Kerala Agricultural Technology Project

1
Kerala Agricultural Technology Project

• To Raise Productivity, Quality Farmer Income on
  Cash and Field Crops by Improved Land
  Preparation, Soil Nutrition Water Management

2
Objectives

• To commercially demonstrate higher crop yields,
  quality and farm incomes on field, cash and
  orchard crops by application of advanced methods
  of land preparation, soil nutrition,
  mechanisation and water management.
• To train lead farmers in Palakad District on
  these advanced methods.
• To strengthen the extension advisory system by
  establishing village based farm schools supported
  by a field force of ag consultants to demonstrate
  widely disseminate these methods throughout the
  district.

3
Low Indian Crop Productivity (kg/ha)
Crop USA India USA/India
Rice 6622 2928 2.3
Maize 8397 1666 5.0
Wheat 4400 2583 1.7
Groundnut 3038 912 3.3
Soy beans 2452 1007 2.4
Potato 40,238 17,307 2.3
Lint Cotton 928 333 2.8
Tomato 59,295 15,138 3.9

4
Low Productivity of Indian Agriculture

• India ranks in the bottom quartile countries on
  productivity of most major crops, despite having
  the largest area under irrigation and a huge
  reservior of scientific manpower.
• Huge waste of water resources damaging crop
  productivity, increasing soil salinity and
  aggravating water shortages. 95 of Indias water
  use is for irrigation.
• Kerala ranks low among Indian states on
  productivity of most major crops.

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Factors Determining Crop Productivity

• Soil preparation
• Planting methods tools
• Plant nutrition
• Water management
• Pest management
• Time schedule management

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AT is the Answer

• Advanced agricultural technology (AT) adapted
  appropriately to local conditions can raise
  Keralas productivity on most major crops by 100
  to 200 or more and double or triple water use
  efficiency.
• California Agricultural Consulting Services
  (CACS) has already commercially demonstrated this
  potential on a wide range of crops in India.

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Brinjal in TN

• CACS has achieved 17 tons/acre of brinjal in TN
  compared with TN average of 8 tons. Potential is
  for 30 tons generating more than Rs 1 lakh/acre
  profi

8
Red Cabbage in TN
CACS has achieved 20 tons/acre of cabbage in TN
compared with TN average of 12 tons. Potential is
for 30 tons generating more than Rs 1 lakh/acre
profi
9
Badji Pepper in TN

• CACS has achieved 14 tons/acre in Tamil Nadu
  compared with local average of 6 tons. Potential
  is 20 tons generating more than 1.5 lakhs
  profit/acre.

10
Okra in TN

• CACS technology has produced 6 tons/acre of Okra
  in TN compared with state average of 2 tons.
  Potential is for 10 tons yielding income of Rs
  50,000 to 1 lakh/acre.

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Sugarbeet gives 50 more sugar than cane in ½ the
time with only 2/3rd the water

• CACS farmers in CA achieve the highest yields of
  sugarbeet. Sugarbeet can produce 35-40 tons/acre
  in TN in 6 months with 15 sugar recover compared
  to TN average of about 40 tons cane in 12 months
  with only 10 recovery. Also sugar beet consumes
  30 to 40 less water than sugarcane.

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CACS Crop Yields in India vs Local Average
Crop (tons/acre) Local Average CACS achieved in India Growth Achieved CACS Potential in India
Baji Pepper 6 14 133 20
Beans (Lima) - 1.75   3.5
Beans (Black eye) - 1   2
Brinjal 7-8 15-17 114 25-30
Cabbage (Red) 12 20 67 30
Capsicum 8 16 100 35
Cotton Lint (lb./A) 310 890 187 2200
Maize 1.2 2.8 133 7.8
Okra 2 6 200 10
Rice 1.2 4 233 6
Sugarcane 40 59 50 80
Tomatoes 12 38 217 55
Black Pepper (kg//vine) .5 1.23 140 1.5-2.0
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Normal Land Preparation in India

• Ploughing soil only 6 to 8 deep and flat beds
  results in
• Dense packing of earth
• Prevent rainwater storage in the soil
• Flooding of roots during irrigation heavy rains
  which stops plant growth
• Loss of fertile top soil through surface run-off
  of rainwater
• Prevent crop roots from penetrating into soil
  profile for water and nutrient uptake
• Leads to stunted plant growth
• Lower yields

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Soil Penetration 6-8 in India
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Normal Indian Soil
Rainwater cannot penetrate deeper or drain, so it
floods roots evaporates rapidly. The flooding
prevents plant roots from breathing, which is
essential for absorption of nutrients.
6
Crop
Roots cannot penetrate so plant growth is
stunted. Plants are small, weak, needs frequent
irrigation gives low yield.
Hard Pan
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CACS Method of Land Preparation

• Deep Soil Chiseling Furrow Beds
• Enable soil to capture store more rainwater
• Retain rainwater to recharge groundwater
• Prevent loss of fertile topsoil through excess
  run-off
• Enable root systems to grow deep for nutrient
  water uptake
• Reduce need for irrigation to as low as 20.
• Increase crop productivity

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30-36 Soil Penetration in California
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Deep Soil Chiseling
Roots penetrate deep to reach perennial water
supply nutrients. Plant grows large, strong
highly productive.
36
Crop
Soft Pan
Rainwater stored deep down where it will not
easily evaporate is available to plants for
weeks
19
Deep Chiseling in USA
20
Deep Chiseling Adapted in India
21
Normal Flat-bed Land Preparation in India
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Tomato with furrows in TN

• Tomato raised in Tamil Nadu with CACS methods
  consumes only one-third the water has achieved
  217 higher yield (38 tons vs. 12 tons/acre).
  Potential with CACS technology is 55 tons.

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Flood Irrigation in India

• Flood irrigation methods practiced in India waste
  large amounts of water and drown crops resulting
  in low water use efficiency low yields.

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Furrow Irrigation in California

• Furrow irrigation on chiseled fields reduces
  water consumption by upto 70 while increasing
  crop yields.

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CACS Furrow Irrigation in TN
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Balanced Soil Fertility Plant Nutrition

• Plants require more than 12 essential nutrients
  to generate healthy and productive growth.
• Without these 12 nutrients, genetic potential of
  hybrid seeds cannot be tapped. (The same hybrid
  rice seed generates 2.8 tons per hectare in
  India, 5.4 tons in China 8 tons in USA.)
• In India, soil is being tested for only three
  nutrients.
• Even when tests are done for other nutrients,
  customised recommendations are not available for
  each crop.
• Methods employed in India for application of
  fertilizers lead to low absorption, low
  fertilizer use efficiency, high wastage and high
  cost.
• Advanced methods can triple productivity of the
  same hybrid seed.

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Soil Fertility (USA) before treatment
Optimum Level Required by Plants
28
Soil Fertility (USA) balanced after treatment
Optimum Level Required by Plants
29
Soil Fertility (India) before treatment
Optimum Level Required by Plants
30
Soil Fertility (India) unbalanced after
treatment
Optimum Level Required by Plants
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Critical Needs

• Improve crop productivity
• Improve fertilizer use efficiency
• Improve water use efficiency
• Reduce soil salinity
• Reduce unit cost of agricultural produce

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What CACS Technology can do

• Improve land use efficiency
• Increasing productivity per unit area can reduce
  the cost per unit of agricultural produce to
  enhance farm incomes and promote international
  competitiveness.
• Improve fertilizer use efficiency
• Balancing plant nutrients in the soil optimizes
  plant intake of applied fertilisers, safeguarding
  the environment and reducing soil degradation.
• Improve water use efficiency
• Enhancing the countrys drinking water security
  through land preparation techniques that harvest
  rainwater on millions of acre while reducing
  waste of irrigated water, improving water use
  efficiency by over 300, and reducing the pace of
  salinization of irrigated lands.

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Kerala Agriculture Technology Project (KAT)
34
Project Goals

• Transfer and disseminate advanced AT (Agriculture
  Technology) to double the yield and profitability
  of paddy and other major commercial crops, while
  reducing the unit cost of agriculture produce.
• Teach farmers how to double or triple net income
  per acre by higher productivity and quality of
  crops.

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Project Strategy

• Operate project as an autonomous contractor to
  the Government.
• Commercial demonstration of productivity
  profitability of all technologies on wide range
  of crops.
• Classroom field training for farm school
  instructors by CACS.
• Farm school instructors to apply technology
  commercially on their own fields earn fees for
  training other farmers.
• Training subsidy of Rs 1000 per farmer trained.
• Private consulting team backed by expert system
  multimedia software to provide support services.
• Lab equipment services to be charged to users.

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Project Targets

• Train more than 25,000 farmers on CACS methods
  for high profit commercial crop production.
• Establish 500 village-based Farm Schools.
• Establish permanent infrastructure for on-going
  technical support to lead farmers.
• Produce training materials and expert system to
  support widespread adoption of CACS technology.

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Project Components

• Model Farm cum Training Centre to demonstrate
  high yield, high profit production methods with
  farm equipment hire centres
• Agricultural Precision Diagnostic Centre (APDC)
  world class soil lab
• Agri-equipment centre with latest equipment for
  improved land preparation.
• Training of Farmer-Instructors to set up
  village-based Farm Schools
• Training and management of a field force of
  agricultural consultants to support the Farm
  Schools
• Cyber extension system -- computer software for
  crop selection production
• Computerized farmer training programme
• Links with agro-industries
• AT information website

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High Potential Crops

• Paddy
• Banana
• Pineapple other fruits
• Vegetables vegetable seeds -- tomato
• Tapioca
• Black pepper, other herbs spices
• Sugarcane sugar beet
• Maize
• Coconut
• Bamboo and other tree crops
• Orchard -- mango, papaya, custard apple,
  pomegranate, sapotta
• Floriculture jasmine, anthurium, marigold,
  chrysanthemum

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Farm Schools (FS)

• 5 acre model farms in the village on owned or
  leased lands to demonstrate CACS methods run by
  self-employed farmer-cum-Ag-consultants trained
  by KAT
• Each FS to train 30 lead farmers per year in CACS
  methods
• On-going technical support from KAT to FSs
• Each FS has access to computer centre for farmer
  education technical advice
• Income from training of lead farmers (Rs. 30,000
  to 60,000 per year) for each FS instructor
• FS instructor is certified by KAT
• FS instructor is technical representative of KAT
  in the village

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Agricultural Consultants

• Agricultural graduates trained in CACS production
  technologies will provide field support to the
  Farm Schools one consultant per 10 FSs.
• Consultants will work on contract basis and be
  fully accountable for delivery quality
  information to the FS and referring problems back
  to the Project Team.

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Training Curriculum for FS Instructors

• Crop economics
• Crop selection methods
• Land preparation
• Planting methods tools
• Deep chiseling rainwater harvesting techniques
  to optimize water utilisation
• Soil tissue analyses plant nutrition
  techniques
• Fertilizer placement, timing methods to improve
  efficiency

• Pest management practices
• Irrigation scheduling methods
• Crop maintenance practices
• Harvesting methods
• Post-harvest handling
• Agro-industry agri-business opportunities
• Marketing
• Teaching and communication skills

42
Training Methodology

• Classroom lectures
• Practical demonstration on model farms
• Practical field work and hands on experience
  applying all concepts on model farm test plots

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Computerized Farm Advisory Software (FAS)

• Recommend best cropping pattern options based on
  soil analysis, cost of inputs prevailing market
  prices, including cost-benefit for each crop
• Recommend package of practices for specific crops
  based on field conditions soil test results
• Generate detailed crop production instructions
  for the specific crop and field conditions

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Computerized Educational Software

• Malayalam language
• 25 to 50 hours of CD-Rom based courseware
  covering all aspects of CACS technology
• For use at training centres, farm schools,
  secondary schools and vocational training centres
• Multimedia With photographs, video images, text
  voice presentations
• Interactive User selects topics and proceeds at
  own pace
• Feedback Self-tests provide instant feedback to
  users

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Farmers Trained
Year 1 2 3 4 5 Total
Farm School Instructors Trained 50 100 150 200 500
Agricultural Consultants 10 10 15 15 50
Lead Farmers Trained 1500 3000 9000 15000 28500
Total 60 1610 3165 9215 15000 29000
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Estimated Four Year Budget (lakhs)
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Total
Capital Investment 295 45 45 45 430
Operating Costs 70 77 104 129 380
Training fees food 3 21 38 101 163
Total 368 143 187 275 972
Crop working capital (additional) 10 15 25 25 75
Total 378 158 212 300 1047
Less net crop income 9 18 40 45 111
Net funds required 369 140 172 255 936
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Capital Investment

• World-class soil tissue analysis laboratory
• Heavy duty imported tractor and shanks for deep
  soil chiseling.
• Smaller tractor and other farm implements.
• 2 SUVs and 2 motorcycles
• Computers, printers, scanner, digital cameras,
  LCD projector, furniture equipment
• Expert system software for Farm Advisory Service
• Multimedia training CD Roms
• CACS Consulting fees

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Financial Req uirements

• 1st Year Rs 366 lakhs (includes Rs 233 lakhs
  assets)
• 2nd Year Rs 100 lakhs
• 3rd Year Rs 172 lakhs
• 4th Year Rs 255 lakhs