Emerging Issues in Agrl. Res. Mgt. - Lecture for 85 FOCARS 12-2-2009

8/14/2019 Emerging Issues in Agrl. Res. Mgt. - Lecture for 85 FOCARS 12-2-2009

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National Academy of Agricultural Research Management,Hyderabad



1. INTRODUCTION

In mid-sixties, the agric ultura l resea rc h took a c enter-stage in

visualizing and ushering in wha t is universa lly ac c la imed as Green

Revolution – envied by most c ountries but seldo m rep lic ated . After

dec ades of dep rivation and negative forec asts, Indian agric ulture g ained

more c onfidenc e in inc rea sing p rod uc tivity and p rod uc tion whic h resulted

in other revolutions viz., white (milk), yellow (oil), b lue (fish), golden

(hortic ultura l). As a result of resea rc h led revolutions, today Ind ia has

emerge d as the sec ond la rge st p rod ucer of food ma teria ls in world a fter

China. But there are ma ny a rea s of c onc erns like feed ing more than 1.1

billion people from same cultivable land (and in fact reducing due to its

c onversion into rea l esta te e tc ), req uiring a gric ulture bec oming p rofitab le

but a lso making farmers / growers/ fishermen ec onomica lly b etter off

than before etc .



The c ountry ha s la tely b een ma king great strides in ec onomic field and

emerge d as one of lea d ing ec onomies of the wo rld . While this looks very

good , the grow th ra te and c ontributions to GDP by the agric ultura l sec tor

has been go ing d own. Presently, its growth ra te is a round 2.6 per cent andc ontribution to GDP is 17.47 per c ent a nd going d ow n. The spec tre o f la rge

pulse and oilseed imp ort(tota ling more Rs.25,000 c r pe r year) is looming

la rge ,forc ing the top p lanners to onc e aga in foc us on agric ulture. A loa n

wa iver of Rs.71,000 c r wa s announc ed by the Government of Ind ia . Whileits imp ac t is beingw atched c arefully , the next step is to save them from

another de b t trap (Swaminatha n,2008).

The responsib ility o f d evelop ing and transferring tec hnologies for doub ling

food p rod uc tion by 2020 is ma inly on agric ultura l resea rc h. The c ha lleng eto our food sec urity ha s never been severer. Nec essary step s need to be

taken be fore it bec omes too la te , too little.

Food sec urity is c losely rela ted to na tiona l sec urity. If the re is a huge food

defic it, it cannot be met b y imp ort.



National Agricultural Resea rch System(NARS)

The NARS, whic h had hitherto la rgely inc luded the ICAR

Institutes and Sta te Agric ultural Universities, is itself und ergoing a

transforma tion. And to-day ,the NARS a lso enc ompasses p riva te

sec tor,trade, NGOs, other pub lic / p riva te funded institutions whic h

a re involved in agric ultura l resea rc h. The p riva te sec tor is now

investing heavily in agricultural sector and many corporate and

MNCs are in fray(seed , c hemic a l, fertilizers, reta iling etc ). In this

p roc ess of expand ing fa mily, pa rad igms in a gric ulture a re bound

to shift quite fa st.



2. PARADIGM SHIFTS IN AGRICULTURE

OLD NEW

1. Inp ut a nd exp erienc e

based

1. Output p er unit input

based , outc ome foc used2. Prod uc tion by la rge

masses(52 % popula tion)

2. Mass produc tion by fewer

peop le(25 –30 pe r c ent)

3. Low tec hnolog y levels 3. Intermed ia te a nd hig h

tec hnolog y leve ls

4. No/ low c oncern for quality 4. High c oncern for quality

5. A way of life, litt le op tion

but to p rofess agric ulture

5. Pro fit making venture ,

va ried op tions

6. Prod uc tion of a ll c rop s and

commodities

6. Demand based

c ustom ized p rod uc tion,

7.

8.

Low energy, ineffic ient use

Heavy PH losses,low

processing and va lue

a d dition, p oor ma rket

support

7.

8.

Energy intensive,effic ient

useReduc ed PH losses, highp roc essing a nd va lue

a d ditio n, b ette r ma rketsupport



3. SCENARIOSIN AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

3.1 Scenario- I

i) Business as usual : agricultural development mainlyd riven by market forc es, guided b y pub lic polic y

ii) Com petitive, op en and integ ra ted glob a l market as

d riving forc e for c hange

iii) Market driven growth is generally accompanied by

rising demand for quality food, growing inequalities

between reg ions, urban-rura l d ivide and inc rea sing

gap between the resourc e ric h and resourc e p oor. It

may also lead to acquiring of land by resource rich

and thus increasing farm size to gain advantage of

sc a le making small holders in-c om petitive.



3.2 Scenario – II

• Knowled ge and innovation driven transit ion to sustainab le

agric ultura l deve lop ment

• It seeks to ga lvanize rap id ag ric ultural developm ent and

growth with at tenda nt changes in rura l live lihood and

environmenta l susta inab ility through techno log ica l

innovations(evolution,evaluation and adoption)

• It reaches the un-reached d irec tly, w ithout extension

intermediaries, d irec t sc ientist- fa rmer- consumer linkage

• It encourages partic ipat ion of a ll stakeholders and the

develop ment is a ll inc lusive, benefits perc ola ting to a la rge

numb er, taking c a re of gender, eq uity and environment



• It is based on p rem ise of a co -evolution oftechnological advancement, structural adjustmentsand economic transformation resulting from

ap plic ation of knowledge in product ion – postp rod uc tion a c tivities and soc ia l ad justments

• It involves an innovation system where thegeneration ,ap plica tion and transmission of

innovations work in partnership mode(PPPPartnership)

• It is farmer- centric ra ther than agric ulture- c entricapproa c h, more profit to farmers/ growers

• It builds c apab ilities a t ind ividual, organiza tiona l andsec tora l levels.

• It requires changes in governance struc ture thatreflec ts c o-evolutionary dynamic s of tec hnologyand institutions(not easy to achieve, though !).



3.3 Changing process of knowledge generation and use

From To

Knowledge elite Knowledge soc iety

Paper used to sto re a nd sha re

knowledge

Digital med ia and web used to

store and share knowledge

Resea rc h as the key tool to

genera te knowled ge

Researc h and c onsultat ion to

genera te knowled ge

Linear model of researc h,knowledg e ad ap tat ion, use

of technolog y

Interac t ive mod el, innovat ionsarise from a learning ba sed

proc ess tha t c om b ines p rob lems’

identifica tion and knowledge

generation

T bl K f f h h d h l i



Table - 1 : Key features of the researc h management and tec hnology promotionapp roac h, c onventional and innovation agric ultural researc h arrangements

Institutiona l features Conventiona l ag ricultura lresea rc h arrang ements

Innovation task ne tworks

Guid ing agenda Sc ientific Developmenta l

Re la t ionships invo lved Narrow, hie rarch ica l Diverse , consulta t ive

Partners Sc ientists from other

public ag enc ies

Sc ientists, entrep reneurs,

and developmentworkers from the publicand p riva te sec to rs,NGOs

Selec tion of p artners Predetermined b yinstitutional roles definedby the arrangement of

the researc h system

Coalitions of interest.Determined by the na tureof task, na tiona l

institutional c ontext andskills, and resourceavailable

Ro le o f p a rtne rs Fixe d. Pre de te rmine d b yinstitutional roles definedby the arrangement of

the research system

Flexible. Determined bythe na ture of ta sk,na tiona l institutiona l

co ntext and skills, andresource available.



Institutiona l fea tures Conventiona l agricu ltura lresearc h arrang ements

Innovation task ne tworks

Work p lan and ac tiv ities Fixed at beginning of

project

Flexible, itera tive,course

corrections

Manda te for researc h/ task ap proa c h ad op ted

Fixed by institutionalnorms of the researchsystem

Ne go tia te d thro ug hc oa litionso f interest

Knowledge produced Technica l / sc ientific Technica l / sc ientific and

institutional

Ind ic a tors ofperformance

In sc ientific terms to o thersc ientists through res.pa pe rs, pa tentsetc.

In de velop ment terms tod ono rs. In te rm s o ffulfilling ro le in tasknetwork to o ther pa rtners

Responsibility forac hieving imp ac t

Other agenc iesded ica ted to extensionand tec hnologypromotion

NARS Sc ientists and the irpa rtners in task netw orks

Ca p a city b uild ing Tra ine d sc ie ntists a ndresearch infrastructure

Collect ive capa city o ftask ne twork, soc ia lc ap ita l, pa rtne rship skills



4. NATURE OF INNOVATION AND INNOVATION

PRACTICES IN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH

• Resea rc h is an important c omponent – but not a lways

c entra l c omponent of innovation. Whole pac kage, not

the part of pac kage should be our c onc ern.

• In the c ontempora ry agric ulture sec tor,

competitiveness depends on co llabora tion fo rinnovation.

• Soc ia l a nd environmenta l susta inab ility a re integ ra l to

economic success and must be reflec ted in

interventions.

• Ma rket is not suffic ient to p romote interac tion – the

public sec tor has a role to play. Reaching the un-

reac hed is la rgely pub lic sec tor responsib ility



• Interventions are essential for building capacity and fostering

the lea rning to enable a sec tor to respond to c ontinuous

c ompetitive c ha llenges both from w ithin and without.

• Organiza tion of rura l stakeholders is a c entra l develop ment

concept . It is a common theme in innovation system

deve lopment and in numerous agric ultura l and rura l

development efforts.

• Actors that are critical for coordinating innovation systems at

the sec tor level a re either overlooked or missing . Strength of a

chain is equal to the strength of its weakest link. Cha ins with

weak linksb reak easily.

• A wide set of a ttitudes and p rac tic es must be c ultivated to

foster a c ulture of innova tion.

• Enab ling environment is a key c omponent of innovation

capacity.



Resources &Planning

Personnel

Funds

Infrastructure

Research

Stra teg y, goa ls

Research

Operations

ResearchTesting / adaptation

Reporting

Dissemination

Outputs

Knowledge

Tec hnologyProcedures

Publications

Servic es

Users

Farmers

Extensionsystem

NGOs

Academia

Consumers

Outcomes

Increased

productionCost red uc tion

Profit

Achievementof objectives

Op era tions’ Mo nitoring & Feedb ac k

Output Assessment & Feedback

Outc om e Assessme nt & Fee d bac k

5. CHARACTERISTICSOF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS

(Source : Warren Peterson, 1998. Assessing Orga niza tiona l Performanc e : Indica torsand Proc ed ures – Agric ultural Resea rch Orga niza tions : The Assessment andImp rovement of Performa nc e. Disc ussion Paper, ISNAR, The Hague, Netherlands,July)



If viewed as a p rod uc tion system, agric ultura l

researc h organiza tions have c erta in basic fea tures. With

differing structures and organizational process, they use

resourc e as inputs (personnel, fund s and infrastruc ture)

in researc h opera tions (researc h, testing , reporting , and

d isseminating results) tha t genera te various types of

outputs (knowledge, tec hnology, procedures andpublications), users' a ttemp t to transform the outputs

into positive outc omes (inc rea sed prod uc tion, c ost

reduction and profit) and impact. In this sequence of

events, performance assessment and feedbac k

mec hanisms are req uired a t d ifferent levels to ensure

tha t researc h organiza tions use the ir resourc es effic iently

and p rod uce relevant and useful/ high impac t outputs.



Performance of public sector research organizations areinfluenc ed by certa in spec ia l c harac teristic s, as under:

• As partners in the overa ll development efforts, thesereflec t the nationa l goa ls and ob jec tives;

• Have multip le soc ia l and ec onomic ob jec tives;

• Op era te in a dynamic polic y and fund ing environment;

• Due to the mutat is mutandis ad op tion of finance/ service rules, have very little flexibility either to suitablyreward be tte r pe rfo rmance o r to punish non-performance;

• Difficulty in a ttributing positive outc omes toorganizational efforts due to the activities of multipleinstitutional actors; and

• Have more d iverse ac c ounta b ility requirements.

6 RESEARCH MANAGEMENT ISSUES



6.RESEARCH MANAGEMENT ISSUES

6.1 What is being looked forward ?

* A learning, forward looking organization

• An inspiring and caring leadership which listens, inspiresand guides

• Good w orking cond itions where the management tries to p rovide and

ma inta in good fac ilities and environment for work

• An institution with its goa ls spelled and in unamb iguous terms a n

institution having a focused, rigorously debated program of work

• A responsive system in place that seeks to pursue human resource

developm ent as one of its ma jor missions a nd thereby provides

working environment and c a reer adva ncement op portunit ies that

b ring out the b est from a resea rc her.

Journey and destina tion b oth a re imp ortant, a journey without destina tion is a wa ste and d estina tion c annot be arrived a t with an a imless journey. Both

d estina tion and roa d map for journey should be selec ted with due d elibera tion.The individua l interest should sub ord inate to tha t o f the institution.



6.2 Ava ilable research management op tions

• Public-private-people(PPP) pa rtnership for genera ting and sha ringthe resea rc h b enefit and moneta ry returns.

• Prioritizing resea rc hes depend ing upon resourc es ava ilab le. There

is no point in a ttemp ting a ll a nd succ eed ing in none. Priorities

based on consulta tion and ana lysis.

• Integrated resource management including outsourcing, ensuring

best ma teria l and human resourc e

• From inter-disc ip lina ry to inter-sec to r resea rc h for looking beyond a

sec tor, b rea king man-ma de barriers. For examp le, b iotec hnology

enc ompassing c rops-fish-livestoc k. The gene flow ha s no b arriers.

• Sc ientists should be thinkers and p lanners.Lea ve routine ma tters to

tec hnic ians. High imp ac t, time b ound resea rc h

F l l i i b i d ti i t h th h ti



• Focus on largely missing basic and anticipatory research through active

collaboration with reputed public/private institutions within and outside

India.

• A strong and func tioning monitoring mec hanism with well de fined

responsib ility and acc ounta b ility for a ll.

• Disc ourag ing p iec e mea l / op en end ed resea rc h . Emp hasis on output

quality, rec og nition by p eers, q uantifiab le outcome, wid er imp ac t and

encouraging publica tions only in highly rated journals, not in

proc eed ings of conferenc es, symposia etc .

• Inc reased use of p rec ision farming with use of GIS, GPSand other tools.

• Genera tion and integra tion of d a tab ases on soil, c rop , livestoc k, fish,

c a tchments / comm and a rea s,soc io-ec ono mic situations, ITK etc .

• Post-p rod uc tion ma nag ement for saving sca rce resources and time lyop era tions, imp roving quality, longer shelf life, value add ition, higher

returns.

• Red uc tion in c ost of p rod uc tion a nd red ucing/ eliminating losses for

increasing profitability in crop, livestock and fish.

• Va lue c hain ma nag ement



6.3 Identification of research priorities (indicative)

* Low in external inputs susta inab le agric ulture(Ind ia has 16

perc ent pop ula tion,but only 2.4 perc ent land a nd 4.3 perc ent

of water of world )

• Agri- horti- forestry models for deg raded / waste lands for c ropand a nima l husband ry

• Ag ro-ec o reg ion suita b le fa rming system w ith d ifferent suitab le

c rop va rieties and spec ies of livestoc k and fish• Integrated fa rming systems for d ifferent agro-ec o reg ions,

effic ient use o f resourc es

• Develop ment / selec tion of suitab le varieties for p roc essing ,bet ter storage life, higher qua lity

• Medic inal and a roma tic p lant p rod uction , p roc essing andstorage

• Prec ision fa rming fo r high susta ina b le produc tivity

• Surfac e c ove red c ultiva tion

• Integra ted w eed / pe st/d isease ma nag ement with emp hasison b io chem icals



• Integra ted w eed / pe st/d isease ma nag ement with emp hasison b io-chem icals

• Orga nic fa rming and p roc essing for high va lue crops, initia lly

• Integra ted nutrient ma nagem ent w ith em phasison b io-fertilizers

• Biotec hnology : struc tura l and functional g enomics to develop p lant/ anima l/fish w ith

pest / disease resistance and quality attributes, use of nano-tecnology in agricultureand information and communication technology for knowledge enhancement and

tec hnolog y absorp tion

• Effec t of c lima te cha nge on crop s, livestoc k, fish and mic rob ial p rod uc tivity,

• carbon trading

• Enha nc em ent in input use e ffic iency

• Evolution of p rod uc tive a nd p roc essab le varieties , prod uc tive b reeds

• Development of manage ment prac tice s suitab le for biot ic and ab iot ic stress

conditions

• Intellec tual p rop erty ma nage ment inc lud ing ITK, c om me rc ializa tion of tec hnolog ies• Post-harvest p roc essing, value addition and by p roduc t utiliza tion in c rop s and

commodities.

• Disaster p revention, assessme nt and ma nage ment.

• Comfortab le Struc tures/ sheds/ sheltersfo r livestock, poultry and fish c ulture pond s



7. EPILOGUE

Agric ulture is passing through a c ritic a l phase,

prob ab ly a losing rac e aga inst time. It has to grow @ 4

perc ent to susta in ec onomic grow th of 9 pe rc ent. Theproblems of toda y c annot be resolved by tools of

yesterday. Researc h is basic a lly an ena bling exerc ise

taking recourse to different tools to solve the mysteries

and p roblems on one hand and improving the

effic ienc ies of p resent systems/ prac tic es on the other.

Public funded agric ultural resea rc h is sadd led with

resource (hum an, m ateria l) c runch, toug her

competition from private sector and global challenge.

Obviously, the stra tegies a re due for a revisit and

review . The a gric ulture is fac ing tec hnolog y defic it, the

ICAR has to remove this defic it most quic kly and take it

to users most effec tively.



The NARSwill have to take a c loser look a t the p rog rammes

and projects, deciding whether to take up everything or take up

work selec tively whic h others not willing/ being ab le to take up

through p riority set ting , c losely looking a t resourc es and effic ient

monitoring . And these have to be essentially the cutting edge

resea rc hes w ith high imp ac t a nd futuristic imp lic a tions. The other

role the NARS w ill have to play is of knowled ge genera tor and

ma nag er so that the un-rea c hed c ould be rea c hed quic kly. The

suita b le stra teg ies should b e w orked out a nd imp lem ented so tha t

food sec urity o f the na tion is assured . The ICAR-SAUs w ill ha ve to

susta in their role as Researc h Leader.

The c ountry never need ed the resea rc hers more. Let us

c ome up to the expec tat ions of the c ountry. This is the best

op portunity Ind ia has to emerge as food basket of the world .



The onus is largely on us

sc ientists, so be prepared toplay our role well. The c ountry

cannot survive without aresurgent agriculture. Ifagriculture fa ils, what

succ eeds ?

Agriculture should not wa it.



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Emerging Issues in Agrl. Res. Mgt. - Lecture for 85 FOCARS 12-2-2009