Global Journal Of Management Science and Technology

Global Journal Of Management Science and Technology (www.gjmst.com) Vol. 1 Issue. 5

June|2012 www.gjmst.com Page | 1

Privatization In Indian Agriculture-An Overview

Shakeel-Ul-Rehman

Ph.D., Research Scholar (Anna University of Technology, Coimbatore),

Department of Management Studies,

Sona College of Technology,

Salem-636 005, Tamil Nadu, India.

Abstract Increased agricultural productivity and rapid industrial growth in the recent years have contributed to a

significant reduction in poverty level, from 55% in 1973 to 20% in 2011. Despite the impressive growth and

development, India is still home to the largest number of poor people of the world. With about 250 million below

the poverty line, India accounts for about one-fifth of the world’s poor. Child malnutrition extracts its highest

toll in this country; about 25% children suffer from serious malnutrition. More than 50% of the rural pre-school

children and rural pregnant women are anemic. The depth of hunger among the undernourished is also high.

The present paper brings out some of the agri-business ventures into light and the success they have achieved in

developing the Indian agricultural community. Moving towards a vision of developed nation by 2020, Indian

farmer still faces a lot of problems of not getting a maximum return for his produce which results in farmer

suicides. Though much has been done in promoting agricultural development in India by government as well as

private organizations, still much more is needed in this sector to make farmer self sufficient and undependable.

It is the call of the country to make agriculture as the most prioritized sector as it is the livelihood of majority of Indian population and other sectors too depend on it. The present paper brings into light some of the big

corporate who have successfully entered into agri-business in India. The paper tries to highlight some of the

Indian agricultural inefficiencies. The paper draws its findings from the Indian context; it is believed that

lessons from this country have equal relevance to many of the developing countries that are facing similar

problems in agricultural diversification. Key Words: Agri-Business, Agricultural Cooperation, Privatization, Market Linkages, Self-help Groups, Non

Government Organizations, Information and Communication Technology.

1.0Introduction The changing nature of agriculture from mere subsistence farming to commercialized farming, the entry of

people from industrial sector, non-professionals, the educated elite, and others to take up agriculture has led to

the order of appropriate and officially sound advice with reliable market-oriented agricultural extension service.

These conditions paved the way for emergence of agricultural consultancies and agri-business firms in the

dispersion of the agricultural technology. Growth in agriculture has a maximum rising impact on other sectors,

leading to extend its benefits over the entire economy and the largest segment of population. 141 million hectares is the Net Sown Area, while 190 million hectares is the Gross Cropped Area. The Net Irrigated Area is

57 million hectares with a cropping strength of 134 per cent. 82 per cent of farmers have small and marginal

land holdings. The agriculture sector contributes a low of 20 per cent of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP),

11 per cent of total exports and provides employment to around 56.4 per cent of the work force. The annual

agricultural growth rate during 2005-06 to 2011-12 averaged around 2.85 per cent, which is less compared to the

people engaged in it and with other sectors. Agricultural food grain Production in last four decades crossed 200

million tones from1970-2010. Availability of foodgrains per person increased from 452 gm/capita/day to over

476 gm/capita/day, even as the country's population is increasing, but India is still having world’s most number

of under nourished people. The rapid growth of agriculture must be essential not only for self-reliance but also

for meeting the food and nutritional security of the people, to bring about evenhanded distribution of income

and wealth in rural areas, and to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life. Privatization is the act of reducing the role of government or increasing the role of private sector in an activity or in the ownership of

assets. Very often private extension and privatization are viewed similarly. However, private extension is solely

the act of private individuals or organisations, whereas the privatization of extension solely rest with the

government. Further private extension and privatization need not have cost recovery or charging fee based.

Service may be at free of cost also (e.g. NGOs). Privatizing extension, as one strategy for providing efficient

services to farmers, is finding acceptance in developing countries, including India. A search for alternative

funding and delivering mechanisms is currently on and a decision on how far India should pursue this strategy

would depend on the type and quality of services made available by various agencies at present, especially those



in private sector, and in the near future, the information needs of farmers and farmers willingness to pay for

extension services.

2.0literature Review A major amount of research has been done on the privatization of agricultural marketing in India, by the

academicians and researchers. The literature obtained by the investigator, in the form of various reports and

research studies is briefly reviewed in this part.

Rivera, et al., (1997) stated that the rationale for private sector provision of agricultural extension services is generally based on an expectation of increased efficiency with the operation of private markets and with the

resulting efficiencies contributing to the growth of a country's Gross National Product (GNP).

Najoku, et al., (2002) concluded that the rural people become more receptive to a new technology or service and

achieve higher levels of production and income through people participation programs. This helps in building

net cash surpluses that strength the groups’ economic base and contribute to rural capital formation.

Sulaiman, (2002) suggested that unless extension grows beyond technology transfer, and clearly articulate its

role in facilitating broader changes supportive of evolving rural livelihoods, its ability to remain relevant in the

future is extremely doubtful.

Vaswani , (2003) found that Tata Rallis, Mahindra Shublabh Services bring to the farmers valuable services like

inputs, credit, extension and marketing which are likely to improve off-farm productivity of farm enterprises

ITC e-Choupal will add much-needed efficacy to the supply chain and help farmers to increase their market

realization.

Rivera, et al., (2004) recommended that reform requires analysis of current performance of extension activities

so as to determine the system’s strengths and weaknesses and is the first step towards establishing a strategic

vision of the reform measures to be taken.

Battacharya, et al., (2005) stated that marketing information system is the backbone of agriculture. It is essential for smooth and regulated marketing business and also for the protection of all groups with them. It can play a

crucial role in monitoring and managing the complete value chain from input to the consumer door and will give

enough security and coverage to data exchange.

Terblanche, (2008) stated that there exists an interrelationship between agricultural development and human

development; beneficiaries need to work together, participate and co-operate fully. They should be committed

and should accept responsibility for their actions and decisions.

Aboh, (2008) presented that there a strong linkage complimented by flawless information flow enhanced by the

effective use of ICT by the extension services will significantly boost agricultural production and improve rural

livelihoods in developing countries. It can bring new information services to rural areas where farmers, as users,

will have much greater control than before over current information channel. Access to such new information sources is a crucial requirement for the sustainable developing of farming systems.

Apu, et al., (2008) suggested that it is the responsibility of agricultural extension to transfer agricultural

information and innovations to farmers as well as ensure adoption of same for the socio-economic development

as well as improvement in the levels of living of the citizenry (farmers).

Tologbonse, et al., (2008) acknowledged that the approaches to agricultural development programmes are to

give a meaningful result, government in particular and all stakeholders in extension system in the country need

to take new approaches to information dissemination and management that grow out from a clear understanding

of what farmers information needs are.

Bello, et al., (2009) recognized that it is pertinent to note that privatization and commercialization of agricultural

extension requires the creation of regulatory legal framework that would promote contestable markets and

protect public interest. Effective and efficient regulatory legal framework would ensure good monitoring and

client’s rights.Anim, (2011) suggested that policy should target at educating farmers who receive remittances

about the extra benefits in terms of increased income to attract them to contract farming. Again, policies that

provide adequately trained and equipped extension officers for dissemination of technologies that have the



potential to reduce post harvest losses should be encouraged to assist farmers to obtain enough farm income to

expand their areas of operation and attract firms offering contract farming.

Maliwichi, et al., (2011) proposed that performance of agribusinesses depends on management style, capital

invested, final product, income generated and employment generated. Policy makers need to formulate policies

accordingly for success and sustainability of these strategies.

Savran, et al., (2011) concluded that the private sector’s extension activities have only recently been developed,

are limited in terms of coverage area, and are product specific. Thus, there is a need for effective coordination of

the information dissemination in the system.

Ozcatalbas, (2011) stated that sustainable agricultural development has induced the need for more participatory

extension and research methods. The approach to monitoring and evaluation increases the chances of the finding

solutions, and is a process that builds local capacity in decision-making and problem solving and requires

special knowledge and skills.

Adejo, et al., (2012) suggested that policy formulation and implementation by the government on agricultural

extension should be a collaborative effort involving all stake holders. It should also include the operational linkages and partnership between extension and other relevant service institutions such as related to research,

marketing, environment; commodities farm inputs, agricultural education and training, farmer’s association and

information technology. In so doing, the enabling environment for full private participation will be guaranteed.

2.1Diffusion Of Agricultural Privatization India has made impressive strides on the agricultural front during the last four decades. Much of the credit for

this success should go to the several million small farming families that form the backbone of Indian agriculture

and economy. Policy support, production strategies, public investment in infrastructure, research and extension

for crop, livestock and fisheries have significantly helped to increase food production and its availability. During

the last 30 years, India’s foodgrain production nearly doubled from 102 million tons in the end of 1970 to more

than 200 million tons in 2011. Virtually all of the increase in the production resulted from yield gains rather than expansion of cultivated area. India is a rich country as its land is very fertile. India has 2.4% land of total land of

world. Many inventions took place in agriculture but profitability of farming is decreasing year by year. The

farmers are committing suicides. The liberalization of India's economy was adopted by India in 1991. The

government escorted in a new era of economic reforms, these reforms can be broadly classified into three areas:

Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization. Essentially, the reforms sought to gradually phase out

government control of the market (Liberalization), privatize public sector organizations (Privatization), and

reduce export subsidies and import barriers to enable free trade (Globalization). However, reforms in the

agricultural sector in particular came under severe criticism in the late 1990s, when 221 farmers in the south

Indian state of Andhra Pradesh committed suicide. The trend was noticed in several other states, and the figure

today passed 100,000 across the country.

During 1980s, more NGOs, agro-input industries, and agro-processors started taking up agricultural extension activities. Farmer associations and producer co-operatives are also presently involved in extension services in

select crops and commodities. A large number of extension services are being provided by input companies,

especially fertilizer companies. With an increase in rural literacy, newspapers are devoting more space for

reports related to agricultural technology and development. Currently there are many national as well as

international companies in agribusiness and contract farming in the country. For example, Pepsi is procuring

basmati rice from farmers under contract farming. Frito-Lay a subsidiary of Pepsi manufacturing potato chips,

procure tomatoes from farmers directly. Hindustan Lever, a subsidiary of Unilever, is contracting farmers to

procure basmati rice for exports. Many other players such as Naranjan Rice Exports, AM Todd (previously

Indo-mint), Chambal Agritech, Amira Foods, Kohinoor Foods to name a few etc. are involved in contract

farming programme to provide market linkage. United Breweries, the world's 2nd largest brewer and the largest

in India, in collaboration with state government's Punjab Agro Foodgrains Corporation, is growing malting barley. Big business houses like The Tata’s, The Birla’s, The Reliance, The ITC’s, The parley’s, The HLL, The

Godrej and Godrej, The Wal-Mart etc., have already tasted success in agribusiness. Some of the private players

involved in agricultural privatization are summarized in the part below.

2.2 Indian Tobacco Company (ITC), The first biggest player in India in the field of agricultural

privatization and extension is the ITC. A powerful illustration of corporate strategy linking business purpose to

larger societal purpose, e-Choupal leverages the Internet to empower small and marginal farmers – who



constitute a majority of the 75% of the population below the poverty line. By providing them with farming

know-how and services, timely and relevant weather information, transparent price discovery and access to

wider markets, e-Choupal enabled economic capacity to proliferate at the base of the rural economy. Today 4

million farmers use e-Choupal to advantage – bargaining as virtual buyers’ co-operatives, adopting best

practices, matching up to food safety norms. Being linked to futures markets is helping small farmers to better

manage risk. E-Choupal has been specially mentioned in the Government of India’s Economic Survey of 2006-07, for its transformational impact on rural lives. ITC is transforming the way farmers do business, and the way

rural markets work. The network of 6,500 e-Choupal centres spread across 40,000 villages has emerged as the

gateway of an expanding spectrum of commodities leaving farms – wheat, rice, pulses, soya, maize, spices,

coffee, and aqua-products. The reverse flow carries FMCG, durables, automotives and banking services back to

villages. ITC has continued to build new infrastructure by supplementing the farm gate presence of e-Choupal

with new physical infrastructure – rural marketing hubs called Choupal Saagars, positioned within tractorable

distance of 30 e-Choupal centres and their user communities. The e-Choupal–Choupal Saagar hub and spoke

combination is unprecedented grassroots click and mortar infrastructure transporting rural local economies to a

new level of productivity and consumption. ITC takes a holistic view of the linkages between the decline in

agricultural productivity and the deterioration of the natural resource base. It works to bring farm productivity

back to a path of sustainable and remunerative growth by enabling farmers to develop water and forest resources

to enhance soil fertility, to adopt soil and water management practices, to apply superior farming methods to improve quality and quantity of farm yields.

ITC’s Women Self-help Groups have gone into the making and marketing of a range of cottage products –

pickles, dried fish, organic manure, spices, agarbattis, tailoring, embroidery, etc. Although 70% of India’s rural

population owns cattle, milk yields are abysmally low due to poor quality stock. By enabling families to upgrade

to high-yield livestock and form co-operatives to market their milk, ITC turns a dormant family resource into an

easily adoptable and dynamic rural enterprise, Cattle Development Centres have been established to provide

market assistance and support for poor, In collaboration with BAIF Institute for Rural Development, a national

NGO specializing in livestock development, ITC focuses on small and landless farmers, assisting them to

genetically upgrade their cattle through artificial insemination with semen from superior strains such as Jersey

and Holstein-Friesian for cows, and Murrah for buffaloes. ITC trains and equips technicians to provide an integrated package consisting of artificial insemination, cattle health and nutrition, pregnancy and post-natal

services right at the farmer’s doorstep. Crossbred livestock outputs are 7-9 times higher than current yields -

generating income to invest further in dairy farming or other avenues of income or savings. Door-to-door

collection of milk by marketing co-operatives, ITC channels the farm family’s domestic milk production to

large dairies, connecting farmers to the formal milk market.

2.3 Digital Green is dedicated to improving the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of small

farmer livelihoods. It aims to raise the livelihoods of smallholder farmers across the developing world through

the targeted production and dissemination of agricultural information via participatory video and mediated

instruction through grassroots-level partnerships. The Digital Green system combines technology and social

organization to improve the cost-effectiveness and broaden the community participation of existing agricultural

extension systems. The unique components of the Digital Green system include (1) a participatory process for local video production, (2) a human-mediated instruction model for video dissemination and training, (3) a

hardware and software technology platform for exchanging data in areas with limited Internet and electrical grid

connectivity, and (4) an iterative model to progressively better address the needs and interests of the community

with analytical tools and interactive phone-based feedback channels. Unlike some systems that expect

information or communication technology alone to deliver useful knowledge to farmers, Digital Green works

with existing, people-based extension systems and aims to amplify their effectiveness. An India-based NGO

(ASA) working with 120,000 families across 1,000 villages in 15 districts of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar in the

area of ensuring of improving livelihoods on a sustainable basis with linkages to the Government of India's

Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) initiative. Currently it is working with Action for Social

Advance (ASA) in Madhya Pradesh state. Digital Green is also working with Pragati Koraput in Odisha state.

Pragati Koraput is another India-based NGO working in the areas of soil and water conservation, promotion of sustainable agriculture through organic practices, and introduction of new crop production technologies for food

and income security of small and marginal farmers.

2.4 Integrated Agri Service Programme (IASP), e-Sagu Advice Service for Agricultural

Crops, provides agricultural expert advice for agriculture field crops such as rice, cotton, maize, wheat,

sugarcane, chillies, and so on. The process works as; the farmer can register the agriculture farms into the

system directly or through a coordinator. The farmer (or coordinator) visits the agriculture farm at regular



intervals and sends the crop status photographs and the text either in on-line manner or off-line manner. The

agricultural experts access crop status data from the IASP portal and deliver the expert advice regarding steps to

be taken to improve the crop productivity. The advice can be downloaded from the IASP portal by both the

farmer and the coordinator. Also, the advice is sent to the farmer's and coordinator's cell phone through SMS.

The IASP management has service-level agreements with several vendors to provide buying service to the

farmers. The IASP portal provides the details of marketing services provided by various vendors or marketing companies, the farmer (or corresponding coordinator) enter the request to the IASP portal for selling the

agricultural produce to the franchisee. Based on the farmer's request, the franchisee forwards the request to the

corresponding vendor through the IASP portal. The vendor informs the decision through the IASP portal to the

franchisee and the farmer. The marketing service is provided to the farmer through the franchisee.

IASP Digital Mandi Service, as a part of this service, the farmers can put the goods on sale by accessing the

IASP portal either by him/her self or through a coordinator. The buyer (may be the other farmer or the vendor)

can place the requirement to the IASP portal and access the information about available goods which are on

sale. Farmers who want to sell can place the goods for sale such as cows, buffalo, rice, maize, chillies, and

farmers or buyers who want to buy the goods can access the information regarding products on sale through

IASP portal.

2.5Action for Social Advance NGO (ASA) is working for Agriculture Productivity Enhancement &

Agribusiness Promotion for Small holders, the Land and Water Resources Development programme creates a

basis for productive agriculture, the Agriculture Productivity Enhancement Programme (APEP) tries to optimize

agriculture productivity through various interventions. Under APEP the interventions are designed with a view

of farmer participation in the technology development and dissemination. In short, APEP follows the protocol of Participatory Technology development (PTD). Some of the activities undertaken by the APEP are Participatory

Varietal Selection and Promotion (PVSP), Farmers’ Field School (FFS), System of Rice Intensification (SRI),

System of Wheat Intensification (SWI), Promotion of Responsible Soybean, Promotion of better Cotton. ASA

has been promoting “Collectives” of small farmers in the form of Farmer Producer Companies in Madhya

Pradesh and Bihar. The objective of this activity is to integrate small farmers with the supply chain of the

agriculture commodity.

2.6Lifeline India- Knowledge based services for farmers on phones is a novel initiative for information

services delivery, which uses an innovative mix of internet and telephony to provide critical and timely

information to communities in rural India - bridging the knowledge gap and promoting digital inclusion for

them. Initiated by OneWorld in collaboration with British Telecom and Cicso Systems, LifeLines today serves rural communities in 53 districts across 4 states of India with information services in Agriculture and Education.

The partnership of British Telecom, Cisco Systems and OneWorld in September 2006 launched LifeLine as an

agri-information service, catering to rural north and central India. The LifeLines-Agriculture service responds to

this need by providing advice and guidance to farmers through critical agri-advisory and livelihood

information. Presently the service reaches out to a total of 2130 villages and 3 states of India - Haryana,

Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The LifeLines service has has benefited over 200,000 farmer households.

The system’s database which stores the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) received in the service. The service

is being implemented on the ground in partnership with TARAhaat, Datamation Foundation and IRRAD,

who in turn implement the service on the ground through a network of field volunteers. Information is available

on more than 50 different fields of agriculture and allied activities covering a complete chain of information

from production to consumption, including information on: Farm inputs like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, Funding schemes, Government schemes on loans and subsidies, Banking and insurance, Market price, Region

specific market information, Agriculture news, Organic farming, etc.

2.7TARAhaat was launched as a pilot project in late 2000 in Bundelkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar

Pradesh. Today it has 46 centres and is in the midst of a major expansion in Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and

Haryana. TARAhaat communications provide web-hosting services, to broaden outreach and find new markets

for the products and services. TARAhaat provides services in Agroforestry, Commercial Trees Crops,

Fertilizers, Herbicides, Loan Schemes, Nursery, Organic Farming, Plant Diseases, Planting Systems, Soil

maintenance etc.

2.8 Mahindra Shublabh Services Ltd. (MSSL) a subsidiary company of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.,

the largest farm equipment company in India. MSSL has revolutionized agri-business by aggregate the factors of production under the brand Mahindra Krishi Vihar, through farming solutions specific to crop, region and

http://www.asaindia.org/Agri%20business%20promotion%20for%20small%20and%20marginal%20farmers1.html#1






http://www.tarahaat.com/Agri_Agroforestry.aspx

http://www.tarahaat.com/Commercial%20Trees.aspx

http://www.tarahaat.com/Crops.aspx

http://www.tarahaat.com/Fertilizers.aspx

http://www.tarahaat.com/Herbicides.aspx

http://www.tarahaat.com/LoanSchemes.aspx

http://www.tarahaat.com/Nursery.aspx

http://www.tarahaat.com/OrganicFarming.aspx

http://www.tarahaat.com/PlantDiseases.aspx

http://www.tarahaat.com/PlantingSystems.aspx

http://www.tarahaat.com/Soil.aspx



market. It provides a complete range of products and services to improve farm productivity and also establishes

market linkage to optimize the commodity supply chain. The staff provides support and guidance to farmers in

the selection and usage of products in terms of crop, health environment and human safety. Mahindra Krishi

Vihar offers a platform for banking institutions to provide loan to farmers with minimum documentation, quick

sanctions and attractive interest rates, while the participating financial institutions develop a low risk portfolio

and reduce their overhead costs through this channel.

2.9Rallis-A Tata Enterprise has a range of agro inputs and services across 80% of India’s districts, its

portfolio covers cereals and fibre crops. Rallis produces and markets several hybrid varieties of maize, paddy

and cotton. Rallis is today among the major seed companies in the domestic market. It has more than1500

dealers and 30,000 retailers across the country and is diversifying successfully.

2.10 HLL I-Shakti Rural Information Service-Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) is India's

largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company, touching the lives of two out of three Indians. HLL’s mission

is to “add vitality to life" through its presence in over 20 distinct categories in Home & Personal Care Products

and Foods & Beverages. The company meets every day needs for nutrition, hygiene, and personal care, with

brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. HLL launched project I-Shakti in Andhra

Pradesh in 2001. I-Shakti service is an extension of HLL’s Project Shakti, which creates income-generating capabilities for underprivileged rural women by providing a sustainable micro enterprise opportunity, and to

improve rural living standards through health and hygiene awareness. I-Shakti is an IT-based rural information

service network that has been developed to provide information and services to meet rural needs in medical

health and hygiene, agriculture, animal husbandry, education, vocational training and employment and women's

empowerment.

HLL has also appointed a panel of experts who are available to the villagers through a specially developed

online query mailing system. This allows villagers to post questions to the experts in their local language. The

experts answer all questions, taking additional care to ensure that information is locally relevant and making it

available to the user on the kiosk when they return the next day. This means that a farmer from a village can

obtain a quick solution to any problem with his crops from an expert on Agriculture. The kiosks remain open

from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., six days of the week. For the over 650 million agricultural workers in India with currently

little access to market information or the end-buyers of their crops, HLL Depot could provide a suite of systems

that inform and empower them, resulting in better prices for their yields.

2.11 Development Research Foundation (formerly known as Bhartiya Agro Industries foundation

BAIF), is a reputed voluntary organization founded in 1967 at Urulikachan, near Pune that promotes sustainable

livelihood to rural people through management of natural resources and promotion of livestock development,

watershed development and agri-horti-forest for rehabilitation of tribals. BAIF is serving over 4.5 million poor

families spread over 16 states across the country with 4500 employees. Females have been motivated to play a

great role in income generation activities in agriculture and allied activities through self-help groups. The

overall programs of BAIF are, live stock development, water resource management, sustainable agriculture,

sericulture promotion, agri-horti-forestry, agribusiness, environmental conservation, consultancy services and

many more.

2.12Unicorn Industries Pvt. Ltd. is a three decade old Engineering Company serving Dairy, Food,

Beverage, pharmaceutical & Allied Process Industries. Unicorn is considered to be third largest Dairy and Food

Engineering Company in India. This is an engineering concern engaged in design and manufacture of food processing equipment and bottling plants. Unicorn was one of the companies that pioneered the dairy industry in

India and helped set up many milk processing and bottling plants. Today, some of the leading MNC brands like

Coco Cola, Pepsi and Nestle are bottled at plants set up by Unicorn. Unicorn Pickles Ltd. (Foods division) is

an ISO 9000 company, engaged in the cultivation of Gherkins and in processing these into pickles for export.

Extensive areas near the city of Bangalore are under cultivation and the produce is processed at a modern plant

for export to countries in Europe and the USA. Rasa Agro-Tech Pvt. Ltd. (Seeds Division) produces hybrid

seeds of vegetables and flowers for export markets. Over 3000 acres of farmlands are under cultivation,

producing high quality seeds that find their way to farms all over the world. Unicorn Seeds Ltd. This company

caters to the domestic market and produces both OP and Hybrid seeds. A large number of techno farms have

been established.



2.13 Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP) is a non-government, non-profit

organisation incorporated in 2001. It is a network of agriculture and allied sector professionals in India and

developing countries. It is a growing network encompassing over 15,000 registered associate members,

comprising 1500 Agri-Experts, 525 Partner NGOs, over 824 Individual users and more than 1050 researchers.

Project SHARE, is a comprehensive agri extension programme aimed at increasing the income of corn and

cotton growers in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra through sustainable yield enhancement

approach. 10,000 farmers are enrolled under the project. These farmers are given training in groups on pre-

sowing practices, Integrated Nutrient Management, Integrated Pest Management, Good Agricultural Practices

(GAPs) and post-harvest technology. They are also being provided hand-holding support for market linkages.

The objectives of ISAP are, to coordinate, promote, develop and educate about technical services to all

communities, organizations and individuals engaged in agriculture and rural development, to provide query

redress services for queries received from communities, organizations, farmers and individuals dealing in

agribusiness and other related technical activities, to provide market linkage activities to growers and producers and help create institutions which would strengthen marketing and value addition to primary produce.

2.14Humlog, The first store of Humlog was launched in Hyderabad on August, 2011. The store is spread

over 1200 sq.ft area. Having 3 stores in Hyderabad including a franchisee store, it offers services and products like any supermarket. Hum Log, “We the People” is the small and medium sized provision stores. Hum log is

the child link store to main Group of company Omsheel Enterprises & Logistics Pvt. Ltd. Omsheel Group is a

small & Medium Enterprise with business interest in exports, Logistics, food processing and military

contracting. The young company was born in the year 2005 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The company has

diversified into multiple fields ranging from construction, consultancy, exports, Food Processing and 3rd Party

Logistics.

2.15Esteem Agro & Foods Pvt. Ltd. is part of the Esteem Group which comprises of Esteem Diamonds

and Esteem Engineering. The company was founded in 2011. It is headquartered in Mumbai. The company is

practicing agriculture with sustainable materials and methods and it is the right way to go in the future for the

farmer, consumer and the environment. The company owns farmland in Bhavanagar district, Gujarat, spanning over approximately 130 acres. This includes 5 acres of greenhouses. In the open fields the company grows

onion, groundnut and banana. “In greenhouses it grows tomatoes, gherkin and capsicum.

2.16Techno Exports engaged in the export of curled coir and coir fibre, located at Pattanakkad, in

Alleppey district, Kerala. It is an ISO 9001:2008 certified company. The other products the company exports

include coir mats, rubber moulded mats, PVC tufted mats, jute rugs, grow bags, coco pith briquettes, and

centrifuged natural latex. It is one of the pioneers of export of coconut fibre in machine twisted form to Russia

and Germany for specific application in production of car seats. The company procures the raw materials from

local market and from nearby states: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.

2.17Ecocert was established in France in 1991. It started its operating in India from 2002. Ecocert India is

headquartered in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. Ecocert specializes in the certification of organic agricultural products. Today over 0.1 million farmers with over 0.3 million acres of organically managed land are registered

with Ecocert for certification across the country. Ecocert, with its core concern for the small holders in south

Asian countries, is committed to provide affordable and trusted services of inspection, certification and training

for the organic farmers through its wide network of localized inspectors.

2.18Jatropha Agro Pvt. Ltd. (JAPL) was setup in June 2004 for complete jatropha cultivation

consultancy and production of bio-diesel from jatropha seeds on a large scale. JAPL is not only engaged in

cultivation and promotion of jatropha curcas, it also provides details of jatropha cultivation to rural farmers and

women to generate self-employment as jatropha. It procures and supplies germination jatropha curcas seedlings

and helps the farmers in getting loans for jatropha plantation from the government agencies. Their approach to

jatropha cultivation is from nursery to saplings to plantations. They also supply saplings to farmers and corporate bodies so that they can get successful plantations of jatropha. It also helps in land procurement for

setting up jatropha farms, land preparation, planting of jatropha seeds, implement suitable and appropriate

modern techniques to enhance growth and yield rates of the plantation, irrigation, monitor the growth, provide

suitable security arrangements, prepare and furnish monthly progress reports, quarterly progress reports, and

pluck and store the seeds with buyback facility and/or assist in sales of seeds at the best market rates. JAPL also

provides the technology to process bio diesel from jatropha. JAPL guarantees to buy back the jatropha curcas



seeds from the growers at their site. jatropha growing and bio diesel processing is a commercially attractive

business opportunity for growers and entrepreneurs in India,

2.19M/s. Sampada Farms & Consultants is working in the field of Agri Consultancy since 1991, are

providers of complete on farm technical consultancy for the cultivation of some important crops. They are

having experience, exposure and expertise to develop and maintain horticulture, medicinal, aromatic plantations and projects. With a team of expert people, Sampada is having enough capabilities to handle the projects as

small as 50 acres to very large extents. Sampada is having wide contacts across the country with the institutes &

people who are working in R & D of agriculture. The work is involved in agriculture activities – knowing new

inventions, crops, varieties, working on experimental farms and implementing agri projects.

2.20Agri Unlimited a society founded in Oct 2008 with the objective to provide integrated business

development solutions for agri‐horti Industry. With technical & business competence in understanding markets,

introducing technologies & innovation combined with a global expertise in Agro‐food industry, addressing a

sustainable platform for growing innovation. The people and companies they associate with are creators,

partners, contractors, venture capitalists, opportunity seekers, technocrats, and revolutionaries, whose

expectations will constantly strive to fulfill by successfully delivering breakthrough innovations by continuously engaging in creating, advancing & applying novel ideas, market observations & technologies to effectively and

optimally deliver integrated solutions to needs in food & bio‐products. They do effective branding & marketing

of agriculture products locally as well as globally. The sales and marketing executives are well knowledgeable

in branding and marketing of agriculture product. Proper brand name is given to the products to create an

identity among diversified clients. Due to effective branding process, they are able to market product smoothly

and offering agricultural produce harvesting, fruit ripening, agricultural produce marketing and fruit ripening

process.

3.0Constraints In Agricultural Privatization

Fifteen years of economic liberalization have adversely affected Indian agriculture. The most prominent

appearance of this is in the drastic and continuous decline in the GDP contribution. With so much of

agricultural diversification, extension, liberalization, globalization and privatization and state focus, agriculture

has continuously seem to be lagging behind compared to other sectors of service and industry. Farmer suicides

in the country are continuously increasing due to insufficient returns of their produce, lack of availability of

modern technology, insufficient irrigation facilities, lack of high Yielding Variety Seeds and lack of training,

guidance, counseling and support. over one lakh farmers committed suicide in India after the economic reform

started, but unfortunately the government and the people do not consider it a crisis; their lack of seriousness and

lukewarm response to the problem points to this reality. There is lack of awareness, guidance and adaptability in

the farmer community, there are no sufficient forward and backward linkages in agriculture, there is lack of connectivity especially-knowledge connectivity, information connectivity, market connectivity, transport and

road connectivity etc. The current market structure of the Indian agriculture system was established by the

Indian government to protect farmers. The government mandated the use of an open market system in order to

guarantee that the farmer’s were receiving fair value for their crop and not entering into poor agreements.

However, the mandi system as it exists today does more to harm those it was designed to protect. The

breakdown of the mandi system is mainly due to the increased power of the commission agents (CA). Craving

ever higher profit margins, they have seized farmers’ negotiating power and created a system in which they

dictate prices, fair or not. In addition to unfair pricing, other mandi problems include inaccurate weighing of

goods and delay in payment. The ambiguity in the system paved the way in providing farmers with an alternate

location to perform the services that were traditionally only available at the mandi, namely access to pricing

information that would ultimately determine whether farmers should sell their crops at the mandi or directly to

processors.

4.0Recommendation Information is power and will underpin future progress and prosperity for agriculture. To enhance privatization linkages in the rural economy are the primary needs which support other sectors to develop. Usually four types

of linkage are commonly identified: direct upstream and downstream production linkages; investment linkages;

and indirect consumption or expenditure linkages. Examination of linkages allows exploration of the effects of

exogenous change as they work; (a) between the effects of changes in productivity and prices of tradable and

non-tradable, and (b) between the effects on and responses of poor rural patrons and producers including

employed labour.



Moreover there is a call for adoption of farming system and farmer participatory approach, enabling problem

solving skills of farmers through an interdisciplinary approach, public funds for private extension, privatization

of extension in favorable areas, provision for cost recovery and co-financing of extension via farmers

organisations; reduction in the number of village level workers, farmer interest groups for extension must be

implemented, employing more subject matter specialists, preparation of tactical research and extension plans,

skill development of extension agents, improving women's access to technology, provision of market information, wide use of information technologies, linkage with agro-processors and the government to act as a

facilitator and creator of an enabling environment must be enhanced, Agriculture and allied sector information

dissemination through ICTs, Farm advisory services at the farmer’s field, Documentation of tribal farmer’s crop

history for the ready reference, Farm market and weather information reports, newsletters and farmers training

reports through web portal, Computer education and awareness to the farmers, organizing on-farm training and

demonstrations, developing village knowledge managers, Facilitating multi-agency extension through village

knowledge centre, etc.

5.0Conclusion Public and private sector extension has to play a much greater role in the changing agricultural situation in India

than it has played so far. The extension has to provide information and advice to farmers not only on technologies, but also on solutions to specific field problems, markets, prices, quality, and implications of policy

changes. The extension also has to organize farmers to take collective action to adopt new technologies, solve

problems, and increase income from agriculture. To perform these roles, it has to reorganize its structure and

functions by embracing wider expertise, decentralizing management, and nurturing a culture of organizational

learning. A large number of organizations are currently providing extension services in the country, which the

present paper highlighted, and some more players are waiting for their turn. Public and private sector extension

could considerably improve its effectiveness through developing partnership with many of these new

organizations that have emerged in the extension scene in the last two decades. Both economic and social

reasons justify public financing of extension in the Indian context, but some of these services could be better

delivered outside the public machinery.

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