Public Private Partnerships – Accelerating Agricultural Development

Public Private Partnerships are a popular type of collaboration in many sectors of the economy around the world. These partnerships may vary in nature and scope. They are not limited to bilateral collaboration between government agency and a private corporation. PPP’s especially for sustainable agricultural development can also include multi-partner structures that bring together private companies with entities such as non-governmental organizations (NGO), university research institutes and foundations.
As the world’s third largest producer of agricultural crops, India needs to take steps to improve productivity in agriculture. The Government should encourage better agronomic practices, create the right commercial, technical and regulatory environment and strengthen agricultural innovation systems like research, education, extension and infrastructure. In this direction the Government of India and some State Governments have initiated “Public Private Partnership (PPP)” concept particularly in the area of Research and Extension.
Nuziveeedu Seeds has proved that the contribution of the private sector to agricultural development goes far beyond research. As India’s largest Seed producer, the company has endeavoured to bring new products to the market and deliver value. The company has entered into Public Private Partnerships with the Governments of several states in India, for carrying out extension work and implementing its agronomic innovations.
PPP for Extension Services in Uttar Pradesh: NSPL has entered into an MOU with the government of Uttar Pradesh under Private Public Partnership (PPP mode) for carrying out extension work in the state. Under this project the company has provided extension services in 25 districts of Uttar Pradesh for paddy and maize crops. The extension work involved among other things, were Crop Demonstration, Farmers’ Training and Field Visits For Kharif season 2011-12, the project met the desired result successfully and the UP government appreciated this partnership.
Major Partnership for High Density Cotton Planting in Maharashtra: NSPL’s introduction of high density planting for cotton has found rich response in Maharashtra. The Government of Maharashtra has realized the importance of high density cotton planting to improve productivity of Cotton in Vidharbha region and sanctioned an extension program in PPP with NSPL to cover 10,000 acres with 2000 farmers in Akola, Amravati and Buldhana districts. The project is being implemented to assist poor farmers of major cotton growing districts of Vidharbha region to significantly improve productivity of their cotton crop. The project will include high density planting in 7500 acres under rain-fed conditions and 2500 acres under drip irrigation.
High Density Cotton Planting- A Boon to the Cotton Farming Community: The project is estimated to increase farmers’ yields from existing average productivity of 5 quintals / acre to a minimum of 7.5 quintals / acre under rain-fed conditions i.e. 50% increase in productivity among the selected farmers and 10 quintals / acre under drip irrigation i.e. 100% increase in productivity among the selected farmers. Farmers are being trained in groups in the use of technologies. The training programmes are conducted using POP material, Audio visual aids and demonstrations for better understanding of practices. In Akola, Buldhana and Amaravati districts, farmers have been identified and 112 farmer groups have been formed till date. 3423 farmers have been enrolled in the project from 74 villages and 4 training camps have been already conducted.
Heralding a host of benefits for the farmers: The formation of farmer groups will benefit individual farmers to share knowledge and give them better bargaining power to procure agri inputs. The farmers will be able to practice new technologies under the guidance of company’s technical personnel. They would also have timely access to inputs such as seeds, growth regulators, micronutrients etc. Moreover they will be able to get assistance for setting micro/ drip irrigation systems wherever minimum water is available. The farmers will be provided with convenient market linkage for their produce through close tie up with ginning and textile mills. All this will add to increased productivity and income for the farmers.
The usefulness of Public Private Partnerships is by no means limited to agricultural development, but they can make a major contribution in this area. Where the right partners come together in the right way, the synergies they achieve can lead to amazing results well beyond the reach of any one organization alone.
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