Agricultural Extension-PPP Model

Agricultural extension is the application of scientific research and new knowledge to agricultural practices through farmer education. The field of
extension encompasses a wider range of communication and learning activities organised for rural people by professionals from different disciplines,
including agriculture, agricultural marketing, health, and business opportunities. The arrangements for agricultural extension in india have grown, over
the last five decades, in terms of activities, organisational types and available manpower. Public sector extension, represented mainly by the state
department of agriculture (doa), continues to be the most important source of information for the majority of farmers. Activities of other extension
agencies, be it non-governmental organisations (ngos), input agencies, mass media, research institutions or farmers associations, though increasing,
are still restricted to certain regions, crops and enterprises. The performance of public sector extension is under scrutiny for quite some time and
questions are being raised on its capability to deliver goods in the rapidly changing environment. Hence the need to have a public private partnership
(ppp) model.
Project Implementation

Customized farmers training & extension and online agriculture monitoring through application of information & communication technology (ict) at block
level in uttar pradesh. Rashtriya krishi vikas yojna (rkvy) is a flagship programme of the ministry of agriculture & cooperation, government of india by
which states are offered incentives for increasing investments in agriculture and allied sectors by a 100 percent grant for attaining a growth rate of more
than 4 percent in agriculture. customized farmers training & extension and online agriculture monitoring through application of information &
communication technology (ict) is one of the innovative interventions under rkvy. Afc was awarded the task of implementation of above project in 45
blocks by the department of agriculture, government of uttar pradesh during the year 2007-08. This intervention has since been extended to another
225 blocks during 2008-09. The mission of the project is to increase the farm productivity, profitability and sustainability of farming systems, efficient
use of natural resources and agricultural inputs etc. by customized farmers trainings at village cluster level in selected blocks as per their needs and
aspirations and also to provide online information on weather parameters, demand and use of agricultural inputs and market intelligence. Besides, risk
assessment and establishing quick alert system for benefit of stakeholders and for management of crop production support system by the line
departments, yield assessment, expected gluts and shortfall in crop production are the other components of the project. All these activities are to be
undertaken by innovative use of ict applications. Implementation of dfid funded western orissa rural livelihood project (worlp) watershed development
mission, govt. Of orissa 2005-2010. This project is funded by the department for international development (dfid), government of united kingdom. It is
being implemented in the nuapada, bolangir, kalahandi and bargarh districts of orissa. These districts are among the poorest in india with nearly 70 per
cent of the population living below the official poverty line, having high illiteracy rates, poor health indicators, shortage of safe drinking water, lack of
sanitation, poor infrastructure, natural calamities, inequitable social structures, indebtedness, gender and other inequities. Worlp project design
emphasises livelihood support along with natural resources management on a watershed basis. Afc was initially selected as the project implementing
agency (pia) for worlp project for the bhavanipattana block of kalahandi district comprising a watershed area of 5000 ha covering 26 villages in three
gram panchayats. Afcs staff consisted of watershed development team members and livelihood support team. The processes followed are:
Delineation of watersheds,
Awareness campaigns,
Base line surveys,
Participatory rural appraisal, community wealth ranking & transect walk,
Identification of existing groups/shgs, identification of new shgs,
Capacity building of all groups, exposure visits of groups,
Identification of entry point activity,
Preparation of pra based micro level plan and annual action plan along with identifying user groups to implement the plan.
After assessing afcs watershed implementation programme at bhavanipattana, the state level steering committee for worlp, assigned a second
watershed project in sohela block of bargarh district to afc for implementation in the month of march 2006. The project area covers 17 villages having
an area of 5000 ha.
The projects are of five years duration and the implementation would be completed in 2010.
Watershed Development
 Orientation & training programme for watershed level participants under drought prone area programme (DPAP) & integrated wastelands development
programme (IWDP) In uttar pradesh Drought prone area programme (DPAP) and integrated wastelands development programme (IWDP) /hariyali are
being implemented by the department of land development & water resources, government of uttar pradesh fostering community/ pris participation. The
dpap is being implemented by 92 soil conservation officer units in 60 blocks across 15 districts and iwdp in 132 blocks across 47 districts of the
state. Capacity building and training are one of the basic requirements for the target groups for their effective and purposeful participation in different
phases of the project, i.e. planning, execution and maintenance. The state department of land development & water resources, being the nodal
department for implementing these programmes in the state, assigned this prestigious task of organizing/ conducting trainings for the watershed level
participants [watershed association (wa)/ watershed committee (WC)/ users groups (ugs)/ self help groups (SHGS)] at the grassroots level in different
soil conservation units of 50 districts of the state. The training programmes are focused on capacity building of the watershed level participants
belonging to Wa, Wc, Ug and Shg with regard to technical and participatory aspects of the project implementation so as to ensure their effective
participation in implementation process of dpap and iwdp. The training programmes are being organised at watershed level, as per training needs
envisaged under DPAP/ IWDP and communicated by the concerned district officials.
Project Management Agency

Mall farmers agri-business consortium (sfac), an organization promoted by ministry of agriculture, govt. of india has appointed afc as a project
management agency for publicity and awareness building plan to support venture capital assistance scheme (vcas) during xii five year plan(2012-
2017).
Three packages comes under pma are-
Advertisement package
Public relations package
Awareness building events package
Advertisement package- designing, planning and implementing an annual advertising campaign.preparation of quarterly plans for media
procurement.
Public relations package- plan and implement a campaign to raise the media profile of sfac and vcas in the national,regional and district level press in
key stated.Package Planning and execution on quarterly basis. Awareness building events package- organization of one day state and district level
events(workshop,conference,awareness building camps) to publicize the vcas among key stakeholders.Package Planning and execution on quarterly
basis. The pma will prepare and implement a campaign to organize district level awareness building camps in 200 target districts to enhance
awareness of vcas and identify potential entrepreneurs. These camps are single day events targeting local government officials,potential
entrepreneurs, bankers, trade bodies, technical institutions and local media.
National Medicinal Plants Board Schemes

M&e of national medicinal plants board schemes, department of ayush, ministry of health and family welfare, goi AFC has been engaged for m&e of
the projects sanctioned by nmpb during the years 2002-03 to 2009-10 under its promotional schemes includes in-situ conservation/ ex-situ cultivation,
 research & development, establishment of herbal gardens, production of quality planting materials, extension activities, demand-supply studies, value
addition etc and commercial venture scheme includes large scale cultivation of prioritized rare & endangered species, post harvest technology,
innovative marketing mechanism etc. in 32 states/ut of the country. Basic objectives of this exercise are to measure the process of execution, judicious
use of released amount of grant-in-aid as per the approved guidelines and swot analysis for drawing up policies and strategies for conservation,
cultivation, marketing and sustainable management of this sector. The factual outcome at the gross root level may be used to have necessary mid-
course corrections in the schemes being implemented by national medicinal plants board for achieving national goal.
Tamil nadu success story
Atis success story
Organic Farming

To promote organic farming, AFC india limited has been given the opportunity to implement the organic farming project named as adoption and
certification of organic management system with online traceability for facilitation domestic retail chains and export in gujarat, chhattisgarh, orissa and
haryana. In addition, an assignment relating to preparation of policy document for organic farming and market linkages in arunachal pradesh has also
been awarded to afc india limited by the government of arunachal pradesh.
Agriculture Extension

Production and productivity of wheat through line sowing

The agriculture department of up government has assigned afc a study under enhancing production and productivity of wheat by proper placement of
see and fertilizer through line sowing in eastern up under rkvy scheme.
Management of water logged area
As a sequel to the national food security mission scheme, directorate of agriculture, govt of up entrusted afc two studies on management of
waterlogged area due to canal seepage in sitapur district and raebareli district.
Intercropping of pulses with sugar cane. Afc has also undertaken a project for increasing area and production of pulses through intercropping of pulses
with spring sown sugarcane in major sugar cane growing areas of uttar pradesh under rkvy scheme.
Training And Capacity Building

Financial literacy programme in murshidabad district in west Bengal nabard has awarded AFC a financial literacy programme in murshidabad district in
west Bengal focused on rural adults especially women. The entire package has been designed to leverage on the existing infrastructure created and/or
supported by government of india and respective state governments. This awareness programme is being implemented through self help groups and
farmer clubs. The financial literacy programme has been structured to support the participants progress towards meeting their savings and asset
goals. The training will also provide programme participants with opportunities to develop skills and acquire knowledge necessary to effectively manage
their own financial situation. Keeping the project requirements in mind, AFC proposed to adopt a blended approach to learning and imparting financial
literacy. The program design will be in local language i.e. Bengali. Reserve bank of India has launched a series of financial literacy drives. Some
material published by reserve bank of India in various national languages, use of role-plays etc. will be made use to make the programme more
interactive and useful for participants.
DPRS/Project Appraisal

Preparation of District Perspective plans and Annual Plans under BRGF in 6 district of Uttar Pradesh. The Government of India has introduced
Backward Region Grant Fund to readdress regional imbalances in development. The fund will provide financial resources for supplementing and
converging existing development inflows into identified districts so as to Bridge critical gaps in local infrastructure and other development requirements
that are not being adequately met through existing inflows. Strengthen, to this end Panchayats and Municipality level governance with more
appropriate capacity building to facilitate participatory Planning, decision making, implementation and monitoring to reflect local felt need.
Provide professional support to local bodies for planning implementation and monitoring their plans.
Improve the performance and delivery of critical functions assigned to Panchayats and counter possible efficiency and equity losses on account of
inadequate local capacity. With a view to assisting the district administration in the preparation of district plans and facilitate the participatory process,
the Planning Commission and Ministry of Panchayati Raj have prepared a panel of Technical Support Institution (TSIs) i.e. National level Institutions
and NGOs, for joining hands with the State planning authorities and the District Planning Committee /Zila Parishad . AFC has been entrusted with the
task of preparation of district perspective plan in 6 districts of Uttar Pradesh namely Lalitpur, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Jalon, Banda and
Chitrakoot. Assessment of Venture Capital Assistance Programme (SFAC) SFAC is implementing Venture Capital Scheme to promote investments in
agri-business projects with the participation of nationalized banks, SBI and subsidiaries/IDBI. AFC has been recently assigned the task of assessment
of VCA programme. The purpose of this thematic assessment is to assess the past and potential performance and leverage of SFACs Agribusiness
Development through Venture Capital Assistance (VCA) Programme through a focused assessment of 15 selected investments from the Programmes
portfolio. AFC has taken up the task of evaluation through an averaging performing enterprises, a mix of above average performing enterprises; below
average performers; mature projects on their way out of the programme and newer investments. In general the assessment will review and analyze
the overall performance and bring out recommendations for improvement of VCA Scheme.
Setting Up Of Resource Centre

Setting up of Block Resource Centers (BRCs) under National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) in UP AFC has been awarded the task of
setting up to Block Resource Centers (BRCs) under National Rural Drinking water Programme (NRDWP) in UP in April 2012. BRC shall be the
institutional set up at the block level to provide continuous support in terms of awareness generation, motivation, mobilization, training and handholding
to the village communities, GPs and VWSCs. The BRC will serve as an extended delivery arm of the District Water and Sanitation Mission in terms of
software support and act as a link between it and the GPs/VWSCs/Village communities. Capacity building and generating awareness among the village
community on various aspects of safe drinking water by BRCs will be the first step in improving their understanding to achieve drinking water security
in term of quantity and quality. It will also help the villages in achieving Nirmal Gram status, sustaining and building on it with effective and low cost
management of solid and liquid wastes.
Monitoring And Evaluation
 The directorate of soil conservation, jharkhand has recently entrusted afc with the tasks of third party mid-term evaluation and impact assessment
study of nwdpra executed in 10 districts of jharkhand during xith five year plan in april 2012.Under the assignment, all aspects of programme
implementation are required to be studied for the purpose on sample basis. These aspects include dpr, watershed committee, capacity building and
institutional arrangement, production system and shg, details of works, nrm activities, watershed development fund, maintenance of records and
accounts by watershed committee and shgs, knowledge portal etc. Mid-term evaluation of centrally sponsored scheme national bamboo mission. The
department of agriculture & cooperation, ministry of agriculture has awarded afc, the mid term evaluation study of centrally sponsored scheme of
national bamboo mission. The missions objectives are to promote the growth of the bamboo sector through an area based regionally differentiated
strategy; to increase the coverage of area under bamboo in potential areas, with suitable species to enhance yields; to promote marketing of bamboo
and bamboo based handicrafts; to establish convergence and synergy among stakeholders for the development of bamboo; to promote, develop and
disseminate technologies through a seamless blend of traditional wisdom and modern scientific knowledge; to generate employment opportunities for
skilled and unskilled persons, especially unemployed youths. The study would evaluate physical and financial progress, and determine the qualitative
and quantitative impact of various interventions taken up during three years of the mission in respect of following components:
Planting material
Nursery
Tissue culture lab/unit
Area expansion
Improvement of existing stock
Technology transfer & human resource development
Technology dissemination through front line demonstrations
Pest and disease management
Post harvest storage and treatment facilities.

DPRs For Multi-Lateral Agencies

Project Name : Promoting IG Activities and Setting up Micro-Enterprises in Kushavathi River Sub-watershed (in Chikkabalapur DWDO Area),
Gudibande Taluk, Kolar Dist ongoing 2007-08 Brief.
With the assistance of the World Bank, Watershed Development Department (WDD) is implementing a Comprehensive Watershed Development
Project in Karnataka. The project aimed at reduction of soil erosion, increasing water availability, fodder productivity, vegetation improvement through
forestry and horticulture activities, besides improvement of agricultural production through stakeholders involvement. In order to involve the vulnerable
groups hitherto not covered under the project, the World Bank agreed to extend the assistance for promoting IG Activities and setting up of micro-
enterprises in the project areas. The main focus is on empowering the vulnerable families to take-up income generation activities or to set-up micro-
enterprises for improving the income vulnerable groups. AFC has been providing professional specialist services on entrepreneurial development
sector.