technical assistance consultant’s report · 8 knowledge summary this ta assignment was...
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Technical Assistance Consultant’s Report
This consultant’s report does not necessarily reflect the views of ADB or the Government concerned, and ADB and the Government cannot be held liable for its contents.
Project Number: 43166-062 May 2013
INDIA: Advanced Project Preparedness for Poverty Reduction - Institutional Development for a Value Chain Approach to Agribusiness in Maharashtra (Financed by the Government of the United Kingdom)
Prepared by IL&FS Cluster Development Initiative Ltd. In collaboration with Agrifood Consulting International
For Maharashtra Department of Cooperation, Marketing and Textile
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Advanced Project Preparedness for Poverty
Reduction - Institutional Development for a Value
Chain Approach to Agribusiness in Maharashtra
(Contract No. : 100146-S41801)
Final Report
Submitted to:
Asian Development Bank
Prepared by:
In collaboration with:
Agrifood Consulting International
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Table of Contents
Knowledge Summary ........................................................................................8
1. Introduction ................................................................................................ 11
1.1 Background - Technical Assistance Programme ................................. 11
1.2 Focus and Scope of TA Programme ...................................................... 12
1.3 Variation in Scope of Work .................................................................... 13
1.3.1 Inclusion of PPP Expert in the TA ............................................... 13
1.3.2 Market Survey and Study Tours .................................................. 15
1.3.3 Agribusiness and Agri-marketing Strategy................................. 17
1.3.4 Capacity building initiatives ......................................................... 17
1.3.5 Knowledge management & Communication .............................. 20
2. Agribusiness and Agrimarketing Strategy .............................................. 22
2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 22
2.1.1 The process: .................................................................................... 22
2.2 Assessment of current conditions: ......................................................... 23
2.2.1 Policy framework ........................................................................... 23
2.2.2 Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC)– ................... 25
2.2.3 Public Private Partnership in Agri-infrastructure
DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................... 30
2.2.4 Commodity specific Apex Producers’ Organizations ................ 32
2.3 Synergy of externally funded projects .................................................. 36
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2.4 Way forward: ........................................................................................... 37
2.4.1 Innovation in creating models ...................................................... 38
2.4.2 Creation of ‘commodity focus sub-sector Policy’ using value
chain as core approach ........................................................................... 39
2.4.3 Visioning of crop specific Apex organizations of Growers’
Cooperatives – ......................................................................................... 39
2.4.4 Linking R&D to farmers for attaining value chain excellence .. 40
2.4.5 Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) compliant .............................. 41
2.4.6 Farmer Producers’ Organization ................................................. 41
2.4.7 Capacity building initiatives ......................................................... 42
2.4.8 Deregulation of Perishable Agricultural Produce ...................... 42
2.4.9 Exemption for farmers/farmer organizations from licensing fee
................................................................................................................... 42
2.4.10 Electronic Auction ....................................................................... 43
2.4.11 MIS & Electronic processing for facilitation of Licensing ...... 43
3. Field Visits, Stakeholder Consultations, workshops and Capacity
Building activities ........................................................................................... 45
3.1 RATIONALE ........................................................................................... 45
3.2 PROCESS FOR CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOPS ................ 46
3.2.1 Selection of Participants for the Capacity Building Exercise .... 49
3.2.2 The Training Calendar .................................................................. 50
3.2.3 Snapshots of the Training Workshops ......................................... 51
3.3 STUDY TOUR ......................................................................................... 56
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3.3.1 Tiger Warehousing Corporation Limited ................................... 56
3.3.2 Dev Bhumi Cold Chain Pvt. Ltd. ................................................. 56
3.3.3 Pagro Frozen Foods Ltd. ............................................................... 57
3.3.4 Key Learning .................................................................................. 58
3.4 OUTPUT & OUTCOME ASSESSMENT ............................................ 59
3.5 WAY FORWARD ................................................................................... 62
4. Communication & Information Dissemination ....................................... 64
4.1 Knowledge management and Communication .................................... 64
4.2 Existing Communication Channels ....................................................... 66
4.3 Department Structure and Hierarchy ................................................... 67
4.3.1 The Current Scenario of Intra Departmental Communication
process in the Department of Agriculture (DOA), Govt of
Maharashtra ............................................................................................ 68
4.3.2 Information dissemination to the Farmers .................................. 73
4.3.3 Information dissemination to the Processors .............................. 76
4.4 Gaps in existing communication process .............................................. 79
4.5 Market Intelligence ................................................................................. 82
4.5.1 Definition of Market Intelligence (MI) ........................................ 82
4.5.2 Uses of MI ....................................................................................... 82
4.5.3 Process of Market Intelligence ...................................................... 83
4.5.4 Present Status of Market Intelligence in Maharashtra .............. 85
4.5.5 Issues/Challenges and Possible Solutions .................................... 87
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4.6 The need for streamlining communication for agriculture sector in
Maharashtra .................................................................................................. 91
4.6.1 Proposed Structure (Cluster Approach) for Aggregation ......... 92
4.7 Points for consideration for proposed Communication Strategy ....... 98
4.8 Communication gap in value chain ..................................................... 100
4.8.1 Major Challenges ......................................................................... 102
4.9 Proposed Strategic Interventions......................................................... 103
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List of Tables
Table 1: Status of Various kinds of marketing licenses ...................................................... 25
Table 2: List of De-regularized commodities ...................................................................... 28
List of Figures
Figure 1: Flow of Communication/Information within Departments ................................. 70
Figure 2 : Source of Information to Farmers ....................................................................... 75
Figure 3 : Source of Information to Processors ................................................................... 77
Figure 4 : Conceptual Model of Cluster Approach ............................................................. 93
Figure 5: Structural Dimensions of Communication to ensure last mile connectivity ........ 96
Figure 6: Proposed Communication Network for Maharashtra ........................................ 101
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Knowledge Summary
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Knowledge Summary
This TA assignment was essentially designed to facilitate implementation of AIDIP for
two identified Integrated Value Chains (IVCs) in Maharashtra. Major focus of the
assignment was formulation of draft agrimarketing strategy along with the communication
strategy. Another important deliverable of this assignment was to undertake the capacity
building of the related government officials and Project Management Unit (PMU).
However, as in case of Maharashtra, the implementation process of two identified IVC
projects (Nashik IVC and Amravati-Aurangabad IVC) had begun, it was advised by the
State Government that TA should have its entire focus on supporting and handholding the
PMU for AIDIP implementation. Thus, it was decided to arrange a series of
workshops/training programmes focussing on appreciation of Integrated Value Chains,
various aspects of PPP implementation, Institutional Structures, Financial & Economic
Analysis, DPR Appraisal, Market Intelligence and Communication. The capacity building
activities were undertaken for the PMU staff as well as other related department officials
suggested by the PMU.
In addition, the assignment also gave due attention to its original deliverables of draft
agrimarketing strategy and communication strategy. To start with, a Policy Roundtable
conference was conducted to get views of various stakeholders including private sector on
current conditions as well as perspectives on how current condition can be improved.
Inputs obtained through policy roundtable and other stakeholder consultations were also
discussed with PMU. On the basis of these roundtables and other stakeholder
consultations, draft agrimarketing and communication strategy were formulated. The
suggested agrimarketing strategy stresses the need for Innovation in creating models,
Creation of ‘commodity focus sub-sector Policy’ using value chain as core approach,
Visioning of crop specific apex organizations of Growers’ Cooperatives, Capacity
Building Initiatives, Market Intelligence & Electronic Auction. The communication
strategy focuses on Intra Departmental Interventions, Importance of Institutional
mechanisms, Content and medium of information dissemination along with a proposed
cluster based approach.
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Along with the preparation of Agrimarketing strategy and related communication strategy,
a study tour undertaken for PMU was one of the major outputs of the assignment. Three
value chains operating in Kundli (Haryana), Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) and Sadhugarh
(Punjab) were identified and selected for exposure to PMU. The study tour provided better
understanding to the PMU about the existing value chain operations in the country and
enabled the PMU staff to learn from these existing value chains located in the northern
India.
After completion of this TA assignment, the challenge with the PMU would be to ensure
the implementation of two already identified IVCs, identification and DPR preparation for
additional IVCs envisaged for the state under AIDIP along with the implementation of
agrimarketing and communication strategy in a manner to achieve the objectives of the
AIDIP programme and also to achieve the long term objectives envisioned by the State
Government.
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Introduction & Approach
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1. Introduction
1.1 Background - Technical Assistance Programme
Asian Development Bank has appointed IL&FS Cluster Development Initiative Ltd.
(IL&FS Clusters) as consultant for its Technical Assistance (TA) programme for
Advanced Project Preparedness for Poverty Reduction (Institutional Development for a
Value Chain Approach to Agribusiness in Maharashtra). The TA programme is essentially
designed to address institutional and capacity constraints which may obstruct reforms to
agricultural marketing and thus facilitate establishment of modern integrated value chains
(IVCs), a key objective of AIDIP investment project. Lack of understanding of value chain
approach by stakeholders has been identified as a major challenge in this context.
Thus, TA programme aims to impart better understanding of value chain approach to both
private sector entrepreneurs and government officials, so as to make them appreciate
advantages of its adoption especially for horticultural produce. This is proposed to be done
through training programmes and study materials on various aspects of value chains. These
initiatives are expected to lead to increased capacity of stakeholders for development of
demand driven horticultural value chains in the state and thus meet core programme
objectives of increase in income for farmers and poverty reduction.
It has also been felt that development of a demand driven agri-marketing strategy would be
a pre-requisite to meet the above objectives of the programme. Thus, a major output
expected would be not only adoption of an appropriate agri-marketing strategy by the State
Government but also an enabling institutional framework to support such a strategy. The
strategy should be prepared in a manner, through policy workshops and stakeholders’
feedback, to meet distinctive requirements of horticultural crops, as against food grains. A
related component of the TA Program is preparation of an effective communication and
awareness strategy. This strategy would look at special needs of small and marginal
farmers and come out with an inclusive model to reach them through well-designed events,
including study tours, seminars and workshops.
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1.2 Focus and Scope of TA Programme
As described above and in the Inception Report, the assignment entails formulation of an
Agri-marketing Strategy and a Communication Strategy for the state and Capacity
Building of PMU-AIDIP and other government officials for effective implementation of
the IVC (Integrated Value Chain) projects. As per the scope of work of the TA, major part
of the TA is focused on designing an Agri-marketing Strategy and a Communication
Strategy for the state. These strategies are proposed to be built through a consultative
process.
Three rounds of consultations have been done with the stakeholders by the TA team during
April 2012, July 2012 and February 2013. First round of interaction with stakeholders
included one-to-one meeting with government officials, private sector, farmers’
organizations, consultants and NGOs. Second round of discussion was done in the form of
a roundtable discussion with representation from all categories of stakeholders. The
roundtable discussion was designed to make aware the stakeholders of the existing policy
framework and enable the stakeholders in thinking and visualizing the future of
agribusiness in the state and process of developing roadmap for development of
horticulture in the state. The inputs from these two levels of interactions and secondary
research on existing policy framework became basis for preparation of the draft of the
Agri-marketing Strategy. The draft Strategy was presented to the stakeholders during the
third round of consultation in the form of roundtable discussion to obtain their feedback
and further refine the strategy.
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1.3 Variation in Scope of Work
During the interaction with the GoM for policy and other related inputs, the fact came out
that the government machinery has different expectations from the TA. Government of
Maharashtra including PMU officials are of the view that the TA should focus more on
Capacity Building component and spend more time in training PMU officials on various
aspects of implementation of IVC projects. After detailed discussions and deliberations, it
was agreed and an approval was obtained from ADB for increased efforts on capacity
building of PMU officials and relatively less emphasis on formulation of detailed agri-
marketing and communication strategy.
1.3.1 Inclusion of PPP Expert in the TA
IL&FS Clusters prepared a list of training workshops that are proposed to be
conducted under the TA and are covered under the contract signed with ADB. The
list was shared with the PMU members for their feedback. While PMU members
agreed that these workshops are essential for understanding the IVC concept and
would be useful for PMU staff, they also want the TA to cover several other topics
that were not covered under the signed contract. IL&FS Clusters had several
rounds of discussion with PMU members to understand their training needs and
identify additional topics to be covered under capacity building part.
Topics identified under Training Needs Assessment that were not covered under
the Scope of TA are as listed below;
1. How to Prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR)
2. Various Components of a DPR
3. Assessment and Appraisal of a DPR
4. How to Prepare Terms of Reference for an Assignment
5. How to Prepare Request for Qualification Document
6. How to Prepare Request for Proposal Document
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7. How to Evaluate EOI / RFQ / RFP etc.
8. How to Prepare Legal Documents / Concession Agreement
9. PPP Concept, Various Structures and PPP in Agribusiness
10. Project Monitoring
Most of the above topics are related to finance and PPP. While there is already a
Finance Expert working on the TA, who can cover topics related to DPR and its
appraisal, a PPP expert would be required to address the other topics such as
preparation and evaluation of EOI/RFQ/RFP/Agreements etc. PMU also
specifically requested the TA to handhold it while the PMU is dealing with
different contracts, negotiations and concessions.
Handholding is required by the PMU for;
• Procurement of consultants and vendors
• Contracts and negotiations with consultants
• Evaluation of the documents submitted by the consultants and other private
partners
For handholding also, a PPP Expert is required who can closely work with the
PMU members and address their concerns on a regular basis. Since there is no PPP
expert appointed on the TA, it required a variation in the contract. ADB advised
that variations within the given budget and scope are more desirable and IL&FS
Clusters along with PMU should work out the details of the required variations
within the given contract and get those variations approved by ADB.
It was discussed that the IVC project is in nascent stage and requirement of Food
Safety Expert on the TA is not much. As compared to this, a PPP expert is more
relevant to fulfil the expectations of PMU and address their capacity building
needs. Hence, the Food Safety Expert could be replaced by a PPP expert. However,
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IL&FS Clusters understands that Food Safety is also a very important aspect of a
value chain and cannot be ignored.
Hence, IL&FS Clusters has also agreed to address food safety concerns of the IVC
projects and would briefly cover this topic under the TA. Further, the food safety
expert was an international expert and it was felt that an international expert on
PPP may not be able to justify the given role as it requires working closely with the
PMU and have more frequent interaction with PMU members for handholding. A
person from Maharashtra, or more specifically from Pune, having vast experience
of developing projects on PPP format, would be able to add more value by
responding quickly to PMU needs.
In view of the above, a request was sent to ADB regarding replacement of
International Food Safety Expert with a National PPP Expert and the same has
been approved by ADB. Mr. Raghuvir G. Prabhuchimulkar has been appointed as a
PPP Expert on the TA with 2 person-month input.
1.3.2 Market Survey and Study Tours
A market survey was proposed under the TA. The survey was intended to get
information on the existing markets, market intelligence framework in the state,
procurement systems, existing communication channels etc. The inputs from the
survey were intended to get a real picture of the existing scenario on agribusiness
in the state and to provide inputs for formulating the Agri-marketing and
Communication Strategies. In order to undertake the proposed field survey,
proposals were invited by IL&FS Clusters from competent NGOs, consultants and
survey agencies. Synergy Technofin was shortlisted for conducting the proposed
survey and a work order was issued to Synergy Technofin after receiving ADB’s
approval.
However, it was suggested by the PMU that similar few surveys had already been
conducted in past including a survey by IL&FS Clusters during the preparation of
DPRs for first two IVCs and results of these earlier surveys may be used for this
TA assignment. Although, it was suggested by IL&FS Clusters that as the earlier
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field surveys was focused on capturing detailed information on socio-economic
profile of farmers, farming practices, harvesting practices, credit availability etc.
and the various issues/challenges related to marketing and possible solutions etc.
could not get sufficient attention at the time of making DPRs. Further, the earlier
survey was confined only to the two IVCs and was undertaken about 3 years back
whereas the proposed survey is focused on issues related to marketing channels and
communication status with further addition of quality standards and food safety
practices and encompasses the entire State. However, PMU was still of the view
that nothing much has changed in the State in past couple of years and hence the
survey is likely to get the same results and hence it would be a repetition of work.
Moreover, the PMU suggested that the TA should be more focused on capacity
building of PMU members and less focused on strategy formulation. Rather than
market survey, PMU members wanted more study tours to be included in the TA.
As PMU still had reservations about the proposed survey, it was agreed; with the
approval of ADB, not to undertake the proposed field survey and increase the
number of proposed study tours. It was also agreed that some limited sector
stakeholder consultations and field studies would be undertaken instead of a
detailed field survey.
The proposed study tours are aimed at providing better understanding to the PMU
about the existing value chain operations in the country and would enable them to
learn from these existing value chains. The study tours would include visit to the
infrastructure created under the existing value chains, interactions with various
stakeholders of the existing value chains, understand their operational and
management framework, analysis of value creation for the consumer/producer
along the value chain. Various options were discussed with the PMU for the
proposed study tours. Three value chains operating in northern parts of India were
identified and selected for exposure to PMU. These value chains are;
Tiger Warehousing Corporation Limited
Dev Bhumi Cold Chain Pvt. Ltd.
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Pagro Frozen Foods Limited
The study tour to these value chains was organized for PMU members during
February 18-22, 2013.
1.3.3 Agribusiness and Agri-marketing Strategy
Assessment of current conditions has been conducted through primary field
research, secondary desk research and focus group deliberations with key
stakeholders and questionnaire based survey with key agri-industry players
including large fresh fruits & vegetable retailer, supply chain, processors, export
houses, etc. The outputs of these exercises are presented in the form of Policy
Roundtable conference. The Roundtable provided the scope to validate the finding
of the research, opportunities to private sector to articulate their views on current
conditions as well as perspectives on how current condition can be improved. The
consolidated output of the research and roundtable are discussed with PMU.
Existing policy regimes, impact of amended APMC Act in drawing interest of
private sector have been analyzed. The scope of PPP has also been deliberated
upon extensively.
1.3.4 Capacity building initiatives
This technical Assistance Program within focuses on stock-taking of current
policies and strategies with an intention to identify areas that would require
intervention to make goals of AIDIP successful. This TA also aims at improving
capacities of the stakeholders engaged in development of Integrated Value Chains
using the assessment of current policies, strategies and operational modalities.
Therefore the outputs of these assessments would be utilized for (i) inputs for
strengthening current policy/ strategy environment in the field of agri-marketing
and (ii) inputs to build capacities of the stakeholders primarily of Project
Management Unit responsible for regular implementation of AIDIP.
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A training need assessment exercise has been conducted primarily to identify the
areas where capacities need to be enhanced and design activities to support it. The
methodology followed for this purpose is as follows;
Critical skill gap identification
Developiment of Thematic Areas for skill enhancement
Design and implementation of Capacity building
initiatives
Defining core skill
areas required for
successful
execution of AIDIP
Identifying
existing skill sets
Estimating the
skill gap
Categorizing and
classifying gap
areas into Thematic
Areas
Developing the
contours of the
thematic areas
Developing content
Identifying
appropriate
delivery means
Evaluation of
activities
Outcome
assessment to
identify future
needs
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The ‘Thematic Areas’ therefore have been identified as are;
• What is Vakue Chain? - mapping of Value
• How to prioritize Value Chains?
•How price discovery takes place?
•How to calculate gains at every node of Value Chain?
Value Chain Development
•What would be attribites for PPP in Agriculture Value Chain?
• What are steps to initiate PPP?
• What are the Contracts & Agreements?
• What are the challenges?
Public - Private Partnership (PPP)
•How to manage Bid process/ procurement of services?
• How to conduct RFQ & RFP processes?
• How to evaluate a project - techncial & financial?
• What are the compliances issues?
Project Appraisal & Financial Analysis
•What's the role of Market Intelligence in Value Chains?
• How to develop Market Intelligence system?
• How it can be integrated to MIS? Market Intelligence
•What are the compliances issues?
• How to institutionalize it in the Value Chains?
• How to build capcpites of producers on this?
• How it will bring in value to Value Chain players?
Food Safety & Quality Management
• How to do 'stakeholders analysis'?
• How to develop appropriate communicaiton strategies?
• How to publicize benefits of IVC to investors?
Communication as enabling strategy
•What are the tools & techniques of Project M&E?
• What would be appropriate M&E systems for IVC?
• How to document the process? Project Monitoring & Evaluation
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1.3.5 Knowledge management & Communication
Agriculture is being managed by two departments in the state viz., Department of
Agriculture and Department of Marketing. From value chain perspectives, the role
of upstream development that includes cultivation of crops, welfare of farmers and
producers, management of agricultural inputs etc., lies with Department of
Agriculture. Whereas the role of downstream development that includes post
harvest functions, marketing of agri-commodities, value addition and processing
and maintenance of rules, procedures etc., thereof lies with Department of
Marketing. MSAMB being a part of Department of Marketing is the nodal agency
for the execution of AIDIP. AIDIP aims for integrated value chain development in
the state which requires strong synergy between these two departments.
The successful implementation of Value Chain development depends on the
density of multi-stakeholders’ engagement. It has been observed globally that the
role of developing an appropriate communication strategy and approaches to
implement it becomes very critical, particularly in the perspectives of multi-
stakeholders’ engagement. The benefits of a properly managed value chain arise
when each stakeholder of the chain interacts with each other effectively. The role
of knowledge management henceforth holds the key to the success.
In the state of Maharashtra, both the departments are having well-defined system of
intra-departmental communication system where they do interact with all the
concerned constituencies. The system of inter-departmental communication is
governed by the ‘case-by-case’ needs. The existing compartmentalization of
communication channels across the departments needs to be re-examined as the
final clients such as farmers, producers etc., would require to communicate across
the value chain seamlessly. Today Department of Marketing interacts with farmers
minimally whereas the interaction of Department of Agriculture with downstream
beneficiaries is almost non-existent.
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Agribusiness & Agrimarketing
Strategy
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2. Agribusiness and Agrimarketing Strategy
2.1 Introduction
Maharashtra is one of the leading agricultural states in the country. The Government of
Maharashtra has taken a number of steps to capitalize this advantage to create more value,
employment and moreover enhanced incomes of the farmers particularly smallholders.
AIDIP is one of such interventions where impetus would be given to build the agriculture
infrastructure aiming at growth in the value chain. It is believed that creating necessary
infrastructure would boost private sector investment.
This technical Assistance Program within focuses on stock-taking of current policies and
strategies with an intention to identify areas that would require intervention to make goals
of AIDIP successful. This TA also aims at improving capacities of the stakeholders
engaged in development of Integrated Value Chains using the assessment of current
policies, strategies and operational modalities. Therefore the outputs of these assessments
would be utilized for (i) inputs for strengthening current policy/ strategy environment in
the field of agri-marketing and (ii) inputs to build capacities of the stakeholders primarily
of Project Management Unit responsible for regular implementation of AIDIP.
2.1.1 The process:
Assessment of current conditions has been conducted through primary field
research, secondary desk research and focus group deliberations with key
stakeholders and questionnaire based survey with key agri-industry players
including large fresh fruits & vegetable retailer, supply chain, processors, export
houses, etc. The outputs of these exercises are presented in the form of Policy
Roundtable conference. The Roundtable provided the scope to validate the finding
of the research, opportunities to private sector to articulate their views on current
conditions as well as perspectives on how current condition can be improved. The
consolidated output of the research and roundtable are discussed with PMU.
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2.2 Assessment of current conditions:
2.2.1 Policy framework
The State of Maharashtra is one of the most industrialized States in the country.
Industrial, Infrastructure and Investment Policy of Maharashtra 2006 had for the
first time included agri-processing and other agri-industrial units under its purview.
Riding on the buoyant investment climate of the State, the 2006 Policy envisaged
investment in agriculture sector. The potential growth of agriculture and the related
industrialization prospects became apparent to Policy makers in the State. The
2006 Policy had proposed to have a separate Policy of Agri-Industry in order to
guide desired competitiveness in the sector. The potential and capability of
employment generation in food processing sector has also been recognized and
therefore dedicated Policy would be able to provide necessary direction. The Policy
would also address typical challenges of the farm sector such as high levels of
fragmentation of land, perishability of the produce, complex supply chains and
large wastages etc., that influences effective value addition processes.
The dominant trends in developing Sector Policy across the globe are to focus both
on (i) growth and (ii) competitiveness. Agri-industry sector that includes
standardization and mechanization of production systems (upstream consolidation)
and processing (technology integration), being resource-intensive in nature requires
balance between growth and competitiveness. Agri-industry is increasingly
becoming highly tradablei sector where policy impacts competitiveness directly.
The (draft) Agri Industry Policy 2010 of Maharashtraii has been developed to
provide policy fillip to strengthen already existing advantages e.g., large raw
materials production base, develop agri-clusters and end-to-end Integrated Value
Chains (IVC), support MSME to act as appropriate conduit between farms and
large processing industries in the State. It has also aimed to create enabling
ambience for investment in agri & food processing sector in the State.
The current draft Policy would be analyzed from the perspective of creating and
promoting robust value chain that integrates upstream and downstream sub-sectors.
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Aligning agri-industry along IVC requires following drivers at the policy levels
such as (i) Setting business rules and directions; (ii) Building enablers and (iii)
Creating level playing field. The balance between growth and competitiveness
remains critical balancing act for policy makers across the globe particularly for
highly tradable sectors. The current draft Policy recognizes the competitive
advantages of strong production base particularly horticulture crops, large tracks of
favourable agro-ecosystems, developed watersheds with optimal productive
capabilities coupled with faculties of farmers in the State. It also considers the
importance of value addition of agri-produces in order to reduce wastages and to
create employment beyond farm sector using value chain approach. With these
perspectives, the current Policy prescribes roadmap for robust growth and it is
evident in the draft through various leading activities. The industrial climate in the
State of Maharashtra is relatively better in comparison to many other states and the
entrepreneurial motivation is also high. It is therefore expected that agri-industry
will also boom in the State. In spite of general slow-down of the economies,
Maharashtra still enjoys one of the most desired destinations for investment. The
Policy therefore attempts to encourage private sector participation in agri-food
processing sector.
Agri/ food processing sector globally is medium to high on tradability and low to
medium on differentiation of products. The performance of the sector depends on
the judicious policy mix of competitiveness with growth. It has also been observed
globally that success of value chain interventions lies with enhancing
competitiveness more than growth.
In case of Integrated value chain the competitiveness can be defined as factor of
overall system productivity i.e., (i) reduction of cost – management of inventories,
optimizing overhead, scale, economic cycle down turn (ii) integration of processes/
nodes of value chain – seamless operations, and (iii) value creation as combination
of strategic capabilities. Integration of upstream and downstream activities,
successful implementation of quality standards, mechanisms to tackled non-tariff
barriers in the markets through technology and innovation in turn improve
competitiveness.
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Current Policy lacks holistic impetus to competitiveness as without it the growth of
the sector would not be sustainable. The ambit of the policy needs to be extended
from agri-industry/ processing to integrated value chain. The Vision 2015 –
Agricultural Marketing identifies the importance of upstream consolidation in
terms of enhancing and maintaining quality aspects of the production, access to
informed decisions to farmers’ that enable them to go for appropriate choices.
2.2.2 Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC)–
Government of Maharashtra is one of the first few states to amend the APMC Act
in 2005 and open the market for private players through various channels. It was
expected that the sector would attract lot of private sector investment. Some private
players have come forward and undertaken various initiatives but the results so far
are much lower than expectations. Some noticeable efforts have been taken in
recent times to improve the situations such as
2.2.2.1 Status of key features – market reforms
The revised Act makes provision of (i) Private Markets, (ii) Farmer –
Consumer Markets and (iii) Direct Markets.
Table 1: Status of Various kinds of marketing licenses
Sr. No Description Type Total
A Private Market Licensee Permanent 9
Provisional 5
B Direct Marketing Licensee Operational 48
Defunct 53
C Single Licensee Operational 35
Cancelled 1
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The pace of granting licenses for private market creation and direct
marketing contract has increased in recent times, but the volume of
transaction that has taken places in these cases is not clear.
The spread of APMCs in the State is quite extensive viz., 298 APMCs in 34
districts of the State. Therefore relaxation in terms of locations for Private
Market development would not be providing enough incentives to private
sector as the primal feasibility of setting such markets may not exist.
Therefore, a dedicated scheme can be designed to promote Private Markets
in the State where each private market will adopt spoke and hub models for
flow of raw materials. The State Government will create enabling
conditions to encourage private sector to avail the scheme.
The APMC Act also advocates ‘contract farming ‘as one of the institutional
reforms. The major and noticeable contract farming interventions are
Jain Irrigation has engaged with farmers for white onion cultivation.
Jain is processing these to onion flakes for export,
Arvind Mills has entered into contractual obligations with farmers
for organic cotton production which becomes the feedstock for their
apparel industry.
Currently over 100,000 ha is under contract farming with a range of crops
and commodities.
The change in agri-marketing system in the state in the wake of APMC
Amendment eight years ago is not that significant as APMC still the
dominant conduit for marketing of agri-produce.
27
2.2.2.2 De-regularization of Perishable Agricultural Produce
GoM issued a circular on March 30, 2012 directing all APMCs of the state
to communicate that GoM is going to de-regularize the perishable
agricultural produce including fruits (29), vegetables (8) and condiments
(4). APMCs may register their concerns within 30 days of the date of
notice. More than 250 APMCs raised objection to de-regularization as it
would adversely affect their business. It was proposed to de-regularize the
said crops with effect from January 1, 2013, however, it has not yet been
implemented.
India's first private sector wholesale market for horticulture produce has been established in
Nashik by “Premium Farm Fresh Produce Ltd.” This facility has actually been utilized by the
promoter only to cater its own traction; the true sense facilitation of a market where buyers –
sellers transacts on a regular basis is not being conducted. Therefore the feasibility of this
facility becomes doubtful as the trading is limited (as it is driven by the promoter only).
Currently this market is not optimally operational.
Drawing lessons from this, it could be interpreted that the success of private sector markets
dealing agri-marketing would be limited mainly due to following reasons:
APMCs in majority of the cases have location advantage in terms of connectivity etc. New
private markets need to match this up.
Agricultural commodities trading activities traditionally depends on the mutual trust between
sellers and buyers. APMC by virtue of being there for long time has clear advantage even if
the system is non-equitable. The transaction cost of developing the trust factor is quite high
for new private markets.
The return on investment for setting up agri-marketing infrastructure is low. The current
rental as well as franchise model is long-shots as far as the returns are concerned. This act as
dampener for private sector to participate in agri-marketing sector. This faces unique
dilemma low investment – low quality infrastructure – low participation of producers in the
market.
28
GoM intended to take this step in order to follow GoI directive to de-
regularize the perishable agricultural produce so as to promote direct
marketing of the perishable produce to consumers, processing units, bulk
buyers, cold storages and contract farming partners by the producers
directly.
Directorate of Marketing, GoI has made the de-regularization of perishables
as a pre-condition to become eligible for the financial assistance available
under its various schemes to the states and APMCs for setting up of new
markets and upgrading infrastructure of existing markets.
Once the de-regularization comes into effect, APMCs would not be able to
charge any market fee and commission agents would not be allowed to levy
any commission on the de-regularized commodities. As a result, anybody
would be able to directly buy these produce from the farmers and farmer
would save 1 – 0.5% market fee and 5-10% commission on the sales
proceed. The commodities proposed to be de-regularized by GoM are as
follows;
Table 2: List of De-regularized commodities
FRUITS
Mango Sweet lime Orange Lemon Grapes
Pomegranate Fig Sapota Strawberry Muskmelon
Water melon Papaya Guava Ber Falsa
Custard apple Apple Grape fruit Pineapple Jam
Plum Peach Pears Litchi Almond
29
Jack fruit Naspati Cherry Wet dates
VEGETABLES
Potato Onion Tomato Suran Leafy
vegetables
Yam potato Sweet potato Kochara
CONDIMENTS
Ginger Garlic Coriander Chillies
2.2.2.3 Abolishing monopoly of APMCs (monopoly in catchment area)
The amendments in the APMC Act (December 2005) and Rules (June
2007) allowed setting up of private markets, direct marketing of agriculture
produce and contract farming etc. However, the private markets were
restricted to set up their premises within 10 kms., of a district level APMC
and within 5 kms., of a Taluka level APMC. These restrictions have been
relaxed and subsequently abolished. The growth of Private Markets even
right next to APMC premises has increased.
MSAMB has been taking positive steps to make APMC more effective, but
considering the growth potential of the sector, it is advisable to step up the
process of reforms. It would be prudent to attempt to open up few APMCs
say, either 10% or 1 per district to private players completely using PPP
framework as Pilot. The APMCs which lie within core production areas of
export driven crops and relatively developed regions can be tested out in the
first phase.
30
The O&M would completely go to private players. It would provide
tremendous incentives and confidence to private players to participate in the
value chain development in State. Assessing the performance of this
attempt, this could be extended to other APMC through a well-designed
plan. Government would then focus more on the improvement of APMCs
in backwards areas where attention of MSAMB is more required.
2.2.3 Public Private Partnership in Agri-infrastructure DEVELOPMENT
There are couple of initiatives of Government in this regard viz.,
2.2.3.1 Terminal Market development
The central sector scheme “Scheme of Terminal Market Complex” under
National Horticulture Mission is one of the flagship initiatives that promote
PPP in market development. It is planned to create three Terminal Markets
(Mumbai, Nashik and Nagpur) in the State where Department of
Agriculture, Cooperation & Marketing will be the proponent/ concessioner.
A brief description on current status of the three proposed markets is given
below:
Mumbai Terminal
Market
The estimated project cost is Rs 200 -250 Crore.
Estimated Handling capacity per day is 3000 MT
A consortium of private sector players (Unity Infraprojects and
Deepak Fertilizers) has been shortlisted through competitive
bidding for implementation of the TMC. A recommendation
has been sent by the GoM to the GoI for award of the project
to the successful bidder.
31
Nashik Terminal
Market
The estimated project cost is Rs 60 Crore.
Estimated Handling capacity per day is 1000 MT
Area required is 100 acres. GoM has faced immense difficulty
in identification of land for the proposed market and the same
is still in process.
Nagpur Terminal
Market
The estimated project cost is Rs 55 Crore.
Estimated Handling capacity per day is 750 MT
Area required is 100 acres. GoM has recently come up with
Request for Qualification for the Nagpur TMC.
As mentioned above, the response to implementation of this scheme in
Maharashtra has been quite slow and not very encouraging. Only at Thane
district where land was already available with the State Government, some
progress could happen. At other two proposed locations, State Government
found it very difficult to identify and procure a suitable land for creation of
infrastructure under this scheme. While it has identified land in Nagpur, it is
still in process of identification of land in Nashik.
Even in Thane district, where land was available with the State government,
the implementation could not be completed due to limited response from
the private sector. At the end of the Bidding Process, a private real estate
player was shortlisted for creation of infrastructure under the scheme.
However, GoM in order to ensure the operationalization of the project took
more than two years to convince the successful bidder to form a consortium
with an agribusiness player having significant equity in the consortium.
In the current scenarios, the major issue in implementation of PPP based
projects is availability of a suitable piece of land with the State
Government. The second major issue is the identification of a suitable
player for implementation of such projects. The response of private players
directly involved in agribusiness has been limited for such kind of projects.
32
Mostly, the real estate private players come forward for such projects for
availing subsidized land and grant from the funding agencies. It has been
observed that such players are not much interested in operationalization and
management of such projects for longer durations. Their main interest is in
availing the grant and then moving out of the project within a short span of
time.
2.2.3.2 Modern Wholesale Market Complex
Private sector led market development has also been tried through another
central sector scheme called “Scheme of Modern Wholesale Market
Complex” being administered by National Horticulture Mission However,
the response to implementation of this scheme in Maharashtra is not
satisfactory.
2.2.3.3 AIDIP
AIDIP is promoting PPP projects for the IVCs that have been selected in
the State. A number of consultations, promotional activities have been
carried out by competent agencies to encourage private sector to participate
in the IVC implementation. It has been found that participation of leading
agri-private sectors are yet to be ensured in the process. Necessary
dialogues are on within MSAMB to assess this trend and develop corrective
steps towards mitigating this discrepancy. Recently two IVCs are in the
process of implementation where private sector participation has been
sought. There have been changes made in RFQ document several times to
create conducive provisions for private sector in the conditionality so that
necessary encouragement to private sector can be provided.
2.2.4 Commodity specific Apex Producers’ Organizations
A field study was undertaken to study the current status and issues faced by the
commodity specific apex farmer organizations. On the basis of discussions with the
staff of these organizations, farmer members and non-member farmers, a current
status of two of these organizations along with issues faced is give below:
33
2.2.4.1 MahaGrapes
It is established as an apex body of growers’ cooperatives to promote export
of grapes from Maharashtra when farmers used to face rejection of their
consignment because of non-compliance of food safety standards. The
steady growth in export justifies its establishment. MahaGrapes is also
providing technical support to farmers aiming to enhancing the quality of
the produces that would result to increased export volumes.
After initial success, the export volumes are again on the decline. The
dominant reasons for this downward slide would be;
(i) A number of private exporters have entered into the business giving
competition to MahaGrapes.
(ii) The private players provide full payment to the producers at the time
of collection, whereas MahaGrapes gives minimum fixed price at
the time of harvesting and the balance bonus amount after the
realization of sales. It has been calculated that in most of the cases
MahaGrapes pays more than the private aggregators/ exporters. But
farmers prefer to have the money in one go instead of two
installments as it would help them to fulfil all obligations such as
loans etc.
(iii) The domestic demand of high quality grapes is making dent to
export. The lack of flexibility as far as MahaGrapes is concerned is
resulting to less export.
(iv) The entry barriers through stringent SPS standards are making
export difficult particularly export to EU.
(v) In order to cater to the domestic market directly MahaGrapes needs
to have infrastructure related to storage and retail. The Apex
Organization doesn’t have the kinds of funds that require to setting
up infrastructure. MahaGrapes also fails to capitalize existing
34
Government schemes that may support infrastructure development
as Apex doesn’t even bring in matching funds of their own.
2.2.4.2 MahaAnar
MahaAnar is formed in the lines of MahaGrapes as an apex body of
growers’ cooperatives to promote the export of pomegranate from the state.
MahaAnar has been able to promote export considerably but still far away
from the initial expectation. Further to this, the export volumes of
MahaAnar are almost stagnant in last 4 – 5 years. The reasons for reduction
in export volumes of MahaAnar are given below:
(i) The area under pomegranate has reduced considerably during last 4-
5 years mainly due to bacterial blight disease. In certain areas,
droughts have also impacted the crop. Due to this, the overall
production volumes have reduced considerably. The R&D support
for Pomegranate is so strong like Grapes. Grapes being a more
global commodity, NRC Grapes could access more contemporary
research worldwide, which is not the case for NRC Pomegranate at
Solapur. The linkage between MahaAnar and NRC Pomegranate is
relatively weaker than that of NRC Grapes and MahaGrapes.
(ii) A number of private exporters have entered into pomegranate export
during the last few years. These exporters provide direct
competition to MahaAnar for the same export volumes.
(iii) The private players provide immediate payment to the producers at
the time of harvesting whereas MahaAnar pays exactly like
MahaGrapes in two installments. A major share of the export
volume of MahaAnar has been captured by the private export
players in the last few years.
(iv) Domestic markets are also competing with export as domestic
demands are increasing. This has resulted in shift of a large
35
proportion of export quality volumes to domestic markets through
large private traders.
(v) The non-tariff barriers are also posing hindrances to export resulting
to decreased volume to export.
36
2.3 Synergy of externally funded projects
Currently there two more externally funded projects are operational in the State viz.,
(i) Convergence of agri-interventions in Maharashtra (International Fund for
Agricultural Development): A project outlay of Rs 600 crores has been
sanctioned by IFAD, under which 64 end-to-end projects would be established
over a period of 5 years. The project components include capacity building,
awareness creation, group formation, subsidized innovation (crop insurance,
fair trade, applied research, organic farming) and project management.
(ii) Maharashtra Agricultural Competitiveness Project (World Bank): This project
aims at developing competitive marketing systems, increase farmer access to
the market, private sector participation and capacity building through its
various sub components. The project sub component includes up-gradation and
modernization of APMC, up gradation and modernization of rural haats,
promote alternative marketing channels, setting up of farmer common services
centers, promote warehouse receipt systems, market information and market
intelligence services and market-led extension services.
The performance of AIDIP can be enhanced by creating proper synergies among all the
externally funded projects. It is important to have smooth integration between
upstream and downstream activities in order to have effective integrated value chain.
The learning of each project, the approaches to address the challenges by each
intervention, would provide valuable insights for the IVC implementation in the State.
37
2.4 Way forward:
The genesis of AIDIP lies in the fact that previous efforts of infrastructure development in
agriculture sector in the state have not yielded sufficient outputs. Private sector by and
large has not evinced serious interest to avail Government schemes. AIDIP therefore
brings two fundamental attributes such as (i) adoption of Integrated Value Chain and (iii)
proactive posturing for attracting private sector through PPP with a provisioning of
Viability Gap Funding. Government has executed some tangible and useful reforms such
as amendment of APMC Act etc., to make their intention transparent.
It has also been observed during the TA that there are still areas of concern that may
jeopardize the basic objectives of AIDIP;
1. Government has made considerable progress in institutionalizing the amended APMC
Act. The efforts to remove the remaining bottlenecks are on and it is evident from the
facts of issuance of G.Os and constant follow-ups. In spite of these, there are cases
which require attention and action such as ‘solvency fee in the form of bank guarantee
of Rs. 1.5 million for getting ‘direct marketing license’. Suggestion to abolish this for
Farmer Organization could be considered as it will provide incentives to Farmer
Organization to participate in agricultural marketing.
2. The understanding of the benefits of value chain is not uniform across the private
sector in the state. It is observed that majority of them are still keen to operate in
various nodes where they have acquired core competence. The greatest perceived
challenge would therefore be private sector would treat AIDIP as another infrastructure
development program missing the fundamental win-win proposition of value chain.
The insufficient flow of private investment in the value chain is a testimony to the lack
of comprehensive understanding of private sector about value chain development.
3. APMC Act has made contract farming legal in the State, but enforceability of these
contracts still remain an issue. The arbitration mechanism in case of failure of
contractual obligations by any contracting parties be it farmer or the private sector is
not clearly benchmarked.
38
4. Government is making data and information concerning development in agri-
marketing available through its websites and portals. But it is evident that private
sectors are not visiting these sites regularly. Therefore the reach of these important
data, information and development are grossly limited resulting to minimal enthusiasm
among private sector about Government.
In this context, the following measures could be thought of that may improve the scope of
AIDIP’s success;
2.4.1 Innovation in creating models
The emerging trends of private sector’s engagement in infrastructure development
in agri-marketing space are as follows;
(i) Low investment appetite as infrastructure development would not attract
lucrative rentals that make private sector encouraged to invest;
(ii) Private players with presence in entire value chain would be interested as it
will facilitate the procurement and the supply chain. The number of such
large players are not limited;
(iii) In the proposed PPP model private sector needs to agree on working the
land provided by the Government which happens to be APMC’s land only.
Inflexibility of choosing sites/ lands may discourage private sector investors
as the sites offered by APMC and Government may not be suitable as far as
the business goes. On top of that, acquiring land for setting up marketing
infrastructure is getting increasingly difficult.
Therefore, in order to create marketing infrastructure following innovation can be
thought of; Government builds the infrastructure and invite private sector to do
O&M that would ensure efficient utilization, proper maintenance, transparency of
operations. Once private sector will gain confidence in managing the infrastructure,
then extension of the services through infrastructure development could be done by
private sector alone.
39
2.4.2 Creation of ‘commodity focus sub-sector Policy’ using value chain as
core approach
Crops such as mango, banana, pomegranate, onion etc., have already been
developed along the integrated value chain. The impacts of such interventions have
also been discernible as the extension of areas of production is taking place beyond
current core production areas, viz., Pomegranate being cultivated traditionally in
Nashik, Pune and Solapur regions but it is being cultivated in Aurangabad and
Buldhana districts as well. Jalgaon district alone is producing as much as 65% of
the banana produced in the state but now Solapur and Nanded districts are coming
up with banana cultivation. Even some regions of Vidarbha and Marathwada have
started growing banana. It would therefore be worthwhile to attempt commodity
specific sub-sector policy that aims to provide requisite directions to the growth
and competitiveness of the leading crops. The growers need to be encouraged to
adopt value chain principles that would improve the chances of getting better
markets.
2.4.3 Visioning of crop specific Apex organizations of Growers’ Cooperatives –
Five major Apex organizations namely Maha Grapes. Maha Anar, Maha Banana,
Maha Orange and Maha Mango in the State have been active in promoting value
chain of these crops. These organizations have developed some infrastructure that
would facilitate the marketing of the fresh both for domestic and export markets as
well as act as proper conduit for downstream activities. The spread and reach of
these Apex organizations are limited to certain areas of the State. It is important to
help these organizations to emerge as true representatives of the growers’ in the
State. A detailed visioning exercise is required to broaden their capability to
include growers of emerging areas, developing mechanisms to link R&D with
growers, extending infrastructure to new areas and providing technical guidance to
growers. The governance of these Apex institutions needs to be strengthened
further. The Vision 2015 – Agricultural Marketing has suggested that each Apex
Organizations would be encouraged to initiate Farmers Common Service Centers
(FCSC) with minimum infrastructure that would help these institutions to scaling
40
up. Besides providing infrastructure services of pack houses, storage facilities etc.,
these FCSC would also be the channel for disseminating technology transfer,
market intelligence as well as physical conduit for inputs supply to farmers.
The State should made efforts to promote more such commodity specific apex
organizations and ensure grassroots level linkages through SHGs or Framer
Groups. The Institutional structure for these organizations needs to be chosen
appropriately. A Private Limited Company format with some equity contribution
from MSAMB might be tried initially as it would be appropriate for effective
control, regulation and monitoring during initial few years. This kind of format
would also ensure private sector participation through equity contribution in these
kinds of organizations. The State can design the Apex organization focused
schemes to encourage them to emerge as growers’ institutions as well as to ensure
private sector participation.
2.4.4 Linking R&D to farmers for attaining value chain excellence
Access to technology and knowledge to enhance productivity and quality, access to
global best practices for effective implementation of value chain etc., are critical
elements of building competitiveness in the sector. The linkages between growers
and leading R&D institutions in India and abroad on specific crops that hold
substantial promise for export is yet to be optimal. The blending between ‘know-
how’ and ‘do-how’ becomes critical challenge in order to equip the growers so that
they remain competitive in the markets. The extension system of Government has
not fully geared towards the needs of value chain and therefore the efficacy of the
existing system needs to be strengthened substantially. The R&D in the specific
crop areas needs to be completely based on farmers’ needs and the challenges.
Though the basic research of varietal improvement may be taking place but the
R&D efforts on tertiary issues such as climate resilient, smart agriculture compliant
research is not adequate. The challenges of farmers in the value chain are to attain
and manoeuvre ‘targeted yield’ and ‘targeted quality’ considering ever changing
scenarios of the markets. The R&D is not necessarily addressing these challenges.
The scope of commercializing ‘Decision Support System’ of high potential crops
41
needs to be explored as it has already providing substantial benefits to growers’
mainly in developed countries.
2.4.5 Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) compliant
The adoption of GAP is one of the basic competitiveness criteria for value chain
that targets export markets. The India GAP standards are now available. Besides
this, various crop specific GAP guidelines are available; universities such as PAU
and TNAU have already developed guidelines and operational manual for GAP
implementation. Therefore a separate scheme can be designed to build the
capacities of all the directly associated stakeholders of the value chain. This effort
will put Maharashtra well ahead in the race of promoting agricultural marketing
within integrated value chain framework not only in the country but in the sub-
continent as well.
2.4.6 Farmer Producers’ Organization
A bottom-up approach initiated by the farmers themselves and through cluster level
appropriate farmer organizations federated into a state level apex organization
through MSAMB might be an appropriate mechanism to promote such commodity
specific organizations
The bottom-up approach should focus on development of an appropriate three or
four tier structure over a period of time. A broad illustrative framework of this kind
of approach would consist of:
i. Farmers/Producers Groups/Societies or appropriate structure at the village
level;
ii. Organization of 1st tier structures into a cluster level commodity specific
structures preferably a Cooperative or Producer;
iii. Federation of Cluster Level organizations into a State Level Federated Apex
Organization Structure preferably a Private Company
42
2.4.7 Capacity building initiatives
For effectiveness and efficiency of such apex organizations, large scale and
intensive capacity building of various stakeholders including Government officials
of agriculture and related departments across the state, APMC officials, MSAMB
officials and farmers would be of utmost importance. Value Chain Development
would be the basis of this approach for overall development of Agriculture and
Horticulture Sector of the State. Further, a seamless integration of various actors
across the entire value chain would be ensured with development of need based
institutions/institutional structures.
This is possible only if the existing agriculture department and other related
departments are revitalized through appropriate capacity building activities of the
officials’ in order to make them competitive enough to guide the development of
such an institutional structure.
2.4.8 Deregulation of Perishable Agricultural Produce
Although as per the circular issued on March 30, 2012 by GoM, perishable
agriculture commodities were proposed to be deregulated from January 1, 2013
onwards, the implementation of this circular has not been undertaken at the
APMCs level. The traders are still continuing charging the commission from
farmers. There is an immediate need to adopt proper measures by the GoM to
implement this deregulation and monitor the progress continuously.
2.4.9 Exemption for farmers/farmer organizations from licensing fee
Farmers should be exempt from any licensing requirement in case they are willing
to sell their produce directly to end consumers. In the current scenario, farmers are
mostly unable to obtain license because of Rs. 1.5 million as solvency fee in the
form of bank guarantee which they are unable to obtain. However, in order to
maintain the database, the farmers involved in direct selling should be registered
and the trade volume should be recorded continuously.
43
2.4.10 Electronic Auction
Electronic display of price at the time of auction should be made mandatory both in
APMCs and private markets. This is important from the context of transparency in
pricing. GoM has already started electronic display of prices at various APMCs.
However, the auction process should also be linked to electronic display. A
separate fund might also be allocated for electronic display system in all APMCs.
2.4.11 MIS & Electronic processing for facilitation of Licensing
The electronic auction would also facilitate electronic data collection for prices and
volumes of perishables traded. Although MSAMB is doing commodity arrival
quantities and price related data collection, the concerned officials need further
capacity building in order to create and maintain an effective MIS system for price
and volume related information across the State. Apart from daily collection of
data, data compilation and information dissemination should also be given priority.
In addition, the processing of licensing should also be facilitated through an online
system. The entire process starting from application, processing of application and
issuance of a license could be undertaken through the online system.
44
Field Visits, Stakeholder
Consultations, Workshops & Capacity
Building Activities
45
3. Field Visits, Stakeholder Consultations, workshops and Capacity
Building activities
3.1 RATIONALE
The Government of Maharashtra has decided to implement AIDIP through MSAMB,
where MSAMB has formed Project Management Unit (PMU – AIDIP) with officers
drawn from line departments having technical skill sets and prior experiences of managing
bi/ multi lateral assisted projects. Though the Department has some experience in
executing bi/multi lateral projects, AIDIP has been unique in terms of promoting private
sectors’ participation including investment in agriculture value chain. The concept of PPP
would be tried here where blending of procurement rules of Government and ADB would
be attempted. This would lead to requirement of new skill sets for PMU to address these
situations. The success of this unique intervention largely lies with PMU’s ability to
handle private sector not from mere vendors’ perspective but as potential investors and
therefore co-creation of value for the smallholders would be optimal. The Capacity
building components of the TA primarily arise to identify and enhance skill sets of PMU
to make them effective and robust in private sector led value chain development in the
State.
46
3.2 PROCESS FOR CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOPS
A training need assessment exercise has been conducted primarily to identify the areas
where capacities need to be enhanced and design activities to support it. The methodology
followed for this purpose is as follows;
Critical skill gap identification
Developiment of Thematic Areas for skill enhancement
Design and implementation of Capacity building
initiatives
Defining core skill
areas required for
successful
execution of AIDIP
Identifying
existing skill sets
Estimating the
skill gap
Categorizing and
classifying gap
areas into Thematic
Areas
Developing the
contours of the
thematic areas
Developing content
Identifying
appropriate
delivery means
Evaluation of
activities
Outcome
assessment to
identify future
needs
47
The ‘Thematic Areas’ therefore have been identified as are;
• What is Value Chain? - mapping of Value
• How to prioritize Value Chains?
•How price discovery takes place?
•How to calculate gains at every node of Value Chain?
Value Chain Development
•What would be attributes for PPP in Agriculture Value Chain?
• What are steps to initiate PPP?
• What are the Contracts & Agreements?
• What are the challenges?
Public - Private Partnership (PPP)
•How to manage Bid process/ procurement of services?
• How to conduct RFQ & RFP processes?
• How to evaluate a project - techncial & financial?
• What are the compliances issues?
Project Appraisal & Financial Analysis
•What's the role of Market Intelligence in Value Chains?
• How to develop Market Intelligence system?
• How it can be integrated to MIS? Market Intelligence
•What are the compliances issues?
• How to institutionalize it in the Value Chains?
• How to build capcpites of producers on this?
• How it will bring in value to Value Chain players?
Food Safety & Quality Management
• How to do 'stakeholders analysis'?
• How to develop appropriate communicaiton strategies?
• How to publicize benefits of IVC to investors?
Communication as enabling strategy
•What are the tools & techniques of Project M&E?
• What would be appropriate M&E systems for IVC?
• How to document the process? Project Monitoring & Evaluation
48
The nodal agency MSAMB has formed a Project Management Unit (PMU) for the purpose
of smooth implementation of AIDIP. The structure of PMU is as follows;
The estimation of the extent of the skill gaps that have been identified through this exercise
has been done using this relative scale. The parameters for developing the scale are as
follows; (a) existing knowledge, (b) exposure to the issues, and (c) levels of practice vis a
vis experiences.
Low Mean High
Value Chain Development
Public Private Partnership
Project Appraisal & Financial Analysis
Market Intelligence
Food Safety & Quality Management
Communication
Project Monitoring & Evaluation
With the skill gap analysis, it is clearly evident that while the department has a fair idea of
value chain and communication, it lacks understanding of PPP and finance related issues.
The Department also needs strengthening in terms of people having expertise in the areas
of legal and market intelligence.
Support Staff (Administration, Procurement etc.)
Project Director
Deputy Project
Director (Marketing)
Deputy Project
Director (Finance)
Deputy Project
Director (Horticulture)
49
3.2.1 Selection of Participants for the Capacity Building Exercise
The thematic areas for capacity development have primarily been drawn up for
PMU as it became evident through the Need Assessment exercises. Interestingly,
the State Government has also been implementing two other projects which have
strong alignment with value chain development. Consultation with MSAMB and
PMU revealed that the staff involved in other projects will also be benefited if they
also get involved in this capacity building process as the thematic areas identified
are extremely relevant to their work.
It was felt that some understanding of value chain development should be
transferred to other stakeholders as well viz. farmers, industry partners, NGOs etc.
other than the government officials.
It has therefore been decided in consultation with PMU that the following
organizations will be invited for these training workshops besides PMU1.
Government of
Maharashtra
MSAMB (Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board)
MACP (Maharashtra Agricultural Competitiveness Project)
CAIM (Convergence of Agricultural Interventions in
Maharashtra)
NIPHT (National Institute on Post Harvest Training)
Apex Growers’ / Producers’
Organization
MahaGrapes
MahaAnar
1 Comprehensive capacity development need assessment planned through stakeholders’ survey.
The survey couldn’t be conducted. Therefore the need assessment exercise was limited to PMU only.
50
VGAI
(Vegetable Growers Association of India)
Industry Supply Chains, Processors & Exporters
3.2.2 The Training Calendar
The following schedule was followed in consultation with PMU;
S.
No. Workshop Date
Value Chain
1 Value Chain Development December 11-13,
2012
Communication
2 Institutionalizing High Value Horticulture
Stakeholders for Strategic Communication and
Business Processes
October 19, 2012
3 Strategic Communication for Marketing and
Cluster-based Business Approach
March 18, 2013
Project Finance
4 Project Appraisal & Financial Analysis December 3, 2012
5 Case Appraisal: Appraisal of cases provided by
MSAMB
February 5, 2013
Public-Private-Partnership
6 PPP-Basics December 31, 2012
7 PPP-Contracts February 28, 2013
Market Intelligence
8 Market Intelligence and its Provision in
Agribusiness
March 19, 2013
Monitoring & Evaluation
9 Project Monitoring & Evaluation February 27, 2013
Food Safety & Quality Management
10 Food Safety and Quality Management October 19, 2012
51
A “Study Tour” was also conducted for the purpose of gaining first hand exposure
on value chain.
3.2.3 Snapshots of the Training Workshops
The Process flow of these Training Workshop conducted have been captured here.
The detailed proceedings of these events have already been shared.
1. VALUE CHAIN DEVELOPEMNT
Objective:
To explain ‘concept of Value Chain’;
To assist participants to understand the process of value chain mapping;
To help calculating cost and margins along value chain;
To explain technology options in the Value Chain;
To make participants understand the governance and the impacts of Value Chain
including employment potential of successful value chain;
To define and elicit examples of Value Chain PPP;
To explain the operational modalities of Value Chain implementation processes
Process:
1. Participants were divided into four groups and each group worked on developing
value chain for one commodity. The four identified commodities were grape,
pomegranate, okra and banana.
2. Group exercises were done by the four groups on their respective crops on
prioritizing value chains, mapping the value chains, identification of main actors in
value chain, their roles and margins, technology upgradation matrix, set governance
rules for the actors of value chain and develop a model on PPP format.
3. Case studies were discussed during each topic to provide better understanding and
lessons from others experience. Many international cases were discussed. On specific
suggestion from many participants to discuss local case studies, five local case studies
were incorporated during the second and third day of the training.
52
2. PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
Objectives:
To explain basic concepts of PPP, to provide various PPP formats/ examples etc.;
To describe performance indicators for successful implementation of PPP
projects;
To elicit various steps of executing PPP;
To illustrate various compliances including contractual & legal obligations in
PPP;
To help PMU to contextualize PPP in the context of agriculture value chain.
Process:
Situational Assessment to measure AIDIP’s preparedness for PPP has been facilitated.
A Checklist of ‘To – Be- - Done’ activities is prepared
Detailed facilitation to PMU conducted so that the understanding on PPP enhanced
The detailed assessment of risks and limitation of PPP in agriculture are discussed and
required safeguards have been deliberated upon.
The “To – Be – Done” listing may consider the following points;
(i) Legal Review for the project should be done on war-footing.
(ii) The bidding document should define the project in absolute framework.
(iii)Key to prepare good bidding document is to provide adequate information to the
bidders to enable them to submit their bid so that they do not add unnecessary high
risk premium.
(iv) Preparation of Concession Agreement should start now as it may take 6-8 months
unless there is a model Concession Agreement approved by the state cabinet and the
cabinet has empowered the PMU/ appropriate agency to make changes into it.
(v) Final Concession Agreement has to be a part of the RFP and the same cannot be
changed later.
The negotiation can take place with the bidder as long as the basic conditions of
the bidding remain unchanged.
(vi) RFP should include data on project site, clearances and any other data available that
may be useful to the bidders, as part of PIM. Access to the project sites should be
ensured.
53
(vii) Bid securities should be defined and format for the same needs to be provided.
Bid security formats require clearance from Finance Dept of State. Hence, timelines
should be kept in mind accordingly.
(viii) Performance Standards for the project should be defined clearly for each
asset/service of the project. Provision for adequate Performance Guarantee should be
made or alternatively there should be a budgetary allocation from the government.
(ix) User fee should be defined in the RFP document. Generally delay in project affects
the income of the investor, hence adequate buffer should be provided to avoid any
conflict with the concessionaire. A formula linked with the inflation indexes may be
provided to calculate the user fee. However, the expert opined that the user fee for
projects of this nature should be market-driven and not pre-decided.
(x) The concessionaire is given all the rights unless there is a default leading to the
termination.
(xi) Adequate consultation should be done with the user groups to define the Performance
Standards.
(xii) All unallocated and unseen risks should be taken by the Grantor.
(xiii) Procedure of transfer of assets should be defined and provided in the RFP
document.
3. PROJECT APPRAISAL & FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
Objective:
To explain Bid Management process;
To show how to do project appraisal
To help PMU to understand DPR formulation process
Process:
Two workshops are organized. The first one deals with the basics and the second
workshop has had extensive sessions on appraisal processes using two cases such as
Detailed Project Report for Wheat Processing Project at Pune
DPR on Development of Modern Terminal Market for F&V at Nagpur
4. MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Objective:
54
To explain the role and efficacy of Market Intelligence as part of MIS
To illustrate best practices involving Market Intelligence;
To make participants aware of an ideal Market intelligence design
Process:
Case studies based facilitation conducted.
Current system of MIS analysed using participatory approaches
5. FOOD SAFETY & QUALITY MANAGEMENT
Objective:
To make participants aware on the food safety issues and
To illustrate and provide guideline on the certification process
To narrate the positives of food safety on how it can benefit the project.
Process:
Case studies based analysis are conducted.
The examples of Global GAP, HACCP etc., are explained in the context of AIDIP
6. COMMUNICATION
Objective:
To build the capacities of stakeholders on how to organise farmers and other
stakeholders across value chain,
To conduct institutional assessment of prevailing value chain
To provide insight to the stakeholders on various tools and techniques of
communication
To share the findings of field study on communication approaches – pros
& cons
To provide communication roadmap in terms of recommendations.
55
Process:
Two participatory workshops are conducted.
First workshop
1. The session was followed by a simulation on institutionalization of stakeholders for
different commodities relevant to Maharashtra state.
2. Participants were divided into 3 groups and each group was given a task to build an
Institutional structure for three major crops i.e. Banana, Mango and Pomegranate.
Each group presented the summary of discussion and the design for institutionalizing
stakeholders for their respective commodities
Second workshop
Various models of communication viz., cluster approach, ICT for Communication,
focusing on content development based on various factors (such as Source Factor,
Media Factor, Method Factor, Receiver factor) and ‘Train the trainer’ model were
discussed. After introducing the concepts the expert also discussed about how the
same can be converged with the Agri Business.
The Outcomes were designing strategic communication models that are based on
(i) Information and communication technology for agri sector (ICT)
(ii) Communication models based on designing the right content and
methodology for communication.
(iii) Capacity building of both the system and the personnel in-charge of
maintaining and building the system
7. PROJECT MONITORING & EVALUATION
Objective:
To train PMU on Project Monitoring & Evaluation;
To illustrate various tool and techniques;
To assist PMU to develop M&E framework relevant to AIDIP
Process:
Various M&E techniques are discussed.
LOGFRAME emerges as the most relevant approach AIDIP needs to be followed.
Issues of streamlining M&E with MIS is discussed
56
3.3 STUDY TOUR
It is meant for exposing PMU on operational value chain and state-of-the art downstream
facilities.
3.3.1 Tiger Warehousing Corporation Limited
TWCL is a service provider of cold stores, Controlled Atmospheric (CA)
chambers, Ripening Chambers and other warehousing infrastructure. TWCL
provide these facilities to various private as well as public sector players on user
charges basis.
This facility was chosen as part of the study tour as the business model of the
organization is quite similar to the business model proposed under AIDIP for two
identified IVCs in Maharashtra.
In addition, TWCL houses one of the largest banana ripening facility in India and
has technologically advanced facilities as compared to other similar facilities of the
Country.
During the visit, the PMU team has interacted with TWCL officials to discuss and
understand the business model, user charges, operations, technology etc.
3.3.2 Dev Bhumi Cold Chain Pvt. Ltd.
The second visit was undertaken to understand the apple value chain including
apple storage, sorting grading and packaging facilities of Dev Bhumi Cold Chain
(P) Limited (DBCC). DBCC is primarily into apple trading. The trading house
operates form Delhi and supplies apples throughout the country. This value chain
actor is involved in the entire value chain along with value addition at multiple
points across the chain.
The major discussion points are described below:
The involvement of DBCC for up-gradation of apple value chain starts from the
procurement wherein DBCC has identified hub collectors for supply of crates for
apple procurement. These hub collectors supply crates for apple storage to the
57
farmers who are interested in supplying apple to DBCC at their facility situated at
Matiana, Shimla.
The apple price is declared weekly so that the farmers have prior information of
price through the hub collectors and may decide upon selling or holding the
produce during the winter season depending upon the weekly price offered by
DBCC. Further, farmers are also offered spot payment option at this facility.
The next step in the value chain is storage of apple in CA chambers. The total
capacity of CA chambers at this facility is more than 2000 MT.
Apart from CA storage chambers, the facility also has an automatic cleaning,
drying, sorting, grading, waxing, polishing and packaging line. The PMU team
toured the entire facility including the CA chambers and the sorting, grading and
packaging line. The store manager explained the entire process starting from
procurement, storage, packaging and onwards transportation.
3.3.3 Pagro Frozen Foods Ltd.
The third visit was undertaken to the IQF facilities of Pagro Frozen Foods Limited
to understand the vegetables value chain and linkages with large organized players
which require stringent quality control measures. PFF is an associate company of
M/s Pagro Foods Pvt. Ltd. (PFL) with common directors and the PFL is a leading
company in India which is involved in processing of vegetables and is one of the
largest producers and exporters of frozen vegetables in India.
The team discussed about the role of PFF in the vegetable value chain, the role of
various other actors and the strategic advantages of PFF in the value chains. In
addition, there were also discussions regarding the status of food processing in
India and the role various Government departments can play in promotion of the
sector.
The promoters informed that for backward integration and continuous supply of
raw material, they have entered into contract farming agreements with around 400-
500 farmers on an area of around 2500 to 3000 acres. This arrangement started in
58
the year 2000 and now after 10-12 years of continuous engagements, a trust has
been developed between these farmers and PFL and in many cases, now formal
contract has not been signed and the arrangement is based only on trust and
relationship. Usually price is prefixed at the time of start of cultivation and most of
the times farmers are paid higher than the contract price depending upon the market
rates.
For forward integration, PFL has annual contracts with major organized retail
players like Reliance Fresh and MNCs like McDonalds. Around 85% of frozen
vegetables requirement of McDonalds for the northern region is fulfilled by PFL.
Further, the promoters also informed that the total IQF capacity of the PFL is 9 MT
per hour which is highest in the country. As the company has strong forward as
well as backward linkages, the value chain has been well established and is
beneficial for all the actors involved in this including farmers and consumers.
3.3.4 Key Learning
Operational efficiency in maintaining linkages between upstream and
downstream parts of the value chain is the key to success.
Technology would be the greatest differentiator as it improves the quality and
reduces transaction cost by creating more value.
Quality is the ultimate positioning for this business e.g., TWCL is able to
charge almost double the user fee as compared to other similar facilities in the
vicinity.
Working with producers’ directly requires deep penetration and building trust
would be the prime consideration for sustenance of the business.
59
3.4 OUTPUT & OUTCOME ASSESSMENT
The Capacity building initiatives exposed and trained majority of the key stakeholders
engaged in Value Chain development in the state. This is the first of its kind interventions
in the State where large number of key professionals engaged in value chain development
are exposed to finer details of the value chain. The focus of institutional development as a
pre-requisite for successful value chain development has been appreciated.
0
5
10
15
20
25
Particiapnts of Training workshops
PMU staff Others (non-PMU) Total
60
Feedback was sought after each events where participants have been requested to rate the
program. The results of the feedback exercises are shown below;
The program has decided on 85% satisfaction level as ‘performance benchmark’ for the
implementation of the training workshops. The variation of the feedback elements against
the performance benchmark is as follows;
75% 80% 85% 90% 95% 100%
Maximum
Coverage of Topic
Effectiveness of faculty- overall
Effectiveness of faculty - articulation
Use of Audio Visuals
Level of Participation
Relevance of Content
Performance Benchmark
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Coverage of Topic
Effectiveness of faculty-
overall
Effectiveness of faculty - articulation
Use of Audio Visuals
Level of Participation
Relevance of Content
Positive variation
61
The initiative aims for introducing key professionals primarily with concepts and various
models concerning value chain development in the world. It also aims to enhance their
understanding so that they can contextualize AIDIP more effectively. The program also
intends to improve their efficiency in terms of operations including enhanced knowledge
on compliances. The program has been able to achieve its goal in terms of introducing the
concepts but it would be difficult to measure the impact that enhances operational
efficiencies of the professionals of the PMU. It has been observed throughout the TA that a
more holistic and spread-out approach of handholding still required so that PMU would
achieve the desired standards.
62
3.5 WAY FORWARD
Implementation of Integrated Value Chain is complex in nature. The challenges of
upstream are fundamentally different from downstream. The variability of production
system is non-linear whereas downstream manufacturing predominantly remains linear. In
this context, it is important to acknowledge that capacity development in case of value
chain implementation needs to be dynamic. The challenges of managing an integrated
value chain require not only deep understanding of value chain also the multi-tasking
ability of the professionals engaged in. The team PMU needs to work coherently where
individual skill sets needs to be mutually complimented.
The current initiative has helped Team PMU to understand the issues related to IVC
implementation but in order to build on what has been developed so far the efforts of
capacity development needs to be continued. The TA has adopted the approach of
exposing PMU to knowledge and experience sources so that PMU would be able to
contextualize their issues and challenges. This approach seems to be working well. It is
therefore worthwhile to continue this approach where mentoring would be the guiding
principle for future capacity development interventions.
It is evident that Tem PMU also needs to induct few more skill sets such as legal and
communication and project management. The greatest current challenge in front of PMU is
to learn the language of private sector so that the interaction would be more meaningful. It
would be worth trying to induct professionals from private sector in PMU who can act as
appropriate conduit between Government and Private sector including investors.
63
Communication & Information
Dissemination
64
4. Communication & Information Dissemination
4.1 Knowledge management and Communication
Agriculture is being managed by two departments in the state viz., Department of
Agriculture and Department of Marketing. From value chain perspectives, the role of
upstream development that includes cultivation of crops, welfare of farmers and producers,
management of agricultural inputs etc., lies with Department of Agriculture. Whereas the
role of downstream development that includes post harvest functions, marketing of agri-
commodities, value addition and processing and maintenance of rules, procedures etc.,
thereof lies with Department of Marketing. MSAMB being a part of Department of
Marketing is the nodal agency for the execution of AIDIP. AIDIP aims for integrated value
chain development in the state which requires strong synergy between these two
departments.
The successful implementation of Value Chain development depends on the density of
multi-stakeholders’ engagement. It has been observed globally that the role of developing
an appropriate communication strategy and approaches to implement it becomes very
critical, particularly in the perspectives of multi-stakeholders’ engagement. The benefits of
a properly managed value chain arise when each stakeholder of the chain interacts with
each other effectively. The role of knowledge management henceforth holds the key to the
success.
In the state of Maharashtra, both the departments are having well-defined system of intra-
departmental communication system where they do interact with all the concerned
constituencies. The system of inter-departmental communication is governed by the ‘case-
by-case’ needs. The existing compartmentalization of communication channels across the
departments needs to be re-examined as the final clients such as farmers, producers etc.,
would require to communicate across the value chain seamlessly. Today Department of
Marketing interacts with farmers minimally whereas the interaction of Department of
Agriculture with downstream beneficiaries is almost non-existent.
65
Filed studies clearly shows that (i) current levels of engagement of departments with
stakeholders needs to be revamped while it intends to implement value chain, (ii) the focus
and objectives of communication needs to be re-positioned to make departments relevant
and contemporary. As case in point, the farmers are exposed to various forms and channels
of communications to get desired knowledge and information that help them to optimize
his/her agricultural activities. In all these channels the relatively weaker link remains the
government functionaries at the grassroots levels. It is therefore important to re-examine
the traditional roles of government functionaries who need to adopt the role of facilitator
who will brings in synergy among all the existing channels rather than competing with
existing channels. From the perspectives of AIDIP the situations are far more complex.
AIDIP aims to build capacities of smallholders living in marginal ecosystems so that they
can participate in the value chain on level playing field. The studies show that the reach of
existing channels of communication to smallholders is very limited and market forces are
not conducive in terms of creating demand for goods and services for his/ her agricultural
practices. Therefore, government communication channels need to do proper segmentation
in terms of gainfully utilizing resources.
66
4.2 Existing Communication Channels
The details of existing communication channels clearly indicates that there are various
initiatives by the agriculture department and MSAMB in order to disseminate technical as
well as market related information to various stakeholders including farmers. However, the
number of subscribers of these initiatives is limited and hence the major issue seems to be
the outreach of various initiatives. In case of the Mahaagri SMS services, only 2.6% of
rural households are subscribers of this service. Further, most of these initiatives are ICT
based and hence it is not possible for all the stakeholders especially the small and marginal
farmers to access information using these ICT enabled tools.
Hence, there is a need to shift from the usage of a variety of tools to a focussed approach
wherein the transfer of knowledge to the end user is more important than the latest
technology being used for communication.
In addition, the content and delivery of communication also needs a monitoring and
evaluation mechanism. Currently, the information and technical knowledge initiated from
the research organizations is transferred across various levels in the department without
any mechanism of monitoring at various levels. Although, the information initiated by
various research organizations is not questionable, the transfer of information across
various levels might distort the information due to communication gaps across various
levels. Hence, quality control and other checks and balances are required at every level of
information transfer.
67
4.3 Department Structure and Hierarchy
As mentioned earlier, there are two departments in the Government of Maharashtra,
concerning Agriculture i.e. Department of Agriculture and Department of Marketing and
Cooperation. Under the Department of Marketing and Co-operation is the Marketing
Board which is an autonomous body governing APMCs. It also takes care of all Marketing
related activities for the Agri Business like dissemination of information, promoting new
technology and innovations, promotion of exports and training of farmers on post harvest
and marketing. The primary function of these departments is to ensure that there is an
increase in agricultural production, export promotion and to encourage the agro processing
industry with a view to take advantage of liberalized economy and Global trade.
Department of Agriculture: Some of important units under the Department of
Agriculture and the functions of each of them are given below;
State Horticulture and Medicinal Plants Board: SHMPB is set up to implement
National Horticulture Mission – a central Government initiative that aims at
promoting the production of Horticulture crops and increase exports for the state
and Schemes of National Medicinal Plants Board.
Agriculture Technical Management Agency: ATMA is an autonomous
organization registered under the Societies act and it aims at providing technical
assistance training and guidance to farmers. The various schemes provided by
ATMA help promote new technology and innovations with the objective of
increasing crop productivity.
Maharashtra Agro Industries Development Corporation: MAIDC is mandated to
promote processing and value addition of agro produce. At the same time it also
manufactures fertilizers, farm implements etc.
Department of Marketing:
This department has the primary responsibility of regulation of agricultural
marketing in the state including issuance of licenses etc. MSAMB is an
autonomous body set up under Department of Agriculture, which regulates
68
APMCs, disseminates market information, promotes export of horticulture
produce, post harvest technology etc. it has promoted five Apex farmer
organizations in the state with primary objective of common marketing of
agricultural produce. These organizations are MahaGrapes, MahaAnar,
MahaMango, MahaBanana and MahaOrange.
Mahaanar / Mahagrapes – These are farmers associations, registered under the
societies act and have been started by the farmers through the efforts of MSAMB.
These initiatives were undertaken by the farmers to help build a network of
growers in order to provide support and guidance for enhanced production and
promotion of exports.
4.3.1 The Current Scenario of Intra Departmental Communication process in
the Department of Agriculture (DOA), Govt of Maharashtra
Intra Departmental communication process (Within the department) – As a result
of the various meetings with different officers within the department, it was found
that:
The communication process is mainly a top down approach and is used primarily to
disseminate information to the various levels within the department. The modes or
channels of Communication that are used to disseminate information are meetings,
e-mails, circulars and memos.
The main channel of communication that is used for exchange of
information is meetings. These meetings happen on a fixed schedule and
officers from across levels are invited and information is shared.
Apart from this, information is also shared by sending out circulars and e-
mails if officers are stationed at various district level offices.
While the above is a forward integration of information, the Department of
Agriculture (DOA) also ensures that there is backward integration through
collection of information and feedback from across various levels within the
69
department. The channel of communication for a bottom up approach for collecting
feedback and reviews is also through meetings.
The DOA has various meetings scheduled on a monthly basis where officers across
levels are invited. These meetings are held for both dissemination of information as
well as for reviewing the various pending tasks, performance of new schemes and
also for collection of feedback from the officers at the village level. The officers
are asked to submit project reports that give the status of various schemes and
benefits that are being implemented at the village level.
Apart from these meetings, officers also collect feedback and review various
projects through field visits organized by the Agriculture Assistants. The
department holds quarterly meetings wherein officers from the taluka and district
levels are invited to discuss and review any concerns.
The co-ordination between the various units of the Agriculture department is
through the various cross functional meetings that are scheduled on a monthly
basis. These units exchange information about the different schemes and subsidies
that the various departments are implementing. These meetings ensure that there is
a communication network between the department of horticulture, department of
Agriculture and the Marketing department.
The following Fig depicts the hierarchy within the departments and the flow of
communication / information between the different levels
70
Figure 1: Flow of Communication/Information within Departments
Commissioner of Agriculture
State Level
Directorate
Regional Level Deputy Directorate –
Regional Office
District level
District Superintendent Agri
Officer
Sub divisional level
Sub divisional agri officer
Taluk level
Taluk agri Officer
Mandal Agri Officer Agriculture Supervisor
Agriculture assistant
Information
flow
happens
through
(1) Monthly
Review
meetings.
(2) Circulars
(3) E-mails
71
Flow of Information from Department to various Stakeholders
Information dissemination to the external stakeholders of the department is done
through various channels of Communication as depicted below
Stakeholder Channel of communication
Farmers Visits by Government Representatives (Agri
Assistant)
Agriculture Magazines
TV & Radio Programs
SMS services
Internet
Farmer Review meetings
Processors / Exporters SMS Service
Internet
Following is a representation differentiating between a traditional model of
communication process and the model currently adopted in Maharashtra
The Traditional Communication model
Sender Channel of Information Receiver
Communication
Feedback to complete the loop
72
Model of Communication followed by the Government of Maharashtra
During the study, it was found that the farmers are the focal point for the
Government’s external communication efforts and all the information pertaining to
production, new schemes & benefits are communicated to them through various
channels.
Based on the information collected, it can be concluded that the most commonly
used channel is communication through the Agricultural Assistant. They are the
point of contact from the Government for the farmers. These government
representatives are appointed with the main objective of bridging the gap in
communication between farmers and the government. Their primary responsibility
is to ensure that information pertaining to various agricultural activities flows to the
farmers. All new innovations, schemes, subsidies are first communicated to the
Agri Assistants who in turn plan the communication of the same to the farmers
under their jurisdiction. These officers regularly meet farmer groups and
representatives from the Gram Panchayat and pass on the information. The DOA
ensures that all Agri Assistants are trained on the various schemes and innovations
so that the same can be communicated effectively to all farmers. They are also sent
to training institutes outside the state to learn new innovations and technology in
agriculture.
Taluka
Officer
Personal visit
Agri Magazines
TV & Radio Ads
SMS Service
Internet
Schemes &
Benefits
New
innovations
Crop info
Farmers &
Farmer
Groups
Feedback from Farmers - Minimal
73
4.3.2 Information dissemination to the Farmers
As part of the study, a survey was conducted to understand the flow of information
from various sources to the Farmers. Farmers who grow high value crops like
Grapes, Pomegranate, Banana, sugarcane were met and asked questions about the
various sources of their information. Some of the key findings from the survey
interviews are as mentioned below:
Most farmers work independently and do not have memberships with any of the
grower groups or associations at the state level. They were only aware of the local
farmers club and a few of them are members of the same (initiated at the village
level by the agri assistant). It was noted that only a few big producers are part of
associations like ‘Mahagrapes’/ ‘Mahaanar’. Mostly the resource rich growers had
better awareness about such associations as compared to small growers.
Farmers sell their crops through various modes
- In the local market by setting up their own stalls (Mostly small
producers)
- Through commission agents in the local markets
- Through APMC yard that help farmers sell their produce
- Collection centers set up by retailers Ex: Reliance collection centers
- Directly to processors / exporters
Among the farmers that were met, all of the above methods were used to sell their
crops.
It was noted that the major source of information about new innovations,
technology and production related issues is the sales agents of private companies
who approach farmers to sell new technology. Farmers depend on these agents for
any demonstrations and guidance in using the new technology.
74
Other common channels of communication that farmers use to procure information
is through ASC, Agriculture related magazines, TV & Radio ads.
For information pertaining to price of crops and demand in the market, farmers
depend on the local traders or commission agents. They have a network through
which they find out the price before taking it to the market.
For information pertaining to crop production, use and benefits of new technology
and new schemes, the farmers also seek information through their own network of
other farmers in the village. If any farmer has successfully implemented a new
technology, he then passes on this info to this other farmer friends and this is how
information spreads in the village.
Some of the farmers have also subscribed to services like SMS that provides them
information on the latest technology and innovations.
None of the farmers depend on any Government aid or support to sell their produce
or procure information. Though most of them are aware of the existence of the
Agriculture assistant, they don’t seem to approach him/her for any assistance. If
any assistance is sought, then it is mostly to seek information pertaining to
government subsidies or some technical inputs.
It was also noted that the farmers did not have any links with the processors to
gather information pertaining to demand for crops and the expected variety or
quality. Only in some cases where contract farming was prevalent, such
information exchange existed. Else farmers have no information about the need for
any particular type of crop.
Farmers find information coming from Agri assistants to be outdated and most of
the time not relevant to the query. Most farmers felt that Agri assistants do not have
any involvement, are not well informed and work just based on targets given to
them. Even though they are available and approachable, farmers don’t find it useful
to approach these officers to seek information. Another observation was that these
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Agricultural assistants targeted only resource rich growers and work more on target
basis than People basis.
Given below in Fig No 3 is a pictorial representation of information flow from
various sources to farmers –
Figure 2 : Source of Information to Farmers
The size of the circle is directly proportional to the dependency of the farmer on
that source for procuring information
As indicated in the figure most of the farmers mostly rely on Sales agents and Agri
service center to procure information related to production of the crops. Findings
strongly reveal that dependence of the farming community for obtaining
information on the agri assistant is very limited.
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4.3.3 Information dissemination to the Processors
Processors / Exporters are an important stakeholder in the value chain who are
involved in bringing a product from production to the end customer. They play an
important role in ensuring that the farmers are benefited through them by being
able to increase production based on demand and also get a fair price for their
produce.
Processors seek various types of information pertaining to availability, type and
cost of the crop that are produced in different regions. This information helps them
plan their procurement schedules, which in turn helps them increase productivity,
cover risks and get better costing.
Based on the survey, Processors depending on their scale of operations, procure the
crops mostly from local villages or nearby regions. Some of the processors who
need the crops on large scale have a network across the country through which they
procure the produce. Their source or mode of procurement is mostly through local
agents or commission agents who act as middle men between the processors and
the farmers. Large processors have a network of their own spread across the
country through which they connect with local farmers and procure the produce.
The sources through which processors gather information are the traders from the
local markets, commission agents and their own teams spread across the country.
They have no contact from government who provide such information.
The types of information that processors need are mostly on the availability of
crops which can be procured immediately. Apart from this, they also seek
information pertaining to standard, grade and quality of the produce.
Processors have no network or connect with any Government agency or
representative from whom they can source the information that they need.
The government websites and other information services (ex: SMS services) give
out information that are not relevant or are outdated. For Example, an exporter of
Bananas was receiving SMS update on the current price of Bananas in the market
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which was outdated. For about 10 days continuously not only did he get a constant
price but it was also at least 15 rupees less than the actual price prevalent in the
market.
There is no one point contact or agency from where information can be sought or
feedback provided.
Processors are not involved in any of the Government related initiatives and this
hinders the process of information exchange between them.
There is no source or network through which the Government seeks any
information or input from processors pertaining to the need or demand for crops
and any new
Given below in Fig no 4 is a pictorial representation of information flow from
various sources to the Processors
Figure 3 : Source of Information to Processors
Processors,
Exporters
Traders in the
Local Market Commission
Agents
Own Survey Staff Directly from
Farmers
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It is interesting to note that even though Processors and Exporters are an important
part of the value chain; their network with the Department of agriculture for any
information flow is almost non-existent.
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4.4 Gaps in existing communication process
Based on the observations made above, and the information collected from various
stakeholders, gaps in the communication process / information flow have been identified.
Concerns related to existing communication system, gaps in the system and the needs for
capacity building are given in the following section.
i. The Department of Agriculture has brought in a structure and hierarchy within the
department and appointed various officers at the Taluka/Mandal and Village levels
with the sole aim of working towards the betterment of High value horticulture
producers. They also have set up a system of Communication across various levels and
functions to ensure that the flow of exchange happens in a structured manner within
the departmental communication process. However what needs to be taken care of are
the distortions that happen at various levels while information is being exchanged.
Also another factor that needs attention is the coordination among the different
functions as there is low awareness of the various schemes implemented by these
organizations. The various units like the Marketing board, ATMA, Horticulture
mission implement various schemes under their function for the benefit of the farmers.
However, inter-departmental communication is not that effective as compared with
intra-departmental communication. This communication network needs to be
strengthened so that the communication or information being transmitted is not
repetitive and is consistent.
ii. Organizations like ATMA and Horticulture mission take up a lot of initiatives that
provide a strong support system to farmers and farmer groups. Similarly MSAMB
tracks all crop arrival data and price for the day and publish the same on the website.
However both farmers and processors have no information about the same and depend
on local traders and agents for such information. This shows the need to create a hub
that can collect and transfer such information to all stakeholders in the value chain.
ICT in Agri Business can help sort out these problems by bringing together the
stakeholders and create a network between all of them.
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iii. Most of the farmers also felt that the schemes and initiatives taken up by the
Government were not relevant and did not address the core issue or problems faced by
the farmer. Here again the onus of responsibility lies with the Agri Assistant who needs
to be more pro active and involved with the farmers so that the underlying issues can
be communicated back to the Directorate. Many farmers gave a feedback that seeds or
infrastructure is delivered when it is too late for implementation as most of the
production is season dependant. Backward integration of information is not effective
and timely. This calls for a need to strengthen system for information exchange where
any implementation is made relevant and time bound.
iv. The Government has set up various initiatives through which all officers are trained on
the new technologies and innovations. However, the general perception among farmers
is that these officers are not well informed and have outdated information. This belief
has led to entire network of farmers refraining from seeking any help from these
officers. The farmers don’t seem to want to approach any of these officers for
assistance or seek any information from them.
v. There also seems to be a disconnect in the awareness about the government assistance
among the farmers. Big producers or resource rich growers seem to be more aware of
the officers than the small growers. The information reaches only to a select few
farmers within the village. Agriculture Assistants seem to be target centered rather than
people centered. Farmers are not ready to risk their crops in the process of
experimenting with new technology. Higher awareness and education of the
technology among farmers needs to be undertaken. This calls for a need to build
capacity of the personnel and the system that does the transfer of information. This
stresses on the fact that there is a need to change in behavior and attitude among the
personnel in charge for disseminating information
vi. There is absolutely no source of data which can help processors get information
pertaining to harvesting schedules of crops and prices in the market. They depend on
their own network for all source of information. There is no Communication channel
built between the primary stakeholders like the producers, processors, marketing
department and the department of Agriculture. This creates an imbalance in the
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demand and supply for the available crops and in turn affect price. Since there exists
no communication channels between the Government and processors, it hinders the
flow of information both ways. There is absolutely no backward integration of
information in the sense of understanding the needs of the processors before designing
any new agriculture related initiatives. The network between Government and the
processors needs immediate attention as this can ease a lot of demand supply issues
and in turn design schemes that can assist the farmer improve his efficiency in
production Similarly, the producer groups need to facilitate the farmers to develop the
production schedule to match with the processor procurement schedule, in order to
reduce gap in requirement between the producer and the processor.
vii. Most of the best practices spread only among personal networks through sharing on an
informal basis between them. Therefore, as a communication strategy, an indigenous
system of communication from farmer to farmer may be institutionalized for effective
diffusion of communication as indicated in the report.
On the whole, there seems to be a need to establish a system of communication that will
help build a network between the Government / Farmers / Processors so as to make the
exchange of information more robust and effective. There exists a gap between the
demand and supply of information among stakeholders.
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4.5 Market Intelligence
Market Intelligence is a very important tool to gather the right information to be
disseminated to the stakeholders. It is an essential part of the communication strategy. A
strong Market Intelligence System is essential for the programs like AIDIP and even
otherwise to make the horticulture sector demand-driven and competitive.
4.5.1 Definition of Market Intelligence (MI)
Market Intelligence has been defined variously by different authors, a more
acceptable definition of Market Intelligence (MI) is as follows;
“Marketing intelligence (MI) is the everyday information relevant to the target
markets, gathered and analyzed specifically for the purpose of accurate and
confident decision-making in determining market opportunity and market
development.”
MI is primarily external data collected and analyzed by a business about the
markets that it anticipates to participate in, with the intention of using it in making
decisions.
4.5.2 Uses of MI
Market Intelligence is generally used to reduce losses or increase profits.
Information needs vary from actor to actor across value chain. For example;
Farmers are interested in knowing
o What to produce (crop, acreage, variety etc.)
o How to produce (technology)
o When to sell the produce
o What quantities to be sold / stored for future sale
o Whom to sell / where / in which market to sell the produce
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o Who is interested in buying my produce
o What price I would get for the different grades that I have to offer
o If I do some value addition, what is the additional price I might get
Traders are interested in knowing
o How much quantity is available for sale
o What is the demand at end-use markets
o Which grades / packaging etc. is more preferred by the consumers
Proactive and smart use of MI is early identification of risks and opportunities in
the market before they become obvious. This process is also called as the Early
Signal Analysis. With respect to agriculture, use of MI will facilitate value chain
actors in various crucial decisions including the following;
Reducing losses by storing the surplus quantity
Control prices by controlling supply as per the demand
Production planning as per market demand
Selection of alternative marketing channels to maximise returns
Decision on value addition for optimised value realisation
4.5.3 Process of Market Intelligence
Market Intelligence function can be described in following six stages;
1. Identification of data source: To start with, it is important to first establish
the data needs. Clearly defined objectives help in understanding data needs.
Once the needs are established, source of data should be identified. In most
cases, data can be sourced from the stakeholders itself.
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2. Collection of data: After the data source is known, collection of data is the
next step. Secondary data may be collected in the form it is available,
whereas the primary data needs to be collected using various statistical
tools. Use of appropriate tools is also important to ensure the quality of data
required for MI.
3. Validation of data: All data collected from the field / market may not be
relevant to meet the objectives / decision making. Only information which
contains valuable insights and is of strategic benefit is validated.
4. Analysis of data: Analysis of data converts the data into information, which
may be used by any stakeholder. Analysis provides a deeper understanding
of the real time situation. Analysis of data transforms hard analytical facts
into actionable results.
5. Information dissemination: Sharing information and distributing it to the
relevant stakeholders is one of the key deliverables of any MI project.
Information may be shared in a range of different formats and using various
modes of communication. Information sharing should be a two-way process
so as to ensure getting feedback from all stakeholders.
6. Decision making: Success of a MI function lies in its ability to shape and
influence decision-making and impact positively on the business.
Accordingly, the measure of a successful intelligence project is one that
manages to translate the findings into strategic actions in order to maximise
return on investment.
Each of the above-mentioned stages is important for a market intelligence function
and shall follow each other in the given order. Missing one step would hamper the
entire process and lead to the failure of the function.
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4.5.4 Present Status of Market Intelligence in Maharashtra
Government of Maharashtra through MSAMB has developed a Market Intelligence
system called ‘MARKNET’. It is a network of computerised APMCs, which
provide detailed market information on prices of agricultural commodities on a
daily basis.
Out of the total 295 APMCs and 609 sub markets, 294 APMCs and 66 sub yards
have been computerized and connected to MSAMB's Web site through internet.
Computers and peripherals have been provided free of cost to these APMCs under
the AGMARKNET scheme of Director of Marketing & Inspection (DMI), Govt. of
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India. A computer operator enters daily data on market price and arrival quantities
of major commodities of the respective APMC. Data entered into the application
through customized software (the software has an interface in Marathi language) is
being uploaded on MSAMB's Web site (www.msamb.com) by each APMC.
MSAMB has an IT department to implement and operate this system.
For dissemination of the collected information, MSAMB started a scheme for
providing subsidised electronic display systems to the APMCs. The scheme
provides subsidies ranging from 33% – 50% depending on the income of the
APMCs. 69 APMCs have availed of the scheme benefits so far. Under the scheme
Market Information Displays (Projection TV Systems) are installed at Market
Yards in such a way that viewers can easily see the information. This system
consist of one computer, UPS, Internet, Projection TV, device connecting TV and
computer and software for displaying price information in Marathi language.
Customized software provides an option of displaying either APMC wise or
commodity wise arrival and price information in Marathi language on the
Projection TV.
The APMCs where electronic display system is not available, information is
manually written on the black board at the APMCs for the farmers and traders to
make use of it. The information board also displays arrival and price data of nearby
and other major APMCs of the state related to the commodities relevant to the
respective APMC.
Other than the above, NCDEX has facilitated electronic display systems to
APMC’s in Maharashtra. Currently, these systems have been successfully installed
at 160 APMCs and installation work is in progress at 83 APMCs. Future market
and spot market rates are displayed through this system.
MSAMB has further started working on price forecasting system for major
commodities in the state, so that the farmers can take a decision on right time of
transaction. MSAMB is providing price information to Nokia for its market
intelligence application developed for farmers. This information is provided to
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subscribers through SMS too. Information of about 80 commodities is provided
currently. There are about 2 lakh subscribers of this service as informed by
MSAMB Official.
While “MARKNET” is related more to arrival and price data at APMC markets
implemented by MSAMB, GoM has another function on weather forecast and crop
production practices named “Mahaagri SMS” implemented by Dept of Agriculture.
Mahaagri SMS system has a database of more than 3.2 lakh farmers covering
around 43 crops. Advisory services are provided through SMS in Marathi as well
as English languages on weather forecast and disease and pest surveillance. The
platform is also used for awareness creation among the farmers and administrative
networking. The major information providers / users of the platform are Taluka
Agriculture Officers, Indian Meteorological Department, Pune and other related
government departments. The system so far has covered less than 3% of the total
121 lakh (approx.) farmers of the state and needs a rapid expansion.
4.5.5 Issues/Challenges and Possible Solutions
Traditionally, the traders at APMCs have their own information network. They are
connected with traders at other markets mainly through cell phones. Information on
demand, supply and price are exchanged and accordingly rates of the commodities
are decided.
This informal market intelligence system is pro-traders and farmers are not
involved in this system. The system has enabled traders to decide or rather rule the
market prices. Farmers, since long have been facing lack of transparency in price
discovery mechanism and are unable to take any decision related to marketing their
own produce. This situation often results in distress sale of agricultural produce by
the farmers. Perishable nature of the agricultural produce adds to the adversities.
Though the state government realises the importance of market intelligence system
and has implemented MARKNET to facilitate transparency in price discovery. The
government has also realised that the information displayed at APMCs is old by the
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time it reaches to the end-user i.e. farmers. This is because the information is
displayed at APMC and farmer gets the information only when he reaches APMC
with his produce. Due to lack of appropriate and adequate storage infrastructure at
most of the APMCs, the information does not help farmers in decision making. As
a solution to this problem and to make the MARKNET system really useful,
MSAMB is working on the price forecasting and information dissemination
through SMS.
However, these systems are still in nascent stage and shall take time to reach to a
large target population and have their own challenges such as;
1. Creation of a comprehensive database of the farmer groups: Maharashtra
has approximately 12 million farmers and an authentic database of the
farmers groups and organizations is not available. Moreover, not every
farmer has a mobile phone and access to SMS or Internet services. GoI,
GoM and many private players through several projects are running village
level information kiosks but the coverage is still very low and hence direct
reach to the mass population is a big challenge.
2. Large number of agricultural commodities: There are a large number of
agricultural commodities classified under the broad categories of food
grains, pulses, oilseeds, fruits, vegetables, flowers, spices, fibre crops, nuts
and plantation crops etc. Most of the farmers in India grow more than one
crop and needs diverse information for each of these crops. Moreover,
cropping pattern keeps changing depending on the perceived demand and
price of these commodities. It is a challenge to provide the required
information on all commodities.
3. Accuracy of the forecast price: Price forecasting is a good solution to
provide some relief to the farmers from day to day price fluctuations. But
the success entirely depends on the accuracy of the forecasted price. Price
forecasting should be based on scientific method and inputs used for the
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same should be a combination of data received from farm i.e. supply side as
well as market i.e. demand side.
4. Supply-driven nature of agriculture: Since the agriculture in India is mostly
supply-driven and not demand driven, it becomes very difficult to maintain
demand-supply equilibrium. This is the most important factor attributing to
price fluctuations on a seasonal basis. It is important to change its nature to
demand-driven by doing crop planning at micro as well as macro level.
5. Perishable nature of agricultural produce: Agriculture produce especially
horticultural commodities are highly perishable in nature and provide
limited scope for long-term storage and waiting for the market to arrive at a
right price.
6. Inadequate storage and value addition infrastructure: Capacities of the farm
level and market level value addition and storage infrastructure is very
limited. It is almost non-existent for perishable commodities and hence
farmers are bound to sell the produce at on-going market price. However, in
case of food grains, the problem is not so big.
To address the above-mentioned issues, a comprehensive Market Intelligence
function needs to be developed. Also, there is a need to integrate the various efforts
made towards creation of database, collection of market information and
dissemination of information. The MI function should be linked with other similar
initiatives going-on in the state. There are many other projects working in isolation
and can be connected together depending on the synergies in the projects for
example Common Service Centres (CSC) of Dept of Science & Technology, GoI,
Mahaagri SMS system of Department of Agriculture, GoM etc. This would not
only bring in efficiency of operation but also ensure optimal use of the state
resources and provide comprehensive information service to the farmers and other
stakeholders.
As described earlier in this chapter, the process of a market intelligence function
starts with identification of data sources and ends with decision making by using
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the data after appropriate analysis. Each step is critical to a successful market
intelligence function.
It has been observed that most of the inefficient market intelligence functions
across the sectors are good at first four stages but lack focus on the last two stages.
The last two stages i.e. information dissemination and use of information in
decision making are the factors responsible for achieving the underlying objectives
for which, the market intelligence function was actually developed.
Hence, in this case, it is very important to link the market intelligence function with
the communication strategy. This will ensure that the right information reaches to
the right target audience in right time. It is also important to use the appropriate
mode of communication so that the target audience can understand the provided
information properly and use it for their benefit.
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4.6 The need for streamlining communication for agriculture sector in
Maharashtra
Maharashtra has a diversity of agro climatic zones suitable for a variety of high-value
crops and the State is largest producer of fruits in the country. Hence, there is a need to
exploit the already existing production base of the State for linkages with Global value
chains and increasing the overall income of farmers. However the production system,
despite interventions through several channels of communication and research –extension
linkages, is yet to get aligned with international standards. To achieve the desired goal of
Maharashtra emerging as not only the national leader of perishable high value horticultural
produce but also a prominent player in global value chains, the extension system needs
revamping/re orientation as a market led extension system. This would necessitate in depth
knowledge of value chains, besides strong skills to deal with farmer groups and their
capacity building.
While there should be better coordination with research and extension, equally or
important is the need to connect every farmer in the State to the extension machinery. The
communication system should gainfully adopt ICT to provide customised solution to the
farmers for the diversified crops and under the varied Agro Climatic conditions in the
State. While the State has earned the status as the leader of fruit production in the country,
there is still huge gap in productivity in a range of crops. While some regions of the State
poses challenges of agro climatic extremities, there is yet another challenge in the
diversified nature of the farmers, the ultimate link in the value chain. Reaching out to the
large number of resource poor farmers and those farmers belonging to the socially under
privileged sections is the future challenge to the extension system.
The communication channel should ensure the last mile connectivity and reaching out to
the masses should be the priority. Equally important is the mechanism to aggregate the
produce for the market with least wastages and cutting down the intermediaries to extent
possible and offering real time price information ensuring farmers a better price through an
appropriate grass roots level Institutional mechanism. While Govt of Maharashtra has
adopted several novel methods of information dissemination ranging from print media to
ICT enabled services; efficacy of many of these needs a closer analysis. The State also has
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been a fore runner in the promotion of Commodity Organisations. But the reach of these
organisations need to be expanded significantly if these were to have impact in the trading
of these commodities, both in the domestic market as well as in export market. All these
would require highly modernised extension machinery, be it in the State Govt., Private
Sector or under a PPP arrangement. There is also need for a better coordination with the
ongoing projects/initiatives in the Agriculture Sector in the State like the Maharashtra
Agricultural Project (World Bank), CAIM (IFAD) and Agri Infrastructure Investment
Programme (ADB). Interaction with selected officers of the state Govt during the course of
this study revealed the need for a well defined communication strategy and capacity
building programme for the various functionaries in the Agriculture Department and
MSAMB. The TA therefore proposes to provide a well defined road map for a
communication strategy encompassing all key stakeholders.
4.6.1 Proposed Structure (Cluster Approach) for Aggregation
The cluster concept focuses on the linkages and interdependencies among
stakeholders in the value chain for production, innovation and marketing of goods
and services. Clusters can be characterized as economic networks of strongly
interdependent stakeholders in a value adding production chain.
The Maharashtra Government has currently created various Co-operative Societies
that are created and governed by farmers. The two most important associations are
the Mahagrapes and the Mahaanar. The need of the hour is to spread awareness of
the benefits that can be obtained through such associations and spread the same to
other crops. Another important requirement is the need to include processors /
exporters as part of these associations as then it will complete the network and
ensure smooth functioning of these societies. The cluster approaches in the Agri
Business sector can bring in a lot of value add for all stakeholders involved in the
chain.
The methodology involved in creating clusters are:
a. Grouping of farmers based on their land holding, type of crop grown, background
etc at the village level. Each group can consist of a maximum number of 10- 15
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farmers to ensure effective operations. These multiple sub groups come together to
form associations that sustain on their own network. They form Producers Interest
Group (PIG) that supports each other to sustain and improve production efficiency.
b. Various such PIG’s at the village level come together to form societies. These
societies partner with other stakeholders in the value chain to form a network that
is mutually beneficial. This kind of network helps the flow of information between
various stakeholders and this in turn helps increase efficiency in planning and
designing schemes for both production and marketing.
c. These societies are then governed by a board as a federation. This will help monitor
the operations of the clusters and ensure that there is long term sustainability for
such Producers organizations.
The statement indicated as points a, b, c illustrate the process and conceptual
understanding of cluster approach which is illustrated in fig no.5.
Figure 4 : Conceptual Model of Cluster Approach
Some of the key features in institutionalizing farmer groups and clustering them
are:
HPS
Village
A
HPS HPS
Federation
Village
B
Village
C
Village
D
PIGs PIGs PIGs PIGs
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• Develop a sense of interdependency among farmers (Homogenous) to help each
other and adopt new innovations with ease and sense of trust
• Develop management and entrepreneurial capacities in farmer’s organizations
• Contribute to capacity building of the entire system by learning from one another
and keeping the information flow open
• Strengthen systems in a way that there is an effective exchange of information
among stakeholders that results in a well coordinated system functioning as one.
• Promote relationships between farmers and processors so that there is a balance in
demand and supply not just in quantity but also quality and variety of crop
produced. This will result in optimization of the requirement cycle.
Based on the above recommendation, a pictorial representation of operational
dimension of the cluster approach is proposed as a strategic communication
network for diffusion of information from stakeholders to horticulture producers’
community to enhance the value chain.
This provides a mechanism to ensure the last mile connectivity in terms reaching
out to the masses by incorporating appropriate Farmers Organizations in the
Communication Strategy with a focus on Global Value Chains.
The figure indicates an appropriate mechanism for the formation of sustainable
grassroots institutional development initiative for a value chain approach to agri-
business in Maharashtra. As part of field visits, TA team assessed the linkages
between State Agriculture Department and local primary fruits and vegetables
producers of the region. Absence of grassroots level farmer organizations
interrupted high value performance between the primary producers to the
processor. In addition, the availability of direct transfer of technical information
and communication network between primary producers/processors and
Department of Horticulture is limited. Analysis revealed strongly that primary
importance should be given for the formation of producers’ groups as well as
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development of technical communication network through ICT (Information,
Communication, and Technology).
Hence, it is proposed to establish primary producers’ society at appropriate levels
(District/Block) in the State particularly in remote areas and wherever there is
concentration of small and marginal farmers. These societies might be linked
directly to SHGs or through a mechanism of self help promoters (SHP) which
might be the local NGOs.
As depicted in the figure, grouping of SHGs as one macro-cluster would enhance
the supply of required quality and quantity of produce to the processors. On the
other hand, another cluster group may facilitate fortnightly supply of high value
horticulture crop to the producers in order to meet the capacity requirement of the
buyers/processors. Such co-ordination, scheduling of supply and demand between
the various stakeholders would enable more efficient agri-business process of the
region.
Commissioner of Agriculture
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Figure 5: Structural Dimensions of Communication to ensure last mile connectivity
PP II GG PP II GG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
PPIIGG
Clustering of
PIGs for
Procurement of
required quantity
& quality
PPrroodduucceerrss SSoocciieettyy
State Level - Director
Regional Level
Deputy Directorate – Regional Office
District Level
District Superintendent Agri-Officer
Sub Divisional Level
Sub Divisional Agri Officer
Taluk Level
Taluk Agri Officer
Mandal Agri Officer
Agriculture Assistant
Agriculture
Supervisor
* Leaflet * Brochures * Magazines * Field
Demonstration * Face to Face
Dept. of
Horticulture
Market
Export /
Processor
Wholesaler
Retail Outlets
Local Market
HHoorrttiiccuullttuurree
BBuussiinneessss
PPrroommoottiioonn
UUnniitt
Information
flow happens
through
(1) Monthly
Review
Meetings.
(2) Circulars
(3) E-mails
Macro
Level
Micro
Level
Meso
Level
* Producers Interest Group (PIG)
97
As part of organization network, horticulture producers network are limited to
conventional production paradigm. The high value primary chain producers are not
grouped based on the requirement of quantity and quality to meet the demand of
the processor of the region to move up to the level of value chain. There is a need
to develop institutional network of high value producers’ group and producers’
society in order to effectively function with producers, stakeholders and suppliers
with processing group. The project needs to facilitate for the formation of self help
or growers cluster group for effective functioning of primary producers groups.
Linkages between micro, meso and macro levels (as illustrated in the above Figure)
i.e. producer to SHGs/SHPs, Producer Society to State department, Producer
Society to market along with the State department and apex body of societies, need
to be developed for sustainability and efficient flow of information.
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4.7 Points for consideration for proposed Communication Strategy
Any communication strategy would need to factor in the ground realities in terms of socio-
economic indicators such as literacy level, availability of telecommunication facilities etc.
in order to be effective. The communication strategy needs to focus both on channels of
communication and the content to be delivered besides the mode of last mile connectivity.
These are the most important factors of any communication strategy and if any of these
factors is ignored, the overall effectiveness of the strategy reduces considerably. Often it
has been observed while modern tools of communication are being used increasingly
across various sectors for speedy and wider delivery, the content part gets overlooked.
In addition to these, the other aspect which needs to be address is institutional capacity for
delivery of knowledge and information. This would require a lot of attention in
Maharashtra to not only organize farmers into effective communication targets but also to
build the capacities of State Government officials. Although, a lot of efforts and money is
put into agricultural communication by the Government every year, however, the
efficiency and efficacy of the methods used by the Government departments needs to be
assessed. Hence, there is a strong need to evolve a strategy with a clear vision and make it
a part of the overall agricultural policy in order to make it more effective. Additionally, the
outreach of modern tools in Maharashtra is another important aspect worth considering
e.g. Mahagiri SMS service is a very innovative and effective tool for technical knowledge
transfer, however, a subscriber base of only around 3 lakh represents only about 2.5% of
the rural households.
The feedback on such innovative ICT based tools in agriculture in general is that most of
these activities pay less attention to the content which is relevant to regions, if not farms.
In the context of Maharashtra which has a fairly large number of elite farmers whose
expectations is much beyond the general package of practices generally offered through
electronic media. A stronger interface with research and academic institutions and the
extension machinery therefore is needed to develop relevant content and possibly a holistic
Decision Support System. This is an area which needs addressal in Maharashtra. Equally
important is the need to reach out to the small and marginal resource poor farmers who
forms the bulk of the production base and whose livelihoods depend on agriculture. A
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bottom up approach needs to be evolved to have an appropriate institutional mechanism
which is sustainable. This warrants that they may be made partners in the commodity value
chains.
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4.8 Communication gap in value chain
Communication strategic alliances that facilitate the exploitation of scarce resources
amongst partner institutions/agencies to fulfil the following 3 communication networks:
A. Organizational Network and Communication
B. Functional Network and Communication
C. Technical Information Network Communication
While assessing the chain of governance from producers to processers through marketers
to customers, it was observed that the major bottlenecks at the micro-level
communications are “Master Production Scheduling and Horticultural Produce
Requirements” and understanding between the producers and the processors where
producers are unable to share and communicate a realistic plan of production of
horticultural produce, scheduling of produce delivery and maintaining the information on
shelf-life of produce as essential parameters to buyers. On the other hand, the processors as
part of produce requirement are not being able to provide capacity building program for
producers, officials of Department of agriculture, local NGOs etc. The proposed approach
at the grassroots level will improve the local production management and community
leadership capacity of small scale horticultural entrepreneurs through capacity building to
improve the quality and increase the productivity of the horticultural sector and thereby
contribute to food security in Maharashtra.
A workshop at Pune was organized, which allowed them to experience the power of the
case analysis as a problem solving tool, and helped them understand the importance of
grassroots level organizations of farmers in the communication channel to enhance the
reach as the first phase of the workshop. The current status and issues faced were
discussed in detail during this workshop held on 19th
October 2012. Detailed proceedings
of this workshop have already been shared. On the basis of inputs received during this
workshop, a generic framework indicating three categories of communication network,
which are likely to link organizational, function and technical communication network for
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effective implementation of the communication strategy at the producer, marketer and
across stakeholders is depicted below:
Figure 6: Proposed Communication Network for Maharashtra
Traders (Local Agents)
Retailers
Wholesalers
Street Vendors
Processors
Producers
Action-oriented communication
FFEEDDEERRAATTIIOONN// CCOONNSSOORRTTIIUUMM
PPRROODDUUCCEERRSS’’
SSOOCCIIEETTYY
SSHHGGss
•• SSttaattee DDeeppaarrttmmeenntt
•• MMaarrkkeett
•• GGrroouupp PPrroocceessssiinngg SSHHPP
Procedural
communication
Socio-emotional
communication
Communication Network System
Organizational Level
Functional Level
Technical Level
Micro
Level
Meso
Level
Macro
Level
Individual enterprises (SHP /
SHG / E-team)
Federation/Consortium,
Associations, Councils and
other organizations
The Government / Marketing
Boards / Private Industries
(Problem-focused
communication)
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Currently, the information is delivered for a small group of producers to supply required
material to the processors. However, clustering of multiple groups of small groups for
procurement of high value added crop does not exist due to lack of institutional framework
at the micro level. A network of Grassroots producers to the Federation through Market
and Customer is not identified, however, if executed appropriately could serve the purpose
of effective communication.
4.8.1 Major Challenges
The major challenges currently faced for the agricultural communication and
information dissemination, which needs to be taken care of in the proposed
communication strategy, include:
1. Although, the literacy rate in rural areas is around 77%, this represent only the
basic literacy. A major portion of this literate population might not be able to
understand the technical knowledge in written form. Due to this, the written
information in the form of leaflets, pamphlets or mobile SMS’s is may not be
of much use to majority of the farmers. Hence, a more holistic approach is
required reach out to masses. This approach should be based on other tools
which can be utilized by the entire population including illiterate farmers
Further, it is also important to manage the quality of information flow across
the hierarchy without any communication gap while transferring information to
farmers through 3-4 levels of information hierarchy started from research
institutions. Thus managing the quality of information disseminated is another
major concern which needs to be tackled.
2. ATMA is currently the last leg of information flow initiated through the
department of Agriculture. However, currently, the capacity building of ATMA
officials seems inappropriate in Maharashtra which needs immediate attention.
3. In addition, limited capacity of District and State level Government officials in
terms of delivery of the communication is another challenge. In addition to the
challenges related to capacity building of various functionaries, there is also
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absence of any assessment mechanism to understand the gaps in the capabilities
of various individuals involved in the communication dissemination.
4. Although, Maharashtra has a few larger commodity based Farmers
Organizations, these organizations target mainly the large horticulture farmers.
Even with the presence of these Farmers Organizations, the small and marginal
farmers remain uncovered. Hence, the coverage of small and marginal farmers
under the purview of Farmers organizations is another concern which needs
attention.
5. All India Radio and Television have been used continuously over the last 30-40
years for disseminating agricultural knowledge and information. However, the
controls on type of information disseminated through these sources have not
been very effective in the past. Mostly, very generic information is
communicated which does not generate much interest amongst the farmers.
Further, it needs to be assessed further that what % of time farmers spent on
these media and the timings and duration of agricultural programmes need to be
planned accordingly.
6. Absence of any dedicated and continuous mechanism for dissemination of
information related to service providers such as input supply and crop insurance
services is yet another challenge In addition; the availability of credit from
various categories of financial institutions and banks is also communicated
mainly through the individual marketing initiatives of the specific credit or
service providers. Farmers don’t have any tool or system wherein a
comparative analysis of various service providers is possible. Although, the
web portal started by Department of Agriculture (E-Parwana) takes care of
input (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides) related information, outreach of such a
platform without the interface of Farmers Organization is a major challenge.
4.9 Proposed Strategic Interventions
In the above background, the strategy being suggested has considered both the
challenges of diverse agro climatic zones, diversity of farmers across various
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regions, variety of crops grown in the state and the existing communication
channels. In this context, it is attempted here to chalk out a detailed communication
plan for the state of Maharashtra based on the following strategic inputs:
1. Intra Departmental Interventions: As already discussed, delivery of
knowledge and information require a lot of attention in Maharashtra to
not only bring small and marginal farmers under the purview of
commodity specific farmers organizations but also to build the
capacities of State Government officials and ATMA officials. While
care has been taken to study the existing channels of communication on
the basis of discussions with various stakeholders, however, any
communication plan need to have a comprehensive assessment of the
existing status. This aspect of communication is so critical that it require
a much more comprehensive exercise including a detailed capacity need
assessment and a farmer level survey to understand the efficiency and
outreach of communication initiated by the department. The field
survey proposed under this TA assignment could not be undertaken as
per the request from the State Government; however, during the course
of this assignment, it is felt that a deeper understanding of the current
status of various communication channels is required. Hence, the State
Government may consider to undertake a detailed capacity need
assessment for all categories of functionaries within the State
Agriculture Department and a farmers’ survey to understand the
efficiency and outreach of communication which would provide inputs
for formulating the communication strategy and plan detailed capacity
building interventions across various levels of the department. This
capacity building should include both technical training as well as
training for use of latest technology and multi-media based platforms of
communication.
Further, the capacity building issue of ATMA including representation
of women extension officers across the ATMA’s and at the state level
should also be assessed and efforts should be made to make available
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the suitably trained staff at ATMA level and increase the no. of women
extension specialists across the state. This is especially important in
Vidharbha region of Maharashtra wherein during the months of
migration, women members of the household undertake all the
agricultural activities. At such times, it is important to involve women
producers in the communication hierarchy and the availability of
women extension officers would help to involve women producers in
various communication activities.
2. Importance of Farmer Organizations in increasing Reach: As
already indicated, the outreach of existing commodity specific Farmers
Organization is limited. In order to increase the overall reach of the
agricultural knowledge and information, it is important to make Farmer
Organizations as the main touch points for the information
dissemination. Instead of individual farmers, the Farmer Organizations
should be the last leg of hierarchical flow of information dissemination
in order to reach out to rural masses. It may need to be appreciated that
considering the population of the state, it would not be possible to reach
all the individual farmers by any communication strategy. This further
increases the significance of farmer organizations which can act as a
funnel for disseminating the useful information. AICs being established
under the Krishi Vistar prakalp might brought under the purview of
these Organizations with provision of various ICT enabled tools
including Internet and mobile connection. Further, the kind of tools to
be used in these AICS should include a mix of traditional as well as ICT
based methods with a stress on graphical and visual description in
traditional tools and multi-media based ICT enabled tools which are
visually more appealing to the targeted groups. Further, some specific
applications based tools might be developed for 3-4 major perishable
commodities of the state with the specific inputs from subject matter
specialists.
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Currently, the no. small and marginal farmers covered under the
commodity specific farmer organizations are limited in the state.
Further, these organizations are limited to specific commodity belts in
one particular area of the State. State Government may promote
inclusion of small and marginal farmers through adding a one more leg
in the form of SHGs or Farmer groups (Krishi Saptaks) as members of
these commodity specific organizations instead of direct membership of
each and every farmer. Further, instead of confining to one particular
commodity belt, these organizations should work at the state level to
transfer commodity specific information across the state. The
commodity specific farmer organizations could be the nodal agencies
for the launch of communication strategy in order to increase the overall
efficiency of the communication. (As depicted in the Figure 1 above)
3. Handbook/Compendium by the Department: As already discussed,
the Department of Agriculture as well as MSAMB have already started
various initiatives mainly based on ICT enabled tools for information
dissemination related to technical as well as market related information.
However, it has been observed during interactions with various
stakeholders that all the stakeholders are not completely aware about the
kind of information disseminated through various means and also about
the use and applicability of various tools. Hence, it would be important
to undertake an exercise of preparation of a Handbook/Compendium
wherein all the initiatives and mode of use of various tools are discussed
in detail for use by extension officers and other important stakeholder
including Farmers Organizations. This exercise would not only increase
the overall awareness about various channels amongst the department
functionaries but would also improve the outreach of various activities.
4. Quality of Information and Content: The content for information
dissemination initiated through the State Agricultural Department
should undergo considerable checks before it is passed on to every next
level of information hierarchy. Currently, the information is collected
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through Agricultural Universities and Research Institutions. The
information collected from State agricultural Universities and KVKs is
further disseminated through the Agricultural Technology Management
Agency (ATMA) model of extension. However, there is no
Administrative Monitoring Mechanism to verify that the content of
information reaching the farmer is up to the mark as initiated by the
researchers.
A stronger interface with research and academic institutions and the
extension machinery therefore is needed to develop relevant content and
possibly a holistic Decision Support System. This is an area which
needs addressal in Maharashtra.
In order to manage the flow of information as per the original content
originated by the researchers, a mechanism for administrative
monitoring needs to be established at the State Department Level. This
could be in the form of a Farmer Information Monitoring Bureau as a
separate wing of the department. Alternatively, there could be
provisions for an authorized technological service provider who can
provide the required checks and balances at every level.
Further, the information dissemination through FM radio and
Doordarshan at the state level, should also come under the purview of
administrative monitoring for frequent checks and balances to maintain
the quality of information delivered through FM and television.
5. Medium of Information: In the recent years, the State Agriculture
Department has started using FM radio for agricultural communication.
Due to increasing popularity of FM radio, this could be a technology
enabler and can be more actively and effectively used by the
Agriculture Department. It could be an effective tool in entire rural
areas and also very remote areas for timely information dissemination
and also as a warning mechanisms especially in case of droughts which
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is a frequent phenomena in certain areas of Maharashtra. In addition to
this, the agriculture department can also promote community radio as a
forum for empowerment of the rural community
Further, the department should develop some crop specific and topic
specific video documentaries which could be delivered through ATMAs
or Doordarshan in a planned and regular manner. Ideally, these
documentaries and films should be in the vernacular language and
should be based on local case studies.
Further, a dedicated space and time should be blocked in advance for
TV, FM and print media for information dissemination through these
sources in a periodic manner. This, however, should be planned in a
careful manner after analysis of time and duration devoted by the
farmers to these media.
As already mentioned, there is a monthly publication (Shetkari) by the
department for technical knowledge and case studies of prosperous
farmers from within the State. However, the outreach of this magazine
is currently limited and many a times various stakeholders are not aware
about the information available in this publication. Here Farmer
Organizations might play a crucial role in increasing the outreach by
disseminating the information published in this quarterly magazine to
the targeted end point of the information hierarchy through its members.
6. Market Related Information: MSAMB has established a
comprehensive information system solution for APMCs. This
information system, MARKNET, is an agricultural market intelligence
network of computerized APMCs, established to provide
comprehensive information system solution to APMCs in the State.
Prices of agricultural commodities are made available through APMCs
on a daily basis on MSAMB website.
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There is a need to increase the outreach of this system as a direct source
of price related information for market intelligence and decision making
at the farmer’s level. Efforts should be made to further develop and link
this system with the end consumers and various other stakeholders in
the local as well as global markets to develop a Decision Support
System.
7. Mobile platform for Market Information and other services: For
dissemination of market related information, mobile based sms services
could be an important tool. Although, MSAMB has already started such
initiative through collaboration with NOKIA, the outreach of this
initiative is very limited as the current subscriber base is only around 2
lakh. This represents only around 2.5% of rural households of the state.
Further, due to lack of awareness and limited level of literacy, it is
difficult to disseminate technical information through mobile based sms
or application platforms; however, the price related information might
be successfully disseminated without any time lag through mobile based
SMS or applications.
The role of farmer organization would also assume further significance
to increase the outreach of this kind of information through mobile
based applications. Further, with the intervention of farmer
organizations, advanced mobile based applications could be developed
for use by farmer organization to communicate system-driven and crop-
specific decision support systems. Further, this could also prove a
technology enabler for disaster management and warnings.
In addition, mobile based applications to be used by Farmer
Organizations might also be developed for a comparative analysis of
various service providers and to disseminate detailed information about
various products available in the market such as Seeds, Fertilizers, Crop
Insurance, Credit provision, farm equipments etc. For information
collection and collation, various service providers might be roped in as
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this would provide them indirect marketing of their products and
services.
8. Role of organized retail players and other private players: The
corporates have started taking interest in agricultural extension activities
during the recent years. Some of the organized retail players and service
providers have already entered into agricultural extension and
communication sector through their own funding without any direct
involvement of agriculture departments. Two such examples are ITC’s
e-chaupal and Jain Irrigation’s extension activities.
Further PPP in agricultural communication is an untouched subject.
State Government might explore partnering with these kinds of
corporates for PPP based extension activities. These kinds of initiatives
might be further promoted by State Government through part funding
through various government funds and also through linkage of these
extension agencies with research organizations and marketing
information. This would not only start and alternate system of
agricultural communication but would also aid in improving efficiency
of the government system through synergic interventions of both the
channels. Under RKVY, an important programme PPPAID has been
launched where corporate can get funding upto 50% of the project cost
in case the programme covers agriculture based farmer oriented
interventions.
Further, with the advent of FDI and organized retail, the numerous retail
players would have to manage their supply chain continuously in order
to maintain quality and quantity of the produce in their stores. In such a
scenario, PPP based agriculture extension activities would be preferred
by these players and would assume greater significance.
Weighted deduction of expenditure (150%) on Extension is being
contemplated by the GOI and this initiative is expected to open up
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private channels of extension by Corporates. A PPP approach for such
initiatives would prove to be far more effective in terms of
accountability, acceptance etc. This aspect also would be closely
examined for the proposed communication strategy.
9. E-commerce: Another important aspect for linkages and information
dissemination would be the online business mainly for organized retail
players. State Government might plan linking various farmer
organizations with producers directly through online e-commerce portal
of its own. This kind of portal might also have the required technical
information including quality and certification related information
especially for export of commodities and also demand driven decision
support system for farmers wherein farmers undertake the production on
the basis of specific requirement of buyers/consumers in terms of
quality, quantity and other certification related aspects.
In addition to the above, such portal might also link various major
markets across the state with the future trading portals. This would
ensure involvement of more no. of players’ in future trading market of
agricultural commodities and it would not be possible for few large
players to hijack such future trading.
10. Individual/Group Communication: It is important to decide on the
individual or group communication depending upon the needs of the
stakeholders at each of the hierarchical levels. This choice further
assumes greater significance at the producers’ level in order to make the
communication more effective and without any communication gap.
At the last leg of information dissemination to the producers, both one
to one as well as group communication is important. In case of large
horticultural farmers, one to one interactions of horticulture specialists
and extension officers would be required whereas in case of small and
marginal farmers involved in field crops cultivation, group
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communication through group meetings, through farmer organizations
and through radio & television would be required..
At the level of the extension officers, group meetings with the district
departments for the discussions on overall strategy and goals for the
area would be more important than the one to one meetings. However,
in case of area specific problems or needs of the extension officers, one
to one meetings of these extension officers with subject matter
specialists would be required.
11. Communication timing: The right time of communication for specific
information is another important criteria which needs to be taken care of
while planning the yearly communication activities and budgeting.
Broadly, in respect of crop specific information, the timing of
dissemination could be:
a) Production
b) Post Harvest
c) Marketing
All the three timings are important from the stakeholder point of view as
lack of information at any of these three stages might result in loss of
revenue to the farmer. It is also important to disseminate the time
specific information for particular activities to be undertaken at that
time. E.g. A marketing related information would not be much
important at the production period. The importance of such information
would assume higher importance at the time of Post Harvest
Management. Further, at the actual marketing of the commodity, this
information would be of lesser important as the producer would not be
in a position to withhold the produce due to persihability of lack of
storage space. Hence, a careful annual planning would be required to
finalize the time of information dissemination on a specific topic.
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i Tradability = Σ (Imports + Exports)/ sector growth output ii It excludes sugar, distilleries and textiles from the definition of agri-industry and all its sub-sectors.