurs. SET
gave buy-back guarantee to the char briquette entrepreneurs and arranged to sell the
char briquettes to the persons using the Sarai cookers. SET also manufactures and
sells Sarai cookers. The NGOs participating in this project continue with their role of
training new entrepreneurs and conducting village level demonstrations in order to
create awareness about this technology among potential entrepreneurs. SET pays
a part of the profits as royalty to ARTI. ARTI uses this amount to pay the NGOs for
their role in sensitizing the potential entrepreneurs and also to support the training
programmes for entrepreneurs.
Step 8: Technology improvement (for delivering better quality at lesser cost) continues
based on customer feedback and is passed on to the commercial entity from time to
time. Development of a smaller, cheaper and more easily portable kiln was the result
of the demand from the users for a kiln of this type. Now that a kiln requiring capital
investment of just 25 % of the original oven-and-retort type of a kiln is available, it is
expected that a much larger number of persons would be attracted to this enterprise.
Commercial Approach vs. Welfare Approach: National Programme on Improved
Chulhas was one of the largest household energy programmes operated in India. It was
operated as a welfare programme from 1984 to 2002, but it was ultimately abandoned,
because it was found to be quite ineffective. In the year 2002, the Central Government
73

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
asked the state governments to carry the burden of subsidies on the improved chulhas,
but the entire programme came to a total stand still, once the Central Government
withdrew its support. Since January 2003, ARTI has been implementing a similar
programme in the state of Maharashtra, under funding from Shell Foundation, U.K.
under which the technologies described above are disseminated in the state through
entrepreneurs. The users pay the full price to purchase either the fuel or the cooking
devices. A total of about 140 rural energy entrepreneurs earn their livelihood under this
programme. ARTI has already reached 1,00,000 clients under this programme and
it is planned to reach one million clients by the end of 2009. SET plays a vital role in
this programme as manager of supply chains. Royalty paid by SET to ARTI goes into
a separate account called the sustainability fund. Shell Foundation is currently paying
the salaries and the overhead expenses of the personnel involved in this project, but
support from Shell Foundation would stop from the year 2010 onwards. The money
accumulated in the sustainability fund and the royalty that would be received from
SET would support this activity in future.
In the National Programme, rural households received improved stoves under subsidy.
However, this prevented the stove makers from operating in the open market, as
nobody was willing to buy the stoves without subsidy. The life of an improved stove
was about 2-3 years. Once the stove received under subsidy broke, the household had
no access to an improved stove as the stoves were not available in the open market.
Thus, with the welfare approach, it was not possible for the use of improved stoves
to become a sustained practice. On the other hand, in the commercial approach,
the emphasis is on making the improved stoves available in the open market in rural
areas, and to make it a sustainable business activity. We believe that this approach
has a greater chance of succeeding where the welfare approach failed.
74

Water Security and Livelihood Security
Mr. Jurgen Putz
PALMYRA, Centre for Ecological Land use,
Water Management & Rural Development, Aurobrindavan, Auroville - 605101
Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu, India
Email: palmyra@auroville.org.in
Technical Papers
To talk on Water and Livelihood Security in the context of Technology Development
and Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods offers some interesting possibilities.
If one looks up the word ‘Technology’ on the net under “Wikipedia” just under the
heading you will find a picture of a man about to land on the moon. It goes on to
say that the race’s use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources
into simple tools. In fact technology has not advanced in equal measure across
the board of human endeavors. Those who have gone to school longer and have
enjoyed the benefits of higher education are usually the ones who later dictate terms
to the underprivileged sections of society. They even make money off them. A lot of
it. Whether a farmer can actually afford to obtain any technology or any product of
it is another matter. Many farmers commit suicide out of desperation and amounting
debts. If there was a technology that could turn the tide for them they would certainly
have used it.
Most have not: It has been found that improvement in information technology at the
village level can go a long way in helping the farming community to take advantage
of new developments and translate these newly discovered concepts into their daily
operations. It is a sad truth that while some sections of our society are able and
trained to make full use of technological advances, others lag behind. Especially the
rural sector.
Moonlandings are not for everyone economical and ecologically sustainable use of
natural resources are: In fact, it has been said that if the misuse of these resources
continues at present rates the very survival of the planet might be in danger. Now
who is in-charge of natural resource management at ground level? These are village
farming communities who have had hardly any advanced education in this field at
all. In fact most of them left school before their first exams. Girls usually are made to
leave first. I believe unprecedented efforts of all sections of society are necessary to
assist the farming communities in becoming the best educated and most advanced
section of society because it is they after all who sustain and nurture the nation more
than anybody else. It is precisely there, on our soil and, below in our watertables,
where the future is being decided, not ten thousand light years from home. Livelihood
security can only be achieved by successfully mastering the art of water conservation
and its equal sharing for crop production in its designated productive lands throughout
the catchment and the command areas of a smaller tank-based watershed. Before
75

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
we go into some of its details let us take a look at the past. Let us go back a little in
time and History.
The Pallavas, in South India, about 1,500 years ago, were very proactive about water
conservation, since the land was continuously subjected to a cycle of drought. Many
large irrigation canals, tanks, lakes and wells were dug to provide water to the farmers.
In order to minimize the effects of famine and drought, the Pallava rulers made special
efforts to provide irrigation to the agricultural lands, and developed highly advanced
systems of water harvesting and conservation.
Canal irrigation was common during the Pallava Age and canals carried water from tanks
or rivers to the adjoining fields. The rulers created a complex network of interconnected
tanks and canals whereby monsoon rains were collected and stored. They thus laid
the foundation for the canal-tank irrigation system that is still the mainstay of Indian
agriculture today.
The Pallavas also constructed many large, ornamental wells for irrigating the fields.
They were aware that the interlinking of tanks and canals recharged the underground
water and large volumes of ground water became easily accessible to farmers
through open wells. In many areas where canal or well irrigation was not available,
the farmers carried water to the fields from the nearby rivers and ponds in earthen
pots and leather buckets.
Since water was such a precious commodity, each village council set limits on the
quantity of water used by farmers. Each farmer was entitled to a prescribed quantity
of water by the village council. Farmers who used more water than this prescribed
limit had to pay a water tax called neer-variyam. During times of famine, the Pallava
kings levied a special tax called panja vari or famine tax on the affluent section of
society. The kings used the revenue gained from this tax to provide relief to the
people affected by the famine.
During the Pallava times most of the professions and occupations were hereditary, and
farmers, artisans and artists passed on their professional skills to their children and
apprentices. For instance, weavers, sculptors, architects and medical practitioners,
employed their sons and other boys of their community as apprentices so that they
could work and learn the art, craft or trade from an early age Musicians and dancers
also trained their students to play various instruments, train their voices, perform a
variety of dance compositions and explore various theories of music and dance. These
apprentice schools also taught the students Thamizh literature and arithmetic.
In those days, only a few people attended formal schools. It was mainly the children
of the upper castes who had access to formal schooling. At the age of six or seven,
children from upper caste families attended the religious schools or paata-shaalas
based in temples, pallis or Buddhist vihaaras.
76

Technical Papers
Now in these few words we find an almost complete blueprint for implementing
integrated Livelihood Security, 1,500 years ago. The question naturally arises what
happened during the interval? Why was there no continuity and can we, in all our
efforts which are made today, expect continuity now?
His Excellency, the former President of India, Hon’ble Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, in
his Water Vision 2070 has stated that human society has to pay a huge cost for
the uncontrolled and unsustainable use of the precious water without giving any
thought to our future generation. He has also sharply cautioned the people of India
that there would be a situation in 2070 where there could be acid rains and people
have to necessarily use the mechanical lungs operated by solar energy for human
beings due to the continuing pollution and deterioration of the natural resources and
environment.
The World Bank had also clearly indicated that 3.25 billion people in 52 countries
which account for one third of the worlds population, are going to suffer due to paucity
of water in 2025. Similarly several water forums have cautioned about future water
scarcity conditions and its unimaginable impact on the society.
Among the different water using sectors, irrigated agriculture uses more than 80 %
of the available water. Therefore, it is evident that the farmers who are the real users
of irrigation water can effectively save water in large quantities, provided they are
given timely awareness of the deteriorating situation and are facilitated with proper
infrastructures and technologies in an integrated manner for the efficient use of
irrigation water at farm level where nearly half of the supplied water is lost through
conveyance and application losses.
Among the different water using sectors, irrigated tank agriculture uses more than
80 % of the available water. In this case we are talking about harvested surface runoff
water. Inside the command area open wells may have been constructed out of
which also irrigation takes place. The main source for this water is coming from the
tank itself.
There are two management areas for effective water management: one is supply
management and another one is demand management. No doubt, demand
management strategies should be developed for improving equity, efficiency and
ecology in irrigation management. At the same time Water Harvesting Systems of any
type need to be constructed and installed on a priority basis.
Here it is to be pointed out that the natural resource management alone, without
integrating the social resource management, will not serve the purpose of its intent.
In this context, integrating the social resource management with natural resource
management under the umbrella of participatory irrigation management becomes
inevitable.
77

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
In Tamil Nadu, roughly one third of the total irrigated area fall under the category of tank
irrigation with the majority of these tanks being rain fed tanks: A typical tank area may
have a tank bed area of 150 acres; the command area (ayacut) is always somewhat
similar, say between 130 and 155 in this case and land owned in the command area,
by an individual farmer, may lie between 2.5 to 4 or 5 acres.
Consideration needs to be given to the integration of natural resource management with
social resource management by applying both the supply and demand management
strategies for sustainable agricultural production and increasing the production
potential per unit of water use on-farm from rain fed tanks
Role of Women Pattadar Groups in Modern Agriculture Technologies
Cultivation of paddy, because of its high irrigation-water requirement, may not be the
most sustainable crop of choice, taking into consideration the global situation of water
shortage, water requirements and an ever-growing population. However, economic,
social and traditional reasons for cultivating the most popular food item in Asia are
not to be denied either. It is therefore of great significance that a group of women
comprising one of our many Women’s Groups have taken upon themselves the risk,
adventure and ultimately the gain to do something different and in doing so increased
the yield of the crop, an achievement all the more precious as it involves less water
consumption than the traditional way. Adherence to a more scientific and conscious
approach and implementation of the farming process has been the key here.
Breaking barriers and developing new methods is usually associated with efforts
pertaining to a range of scientific discoveries and their advancement. However,
sustaining and materializing these discoveries at the “grassroot level” represents
an achievement of magnificence for which every farmer, and especially the women
farmers of the SHGs involved in spreading the unique method of SRI cultivation, need
to be recommended, supported and appreciated for their path breaking efforts, which
hopefully are being emulated by the world-wide farming community.
A Typical Problematic Scenario Encountered in a Designated
Project Area
Inadequate control of sluice deliveries: Normally, the sluice command area farmers
should have proper control at sluice heads for delivering water according to the needs
of the crop. Hence, the most efficient control mechanism is required at the sluice
heads. Presently, almost all the sluices are controlled by the plug- rod type of shutters.
It is essential to convert them to screw type shutters so as to control the water for
efficient use.
To quote an example, even if one liter of excess water released over and above the
required discharge rate of one liter/second leaks through the sluices it will cause a
78

Technical Papers
wastage of 86,400 liters of water in a day of 24 hours. This excess, or leakage water,
is sufficient to irrigate about 1 inch over 1 acre. Effective control of water at the sluice
head itself is the primary need for the rational use of water and the first step to arrive
at equitable ways of water sharing. In a nutshell, about 50 % of water delivered at
the sluice outlet is lost on-farm in respect of tank irrigation systems thus restricting
the on-farm efficiency to 50 % only. Any little increase in the percentage of irrigation
efficiency will increase the area irrigated to that extent. The need of the day would
be more crop per drop of water.
Unlined earthen channels: Desiltation of the entire network of irrigation channels is
to be undertaken on priority basis to ensure supply of water all the way to the tailenders.
The de-silting of existing channels alone may not be sufficient in respect of
farm channels which carry water right from the sluice head to the far off tail end. Very
many research experiments and studies confirm that the water lost in conveyance
on-farm is to the tune of about 20-25 % of the total water let out from the sluices. For
increasing the on-farm efficiency as well ensuring equity, this loss during conveyance
is to be brought to the minimum. In this area, channel lining plays a very important
role. This does not necessarily mean that the entire channel length of farm channels
needs to be lined although this would be ideal. In this context, there is evidence from
studies which show that 15 % of lining allows for 40 % of seepage & 40 % of the lining
at the head reach represents 75 % of the water lost by seepage in conveyance. Thus
the lining component becomes very essential not only to save the seepage loss but
also taking the water to the tail end farmers.
Tail enders not getting water on par with head reaches: There is a practical and
workable technology for ensuring the tail end farmers of their legitimate share of
water, namely the parallel channel concept. This concept of laying parallel channels
has dual functions; first, conveying water to the tail end directly, and secondly, the
channel section parallel to the first one will irrigate a portion of channel command in
head reach. The parallel channel directing water to the tail end area will also carry
seepage and drainage water away from the upper portion. This arrangement, which
is highly beneficial to the tail enders for simultaneous irrigation on par with head reach
farmers, has to be provided afresh in the tank ayacuts.
Absence of tail water re-use: In the present scenario of water scarcity conditions, no
drop of water taken for irrigation from the tank should be allowed to escape out of the
command. In this context the reuse of tail water is an inevitable strategy for increased
water use efficiency. Thus, this important element has to be introduced as one of the
demand management concepts.
Problems and ill Effects of Field to Field Irrigation and Drainage
The application of the water to the fields is the next area for concentration to ensure
integrated irrigation water management. The present field conditions clearly show that
the farmers are practicing field to field irrigation in most of the landholdings without
79

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
having any knowledge of the ill effects of the process in the degradation of the natural
resources namely soil and water in the long run, besides affecting the crop yields.
The studies in farmers fields and research stations clearly indicate the following ill
effects of field to field irrigation and drainage:
There is 25 % time loss, 13 % wastage of water, 6 % fertilizer loss; dependency on
upland farmer for irrigation and the tail end farmer for drainage of his own piece of land;
long term ill effects of water logging and salinity, which are the twin problems; pest and
diseases are carried over to other fields along with the water, thereby causing loss of
yield; over- irrigation and improper drainage result in the loss of productivity; disputes
in water sharing and finally, deterioration of natural resources in the long run.
Deepening of existing wells: The existing open wells in tank commands do not supply
sufficient quantity of water for the well owners, even to give life saving irrigation to the
crops. Absence of regular silt removal and maintenance may be one of the reasons
for this. Another important reason is that the wells require periodic deepening for
increasing output- capacities. The individual farmers alone cannot mobilize sufficient
financial resource for this item of work. On the other hand, the deepening work taken
up by some of the resourceful farmers inside the ayacut affects in turn the water level
in the wells owned by small and marginal farmers nearby, who are unable to mobilize
financial resources to do their own adjustments.
Under these conditions, the optimal use of ground water cannot be achieved from
these wells. It necessitates the inclusion of deepening of wells as one of the system
elements under the supply management concept but also it necessitates the hard work
of sitting down with the farmers to make them realize that the water resources belong
to all of them collectively and not only to those who can afford to extract them.
New community wells: The tank ayacutdaars, especially the tail enders and those
who do not own wells, are suffering for want of irrigation water during initial and fag
end stages of the crop production when there is be heavy demand and scarcity of
water respectively.
The purchase of water from neighbouring well-owners depends on two factors: one
is the availability of water with the well-owner and the other is the compatibility of the
rate per hour fixed by him. In most of the occasions, the critical stage of the crop
forces the non-well owning farmers to purchase water at higher rates fixed by the
well-owners. Though the cost of water is accepted as part of the expense, the non
well-owner’s profit range is affected very badly. This situation gives rise to the thought
of the construction of new community wells for the small and marginal farmers, who
are the tail enders with poor socio-economic backgrounds. To increase the ground
water resource, rain water harvesting and the diversion of rain water into the wells of
the ayacutdars are considered to be an additional but important item while looking
at the concept of supply management. Finally, livelihood security is not only about
80

Technical Papers
successful management of natural resources alone. People have to respect and
appreciate each other in accepting diversity in all different parts of life and thereby
experience all the richness and spiritual uplifting that can be derived from not just
preaching but actually living the life for which our continent has become a symbol all
over the world for thousands of years.
It is also about the general feelings of empathy of the different sections of society, or
a village, towards each other.
81

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
82
Approaches for Health Security in Rural India
Dr. Nerges Mistry
Director, The Foundation for Research in Community Health
84-A, R.G.Thadani Marg, Worli, Mumbai 400 018, India
E-mail: frchpune@giaspn01.vsnl.net.in
The Background Scenario
Despite the emergence of India as a global economic presence, health indicators
generally remain dismal 1 . The double burden of a high prevalence of infectious
and non-infectious diseases, is compounded by the low confidence in the public
health services and the presence of a massive private healthcare infrastructure,
many segments of which are solely profit oriented and exploitative, not to mention
malpractice. Accessibility to health care has become restricted as a large number of
people face economic destitution even if they access hospitals in the public health
services. Medical manpower, in view of the lucrative career prospects, continues to
be churned out with no planning for human resources.
The case history of an old woman 2 seeking help from the national tuberculosis
control programme demonstrates dangerous gaps in its functioning many of which
will contribute to the development of widespread drug resistance. Despite the
emphasis on undertaking institutional deliveries, women about to deliver continue
to die after reaching public hospitals because of unavailability of medical manpower
and appropriate infrastructure in these facilities. Socioeconomic and cultural factors
deepen this inadequacy. Inequitable allocation of funds between rural and urban areas
is noted by the allocation of Rs. 540 per capita per annum for urban areas in contrast
to a mere Rs.80 for rural areas. 3 Until very recently the allocation of health and other
developmental funds at the sub-district or block level was almost absent.
The health outcomes there in the absence of efficient public distribution systems
are likely to get worse, as optimal nutritional requirements will be unmet due to the
declining availability of and accessibility to food 4 .
An Approach for Health Security For Rural India
Good health outcomes are based on multiple pyramidal issues such as social
accountability, technical quality, continuity relevance of services, organisational
1 Mid-term appraisal, X Five Year Plan, Govt. of India.
2 Atre. S.R. and Mistry, N.F. 2005. Multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in India. An attempt to link biosocial determinants.
J. of Public Health Policy. 26: 96-114.
3 Reddy, K.N. and Selvaraju, V. 1994. Health Care Expenditure by Government of India 1974-75 to 1990-91 : Growth, Structure
and Priorities by programme and by Sector. Seven Hills Publication, New Delhi.
4 Jan Swasthya Sayog, Bilaspur 2006 Compilation of Public Health Documents

Technical Papers
Head of Municipal Municipality Zilla Gram
Expenditure Corporation Parishad Panchayat
Department wise Class A Class B Class C
General
Administration
75 64 73 79 22 3
Health 158 47 29 25 16
Education 164 42 47 41 170
Building &
Construction
144 105 52 30 27 10
Drinking
water supply
159 67 68 50 1 6
Agriculture 5
Animal
Husbandry
4
Small
Irrigation
6
Social
welfare
4
Women &
Child Welfare
1
Sanitation 193 75 77 58
Other 271 98 69 59 6
Total 1,164 498 415 342 256 25
Source: Kutwad, G (1998) Personal Compilation, FRCH
Headwise Per Capita Expenditure
quality, availability of material resources, availability of Human Resources and physical
accessibility. As early as 1858, Florence Nightingale at a conference in Leeds outlined
the concept of women community workers for rural India. This was the first attempt in
contemporary history to fill in the primary gap of human resources. In it lay hidden the
many sub-concepts of simplification of medicine and the partnership of lay people in
the generation of health care for the community. It also pivoted women as the main
providers of health at this primary level because of their inherent caring instincts and
nature.
Table 1 shows the evolution of health policy in India since independence. It is
noteworthy that an eminent jurist and not a doctor, Sir Joseph Bhore, enunciated the
concept of self help in healthcare in the seminal Bhore Committee Report. While their
recommendations were largely paid lip service, the essence was usually ignored or
83

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
shoddily implemented. The most recent of them all, the ICSSR-ICMR Report, 5 for
which FRCH served as the secretariat, provided the blue print of a Comprehensive
Community Healthcare System (CCHS) that was multi-tiered. 6 At its base is the
neighbourhood/community health worker (CHW) at a dense ratio of one worker
to 200-250 population. The upgraded Sahyogini, equivalent to the auxiliary nurse
midwife of the public health system, had to have upgraded technical skills with the
retention of her social skills as a member of the local community. The People’s Health
Complex transformed the concept of the Primary Health Centre of the government to
be a hospital-cum-training centre with extension functions including reverse referral
services to the community. Above all this model transferred accountability of the health
components to local governance structures of the communities viz. the Panchayats
(Table -2).
84
Table 1. Evolution of Health Policy in India
Bhore Committee (1946) Social physician concept - Local effort and spirit of Self help
Mudliar Committee
(1961)
Building foundation of preventive health work associated
with medical relief - MCH to be at fore front
Srivastava Report (1974) Create bands of para professional from community itself
ICSSR – ICMR HFA
(1981)
Democratic, decentralised and participatory people owned
health model
Table 2. Community Healthcare system (CHCS)
Population Functionary Responsibility to
200-250 CHF (70 %) Neighbourhood Gram Panchayat
5,000 Sahyogini (80-85 %) Group Gram Panchayats
30,000 People’s Health Complex *
(90 %-95 %)
( ) Approx. proportion of total services covered * Hospital – cum – Training Centre
Panchayat Samiti
Experiences in the Development of a Human Resource
The cumulative experiences of the NGOs that has fed into the CHCS concept over
the last 5 decades has been seminal. It has demonstrated the potential of the
development of a minimally educated woman to being a multiskilled health worker
5 ICSSR/ICMR Report. 1981 : Health for All : An Alternative Strategy. Indian Institute of Education, Pune
6 Antia, N.H., Dutta, G.P. and Kasbekar, A.B. 2000. Health and Medical Care : A People’s Movement. Foundation for Research
in Community Health, Pune.

Technical Papers
for the community. 7 The provision of efficient service delivery as a prerequisite to
absorption of the principles of promotive and curative health care has been also a
valuable learning. The training methods that have had the most far reaching impact
have been those where technical skills have been supplemented by the addressal of
harmful cultural values, societal norms and structural inequities.
Of paramount importance has been the generation of non-conventional selection
criteria for a CHW. The selection is based on community consensus for a married
woman who is relatively relieved from child rearing chores and is able to muster
family support for undertaking her role. Whilst mid-level school education adds value
to her learning, formal education levels do not restrict her entry to this cadre. In recent
years there have also been concerted efforts to develop learning material that can be
applied to illiterate health workers who can perform field based functions on par with
their more educated sisters but who may be more compromised in formal evaluation
procedures.
The application of a neighbourhood functionary (CHW) at an intensive ratio has
implications in the community’s perception of being an extended family member.
The high degree of doorstep accessibility that is provided to diverse strata of each
community enhances social capital but also allows her time to undertake her own
domestic chores. Her undertaking of part-time community functions also impinges on
the level of her remuneration, which is a central debate in today’s scenario, as she
has been portrayed as a volunteer in several NGO demonstration initiatives.
The training of the CHW is grounded in adult learning principles. While the training
of the CHW can be scopic in terms of health and medical care, many organizations
have attempted to provide a wider perspective to the worker by integrating multiple
functions of human and veterinary care, environmental and ecological education,
communication and mobilization skills. The adoption of this wider form of training
into a systemic approach is difficult in the short term as it leads to a lengthy training
course which rural health workers may find difficult to adhere to. The answer probably
lies in cyclical rounds of learning which start with needed skills and information but
which can eventually incorporate ancilliary information. Any worthwhile learning
however needs to be geared to confidence generation measures, sharing, networking
and organizational skills and retention of traditional roots going hand in hand with
advancement.
Some techniques in the developing of training modules include the use of deviant
examples, the shoutings of cross-cutting themes, the use of mythology and stories
and choices for self-learning. These promote a participatory, experiential form of
learning, retain interest among the trainees and are culturally compatible. The mixing
of technical and social messages and learnings contribute to a complete understanding
7 Gadkari, S. Vakil, A. 2003. Voices from Parinche : An experiment in empowerment of rural women. Foundation for Research
in Community Health, Pune.
85

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
of issues and help in fostering a problem solving capacity. During the learning phase,
the generation and consistent use of community contact points is advantageous. It
maintains the accountability process as well as generates visibility in the CHW’s work
where her value to her community becomes apparent. Linkages with school children,
village health committees and women’s groups also provide the health worker with
support to consolidate a community base and counter adverse influences therein.
The utilization of community health workers in a variety of marginalized settings
has shown that people deviate from the exclusive use of private practitioners and
therefore achieve savings in travel and wage costs, incurring also a lower level of
payment of professional fees. 8 Community confidence in her takes some time to
develop, the most reliable indicator being allowing her to tend to young children
and infants. Giving a certification that assures the community of her competence is
another additional feature that enhances her acceptance. The accreditation of training
content and methods and trainee evaluation by institutions like open schools and
paramedical councils would maintain quality in training, guard against dilution and
instill a professional perspective in the trainee.
The National Rural Health Mission – A Systemic Response
The NRHM flagged off by no less than the Prime Minister in April 2005 is an
acknowledgement of the government’s inability to provide accessible and equitable
health care to rural India. Aiming to provide this initially to 17 health compromised
States of the Union, the NRHM has the creation of an Accredited Social Health Activist
as its central objective. The ASHA, born out of NGO experiences, is expected to be
a panacea to many ills of the public health system, but is restricted in her potential
due to several shortcomings. A major drawback is the lack of transference of overall
vision of the venture at the peripheral level and the inability to visualize a system
with conditions where the ASHA can function. There is no support of the ASHA built
from within her community nor is there referral support for her from the line workers.
She is viewed rather narrowly as a technological tool with little or no consideration
for her personal and professional aspirations and ambitions. Clarity and continuity
in the financing of the CHCS is also lacking with much of the financing being veered
off to building of infrastructure at district levels and community health centres without
the concomitant raising of human resources. The initiation of pilot experiments in
community based monitoring in several parts of the country is a belated but welcome
initiative. While 80 % NRHM funds are expected to flow below sub-district levels,
district surveillance teams will have a hard job in ensuring fiscal discipline when
funds are disbursed to monopolistic functionaries like the Sarpanch, the ANM and the
Medical Officer with very little community control.. The devising of financial models
8 Antia, N.H., Deodhar, S and Mistry, N.F. 2004. Developing an Alternative Strategy for Achieving Health for All – the ICSSR/
86
ICMR Model – The FRCH Experience. Foundation for Research in Community Health, Pune

Technical Papers
of health security at the community level through community based and community
implemented health insurance is being currently envisaged at the national level and
is expected to increase community say in the type and quality of health services they
would like to receive.
The creation of a variety of paramedical resources at the sub-district level would
develop a career path and specialization opportunity for the generalist CHW, provided
manpower resources are carefully planned and there is an attempt at standardization
of content and evaluation. Knowing local patterns of morbidities would aid in manpower
planning, projection of logistics and the identification of appropriate referrals, all of
which would be relevant and accessible to local populations. A prime requirement to
achieve this scenario is a belief that rural persons have the ability and intelligence to
fulfill these functions. Evidence provided by 50 years of NGO experiences in health
and the excellent repertoire of data collected over the years by the Honey Bee initiative
in Ahmedabad provides undeniable confidence for the belief that lack of education
is not the cause for lack of native intelligence and wisdom. In any case it must be
noted that in the next two decades at least local human resources for health will
have to comprise of the minimally educated masses that reside there until such time
that schooled paramedical cadres can be raised through the influx of quality based
science and technical education. (Table-3)
Health Technology Assessment for Rural Areas
Undoubtedly human resources generated in the foreseeable future will need to be armed
with appropriate technology. As the International AIDS vaccine initiative observes,
“Overall enabling communities to access health information and services, question
Table 3. Critical Factors for Success
Worker-Population Ratio of 1:250 Selection Criteria
Accountability to Community Remuneration by community, raising community
and capacity for monitoring and & support
Graded Incremental Training Focus on confidence & problem solving, training of
able & supportive master trainers
Responsive Referral System Orientation of line workers & doctors, radical
changes in medical education and personnel
management
Clarity & Continuity in Financing Equitable allocation of resources, system costing
and devising health assurance models for
community
Career path System consolidation, lateral linkage,
professionalism and emphasis on quality
87

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
health providers and make independent informed decisions are the philosophical and
the ethical bases of introduction of the new technologies.” The introduction and the
absorption of new health related technologies will need a two-way approach at both
health policy levels and at the point of public contact. The former will need the intense
adoption of public health perspectives and the generation of technical standards that
are reliably applicable. There is a great need to critically appraise the Indian Public
Health Standards that are being currently applied if accessible health care is to reach
out to vulnerable populations e.g. permitting the transfusion of only banked blood in
rural areas denies the use of life saving surgeries to the rural population as blood
banking facilities and blood safety procedures exist only at long inconvenient distances.
It is in such picket-fence situations that innovative technological solutions will need
to be applied. The adoption criteria of every new technology will have to encompass
the local specifics of disease conditions and the affordability of the interventions as
well as skilled service delivery. The twin issues of creating awareness and financial
planning for long term application including donor funding are issues that need to be
tackled right in the nascent stages of technology development.
Possible roles of India’s Health Technology Assessment (HTA)
Responsible incorporation of technologies
88
Develop of framework of cost-effective / benefit analysis based on rural condi
tions and needs
Publicly report data on quality of health care
Identify factors for high volume, high quality work
HTA (PD and T) of major conditions
Great responsibilities would be vested in a national body for Health Technology
Assessment, if ever formed in this country. The current syllabus of the prestigious
Public Health Foundation of India for its training courses strangely has no mention of
this (personal observation). The institution of such a body would greatly strengthen
public health and its surveillance, provide evidence for the curtailing of costs, control
the exploitative side of private health care and generate ownership of health choices
in Indian citizens. It is an idea that would effectively challenge exploitative medical
practices and medical hegemony in the health scenario in this country that currently
enjoy patronage at the highest levels. The question is whether we have the courage
to go for it.
“There is an alternative out there” says Nussbaum, a brilliant professor of philosophy
who believes that progress in a developmental field such as health must focus on
what people are actually able to do or be as opposed to stress on increase in wealth
or GDP and then giving them a right platform to face the world. It is probably the right
place to start in our search for health security for India and then continue with some
imagination.

Social Milieu for Technology Transfer:
An Asian Perspective 1
Revathi Balakrishnan, Ph.D.
Senior Officer, Gender and Diversity
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok
Email: Revathi Balakrishnan@fao.org
Technical Papers
Introduction
The purpose of the paper is to review the current social environment in which
technology transfer takes place in Asian rural communities. The aim is to present an
overview of emerging factors that shape the livelihood environment of farm households
with implications for accessing, accepting and adopting technologies to improve
livelihoods. Herein, the arguments presented focus only on the social context relevant
to technology transfer, captured as a sub-theme under the technology delivery models
for sustainable livelihood. The presentation moves away from the current orientation
that focuses predominantly on the social and economic characteristics of the farm
households as determinants of technology adoption behavior. But the discussion
adopts a broader approach to understand the external change factors that affect the
rural communities that should be recognized by the technology promoters. While
much attention has been paid to the impact of globalization on the rural producers,
the emerging issues related to population, migration and remittances that alter the
farm households’ labour structure and resource access have not often been explicitly
examined. These aspects change the social environment in which households
undertake productive work and thus shape the barriers and possibilities for promoting
technologies to improve rural livelihoods.
Technology Fit or Technology Fix
An essential aspect of technology consumption is the technology fit between the
needs of the farm households and the technology/innovations. The technology fit
would be determined by households’ ability to access technology and affordability of
the technology. A farm household’s ability to access technology would be influenced
by the various prevailing social and economic conditions in the community. Access
to technology is in part determined by the availability of the appropriate technology
and information about the technology for livelihood. Existing social and economic
stratifications in the community may deter access to technology information and
models for delivery may be flawed due to discriminatory biases against specific
social groups or weaknesses in service delivery processes. Technology affordability
should be perceived to be broader than the financial cost of procuring the technology
1 The paper is a version not cleared by FAO and an unedited version. The ideas and arguments presented do not
represent the official position of FAO/UN. The author is solely responsible for its contents. The paper or sections of
the paper can be used only with prior permission of the author. The paper is work in progress.
89

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
(economic affordability). It should also encompass such dimensions as time demand to
use technology and capabilities and knowledge to use technology (human resource),
space to operate (spatial dimension) and social approval (community and peer social
group sanction of technology).
The prevailing practices of technology transfer are generally supply driven, meaning
that the technology delivery may be driven by the desire to provide technology albeit
with good intentions, while ignoring the social and economic realities of technology
acceptance or, as it is defined here, as the technology fit. One reason for ignoring the
user perspective in technology take is that generally the technology transfer is a public
sector driven process based on the assumption that technocrats know what is good
for the farmers and governments’ intentions are to help the people. Increasingly it is
acknowledged that technology delivery models should explicitly integrate the realities
of the social milieu to achieve the objective of providing a technology system to support
livelihood strategies in rural communities. “The Technical Strategy should be based
on an analysis of the agro-ecological and socio-economic setting including technical
potentials, precedents for change, trends, constraints and opportunities. The Technical
Strategy should also take account of relevant issues concerning input supplies and
markets; infrastructure; the environment and policies for resource management; and
the evolving role and importance of farming and agriculture-based employment in
the livelihood strategies of the target group”(IFAD, 2006) 2 . Hence technology and
livelihood linkages should be examined in the context of the socio-economic realities
of the environment in which the rural households work to make a living.
Sustainable Livelihood and Technology
Livelihood is defined as a means of living, or of supporting oneself. From another
perspective, livelihood is the living won by work. A livelihood comprises the capabilities,
assets (both material and social resources) and activities required for a means of
living. A livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stresses and
shocks, and maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets, while not undermining the
natural resource base. Livelihood outcomes are the achievements − the results − of
livelihood strategies. Outcome categories can be examined in relation to the following
categories: more income, increased well-being, reduced vulnerability, improved food
security, more sustainable use of the natural resource base, social relations and
status and dignity and self-respect. The term “livelihood strategies” denotes the range
and combination of activities and choices that people make in order to achieve their
livelihood goals (DFID) 3 .
Though the author borrows the livelihood conceptualization that is most widely used
by development professionals and developed by DFID to guide the argument, the
2 International Fund for Agricultural Development. 2006. Technology Change for Livelihood Development.
http://www.ifad.org/rural/learningnotes/pat/1.htm
3 DFID. Sustainable Livelihood Guidance Note. livelihoods@difid.gov.uk
90

Technical Papers
author recognizes a gap in the framework. The gap is pointed to invisibility of a role
for technology in livelihood strategies. The DFID model of sustainable livelihood does
not explicitly recognize technology and innovation as important assets for realizing
sustainable livelihood goals in farm households. The originators of the framework
may argue that technology and innovation may be subsumed under human capital
and physical assets, yet it is crucial that the role of technologies in achieving
sustainable livelihood is explicitly addressed as the livelihood environment of the
farm households undergoes transformation. An important aspect of transformation is
increasing influence of technology in the rural environment and the changing nature
of agriculture technology. A more explicit attention to interactions between institutions,
technology and assets in livelihood analysis may be valuable in conceptualizing and
managing programs for livelihood development and poverty reduction (Dorward et
al. 2003) 4 . Therefore, it is important to assess the prevailing technology system in
rural communities and the constraints (social and economic) experienced by various
categories of social groups to access, adopt and assimilate technologies to improve
livelihoods and sustain the natural resource base.
Social Environment: Social and Economic Realities
The narrow definition of social context is the indirect and direct influence of individuals
who are in constant communication. Social contexts are the common influencing
factors or factions that indirectly and directly influence individuals in a subculture or a
nation-state. A subculture is a set of people with a set of behaviors and beliefs, which
could be distinct or hidden, that differentiate them from the larger culture to which they
belong. Yet, for this review, social context is given a broader interpretation by examining
factors internal and external to the households that may have a bearing on technology
transfer outcomes by influencing technology consumption behavior. These factors
that influence technology transfer are diverse in nature, such as social, economic
and demographic, while others assume macro dimensions (poverty, population,
migration, globalization) including community characteristics (social stratification and
social marginalization practices) and yet others may be limited to intra-household
and individual aspects (gender roles and educational attainment among specific
social groups). In this paper the social context or social environment is viewed as the
various economic and social realities that impact the rural communities and hence the
technology transfer process.
Rural Poverty: Economic Reality Impeding Technology Transfer
Asian societies continue to demonstrate economic duality marked by both urban
prosperity and rural poverty. The urban-rural disparity in livelihood achievement
characterizes the Asian economies. A considerable proportion of the Asian rural
population depends on agriculture either directly or indirectly for livelihood. Many of
4 Dorward, Andrew; Nigel Poole;Jamie Morrison;Jonathan Kyddand; and Ian Urey. 2003. Markets, Institutions and Technology:
Missing Links in Livelihoods Analysis. 2003 Development Policy Review 21 (23) 319-32
91

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
the countries that are highly dependent on agriculture are also food deficit countries.
According to Millennium Development Goals Achievement monitoring reports, Asia
has made significant progress in reducing poverty, mostly through gains demonstrated
by China and India. Yet, in many Asian countries poverty gaps persist predominantly
as a rural phenomenon. The rural and urban disparity has widened over time in spite
of impressive economic growth and poverty reduction in the last three decades. Most
of the region’s poor live in rural areas. A majority of the poor are women (IFAD, 2002) 5 .
A review of FAO resource maps for South Asia and East Asia that describe rainfall,
growing period, farming systems and population density, as well as an analysis of
farming systems illustrates the relationship between the realities of poor productive
resources, the limited livelihood options and the incidence of poverty associated with
the resource poor production systems in agriculture communities (Dixon, Gulliver,
Gibbon. 2001.FAO) 6 .
The rural-urban disparity in prosperity persists and population groups dependent on
land based livelihood face high risks of poverty (Table 1). For the poor in Asia, the
livelihood vulnerability context is that the rural environment fails to generate a broader
set of options in income generating opportunities as the importance of agriculture in
the national economies decreases.
Region Rain
fed
Farmers
Asia
And
The
Pacific
92
Table 1. Poor in Asia Pacific and Rural Livelihood
Small
holder
farmers
Pastor-
alists
Artisan
Fisher-
men
Wage
labourers
and land-
less
Indigenous
people:
Scheduled
castes/
tribes
Female
headed
households
X X X X X X X
Source: International Fund for Agricultural Development: Rural Poverty Report 2001
Displaced
people
The income poverty induced constraints to adopt technologies that could improve
livelihood outcomes should be explored. Those who live in poverty experience
affordability constraints associated with deficit in both time and funds. The household
constantly seeking income earning work would often lack time to invest in learning
new technologies and capabilities (including education) to take advantage of new
technologies that could improve livelihoods. Poverty households, while struggling to
maintain a livelihood, find little time for participation to absorb innovations.
5 International Fund for Agricultural Development. 2002. Assessment of rural poverty Asia and the Pacific. Rome.
6 Dixon, J. Gulliver, Ai. & Gibbon, D. 2001. Farming systems and poverty. FAO and World Bank. Rome and
Washington, D.C.

Technical Papers
Labour for Agriculture and Rural Production
The labour force in Asian rural economies presents three facets, namely female
workers, child labour and ageing rural population. The changing labour force structure
presents challenges to technology promoters who develop technology strategies
and delivery models with a traditional concept of “a farmer”. These realities of the
local labour force for agriculture and rural economy defy the traditional concepts of a
farmer. Technology promoters should recognize the technology needs of the current
farming communities.
Female Agriculture Labour: Women in Asia and the Pacific region practice agriculture,
but women’s role in agriculture receives merely a mute and reluctant recognition in
agricultural development strategies. Many historical factors imbedded within the
prevailing scientific practice of counting people in agriculture, and social biases against
accepting women’s toil as work, ignore women’s contributions in rural economies.
Data on women’s participation in regional agriculture for the period 1995 to 2002
demonstrate that female labour is a key component of the region’s agricultural labour
force (UNDP, HDR global reports 2004 and 2005) 7 . If women’s contribution as unpaid
family workers also were considered, then it could be concluded that women play a
critical role in the region’s agricultural and rural economies. Hence, in recent times the
debate on agricultural labour in the region focused on “feminization of agriculture”.
Poor women pursue a number of survival strategies to earn enough cash to feed and
maintain their families; and one indisputable facet of these strategies is the frequent
and inordinate extension of working hours inside and outside the home. A review
of available case studies provides evidence suggesting that poor access to basic
services such as water and sanitation, coupled with the need to search for fuel and
food supplements, draws out and intensifies the typical day of a rural woman, while
adding innumerable difficulties.
Child Labour in Agriculture Work: An analysis compiled from diverse studies of
children’s role in regional agriculture shows that labour participation by children is
substantial in countries for which information is presented; the majority of male and
female children are involved in agricultural work (World Bank Development Indicators,
2006) 8 . In India, child labour estimates vary. According to the national census of 1991
estimation, the number of child labourers was 11.28 million (out of a total of 210
million children aged 5-14 years) and about 90 % of these children lived in rural areas
(ILO, 2005) 9 . Rural youth tend to be less skilled and less well educated than their
urban counterparts, and they likely will be more adversely affected by technological
7 HDR Global Reports. 2004 Table 27. Gender inequality in economic activity. New York: UNDP.
HDR Global Reports. 2005. Table 28. Gender inequality in economic activity. New York: UNDP
8 World Bank. 2006 World Development Indicators. available at http://devdata.worldbank.org/wdi2006/contents/
index2.htm
9 International Labour Organization. 2005. Combating child labour in Asia and the Pacific: Progress and challenges. Geneva
93

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
changes. In general, lack of access to the most basic level of education is the major
obstacle depriving many young people of the opportunity to increase the productivity
of their human resources potential (Ghee, 2002) 10 .
Aging Asian Farmers: Asia is one of the world’s fastest ageing regions with the
proportion of elderly projected to double between 2000 and 2030 (Kaneda, 2006) 11 .
Developed economies in the region such as Japan, Australia and New Zealand
record a rapid rate of ageing and by 2050 the number of people over 60 years will
be 25 percent of the population. From 1950 to 2005, with the exception of a few
countries (Bangladesh, Maldives, and Nepal) most countries in the region recorded
increase in the population aged over 60 years. In Thailand, some commentators have
suggested that older farmers are less likely to mechanize, adopt new crops, and apply
new technologies. Some have suggested that a sub-population of impoverished rural
elderly may be emerging. Additionally, however, some intriguing gender differences
emerge, for instance, older women are more likely to own the land they use, and less
likely to have debts, than older men (John Bryant and Rosaria Gray, 2005) 12 .
Implications of Changing Labour Composition: These changing labour facets in Asian
rural economies present implications for developing technology delivery models for
sustainable livelihood.
The feminization of regional agriculture suggests that the agricultural technology
systems should address women farmers’ needs as well as those of female agricultural
labourers. As agricultural production systems evolve to be knowledge-intensive
instead of labour-intensive, the investment to improve rural women’s literacy levels
and access to new information is crucial to achieve gains in rural productivity through
improved technologies.
The combined forces of social ignorance and economic indifference lead to both explicit
and implicit inequity in women’s access to various resources, including technologies
which are necessary to support and improve their contributions to a wide range of
activities. Deep-rooted attitudes further undervalue the worth of women within the
household, resulting in gender biases that spill over into community interactions and
the technology transfer arena.
The persistent underestimation of rural women’s contributions results in technology
transfer strategies that ignore rural women and ultimately undermine national efforts
to promote sustainable livelihood. Indeed, official underestimation of women’s farm
work leads to technology program initiatives that are based on inadequate information
10 Ghee, L. T. 2002. Youth employment in the Asia-Pacific region: Prospects and challenges. Paper prepared for the Youth
94
Employment Summit. Alexandria, Egypt.
11 Kaneda, T. 2006. A critical window for policymaking on population ageing in developing countries. Population Reference
Bureau.
12 Bryant, John and Gray, Rosaria . 2005. Rural population ageing and farm structure in Thailand. SD Dimensions.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Technical Papers
about the agricultural sector’s human capital potential and constraints and that do
not reflect the true status of the human resources available to achieve agriculture
productivity and rural economic vitality.
It is important to assess implications of child labour in agriculture and rural economies
for promoting knowledge-intensive agriculture and technology-driven rural poverty
reduction strategies. Future farmers may also be deprived of formal education that
would limit the capacity to adopt and apply new technologies to improve livelihood.
The impact of ageing among the rural population may limit the rural capacity to absorb
and apply new technologies and knowledge-intensive agriculture practices.
Migration as Livelihood Strategy
Migration is a multifaceted and complex global issue touching every country in the
world (IOM, 2005) 13 . Labour movement is attributed to migration to other countries
(international) and migration within the country (internal). Most often people migrate
from regions marked by poor resource environment and lack of alternative livelihood
opportunities such as rural workers in poverty and loss of livelihood in agriculture.
An emerging view is that migration from agriculture and rural communities does
not necessarily have negative consequences but rather is a mixed blessing for the
migrants and countries sending and receiving migrants.
Migration within the country for purposes of seeking employment opportunities, and
cross-border migration most often are rooted in aspirations to improve livelihoods
and escape poverty. A facet of international migration is that migrants from poorer
countries go to better developed countries seeking employment in agriculture and
construction. The largest movement is mainly of unskilled and semi skilled workers
employed in low-paid, low-status, so called 3-D (dirty, dangerous and difficult) jobs
that are eschewed by local workers in the fast growing labour-short nations of Asia
and the Middle East (Hugo, 2005) 14 . The economic significance of female migration
is so high for some Asian governments that female labour export targets are included
in their development programs. Sri Lanka is unusual in that its expatriate labour force
has more women than men (IOM, 2005) 15 .
The levels and patterns of internal migration vary among countries of Asia, in part as
a consequence of the variations in economic and cultural structures (Guest, 2003) 16 .
Rural to urban migration still dominates migration flow in most Asian countries
because of the high proportion of population living in rural areas. Women increasingly
13 IOM. 2005. World Migration: 2005. Costs and benefits of international migration. Geneva.
14 Hugo, G. 2005. Migration in the Asia-Pacific region. Global Commission on International Migration.
15 IOM 2005 ibid
16 Guest, P. 2003. Bridging the gap: Internal migration in Asia. Paper Prepared for Conference in Comparative Perspective,
Johannesburg, South Africa 4-7 June, 2003.
95

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
are involved in the movements and temporary migration continues to be an important
component of migration flow. Economic motivations for migration dominate decisionmaking.
Rural-urban labour migration in China nowadays is one of the most obvious as
well as influential social factors profoundly changing the current system and the society
as a whole. The number of migrants leaving their province to gain off-farm jobs in the
urban areas is increasing (APMRN, n.d) 17 . People from impoverished communities
migrate voluntarily within the country seeking opportunities to make a living. Hence
the internal voluntary migration is a livelihood strategy in developing countries. Official
statistics do not fully capture the migratory patterns, though “Poverty and physical
mobility have always been interrelated” (Deshingkar and Grimm, 2004) 18 . Common
causes for migration are unproductive land, drought, landlessness and proximity to
towns. In China, South-East Asia and India temporary migration is increasing. Indian
studies find that rural households migrate and the migrants improve their economic
returns in spite of the risks and family disruptions. Women from rural areas also
migrate with adult males or groups of women (Deshingkar and Grimm, 2004) 19
Migratory Labour and Implication for Technology Adoption: Rural communities lose
labour when their people increasingly opt for migration as a strategy to avoid livelihood
risks in the agriculture sector. Most often the migrants could be those with minimal
education and open to take risks, the very qualities that would make them good
prospects to adopt new technologies. The migrants may not have the motivation to
invest in technologies to improve land productivity, as migratory livelihood alternatives
could be more attractive and provide higher cash returns. Yet, lack of a stable population
in agricultural communities presents poor prospects of adopting new knowledge and
technology to ensure economic security and environmental sustainability.
In addition, with increasing youth migration, a rural community could be dominated by
an elderly population that may not risk experimentation with new technologies.
In households where male spouses migrate for seasonal or long term paid work,
female heads of the households become the farmers and rural producers. Hence
though women are the target group for technology transfer processes, these women
may lack the required education or self confidence to attempt new technologies.
It should be recognised that migration in and of itself is not negative since the returning
migrants also bring back new knowledge and technology to their communities of
origin. This group of returning migrants with knowledge of the outside world and who
are proven risk takers could be a key group to be mobilized in the local communities
for experimentation and adoption of innovations.
17 Asia Pacific Migration Research Network. Not dated. Migration Issues in the Asia-Pacific –China. (available at http://www.
96
unesco.org?most/apmrnw10.htm ).
18 Deshingkar, P. & Grimm, S. 2004. Internal migration and development: A global perspective. International Organization for
Migration Research Paper 19. Geneva.
19 Deshingkar, P. & Grimm, S. 2004. ibid

Technical Papers
Migrants’ Remittances - Capital Flow: Remittances, the portion of international
migrant workers' earnings sent back from the country of employment to the country
of origin, play a central role in the economies of many labour-sending countries and
have become a focal point in the ongoing debate concerning the costs and benefits
of international migration for employment (Puri and Ritzema, n.d.) 20 . Over the past
decade, the remittance flow into the region has increased substantially. “Migration
also generates economic benefits for origin countries, the largest being remittances.
While the impact of remittances on growth is unclear, remittances do play an important
role in reducing the incidences and severity of poverty (with no significant effect on
income inequality). Remittances directly increase the income of the recipient and can
help smooth household consumption, especially in response to adverse events, such
as crop failure or health crisis” (World Bank, 2006) 21 . Apart from smoothing income
flows, remittances increase disposable income which is then invested in a variety of
production and consumption uses (Deshingkar, 2004) 22 .
Remittances by unskilled labour to rural families are important household resources.
The potential of harnessing remittance to local development has given rise to studies
and analyses related to remittances and microfinance (Bibliography on micro finance
and migrant remittances). 23 There is growing awareness and evidence that remittances
contribute to economic development in migrant sending countries at the local, regional
and national levels (IOM, n.d.) 24 . A proposed policy option is facilitating the investment
by migrants in self-employment and enterprise creation in labour-exporting countries
(Puri and Ritzema, n.d.) 25
Yet the financial potential of migrants’ remittances as sources of investment in
technologies to improve livelihood in rural communities is not systematically studied
or utilized. The impact of remittances in the rural communities could be harnessed to
improve investment in technologies to improve livelihoods. The concept of technology
advisory service centres to invest in rural enterprises, and agricultural improvements
that could help rural households invest remittance funds in technologies, could be
explored.
20 Puri, Shivani and Ritzema, Tineke (Not dated) . Migrant Worker Remittances, Micro-finance and the Informal Economy:
Prospects and Issues. http://www.gdrc.org/icm/remittance/shivani.html
21 World Bank, 2006, ibid
22 Deshingkar, Priya. 2004. Understanding the Implications of Migration for Pro-poor Agricultural Growth. Overseas Development
Institute. Paper prepared for the DAC POVNET Agriculture Task Group Meeting, Helsinki, 17 – 18 June, 2004.
23 Bibliography on micro finance and migrant remittances http://www.gdrc.org/icm/remittance/more-remittance.html
24 IOM. Not dated. IOM and Remittances. Information Sheet.
25 Puri and Ritzema, n.d., ibid
97

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Conclusion
The social context of the Asian rural communities is increasingly shaped by factors
beyond the immediate control of communities. Demographic change in age structure,
increased participation of women and children in agriculture and migration in
search of economic opportunities, influence interactions in the communities. The
Asian rural communities are functioning in a socio-economic environment marked
by rural disparity manifested as extensive poverty. Income poverty is a deterrent to
experimentation and application of new technologies. The changing facets of the
Asian labour force in agriculture and rural economies are increasingly with women,
children and elderly and such changes in labour structure should be recognised by
the technology promoters. In addition, trends in migration, both internal and regional,
result in a changed population structure in agriculture and rural communities that
may hamper technology transfer processes. Alternatively the remittances received
from the migrants can provide capital that could be invested in new technologies.
These current social and economic dynamics in the rural context where technology
transfer takes place should be explicitly recognised in the technology strategies for
sustainable livelihood.
98

Technical Papers
Gender and Social inclusion for sustainable livelihoods:
Insights from the case studies an Overview
Ms. Mina Swaminathan
Advisor-Education, Communication and Gender
M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
3rd Cross Road, Taramani Institutional Area, Chennai - 600 113
Email : mina@mssrf.res.in
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, there is considerable disenchantment in
India with the outcomes of development in the second half of the twentieth century.
While there have been numerous examples of progress that one can well be proud
of, and much of this progress has been directly related to advances in science and
technology, it is also true that on the whole, the rich have got richer and the poor
poorer. Far from disappearing, inequality has increased sharply, reaching extremes
that could never even be imagined earlier. Even worse, the number of the “unreached”
has expanded enormously, while that of those who have gained has grown only
modestly, so that today there are far more unreached than well-off or comfortable.
In other words, the gap between the excluded and the rest is now wider than ever
before, both in terms of relative numbers and in terms of the difference in life chances
and quality of life. This is the dilemma faced by the country at the turn of the century—
unprecedented opportunity for a few, and life at the margins of survival for many. It is
obviously time to reconsider the development paradigm.
The skewed nature of development has been further exacerbated by several other
social and natural events and trends—population movements displacement due to
development projects and rural-urban migration, natural resource degradation and
ecological crises, cycles of disasters, and erosion of natural resources, but is also
the outcome of earlier policies, such as the loss of people’s rights to land, forests
and water, the failure to provide universal education and health care of adequate
quality, inadequate redistribution of assets like land, and others which need not now
be described in detail. What is important is the issue of how to provide sustainable
livelihoods for all, in the context of widespread social exclusion.
Who are the Excluded?
In defining social exclusion, one can begin with a definition provided by Buvinic (2005)
as “ the denial of equal access to opportunities imposed by certain groups in society
on others”. 1 This definition draws attention to three main aspects of exclusion that
groups are culturally defined, that exclusion is embedded in social relations, and that
it results in various forms of deprivation and/or disempowerment.
1 Buvinic, M (2005)Social Exclusion in Latin America in Mayra Buvinic and Jacqueline Mazza (eds) Social Exclusion and
Economic Development John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
99

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
In Indian society, there are broadly four axes of exclusion—caste/ethnicity, class,
gender and location. As far as the first category is concerned, it includes far more than
the Scheduled Castes (now more generally known as Dalits) and Scheduled Tribes
notified by the Constitution, and also applies to a large and amorphous group of other
castes and tribes, especially the many nomadic and wandering groups ranging from
pastoralists to entertainers. While the first two groups account for about a quarter of
the population (16.2 and 8.2 percent respectively in 2001) the percentage of the third
group is not unambiguously defined. As to class, which is concerned with differences
in income and wealth, again the statistics are constantly argued over by specialists,
ranging from a quarter to 38 percent of the population. A recent prestigious study 2 for
example estimates that 70 percent of the population today lives on less than Rs.20
per day, at the edge of survival.
Another dangerously threatened and little studied group in this category, which has
grown by leaps and bounds in the last few decades, is the increasing number of
“invisible” people or “new” nomads— migrants who move in search of livelihoods, living
in makeshift camps, shanty towns and “unauthorized” urban settlements, sometimes
for years together; in other cases, moving from place to place, mobile in different ways
and for different periods and reasons, but all seemingly invisible to the authorities.
As for gender, women in all groups together make up half the population, or a little
less, (due to the adverse sex ratio) but obviously women in the excluded groups
would be more seriously affected in all dimensions. Finally, location—by which is
meant those furthest from the center, in remote and/ or inaccessible locations, who
often lack even the simplest basic facilities. All these form the “excluded” and a little
simple arithmetic will show that they are by far the majority.
The Nature of Exclusion
All these diverse excluded groups not only share common problems, but each also
has certain disabilities and disadvantages specific to the group. For example, women
in all categories lack rights to property and assets in their own names, and are much
more poorly educated than the men in their own social group. Forest dwellers, mainly
tribals, have been gradually disempowered and deprived of rights to the very land,
forests, water and other natural resources that they have lived in, conserved, and
nurtured for centuries. It is estimated that about 40 million people have been displaced
in the last half-century by big dams and other development projects. As well, they lack
access to education, health care and other services available to the more privileged.
Dalits, traditionally landless, continue to remain so in large measure and to face, not
only lack of the same basic facilities, but also continuing caste discrimination. And
2 National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (2007) Report on the Conditions of Work and Promotion of
Livelihoods in the Unorganised Sector. Government of India
100

Technical Papers
this in spite of reservation for SCs and STs in education and employment, starting
right from the time the Constitution was framed in 1950. And the remote, the smaller
marginalized groups, and the “new” nomads are still struggling even to become visible
on the map of the policy makers.
Yet it is not as though no efforts have been made in the past to address this state of
affairs. A large number of well-intentioned laws and schemes have been developed
and implemented over the years, too numerous to list here, and much money has
been poured into them. But it seems these efforts have not been able to attack the
problem at its roots. Poor implementation is partly due to the well-known corruption,
bureaucratisation and sluggishness that dogs programmes implemented by the state.
But this is not all. The legal, social and cultural climate has also not been conducive
to such development. In other words, the priorities, perceptions and perspectives
have also been out of kilter. This can be illustrated in several ways, for example, the
reluctance of the more privileged groups, who have the responsibility of carrying out
these tasks, or the role of science and technology.
Science and Sustainable Livelihood
Clearly, modern science and technology has had in the past, and continues to have,
tremendous significance for improving the life of human beings. And indeed, India since
Independence has an enviable record in the development of science and technology,
having broken several barriers and chalked up many achievements. But from the
early days, the emphasis has always been on heavy industry, power, infrastructure,
manufacturing, and transport, all seen as the key to economic growth, strength and
self-reliance. Later, the emphasis shifted to space, nuclear energy, defence, and air
transport, and still later to telecommunications and Information Technology.
All these acknowledged achievements have been at the cost of simple applications
of science and technology that would benefit the ordinary citizen, man or woman,
especially the lowlier among them. So now we have a proliferation of smooth running
airlines, side by side with one lakh villages without clean drinking water; Indian - made
satellites circling the skies while 70 percent of the people have no sanitation or access
to toilets; and a galaxy of brilliant graduates working in the sector IT here and abroad
while 40 percent of all children under 14 are out of school. Could not the same or
similar technologies have been applied to solve the problems? It seems that high
technology has won over “appropriate” or “intermediate” technology. Nevertheless,
science and technology must now, more than ever, place themselves at the disposal
of sustainable livelihoods for all.
New Approaches to Social Inclusion the Case Studies
The social barriers suffered by the excluded groups have undermined both their
participation in, and access to, the benefits of development, specially in relation to
101

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
science and technology–driven development. Yet development experiences in India
have time and again demonstrated innovative approaches to “reach the unreached”,
spearheaded by non-governmental organizations and community-based groups,
which work in specific contexts with flexible approaches.
It was with a view to sharing these unique experiences and learning from such strategies
and approaches that this collection of case studies, 3 based on a brainstorming
workshop held in June 2007, has been put together. The question raised was; can the
collective wisdom derived from these diverse social interventions be of value, not only
to other agencies involved in development activities, but most importantly, to policy
formulation and a new vision and leadership from the state? A quick review of some
important aspects of the six case studies may suggest the possibilities. A careful
reading of the six case studies will throw up many interesting points for discussion,
as well as challenges. A comparative summary of the main characteristics of the case
studies will be found at Table 1.
Similarities and Differences
All the catalyst agencies are similar in having firmly chosen to work with a marginalised
group, with the intent of carving out a path for their inclusion, and with the broad
general goal of holistic development through sustainable livelihoods. But even here,
the interpretations are varied. In three cases, livelihoods are central to development;
while in the other three, empowerment leads the way. Even the perceptions about the
axis and nature of exclusion to be focused on vary. Five prioritise gender, but only
three of these start with a focus on women, while for the other two the community is
the focus, with a strong emphasis on women’s role and gender issues; the sixth started
by working with the whole tribal community and slowly came to an understanding of
women’s roles.
Similarly, two could be described as focusing on tribal communities, of which one
included other Underprivileged rural groups, especially Dalits, and emphasized
women’s role from the beginning; while the other worked with a simple well-defined
tribal group and emphasized women’s role only later. Yet another started with rural
women labourers in a poverty context, mostly Dalit, but including women of other
backward castes. Of the three groups of women, two were rural, while the third lived in
a partly rural and partly urban or semi-urban context, which is becoming increasingly
visible. Thus, the diversity among the groups makes it possible only to say that what
they all have in common is a marginalized status.
Perspectives, Approaches and Strategies
Similarities and contrasts are also found in the perspective from which each agency
3 Swaminathan, Mina (ed) 2007 Six Case Studies on Gender and Social Inclusion for Sustainable Livelihoods.
M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation and Food and Agriculture organisation Regional Office for Asia and Pacific.
102

Technical Papers
carrying out the intervention is working, and the approach. Two are based on
knowledge science and TK (traditional knowledge), but the equations between the two
are quite different in each of the interventions. In one case, the approach is scienceled,
gradually recognizing TK, and from an initial top-down approach developing a
participatory relationship between the two partners and the two knowledge systems.
It is significant that for this agency the major goal was initially conservation, and
livelihoods were brought in only because people had to be enrolled for conservation
by giving them a stake in it. In the other case, the starting point was both TK and local
resources, which were taken as the base on which to empower the people and build
their livelihoods, leading to pragmatic strategies. Science, mostly technology, came in
only to assist and support this process.
The two women-centred interventions both attempt to support women’s development,
but with varying understandings of how to deal with a patriarchal society and how to
use science and technology in doing so. The first has a Gandhian approach, showing
how to strengthen and include women as equal partners in development without
appearing to compete or struggle with men, and this influences the unique strategy
adopted; the second critically analyses two different examples of women-focused
activities, illustrating almost perfectly the difference between the how-to and the hownot-to.
The last two interventions are process-based — participatory and exploratory in
nature. There are no fixed targets, but a slow, step by step process, inspired by a
vision, with a non-linear approach, and as needed mid-course corrections. The first
grew out of a feminist critique of the current paradigm of development, started working
with women, but then went on to involve the entire community, as it intended. The
second is an activist’s vision of a multi-faceted struggle for people’s rights; also nonlinear,
using several different strategies, methods, and tactical changes, but always
keeping in the forefront the building of people’s capacities, conceived as the main
ingredient for success. Interestingly, one is a microlevel effort, and the other an
attempt at the macrolevel, showing that scale need not alter the approach. In both,
the typical action-reflectionaction cycle of such praxis- based approaches is clearly
revealed and justified.
Learnings and Insights
It goes without saying that the strategies, entry points, methods and outcomes which
follow from these approaches, as well as the relationships to science and technology
also vary widely among the groups and raise many questions. Chief among these is:
how far can these efforts be replicated? If each is rooted in its context, how, if at all,
can they be universalized? What policy changes are required? What are the lessons
to be learnt?
To begin with, the major obstacles facing the marginalized in achieving better and
sustainable livelihoods have to be confronted. The three main obstacles are lack
103

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Table 1. A Comparative Overview of the Six Case Studies
104

Technical Papers
105

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
of access and control over productive assets, especially land; lack of realization of
rights and entitlements; and the lack of support services. These have been powerfully
brought out in several of the case studies. They have to be simultaneously addressed
if sustainable livelihoods for the excluded are to become a reality.
Land other Productive Assets
Lack of title (or long-term tenure) to land, which is often also essential for building
other assets such as houses, workplaces, and wells or buying equipment, is perhaps
the most basic constraint facing marginalised people, making livelihoods uncertain,
limited and with no assurance for the future. This issue came up in all the case
studies, though in different forms. It is most sharply articulated in the case of the
displaced, a continuing threat for the two tribal groups included here and many others,
not to mention the millions displaced in the past by dams, wild life sanctuaries and
other development projects. Equally disturbing is the fate of the traditionally landless,
agricultural labourers, mostly Dalits, who today have at the most house plots, except
in a few instances, but no land for productive purposes. For example, the women in
the southern districts who have been organized by CCD to make herbal medicines,
have no land of their own, but collect herbs from waste lands, village lands, road and
canal sides, and untilled or fallow fields in the non-cultivating season. Even a small
change in the laws and rules relating to access to common property resources could
play havoc with their livelihoods. In another case from Kerala, the irony of a wellmeaning
Government arranging teaching in agricultural skills for women who have no
access to agricultural land cannot be missed.
Entitlements
Equally important are other basic rights and entitlements, some guaranteed by the
Constitution, others provided by laws and schemes, others yet to be ensured. Some of
these are the right to education, the right to work, and the right not to be discriminated
against Many of these are unrealized, for various reasons, by the marginalized. Here
a major constraint is that the machinery for dissemination of information is so weak
that often people do not know or are confused about what they are entitled to, and how
to go about getting it, as well as being deterred by the costs of getting it, compounded
by misinformation deliberately supplied by vested interests.
In this context, a major new development is the right to information, guaranteed by the
RTI (Right to Information Act 2005) which makes it compulsory for the Government to
respond to queries for information within a specified time-frame, thus allowing people
to demand information. But even here, considerable facilitation is required for the
weakest and most marginalized groups even to get the information, let alone act on
it. Only one among the catalyst agencies has focused on rights and entitlements and
developed long-term strategies for the struggle, combining it with short-term activities
which are supportive; the others focus more on short-term goals, bargaining for
achievements that will foster self-confidence, leaving the long-term issues for later.
106

Technical Papers
Support Services
The third major handicap is the lack of support services, needed at every stage to enable
the excluded groups to make use of the available facilities, assets and entitlements.
Without such services, the marginalized may stumble both in using productive assets
and accessing their basic entitlements fully. This becomes most obvious in the case
of women, who are socially required to carry the full burden of reproductive work
(including both care and household chores), in addition to productive work. Women
have the greatest need for services like childcare, health care, and transport, (even
to participate in skill training programmes, for example) and also for facilities and
devices that offer water, toilets, sanitation, fuel, fodder, and energy at the doorstep,
and that can thus save both the time and drudgery involved in procuring these basic
necessities of life. Yet these issues are rarely prioritized, even by those working mostly
with women, and almost never implemented as links with livelihood programmes.
The focus is usually on more visible kinds of support services like skills training,
capacity building, credit, financial, organizational and marketing support, which are,
significantly, the same for both sexes, and relate purely to the productive domain.
Women’s special need for support services in the reproductive domain, the lack of
which is one of the main causes of their marginalization, is not often emphasized.
One of the case studies from Kerala, for example, relating to women’s development,
has developed a comprehensive list of the support services needed, of the second
type, but has not addressed the first category. Of course, this may be because such
services are seen as having to be mostly provided by the state anyway, though there
is an increasing tendency towards privatisation. The need for greater state intervention in
these areas, both to frame just policies, and to implement them, becomes obvious.
The Role of S&T
From these studies, it seems that science and technology (S&T) has not yet played a very
significant role in addressing the issue of sustainable livelihoods for the marginalized.
Only one agency consciously used science both as an entry point and as a tool to
develop effective strategies, and succeeded by gradually entering into dialogic mode
with the community. For all the others, S&T came in later, as a response to demand,
and to an evolving and changing demand. They found that there were no ready-made
solutions; appropriate technologies had to be searched for, then adapted, before they
could be adopted. There were also problems in establishing the required linkages, and
in the training. Formal training models developed in very different situations were also
found unsuitable and had to be adapted before adoption. Put differently, technology
is not reaching out to specific needs, or even looking for them. Rather, it is supply
driven. In the one case which started with technical training, (the WIA Programme in
Kerala), there were numerous problems and the results were not commensurate with
either the expenditure or the effort put in. In other words, technology development
has to become more participatory, developing context-and-need-specific solutions,
tailoring itself to client needs and resources, and the economic, social and ecological
environment.
107

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Similarly, technologies developed for large-scale operations, as in industry, may not
be good solutions for the small scale—”intermediate” in the sense of scale at least, is
required. Another need is for S&T to work at up-gradation of traditional technologies,
as has been demonstrated by several institutions (not represented among these
cases). Finally, S&T must follow, not precede, the process of empowerment of
excluded groups. For S&T to become a humble junior partner of poor, mostly rural,
groups of people may be a revolutionary suggestion, but that is precisely an insight
which clearly emerges from these studies.
Policy Implications
Chambers (1995) 4 defining livelihoods, states that it requires “tangible assets
(resources and stores) intangible assets (claims and access), and capabilities”
Keeping in mind both the plurality of contexts and the multiplicity of deprivations, what
policies are needed to enable the excluded to access these critical inputs? How can
laws and policies become flexible in operation, but without infringing on rights? The
following guidelines emerge from this approach.
• Develop policy frameworks which can be regularly adapted to changing needs
and circumstances. Several of our current policies are based on laws passed a
century or more ago, and have little relevance to the present situation. Regular
review of laws and policies, especially those affecting marginalized groups and
development issues, is essential. Not only are new laws and policies needed, but
each should have a built-in provision for review after a certain number of years.
• Sensitise S&T Departments and institutions to social and gender needs and
issues, in order to bring these on to their agenda of plans and activities. To begin
with, study of the social and economic environment and of development issues
should begin early among would-be scientists, right from the student level, and
continue with regular orientation sessions, so that scientists do not become
isolated from the social concerns of the people, and develop a perspective on
it. At the institutional level, planning, research and extension activities should
be undertaken jointly with other stakeholders, rather than independently. A
“social justice” impact assessment tool should be developed and used, just as
environmental assessment tools have been, to assess all new large-scale projects
and programmes.
• Prioritise the realization of rights to productive assets for the marginalized. Here
implementation of several just and fair existing provisions, laws and schemes is
as important as the development of new ones; both should be done in consultation
with the people, through their organizations, especially as there are multiple
systems of customary rights and community rights.
4 Chambers, Robert (1995) Poverty and Livehoods: Whose Reality Counts? Environment and
Urbanization, 7(1)
108

Technical Papers
• Develop new laws and schemes to realize entitlements and support services.
Efficient, thorough and fair implementation of existing entitlements and support
services should be the starting point, followed by new proposals for services
developed in collaboration with people’s organisations. This is especially important
for women, who need more support services than men in every social group.
• Strengthen and collaborate with autonomous people’s organization/ networks. This
is important for two purposes: a) to listen to expressions of people’s needs and
b)to monitor implementation collaboratively. Several intermediary organizations,
like elected representatives, NGOs, educational institutions and others can also
be of help in both processes, but the direct participation of people’s collectives is
the basic requirement.
• Promote networking of all agencies, Governmental and other for smooth delivery
of services and an integrated approach to programmes. This is perhaps the most
difficult objective to achieve and requires the most effort. That would be the real
test of a genuine commitment to gender and social inclusion.
109

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
110
Women, Work and Technology
A View through a Socio-Economic and Gender
Framework
Ms. C.P. Sujaya
Visiting Fellow, Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi
Email : cpsujaya@gmail.com
The relationship between technology, women farmers and their work status is mediated
through the socio-economic and gender framework (NCW 2004). Women farmers
from asset-poor and asset-less families may have different sets of constraints and/or
advantages in inter-acting with technology from those of propertied or middle class
women farmers. Some women may be less bound by cultural norms of accepted
behavior and (as an example) may enjoy greater physical mobility. At the same time,
lack of basic literacy may be a major stumbling block. Other women may possess
assets and enjoy more decision making power, but restricted strictly to the household
and not outside. Caste can be a limiting aspect when it comes to accessing common
property assets such as natural resources, including water, but in certain areas tribal
women have traditional rights to use forest areas. Women who work on their own
farms may find that the money earned from the sale of farm produce goes to the
male head of families. The money may not be used for household priorities. Landless
women on the other hand, who work for daily wage, may be the major supporters of
the family, especially in terms of food and child security and welfare.
This multifaceted heterogeneity of the status of women farmers notwithstanding, there
are some common features in women’s gendered existence which this paper attempts
to unravel so as to ensure a better understanding in foregrounding public policies in
science and technology. Technology has indeed a transformational role to play in
areas related to agricultural and natural resources management, so as to “guarantee
economic, food and health security” as the Technical Note observes. The main issue
taken up in this paper is land ownership by women, but some attention is also paid to
other natural resources such as forests as well as education and skill development.
Only the concerted action of the agricultural research system and policy makers can
lead to meaningful research on issues concerning women. Technological empowerment
of women in agriculture is not simply a research or extension issue. There are issues,
which invoke policies, which require support for taking those technologies to the field.
Hence one must look at the issues in a holistic manner. There is a need for direct
interaction between scientists and women farmers and labour. The country is rich in
traditional technologies, which need to be better understood. Development research
must ensure the participation of actual users. There is a greater need to improve the
land to lab and people to lab effort. Care must be taken not to impose non-viable
technology, e.g. indiscriminate use of toxic pesticides, which have resulted in high

Technical Papers
levels of contamination of water bodies. The heavy use of chemical fertilizers has
driven over 35 % of prime land out of cultivation. Technology of water conservation and
protection is very useful for women, as providers of the resource. So are technologies
of energy conservation and food safety 1
Ownership, control and access to land are three important elements of farming
women’s ability to develop food security strategies through the use of modern
technology and other productive assets. In addition, farming women need secure
access either singly or collectively, to other natural resources such as water and water
bodies (such as ponds, tanks, etc.,) forests, trees, common lands, pasture, wasteland,
etc. Ownership of land can encourage women farmers to invest more of their time
and resources in long term improvements, in which technology plays a major role.
Ownership of land facilitates access to agricultural support services. Instead of relying
on outdated agricultural practices, women can use improved techniques and access
new information on a continuing basis.
Although women make up two-thirds of the working force in agriculture, they own less
than one tenth of agricultural land. It does not suffice to have ownership and control
without ready and effective access to natural resources, especially land. Women’s
biggest constraint is their own gendered status within the family and society, whether
they are unpaid cultivators, farm workers, landowners, lessees or tenants. In other
words, gender constraints operate irrespective of land status, though the constraints
may vary. Women of land-owning families are not considered to be women farmers
but only farmers’ wives. Many of them do not cultivate land themselves but lease
it out to others or allow male relatives to work on it. Wives of land-owing small and
marginal farmers, who put in unpaid work on the farm, are treated likewise and are
returned in Census enumeration as housewives. Women agricultural workers who
are wives of share croppers or tenants (either legal or informal arrangements) have
no security of tenure to enable them to prepare their cultivation plans in a sustained
or consistent way by using improved practices or inputs. Most of these women are
share croppers by proxy, in areas which have heavy male out migration, and the men
in the family return only at the time of harvest, if at all. Each of these disparate groups
of productive women workers are distanced from effective access to technology and
information due to their gendered status as well as their socio-economic placement in
their communities and in society as a whole.
Technology and credit are linked to land in a three-way causal connection. Credit
is denied to those without land titles. New and emerging technologies are seldom
available (if at all) to those without financial resources to absorb and utilize them for
higher productivity and food security at the household level. Thus, paucity or absence
of credit leaves needy women – who desperately need additional sources of cash
1 National Commission for Women 2004 “Report of the National Task Force on Technological Empowerment of Women in
Agriculture”
111

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
income – to look for other non-land-based options at lower levels of skills. Women’s
SHG are encouraged to seek micro-finance for income generating activities related
to small scale cottage or craft enterprises. They are not considered “credit-worthy” for
agricultural loans because of their lack of titles in spite of the policy instructions on
priority lending to agriculture. In the past, anti-poverty programs such as IRDP had no
space for land-based self-employment schemes either for poor men or poor women.
Yet micro finance borrowers are mostly women – estimated at 90 % of the total SHG
members in the country. “Insecurity of land tenure reduces the likelihood that women
will adopt environmentally sustainable agricultural practices and compromises
women’s ability to obtain credit because land is often the only acceptable form of
collateral” 2 .
Issues of access to land for landless farmers have been de-linked from issues of
agriculture and have focused on micro-enterprise in the non-agricultural sector 3 .
Government policy in theory at least, recognizes the crucial role of land in leveling
socio-economic differences in society. “Higher production through a labour intensive
modern technology requires a high degree of social and economic equality among the
rural population. Land reform as a means of improving distributive justice is likely to
have desirable effect on raising the productivity of agricultural labour… To ensure that
the small farmers and landless labourers … share the new opportunities provided by
modern technology, land reforms must constitute the basic ingredient in the process
of modernization. Without appropriate measures to protect the poorest sections of
agricultural population, the introduction of improved technology can only result in
increasing disparities and can lead to a dangerous disequilibrium in the rural economy
and the rural society” 4
India has 60 million landless households in addition to 250 million rural population
belonging to households owning less than 0.2 hectares of land. Landlessness is by far
the greatest predictor of poverty in India, even more so than caste or illiteracy. 5
If the above quotes are couched in gender-neutral language, the United Nations and
the National Common Minimum Program of the present Government make amends.
The UN has asked member countries to revise laws and administrative practices to
ensure women’s equal rights and access to economic resources. Among the actions
recommended are legislative reforms to give women full rights to inheritance and
to ownership of land (Beijing Platform for Action, 1995, paragraph 61) “One of the
commitments made in the National Common Minimum Program … concerns women’s
2 IFPRI Report “Women: The Key to Food Security”
3 UNDP Regional Consultation on Women, Agricultural Policy and Food Security: Issues for the 10 th Plan Bhubaneswar 21-22
112
November, 2001
4 Report of National Commission on Agriculture Abridged Report 1977 paragraph 2.2.8, emphasis added
5 World Bank Country Study (India) “Achievements and Challenges in Reducing Poverty”, 1997

Technical Papers
equal rights in ownership of assets like houses and land … The Department of WCD
has requested State Secretaries to consider initiatives that could be taken in their
respective states to promote effective land rights for women.” 6
While poverty inhibits the introduction of new technology to both men and women
through poor access to basic productive resources, the de facto exclusion of women
from ownership of land and other resources is based on gender-based discrimination.
Thus, the poor women in rural India have to contend with the inimical forces of
economic as well as gender discrimination. This has a compounding effect. The
inheritance laws of most communities in India are antithetical to women’s ownership
of land. Since personal laws receive protection under the Constitution, most of these
legal provisions continue, in spite of gender equality being enshrined as one of the
cardinal principles of the Indian Constitution. Some salutary changes have been
made to these laws as well in the case of some communities. Some new laws have
been introduced following the abolition of Zamindari or other similar land ownership
systems. But in a large number of cases, social pressures and public indifference
hinder unfettered enjoyment of these progressive provisions.
-In circumstances where the law may be favorable to women, such as in the case of
widows, social pressures lead to the women giving up her share to her sons.
-In the case of divorced woman of the Muslim community, “maintenance” or “mehr”
may not include a share in the land.
-A separated woman may get “maintenance”, but this does not include land, depending
on her community or religion.
-Very often, especially in rural areas, such decisions in the case of divorce or separation
are taken not through the formal institutions of courts, but through local and informal/
semi-informal agencies such as family, priest, panchayat representatives, etc.
“…The prescribed order of succession in matter of land inheritance as mentioned
in UPZALR is practically not adhered to especially in the case of the female heirs.
Women, particularly widows and daughters were found relinquishing their land right
to the next male heir due to the prevailing social norms”.
“Women’s Access and Rights to Land in Uttar Pradesh 7 : Myth and Grass Roots
Realities” Saroj Arora Papers on Gender Discrimination in Land Ownership Centre for
Rural Studies, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration Mussoorie.
“The deletion of the discriminatory provisions in the 1956 Hindu Succession Act
(Section 4 (2)) brings all agricultural land on par with other property and makes
Hindu women’s inheritance rights in land legally equal to those of men across the
6 Platform for Action Ten Years After - Department of WCD 2005
7 which often happened to be her son, brother, father-in-law or brother-in-law
113

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
states, overriding any inconsistent State laws. This can benefit millions of women
dependent on agriculture 8
II
In the first five year plans, the equal right to economic resources of men and women
alike did not receive much recognition or importance because the approach to women
did not perceive them as economically productive actors. A change came with the
Sixth Plan.
Some Policy Changes since the Sixth Five Year Plan
1. Allotment of revenue land, waste land and ceiling surplus land on the basis of joint
pattas in the names of husband and wife and/or exclusive titles to women.
2. At least 40 % of land pattas should be given to women and the remaining pattas
in the names of husband and wife.
The Tenth Plan (Chapter on Agriculture) recommends that, in the interest of agricultural
growth, all policies for better utilization of land and water should be pursued. One of the
accompanying suggestions is to legalize the land leasing-in and leasing-out systems.
This recommendation is again repeated in the section on “Women in Agriculture” in
the same Chapter, where the rationale for increasing poor women’s access to land
by regularizing leasing and share cropping of uncultivated land by women’s groups
shifts from agricultural productivity to household food security in low subsistence
households.
The National Agricultural Policy 2000 declares that “the approach to rural development
and land reforms will focus on … tenancy reforms to recognize the rights of the tenants
and share croppers ... and recognition of women’s rights in land”
(Paragraph 35)
Quality of Implementation
Land is a state subject, so quality of implementation on ground is uneven.
114
There is very little public awareness, few public education programs or awareness
campaigns.
Strongly entrenched interest groups at the local level, with political and muscle
power, are able to deprive women of their assets received under these affirmative
action programs.
Women themselves remain in ignorance of their legal entitlements.
8 Bina Aggarwal “Landmark Step to Gender Equality” Hindu Magazine 25 September 2005 on the amendments to the Hindu
Succession Act in 2005

Technical Papers
On the last point, the studies done in several states under the auspices of the LBSNAA
Center for Rural Studies, Mussoorie, found that this was indeed true to a very large
extent. In UP a survey of 177 rural households in 52 villages from two districts found
that none of the adult women respondents were either able to recall a single case of
land allotment to a woman by the State Government individually or on patta basis or
were aware of the Government directive that 40 % of the land settled should be in the
names of women and the remaining in the joint names of husband and wife.
These directives to all district magistrates were issued by the UP Government under
Section 126 and 198 of the Zamindari Abolition Act. These were not just administrative
orders, which might be taken lightly, but orders which had the force of law. But the
study found large gaps in the women’s knowledge not only on these legal entitlements,
but also on the laws of succession applicable to their own communities. Only a little
more than half the respondents were aware of laws of inheritance of agricultural land
that were applicable to them.
Cases recorded in the study from Orissa illustrate the tenacity of vested interests
operating as major hurdles to women’s entitlements to land. It found that that payment
of compensation for land acquired from female heads of households found its way
to middle men who invariably cheated the women of their money. In other cases,
the money was paid solely to the male heads of households; the wives did not get a
share. On paper, Orissa had issued its first directive on grant of joint land pattas as far
back as 1989. In October 2002, the Government of Orissa further directed that 40 %
of the Government waste land allotted for agriculture, ceiling land, bhoodan land etc.
may be allotted to widows, unmarried women, victimized women and women living
under the poverty line, as far as practicable. But the study team could not get any
consolidated information about the actual progress achieved. Even when the team
found some evidence of title transfers on joint patta basis in a few places, the local
officials told them that they had started it on “experimental basis” even though the
directives were almost two decades old. The overall attitude was one of indifference.
Thirty-four families were given 34 acres of ceiling surplus land in 1983 by the Orissa
Government for a social forestry program. When the women raised casurina seedlings
on the entire land, they started getting threats from vested interests in the area, who
wanted to grab the land and the trees. The 34 families were now on the verge of losing
the land and the fruits of their labour. The local law enforcement officials actually sided
with the groups attempting to grab the land. Women are generally ignorant about laws
relating to land rights and there is no effective communication system to channel the
information to them. 9
Very often policy decisions are not matched with adequately strong follow up action.
Even in landowning families, where greater awareness and knowledge are presumed,
the absence of women’s names in the land records is a common feature. Generally only
9 “Voices of Peasant Women” Series 2, CWDS, 1995
115

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
men’s names are listed and women’s names often go by default in the ownership or
possession columns. The Government of Assam took a policy decision (as a part of its
Land Policy of 1989) to include the name of the wife in settlement pattas. This marked
a complete departure from the earlier position, which did not even mention women by
name. The State Government followed this up by issuing patta passbooks with specific
columns for naming share holders of the property. Though the implementation of these
directives leaves much to be desired, it remains as an example of how changes in
basic record keeping can lead to positive changes in women’s lives.
West Bengal issued instructions requiring government land to be issued jointly in
the names of husband and wife or to women individually in 1992, “to the extent
possible”, 14 years after the land distribution program began. These instructions did
not require retroactive application of the policy as a result of which joint titling was not
a requirement for the majority of land distributed. Officials did not implement the new
instructions uniformly even after its adoption. 10
Some Macro-Facts
By 2000, states distributed more than 5 million acres of ceiling surplus land and
over 14 million acres of waste land to selected beneficiaries.
116
Men received title to the vast majority of this land because they were deemed to
be the heads of households or the cultivator of the land.
The Ministry reported having approximately 1.2 million acres of ceiling surplus
land left for distribution.
Even when women were in fact, heads of households, title was given to a male
family member 11 .
III
The three major ways in which women can gain access to and ownership of land are
a)inheritance, b) State transfers and c) market transactions.
While ownership and effective access and control to land are very important, the
convergence of other productive inputs and resources, including technology, is no
less vital for their acceptance and adoption by the women farmers. Factors such as
economies of scale, suitability, local factors, mode of participation and environmental
sustainability are some of the important issues to keep in mind in effecting convergence.
The experiences of what this paper refers to as “intermediary organizations”, which
have stepped in to help women’s groups to access land, using the same State-provided
entitlements, can be very instructive. The engagement of many of these organizations
10 FAO “Lands and Livelihoods: Making land rights real for India’s poor”.
11 Land and Livelihoods: Making land rights real for India’s rural poor. FAO Land repository

Technical Papers
did not begin or end with women’s land entitlements – rather, their perspective was
broad enough to encompass issues of women’s work, labour, mobilization and political
participation, support services, knowledge of women’s rights, etc.
Government Land
The story of Vanlaxmi Tree Growers’ Cooperative in Mehsana district, Gujarat
(initiated with SEWA support) has some novel features added to the basic model of
direct transfers of Government land to women. Though SEWA started its activities
as an urban-based trade union of women, it now has 2.19 lakh women agricultural
labourers, and small and marginal farmers as members. The mediation of SEWA
between the Government and the women workers provides the much-needed support
to the women. The second feature of this initiative is that the women are mobilized into
groups for greater bargaining power as well as more effective planning for production
activities so as to achieve economic security.
After SEWA mobilized the women, it helped them to get both revenue land as well as
government waste land allotted to them. The administrative procedures took a long
time as the legal position was very complicated, with different and contradictory laws
having to be dealt with. Cooperative law required ownership of land by the members
as a pre-condition for forming a cooperative society. It took two and a half years to sort
out these issues. Finally the women registered a tree growers’ cooperative (rather than
an agricultural cooperative). Throughout this waiting period, SEWA played a supportive
and handholding role, providing legal, technical and information inputs to help the
organization to stand on its feet. Finally, the land was allotted on a 15-year lease.
The members of this cooperative were landless labourers who had seen their
chances of building land-based sustainable livelihoods dwindling on account of rapid
industrialization, reduction in water table from excessive irrigation from bore wells
and loss of their own land and assets. Now, with an organizational base, the women
have taken up scientific agriculture with the collaboration of research and technical
institutions, using new techniques such as drip irrigation, rainwater harvesting,
nitrogen fixation, etc. as well as using new equipment like power tillers. The women
partnered with the Gujarat Agricultural University through its local research station.
The tree growers’ cooperative has become a licensed seed distributor of the Gujarat
State Seed Corporation. The women have been able to rejuvenate the economy of
the whole area which had been degraded by over use. Today it stands as a model of
how landless poor can successfully implement collective agriculture. 12
IV
Private Land
The role of intermediary organizations can be very significant in enabling women,
through various mechanisms, to access private land as well.
12 Reema Nanavaty “Organizing Agriculture Women Workers: SEWA’s Experience” SEWA, undated
117

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Landless dalit women in Medak district, Andhra Pradesh, organized into sangham,
were able to lease privately owned land that was degraded and lying unutilized, through
the support and agency of the Deccan Development Society(DDS). The community
organization program of DDS mobilized the women into sangham with the objective of
achieving economic self-reliance by helping them to lease land on a sustained basis.
The sangham entered into lease arrangements with the landowners. Details of lease
rates, period of the lease-in period, etc. were mutually discussed and agreed upon.
Both sides benefited from the arrangement, the landowners from the rental/leases
and the land improvements and the women from the fruits of their investment in labour
by increased land productivity and food security. The women also benefited from the
low lease rates. The legal framework in the Telengana area lays down a minimum of
five years for tenancies with rent set at a maximum ranging from three to five times the
land revenue. The women are satisfied with the arrangements and reported increases
in household and food security.
In concrete terms, members of the sangham get the required number of wage days,
food grains and fodder for their cattle and leafy green vegetables. They get 70 of kg
food grains and 25 kg of pulses per member working as a partner in an acre of leased
land in a year. Other positive features of the program include collective decision making
by the women, no irrigable land being kept fallow, and members working together in
a spirit of cooperation. Women have decided collectively not to cultivate commercial
crops and to apply farmyard manure in a big way. Women have created an alternative
public distribution system based on local production, storage and local distribution,
with village community grain banks serving the needs of the poor and the destitute.
The members are assured of getting 10 varieties of traditional food grains 13 .
The Remarkable Women of Medak
“Half a dozen village women took us to some lush green fields which they are
cultivating. 28 dalit women, both Hindu and Muslim, have been assisted by the
Scheduled Castes Commission to consolidate 24 acres of land. They are now
growing about 11 crop species on this land, some like jowar with several varieties.
The cultivation mix and rotation are highly sophisticated, designed to maintain the
fertility of the soil without having to use chemical fertilizers, to ward off pest attacks
without having to use pesticides, to optimize the productivity of biomass including
grains and fodder and even to provide distraction for small children that the
women have to bring along with them during agricultural operations! The strategy
has been so successful that neighboring farmers, some of them very large landowners
who had once converted to chemical-intensive farming, have requested
the women to help them switch back to organic farming so that the natural fertility
of their soils can return 14 .
13 Rao, Rugmini, 2005
14 Ashish Kothari, Janmanch column, No.3, January, 2002.
118

Technical Papers
Women from very poor dalit families with support from DDS set up village grain banks
to provide food for the village communities to cover the lean season when people
face hunger. The initiative came from the women in the sangham who wanted to
work towards increasing food production in their own fallow land and set up grain
banks that would reach all the poor in the village. 1,765 women, spread over 30
villages in the Zaheerabad region, started the venture and 800 women joined them
later. They were the most vulnerable to hunger. Started in 1994 for a 5-year period,
it still continues with women’s own funds and some donor support. Grain banks have
been set up in 32 villages, with the poorest families getting access. Wealth rankings
were carried out to identify genuine beneficiaries to access the grain banks. Women
have also set up their own marketing systems. The grain banks have challenged the
government public distribution system, where food is stored in granaries while millions
go hungry. 15
Several of the DDS 16 groups of women went on to buy land through a land purchase
program of the State-run Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Development
Corporation and reported that their experience with leasing helped to build their
farming and farm management skills and their confidence to pursue the land purchase
opportunity 17
The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Corporations in various states have been
facilitating access to privately owned land through subsidized land purchase for many
years. Such land purchases for the landless dalits and adivasis become a viable
strategy for enhancing livelihoods. Eligibility is restricted to the landless BPL families
and those belonging to SC/ST categories. Andhra Pradesh has the longest running
program, followed by Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Kerala etc. Other agencies such as
NABARD and State Bank of India have also adopted small land purchase programs.
In Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the land purchased under the program is required
to be registered in the name of the women alone.
Limited research done by RDI in Andhra Pradesh found that the process is usually
initiated by a landowner who is aware of the program and wishes to sell his land.
Defects noticed in the program include failure to target the neediest, lack of technical
assistance back-up, absence of an integral component to improve the land and the
overall implementation being landowner-driven rather than by beneficiary demands
and needs (FAO, ibid). 18
15 “Women Create Alternative Food Security in Zaheerabad Region in South India”
http://women.socioeco.org/documents/93rtf_rao.rtf
16 Rugmini Rao, 2004, note on leased lands “Women Sanghams of DDS traverse an exciting path” 28/8/03; DDS Power
Presentation
17 Land and Livelihoods: Making land rights real for India’s rural poor. FAO Repository
119

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
The Bankura Story is another instance of privately owned land being donated to village
groups of women and used by the women, mobilized into samitis, to plant arjan trees
and rear tassar silk worms.
In 1980, in a small village in West Bengal, a women’s samiti (group) received donation
of land from some private landowners who did not have the resources to develop the
degraded land that they owned. The village women (most of them Santhal tribals),
used to migrate four times a year to other districts in search of work, since the arid
areas of Bankura district are without productive resources such as water or forests,
and are prone to flood and famine. With help and support from agencies such as
the Centre for Women’s Development Studies in Delhi and funding from a number
of Government and other funding agencies, the samiti was able to reclaim the
wasteland. Within 3 years, the land was thick with trees on which the women reared
tasar silk worms. As the news spread, women from surrounding villages formed their
own samities and were able to get donation of degraded land from villagers. In less
than a decade, 1,500 women in 36 villages were able to create work opportunities
in tassar cultivation so much so that they were able to stop their annual migrations
outside their homes.
The Centre for Women’s Development Studies(CWDS) was responsible for conceiving
the instrument of women’s groups (samitis) for generating land-based employment for
poor women. The Centre, like SEWA, saw the women’s collective employment as a
means to achieve solidarity. The Centre realized that at this level of poverty, only a
group can ensure survival of individuals. The Centre had a set of multiple roles to
perform – a safety net of advice and good counsel, trouble shooter, advocate of
women’s view point and many others. But in practical terms, CWDS was able to help
the women members of the samitis to access technology as well as management
techniques, besides financial resources for developing wastelands through tassar
cultivation. The skills that the village women needed to run their samitis and their
project included professional background in social forestry, tasar silk, silk worm
rearing, business enterprise, human resource development, etc.
It is a unique feature of the Bankura story that some landowning women, who are also
members of the samitis have donated their own land to the samiti. But the samitis have
a rule that no land donor has more right to employment or output of the land because
all members have an equal share. Thus, a few poor women are both benefactors
and beneficiaries of land donation but the benefit also extends to assetless and other
women who could not donate anything.
“I earn about Rs. 200 from tassar cocoon rearing on the land which used to belong
to my family, but is now the Samiti’s. But I also experience some security from
Kamala’s earnings of about Rs. 200. She is landless and each year her family
went without daily meals in January and June. Their hunger cut into our insides
too. It is not easy to live with your neighbour’s hunger” (Gouri, a member of the
samiti).
120

Technical Papers
Like SEWA, the Centre was able to build liaison between the women’s samitis and
technology/knowledge providers as well as various Government agencies such as
the Sericulture Department, (which bought the first batch of cocoons reared by the
women), the Forest Department, (which supplied the saplings of arjun and asan) the
panchayat samiti, the Tribal Welfare Department (which funded the plantation) and the
Central Silk Board through its local field station, which supplied the silk worm eggs.
As like in the SEWA case, the women of Bankura were poor and illiterate. To run the
samitis they needed professional training in management. A consultant was hired from
the corporate sector (he was interested in the project) who held a 5-day management
course, which five women leaders from each of the three samitis were asked to join.
They discussed specific questions such as – what is a samiti, what is a member’s role,
what is an enterprise, what is profit and loss, how is responsibility shared, what is the
role of the leader, how is a plan of action to be devised, what is financial management
and maintenance of accounts, etc. “The women could not follow management, but
they were stubborn learners. … Management training workshops were repeated
every quarter for a year with the same women, and the group got bigger with time as
more members felt they must attend … it is significant that the most ardent trainees
are deserted young women, widows, childless oppressed wives, whose need for
affiliation and support is highest” .
The women realized that tassar plantations are not enough; it could not provide for their
needs throughout the year; they needed other ways of generating more employment.
One of the enterprises they took up was the making of sal leaf-cups and plates –
others included rope making from babui grass, trading in mahua seeds, rice husking,
etc. All these enterprises are based on collective management and income sharing.
Because of the strong tribal bonds among the women in different villages, the Bankura
‘model’ spread to other villages, with spearhead teams from each samiti acting as an
advance party for consciousness raising and passing on of advice and knowledge.
In the first seven years, the number of registered samitis rose from 3 to 18 and the
members from 400 to 1,500. One hundred hectares of wasteland was reclaimed and
36,000 person days of direct employment generated. The samitis federated into an
apex body of elected representatives.
The samitis continued to receive more offers of land and new samitis were formed
in two adjacent districts of Bankura, namely, Purulia and Medinipur, using the basic
features of the same model 18 .
Adithi Mahila Vigyan Kendra (Women’s Science Center) in Muzaffarpur district, Bihar,
is Adithi’s (a women’s group committed to women working their way through local
solutions to overcome constraints of poverty and gender, mainly in Bihar) response
18 “The Bankura Story – Rural Women Organize for Change” ILO New Delhi, Text by Nalini Singh
121

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
to the existential realities of the poor scheduled caste women of the Bhusura area.
Large-scale migration of men to North West India and other areas for work leave the
women responsible for a range of farming tasks, from transplanting to harvesting, on
land that their share-cropper husbands had earlier been tilling on batai or mankap
(local tenancy arrangements) basis. Women now had to work as the ‘invisible’ yet real
share croppers and had also to sustain the family with very little cash income. While
the men and the landlords invariably bargained and fixed up the terms and conditions
for undertaking batai or mankap before the former migrated annually, the women
found that the produce from it provided family food security for only half the year. The
women therefore, wanted other options.
Adithi, after a period of trial and error, introduced a cash lease system both for land
and animals in place of the current share cropping system. It also introduced a viable
mix of activities, including plantation of trees, nurseries for saplings, processing of
natural resource products, etc. This broadened the options for women and minimized
the risks. One hundred poor scheduled caste women formed groups and leased land
from local landlords for three years. Adithi ensured that all ten groups were provided
with technical, financial and organizational assistance for crop planning, cultivation and
marketing. An evaluation showed that the productivity levels of paddy had increased,
the physical and social confinement of women had reduced, group savings, loan
disbursement and repayment had improved and become systematized.
In addition to helping women in leasing land, Adithi helped 100 fisherwomen from
four villages – who had articulated the same need for ‘other options’ – to lease out
100 acres of pond from the government agencies for ten years. With the help of a
commercial bank, the women received technical training, helping them to assume
responsibility for both feeding the fish as well as ensuring that stealing and poisoning
of fish do not take place. Further examples of ‘other options’ that Adithi was able to
find for the women included bee keeping, leatherwork, carpentry, low cost housing,
etc. all of which answered the same felt need of the women in a situation where
farming activity could not ensure year-round household food and economic security.
Adithi faced major constraints such as the incidence of natural calamities, especially
floods – endemic to North Bihar – compounded with lack of insurance cover; lack of
infrastructure such as irrigation facilities, agricultural equipment and storage capacity,
all of which made the viability of such projects problematic. The lack of insurance
coverage still remains a major deficiency.
Adithi has flagged the problems of women share croppers as a major challenge to
increasing agricultural productivity in the country. With the increasing feminization of
agriculture, the skewed ownership of landholdings and the high incidence of absentee
landowners, the burden falls unequally on women of particular groups. These women
are poor, with low social status, lack have no title, access to productive inputs,
organizational back up, or technical knowledge, but keep on working on land with no
122

Technical Papers
social or economic security. Adithi points out that share cropping agriculture provides a
large number of livelihoods, but is essentially a loss-making activity though it provides
some food grains for the family to survive for part of the year. The need for better
interface between farming and other types of rural livelihoods for such categories of
women comes out very clearly. 19
Share cropping is legally banned in most state land statutes, except under certain
conditions. These legal orders however, have little social sanction – there are no
better alternatives for share croppers within agriculture alone. Adithi asks for a better
package of services to be designed, (with share cropping as the main activity) and
for attitudinal changes on the part of state agencies to enable them to recognize
the importance of share cropping and that even landless women can be farmers. It
also asks for more attention to be accorded to the gender division of productive and
reproductive labour, the present status of which is quite disadvantageous to women.
At present, State agencies do not accord priority to the development needs of large
numbers of people dependent on non-viable share cropping agriculture. They look at
them as poor, underemployed or as oppressed castes, but not with respect to their
primary occupations (CPS draft Chapter on Women’s Status in forthcoming UNDP
Women’s HDR).
An umbrella project titled the “GOI-UNDP Food Security Program” provides women’s
groups access to croplands through long-term lease of dry land. There are three
women-specific sub-programs under the umbrella, in Andhra Pradesh (sustainable
dry land agriculture), Orissa (strengthening natural resource management) and UP
(women farmers for food security), with the involvement of NGO.
The projects provided flexible funding to women for purchase or lease land either
individually or as a group. Funds could be used for capacity building, implements and
technologies. Funds were also provided to repay loans to money lenders to get their
land back, provided the registration was done in the names of the women or in the
joint names of husband and wife. The projects sought to get the support of the men
in these families which they were able to get in some cases, which though not many,
did mark an important beginning. In Orissa, the reported progress was commendable,
with one NGO reporting cent percent husbands involved in the project, transferring
the land released from the money lenders in the names of their wives.
But there were negative outcomes as well, such as men choosing to leave the land
with the money lenders rather than face the ‘humiliation’ of transferring the land in
women’s names; cases of land transferred in women’s names were fewer than the
cases of joint registration; more cases of transfer of land of poor quality in women’s
names rather than those of good land; the question of inheritance remained undecided
as to who would inherit the land after the women. Problems arose with banks, district
19 3 ADITHI reports mimeo Women Sharecroppers, A Pathway to Sharecroppers, Sharecropping and Us, Adithi Annual Report
2004.
123

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
officialdom and local government officials. The high registration costs were beyond
the capacity of the women. Banks would refuse funding for collective leases; funds
were not forthcoming for land-based activities or for marginal lands; local officials
were reluctant to register land in women’s names. The struggle is an uphill one, with
slow and limited progress. (Neera Burra “Empowering women for Household food
security: UNDP’s experience and some lessons learnt”, August, 2004.
V
A common feature in most of the cases described above is the role of the intermediary
organizations building up farming women’s access to a variety of productive resources.
Narrowly conceived, it could be seen as accessing technologies. But this is only one
aspect – poor, illiterate and marginally placed women have demonstrated their need for
information inputs, skill building, knowledge of legal rights, motivation and guidance,
accessing services, credit, raw materials, human resource development, training, etc.
All these are needed at various points of time in the life of the organization. Technology
therefore has to be very broadly interpreted. Most of all, cohesiveness and solidarity
are important for sustainability and dynamic growth of the women’s organizations.
Another common feature is the form of the women’s representative organization at the
grass root level as a collective entity – either a cooperative, as in the case of SEWA,
or as registered societies as in the case of CWDS, or sangham in the case of DDS.
The groups need a legal identity to be able to transact land transfers or leases.
VI
Enhancement of production through higher productivity is the main goal of the Ministry
of Agriculture (MoA) and it is here that technology has an important role. This objective
sets all systems to achieve “rapid agricultural growth and development through
optimum utilization of the country’s land, water, soil and water resources” (Annual
Report of the MOA 2004-2005 Chapter 2 on ‘Functions and Structures’, page 9).
This over-arching objective has an effect on MOA’s own operational plans, programs
and strategies. It also shapes internal working environments and its utilization and
placement of human and financial resources. It influences the working ethos, and how
officials view their work priorities as well as their individual career goals and options.
Speaking specifically on women and agriculture, it would be safe to assume that the
natural tendency would be to concentrate on how women can contribute to agricultural
productivity and production – what has often been termed an ‘instrumental’ approach
to women.
This instrumental approach may tend to leave out of the picture – to take one particular
aspect – the whole question of landlessness or of unpaid labour or subsistence
farming. To take another aspect, it would leave out the necessity for support services,
such as child care, water, health and education in enhancing the quality of women’s
work and their well being. A third aspect would be to not attach significance to
124

Technical Papers
women’s awareness and knowledge of land rights or of other rights to her bodily
integrity or health, that have also a direct connection with her worker status. This
type of instrumental approach then leads to an exceedingly restricted project design,
with what can be called a “key-hole” approach. Resources are seldom earmarked for
nurturing and strengthening women’s groups, linkages with organizations providing
support services etc. are not provided and knowledge of laws regarding women’s
rights to land etc. are not considered relevant or necessary.
Evaluations of agricultural training projects for women found that in spite of norms laid
down to restrict the participation to women of the small and marginal farming families,
very often higher numbers of women selected for training had larger landholdings
and were outside these two economic categories (Danish Institute of International
Studies, 2004b).
“Farmers” are defined by ownership of land and most forms of government support
are linked to land ownership. Women constitute the majority of landless farmers and
are doubly marginalized. They are not recognized as farmers though they perform
more than 70 % of the agricultural work. 20
Based on the outcomes of the Danish and Dutch funded training programs for women
in agriculture in the eighties, the Government of India launched a central sector
scheme “Women in Agriculture” on a pilot basis in seven States in the 1990s. It was
a welcome move in that the Government decided to use its own budget and plan
funds for the new venture instead of depending on outside donor agencies. Women
farmers were organized in small groups. Each group had a woman link worker, who
was selected from the same village. The broad aim of the pilot was to mobilize and
motivate the practising women farmers and make them self reliant and responsive so
that they can avail of the benefits of the new technology in the existing agricultural and
extension system. In each village, the women’s group was to be the focal point for the
transfer of technology and skill (up gradation).
The following findings are taken from impact assessments/evaluations/reviews of the
pilot in two States conducted by inter-disciplinary expert teams.
Farm women’s handicaps were listed under low productivity, long hours of work
on small landholdings and restricted access to credit and inputs.
Farm women’s needs were listed under input support, technological support and
extension support. These are the three supports which the Scheme plans to
provide women – so, the needs assessment are done by the project managers in
terms of these three needs.
Of the two reviews, land figured as a detail in one base line survey in that it at
20 UNDP Regional Consultation on “Women, Agricultural Policy and Food Security: Issues for the 10 th Plan” Bhubaneswar,
21-22 November, 2001.
125

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
126
least received a mention. But after referring to it, thereafter, land did not figure in
any way, either in the selection of farm women or in the analysis or discussions.
The finding in the review on the selection of women for the village groups was that
it was not possible to restrict the selection to marginal and small farmers. This is
because most women were not really interested in joining the group, the review
notes. No reason has been given for this.
In the other review, land was not specifically mentioned. It however, found that the
village groups could be categorized as consisting of “have nots” and “haves” farm
women in the same taluka. They needed separate training, but the review found
that this was not done or envisaged.
This review found that the tribal women were daily earners who feed their family
members from their day to day earnings and when they were asked to come for
training, they would lose their earnings and therefore needed cash incentive to
attend. The land issue is apparent here, but it is not discussed.
Two of the “haves” groups had knowledge of technology of horticultural crops,
floriculture, bee keeping, fruit preservation etc. and were interested in commercial
production. Their needs were totally different from those of the “have nots”.
The review found that in one project, most of the women were not practising
farmers.
In assessing the results of the project, the review found that women’s longer
working hours in the field were increasing their work load, but “their recognition,
importance and respect has also increased. As all this leads to higher economic
returns the women feel elevated, valued, satisfied, happy and contented”. Such a
conclusion can be found only in a review of a women’s project!!
But higher economic returns do not seem to accrue to the women from farm
production – as the evaluation shows, the women members want financial
assistance to undertake viable income generating activities, such as bee keeping,
detergent making, pickle making, masala grinding, etc.
Also, the intention of forming thrift groups may be a pointer to the women’s need
to earn more cash income. But the review noted that the women could not reach
a consensus on how the funds had to be utilized.
One review, while positive in most aspects, noted the opinion of the women
facilitators (officials at sub-divisional level looking after 10 villages each) that 43 %
of the groups should be changed, because of the poor response by members and
link workers.
20 % of the households had women as landowners. The specific conditions
leading to ownership were widowhood, absence of son in the family, minor son,
polygamous marital unions, evading ceiling or revenue tax.

The above shows –
Technical Papers
Credit, technology and input supports figure in the needs assessment as critical
needs, but they are de-linked from the land issue. Details of land, the absence or
the quantum of it, is not included in the assessment. Its importance to the transfer
of technology is not underlined.
The groups of tribal women who are daily wage earners found it difficult to attend
the training. Details of their land ownership are not given – a) are they landless
women or b) do they have to earn wage labour in the off season to supplement
their earnings from land?
The implementation of the policy directives of the Central and State Governments
on access to land by women does not figure as a part of the analysis or discussions.
There is disjunction here.
The importance of women having land in their own names does not receive any
attention in the review.
Poor rural women in India consider land to be more than just a commodity. The most
common perception among the women was that owning land brings social security
and dignity, which they value above all. While it is generally acknowledged that women
from land-owning families are more respected in society, here are some voices from
such women: 21
“At present my husband ignores my hard work and claims that he is feeding me and
the family. With land in my name, I could tell him that I own my own land and am not
dependent on him. We would be on equal terms.”
“If our husbands want us to eat, then we eat. It totally depends on them. If the land
was in my name, he would no longer beat me, and he would take care of the children
as well”.
“When we earn our own money, we are less frightened of arguing with our husbands
about spending decisions.”
VII
That women’s workload in field agriculture is labourious and heavy, and consumes
more working hours than that of men, is now accepted as a policy concern. But farming
women need simultaneous and effective access to basic needs such as child care,
water, fuel wood, fodder, sanitation, health care, etc. for which they are responsible.
These supports and services have to come together in an integrated fashion so that
families dependent on women’s work can be advantaged and not disadvantaged by
women seeking work options outside the home. This convergence of supports is also
21 Women’s Resource Access Program (WRAP) “Voices From the Field”
127

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
critically necessary for ensuring that working women’s stress levels do not increase
with heavier workloads leading to ill health, poorer productivity and lowered status.
Technology can empower women not only by adding to their productivity but also by
the use of labour saving technologies in gendered household tasks such as those
mentioned above. But the balance of attention seems to be tilted to those applications
of technology which are geared to a ‘productivity’ effect through use of new types
of field tools, equipment, machines etc. such as improved sickles, weeders, hoes,
strippers, threshers etc. There are much fewer examples where new technologies are
directed towards child nutrition (for example) by standardization of low-cost weaning
mixes for children to fight malnutrition, using locally available materials, etc.
There is also an increasing thrust towards involving women in more and more new
and novel farming activities through the use of technology such as aquaculture, oyster
mushroom cultivation, commercial crops, storage, post harvest technologies, etc. A
project on ergonomics of farm women’s drudgery by substituting manual carriage of
fertilizer for top dressing by small trolleys aims to improve women’s health but also
to saving farming costs by reducing time so as to make agriculture an economically
favorable enterprise.
The status of women’s time-use becomes crucial in such a situation. Women’s work in
the primary sector generally tends to be underestimated since much of their productive
work does not appear in official statistics. The impact of new programs on women’s
hours of work tends to be hidden. It seems to be contradictory to say that women
work for too long, when their work is not really as productive as that of men in terms
of either wages or norms of productivity. While the role of technology can be crucial
to increase women’s productivity and economic returns, the responsibility for unpaid
work (including ‘non-productive’ work of caring for children, the sick and the aged) is
also a serious challenge for policy. On a different track, rationalization of work through
the use of machines may have an adverse effect on women’s work (see below).
In the case of health, the near-collapse of the public rural primary health care system
has left the poor with no option except to buy health care from private providers,
leading to heavy indebtedness. This is only one example to illustrate the way that
institutional mechanisms should be working, but do not. In the absence of meaningful
and genuine devolution and decentralization to local bodies, most of these services
are still being delivered vertically, by line departments, which at the village level, have
no convergence or integration.
Two final points
The concept of gender division of labour is sometimes taken to denote a dividing line
which separates “men’s work” and “women’s work”. Weeding is traditionally taken
to be one of women’s tasks, so is transplanting paddy, top dressing of fertilizer and
many others which involve painstaking or monotonous work spread over long hours.
128

Technical Papers
In the context of technological empowerment of women in agriculture, there is talk
of “women oriented technologies” under different production systems, “appropriate
technologies” for women, etc. (there is no “appropriate technology” for men). It is
to be seen whether the new perspective on technologies for women or appropriate
technologies for women will have the effect of perpetuating the gender division of
labour, which at present is inimical to women’s interests.
Technology can empower women, add to their productivity and earnings as well as help
them to upward mobility. But past experience has shown that technology applications
have also displaced women in large numbers from their existing work even while
increasing productivity manifold. The displacement of women by machines is caused
by the low level of education and skills possessed by the women, which leaves them
with no other options and no mobility to find new labour avenues. The displacement is
also due to the gendered position of women in the household, their constraints such
as less mobility, time use constraints, etc. But women cannot be forced to remain
at low levels of technology for fear of losing jobs as this will perpetuate the myth of
gender division of labor.
129

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Public Policies Required for Promoting Socio-economic
and Environmental Sustainability
Dr. Narayan G. Hegde
President
BAIF Development Research Foundation
Dr.Man ibhai Desai Nagar, N.H.No.4, Warje, Pune 411 058
Email: nghegde@baif.org.in
Rural economy in India is still dependent on agro-based activities, inspite of over
80 % of the rural families being small and marginal families or landless. The problems
of the small farmers are further aggravated due to lack of adequate inputs particularly
irrigation sources and appropriate technologies to optimise agricultural production.
The development of water resources needs huge investment and accordingly, the
Government of India has given top priority to watershed development and efficient use
of water resources. With regard to the introduction of appropriate technologies, there
has been a significant gap between the technology centres and farmers which should
be sorted out with appropriate planning and coordination, for promoting sustainable
livelihood in rural India.
Problems of Technology Transfer: Inspite of a major boost to agricultural research
and education and establishment of State Agricultural Universities, the problem of
technology transfer still persists, particularly with regard to the small and marginal
farmers. The problem is more serious because of the illiteracy and backwardness
of the poor in communicating with the scientists. As their contribution to agricultural
production and Gross National Product (GNP) is not significant, the research
institutions have not been taking their problems seriously. This is probably the reason
why the small and marginal farmers located in interior and backward areas are unable
to improve their crop yields and transform agriculture into a successful enterprise.
Often the small farmers have no solutions for their problems, because many of these
problems are specifically confined to their localities and the recommendations made by
general research institutions may not be applicable to their situations. In the absence
of direct communication between the farmers and scientists, these problems remain
unanswered. However, the large and educated farmers, being influential and having
direct access to various advanced technologies and information sources, are able
to benefit from the technologies and maximise their earnings. Therefore, technology
transfer for sustainable rural livelihood is still a serious issue, inspite of India making
significant progress in food production over the last few decades.
Problems of the Poor in Technology Adaptation
The major hurdles encountered by small farmers in adopting various technologies are
presented below.
130

Technical Papers
Technologies Irrelevant to Local Conditions
Often, the priorities given by the Government and the technologies developed by the
Research Institutions are either not useful to small and marginal farmers because they
are non-viable under lower scale of operation, or are not relevant to local conditions.
As a result, inspite of huge investment in technology development and promotion, the
small farmers are unable to take advantage of these new technologies. Some of the
examples of such technologies which have been given top priority by the Government
of India but are not useful to the small farmers are cultivation of biofuel crops like
Jatropha, promotion of medicinal plants, organic farming, watershed development
programmes and social forestry for fodder and fuel wood production, etc.
Several thousand crores have been allocated for promotion of Jatropha with an aim
to bring wastelands under Jatropha cultivation. However, in the absence of adequate
moisture supply and nutrients, the yield of Jatropha has not been adequate to ensure
attractive returns. Small farmers are unable to avail of this technology and people who
have cultivated Jatropha have been disappointed. They have also lost the opportunity
to make alternative use of their land and other resources for cultivating other crops
which could enable them to earn their livelihood.
With regard to medicinal plants, many programmes have been launched to involve
small farmers. However, due to lack of proper assessment about the economic viability
and critical inputs, particularly marketing tie-up, farmers have not been able to accept
the cultivation of medicinal plants as a reliable source of income generation.
Promotion of organic farming has been given priority during recent years. In the
process of popularising the schemes, even the scientific facts have been twisted,
leading to utter confusion among semi-literate farmers. Furthermore, in the absence
of alternate sources of agricultural inputs at reasonable prices and assured market
to procure the organic products at a premium price, the farmers in many regions are
unable to realise the benefits of this programme.
Watershed development is an excellent example where the technology, backed by
huge financial resources from the Government of India; has been launched throughout
the country. However, in the absence of adequate investment on critical inputs and
appropriate technologies, most of the small farmers are unable to take advantage of
this ambitious programme. The same is the experience with social forestry where the
Government of India promoted the cultivation of fodder species as a major programme
for meeting the basic needs of the small farmers. However, in the absence of adequate
economic returns and a long gestation period, small farmers did not participate in the
programme wholeheartedly.
From the above examples, it can be seen that priority has been given to technologies
based on unrealistic assumptions rather than ground realities. Therefore, prior to
the development of technologies, research institutions should take the opportunity
131

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
of interacting with the local communities and identify the real issues affecting their
livelihood. This would help in developing appropriate technologies and to validate them
under different field conditions for addressing the needs of the local communities.
Lack of Forward and Backward Linkages: To harness the benefit of technologies,
the critical need is to establish backward and forward linkages. When we introduce
any new technology, there is a need for critical inputs, finance, equipment and timely
guidance to ensure that the farmers take optimum advantage of the technologies by
suitable corrective actions, wherever necessary. Furthermore, there is a need for
post-production support with regard to harvesting, storage, processing and marketing.
Unfortunately, in most cases, the State departments are not geared to provide such
support along with new technologies and there is no other alternative infrastructure
to support these activities, except a small number of Farmers’ Organisations such as
sugar and milk cooperatives and of late, a few corporate houses engaged in contract
farming. As a result, the farmers are unable to make optimum use of the technology
and find it unattractive to adopt them.
Lack of Infrastructure for Delivery of Technology: For transfer of technology and to
convert this into a business opportunity, it is essential to have an efficient organisation
at the grassroots level. Such an organisation should take the small farmers into
confidence, motivate them and induce group dynamism for initiation of timely action
as recommended by the scientists, apart from coordinating backward and forward
linkages. Presently, there are not many suitable organisations to assume this
responsibility.
Way back in the 1950s, when the State Governments had launched the Agriculture
Extension programme, this role was to be assumed by the Village Level Workers and
subsequently, formation of Farmers’ Cooperatives was encouraged. However, as
both these institutions are not functioning efficiently, alternative mechanisms are being
invented in different locations. Among them, Self Help Groups (SHG), User Groups,
Federation of SHGs and Producer Companies are becoming popular. Involvement of
these People’s Organisations (POs) can help in efficient delivery of the technologies.
While promoting new technologies, there is also a need to mentor the small farmers
as they are deprived of technical knowledge. To facilitate the technical back-up, it is
necessary to post technical persons at the village level who are available to guide the
farmers whenever required. Under the present extension network, the village level
workers are burdened with several administrative responsibilities and it is difficult for
the farmers to approach the Agriculture Extension Officers who are based at the block
headquarters. This often has been the reason for the failure of new technologies.
To overcome such problems, several innovative approaches have been developed.
Engaging barefoot technicians like field guides, local school dropouts, selected by
the participants and efficiently trained by the project implementing agencies, is one
such solution. These field guides who are empowered with the basic aspects of
132

Technical Papers
various technologies and are in regular touch with the technical experts can guide
the farmers while adopting new technologies on their own fields. Thus, agriculture
extension can be carried out very efficiently at low cost. These field guides can also
serve as information centres to inform farmers about new technologies, business
opportunities, demand and market prices for various commodities, as it is difficult for
the farmers in remote areas to have access to critical market information.
Public Policy Support for Ensuring Sustainability
To ensure efficient transfer of technologies for promoting sustainable livelihood and to
sustain them, the following policy support is needed.
Integration and Convergence: It is difficult for any technology to remain viable in
isolation. Therefore, any new technology being introduced should be a part of the
on-going integrated programme to ensure its viability and utility. The new technology
should converge with other development programmes so that the existing field network
can manage the programme with greater efficiency. Hence, adequate budgetary
provision should be made to meet the required investments. Therefore, apart from
the initial grant support, provision for venture capital and credit on softer terms should
also be made after carrying out the techo-economic validation of the technology by
the financial institutions.
Flexibility: While promoting new technologies, the sponsoring agencies, particularly
the government departments issue a set of administrative guidelines and budgetary
details which are often unrealistic and rigid. With such inflexibility of the funding
agency, it is difficult to implement the programme as the local needs for adaptation of
the technologies vary widely with the local conditions. Hence, the agencies engaged
in technology transfer should have the freedom to modify the action plan and the
budget with proper justification. There is a need to document the process of technology
transfer, which can provide reliable feedback for the scientists and policy makers for
wider replication.
Efficient Delivery Mechanism: Most of the technologies developed are generally
launched by the research institutions or the Development Departments of the State
Government. However, these agencies who have several prior commitments for ongoing
programmes, are not able to devote necessary attention to closely observe the
process of technology transfer and make suitable corrections. There is also a need to
motivate the participants to take greater interest in such new activities. In the absence
of such an involvement, it is difficult to launch the programme successfully.
With respect to the technology transfer projects implemented by the research
institutions, the scientists responsible for implementing the programme often tend
to select villages close to their institutions for the sake of convenience, without
assessing the local needs. In such a situation, the farmers are reluctant to accept
these technologies and such programmes end in failure. With regard to the project
133

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
sites located away from the research institutions, generally the technical staff visit the
site periodically and interact with the community directly. However, in the absence of
competent extension personnel to interact with the participant community for regular
follow up, the programme remains neglected and the chances of success are low.
Therefore, it is necessary for the research institutions to closely associate with the
participant communities, preferably through competent local institutions such as
voluntary organisations and farmers’ organizations, to ensure successful transfer of
technologies.
Ownership of the Programme: For successful adaptation of any technology, the
programme should be well understood and owned by the community. To ensure such
ownership, it is necessary to involve the POs from the initiation of the programme.
As the infrastructure and field network set up by the State Government for transfer
of technologies are unable to deliver the expected services, involvement of farmers’
organisations and SHGs should be given priority. Such organisations should also be
recognised on the basis of their track record and empowered through training and
policy support to establish backward and forward linkages required for harnessing the
benefits of the technologies.
Priority for Selection of Technologies: Launching of any new technology needs
Government support and financial resources to ensure that the concerned departments
extend support for successful implementation. As the resources are limited, it is
necessary to develop a mechanism to identify the programme which is most useful
for the weaker sections of the society, on priority. Such decision making requires a
reliable data bank regarding the socio-economic status and the problems related to the
livelihood, on-going practices and anticipated impact of new technologies in different
socio-economic and agro-climatic conditions. Based on the analysis of available field
data and techno-economic viability, suitable technologies should be given priority.
Apart from technical viability, certain technologies are more attractive to the weaker
sections of society, particularly women. Technologies which will have a favourable
impact on conservation of bio-diversity and environment should also deserve priority.
The other consideration should be the cost-benefit ratio and the per capita investment
required per family for adaptation. Technologies with lower investment should be
given preference.
Programme Promotion: Generally, the introduction of any new technology creates
confusion and is resisted by certain sections of the society. Often, such resistances
are based on wrong assumptions and baseless concerns. In the absence of timely
clarification with scientific data, these technologies become controversial and
unacceptable to the farmers. Therefore, the Extension Division of the respective
Departments in association with the concerned research institutions should examine
these problems and come up with timely clarifications to avoid controversies.
134

Technical Papers
Conclusion
For successful transfer of new technologies, serious planning should be made to
select appropriate technologies suitable for local conditions. The technology should
be need based, easy to adopt and capable of generating employment and income,
leading to sustainable livelihood. The technology should be launched as a part of the
on-going development programmes, involving efficient agricultural extension network
and POs to ensure backward and forward linkages. Financial and technical support
should be available to overcome the initial hurdles before wider replication.
135

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
136
NABARD’s* support to
Technology Development and Distribution
A. Ramanathan
Chief General Manager, Micro Credit Innovation Department,
NABARD, Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra East, Mumbai 400051
Email: mcid@nabard.org
Delivery models need to be focused on “technology”, “sustainability” and
“inclusiveness”. We need to look at all the three concepts briefly. Technology has
been defined as “application of principles of science and engineering to generate
products and services” that the consumer is willing to pay for. Here the consumer
could be individual (mass or niche), or society at large as in the case of merit goods.
The principle of payment is important if we are to focus on technologies that are
meaningful. Technology has also been defined in a broader sense as “technique” plus
“management” - covering knowledge, skills and associated institutional forms.
Sustainability can be viewed “internally” within and by itself, implying that to be
sustainable the technology should generate a high enough income stream in the hands
of the user to cover own costs (cost of technology development), cost of running the
technical process, cost to service capital for using the technology and produce an
acceptable surplus; in short, it should be financially viable. Unless the technology
development meets this minimum requirement, it is unlikely that a credit institution will
be interested in the technology. The “external” aspect of sustainability would involve
the impact of technology use on the community, present and future, other than the
user, and the environment and covers the issue relating to externalities. Through
stipulations in its “model schemes” referred to later as well as through projects it
supports, NABARD attempts to address the “external” sustainability issues. However,
the subject falls in the purview of the concerned regulatory authorities and not credit
institutions per se.
The term “inclusive” technology development needs more explanation from the
organizers. Are we referring to “scale, resources or class neutral” technology which
benefits everyone irrespective of his/her existing resource endowments? This may
be a difficult objective to pursue. Alternatively, inclusive technology development
may imply involvement of all stakeholders, specifically, the users of technology in
the technology development process. It would be a very rare technology developer
who can succeed without the involvement of the user at some stage. It is likely that
the term is being used with the same meaning as in “financial inclusion”, which has
a specific target of directing the efforts at the poor or disadvantaged sections of the
society. In what follows the latter interpretation of “inclusive” is kept in view.
* National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development

Technical Papers
Sequence of Technology Development and Adoption: It is common knowledge that
technology development proceeds through the following stages which includes
generation (research); pilot; scaling up; adoption which includes extension; distribution
and support.
On another attribute technology could be (a) proprietory and closely guarded (b)
proprietory and licensed or (c) free ware. By adopting the “inclusive” meaning as
above one assumes that the consultation deals with only the latter two categories of
attributes.
Role of NABARD
Unlike CSIR and ICAR, NABARD (and public sector credit institutions in general), are
not organs of the State set up to support original research or technology development.
They tend to play a limited role at the level of adoption and not at the earlier levels.
Credit institutions work with public money placed with them on trust and will not take
the same risks as equity funds or venture capitalists in supporting new technologies.
Credit institutions enter the scene after a technology has been established and its
commercial viability proved. NABARD, in its developmental and promotional role,
tends to pick up new technologies relating to its sphere of operation a little earlier
than the banks.
Typically, NABARD’s role in technology adoption is through preparation and
dissemination of standard bankable models. The models provide a bench mark, lay
down the technical and economic parameters to be adopted, reduce the burden on
the bank staff to assess each loan proposal afresh and thereby ease the process of
financing entrepreneurs in adopting technology based investments. Usefulness of the
models for the bankers is amply illustrated by the term “NABARD scheme” in the
bankers’ lexicon. Examples of recent initiatives in this regard concern “bio-fuels” and
“organic farming”, two fields of topical interest.
Bio-Fuels: The growing need for energy and increasing load on the exchequer for
foreign exchange for fossil fuels in India, has necessitated the search for alternative
and complementary resources of energy. In consonance with GoI’s policy, NABARD
has decided to promote Jatropha plantations on degraded and wastelands both in
forest and non-forest areas through institutional credit. NABARD has circulated three
models to the Banking industry for financing of Jatropha plantation. NABARD has
also brought out a booklet on “Jatropha -A Source of Biodiesel: Status, Economics &
Prospects in India” highlighting the need, suitability of Jatropha for biodiesel, initiatives
taken by various Ministries, Departments & Institutions for biodiesel, bankable models
for Jatropha plantation.
Organic Farming: The national project on organic farming envisages setting up 50
model organic farms in the country to provide assistance for setting up commercial
production units of organic inputs like bio-fertilisers, food and vegetable waste
137

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
compost and vermiculture. The developments at the national level include setting
up of National Centre of Organic Farming at Gaziabad, and preparation of national
standards for organic production by APEDA. The National Horticulture Mission has also
given significant emphasis on organic farming. NABARD is implementing a centrally
sponsored “Capital Investment Subsidy Scheme for Commercial Production of Organic
Inputs” under the National Project on Organic Farming. Organic Farming practices are
being followed in Adivasi Development Programmes in Gujarat and Maharashtra and
Watershed Development programmes supported by NABARD and the pilot projects
sanctioned for distressed districts in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. NABARD
has also initiated a dialogue with APEDA and the Commodity Boards for branding,
certification, etc., of organic farm products and would co-ordinate with these agencies
for meeting the credit needs of organic agriculture for export markets.
Tools employed: The other tools employed by NABARD for technology adoption and
distribution are through provision of incentives which may cover: Outright subsidies or
grants; Lower interest rates on refinance and loans and Higher than normal refinance
proportion.
Apart from the standard role mentioned above, as part of its developmental and
promotional role, NABARD has taken a few other initiatives in the area of application
of technology and its adoption in the field of rural credit/development. Some of these
initiatives have been provided funding support from the different development and
promotional funds supported for the purpose. A brief description of the funds and
some of the initiatives thereunder follow.
Research and Development Fund: Established by the Bank, in accordance with the
provisions of the NABARD Act 1981, the Research and Development (R&D) Fund
aims at acquiring new insights into the problems of agricultural and rural development
through in-depth studies and applied research and trying out innovative approaches
backed by technical and economic studies. The R&D Fund is utilised for formulating
policies on matters of importance to agricultural operations and rural development,
including facilities for training, dissemination of information and promotion of research
by undertaking techno-economic studies and other surveys in the fields of agriculture,
rural banking and rural development.
More specifically, the present objectives of the Fund are to support applied research
and studies of a technical/economic nature in the areas of agriculture, non-agricultural
rural economic activities, rural credit, rural financial systems, agricultural extension
and similar aspects of interest of NABARD; training related to the aspects mentioned
above; dissemination and collation of information; strengthening the efforts of State
Land Development Banks; State Co-operative Banks; District Central Co-operative
Banks and Regional Rural Banks towards establishing a Technical, Monitoring
and Evaluation (TME) Cell for facilitating the preparation, appraisal, monitoring and
evaluation of projects refinanced by NABARD.
138

Technical Papers
Currently, the themes being followed under the fund are problems and prospects
in agriculture; understanding tribal economy; credit and finance related research;
research on non-credit cooperatives; role of biotechnology in agriculturaldevelopment;
developing rural habitat; focus areas for occasional paper in 2006-07; problems &
prospects of Hi-tech Floriculture in Karnataka; issues and concerns in the plantation
sector; bio-Fuels initiatives in India; impact of Irrigation systems: management
options on rural poverty; financing of weavers with particular reference to production
& marketing; food, work and vulnerability of women in KBK districts in orissa and
corporate Initiatives in agri business in Punjab; participatory irrigation management
–a way to improve sustainability of irrigation system ICT in agriculture and rural
development informal credit and interlocked markets in agriculture.
Watershed Development Fund: NABARD has played a noticeable role in the field
of watershed development. The effort has been not at technology development but
at “inclusive” and “sustainable” development through rigourous adoption of existing
technology. A large part of NABARD’s learning and initiative has come through the
implementation of the Indo-German Watershed Development Programme first initiated
in Maharashtra and later extended to AP, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The total outlay
under these projects has been of the order of Rs 278 crore. In partnership with NGOs
involved, NABARD was instrumental for laying down the institutional framework and
the processes requirements that led to the successful implementation of the project.
This draws attention to the “technique” plus “management” definition of technology.
To extend the benefit of the learning from the project the Watershed Development
Fund (WDF) was established in NABARD, jointly by GoI and NABARD, during 1999-
2000, with a corpus of Rs.200 crore to create replicable watershed development
models with participatory approach. The corpus of the Fund is augmented by way of
interest accrued on the unutilised portion of the Fund and stood at Rs.602.76 crore as
on 31 March 2007. The cumulative number of watershed projects sanctioned stood
at 437 spread over 124 districts in 14 States as on 31 March 2007. These projects
are expected to cover a total area of 4.37 lakh ha with a total commitment (loan and
grant) of Rs.262 crore. Assistance under the fund is also being extended to cover
31 districts in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala
declared as distressed districts by the Government of India. One of the components
relates to development of 15000 ha in each of the districts on grant basis. The projects
are being implemented in a holistic manner on a cluster basis focusing on family
based livelihood activities in the watersheds and are expected to significantly mitigate
farmers’ distress.
Kutch Drought Proofing Project (KDPP): In another instance of support for adoption of
technology, NABARD is helping the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF)
in implementing the captioned project, announced after the earthquake of 2001 and
aimed at improving the capacity of vulnerable sections of the society to cope with
natural calamities, strengthen the village communities to take responsibility to improve
139

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
and maintain natural resources, improve drinking water and attain fodder and food
security. The project is being implemented through Community Based Organizations
(CBOs) and Non Governmental Organization (NGOs) working in Kutch. An amount of
Rs.3.54 crores has been committed with the sanctioning of 10 village development
projects.
Tribal Development: In another instance of helping technology adoption by a nontraditional,
poor and vulnerable section of society, NABARD has been implementing
an Adivasi Development Programme in Gujarat with German bilateral assistance
with an outlay of Rs. 104 crore since 1994-95 through BAIF Development Research
Foundation. The focus is on development of wadi (small orchard) while other supportive
interventions, viz., development of water resources and agricultural activities, women
development, health and sanitation are covered. The landless are supported by
providing them micro-enterprises in farm and non-farm sectors and employment
opportunities in processing units.
So far, 13,663 tribal families have been supported under the project. Wadis of
cashew and mango along with boundary plantations of fuel wood on 5155 ha. have
been established. Ten tribal cooperatives have also been registered to facilitate selfsufficiency
in processing and programme management. The cooperatives collected
200.80 tonnes of raw cashew, traded in 171.30 tonnes of mangoes and processed
5.16 tonnes of karvanda (a forest fruit) for making pickles through Gram Vikas Mandals
(GVMs). The in-built credit programme is being implemented through GVMs since
1998-99. As on 31 March 2007, the loan disbursed and overall recovery was to the
tune of Rs.4.50 crore and Rs.2.90 crore, respectively.
Taking a cue from such successful initiatives, NABARD has created a Tribal
Development Fund (TDF) with a corpus of Rs 50 crore to support developmental
models for integrated tribal development. Assistance from the fund is available for
a range of interventions, viz., land based wadi programme involving cultivation of
suitable horticulture/ agriculture crops along with the requisite soil conservation and
water resource development programmes through people’s participation to achieve
sustainable development of the selected tribal families on a cluster basis. Other
components like micro enterprises for the landless, women development, community
health, training and capacity building are also covered. Cumulatively an assistance of
Rs 52.13 crore covering 16,755 families in 15 states and one Union territory has been
sanctioned under the fund.
Farm Innovation and Promotion Fund: NABARD has created a Farm Innovation
and Promotion Fund on 1 April 2005, with an initial corpus of Rs.5.00 crore, out
of its operating surplus which envisages to support initiatives/ innovations in farm
technology, develop new concepts in agriculture and prototypes, undertake market
survey for potential assessment of new activities, acquire/ obtain patents for innovative
technology and disseminate information relating to new products in the farm sector.
140

Technical Papers
During the year 2006-07 a total of 15 projects covering nine states viz. Maharashtra,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Orissa, Rajasthan
and Uttranchal and involving a grant assistance of Rs 93.216 lakh were sanctioned.
Of these sanctioned projects, two pilot projects are exclusively meant for distressed
farmers of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The programme will cover 5 villages
each in two districts viz. Amravati in Andhra Pradesh and Wardha in Maharashtra.
Similarly, a grant assistance of Rs.6.10 lakh has been sanctioned for rehabilitation of
farmers of 5 distressed districts of Andhra Pradesh State viz Warangal, Karimnagar,
Nalgonda, Medak, and Chittoor. NABARD has also decided to support a few innovative
projects mobilised through “India Development Market Place 2007” being organised
by World Bank, New Delhi, in association with other partner agencies.
Capacity Building for Adoption of Technology (CBAT) Scheme: With a view to facilitating
adoption of new and innovative technologies by farmers and thereby increasing their
farm productivity and income, NABARD introduced CAT in December 2004. Under
the scheme, farmers preferably marginal, small and tribal, are taken on exposure
cum training visits to innovative agricultural and allied projects that have employed
proven technologies developed by research institutes, corporate houses, NGOs and
progressive farmers/entrepreneurs. For example, during the past year, 97 exposure
visits were facilitated in 23 states, covering wide ranging innovative projects such as
bio globules, vermiculture, bio manures, organic farming, poly house, medicinal and
aromatic plant cultivation etc., in collaboration with some select research institutes,
KVKs, and Agriculture Universities.
Rural Innovation Fund (RIF): The RIF is a fund designed to support innovative, risk
friendly, unconventional experiments in Farm, Non-Farm and micro-Finance sectors
that would have the potential to promote livelihood opportunities and employment in
rural areas. The guiding principles for the operations of RIF are broadly as indicated
below:
The activities must have the rural poor in their focus and must be innovative,
experimental and demonstrative in nature, leading to replicability and commercial
viability.
The activities funded may involve development of new products, processes,
prototypes, technology, patenting and extension support.
Appropriate action, research and studies contributing to better understanding
of rural development issues, policy and process implementation may be
undertaken.
The type of projects that can be supported under RIF are as follows :
a. All innovations and related activities in the Farm, Rural Non-Farm and Micro-
Finance sectors can have access to the RIF. Assistance from RIF will be available
141

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
142
for all activities which are in keeping with the guiding principles of RIF and
specifically those which
b. Provide technology and skill upgradation, inputs supply and market support,
leading to promotion of viable enterprises, sustainable employment, infrastructure
development, improved flow and access of credit to rural entrepreneurs.
c. Undertake innovations so as to improve efficiency of credit delivery and other
support services to the rural resource poor.
d. Patenting innovations leading to commercialisation of the idea through licensing
or otherwise.
e. The projects would include innovative proposals which aim at increasing productivity
and profitability of operations of the farmers, artisans, handicraft persons and
rural people in general, projects that help in reducing drudgery, improving access
to market, projects that help better sanitation, health and hygienic conditions and
environment in rural areas.
f. Proposals which improve rural credit and outreach.
g. Proposals, which help in creating sustainable employment opportunities in rural
India.
h. Proposals which improve farm practices, and help in conserving land fertility.
i. Research studies for documenting the innovations already taking place in rural
areas and examining issues concerned with rural cottage and village industries
/farm sector / farming practices.
Some of the projects approved for funding from the RIF include conversion of mango
peel waste into bio fertilizer (Tamil Nadu), cultivation and nurturing of neem and
processing of neem kernels by marginal farmers and landless labourers (Orissa)
and manufacture of food grade cups and plates from arecanut sheaths (Assam),
etc. Also funded under RIF are proposals for marketing of handicraft items from NE
region through organized retail outlets and opening an exclusive retail outlet for NE
handloom/ handicraft items in Bangalore. Funding support has also been provided to
a private Venture Capital Fund which finances new innovative ventures in agriculture
and allied activities.
Micro Finance Development and Equity Fund: A Micro Finance Development and
Equity Fund (MFDEF) has been set up in NABARD with a corpus of Rs 200 crore. The
objective of the Fund is to facilitate and support the orderly growth of the microfinance
sector through diverse modalities for enlarging the flow of financial services to
the poor, particularly women and vulnerable sections of society, consistent with
sustainability. The Fund is to be utilised to support interventions to eligible institutions

Technical Papers
and stakeholders. The components of assistance will include, inter alia, the purposes
are capacity building; training of SHGs and other groups for livelihood, skill upgradation
and micro enterprise development; capacity building of staff of institutions involved in
microfinance promotion such as Banks, NGOs, government departments, NABARD,
etc. and Capacity building of MFIs
The support from the Fund is provided by way of Contributing equity/other forms of
capital support to mFIs, service providers, etc; Providing financial support for start-up
and on-lending for microFinance activities; supporting Self Help Promotion initiatives of
banks and other SHPIs; meeting on a selective basis the operational deficit of financial
intermediary NGOs/mFIs at the start up stage; rating of mFIs and self regulation;
Supporting systems management in regard to MIS, accounting, internal controls,
audits and impact assessment; building an appropriate data base and supporting
development thereof; commissioning studies, consultancies, action research,
evaluation studies, etc, relating to the sector; promoting seminars, conferences and
other mechanisms for discussion and dissemination; granting support for research;
documentation, publication and dissemination of mF literature and any other activities
recommended by the Advisory Board.
SHGs, CBOs, NGOs/VAs, Banks, mFIs, Training Establishments, networks, service
providers, Research Organisations, Academic institutions and Universities and any
other organisation as may be decided by the Advisory Board from time to time are
eligible for support from the Fund.
Mode of assistance from the Fund includes the grant support for training and other
promotional measures; loans and advances including soft loans; Revolving Fund
Assistance (RFA) to NGOs/ mFIs and equity and quasi equity support to mFIs;
administrative subsidies and grants
Some of the technology oriented projects finance out of the MFDEF involve:
a. A memory card and branch automation project sanctioned to the Visakha
Grameena Bank to demonstrate the concept of branch automation with specific
reference to use of memory/ processor cards for SHGs and other clients;
assess the usefulness of the suggested technology. The project hopes to build
understanding on how timeliness in data acquisition helps in decision-making at
the branch level – loan tracking, credit dispensation and building customer/SHG
confidence etc., and to facilitate drawing up guidelines on branch automation for
rural branches of banks.
b. A project with similar objectives but using processor cards has been sanctioned
to the Krishna Gramin Bank, Gulbarga
c. With a view to bridging the digital divide in rural areas a project called ‘e-grama”
has been launched in association with an NGO- Grameena Mahiti Parishath.
143

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
144
It involves the establishment of 13 Village Information Centres (e-grama) in
Davangere district of Karnataka with the aim of equipping and enabling villagers
and the rural poor with access to information. The information networks cover
areas like weather conditions, crop inputs, product prices, land records and
other useful information for the rural folk. Besides this, many add-on services like
bookkeeping of SHGs, DTP printing, scanning, etc; have been included..
What are listed above are only some of the examples of support extended by NABARD
for technology development and distribution. The examples and facilities listed are
illustrative and not exhaustive. To sum up, NABARD, being a credit institution, supports
promotion and adoption of technology rather than primary technology development.
NABARD helps other banks in extending credit for investments based on new,
economically viable technologies. Under the different funds established in NABARD
support is also available for extension, adoption and promotion of new technology.

Technical Papers
Financial Services for Promoting Technology Adoption
Ms. Vasumathi
Head, Agriculture and Business Development Services
BASIX, III Floor, Surabhi Arcade, Troop Bazar
Bank Street, Koti, Hyderabad 500001
Email: vasumathi@basixindia.com
Adoption of technology is necessary for promotion of farm and non-farm enterprises
towards improving livelihoods. In this context, it is necessary to focus not only on
technology transfer, but also on mechanisms for providing appropriate finance, market
linkages and institutional building.
Introduction
The technology and development process in India since independence has been
characterized by an emphasis on
• Improving agricultural productivity through irrigation, high yielding variety seeds,
fertilizers, and agriculture research and extension
• Modernization of industrial sector through investments.
While industrial enterprises have been largely confined to urban areas, agriculture,
the predominant economic activity in the rural areas, has not been thought of as
an enterprise, but as a subsistence livelihood. Further, rural enterprises had a very
minimal share in the developing economy of India, despite many attempts made by
the government since independence, to promote rural livelihood enterprises:
• Khadi and village Industries in 1950
• Handloom weaving and handicrafts enterprises in 1960
• Tiny, small scale enterprises in 1960
• District industrial sector in the late 1970s
• Rural producer cooperatives in dairy, oil seeds and fruits and vegetables
• Rural enterprises supported by IRDP programme in 1982.
A vast network of rural banks and agri extension counters had been created and
expanded to serve the rural poor; further the liberalization of the Indian economy in
1991 had generated both the need as well as opportunity for promoting sustainable
livelihoods. Yet, there prevailed limited opportunities for the rural poor to access credit,
know-how, technology, infrastructure, market information, and markets.
At this juncture, BASIX was set up in 1996 as a new generation livelihood promotion
organization, to promote a large number of sustainable livelihoods through the
145

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
provision of financial services and technical assistance in an integrated manner. BASIX
employs professionals from various backgrounds, knowledge and skills, and has been
continuously innovating alternative delivery channels, products and services. I started
my career with BASIX as a fresh Agriculture graduate in 1998. While assessing the
capital requirements of farmers, I was fully convinced that their livelihoods could be
improved only by the adoption of technology for productivity enhancement, coupled
with access to markets.
Technology: Research and Extension
In India, there are national and international research institutes, followed by regional
research institutes, working for developing suitable varieties and technologies
continuously. There exists a vast extension network to take these innovations to the
field. The major focus of the agriculture extension system has been on the transfer of
technology from lab to land, but it has not been successful for the following reasons:
• The experiments carried out were not suitable for the farmers as they were not
practical due to small and disaggregated land holdings
• Poor extension network, as the extension agent to farmer ratio in India is 1:1800
compared to the developed nations which is 1:800
• It was fully subsidized and was not a financially viable model. The government
never looked at it as viable business propositions to charge a fee to the farmer for
providing quality service, which brings in equal responsibility and accountability to
both the parties.
Financial Services
In India there is a vast network of banking sector with Commercial banks, Regional
Rural Banks and Credit Cooperatives to make finance available, apart from NBFCs.
In spite of the large institutional network, finance has not reached the rural masses
because of the following constraints:
• Low penetration/reach especially to the marginal/small farmers and the poor,
particularly women and landless
• Lack of timely credit
• Lack of technical assistance along with credit for better utilization.
Only possible financial intervention for technology adoption was subsidy: The
agriculture and technology financing is highly subsidized under various schemes
of the government. Also, agri-extension is managed by various State Governments
with less output and influenced more by politicians. The government has created a
wide network of physical offices to make the farmers adopt the technology, but in
reality they do not function and/or are not farmer friendly. Moreover, they are driven by
146

Technical Papers
standard old set of rules and high bureaucracy and are not open to innovative service
delivery mechanisms.
For example, take the case of promoting Drip Irrigation by the government, providing
subsidy to a tune of 25 % to 50 % to encourage dry land farming in rain fed areas. This
was adopted by farmers who are reasonably well off, having the capacity for long-term
investment. Only they got the advantages of the subsidy, going for plantation crops in
the fallow lands. But the marginal farmer, cultivating field crops with a land holding of
3-4 acres, is deprived of the subsidy, as it was not viable for them, because they do
not have access to long-term loans, and have low risk bearing ability.
Subsidy is not necessarily the best instrument for technology adoption: Multiple
services are required for technology adoption. It requires a whole range of other
support services like infrastructure: roads, warehouses, functioning local committees,
transport, training and extension, and markets. With some of the past experiences
stated below, it is observed that Technology adoption has been successful not just
with subsidy but with all other support.
• Green Revolution: The technology was right, accompanied by various support
systems like infrastructure - roads, warehouses, research, distribution systems,
transportation and markets
• Spread of soybean in Madhya Pradesh: Research from National Oilseed
Processors Association-1989 (formerly National Soybean Processors Association
1929), on-farm farmer demonstrations, irrigation systems, oil extraction industry,
refineries, warehouses, transporters, food manufacturers
• Telecommunications, STD/PCO, Cell phone: There has been technology
revolution, making it cheaper and affordable en-masse, with more and more
technological innovation; it created employment opportunities for supplying and
servicing as separate businesses.
No credit product is available for technology adoption: Technology adoption in the
agriculture sector has not been seen as a viable business. It is seen as just another
government project to meet the regulatory and mandatory requirements. The approach
of the financial institutions and agri-extension departments has hindered the reach
and scale of technological innovation to make it cheaper/affordable by the common
man. These are not reaching the target clientele due to cumbersome implementation
processes. Timely access to financial services, especially credit and insurance,
enlarges livelihood opportunities and empowers the poor to take charge of their lives.
Context-specific extension and support services enable them to practice commercial
and specialized farming.
147

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Livelihood Finance: Promoting Technology Adoption
Technology adoption can happen if the technology dissemination and diffusion is
accompanied by a whole range of other services for which finance is required, such
as infrastructure, research, extension, markets and other support services. It is for
the collectives; hence there is a strong need for stable and sustainable peoples’
organizations.
Micro Credit, Micro Finance, Livelihood Finance
Micro credit is defined as small loans given for short durations, with repayment of
small sums of money but very frequently. These loans are given through self-help
groups, Grameen Bank style groups, Joint Liability Groups or directly to individuals;
mostly they are loans to individuals, not to any collectives.
Micro finance is defined as small savings, credit and insurance services. Saving is the
first and foremost service necessary for a poor person, as it protects his livelihood in
the off season, acts as equity to raise more capital for doing an economic activity and
also to pay off the loan to maintain credibility in spite of any loss in business. Access
to credit promotes the adoption of risky technologies, through the relaxation of the
liquidity constraint, apart from boosting the household’s-risk bearing ability. With an
option of borrowing and available insurance services, a household can concentrate
on more risky but efficient investments.
Livelihood finance is a comprehensive approach to promoting sustainable livelihoods
for the poor, which includes the following:
Financial Services: Financial Services include savings and credit both for short term
and long term, including investment credit and working capital to farm: crop, land,
water, livestock and nonfarm: trade, service and manufacturing, insurance for the
lives and livelihoods of the poor, covering their life and health apart from their assets:
crop, livestock and micro enterprise, funds transfer/remittances for the migrants,
commodity derivatives for hedging price risk, financial orchestration ranging from
grants to equity for livelihoods.
Agriculture and Business Development Services: Agriculture and Business
Development Services include productivity enhancement. For example, nutrient
management, SRI-paddy, artificial insemination, feed and fodder management etc.;
risk mitigation (non insurance) preventive technical practices, seed treatment, Integrated
Pest Management, vaccination etc.; local value addition; facilitating producers
to add value to the product right at the farm/household level, e.g. post harvest
practices - clean cotton, processing - ginning, sorting and grading etc. and alternate
market linkages including market intelligence: online price information, input/output
linkages: seeds, fertilizer, bio-inputs, pheromone traps, NPV, etc.,
148

Technical Papers
Institutional Development Services: Institutional Development Services include
organizing the producers into their collectives, formalizing (giving a legal status) and
strengthening the community based organizations such as self-help groups, water
user’s associations, forest protection committees, credit and commodity cooperatives,
panchayats, establishing functional linkages for inputs, output and know-how, and
enabling systems for operations, accounting, human resources, MIS, etc. apart from
reviving or re-vitalizing the defunct community-based organizations.
Thus livelihood finance constitutes large amounts, invariably for long durations,
ranging from five years to 20 years and its use will almost always be for collective
purposes. It is beyond just loans, it may need equity or risk funds and indeed some
public subsidies and grants.
The problems related to livelihood promotion are dynamic, and vary with time and
region and the solutions to address these problems should be changing, specific to
the context and time. To address these ever changing needs of the people engaged in
various livelihood activities, it is unviable to build in competency within one organization;
hence there is a need for collaboration. Through collaboration it is possible to combine
the expertise of individual institutions for livelihood promotion. This reduces the risk,
minimizes the cost, increases the outreach to the poor and also throws up potential
for future revenue generating partnerships.
Livelihoods are affected not only by financial services but also the other factors like
research and technology, training and extension, input supply and output markets;
each becomes critical at different points of time. These may vary with the context,
it is not possible to provide all these services to a single customer hence these
fragmented, unorganized customers should be organized into collectives for better
bargaining power at the market place. The collaborative polygon is a mechanism to
provide these diverse services by combining the expertise of various institutions.
Collaborative polygon
149

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
Promoting Technology Adoption - BASIX Experiences
A few BASIX initiatives on mobilizing the rural community for technology adoption with
the support of financial services are illustrated below.
Sub sectoral work in Cotton: Nirmal–Adilabad district of AP: In the year 2000,
cotton was cultivated in one-fifth of the crop area in India, but 50 % of the pesticide
was consumed for this crop. Adilabad district in Andhra Pradesh is one of the most
backward districts where cotton cultivation is the major livelihood source for a large
number of farmers. Cotton is grown in around 4 lakh acres every year. Much of it falls
under rain-fed conditions and the average yield prevailed at 4-5 quintals/acre. After
a number of farmer suicides, BASIX studied the problem and came to the conclusion
that farmers were using chemical pesticides indiscriminately, borrowing in kind from
pesticide dealers and losing heavily. In addition, farmers suffered from comparatively
higher input costs, lower price realization and fluctuating prices. Due to these reasons,
BASIX selected cotton as a sub sector to work in.
BASIX began by talking to farmers and extending crop loans by organizing them into
joint liability groups of 5 to 7 farmers. BASIX staff would arrange for several such
groups in a village (Koutla-B) to meet and discuss their problems.
IPM- Technology: Agri Universities, Regional Research and Agri department : BASIX
in the meanwhile found out by talking to the AP Agricultural University, some technical
solutions for reducing pesticide use without reducing yields. This required persuading
the farmers to implement the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) intervention, which
included the “stem application” technique. Farmers use this technique to apply the
minimum quantity of pesticide to the stem in the early stages, the effect of which lasts
for 30 days. This technique cost the farmer only Rs.75/- per acre in comparison with
earlier practice of multiple sprays which cost Rs.750-1000/- per acre.
Input Market Linkage: As part of IPM package of practices, biological pest control
methods were also introduced. BASIX collaborated with the PCI (Pest Control India)
to ensure the timely supply of quality inputs such as pheromone traps (Insect traps),
Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus (NPV) etc. The IPM practices, it was evident, besides
being environment-friendly were economical as well.
150
The turnover of Koutla-B MACTS:
Financial Year No of Farmer Loan from BASIX Turnover Net profit
Members (Rs In Lakhs) (Rs In Lakhs) (Rs In Lakhs)
2003-04 51 7.5 55 1.77
2004-05 81 30 81 7.3
2005-06 82 30 68 6.1
2006-07 83 50 81 8.8

Technical Papers
Institutional Development Services - better price bargain: Having won the confidence
of farmers, BASIX encouraged them to establish a mutually aided cooperative, which
they use to buy inputs like seeds, fertiliser and pesticides in bulk. Today the Koutla
B Coop has a turnover of over Rs 1.2 crore. The farmers save about 5-10 % on the
input costs, both due to getting wholesale price and saving on individual transportation
costs. Now, in the area, over 20 cotton farmers’ cooperatives have come up and they
are now planning to establish a federation which will lease or own a ginning factory.
Output Market Linkages- increasing the price share to producer: In the next step,
BASIX concentrated on the problem of market linkages and price. The first step was to
attract outside buyers. BASIX invited the large Super Spinning Mills from Coimbatore
to purchase cotton from the area. This led to price stabilization and getting about 5 %
better prices.
Market Intelligence – access to market information: On the price realization front,
BASIX has also worked with the National Commodity Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX)
to install a price display terminal in the village which gives online information on cotton
prices in both spot and futures markets.
Value addition – entering into value chain: The Super Spinning Mills prefer to buy lint
bales rather than raw cotton. So, next year, BASIX motivated the farmers to get their
cotton ginned from a nearby ginning factory in Bhainsa and sell lint rather than raw
cotton. With the accumulated profits, Koutla–B MACTS has entered into the value
chain by taking up ginning activity converting raw cotton into tradable bales and also
owned up a fixed asset (Building) worth Rs 11 lakhs inaugurated in the month of July,
2007.
Recognition- inspiration to farmers: By playing a key role in the success of the MACTS,
Mr.Vanga Ram Reddy, the president of the Koutla-B MACTS received the fellowship
award by Dr.A.P.J Kalam on 11 th July 2005 at New Delhi organized by Jamsetji National
Virtual Academy Fellowship for Rural Prosperity, felicitated by the district collector on
the eve of Independence Day and was one of the farmers to interact with George
Bush during his visit to Hyderabad. Koutla-B MACTS has become a role model and
paved the way to form about 100 producer groups in BASIX operational area alone in
a period of two years.
Experience in Dairy
BASIX has done substantial work in dairying as it is the major alternate livelihood after
agriculture in the rural areas. Till 30 th June 2007, Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Limited,
the Flagship Company of BASIX, has cumulatively disbursed about 148.7 crore rupees
to 1, 38,448 milk producers across its operational area. These customers are small
and marginal farmers who own 2-3 milch animals (cows or buffaloes) and about 70 %
of them are women. Total credit outstanding is over 156 crores with a recovery rate of
151

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
98.7 %, out of which 52 crores constitutes dairy portfolio with 65,127 active customer
base, 98.7 % recovery percentage and Rs. 10,760/- as the average loan size.
BASIX has customized livestock insurance services in collaboration with Royal
Sundaram Alliance General Insurance Company as per customer needs and a
simplified and transparent insurance procedures to service in rural areas. They have
insured over 35,252 cattle and settled about 1150 claims within 30 days from the
submission of claim.
Cumulatively about 67,478 dairy farmers have registered for availing agriculture and
business development services by paying a service fee to BASIX. These customers
are provided with the regular primary health checkup, vaccination and other advisory
services on feed and fodder management for increased milk production apart from
introducing new technologies like Azolla which enhances milk production. It has
established market linkages for inputs as well as output by collaborating with various
institutions.
Reviving the dairy co-operative: The concept of reviving a defunct or poorly functioning
milk chilling plant was tried first in 1998-2000 at Wanaparthy, in Mahabubnagar district
of Andhra Pradesh. This plant which had a capacity of 10000 litres per day was
collecting 1200 litres and was slated for closure. BASIX entered into collaboration with
the plant to provide intensive credit for purchase of milch cattle in the villages along
procurement routes, provided the APDDCF chilling plant made efforts to improve its
extension (veterinary care, farmer education) and assured a milk procurement service.
By working together with BASIX, the Wanaparthy chilling plant was able to enhance
its procurement of milk all the way to 10,000 litres per day in a period of 18 months.
It then installed a pouching machine and commenced local sales of milk for the first
time in 20 years. Based on the experience of the Wanaparthy intervention, the dairy
initiative was replicated across the BASIX operating units. It is working with over a dozen
APDDCF chilling plants in Anantapur, Kadapa, Kurnool, Mahabubnagar, Nizamabad,
Medak, Adilabad and Khammam districts in Andhra Pradesh, and also in Maharastra,
Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand by collaborating with various
government and private dairies for the assured market to of its rural customers.
Non-farm sector - BDS to Silk Handloom Weavers
Weaving activity in Anantapur, Kadapa, Nalgonda, and Mahabubnagar districts
of Andhra Pradesh is a major livelihood activity for about 50000 households. It is
observed that many weavers were shifting to other vocations and the weavers who
have no other alternate income source continued in the sector striving hard to meet
their day-to-day household needs and sustainability. BASIX undertook a study on
silk handloom weavers, which revealed that they were constrained by low access
to credit, technical know-how and markets, accompanied by irregular/ seasonal
employment. It initiated work on the market linkages, technical advice on design and
152

Technical Papers
capacity building of the communities to increase the income of their family to meet
their needs and make them sustainable.
BASIX supported about 1200 weaving families by providing credit for working capital
and to purchase looms as well. It also established collaboration with Bommana
Brothers, which is one of the leading chains of textile showrooms in Andhra Pradesh
for market linkages and Central Silk Board for technical guidance. BASIX played the
key facilitator role, creating transparency in the system in terms of placing orders and
making regular payments to the weavers by Six Yards Pvt Ltd.(floated by Bommana
Brothers), building the capacities of the weavers to understand the markets and improve
their skills, upgrade the looms and complete the orders in time, maintaining quality
standards. It worked with about 50 weavers, delivered 734 sarees earning wages of
Rs 3,50,000 by weaving sarees worth Rs 30,00,000/-, new designs were introduced
on 12 looms.. An office was also set up by six Yards at Hindupur to strengthen and
smoothen the work further.
Contract Farming with PepsiCo – Potato
A comprehensive approach for marginal producers is clearly seen in aggregating
them to take up contract farming of Potato with buy back arrangement with PepsiCo.
Jharkhand is a state having good agro climatic conditions with a great potential for
vegetables. A large number of small and marginal farmers depend on vegetable
production, having meager earnings with proven market uncertainties. In this context,
the collaboration between BASIX and PepsiCo for Frito Lays chip grade potato farming
was initiated in 2005-2006 with 216 farmers covering 80 acres. In 2006-07, seeing
the significant increase in crop yield, delivery of quality planting material at field and
advantages of pre-determined price and harvest from field with yield, ease of credit
and crop insurance, more than 1100 farmers participated in this venture.
Particulars Total
Total Acreage 518 Acres
No.of Farmers 1108
Fee-paying Registered Farmers 907
No.of farmers who took loan 873
Total Loan Rs 42.7 lakh
Net interest earned (3 months) Rs 53,700
Ag/BDS Revenue Rs 272,100
Net Ag/BDS income Rs 64,200
Total Payment made to farmers Rs 1.39 Crore
Avg payment made to farmers Rs 12974
Avg price paid to farmers Rs 7.60/ Kg
153

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
BASIX collaboration with PepsiCo has opened the following livelihood opportunities to
contribute in promoting the livelihoods of the farmers in Jharkhand.
154
Agriculture and Business Development Services: comprises giving the farmers
complete range of services by establishing Input (Quality Seed Tuber, fertiliser,
insecticides, fungicides & micronutrients) and Output (Marketing of Potato
produced to Frito Lays) linkages. Guiding farmers on various aspects of Scientific
Crop Management practices, including nutrient management based on soil testing
and Integrated pest management practices coupled with regular visits of subject
matter specialists with on the farm recommendations. Farmers were also trained
in grading and sorting of the produce.
Financial Services: comprises crop loan for potato cultivation in the form of kind
for ensuring the quality input i.e. seed tubers, and also in cash, by which farmers
can meet their labour and other expenses. Rainfall index based crop insurance,
insuring the lives and health of the farmer and the spouse.
Institutional Development Services: BASIX initiated the formation of Producers
Group in about 100 villages with the vision to form an able cooperative in the
long run (after 5 years) to access, explore and enter into contract with different
partners including PepsiCo to cater to their needs to become self sustainable.
Conclusion
Technologies that can improve the performance of the Indian farming community
have existed for ages. However the use of technology adoption did not take off on
a large scale across the farming community to put it to full use due to the following
reasons:
The technology was either costly or was affordable only by a few rich farmer
segments of the society who had access to banking and other financial institutions.
Due to the high costs involved, the farmer had to depend on loans from banks and
the banks had rigid terms and conditions to fulfill, including collateral. Hence only
big farmers with high landholdings could afford it.
Focus was on regional parities like cash rich states or areas cultivating cash
crops. These were encouraged systematically by producers of technology in view
of their business viability or due to rich natural resources. Due to the political clout
of these areas, the budgetary allocation for projects there was also high. The
prominent examples are Punjab and the Delta area of Andhra Pradesh.
Organic farming, though a traditional practice of the small and marginal farmers,
failed to cope with the advent of high yielding varieties. Having seen faster growth
of their crop by using inorganic fertilizers and pesticides compared to organic
practices and formulations (which is also labour intensive), the farmers had to
resort to the high use of inorganic pesticides and fertilizers to be competitive. This
in turn lead to increased cost of production, leaving them in a vicious cycle of high
debt at exorbitant interest rates.

Technical Papers
New innovations in technology were constantly under development but with more
focus on the rich and big farmers. The adoption of the technology is beyond the reach
of the marginal and small farmer. Adding to it is the diffusion of new technologies
to producers which is very slow and incomplete. Farm level technology adoption
is hampered by poorly understood socioeconomic and institutional constraints.
With the entry of micro finance in the last decade, credit availability to the small
and marginal farmers, landless and women has increased drastically. They have
penetrated reasonably well and started influencing the farmers to some extent to
adapt themselves to new technology. Since credit has been the key, influencing the
acceptance level of the farmers has gone up for technology adoption. Some of the
MFIs and NGOs like BASIX, SEWA, MYRADA, PRADAN, etc have taken challenges
beyond credit and are able to influence the community. Financial institution (especially
MFI) networks can influence technology adoption through their function as a source of
finance (credit, savings and insurance), as channels of information and thus vehicles
of learning, as a means for resolving externalities and collective action problems, or
through enforcement of social norms.
The provision of timely livelihood finance to farmers is an effective strategy for
promoting the technology adoption. Access to credit promotes the adoption of
risky technologies, through the relaxation of the liquidity constraint, apart from
boosting of household’s-risk bearing ability. With an option of borrowing and
available insurance services, a household can concentrate on more risky but
efficient investments.
The government should re-look at its strategy. Instead of making popular
schemes of subsidy, the funds should be diverted to infrastructure development
and commercially viable technological innovations, making it affordable to the
common man.
Take stock of the experiences of various micro finance institutions, NGOs and
strengthen and use Community based Associations as channels viz; SHGs,
MACTS, Producer Groups etc., to influence the farm community to adopt the
technology.
Governments both at the Central and State level have to make budgetary
allocations for awareness building among the community by involving NGOs,
MFIs on a large scale.
The service sector has to be seen as a business model with a social tinge and
every stake holder involved should get the benefit, both social and financial. Then
such process would bring in accountability and responsibility of the all the stake
holders and would ultimately help in proper governance.
Finance for technology adoption would be a vibrant model to scale and reach the
masses, but is not confined to a single entity delivery model. It has to be invariably a
155

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
collaborative approach to bring in all the players, pooling the individual expertise to
reach large numbers, and ensure to serve them effectively. The finance is required
for research in technology development, organizing people into collectives for better
bargaining power, improving village level production, infrastructure for processing
or value addition, and marketing. These investments can be sourced in the form of
investment capital and working capital and can range from debt, equity to grants in the
form of a financial orchestration.
156

Recomendations

Recomendations
Guiding Principles for Socially Inclusive Technology
Development and Delivery - Recommendations from the
Deliberations
1. Starting with the industrial revolution in Europe three centuries ago, technology
has been a major factor in the rich-poor and gender divides. Today the term
“industrialized countries” is being used to refer to countries which are economically
prosperous. If technology has been a major factor in the past for creating
economic, social, spatial and gender divides, can we now enlist technology as an
ally in the movement for social and gender equity?
2. Economic growth during the last sixty years after our independence has been
greater in the urban areas and also in the industrialized sector. The primary sector
consisting of crop and animal husbandry, fisheries and forestry is not witnessing
the high growth rates now occurring in the non-farm sectors. The XI Five year
Plan document of the Union Planning Commission refers to technology fatigue
in agriculture on the one hand, and knowledge deficit in rural areas on the other.
The challenge therefore is to overcome both technology fatigue and extension
deficit.
3. Considering issues relating to science and society, it must be clearly understood
that a generalised pattern of extension will not help every section of the
community. Opportunities and needs vary widely, as for example in tribal and hill
areas. Therefore there is need for a disaggregated approach in the development
of technology delivery systems. Also, research agenda should be based on the
relevance of the output to the poorer sections of society. Otherwise “orphans will
remain orphans” and the problems of the poor will not get the attention they so
urgently need. For example, in the case of diseases like leprosy, mostly affecting
the poor, there is hardly any investment in the area of vaccine production. Seeds
of hybrids of crops like Bt cotton are expensive and will not be relevant to the
economic conditions of the small and marginal farmers whose coping capacity to
withstand crop losses is limited, particularly when there is no crop insurance worth
the name. Therefore there should be no deceleration of efforts on investments in
the area of public good research. The National Cotton Institute should work on
Bt cotton varieties and not hybrids, so that farmers can keep their own seeds for
planting in the following year.
4. Besides economic conditions, the gender dimensions are very important in both
technology development and dissemination. Those technologies which will
lead to the destruction of traditional sources of livelihoods to women should not
be encouraged, while those which help to add economic value to the time and
labour of women should be encouraged. Women also need appropriate support
services like crèches, day-care centers etc. Small scale farming and micro-retail
159

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
are the two major sources of self-employment to the majority of women and men.
Therefore, scientists should subject their technologies to a livelihood impact
analysis before they are advocated for adoption on a large scale. Both gender
and livelihood audit of the research agenda is essential if ultimately technology is
going to be a prime mover of economic prosperity on a socially inclusive basis.
5. India’s population in 1947 was about 350 million, now the population is 1100
million. Unfortunately, the majority of the population still depend on the primary
sector for their livelihood. Diversification of opportunities in the secondary
(manufacturing, agro-processing, industry etc) and tertiary (services) sectors has
been slow and inadequate. The average size of the farm has been going down
steeply and the challenge now is to make a small holding sufficiently remunerative
for enabling a reasonable standard of life to the small farm families. This will call
for both diversification of land use and value-addition to every part of the plant/
animal biomass. Energy is a key input for promoting the manufacturing sector
and there is need for developing and popularising integrated rural energy security
systems.
6. Considerable experience is available on different technology delivery models. The
most successful ones involve participatory work with rural families. Partnership and
not patronage should be the approach to technology delivery and dissemination.
It is also necessary to work on the linkages between technology, credit, insurance,
input and output pricing. There is a large untapped reservoir of technological
achievements in different areas of agriculture, industry, environment and health
care. How do we take them to the field? Reaching the unreached should not
remain an empty slogan. It should really be the bottom line in technology delivery
systems. There are many successful and unsuccessful models of technology
delivery and it is important to ensure that the technologies introduced both in urban
and rural areas are economically viable, environmentally sustainable and socially
equitable. This is the major challenge in technology delivery systems. This will
then involve subjecting new technology delivery proposals to a matrix analysis
involving questions such as “is it pro-nature, is it pro-poor, is it pro-women?”
7. In several places, particularly in the area of health care, there is need to link medical
recommendations with the other needs of the person involved. For example the
control of diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and leprosy cannot be achieved
entirely by a drug-based approach. To achieve results, a nutrition-cum drugbased
approach will be needed. Linkages of this kind should be carefully studied
if success is to be achieved in the transfer of technology.
8. Technology development and delivery should aim at providing an opportunity for
a productive and healthy life for all. This will involve symbiotic linkages among
all the concerned organizations. All the links in the production-marketing chain
should receive concurrent attention. There is also need for a quality literacy
160

Recomendations
movement in the case of commodities intended for human consumption. Modern
ICT techniques will help to leapfrog in the area of providing dynamic and demand
driven information in the local language. Unless the language of the people is
used, technology delivery will not be effective.
9. There are uncommon opportunities to achieve speedily and surely goals such
as, “food, education and health for all”. This will involve appropriate blends of
traditional knowledge and frontier technologies. Such opportunities will lead to
a more equitable society only if those in charge of technology development and
delivery keep in view the need for social inclusion in both access to relevant
technologies as well as their economic and environmental sustainability. Above
all, there should be consciousness of the fact that one size will not fit all. We
should take into account the diversity and pluralism prevailing in our country in
terms of language, culture, class, caste and religion. We should make diversity a
strength in terms of tailoring technologies to suit different agro-ecological, sociocultural
and socio-economic conditions.
10. All this will involve massive efforts in training, retraining, capacity building,
mentoring and hand holding. Curricula will have to be modified to give time
from practical work. The pedagogic methodology adopted should be “learning
by doing” in the case of new skills for rural profession. Agricultural Universities
and Home Science Colleges should aim to make every scholar an entrepreneur.
This will involve training in market tie-ups. Income and work security should be
the bottom line of technological interventions aimed to help the resource-poor
families.
11. A very important requirement relates to entrepreneurship development among
youth. The National Commission on Farmers has offered several suggestions
to convert scholars of Agricultural Universities and Home Science Colleges into
entrepreneurs. This will require restructuring of the curriculum in such a manner
that much time is available for learning by doing. The curriculum design should
include integrating business principles in applied courses, for example the course
on Seed Technology could be redesigned as Seed Technology and Business, so
that the graduates are able to take to a career in Seed industry after they leave the
University. There is also need for equipping members of Self-help Groups with
the requisite managerial, marketing and accounting capability. SHG Capacity
Building and Menotoring Centres should be established. Rural Universities and
Women’s Universities should particularly help to organize training and capacity
building programmes which can hasten progress in bridging the gap between
scientific know-how and field level do-how.
12. There is need to revisit the programmes of NABARD and CAPART in the area of
providing efficient support to technology delivery systems. The principle of financial
inclusion should be gender sensitive and should be based on the antyodaya
161

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
162
principle. In addition to NABARD and CAPART, there is need for a Council for
the Application of Rural Technology (CART) consisting of representatives of DST,
ICAR, CSIR, ICMR, DBT, UGC and other concerned organisations which should
come together to provide integrated services in the field of technology development
and delivery as applied to rural areas. CART should pay special attention to
physically challenged persons in terms of technological empowerment. CART
could become a platform for partnership and concerted action by all the major
public sector R&D agencies and could work closely with Agricultural, Rural and
Women’s Universities. CART could sponsor PAN-Scientific Agencies projects
in priority areas. Such National Challenge Programmes could give priority to
the eradication of poverty and endemic hunger arising from inadequate income.
CART could help to strengthen the RuTAG initiative of the Office of the Principal
Scientific Advisor to GoI. DST could convene a meeting of all major scientific
agencies to take this suggestion forward.

National Consultation on Technology Development and
Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
1. Mr. Amit C Asnikar
Marketing Manager
Samuchit Enviro Tech Pvt Ltd
Pune, Maharashtra
samuchitenvirotech@gmail.net
2. Dr. Amit Jain
Naandi Foundation
502, Trendset Towers
Road No 2, Banjara Hills
Hyderabad - 500 034
amit@naandi.net
3. Dr. Anil Joshi
Founder
HESCO
Vill-Ghisadpadi
P.O. Mehuwala, Via Majra
Dist. Dehradun - 248 001
dranilpjoshi@yahoo.com
hescol@nde.vsnl.net.in
4. Mr. Atul Sharma
Project Officer
Community Polytechnic
Pipri, Wardha
asharma@sancharnet.in
5. Dr. Balasubramanian, AV
Director, Centre for Indian
Knowledge Systems
Chennai
ciksorg@gmail.com, ciks@vsnl.com
6. Ms. Bhavani, RV
Project Director, MSSRF, Chennai
bhavani@mssrf.res.in
26 – 28 July 2007
List of Participants
7. Dr. Bidendra Kison Datta
Vivekananda Institute of
Biotechnology
Nimpith Ashram
South 24 Parganas 743 338
West Bengal
vkdattasranvib@rediffmail.com
bkdattasramvib@rediffmail.com
8. Ms. Chandini Behn
Economic and Rural Development
SEWA
bdmsce@llenet.co.in
9. Dr. Chidambaram, R
Principal Scientific Advisor to GOI
New Delhi
rama_gita@yahoo.com
10. Ms. Chime P.Wangdi
Director General
Tarayana Foundation
147 Zomlha Complex
P.O.Box 2003
Thimphu , Bhutan
climewangdi@druknet.bt
chimewangdi@gmail.com
11. Dr. Geetha Kutty
Professor, Gender Studies
National Institute of
Rural Development
Rajendranagar
Hyderabad - 500030
geethakutty@gmail.com
List of Participants
163

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
12. Mr. Goswami, R
DGM (Agri)
SBI Local Head Office
Chennai
Phone: 044-28312662
13. Dr. Henry Francis
AGM (Rural Development)
SBI Local Head Office
Chennai
Phone: 044-28312662
Mobile: 9841417422
14. Dr. John Britto
Covenant Centre for Devt - CCD.,
18-C/1, Kennet Cross Road,
Ellis Nagar, Madurai - 625010
mdu_ccd@sancharnet.in
msmssk@ccd.org.in
info@ccd.org.in
15. Dr. Karve, AD
President
Appropriate Rural Technology
Institute
Maninee Apartments, Survey No.13
Kothrud, Pune - 411 041
adkarve@vsnl.com
arti_pune@vsnl.net
16. Ms. Keth Sam, ATH
DG Ministry of Women Affairs
Royal Government of Cambodia
kethsamath@online.com.kh
17. Ms. Madhu Khetan
Programme Director
PRADAN
3, Comy Shopping Centre
Niti Bagh, New Delhi - 49
headoffice@pradan.net
deepjoshi@pradan.net
madhukhetan@yahoo.com
164
18. Dr. Mary Rhodes
Well Spring Inc
PO Box 41, Corvallis
Oragon 97339 USA
mr2013@comcast.net
19. Dr. Meenakshisundaram, S
Executive Vice Chairman
MYRADA, Bangalore
ssms@hamasadvini.serc.iisc.ernet.in
meenakshi54@hotmail.com
20. Mr. Meendu Srinivasulu
BASIX
III Floor, Surabhi Arcade
Troop Bazar, Bank Street, Koti
Hyderabad - 500001
sreenivasulu.m@basixindia.com
21. Ms. Mina Swaminathan
Advisor
(Education, Communication
and Gender)
MSSRF, Chennai
mina@mssrf.res.in
22. Dr. Narayana Hegde, G
President
BAIF
Development Research Foundation
Dr.Man ibhai Desai Nagar
N.H.No.4, Warje
Pune - 411 058
nghegde@baif.org.in
23. Dr. Nerges Mistry
Director
The Foundation for
Medical Research
84-A, R.G. Thadani Marg
Worli, Mumbai - 400018
fmrbom@hathway.com

24. Ms. Nisha Shah
Economic and Rural Development
Self Employed Women’s
Association (SEWA)
SEWA Reception Centre
Opp. Victoria Garden, Bhadra
Ahmedabad - 380 001. India.
bdmsa@icenet.co.in
bdmsaad1@sancharnet.in
mona.dave@gmail.com
sewasms@dataone.in
25. Dr. Palanisami, K
Director- CARDS
TNAU, Coimbatore
palanisamik@vsnl.net
26. Mr. Putz Jurgen
Palmyra
palmyra@auroville.org.in
27. Dr. Rama Datta
Vivekananda Institute of
Biotechnology
Nimpith Ashram
South 24 Parganas 743 338
West Bengal
28. Mr. Ramakant N Prabhune
Senior Technical Officer and
Trustee
Appropriate Rural
Technology Institute
Pune, Phaltan District Sataru
Maharashtra
rnprabhune@yahoo.co.in
29. Mr. Ramanathan, A
CGM, MCID
NABARD H.O. Bandra Kurla
Complex, Bandra East
Mumbai - 400051
mcid@nabard.org
aramanathan25@rediffmail.com
aramanathan25@gmail.com
30. Dr. Ramasami, C
Vice Chancellor
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
Coimbatore
c_ramasamy@yahoo.com
31. Dr. Ramasami, T
Secretary DST
GoI
dstsec@nic.in
32. Mr. Ramesan, S.
Independent Journalist
5D Saravanan Flats
67, 2nd Main Road
Adyar, Chennai - 600 020
sramesan@yahoo.com
33. Dr. Ravi Chellam
Director
ATREE, 659 5th A Main
Hebbal, Bangalore - 560 024
ravi.chellam@atree.org
34. Dr. Revathi Balakrishnan
Senior Scientific Officer
(Gender and Biodiversity)
FAO, Bangkok
Revathi_Balakrishnan@fao.org
35. Dr. Rukmani, R
Principal Coordinator
MSSRF, Chennai
rukmani@mssrf.res.in
List of Participants
36. Dr. Sadamate, Vishwanath V
Advisor (Agriculture)
Planning Commission
Government of India
sadamate1@yahoo.com
vvsadamate@nic.in
37. Dr. Sarala Gopalan, IAS (Retd.)
138, Vasant Enclave
New Delhi - 110 057
saralagopalan@gmail.com
165

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
38. Ms. Shobana Bhaskaran
Principal Scientific Officer
DST, GOI
Technology Bhavan
New Mehrauli Road
New Delhi - 110 016
Phone: 011-26534738/26590339
39. Ms. Soth Sithon
Ministry of Women’s Affairs
Royal Government of Cambodia
sithonsoth@yahoo.com
40. Dr. Sudha Nair
Director
MSSRF, Chennai
sudhanair@mssrf.res.in
41. Ms. Sudha Soni
Ospak House
Kaithavana, Alleppey 688 003
sonisudha@yahoo.com
42. Mr. Sudip Rajbhandari
Forum for Information Technology
Nepal
P.O.956, Khichapokhari
Kathmandu, Nepal
sudip@unlimit.com
43. Dr. Sudip Mitra
Principal Coordinator
MSSRF, Chennai
sudip@mssrf.res.in
44. Ms. Sujaya, CP, IAS (Retd.)
Visiting Fellow, CWDS
A-2 Diwanshri Apartments
30, Feroze Shah Road
New Delhi - 110 001
cpsujaya@gmail.com
166
45. Prof. Swaminathan M.S
Chairman
MSSRF, Chennai
chairman@mssrf.res.in
46. Dr. Swarna S. Vepa
Ford Foundation
Chair for Gender and Food Security
MSSRF, Chennai
svepa@mssrf.res.in
47. Ms. Vasumathi
Head, Agriculture and Business
Development Services
BASIX
III Floor, Surabhi Arcade
Troop Bazar
Bank Street, Koti
Hyderabad - 500001
vasumathi@basixindia.com
48. Dr. Venkatesh B. Athreya
Advisor
MSSRF, Chennai
vbat@mssrf.res.in
49. Dr. Vinita Sharma
Director and Scientist-F
Science and Society Division
DST, GOI, Technology Bhavan
New Mehrauli Road
New Delhi - 110 016
vinita.sharma@gmail.com

ACCABC Agri Clinics and Agri-Business Centres
AICRPs All India Co-ordinated Research Projects
APDDCF Andhra Pradesh Dairy Development Cooperative Federation Ltd.
APEDA Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development
Authority
ART Adaptive Research Trials
ARTI Appropriate Rural Technology Institute
ATMA Agricultural Technology Management Agency
CAPART Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology
CBAT Capacity Building for Adoption of Technology
CBOs Community Based Organizations
CCHS Comprehensive Community Healthcare System -
CDDP Centre for Development of Disadvantaged Peoples
CHW Community Health Worker
CIKS Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems
CIMMYT International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre
CRI Central Research Institutes
CVRC Central Variety Release Committee
CWDS Centre for Women’s Development Studies
DAESI Diploma in Agricultural Extension Services for Input Dealers
DDS Deccan Development Society
DEMIC Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell
DFID Department for International Development
DST Department of Science and Technology
EEC Extension Education Council
FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation
GMS Grammiya Munnetra Sangam
GNP Gross National Product
GP Gram Panchayat
HYV High Yielding Varieties
List of Acronyms
ICAR Indian Council of Agricultural Research
IOBC International Organization for Biological Control
IPM Integrated Pest Management
IRM Insecticide Resistance Management
List of Acronyms
167

Technology Delivery Models for Sustainable Livelihoods
IRRI International Rice Research Institute
KDPP Kutch Drought Proofing Project
KVKs Krishi Vigyan Kendras
MACTS Mutually Aided Co-operative Thrift Society
MC Management Committee
MFDEF Micro Finance Development and Equity Fund
MLT Multi Location Trials
MZW Monthly Zonal Workshop
NABARD National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
NARS National Agricultural Research System
NCDEX National Commodity Derivatives Exchange
NGOs Non Governmental Organization
NRCs National Research Centres
NSKAE Neem Seed Kernel Aqueous Extract
QPM Quality Protein Maize
RE Research-Extension
RFA Revolving Fund Assistance
RIF Rural Innovation Fund
RREAC Regional Research and Education Advisory Council
SAMETI State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute
SAU State agricultural universities
SET Samuchit Enviro-Tech Pvt. Ltd.
SEWA Self Employed Women’s Association
SFAC Small Farmers Agri-business Consortium
SHG Self Help Groups
SREP Strategic Research and Extension Plan
SRR Seed Replacement Rate
STRIDE Science and Technology for Rural Industrialization, Development and
Employment
SWC Scientific Workers Conference
TDF Tribal Development Fund
TNPFP Tamil Nadu Precision Farming Project
VAM Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizae
VCS Vivekananda Center For SKILLS
VIB Vivekananda Institute of Biotechnology
WWDA Women’s Welfare Development Association
168