IFPRI- CSISA organized a one day high level policy roundtable on Sustainable Intensification in India’s Risk-Prone Ecologies: Investment strategies for productivity growth, resource conservation, and climate risk management” on May 19, 2014 in New Delhi. This roundtable, brings together a high-level small group of individuals from the corporate, government, and research sectors to address one of India’s most urgent challenges to food security and economic growth—how to encourage private sector investment in accelerating productivity growth in India’s risk-prone ecologies while simultaneously conserving the environment. There are solutions already in farmers’ fields and rural markets that respond to these challenges, and this Roundtable will highlight recent advances, for example: innovative financial products and information services for small-scale farmers; diagnostic tools for managing water and soil nutrient scarcity; custom-hired resource-conserving machinery for small farms; crop diversification and high-value marketing strategies; and stress-resistant wheat and rice varieties. But the search for solutions is far from complete. This Roundtable is meant to engage participants in a rapid-fire discussion of recent technical solutions in Indian agriculture, the prospects for policy change, and corporate outlooks for the next five years. The purpose is to help public and private sector players to identify common investment strategies, forge partnerships, and chalk out collaborative efforts to effect technological, market, and policy improvements in India’s risk prone ecologies.

1. Synergies & Customised Services to Empower Farmers
Presentation at the IFPRI-CSISA Roundtable, Delhi, 19th May 2014

2. •102 years old company
•Turnover ~ over US $ 7 billion
• One of top 3 sustained value creators over 2 decades
---Stern Stewart Study – 2005
•Market cap > US $ 45 billion
A diversified Indian conglomerate
FMCG
Paper &
PackagingHotels
Agri Business Information
Technology

3. Critical Agri-value Chains
Foods & Tobacco businesses –
stable & assured production of
finest quality of agri-products
Paper, paperboards & packaging
businesses – assured supply of
pulpwood from sustainable sources
Foods & dairy businesses –
competitive base for quality milk

4. High Stakes in Indian Agriculture
• Direct engagement with nearly 2 lakh farmers thru crop
development on more than 3 lakh hectares
• Farmer connect thru eChoupals – 4 million
• These farmers operate in moisture stressed areas:
 Agriculture mainly rain-fed - crop production unstable
 Depletion of bio-mass - aggravating top-soil losses &
surface run-off
 High soil erosion - implications for fertility &
productivity of land

5. Sustainable growth in farm incomes
Challenges
• Biomass cover of 33% of project areas
• Progress towards ‘safe groundwater zone’
status
• Achieve 0.75-1% soil organic carbon
• 50% of village GDP from dairy activities
Desired Outcomes
• Nurture, preserve & expand competitive
sources of raw material for our businesses
• Sustainable & accelerated growth in
livelihoods and farm incomes

6. Creating an eco-system for agriculture development
Information &
knowledge
Access
to inputs
& markets
Sustainable
agriculture
practices
Natural
resource
management
Integrated
animal
husbandry
services

7. Forging multi-stakeholder partnerships
• Leverage government programmes &
resources (IWMP, NREGA, NHM,etc)Scale
• Collaboration with premier research
institutions & agriculture collegesKnowledge
• Project & financial management capabilities
of the private sector & the mobilisation skills
of the NGOs
Execution
• eChoupals, Choupal Sagars & village
institutions for flow of goods and servicesPlatform

8. Agriculture in Bihar, W Bengal & UP
Objective: Crop development in new areas close to markets thru
Sustainable Agricultural Practices – introduced new wheat, potato &
mentha varieties
Facilitating agri-business services (varieties, PoPs,
inputs & implements) through 138 Farmers Field
Schools
Promotion of conservation practices like SRI (1,000
ac), Zero tillage (1,760 ac), Seed drill (3,200 ac), multi
cropping (640 plots), nutritional garden (590 plots)
Promotion of Leguminous crops as intercrops/bund
plantation/green manure/Cover crops
MOU signed with Bihar Agricultural University (BAU),
Sabour to promote best agricultural practices in
Munger

9. Animal Husbandry & Dairy in Bihar
OBJECTIVES
Increase
productivity per
animal
Improve quality of
raw milk
Accurate,
transparent
& timely payments
Cost efficient
milk handling
INITIATIVES
-- Breeding Services
-- Animal Management & Nutrition
-- 24*7 Call Centre (Pasudhan Seva
Kendra)
-- Farm Hygiene
-- Screening for Bacterial Count
-- Training on CMP
-- Use of Certified Equipment
-- Automated Milk Collection and
testing
-- E-Payment to Farmers
-- Strategic positioning of BMCs
-- Optimisation of Milk Routes
OUTCOMES
--- 20% increase in Milk
Productivity
--- Lower Farm
Management &
Logistics Costs
--- High Quality Milk with
Traceability
--- Higher Returns to
Farmers
--- Emergence of
Commercial Dairy
Farms

10. Munger dairy – key interventions
Objective: Establish base for high quality milk in concentrated geographies
thus ensuring higher returns per animal
Call Centres for veterinary health care and animal
breeding services through artificial insemination
Herd Management System to increase productivity
by capturing accurate data on line to enable timely
decision making
Promote modern commercial farms to showcase
latest technology and ensure superior quality milk
Collaboration with HDFC Bank for cashless farmer
payments, with Sahayak as the banking
correespondent

11. Thank you