Residential Training programme

Residential training programme of two nights and 3 days was conducted on "Sales effectiveness and documentation". There  were two batches of Sales Manager with 30  each, 5 Area Manager 3 Asstt Area Manager and Training Coordination Team (TCT) comprising 04 Programme Officers, 02 Animators from CARDS.

The training  venue was in Farmer Field School(Kisan khet Pathshala) Demonstration and Training institute of Aadhar , village Chandandhi, near  Nandanvan, Raipur.

First batch had many fresher's and they were ready to perform their best in rural area. Topics were primarily on vision and objectives of Aadhar product information, documentation , reporting, motivation, code of conduct ,hierarchy and self development.

Second batch was experienced and they raised field related doubts.

Training had external faculties from M/s IPEX Agro represented by key person Shri Singh, Shri Satyendra Mishra,Manager,HDFC ERGO and Shri Yadav head of sales division of firm VNR seeds, they shared and guided the participants.

Every morning after breakfast session were started by Area Managers and after lunch and tea break session were carried till 7:30 Pm with closing address by Director. Some Sales Manager were initially  reluctant to work but at the end of training they were highly motivated and aspired to have bright career in Aadhar.

In the day end of training examination were conducted by Examination Team and results were declared .

In second batch Bahadur, SM from Aadhar Pailimeta scored highest and was honoured.Dress code of mehroon T-shirt and i-card were also distributed.Training was concluded with a vote of thanks to each and everybody involve in the programme either directly or indirectly.

Giriraj promoted from Sales mgr to Asstt Area Mgr



Area Mgr,Asstt AM of Aadhar and CARDS team



Area Mgr,Asstt AM of Aadhar and CARDS team

Monitoring

 Left side coming from Raipur before Bhatagaon Resort and crossing the railway track comes Aadhar store of Sirri -- Naari --Megha--Kundel --Khisora .Here Sirri ,Megha and Kishora were doing very good while Naari SM was not present and Kundel was below average.We then moved to Nayapara Rajim with finance officer Rakesh Jena to drop him there at hotel and moved further with Director to Punni Resort,Rajim.

Aadhar Panduka

Aadhar Krishi Samadhan, Megha

Aadhar krishi Samadhan, Khisora

Punni resort of CG tourism board

Garden of resort

monitoring

Took left side road from Bhatagaon assisted by AM Roshan and Rajiv.Therafter went to Semra, Korra and Amdi (near Dhamtari), then crossing NH 43 moved into Nagri Sihawa road and reached Kharenga (adjoining Mahanadi), Kandel, Donar, then passing kurud arrived at Dadaria resort , Bhatagaon ,Dhamtari district.

Dadaria Resort

monitoring

Arrived Dadaria resot ,Bhatagaon which is in NH 43

Purchase of Tata vehicle

Badhai ho Chota hathi Aadhar ka sathi aapke gaon aaya hai

Vehicle

Finally middle level managerial team has also consented for having our own vehicle so that publicity and transfer of goods could be done effectively for different stores.

Future of the companies

"The future lies with those companies who see the poor as their customers" says economist C K Prahalad in his book - Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid

Meeting of staff at field

Shop managers of Mahasamund ,Gariaband distt are energetic and doing good job in field. SM of Tendukona, Pacheda, Kishora, Kaundkera and Korra were given T-shirt of PI industries for best performance.

Organic agriculture

Organic agriculture is a form of agriculture that relies on ecosystem management and attempts to reduce or eliminate external agriculture inputs, especially synthetic ones. Organic farming is not a new concept to India Indian farmers have distinction of using organics in agriculture from time immemorial.

Potentials


1. Potential organic producers
2. Organic by default
3. Research on traditional varieties
4. Links to markets
5. Certified organic agriculture
6. National organic certification
7. Protecting Indian farmers from foreign competition
8. Rising input prices
9. Reducing risk through diversification
10. Traditional foods
11. Rehabilitating watersheds

Constraints


1. Bias towards chemical farming
2. Misappropriation of local varieties
3. Hazardous chemicals
4. Certification of organic farming
5. Bias in incentives
6. Lack of research and extension support
7. Poor marketing
8. Misinformation and market power- Pesticide industries provides  misleading information to farmers.
9. Lack of awareness

Many areas in India are farmed in traditional way, untouched by chemical farming, so are" organic by default". Most of them are subsistence farms in remote and marginal areas.

Soil

"Soil could be said to be the "Soul of infinite life"

Weed management

The definition of weed as given by Weed Science Society of America(WSSA) is

"Any plant that is objectionable or interferes with activities and welfare of man"

Crop losses due to agricultural pests in Indian agricultural scenario

Sno.	Agricultural pests	Losses(%)
1	Weeds	37
2	Insects	29
3	Diseases	22
4	Others	12
	Total	100

Global and Indian pesticide use scenario (% of total)

Sno	Agricultural pesticides	Global	India
1	Insecticide	52	20
2	Herbicide	7	61
3	Fungicide	32	17
4	Others	4	2

Soil solarization

Soil acts as are reservoir of weed seeds and therefore the importance of soil solarization in destroying the seed reserves are increasingly being recognized. By covering of soil with transparent polythene sheets, the temperature is increased to a lethal level for weeds. Soil temperature increases to the tune of 8-12 degree Centigrade by soil solarization over corresponding non mulched soil. The response of soil solarization varies with weed species.

Food vs farmers security

Not food security but farmers security will put every thing else in place

Urban India and Rural Bharat

"There is no doubt that there exist  a great divide between Urban INDIA and Rural BHARAT. However a silent transformation and integration of rural and urban market is underway."

Area division

With assigning less area 7 to Roshan Sahu, Area Mgr, Dhamtari region hope he will be able to concentrate more effectively and will have more time to sit in shop and give live demo of selling technique.

Challenges to rural marketing

1. Availability  of the product
2. Affordability of the product
3. Acceptability of product
4. Awareness of product - Since rural areas have limited access to entertainment , conducting an event  in rural area can bring  good response like road shows, melas, street theater, film shows and so on.

Experience suggests that mere extension of urban marketing strategies in rural India will fail unless they are customized to the needs , ethos of rural India.

Causes of soil health deterioration

Causes of soil health deterioration


1. Imbalanced fertilization
2. Deletion in Soil organic Matter (SOM)
3. Intensive cereal-cereal cropping system
4. Use of land not as per the land suitability classification
5. Multinutrient deficiency
6. Lack of soil testing facilities
7. Soil Test Crop Response Correlation (STCR)approach
8. Improper method of compost preparation
9. Dumping of industrial effluents

Imbalanced fertilization-

Fertilization is important for crop nourishment. Balanced NPK ratio is 4:2:1 but in most cases there is a wide variation especially in the states of Punjab and Haryana

Soil Test Crop Response Correlation (STCR)approach-

There is a STCR based recommendation for major crop  varieties developed in different agro climatic condition but this recommendation in most cases does not reach the farmers.

 

Status of shops

14 Shopes located in Distt Dhamtari are not performing even average, the main reason being not proper shop manager,weakness or less leadership quality of area manager and neglect by mgt for area being double crop and highly sales potential area.

Whereas Distt Rajnandgaon ,Khairagarh block 5 shops were doing excellent despite mgt prediction of low potential area.

Soil testing

Soil test based fertilizers recommendation


Soil test based fertilizers recommendation is important for balanced nutrition .At present there are 686 Soil Testing Laboratories (STL) in India with analyzing capacity of 7.21 m soil samples. Out of these 647 STL are run by state govt. 39 by fertilizers industries and 20 by State Agriculture University (SAU) and ICAR. But these numbers cannot cope with the growing need.


Reasons for soil testing not successful in India  -
1. Error in sampling
2. Difficulties in proper procedural estimation
3. Improper interpretation of results

Soil and water testing kits

It is practically not possible to establish STL in each and every village and blocks. Now a days Soil and testing kits are available which can analyze Ph ,EC ,organic carbon, P,K,N,S along with some micronutrients. In some kit lime and Gypsum requirement calculation provision are there.  These kits are low cost (Rs 2500 - 5000) and are available in the market. These kits are having enormous potentialities to reach each and every field of farmers.

Digital soil testing kits

It has recently been developed which can analyze N ,P, K, S, Zn and B and give fertilizers recommendation just by moving the knobs. It is simple ,easy to operate and low cost.

Launching of agri solution clinic

I am going ahead with the launching of 35 agri solution clinic  in my state with brand name Aadhar... Krishi Samadhan and slogan -"A dream of developed rural india".13 retail shops have already started running. 

Better agricultural practices for sustainable agriculture

In India Green Revolution in agriculture has a significant contribution on aggregate supply of food grains, ensuring food security to the growing population, however the momentum gained during the green revolution has slowly declined. Now better agriculture practices are needed to bring sustainability in agriculture.

Better agricultural practices are those which are safe to the environment, human beings and all other living beings on earth and simultaneously increasing agriculture production.

In India better agricultural practices were part of our farming in traditional agriculture.

Need for better agriculture practices arises from the reports  of adverse effects of chemical pesticide on human beings from Punjab  , Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and other parts of country where excessive use in some pockets have led to incidence of cancer and other diseases. Recent example of pesticide toxicity is of Endosulphon in Kerala and Karnataka where Hon'ble Supreme Court has to intervene to stop its sale.

Simultaneously indiscriminate use of fertilizer  particularly the nitrogenous has led to substantial pollution of soil, air and water .

Scope for better agriculture practices  is vast for adoption and promotion. Organic  farming recommends the use of such agricultural practices which are biological in nature and eco friendly. Organic farming relies heavily on Biopesticide and biofertiliser.The current global market for organically raised agricultural products is valued at around 30 billion US $ with a growth rate of 8%. Biopesticide represents only 2.89% (as on 2005) of the overall pesticide market in India and is expected  an annual growth rate of about 2.3% in the coming  years .In India so far only 12 type of biopesticides have been registered under the Insecticide Act of 1968. Whereas more than 190 synthetics are registered for use in chemical pesticides.

India has 18 millions of Neem tree and if full potential of tree is harnessed than it can meet the total requirement of pesticides in Indian agriculture.

Running of outlets

All of 34 outlets have started running.

The scheme for cold chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure

The scheme for cold chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure intends to address the shortage of cold storage capacity. Huge gap of 9 to 10 million tons of cold storage capacity was identified in the country by the Task Force on Cold Chains.

Employment and self employment sector

I am bit nervous about leaving traditional employment sector to business sector,but it is long decided and i am definitely going ahead for self employed sector.I am feeling happy doing this ."Cashfow quadrant" is indeed a great book to be read.

Checking rural migration

In India  69 percent of population lives in 6.40  lakhs villages. The share of agriculture in national GDP has come down to 14 % in spite of the fact that 66% of rural male and 82% of rural female are engaged in agriculture as cultivators or labourers.

Loss of job opportunities in agriculture is the primary factor for driving people away from agriculture. Agrarian crises can be gauged from the fact that almost 240000 debt ridden farmers committed suicide between 1995 and 2009.There is an urgent need to strengthen agriculture for slow down of rural to urban migration as well as on-farm and off-farm rural employment to fight rural poverty

Agriculture in India uses 52% of work force but contributes only 14% to the GDP. Agriculture is the main support  base of our economy therefore it is needed to make it more productive, so that more employment opportunities  are created.

There is enormous scope for raising the productivity of Indian agriculture, doubling crop yields and farm incomes and thereby generating significant growth in demand for farm labour

Food processing can reduce huge losses Rs 55000 Crores in food grains, fruits and vegetables. Value addition can be done in food grains, fruits ,vegetables, dairy products, meat ,poultry, fish and medicinal and aromatic plants

Tourism in India contributes 6.23% of the national GDP and 8.78% of total employment in the country. Agri-tourism can help in generating more jobs in rural areas  and which in turn will reduce rural migration. In  Maharashtra  people in rural area have formed MART (Maharashtra state Agri & Rural Tourism ). In Gujarat Hudka is successful venture.

Promotion of agri tourism needs conceptual convergence with rural tourism, eco tourism, health tourism and adventure tourism.

Tourism in rural areas can only furnish if rural infrastructure in the form of roads ,communication and health is created.

Need for indigenous seeds

India for several years have been synonymous  to agriculture which is evident from the fact that 60% of its population is still engaged in agriculture and Agri related activities , earlier farmers used to rely on traditional style of farming. Kathia,Jalalia, Mundi Pissi, Red Pissi, White Pissi, Bansi, Bangasia,and Soharia were the available local (Desi) wheat seeds while kardhana ,Jheena, Bagh moonch, Kali moonch,Batro,Kshatri,Lalai, Bhadel etc were the local paddy seeds. Similarly there were different types of Sorghum,Chana,Lentils,Green Lentils and Corn seeds were available in the market.

 With the advent of Green revolution, India adapted new advanced method to become self sufficient in food production after Bengal famine. High Yielding Varieties (HYV) of seeds and increase use of fertilizer and irrigation were introduced in several districts of India.For many years these hybrid seeds produced great yield but now the situation has changed, despite nurturing the land with quantity of fertilizers, the production rate is suffering huge downfall.

Earlier farmers used to sow local seeds from which he used to save some grains from the crop for next sowing season or borrowed some from his neighboring farmers. Women used to store and preserve the seeds. In comparison to indigenous seeds which were free now farmers have to pay for the cross-breed seeds and have become dependent on the companies and the govt agencies.