2012 INNOVATION CHALLENGES
FARMING NOW
1. Name your idea.
Government schemes for support to farmers need active participation of the beneficiaries. They suffer from poor administrative control, corruption and waste of public money. Social Audit of development schemes in agriculture, horticulture and irrigation may improve their implementation.
2. What country or region does this idea focus on?
Pilot project would involve fieldwork in collaboration with "Vision of India", an NGO active in Haryana. Findings about effective democratic participation by farmers, by social audit of schemes, would be applicable to rural development schemes in all countries.
3. Summarize your idea.
STRATEGIES
Project would explore strategic inputs needed to channelize growing public awareness, increased level of education and I.C.T, into effective democratic participation, by:
• Capacity building of citizens for democratic participation in development schemes.
• Organization Development of grass root public authorities, for promoting involvement of citizens.
PROJECT
o Rural youth in Gurgaon and Faridabad would be trained for as "Village Representatives (VRs)", in all facets of agriculture, horticulture, irrigation and rural development.
o VRs would examine the Government records, with expert guidance and submit their social audit findings to the Village Panchayat.
o Social audit guidelines would be framed, for wider dissemination through internet group.
o The project would recommend practical solutions, to remove obstacles in rural development.
4. How will your idea help young generations overcome barriers to farming?
Traditional rain-fed farming in India has low productivity and young generation migrates from farming to more interesting vocations, attracted by the glitter and lifestyle in cities. Rural prosperity is essential to lure the youth away from cities. Technological advances in agriculture need involvement of youth in:
o Generation and dissemination of knowledge about improved agriculture practices.
o Capacity development
o Use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT.)
o Experience sharing and replication of best practices.
Public expenditure of rural development cannot serve the intended purpose, without community involvement. Social audit of Government sponsored programs can be the preliminary step for involving youth in decentralized rural development. Social Audit of rural development by the youth, is a step for promoting democratic participation.
5. How will your idea encourage and support young people to begin or remain in farming?
Shortage of land and water for agriculture is resulting in food scarcity. Innovative solutions based on technological advances and larger capital investments may make farming more interesting and profitable. Dissemination of R&D findings to the farmers requires active involvement of tech-savvy rural youth.
Agriculture under controlled environment, regulated crop nutrients and a better seed requires high capital investments, with quantum in jump in output. There is better understanding of DNA in each plant variety that is resulting in better seeds and improved productivity. Private sector initiatives in agriculture visualize prosperity at the bottom of pyramid, based on technological innovations.
A paradigm shift from traditional rain fed agriculture to technologically advanced and capital-intensive farming should fascinate and attract youth.
7. Video Recordings
o Video recording of International Conference on Innovative Approaches for Agricultural Knowledge Management held in New Delhi on 9th. November 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9_nsJkcLwo
o Social Audit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esY49dOsew8
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NxWSR-oRX8
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