nviuc newsletter december 2012

DeskE d i t o r ' sFrom the

T he Vegetable Initiative for Urban Clusters (VIUC), initiated with the objective of augmenting the farmers income and to make available quality vegetables to consumers, has been received very well in almost all the states. Periodic visits to the states participating in the programme have been started for monthly monitoring of the scheme. During these monitoring visits, the visiting teams have been receiving full co-operation from all concerned partners involved in the implementation of the scheme. As for the generally expected teething troubles seen in a few cases, we are confident that these issues will be sorted out over a period of time when we establish strong rapport with all the partner organisations for collection of information.

By the end of October 2012, approximately 73 percent of the financial targets provided by states in their action plans formulated for 201112 had been achieved. As far as physical progress is concerned, there is a wide variation in achievement from component to component and state to state. This is because of the fact that the type and nature of the physical components chosen and stage of execution of these physical components at the time of monitoring differ from state to state. It is expected that wherever the progress is slow, the implementing agencies will speed up the pace of implementation suitably, so that the set targets would be met within the given timeframe.

While there is good progress for most of the physical components on ground. As reflected from the percentage utilisation of the planned outlay, some components, particularly promotion of INM/IPM, the creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and markets, need special attention. Under these components, progress achieved has only been thirty-five, forty-eight and forty-nine percent, respectively, of the envisaged targets.

Farmers organisations being promoted under the scheme have started coming into existence, and two such producers companies have been registered and have started doing business transactions. While these achievements are laudable, they are also a pointer to the fact that there is a long way to go before we reach our goal of establishing 137 new farmers producer companies in

Vegetable InItIatIVe for Urban ClUsters

Monthly NewsletterVolume 02 December 2012

2 Monthly Newsletter | VIUC | December 2012 | Issue-02

the country under VIUC. All Resource Institutions are, therefore, encouraged to network with other Resource Institutions, particularly those which have successfully established FPOs, for cross-learning and accelerating the process of establishing FPOs in their respective clusters and states.

In this issue of the newsletter, the focus is on the financial achievements of the scheme from April - October 2012 and the progress made with regards to FPO-formation.

Component Target Achievement Percentage AchievementSeed Production of Vegetables 424.25 420.11 99%Vegetable Seedling Production 1,302.53 996.81 77%Seed Infrastructure 347.50 224.42 65%Vegetable Cultivation 9,687.25 7,631.67 79%Protected Cultivation 4,873.75 3,479.53 71%Promotion on INM/IPM 143.58 53.51 37%Organic Farming 827.40 620.89 75%Post-Harvest Management 2,466.09 1,167.39 47%Markets 2,442.13 1,253.74 51%Base Line Survey 242.89 181.73 75%HRD Training of Farmers 619.67 398.97 64%Administrative Cost 459.03 185.47 40%Promotion of Farmer Associations/Groups 2,904.33 2,622.85 90%Others 667.58 806.08 121%Total 27,407.97 20,043.16 73%

* Others include School Vegetable Garden; Cultivation wells and pumpsets; Promotion of roof-top gardens and gardens Kitchen Homestead Gardening; Tools/Implements for kitchen garden etc. (Components which are not part of the original scheme).

Component-wise Target and Achievement under VIUC (` in lakhs)

Seed Production ofVegetables, 1.55%

Vegetable SeedlingProduction, 4.75%

SeedInfrastructure,

1.27%

Vegetable Cultivation,

35.34%

Protected Cultivation,

17.78%

Promotion on INM/IPM, 0.52%

Organic Farming, 3.02%

Post Harvest Management,9.00%

Markets, 8.91%

Base Line Survey, 0.89%

HRD - Training ofFarmers, 2.26%

Administrative Cost, 1.67%

Promotion of Farmer Associations/Groups,

10.60%

Others, 2.44%

Component-wise allocation of funds by all the states (AAP 201112)

Through this newsletter, we would be providing you the progress and achievements made under VIUC in various states, along with the highlights of special initiatives and innovations being taken up by various stakeholders and partners. We request you to send us suitable material including case studies, success stories etc. for publication in upcoming issues of this newsletter and thereby share your learning, challenges and experiences with other sister agencies.

Other major components from the perspective of total outlay are a) promotion of farmers associations (10.60 percent), b) markets (8.91 percent) and c) post-harvest management (9.0 percent). Some

Financial Achievements of the SchemeData on financial achievements has been received from all the thirty states (J&K as two clusters) being covered under the scheme. The analysis of achievements has been done based on the data received.

Component-wise Targets and AchievementsUnder the VIUC, out of the total approved funds, as per Annual State Plans, the maximum amount has been allocated to the component of vegetable production followed by protected cultivation of vegetables. These two components are contributing approximately 53.13 percent (` 14,561.00 lakhs) of the total outlay of the scheme for the year 201112. In some of the states, production related components is contributing more than 60 percent of total outlay, e.g. in Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura.

3Monthly Newsletter | VIUC | December 2012 | Issue-02

of the important components, such as promotion of INM/IPM and training of the farmers, have been allocated only 0.52 and 2.26 percent of the total outlay.

At the national level, the scheme has achieved 73 percent of the total financial targets. Small component like 'seed production of vegetables' could only reach nearest to the target (` 420 lakhs, 99 percent achievement). While highest amount of expenditure incurred under component like 'vegetable cultivation' (` 7,631 lakhs, 79 percent achievement), the second highest amount has been spent on protected cultivation (` 3,479 lakhs) followed by markets (` 1,253 lakhs) and post-harvest management (` 1,167.39 lakhs).

As per the information received from various State Nodal Agencies, fourteen states Andhra Pradesh,

Status of Formation of FPOs

VIUC is targeted to mobilise around 150,000 farmers in the country and form approximately 150 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). This will serve to strengthen vegetable supplies to major urban clusters and leverage collective production and marketing opportunities. The hard work of all the implementing partners has started showing results on the ground. State Governments and Resource Institutions have successfully mobilised 1,43,396 farmers under the scheme.

Out of the total target of 150 FPOs, two FPOs have already been registered, one in Jammu and one in West Bengal. In both the cases, FPOs have been registered as Producer Company, under the

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

81100 percent

6180 percent

4160 percent

Below 40 percent Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh,Goa, Tamil Nadu & Odisha

Srinagar, Punjab, Jammu, MP,Meghalaya, Mizoram & Manipur

Maharashtra, Gujarat & West Bengal

Financial Achievement under VIUC (201112)

Sl. No. Stage of FPO Number State 1. FPO Registered 2 Jammu, West Bengal2. Applied for Certificate 19 Bihar, Goa, West Bengal, Maharashtra3. FPO under Process Elections for BoD to take place 2 Rajasthan4. FPO Registration Process yet to be started 29 Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,

Madhya Pradesh, Srinagar, Haryana, Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu

Total 52

Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Sikkim, Tripura, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Haryana have utilised 80 to 100 percent of the funds; while some states like Himachal Pradesh and Delhi have not even received any funds under the Scheme.

Companies Act, 1956. State Nodal Agencies (Department of Horticulture, J&K and Department of Horticulture & Food Processing Industries, West Bengal) along with respective Resource Institutions (Actech in Jammu and Access Development Services in West Bengal).

During the monthly monitoring, detailed information was collected for 52 FPOs in different states. These FPOs are under various stages of formation, in some cases documents have been submitted to statutory authorities, others have selected their Board of Directors (BoD) and the remaining are in the process of selecting their directors and forming various committees. We expect that the process of registration of FPOs will be accelerated in the coming months.


Highlights of the Month All the Resource Institutions working in different states are putting their best efforts to make this project a success; these Resource Institutions are working in the respective states for developing innovative ways to benefit the farmers through training and capacity-building programmes, setting up of infrastructure and joint procurement & distribution activities.

The highlights of the month along with the activities undertaken by various Resource Institutions are detailed below:

Training and Capacity-building

DelHI

Tie-up with Krishi Vigyan Kendra at Ujwa by Indian Traceability Systems Pvt. Ltd. (ITSL).

Experts from Ujwa KVK visited the village to provide technical advice to the farmers goshti organised for the farmer members of Dhansa village. This has given them exposure to organic farming and new techniques by ITSL.

GOA

Exposure visit organised for farmers where they visited the Irrigation Development Project of Goa, Tillari Irrigation Development Corporation at KVK & Farmers Training Centre (FTC) by Indian Grameen Services (IGS).

BIHAr

NalaNDa: Farmers Training on micronutrient management. Experts from ATMA and KVK visited the farmers and trained them on micronutrient management of vegetables and gave them an overview on non-toxic farming by Kaushalaya Foundation.

PatNa: Farmers trained on financial literacy and easy banking processes by Head, Agribusiness, IDBI Bank. Farmers also motivated on bank linkages and described how it will benefit them as individuals and as a group by Kaushalaya Foundation.

rAjASTHAN

Farmers are being trained to use organic compost, bacterial compost and bio-fertilisers to control fungal diseases; Distribution of Plant Protection booklet of Horticultural Crops to member farmers by Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP).

WeST BeNGAl (North 24, Paraganas)

Exposure visit to local cooperatives to train the farmers on cooperative management taken-up by Access Development Services (ADS).

HAryANA (Faridabad)

Tie-up with KVK to provide technical know-how to the farmers. Tie-up with Tata Chemicals Ltd. for seed production of vegetables by ITSL.

MADHyA PrADeSH (rajgarh, raisen and Vidisha)

Interactive Voice Response System has been initiated by the Resource Institution IGS for ICT-based extension where audio video extension service is being used for training farmers about crop cultivation practices.

Infrastructure

PUNjAB (ludhiana)

The following infrastructure has been established under the scheme for the proposed FPO (RI ITSL):

Two Collection Centres at Hedon. Five Packhouses one each at Balala, Dhanoor and Muskabad and two at Dayalpura.

Six Net Houses three at Hedon, two at Balala and one at Dayalpura.

In Chhattisgarh, FIGs have been linked with Mahamaya College of agriculture, Dhamtari,

where assistant Professors are working with the Resource Institution Indian Grameen Services to develop customised package of practices for the major vegetable crops prevalent in that region. Exposure visit of farmers to VNR farm house for

providing exposure on new cultivation techniques of vegetables has also been conducted. the efforts

of the Resource Institution to link farmer groups with the College of agriculture are commendable

and deserve applause. this could lead to the actual transfer of technology from laboratory to farmers fields, whereby both the college and the farmers

can mutually benefit from the association.


MADHyA PrADeSH (Sehore) (rI IGS)

3000 sqm poly house, 200 sqm shade net, two low cost onion storage structures, two vermi-compost units and one pack house established under the scheme.

Collectivisation Initiatives

DelHI

Tie-up has been done with Wallmart and Reliance. Around 280 qtl of Spinach has been sold to Wallmart and 95 qtls of Cauliflower sold to Reliance. Total 18 farmers have sold their produce to Reliance and Wallmart.

GOA

Tie-up with Goa State Horticulture Corporation (GSHC) for market linkages. GSHC has agreed to procure vegetable produce from the farmers at prefixed prices by IGS. This will lead to assured market linkages and remunerative prices for the farmers.

BIHAr (Vaishali)

Joint procurement of inputs has been initiated with one FIG purchasing 600 kg of bean seed from Delhi. Members of 3 FIGs have been linked to supplier agents. Members of 12 groups have been linked to Jivika crop project while another 18 groups have been linked to ATMA Project by IGS.

rAjASTHAN

Tie-up with Gujarat State Fertiliser Corporation for joint procurement of fertilisers for the coming kharif season by ISAP.

jAMMU

Agriculture department has distributed the seeds among 80 FIGs. Approximately 90% of subsidy has been given on hybrid seeds for cabbage, cauliflower, knol khol & onion. Apart from this, 75% subsidy has been provided in open pollinated vegetables like peas, coriander and fenugreek.

PUNjAB

Ten FIGs have tied-up with National Horticulture Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) for joint procurement of 40 quintal of garlic seed by ITSL. NHRDF also provided guidance to the farmers on technical aspects of garlic cultivation in the state.

MAHArASHTrA (Pune)

Common purchase of okra seed by FIGs in Pune has led to Maharashtra Agriculture Commissioner facilitating the farmers for common seed purchase directly through private companies. More than 10 FIGs have taken advantage of this and saved ` 400 for every kg of seed purchased. Non-member farmers have also come forward for this and benefitted from the advantage of joint procurement:

Joint procurement of 20 MT fertilisers and bitter gourd and ridge gourd seeds by 6 FIGs.

Common Collection Facility has been started at Kalwadi in Pune and farmers of the 78 FIGs are taking advantage of this facility (RI Vegetable Growers Association of India (VGAI).

Low Cost Onion Cold Storages in Bagru, Rajasthan Adoption of Sprinkler Irrigation by Farmers of Satwaji Baba Agro

Producer Company in Village Wafgaon in Pune


The Ministry of Agriculture is working towards facilitating the linkages of Farmer Producer Organisations with organised supply chains, especially the retail sectors.

Towards this end, the Ministry organised a round of consultation with the representatives of the Retail industry on 1st November 2012 at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi, to identify the key issues and constraints which inhibit the farmer-industry linkages, where Shri Sanjeev Chopra, Joint Secretary (NHM) Division and Shri Pravesh Sharma, Managing Director, Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium represented the Ministry of Agriculture.

During this consultation round, it was suggested by MD, SFAC that in the context of fragmented holdings in India, the concept of collectivising farmers produce for regular and viable sourcing of fruits and vegetables assumes greater significance. SFAC is willing to facilitate linkages of retail actors with the upcoming Farmer Producer Organisations, where different partnership models such as joint ventures, buy-back arrangements and contract farming can be explored. Shri Sanjeev Chopra added that the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation will be willing to support any initiative, where the amount of realisation obtained by the farmers is more than that available from the existing marketing options.

The industry was represented by companies such as Metro Cash and Carry, Future Group, Bharti Wal Mart, Technico Agro Services - ITC Group, Calypso Foods and Jet Airways.

During the discussions, it emerged that most of these companies are already working with farmers for procuring vegetables; however, getting enough volumes was a challenge, which could be addressed through direct linkages with FPOs. All the representatives expressed their willingness to work towards strengthening the supply chain infrastructure for fruits and vegetables along with SFAC. The representative from Jet Airways mentioned that Jet Airways has already taken the initiative of Agriculture Air Freight in India to minimise the distribution losses and increase the value of farmers produce for benefit of the farmers.

It was decided that one-on-one meetings with the industry representatives will be organised to understand specific issues and SFAC will share these details of the FIGs and FPOs with the industry for evolving effective linkages between prospective groups. A Discussion Paper highlighting the issues inhibiting effective Farmer-Industry linkages is intended to be circulated among the participants and stakeholders for their feedback.

Tie-up with Parle Agro Products for supply of Potato by ISAP.

HAryANA (Palwal)

In Palwal district, tie-up has been done with Rasi seeds and U.S. Agro Seeds. Rasi seeds has kept a profit of ` 15/10 gm for tomato and U.S. Agro has kept a profit of ` 15/10 gm for cauliflower. Total quantity for each cauliflower and tomato was 1-1.5 kg.

UTTAr PrADeSH (lucknow)

Tie-up has been done for collective farming and marketing. FIGs Bhawanpur-1 and Bhawanpur-2 are located near Bakshi Talab which is 78 km away from Lucknow. Both FIGs are doing joint marketing in Galla Mandi in Lucknow and Dubakka Mandi near by Lucknow

Issues and Challenges

UTTArAkHAND

Farmers are facing the problems of poor quality seeds and fertilisers. Also, as farmers are uneducated, it is difficult to convince them for collective activities.

UTTAr PrADeSH

FPO-formation is not under process due to non-release of the funds by State Horticulture Department, which has led to withdrawal of work order by SFAC. Farmers are facing lots of problems due to poor quality of vegetable seeds and adulteration in fertiliser and chemicals.

In most of the states, it was observed that farmers lack the basic understanding of business activities and technical know-how, and are thus looking forward to receiving organised support from implementing partners.

Special Initiative by SFAC Round of Consultation organised with the representatives of the Retail Industry to facilitate farmer-industry linkages.


Bhangar Vegetable Producer Company ltd. A Success Story emerging from VIUC

In South-24-Parganas district of West Bengal, a highly motivated team of Department of Horticulture & Food Processing State Nodal Agency, Access Development Services (ADS) Resource Institution has done an exemplary job of achieving the goal of establishing Bhangar Vegetable Producer Company Ltd. by effectively mobilising farmers. This has emerged as a success story for the VIUC Scheme. The company has 1750 member farmers, all of whom are marginal farmers owning less than one hectare of land. Bhangar Vegetable Producer Company is the first company registered under the VIUC and is way ahead of others on parameters of general awareness of objectives amongst members, motivation level of farmers, regular participation of member farmers in meetings, savings and creation of a common pool of resources, creation of production and marketing infrastructure, collective actions from production to marketing and market linkages.

Farmers have realised the value of economy of scale and have joined together to produce vegetables collectively. To achieve this, members have agreed to

Direct Sale of Vegetables at Kolkata Corporation Market

Vegetable Sorting and Grading at Bhangar Packhouse, Kolkata

Monthly Newsletter | VIUC | December 2012 | Issue-02

SMAll FArMerS AGrIBUSINeSS CONSOrTIUM(Society sponsored by Dept. of Agriculture, Govt. of India)NCUI Auditorium Building, 5th Floor, 3, Siri Institutional Area, August Kranti Marg Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110016Tel: +91-11-26862365, 26966017, 26966037 | Fax: +91-11- 26862367 email: [email protected] | Web: www.sfacindia.com

give their land on lease to FIGs so that a comparatively larger area of land can be used as a unit for production. By doing so, farmers have not only achieved an economical scale, but have also made themselves capable of opting for high-tech farming, which otherwise was not possible for the individual farmer, due to lack of availability of land and capital. Some of the achievements of the company are as follows:

Member farmers have covered around 18,800 sqm (94 poly/shade net house of 200 sqm each) under protected cultivation.

Member farmers have been able to take the benefit of subsidy to the tune of ` 121.63 lakhs for various components such as vegetable cultivation (` 28.00 lakhs), shade net (` 52.00 lakhs), motorised vending cart (5 Tata Ace) (` 10 lakhs), Vermi-Compost (1200 HDPE unit and 12 vermi units) (` 31.00 lakhs) and INM & IPM (120 Farmers used Microorganism-MAPLE) (` 0.65 lakhs).

The company has submitted a proposal worth ` 31.75 lakhs for establishing a packhouse and Sorting Grading Centre (` 7.00 lakhs), purchasing six static vending carts (` 0.75 lakhs) and six refrigerated carts of capacity six MT each (` 24.00 lakhs).

The company has savings of around ` 16.00 lakhs.

Direct tie-up has been made with Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd (IFFCO) for procurement of fertilisers and an order of ` 22.00 lakhs has been placed for buying 100 MT of NPK.

The company has arranged to purchase farm equipment on subsidised rates such as 240 hand sprayers, 240 foot sprayers, 250 bags of vermin-compost, 500 spades, 500 bags of neem manures, 250 rose sprayers etc. by converging with other programmes and government schemes.

A temporary packhouse is already operational from the wholesale market, Bhangar, in a rented

premise and the company has applied for establishing a modern packhouse for grading, sorting and packaging of vegetables.

The State Nodal Agency has facilitated the company in direct retailing of its produce at various places in Kolkata with the help of the Municipal Body. The company has been provided with police protection at initial stage, as existing traders resisted direct retailing of farmers vegetables in the market.

The company has established linkages with Mother Dairy for direct supplying of vegetables to their outlets and is supplying vegetables to seven Corporation Markets and three wholesale markets namely Kole Market and Sealdah Market in Kolkata and Dhulagar wholesale market in Howrah district.

The company is also planning to set-up its own vegetable dehydration facility for dehydration of cauliflower and green chilli with support from Department of Horticulture and Food Processing, Government of West Bengal.

For technical support and training, tie-ups have been made with IIT-Kharagpur, KVK Nimpit Ramkrishna Mission and Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vidyalaya.

For motivating the farmers and convincing them, the Resource Institution is organising shows of the movie Manthan the Amul India Story, for FIG and FPO members.

Discussions have been started with ECOCERT for starting Organic Certification of fields of as many as 500 farmers.

All these measures have been achieved by rigorous training of farmers and team work of Department Officials and RI staff at the ground level. Mr. Atanu Gupta, District Horticulture Officer, South-24-Parganas and Mr. Indranil Mazumdar, District in-charge and Project Coordinator from ADS and their team members deserve appreciation for facilitating this and setting benchmarks for others.

nviuc newsletter december 2012

Documents