ICAR as the Catalyzing Agent for Management of Change in the Indian NARS (Component 1)
The contributions of the Indian NARS lead by the ICAR to transform Indian agriculture are well recognized. However, in recent years, there has been a growing concern on the decelerated trends of growth in agriculture. For instance, growth has decelerated sharply from 3.2% between 1980-81 and 1995-96 to a trend average of 1.9% subsequently. The deceleration reflects a broad based decrease in productivity growth. It is essential to reverse this trend, which calls for something more than continuing with “business as usual”. The need for change has also arisen on account of persisting poverty, growing unemployment, increasing natural resource degradation, increasing costs, falling profitability, highly volatile prices, growing dependence on markets, unfavourable trade regimes, besides re-emergence of climate risks on account of global climate change. A widespread diet revolution is taking place encouraging diversification to high value commodities, post-harvest processing and value addition. Unlimited opportunities are unfolding by fast developments in science like in bio-technology, nano-technology, space technology, information and communication technology. Developed countries are seizing these opportunities by putting in place enabling institutional and policy reforms. Policy reforms are also implemented to meet domestic market needs, WTO and other international obligations. Increased opportunities for competing in international agriculture trade are emerging. There is a rush towards rural markets by the Indian corporate sector. The number of agricultural research providers is also increasing with organizations and entities outside NARS. To address these challenges, changes and opportunities, the ICAR in the recent past has taken several initiatives in the areas of O&M reforms, technology generation and technology dissemination. In the recently concluded National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP), significant achievements were made in improving system efficiency, providing more than 300 appropriate technologies to fill in a technology vacuum and a successful model for technology dissemination. However, these efforts now need to be deepened, expanded and institutionalized.
Persistence of widespread poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition particularly at the household level and increasing poverty in rural areas are unacceptable. The agricultural development strategy including the R&D system need to be comprehensively re-examined and new ways of doing business have to be developed and adopted. Innovations to manage change in the research system and programmes have to be accelerated to attain the broad development objectives of higher and sustainable agricultural development matching the needs and aspirations of the people. In this context of change, the system has to be dynamic, motivated, creative, vibrating and flexible but accountable and driven by a learning organization. It is necessary to design programmes, which are relevant to achieve the objectives of increased productivity, global competitiveness in cost and quality, poverty alleviation, and, nutritional, livelihood and income security. It is important to work through the “Partners in Progress” mode with participatory development, management and execution both within the organization and outside involving the whole range of stakeholders. The system’s capacity for information and knowledge management, communication and visibility has to be robust, vast and innovative. The agricultural R &D system should integrate farmers, agricultural researchers, educators and extension officers to harness knowledge and information from various sources for improved livelihoods. The key features of such a system include pluralism, partnerships, decentralization, accountability, priority setting, aligning R&D to market trends, sustainable financing, etc. There is an urgent need to strengthen these abilities/features in the system. Component 1 will create an enabling policy and institutional environment, incentives, skills and culture to optimize benefits from projects under components 2 to 4 in particular and from the NARS in general in terms of a) supportive information, communication and dissemination systems, b) competitive business policy and technology commercialization models, c) advanced learning and state-of-the art capacity building initiatives, d) value-added market intelligence services, e) good M&E and strengthened impact evaluation systems, f) project-friendly financial management and procurement systems and, g) clearly defined roles and interfaces between the State and Central R&D systems. Component 1 will create an environment that is conducive to the flow of knowledge, collaboration, experimentation and implementation of innovations. The emphasis in this Component will be on the SAUs where most of the scientists work. As far as emphasis on SAUs is concerned, the link between education and research is particularly important. In the project, such linkage is planned in terms of e-learning as well as involving graduate students wherever possible in the research work under component 2 to 4.
The overall objective of the component is to build the critical capacity for supporting the objectives of the other components in particular and to build the capacity of the NARS in general. The specific objectives are:
1. To strengthen information, communication and dissemination systems for greater dialogue and interaction within the system and among all the stakeholders.
2. To enhance public awareness, better governance, improved knowledge sharing and higher technology adoption.
3. To develop and establish business policy, planning and development of models for technology commercialization and establishing technology incubators.
4. To assess the current L&CB initiatives and suggest changes in HRD and learning models like e-learning, distance learning, human resource requirements, new experimental farms / clinics, course curricula for the future needs etc.
5. To assess human resource requirements for agriculture and training needs assessment (domestic and foreign) by sectors, themes with details of why, where, which areas, duration, etc.
6. To develop agricultural and research policy and gender analysis capacity, visioning skills, with capability to use market intelligence for agri-business planning and technology need forecasting.
7. To assess the current M&E and impact assessment mechanisms and systems and suggest improvements.
8. To assess the roles and interface of state and central governance systems in agricultural research and suggest appropriate roles, modalities for interfacing and policy measures to foster an effectively organized research system in the NARS.
9. To remodel financial and procurement systems as a part of the total MIS for the ICAR as a changing and performing organization.
Fields of Thrust/ sub-projects
The fields of thrust (described in succeeding paragraphs) have been identified mainly keeping in view lessons learnt from the NATP, suggestions made during stakeholder meetings, discussions during meetings of specially constituted working groups of eminent experts and stakeholders and the perceptions on requirements for success of components 2 to 4. The thrust areas have been duly endorsed by senior research managers and officials of the ICAR and the SAU system.
Information, Communication and Dissemination System (ICDS)
Information and Communication Technology (ICT): The ICAR, under the NATP, has created about 5000 Internet connected nodes in about 300 institutions/centres including the ICAR Institutes, National Research Centres (NRCs), Project Directorates (PDs), Regional Research Stations, State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), Zonal Research Stations and Colleges of SAUs with connectivity ranging from 128 kbps to 2 Mbps. Making them fully functional needs attention. Further, fast advances are taking place in this area, which have to be made use of. Keeping these in view, the broad objectives of ICT are (i) to update and modernize the network in view of new developments and an increased user base, (ii) to develop content, and (iii) to develop capacity and expertise to make effective use of this large ICT network for agricultural research, education and technology dissemination.
Under the NAIP emphasis would be on (i) strengthening the ICAR-Net; (ii) digitized content creation and knowledge management; (iii) strengthening 42 libraries of the SAUs and the ICAR institutes into fully electronic libraries connected over the ICAR Net; (iv) formation of an “ICAR e-journal Consortium” for centralized subscription of e-resources and information sharing in the agricultural domain at national level on the pattern of the “UGC Consortium” of 100 plus Universities under UGC, a “CSIR Consortium” of 40 R&D labs, an “INDEST Consortium” of 140 Engineering institutions through MHRD and an “IIM Consortium” of Management institutions, v) strengthening the MIS of NARS, and (vi) strengthening communication and public awareness capacity of the ICAR/NARS
The ADG (ARIS) will be the Nodal Officer for ICT-related activities. He/she will be supported by a core team consisting of M&E and MIS specialists/consultants. The Education Division of ICAR, ERNET, NIC, selected SAUs, NAARM, DIPA and ICAR (Hqr.) will be the partners. Keeping these in perspective, the Information, Communication and Dissemination system of the NARS will be developed through the following sub-projects:
Strengthening the Existing “ICAR-Net”: In order to deploy the e-Content, e-Knowledgebase, e-Governance (MIS), e-Services etc., it is essential to have a robust electronic network, which is functional, secured and accessible for legitimate stakeholders. The “ICAR-Net” created under the NATP is now functional, accessible and upgradeable but needs to be further strengthened and enhanced in capacity (where required) with deployment of a strong security system. In addition, continuous and on-going efforts at human capacity development for effective use of the system along with proper maintenance are essential. The success and utility of the new ‘ICAR-Net’ which is still at the teething stage will depend on central unified support by the ERNET including bandwidth capacity support and need-based enhancement. In other words, the success of the communication strategy will, to a great extent, depend on the strength of the “ICAR-Net”. Hence, it is necessary that during the NAIP, the bandwidth charges and enhancement charges, on a selective basis is provided. Under this head, the following activities are proposed:
i. Security solution deployment: secured Intranet by deployment of security solutions, Anti-viruses, Spam control etc. Appropriate server configuration & management strategies, like a unified mail server to prevent Spam and virus.
ii. Updating of basic minimum hardware/software requirements: for the PIU and ARIS Unit at the ICAR headquarters, for serving as the central implementation and monitoring point for the NAIP.
iii. Bandwidth support: bandwidth support and need-based enhancement during NAIP. To strengthen and economize the bandwidth support to ICAR-NET, establishing an exclusive ICAR Hub and exploring the possibility of a free Transponder from ISRO exclusively for Agriculture Sector.
iv. Human Resource Development: HRD and Capacity Building in the area of network administration, maintenance and uses.
Knowledge Management and Dissemination: To make the ICAR capable of transforming the Indian NARS into a knowledge-empowered system, the NARS would develop a modern ICT-based Knowledge Management and Dissemination system. The NAIP will develop a model for such a system involving a limited number of partners for knowledge acquiring, storage, value addition and dissemination through the Knowledge Management and Dissemination Project. The major activities are:
i. Content Development:
- Formulation of a content development strategy for the ICAR and SAUs.
- Sensitization and capacity building for content development.
- Model content development including Databases, Data warehouses, Expert Systems, Application Software, Intranet and Work flow applications, Training Modules, Extension Modules, Web-based Services, Knowledge Management, etc.
- Content development to be taken up in major agricultural subject matter domains for the system as a whole and for the Consortia within different components (2-4)
- The NAIP will play a pro-active role to sensitize the development of such sub-projects by forming consortia of stakeholders in different domains of knowledge.
ii. Knowledge Management:
- Formation of a Consortium of the Extension Division of the ICAR, DIPA, the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, the NAARM, NGOs, Private sector stake-holders and selected SAUs.
- Develop a model system of knowledge management integrating ATICs, KVKs, ATMAs, private sector initiatives such as e-choupal etc. and village knowledge centres.
- Capacity building for managing and using the system.
Fig. 2: Development of Centralized Data Centre and Portal
Figure-1: A schematic diagram for Content Server Management
iii Development of a Centralized Data Centre and Portal :
- A centralized Secured Data Centre and a National Portal to maintain the knowledge base of digitized contents at the ICAR headquarters.
- Access control through a National Portal for secured data access to all authorized Centres users over Internet.
A schematic diagram is given below (Fig.:2).
E-Learning and Capacity Building: The e-learning techniques provide a fast and low cost method to increase outreach to the vast community of learners consisting of about 60 thousand agricultural college students, trainees, extension workers, farmers and other stakeholders separated geographically. The e-Learning systems are of two types, namely, (i) Asynchronous e-Learning and (ii) Synchronous e-Learning (Virtual learning). The major activities under this head will be:
i. Learning Management Systems (Asynchronous e-Learning):
- Setting up Learning Management Systems (LMS) at NAARM, 4 Universities of the ICAR and selected SAUs to facilitate access by students of campuses and colleges.
- Development of necessary infrastructure, hardware and software.
- Content development for e-learning.
- Capacity building for content development.
ii Virtual Class Room Systems (Synchronous e-Learning):
- Setting up Virtual Class Room Systems at NAARM, CAU and three selected SAUs.
- Capacity building for system technicians, teachers and students to run and use the system.
Strengthening of 42 Agricultural Libraries:
- Consortium formation for centralized e-journals subscription.
- Development of linkages with other such Consortia used by organizations like the UGC, AICTE, CSIR, IIM etc.
- Further development of e-library management systems in the selected SAUs.
- Digitization of old research publications and Ph.D theses.
- Creating Open Access publications in selected ICAR & SAU libraries.
- Formal linkage development of NARS libraries with the international libraries & library organizations.
- Capacity building for e-library development and use.
Management Information System (e-Governance):
i. Building a Management Information System for the NAIP incorporating suitable M&E systems having the following components:
- Project proposal processing, tracking and M&E system.
- Agricultural Research Information System.
- A financial and procurement management system for the NAIP as well as the ICAR.
- An electronic document filing system.
- Other Systems according to the requirements of the NAIP.
ii. Adapting the MIS developed for the NAIP for the governance of NARS
- Adapting the MIS to the ICAR Institutes, Bureaux, NRCs, PDs.
- Adapting the MIS in selected SAUs.
iii. Video-Conferencing and IP-telephony for selected locations
Communication and Public Awareness (CPA):
The project will provide the required value-added information support for accelerated and sustainable transformation of Indian agriculture through print and electronic modes. The objective is to provide viable media communication system models in place in the NARS through NAIP and to provide communication links among public research organizations, farmers’ groups, Panchayati Raj Institutions, private sector and other stakeholders, to achieve poverty alleviation, food security and income generation of farmers.
The following activities have been identified under CPA. While the Media and Information Unit of the ICAR will be the lead center, the partners will be DIPA, CPPRO, Div. of Extension, ICAR, 10-15 SAUs and Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). Specifically this will involve:
i. Developing a media framework and plan for the ICAR, the NAIP and the consortia.
ii. Digitization of periodical publications.
iii. Business strategy.
iv. Human Resource Development.
v. Communication and public awareness.
Developing a Media Framework and Plan for the ICAR, the NAIP and the Consortia: Recent years have seen rapid changes in the media .The technology, the content and even the concepts have undergone significant change. Twenty four hour news channels are redefining what was traditionally understood as news .The present concern is what role the media can play in informing the people about the fast developments that are taking place in the field of agriculture and how to mobilize support from the general public for accelerated progress in agriculture as agriculture directly affects the lives of the majority of the people. In general, media priorities and attention is low for several positive developments taking place in agriculture in general and agricultural R &D in particular. The journalists on the agriculture beat are not usually very senior, experienced and conversant with difficult terminology and scientific details. Thus, there is a real dearth of human resources with needed skills in this critical area. Further, there are no institutional frameworks, processes and systems that could ensure a smooth flow of information from the organization and its various projects to the media .If these concerns are addressed, the media could become a forceful multiplier for successful implementation of schemes and generate all round support for the organization. The sub-project will develop a framework and a plan consisting of information sources (organization and structure), processing information, setting up of a media centre and sub centres, and media training.
Digitization of Periodicals: With dissemination of research and scientific information as one of the main objectives of the Directorate of Information and Publications of Agriculture (DIPA) from its inception, the ICAR gave due emphasis to publication of research results. DIPA is bringing out 2 research journals viz. “The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences” and “The Indian Journal of Animal Sciences”, and semi-technical magazines/newsletters viz. Indian Farming, Indian Horticulture,the ICAR Reporter, ICAR News, ARIS News, in English and Kheti, Phal-Phool, Krishi Chayanika, in Hindi. These periodicals continue to grow in popularity as well as quality by presenting accurate, authentic and useful topical information. In addition, there are ‘A’ category societies supported by the ICAR. Their journals will also be digitized and put on websites. Besides, the Indian Animal Science Abstract and Indian Agriculture Science Abstract is also being brought out by DIPA.
The DIPA needs to provide e-versions of its periodicals as e-publishing has greater and wider impact. The facility of open archiving will be developed to have even greater impact. On-line journals will provide global visibility to Indian agricultural research.
A DIPA website will be developed which will have the following features:
· The online research journals will contain content pages of the journal, title of articles, authors’ name, place of work, key words and an abstract/summary of the article/short communication and it will be available free on the website; however, the full text of the article /short communication will be available on payment.
· The content page of the semi-technical journals /magazines will be displayed on the website, and the full text of the article will be available on payment.
· The full text of the ICAR Reporter/ICAR News /ARIS News will be displayed on the website and will be free to the users.
· A query box will be available on the DIPA website to make it interactive. These queries will be answered through e-varta by technical experts from the NARS.
Business Strategy
1. ICAR-private partnership will be developed for digitization for marketing.
2. The information requirement by farmers/entrepreneurs/traders/exporters will be assessed through market research/surveys to bring out tailor-made information products.
3. The feedback on DIPA publications will also be obtained through a survey and suitably re-oriented to meet the needs.
4. Organization of exhibitions exposing the art of improved technology in different parts of the country and in regional languages.
5. Media cells created in the project will serve as resource centers for other components of the NAIP projects including e-learning and mass communication centers.
Human Resource Development
Training will be imparted on the development of different information products related to agriculture through NAARM. Workshops will be conducted at selected SAUs on aspects like: Science writers, Radio talks, TV scripting, Extension mechanisms, Women self-help groups, Publication and information personnel of the ICAR, the SAUs and the KVKs, and journalists will be given exposure of the NARS through tours of institutes/ universities. Visits of publication and information personnel to get exposure of the cutting edge technology related to communications in agriculture at national and international agriculture organization.
Communication and Public Awareness
To enhance the dialogue and interaction with the public at large and with the farming community, the following steps may be considered:
· To include eight pages specially designed and enriched with useful tips, for the general public and farming community in five semi-technical journals, viz. Kheti (Hindi monthly), Phal-Phool (Hindi quarterly), Krishi Chayanika (Hindi quarterly), Indian Farming (English monthly), and Indian Horticulture (English quarterly).
· Besides providing income-generating technologies, a dialogue will be initiated with readers through these pages wherein the expert in the field will answer queries of the readers. The following new columns would be added in semi-technical journals:
-Institutions at your service: Timely information about the contribution of the ICAR institutes dealing with technologies/value-added products developed therein as well as trainings imparted by these institutes will be provided.
-Technology ready for adoption: Presentation through pictorial depiction and multimedia CDs using animation techniques (multi-lingual).
-Special features on ‘ Expert Speaks’, ‘Success Stories’ and Conservation of natural resources with information on traditional and modern techniques.
-The NAIP News.
-Agri-pop series (technical bulletins) will be published keeping in view the current demand from farmers, NGOs, policymakers etc. They will be based on the surveys conducted by the DIPA regarding information requirements of the farming community. The series will highlight-commodity/resource availability, packages of practices for production and protection of the commodity, value-addition, marketing, loan facilities, export avenues, development of infrastructure training and contacts, and success story. The target audience groups for this series are farmers and young entrepreneurs.
In addition, there would be:
· A feature service on the latest agricultural developments will be set up at regional level to cater to the needs of local newspapers.
· Use of audio-visual media: (a) Short films (10 minutes duration) on technologies available for commercial exploitation, (b) agri-spots on TV; (c) phone-in programme on radio.
· Publication of reports of different committees constituted by the ICAR and other agricultural research organizations to guide the policymakers in the field of agricultural research.
· Development of technology contents in different web-enabled forms.
· To enhance dialogue and interaction with key functionaries of the ICAR system the in- house journal, ICAR Reporter, will be revamped with expert inputs according to the requirementsof the NAIP. It would be developed by the e-ICAR reporter as an interactive platform for the ICAR scientists, administrative personnel and farm community.
Business Planning and Development (BPD)
With a view to promoting partnerships for new technology with entrepreneurs and start- up companies, a strong need is felt to develop business planning under the NAIP. The concept of having an incubation center attached to a technological institute is quite well known and successful in some industrially advanced countries. Some organizations in India have also initiated such a venture. These incubator organizations are managed in an autonomous mode, independently from the university, either as a company or a foundation. Such organizations have close links with venture capitalists and other mission-conscious financial institutions, and help the entrepreneurs. They encourage clients to traverse the development path from almost the concept stage itself. The main idea of the concept is to encourage, nurture and support technologists and scientists with initiative and potential to turn their innovative research ideas into sound commercial ventures.
The goal of this component is:
To accomplish science and technology-led, sustainable socio economic gains, by applying inventions derived from the NARS through technology validation, technology transfer and enterprise development.
The sub-component activities will focus on the following elements:
i) To develop business policy and planning for commercialization of technologies.
ii) Creating methodologies to identify research priorities that can bring economic gains through commercialization.
iii) Building strong research partnerships with industry in and outside India.
iv) Creating entrepreneurial abilities.
v) Technology transfer to resource constrained farmers through effective communication and outreach methods.
vi) Technology transfer to small and medium enterprises through cluster development to ensure technology-led regional development and gender equity.
vii) Technology transfer to large commercial enterprises through structured licensing and sponsored research programs to ensure technology-led venture creation.
viii) Encourage researchers, commercial partners and technology disseminators through appropriate revenue sharing and reward mechanisms.
ix) Promote international collaborative initiatives that will leverage the strength of the NARS and Private Enterprise resources for accomplishment of common economic development goals.
x) Augmenting capital investment and infrastructure through public – private partnerships (PPPs) for sustainable enterprise development and economic growth.
xi) Undertake international, national, regional and local communication and outreach efforts through technology meetings, PPS networks, community networks, cluster networks, workshops and conferences, annual technology events, regional technology events and enterprise interaction to disseminate technologies and realize economic gains from such technologies.
All the above activities will factor in local, regional, state, national and global perspective in economic development.
The following methodology will be followed:
● Create a central technology management cell that will steer intellectual property protection, technology profiling, and technology transfer and enterprise development initiatives.
● Create unit level sub-centers that will bring regional focus to technology management and enterprise creation efforts.
● Encourage PPPs in technology validation and enterprise creation through technology incubators that will provide common laboratory facilities and research infrastructure for product validation and up-scaling.
● Provide comprehensive capacity building for enhancing knowledge in areas relating to intellectual property protection, technology validation, enterprise creation and enterprise management.
● Develop a comprehensive institutional policy for protection of intellectual assets, technology transfer, mechanisms for sharing of technology transfer fees and royalty and avoidance of conflict of interest.
● Train about 100 inter-disciplinary professionals in the area of technology management and enterprise creation to spearhead the change process and provide leadership for managing technology management and enterprise creation unit at the apex level and at unit level.
● Identify 4 regional cells as major hubs for instituting technology management and enterprise creation initiatives across the country and link up each of the cells regionally to active institutions and communities so as to ensure wide-spread knowledge of activities and accomplishments in the area of technology management and enterprise creation.
● Sensitize industry, non-government organizations and policy planners and carry out outreach efforts to build strong confidence in and respectability for research outcomes from the NARSs.
Structure:
● The technology management and enterprise creation initiative will be governed by an apex cell that will provide leadership for the national level activities within the agricultural research system.
● The apex cell will be adequately empowered to carry out intellectual assets validation, valuation, protection and management. The cell will be headed by a person of high seniority and standing in the agricultural research community with adequate expertise in IPR.
● There will be initially 4 regional cells within the NARS spread across the country. These regional cells will be headed by competent technology management professionals well trained in the area of IP review, IP registration, technology valuation, licensing processes, royalty audits, communication and outreach efforts, dispute resolution and enterprise incubation.
The following specific activities have been identified:
i. Formulation of Policy, Planning & Guidelines
- Assessment of current policy, mechanisms, models, potential and needed changes for commercialization of technologies.
- Linkage development – content access, creation of information networks for technology dissemination, creating a central pool of technology profiles, documentation, development of institutional manuals, guidelines and policy documents
ii. Developing Institutional Framework for Technology Management
- Establishment of an Apex Technology Management and Enterprise Development Cell (at the ICAR) and creation of Regional cells.
- Creation of appropriate process development and technology validation incubators.
- Business promotion meetings nationally, regionally and locally during the project period.
- Maintaining constant dialogues with stakeholders/partners including private entrepreneurs on commercialization/ transferring technologies with proper strategies getting feedback for further refinement.
- External consultancy services
iii. HRD on Legal, IPR and Management Issues.
This would involve addressing issues like marketing, acumen, assessing the economic value of technology, efficiently managing the unit and developing technology foresighting, promoting technologies for out-licensing/in-licensing of biological material to claim ownership. Specifically this activity would comprise:
- Training of about 100 professional scientists, experts, senior managers, lawyers, (eg. Society for Technology Management-STEM having affiliation to IFFTO, IIM or other similar organizations).
About 20-25 technology managers to be selected for internships for 4-5 months with leading organization like USDA, Cornell, Wisconsin, Purdue, Wageningen universities, Amsterdam or Australia etc.
- A few senior technology and policy managers may be sent for short orientation/study visit/exposures for 8-10 days at a time.
Learning and Capacity Building
One of the key programmes proposed in the NAIP to achieve its challenging objectives is L&CB in the NARS for all participants in the technology generation, assessment and refinement system. L&CB under NAIP will encourage the use and/or creation of appropriate learning strategies, approaches and processes to support long-term institutional learning and capacity building. L&CB activities will be concentrated across all 4 components and in most of the sub-components.
The NARS, particularly the SAUs have major issues concerning resources, culture, administrative rules, incentives and skills. The surest way to minimize these risks is through training and other sub-projects of component 1, which can change culture and build skills.
The PIU would be responsible for processing and procedural clearance and overall supervision. The NAARM, focused on agriculture research management and human capacity development, in close collaboration with other learning institutions, will take significant responsibility for designing, overseeing and monitoring the L&CB methods, approaches and processes within the ICAR and the NAIP-supported consortia to achieve the following major objectives under Component I of the NAIP:
1. To assess the current L&CB initiatives and suggest changes in HRD and learning models like e-learning, distance learning, new experimental farms/clinics, course curricula for the future needs, etc.
2. An appropriately designed HRD needs assessment study (domestic and international) will be carried out for the personnel from the ICAR and the SAUs under the NAIP by sectors and themes with details of why, where, which areas, duration etc.
3. The NAIP envisages building partnership among the stakeholders in a consortia mode through suitable capacity building and policy interventions.
4. Skill development in proposal writing keeping in view the NAIP objectives, so as to enable various stakeholders to attract funding.
5. Core faculty/scientists from the core institutions providing HRD in basic and applied area of science, PME and policy support to the NAIP have to be developed through appropriately designed capacity building activities.
6. Various stakeholders associated with this activity will be trained/enabled in the use of ICTs.
7. The capacity building in market and information technology and agri-based decision support systems in active association with various commodity boards.
8. The researchers, research managers and senior administrative personnel will be sensitized towards intellectual property management. It would also help in development of true partnership with the private sector and in commercialization. Regulatory instruments regarding environmental issues including bio-safety aspects also will be reflected in the L&CB activities.
9. To develop leadership for results and professionalism among the scientists and academicians at all levels to work in harmony in attaining organizational goals.
10. Enhance the ability of the technical and para-scientific staff to support agricultural R&D activities.
Policy and Gender Analysis and Visioning (PGAV)
The long-term policy measures for sustainable fo