1. Agricultural Diversification and
Role of ATMA in Bihar
Dr.K.M.Singh
Director,
State Agricultural Management and Extension Training
Institute, Bihar
Presentation in the Global Meet for a Resurgent Bihar,
19-21 February 2007,
Hotel Maurya, Patna, India

2. Historical Perspective
• Post independence, single minded focus on removing
shortages and self reliance for basic cereal crops
• Research system served this purpose by delivering dramatic
productivity increases by introduction of new varieties and use
of chemicals for nutrition and protection
• Training & Visit (T&V) Extension system successfully managed
technology transfer to the farmers
• It was believed that ―Market Forces‖ could not adequately
address the needs of both farmers and consumers. Regulatory
framework was designed to circumvent the market

3. Historical Technology Dissemination Model
• No market risk for the farmer – Support price system
• Firm contract with the government
• Neither the research system nor the farmer required any connect with the consumer
and its demands.
ICAR R&D system &
Agricultural Universities
Create
Knowledge
Extension
Teams
Farmer
Information Flow
Product Flow
Farmer Mandis Aggregators
State Procurement
System
Processors
Brand Marketers
Distributor/
Retailers
Consumer
Burdened with this baggage of historical success - search for the new paradigm

4. Why the need for the new paradigm?
 Falling trend growth rate of agriculture.
 Productivity increases are not keeping pace with the rising
population trends.
 Falling water tables & rising soil salinity.
 Soil degradation due to intensive chemical usage.
 Piling food grain stocks and increased dependence on oil
seed & oil imports.
 R&D system should deliver the "increased income
aspirations‖ of the farmers.
 India’s factor price advantage & diverse agro-climatic
conditions, not leveraged to become a player in the
international market.

5. Domestic International Market
Consumer
Distributor/Retailer Exporters
Imports
Aggregators
Mandis
Farmers
Processors
Brand Marketers
 Inadequate information with farmers to plan production– Little or no linkages
 with the market
 Research system with limited connect with the market
 Public actions focused on crisis resolution, not at systemic solution
 Private sector focus on articulating problem only a few initiatives to show for.
Consumer
Ploughing ahead …..times have changed

6. Myths about Agricultural Research & Extension
 R&D System is not delivering
 Extension system has collapsed
 Need for increased role for private sector
 Farmers are not willing to change
 State Government are not responsive
However the Reality is
 R&D system has the knowledge base but lacks means of transfer to the farm
 Farmer is willing to change, can take technology risk provided he is
insulated from the market risk.
 No public support for new initiative leading to collapse of the T&V extension
 services.
 Few Private sector players operating in limited pockets at best equipped to
 play the role of facilitators – NOT YET READY TO LEAD.
 Some aggressive state agendas neutralized by inertia in other states.

7. Framework for Crafting the Research Agenda
 R&D agenda should be driven by market demand. Links with the Private
sector can fill in this gap.
 Benchmark with the best in the world
 Identify regions and crops where we can be better than the best
 Evaluate nationally & globally available varieties to select candidates for
propagation.
 Adopt and develop package of practices which are locally relevant and
within the resource base of the farmer
 Maintain focus on optimizing water usage and rationalized chemical inputs
to build sustainability
 Public and private partnership with input companies on the basic research
agenda.
“Redefine research agenda to be in-tune with market demand & leverage India’s
resource base on a sustainable format.”
Only TECHNOLOGY which delivers HIGHER INCOMES for the farmers will SUCCEED!

8. A Possible Roadmap
 Leverage Bihar’s diverse and favourable agro climatic conditions to create:
 “Specialized” “Regional” production centers :
Only way of maintaining competitiveness in a world focused on SPECIALIZATION!
Specialized Regional
production centers
RegionCrop
Varieties
Nutrition/Protection Plan
Farmer’s CapabilityWater availability
Market Linkage

9. Technology Transfer Enablers
Commercialization
 Evaluation of promising varieties and hybrids- short listing selection
 Blueprint for agricultural practices after adapting to local conditions,
 to suit intellectual & financial means of the farmer
 Multi locational trials including at farmers’ fields
 Evaluation of farmer economics model
Technology Transfer
 The extension services team - selection and training
 Farmer education program
 Demonstration farming
R & D Activities
 Ensure market and predictable pricing
 Timing the harvest to optimize the returns
 Post harvest management to ensure quality
 Prompt farmer payment system
 Ensure ―adequate financing‖ to fund the inputs

10. What should be the pattern of engagement ?
 It has been seen elsewhere that successful commercialization
of technology works because there is a demand.
 As yet, no established demand for Agricultural technology by
the private sector.
 ―Public- Private Partnerships‖ rather than pure ―Commercial
engagements‖ need to be developed.
 Involve private sector in drawing up specific work plan of
research institutions.
 Leverage both public & private sector resources for reaching
out to the farmer
 Government market interventions to support new technologies
and diversification

11. Challenges before Extension System
 To respond to food and nutritional security, poverty
alleviation, diversifying market demand, export opportunities
and environment
 Effective linkages between production and agro-processing for
value added products
 Sustainable management of natural resources – land and water
 Public funding in extension is under considerable strain, getting
private funds need of the hour.

12. System Constraints
 Extension programs heavily top-down:
Extension field staff, primarily handing out central
government funded inputs and subsidies, rather than
assisting farmers to increase their incomes
 By focusing on staple food crops, extension is mostly
supply–driven rather than being demand– driven or
market–driven
 Lack of attention to farmer problems; extension system
not accountable to farmers
 Inadequate technical & managerial capacity, especially
among the field-level extension staff posted in the
districts and blocks
 Absence of any mechanisms to empower farmers
 Weak involvement with the private sector
 Weak R-E-F-M linkages

13. Key Elements of the New Strategy
Shift from food security (i.e., Green Revolution) to
diversifying into high-value products
 India had become self-sufficient in basic food crops
 Growing domestic market for high-value products;
dairy, eggs, fresh fish, fruits and vegetables, etc.
To implement this new strategy, farmers had to be
organized, trained and linked to these new
domestic and international markets
Implementing organization pilot tested under
NATP was the Agricultural Technology
Management Agency or ―ATMA‖
(In Hindi, ATMA mean “soul;” therefore ATMA has become the soul of
agricultural development in India and Bihar.)

14. ATMA was the Mechanism Used to
Decentralize Extension and Diversify
Agriculture:
Which is Critical to Building a “Market-Driven” Extension System
Regional and urban market opportunities tend to be
―location-specific;‖ therefore, extension planning
must be ―bottom-up!‖
The ATMA model pilot-tested between 1998-2005;
now the Government of India is implementing this
―market-driven‖ extension or ATMA model
nationwide in 252 districts and it may be up scaled
to cover the whole country in the XIth Plan.

15. Steps in Implementing the Strategy
Conduct PRA and then develop a Strategic Research
and Extension Plan (SREP) for each Project District
Identify and evaluate ―Success Stories‖
Determine most promising products/markets
Organize farmers into groups
Farmer Interest Groups (FIGs) at village level & Farmer
Associations (FAs) at block, district & state levels
Farmer leaders are critical to the success of FIGs
Exposure visits and demonstrations are used to motivate
FIG members.
Investigate markets to identify interested
manufacturers or wholesale markets
(i.e., avoid traders; shorten the supply chain to avoid middlemen.)

16. Building Social Capital
VIS-À-VIS MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Two basic types:
Bonding
Research &
Extension
Bridging
Local Markets
Urban Markets
Global Markets
FIG
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17. Implementing the Strategy (cont.)
Collaborate with research (e.g. SAUs or KVKs) to
develop and test production and post-harvest
technologies and then train FIG members to
produce to contract specifications.
Public-Private Partnerships are emphasized at
block level; emphasis is on ―contract farming‖
between FIGs and companies (e.g. Pepsi and
Hindustan Lever are contracting for basmati rice and
vegetables for processing)
 Some other companies are doing this on a smaller scale in
Bihar ( Aromatic crops, exotic vegetables, organic farming
etc.)

18. Example-Lemon grass oil production Flow Chart
Lemongrass Saplings
from CIMAP, Lucknow
or FFDC, Kannauj
Root stock Growing in
nursery in 1/5th area of
intended crop
Transplanting 6-8 month
old plantlets
in the field
Harvesting for distillation
every 2-3 months depending
on growth of crop
Field Distillation
for
Lemongrass
oil
every 2-3
months
Up to 5 years
Oil sold
@ Rs.300/-
per kg
total oil yield
120 kg per year
Krishna and CKP25
Varieties most suited
for Bihar
Popularization and technical
support from ATMA, Patna
and KVK, Barh
Oil sold to processors
after 12 Months
to 5 years
6Months9Months
Up to 5 years
12-14Months

19. Impact of this ATMA Model of Extension on
Crop Diversification and Farm Incomes
(Average changes in production area and income in 28
project districts* between 1999-2004; IIM Lucknow data)
• Horticultural Crops: 12  16%
• Oil Seeds: 3  11%
• Herbs and Medicinal Crops: 1  5%
• Sericulture: 0  1%
• Area planted to cereals declined: 55  47%, but
yields increased 14%
• During this period, average farm income increased
24% in project districts in contrast with only 5% in
non-project districts
*All India figures

20. Performance Indicators of ATMA Programme in Bihar
(Rs./ Household/Year)
Impact Indicators Baseline Actual
Absolute Income Gain In Project Districts 61256 68797
Absolute Income Gain In Non-Project
Districts
60512 66951
Net Gain In Household Income In Project
Districts household Over Non Project
Districts household
744 1846
Per Household Annual Income
Project Districts 89049 99423
Non-Project Districts 93542 85331
Cropping Intensity(%)
Project Districts 145 196
Non-Project Districts 140 174
Benefits Of Adopting New Technologies (%)
Increase In Crop Yield 13
Increase In Farm Income 15

21. Conclusion: Key Elements of this New
Extension Strategy
Refocus some research and extension resources to
high-value crops/products, including market
assessment
Decentralize extension planning and decision-making;
begin by focusing on local and regional market
opportunities.
Empowering Farmers—organize and train farmers so
they can link to high-value markets; they must get
organized to achieve economies of scale and to
increase market power.

22. Reasons for Success
Farmer friendly approach to Extension
Partnership with Private Sector
ATMA Single Window delivery point for Technology.
Diversification dictated by market demand only.
Judicious Use of Mass media.
R-E-F-M linkages strengthened with primary focus on
farmer.
Revitalizing the farmers through capacity building,
Using farmers and private entrepreneurs as Extension
Agents.
Group focus in all the interventions.
Effective use of NGO’s, & private sector.
Sustainability given due importance, with cost sharing
being the key word in most of the interventions.

23. ATMA Model : Lessons Learnt
 Autonomy, financial flexibility and direct funding
resulted in better outcome.
 Better coordination, Convergence, pooling of
resources and integrated delivery of demand driven
extension.
 Priority settings through the farmers involvement
(SREP , GB and FIAC).
 Strong Research-Extension-Farmer-Market
(R-E-F-M) Linkage.
 ATMA an effective platform for Public-Private-
Partnership.
 SREP as a tool for bottom-up planning
 Capacity building through need-based
trainings, exposure visits, demonstrations, etc.

24. THANKS