H. S. Gupta

1. Indian Agricultural Research Institute
Partnership-based Extension Models
Lessons for Outscaling
H.S. Gupta
Indian Agricultural Research Institute
New Delhi-110012, India
E-mail : director@iari.res.in

2. Indian Agricultural Research Institute
Public-Civil Partnership for Sufficiency in Seed
Introduction
• ~82% farmers in India are small and marginal with
poor resource-base
• Insecure livelihood
Challenges
• Enhancement of farm productivity and income
• Increase in SRR and technology adoption
• Access to quality seeds of improved varieties
• Linkage with market
Quality seed and its availability – key to success

3. Growth in Area under Improved Varieties of
Cereals in 1980 and 2000
Indian Agricultural Research Institute
Source:: Evenson & Gollin (2003) CABI

4. Partnership-based Seed Production System
Indian Agricultural Research Institute
• Model 1: Production through progressive farmers
for meeting local demands through sale/exchange
• Model 2: Production through progressive farmers
with buy-back arrangement by an institution
• Model 3: Seed production & marketing through
farmers’ association
• Model 4: Promotion of Institution-led farmers’ seed
company for seed production and marketing

5. Indian Agricultural Research Institute
Operationalization of Model 1& 2
• Training of innovative farmers, formal
MoUs for quality control and buy –
back arrangement
• Seeds of improved varieties
produced through farmer participatory
approach
• Village level farmer - to - farmer seed
exchange/selling to fellow and distant
farmers directly
• Impact: Emergence of a group of
entrepreneurs & formation of
producer company

6. Model 3 : Seed production & distribution by
Farmers’ Association - a success story
Indian Agricultural Research Institute
• YFA started systematic operation in 2009 in Punjab, India
• Decentralized seed production of rice & wheat
• Produced during 2010-11
• 80 t of rice (PB1121) from 20 ha
• 45 t of wheat (HD 2967) from 11 ha
Monetary gain: Rice - 60,000 US$ | Due to seed
Wheat – 16,000 US$ | production
Area to be covered - during next crop season
Rice ~4,000 ha
Wheat ~450 ha

7. Model 4 : Institution-led Farmers’ Seed Company
for Seed Production and Marketing
Indian Agricultural Research Institute
Promotion of Producer Company of farmers for
effective market linkage
• Akriti - A seed producer company (1994) with public
funding and technical support from ICRISAT – deals
with pea nut, gram, red gram & rice, annual turn over
0.2 million US $
• Beej India - IARI-led producer Company, estd. in 2011,
traded 260 t of seeds in 1st yr of its establishment
• Action for Social Advancement (ASA) - mobilized
50,000 farmers to federate in >20 producer co. Annual
production 10,000t seeds with turn over of 6 million US $

8. Public – Civil Partnership: for Inclusive Growth
IARI- VO Partnership
Indian Agricultural Research Institute
Spiraling impact : more coverage
VO8
PRDF, Gorakhpur
VO7 VO9 Contact
DRI, Chitrakoot YFAP, Rakhra
Farmer2
Contact Contact
Farmer1 Farmer3
VO6 VO1
GSVS, Mathura
I.A.R.I
MVS, Bilaspur
VO1
Contact Contact
Farmer7 Farmer4
VO5 VO2
NEFORD, Lucknow AKKA, J&K Contact
Farmer6
VO4 VO3
Jiwania, Lucknow VARDAN, Chhapra
Farmer2
VO
Farmer1 Farmer3
Technology
& Capacity Bldg
Contact
IARI VO CF Farmer Farmer1
Feedback
Farmer7 Farmer4
32 VOs in 17
VO Farmer6
states, networking 20,000

9. Public – Private Partnership for TOT
IARI-Seed Companies/TCS/ITC
Indian Agricultural Research Institute
• Partnership with 35 seed
companies led to production of
1,600 t of seed of wheat cv. HD
2967- in great demand
• IARI-TCS partnership for mobile-
based agro-advisory services
• IARI-ITC partnership upscaled 75
farmers’ demonstrations with 30 q
of seeds to retaining 75 t of seeds,
which is likely to benefit another
2,000 farmers

10. Socio-Economic and Technological Impact
Indian Agricultural Research Institute
• Development of sustainable and decentralized hubs of
knowledge, technology and seed production (often larger
mass of farmers remain unattended technology divide)
• Enhancement of crop productivity (50 to 100%)
• Wider dissemination of improved technology
• Promotion of Community-based solutions and networking
for social learning
• Augmentation of entrepreneurship in rural areas
• Enhancement of partners’ credibility
• Enhanced degree of grassroots empowerment and
inclusive growth of small and marginal farmers

11. Indian Agricultural Research Institute
Lessons for Outscaling
• Pre-requisite for partnership-based extension models:
• capacity building
• technological backstopping
• Joint programming with shared responsibility & mutual
trust
• Mechanism for effective and regular monitoring
• Joint accountability with social audit to avoid breach of
trust
• Incentives for partnership-based initiatives
PPCP-based approaches lead to inclusive growth

12. Participatory Seed Production - a Major
Contributor to Success of Basmati 1121
Indian Agricultural Research Institute

13. Indian Agricultural Research Institute