Promoting talent
improvement in Indian Agriculture – a multifaceted and holistic approach by way
of Bayer
Agriculture
represents India’s most sizable sector: accounting for 14 % of India’s Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) and employing extra than 55 % of the Indian popu-lation.
The task for Indian agriculture is to gain higher productivity in a sustainable
way, in spite of constraints on availability of land, irrigation and labour. To
achieve this, farmers want to be empowered with new farming technology like
irrigation structures and mechanisation, as well as contemporary enter
substances like high yielding seeds and crop safety products to boom
productiveness. However era alone is not enough, its software requires a steep
increase in understanding, schooling and a right advisory system. This is an
enormous target considering India has an predicted 120 million farmers …Bayer
CropScience, a main participant inside the crop sciences commercial enterprise
globally and in India, shares some of its techniques in the direction of
education and training, capability construct -ing and talent development
projects applied in the Indian marketplace.
The relevance of
farmers’ potentil and ability constructing
While addressing
agricultural scientists and specialists on the Indian Council of farming
Research (ICAR) in July 2014, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, recommended
a policy of "Kam zameen, kam samay, zyaada upaj" (much less land,
shorter time, greater productiveness). "In order to produce extra and earn
greater, farmers want to be empower-ed greater. Therefore, we need to consider
a way to attain out to farmers,” careworn Mr. Modi. His assertion holds proper
in these days’s context because it highlights the need for local agricultural
extension offerings thru farmer trainings and additionally utilising the
advantages of modern-day verbal exchange equipment and technology.
Capacity building
sports for farmers
At Bayer CropScience,
this is accomplished via a comprehensive set of capability constructing sports
for farmers, which are tailor made relying on crop, goal institution,
edu-cational backgrounds and the development stage of agriculture in a specific
geography. Bayer’s set of capability constructing and education sports consists
of more than lots of discipline demonstrations, on-farm education and area
days, workshops, SMS & name advisory and most importantly: on-farm
consultancy.As a manufacturer and dealer of high satisfactory seeds and crop protection
merchandise primarily based on chemical and organic modes of action, Bayer has
firsthand know-how in farm-ing agronomy, which is shared and proven through
appropriate and superior crop control practices and agricultural information.
Across India, Bayer has a community of over three,000 farm advisors. Bayer’s
farm stage advisors, also called “Field Officers” discover farmers who need
assist and provide them with well timed and relevant advisory to perform
farming operations in a sustainable, safe and profitable manner. For farmers,
“Seeing is Believing.” Therefore, we often conduct farmer field days wherein
Bayer specialists conduct discipline demonstrations to create awaren ess on a
variety of topics such as GAP (Good Agricultural Practices), high yield ing
hybrid seed generation, Integrated Crop and Pest control and secure handling of
products. Further, Bayer CropScience offers farmers additional records and
advisory on soil trying out, seeds and climate forecasting.
Initiatives by means
of Bayer CropScience in India
In 2013, Bayer
CropScience released an experiential marketing initiative in India, called
“Bayer Labhsutra” the Mantra for Farmer Prosperity. The initiative ambitions to
help farmers attain higher returns on investment by using adopting present day
agronomical practices from “Seed to Harvest”. Under this system, the
collaborating farmer’s land is split into two halves. On one half, Bayer’s Seed
& Crop Protection solutions are used; and on the opposite half of of the
land, the farmer follows his very own practice. The plot is then used for the
duration of the season for everyday visits and trainings with around 30-50
neighboring farmers. Finally, on harvest day, the output from the two halves is
as compared. In 2013, Bayer conducted 3,469 Bayer Labhsutra discipline
demonstrations across India for Rice/Paddy, Cotton, Pulses, decided on
Vegetables and Fruits. These demonstrations ended in a huge yield growth, which
additionally brought 12 - 15 % incremental income for the farmer as compared to
his present day exercise (Source: Internal reviews). Hence, the Bayer Labhsutra
initiative educates farmers the usage of a completely practical method, wherein
the Labhsutra farmer normally develops the potential to propose his fellow
farmers with the assist of Bayer farm advisors.
A testimonial from a
Bayer Labhsutra farmer
“I used the Bayer
Labhsutra package deal in 1 acre of my potato subject and were given a higher
yield as compared to other fields in the region. I also were given a higher
price for potato inside the marketplace. In destiny, I plan to use the Bayer
Labhsutra bundle in my complete farm.” says Satinder Pal Singh, Potato farmer,
Killi Village, Jalandhar District, Punjab.In addition, Bayer CropScience has
set up 237 “Bayer Solutions Stores” across the us of a with its distribution
companions. The major idea is to offer not just merchandise, however also
professional advice to farmers at the point of income. The Bayer Solutions
Stores intention to satisfy farmers’ need for farming know-how, at the same
time as providing them the "Right Product with Right Advice.“ To acquire
this, Bayer has unique Farm Advisors in the Bayer Solutions Stores. These Farm
Advisors also pay special interest to the training of the shop proprietor, who
will then be ready to provide better solutions to the visiting farmers.
As a end result, he can end up the preferred dealer for the farmer, so that it
will in the end also cause extended farmer footfalls in his outlet.
Educating and
accomplishing millions of farmers with modern-day conversation technology
Reaching out and
educating thousands and thousands of farmers is a massive challenge for all
stakeholders in Indian Agriculture. Hence, leveraging verbal exchange
technology can be an important manner to cope with this undertaking. Around
fifty four % of cellular telephone users in India are from rural areas (Source:
India Mobile Landscape Report 2013). Leveraging this possibility, Bayer
CropScience introduced a national toll free helpline for Indian farmers in October
2014. The helpline offers free product-particular consultancy, crop associated
recommendation and fashionable facts on incorporated crop protection solutions.
All conversations and queries from the helpline are recorded and monitored by
Bayer Agri-Experts to ensure that accurate and first-rate information is
supplied to farmers on a real time basis. Farmers also are given the option to
request for a Field Officer visit at their farms, in case the query can not be
resolved on the phone.Apart from receiving inbound calls, the call center
reaches out to farmers registered on Bayer CropScience India’s database on
everyday durations with relevant recom-mendations. India has round 33 diagnosed
languages and about 2,000 dialects. Therefore, a unique emphasis is given to
answering farmers’ queries in their nearby languages/dialects. This is carried
out by using finding call centers within the coronary heart of rural areas.
Bayer does this in partnership with Rural Shores, a corporation that specialize
in offering employment to kids in rural regions.Hence our name facilities
additionally train and train rural youth further to offering qualified service
and expert advice to farmers.
Educating the secure
and accountable use of agrochemicals
In India, there are
still important gaps in secure utilization, utility strategies and disposal of
agrochemical containers. Hence, Bayer CropScience additionally contains out
various stewardship and safety education projects to demonstrate accountable
methods of dealing with crop protection merchandise in the course of their
product lifecycle, from accurate use to disposal. Farmers are educated on the
concepts of Integrated Crop and Pest Management, like for instance the know-how
of pre-harvest periods whilst the usage of insecticides near to harvest, seed
treatment and after care of dealt with seeds and so forth. Bayer has made these
topics an included part of all its farmer meetings and discipline
demonstrations.
Teaming up with local
companions
Creating shared cost
thru partnerships
Bayer CropScience is
satisfied that partnerships can open up new approaches to sustainably feed the
developing world populace. Bayer CropScience is therefore leveraging its
position as a international leader in agri-inputs and offerings, to help connect
all parts of the meals fee chain, via its “Food Chain Partnership” initiative.
In India, Bayer CropScience currently runs 31 successful partnerships
throughout 140 locations, protecting more than 62,000 ha and benefitting 79,000
farmers. A few excellent examples where Bayer has been capable of pressure and
teach new farming technologies consist of its grape and potato Food Chain
Partnership tasks. In those projects, Bayer frequently complements its know-how
through teaming up with neighborhood companions. For example in 2013, Bayer
CropScience joined fingers with India’s National Research Center for Grapes
(NRCG) and Express Weather, a climate forecasting business enterprise, to
create a climate advisory model for grape farmers. This modern version helps
grape growers with the know-how of correct timing for spraying, so one can
attain a higher crop. In potato, Bayer CropScience has been running appreciably
with farmers under its Food Chain Partnership with PepsiCo. Under the program,
training workshops are held for vendors and growers; with a focal point on pest
and disease management, safe use of crop safety products and alertness
technology. This is followed by discipline tracking at the grower stage. All
those interventions have ended in advanced yield and higher returns for the
growers and excellent best potato availability for PepsiCo.
Using the power and
reach of Public Private Partnerships
In 2008, Bayer
CropScience India joined fingers with the Confederation of Indian Textile
Industry - Cotton Development & Research Association (CITI-CDRA), Rajasthan
Textile Mills Association and the Rajasthan State Department of Agriculture.
The objective of the partnership became to make a difference to the lives of
small, marginal, tribal and girls cotton farmers in south and valuable
Rajasthan. Over the last 6 years, the various farmer education tasks achieved
through the project team and Bayer specialists has led to good sized
enhancement within the productiveness and earnings of cotton farmers.Under this
collaborative assignment, common cotton productivity has long past up via 80 -
one hundred and five % with a return on investment of one:2 from the
fundamental degree of 245 kg lint/ha inside the tribal Banswara district of
Rajasthan. In the adjacent districts of Bhilwara and Rajsamand, average cotton
productiveness went up by means of 33 % with a go back on investment of 1:1 to
at least one:1.4 from a mean simple degree of 455 kg lint/ha. In 2012, the
mission was prolonged to four new districts in south Rajasthan. The assignment
presents top scope to hyperlink the assignment cotton farmers and an assurance
to key stakeholders along the cotton fee chain. It is also a very good instance
of public-non-public-partnership for sustainable development of small and marginal
cotton farmers.@ Raed More marketoblog
