South Asiatic states have made singular progresss in nutrient production accompanied by a dramatic decrease of poorness during the past two decennaries. This has been due to the consequence of trade and investing reforms, which have generated economic growing in this part. Despite these alterations South Asia generates merely 2 % of the planetary income, yet supports 22 % of the universe ‘s population and 44 % of the universe ‘s hapless. Over 75 % of the population depend straight or indirectly on agribusiness for their supports. Therefore, agribusiness will play a major function in the hereafter and monolithic productiveness additions and merchandise variegation will be required. Due to intensifying population and urbanisation, natural resource are bit by bit consuming presenting major challenges to cut down poorness in this part. The jobs facing these states are complex and tremendous of which the major issues are ; worsening agricultural land and agricultural population, fringy manufacturers with little land retentions, diminishing per capita land handiness, conflicting demands for scarce H2O resource, urbanisation and young person hedging traditional agriculture. This part will be required to bring forth nutrient for larger and larger populations from less and lees land. The biggest challenge is how to increase end product from the shriveling agricultural sector, while prolonging the productiveness potency of the available natural resources.
The poorness is widespread in the part and there are over 800 million Asians life in low poorness, about 20 million kids are malnourished or undernourished. The degrees of accomplishment of the Millennium Goals indicate that permeant poorness yet haunts the South Asiatic states. The most self-contradictory state of affairs is that some flush Asians are enriching and altering diets while the many impoverished are scavenging. There is high-income disparity in these struggle engulfed states and the buying power of the hapless rural population is extremely limited. The engineerings have made a enormous impact to better the supports of these people and even with a clip slowdown they have benefited them. The engineerings have benefited the rich than the hapless, landed than the landless and work forces instead than adult females. The current globalization is impacting all these states and agribusiness is acquiring commercialised.
Keywords: Poverty, Education, Alleviation
Introduction
In the past 20 old ages, South Asiatic states have generated economic growing and strengthened their macro-economies by implementing production, trade and investing reforms. Despite of these alterations, the entire part of planetary trade has remained at 1 % . South Asia besides generates less than 2 % of the universe ‘s income, yet supports 22 % of the universe ‘s population and 44 % of the universe ‘s hapless. Most of these people are dependent on agribusiness for their supports and endurance. Approximately 60 % of the Asiatic labor is involved in agribusiness which accounts for approximately 25 % of South Asia ‘s GDP. More than 2/3 of the rural population derive their supports from land. To feed the increasing population adequately, it is estimated that nutrient production has to duplicate within the following 30 old ages. Meeting this demand will necessitate monolithic productiveness additions and merchandise variegation to guarantee wide based economic growing capable of bettering the supports of the hapless. Therefore, agribusiness and rural development should have precedence and policies and appropriate engineerings will hold to play a dominant function for the upliftment of life criterions of the hapless in this part.
Particular features of the part
The largest user of natural resources in this part is the agricultural sector. Unlike in the past natural resources base has been worsening bit by bit due to population detonation in the part. Over 75 % of the really hapless live and work in rural countries and depend on agribusiness for their supports and this figure is every bit high as 91 % in Nepal. Further demands on the resource base are apparent due to urbanisation as a consequence of trade liberalisation and investings by the industrial sector. Future challenges to agricultural growing are huge and those challenges have to be faced if poorness is to be alleviated among these states.
The restraints are many, of which the major issues are ; worsening agricultural land and agricultural population, land debasement and worsening per capita land, both of which pose a major menace to future productiveness. This part is characterized by a bulk of little and fringy manufacturers with land keeping less than 0.3 hour angle. The little farm size is a dominant factor in agricultural production. As indicated earlier, farm size is really little and continues to worsen under population force per unit area.
The diminution in agricultural population is apparent in all these states, and the alterations from 1988 – 1999 are as follows ; Bangladesh 58.7-56.7 % , India 56.3-55.4 % , Nepal 93.3-93.1 % , Pakistan 52.2-51.2 % and Sri Lanka 47.2-46.6 % ( FAO 2000 ) . In these states urbanisation is besides taking topographic point quickly ensuing in metropoliss spread outing into farming areas and atomization will go on. The per capita land will shrivel further. The per capita land handiness in these states in 1998 was: Bangladesh 0.12, India 0.29, Nepal 0.14, Pakistan 0.28 and Sri Lanka 0.23 hour angle ( FAO, 2000 ) . This records a diminution by 7.69 % , 14.71 % , 17.65 % and 4.35 % severally, except Nepal which recorded zero diminutions from 1988. Up to 50 % of the rural families are functionally landless.
Rising population, shriveling agricultural land, increasing demand on limited H2O resources, from the spread outing industrial and urban sectors, widespread land debasement and insufficiency of regulating substructure look to be major concerns now than of all time before. Water resource scarceness is a major restraint in all the states of the part.
There is competitory demand for H2O by the domestic, agricultural and the industrial sectors. There is ever a political desire to fulfill the domestic demand and the emerging industrial demands, while the agricultural demand becomes the least of import. This has lead to serious mismatch between irrigation demand and supply. Excessive development of land H2O is doing falling H2O tabular arraies and belowground aquifers are acquiring exhausted. The depletion of land H2O now stands among the most serious concerns of Indian agribusiness. Chadha ( 2002 ) states that in many parts of India the land H2O degree has gone many times lower so that the centrifugal tubing good irrigation engineering which was good within the agencies of the little husbandmans is beyond the investing capacity of even the larger husbandmans. For this ground, the larger provinces such as Punjab and Haryana which were the donees of the green revolution are now in the thick of crisis. Soil salt is common in many such agricultural lands. These issues can non be separated from poorness and nutrient security. The challenge for the South Asiatic part is how to increase end product from the agricultural sector while prolonging the productiveness potency of the available agricultural resources.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Hazell ( 2001 ) suggests two public intercessions to get the better of any jobs in the current agricultural growing. First are intercessions to assist the little husbandmans to capture the presently spread outing markets, even within parts that have good substructure. In this instance research must give equal attending to the jobs of the little holder agriculture and smallholders should be better reorganized for efficient selling and input supply. Second are intercessions to distribute the benefits of new markets to less favoured countries where many of the hapless husbandmans live. This requires long term economic investings and policy should be geared to such investings. If investings are non made in the lupus erythematosus favoured countries, the people populating in poorness in these countries are likely addition further in the hereafter. Without equal investing in substructure, engineering and human development these countries are likely to deteriorate further. Technologies like to win in these countries are assorted farming systems ; farm animal and agro forestry, improved fallows, screen harvests etc ; due to hapless and fringy dirts, but entree to markets have to be developed. Non farm activities in less favorable countries have high potency to relieve poorness. In all instances marketing establishments need to be developed to back up the smallholder husbandmans.
This literature reappraisal aims to map some of the issues to be explored by pulling on an annotated bibliography of over 100 paperss related to the subject ‘communication of research for poorness decrease ‘ . Decisions and findings from the paperss have been summarized in the literature reappraisal, which consists of four subdivisions. The first subdivision sets out the background and, more by and large, some links between communicating and poorness. Section 2 nowadayss old DFID stuff on communicating of research, and compares it to material from other bilateral and many-sided bureaus. Section 3 summarizes the major concerns and recommendations related to communicating of research for poorness decrease in current literature from research institutes, think armored combat vehicles, faculty members, NGOs and practicians. The 3rd subdivision is divided into three sub-sections: communicating to policy-makers, to research workers, and to stop users. Finally, Section 4 discusses some of the spreads in the field and emerging subjects that seem to be potentially of import issues in the close hereafter.
Research GOALS
The Millennium Development Goals adopted by 189 states in 2000 serves as a bench grade on the strategic attempts pursued by different states for the decrease of poorness. It is necessary to analyze the degrees of accomplishment of the 7 ends by different states in South Asia in poorness the decrease. Recently, Asiff Hussein, UNDP ( 2003 ) reported on these issues as follows:
Eliminating utmost poorness, Millennium Goal 1, by halving between 1990 – 2015, the proportion of people whose incomes are less than one dollar a twenty-four hours. In this respect the public presentation of the South Asiatic states have been extremely variable ; the proportion of the population populating on one dollar a twenty-four hours in Sri Lanka was 6.6 which compares favorably with the remainder of South Asia, Pakistan 13.4, India 34.7, Bangladesh 36.0 and Nepal 37.7. It is noted that the last three states, India, Bangladesh and Nepal yet have over one tierce of their populations at high poorness degree ( UNICEF,2003 ) .
Goal 2, Universal primary instruction by guaranting that kids every where irrespective of their sex will be able to finish a full class of primary instruction. The literacy rates have increased since 1990 in all states of the part ( Table 1 ) . In 2001 the young person literacy ( ages between 15-24 old ages ) rate in Sri Lanka was 96.9 % , which compares good with India 73.3 % , Nepal 61.1 % , Pakistan 57.8 % and Bangladesh 49.1 % ( UNDP, 2003 ) . The above 15 twelvemonth literacy rates in 2001 were much lower in three states, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan ( 40.6- 44.0 ) compared with India ( 58.0 ) and Sri Lanka ( 91.9 ) . In Sri Lanka, high literacy rates have been attributed to the authorities policy on free instruction up to university degree since independency. In Nepal the state of affairs is different, although the primary instruction is free attending diminution in the higher categories as kids are expected to assist the parents at place and field ( UNICEF, 2003 ) .
Goal 3 is in relation to gender equality and authorising adult females, Sri Lanka had a ratio of 0.94 misss to boys in primary instruction and 1.03 in secondary instruction in 2000, which besides compares good with Bangladesh 0.96 and 0.99, Nepal 0.79 and 0.69, India 0.77 and 0.66, and Pakistan 0.55 and 0.63. The ratio of literate females to males in Sri Lanka was 1.00, compared with India 0.82, Bangladesh 0.71, Pakistan 0.60 and Nepal 0.57. The representation in the state ‘s legislative assembly was highest in Pakistan 22 % , in the other states it varied between 2-6 % , lowest in Bangladesh ( 2 % ) . Education or human capital sweetening is important for poorness relief which has been emphasised by many writers ( Chatham, 2002 ; Dasgupta,1989 ) .
DATA INTERPRETATION
The Human Development Index ( HDI ) an index of grownup literacy rate, life anticipation at birth and per capita income is besides extremely variable in the part, highest in Sri Lanka 0.730, India 0.590, Bangladesh 0.502, and Nepal 0.499 and Pakistan 0.499. The life anticipations at birth scopes from 72 old ages in Sri Lanka to 59 old ages in Nepal. The per capita incomes besides vary widely, Bangladesh 370 US $ , India 470 US $ , Nepal 250 US $ , Pakistan 420 US $ and Sri Lanka 830 US $ The entree to safe H2O and equal sanitation follows a similar form ( Table 1 ) . The figures above are some indicant of the position of poorness prevailing in the part. Despite these attempts, there is a broad spread between the world and promise. If the tendencies in statistical information are any indicant of the poorness relief, taking into consideration the above figures it is seen that Sri Lanka is good in front of the other South Asiatic states. However, Sri Lanka still faces terrible economic troubles that have the strongest impact on the rural hapless communities.
Human Development Indices of the South Asiatic Countries ( % )
Population ( Mn )
% ages 15-24
Above15 Old ages
Life anticipation at birth
Per capita income US $
Entree to safe H2O %
Adequate healthful installation %
HDI
States
2002
1990
2001
2001
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
Bangladesh
133.4
42.0
49.1
40.6
60
370
97
48
0.502
India
1,050
64.3
73.3
58.0
64
460
84
28
0.590
Nepal
23.87
46.6
61.6
42.9
59
250
88
28
0.499
Pakistan
147.66
47.4
57.8
44.0
60
420
90
62
0.499
Sri Lanka
19.57
95.1
96.9
91.9
72
830
77
94
0.730
South Asia has made a singular passage from nutrient shortages in 1960s to national nutrient excesss accompanied by a dramatic decrease in poorness. The production of major basics in the part during 1996-2002 clearly shows the increasing tendency. ( Table 2 ) Although there are fluctuation in different old ages, rice production has increased from 163 – 168 million metric dozenss over the seven twelvemonth period. The highest production was in 2001 when the production reached 189 million metric dozenss. Similarly, wheat output increased from 83 – 95 metric dozenss, with the highest production of 102 million metric dozenss in 2000. India remains the highest manufacturer of cereal grains, both rice and wheat in the South Asiatic part. However, there is a self-contradictory state of affairs. On the one manus the rich and the flush Asians are enriching and altering their diets and this is taking topographic point at a rapid rate. These few simply rearrange their bill of fare, the hapless and the impoverished who are many foraging. Due to phenomenal alteration there is a high demand for meat and milk merchandises, fruits and veggies with an increasing demand for provender grains. The altering form of ingestion will escalate the demand for fast convenient nutrients, easy to fix and devour, a tendency evident in most of the urban countries. Despite this increasing richness, there are every bit many as 800 million Asiatic life in low poorness and about 20 million kids remain ill-fed. In Sri Lanka, 35 % of kids below 5 old ages of age are reported as malnourished or ill-fed. Although the nutrient is available hapless people have no entree to them due to widening income disparities. This is so the nucleus of human wretchedness, deprived of the most cardinal human right, the right to hold sufficient nutrient.
Secondary Educational Institutions and Students Enrolled and Teachers in India ( in % )
Institutions
Registration
Teachers
High School
Hr. Second
Sec. Schools $
High School
Hr. Seco
All*
All $
Female Teacher
Trained Teachers
PTR
1980-81
76
24
51.57
74
26
11.0
926
28
88
28
1985-86
75
25
66.83
62
38
16.5
1132
30
92
32
1990-91
76
24
79.79
60
40
19.1
1334
31
90
33
1995-96
72
28
99.27
60
40
22.9
1549
33
91
33
2000-01
69
31
126.08
66
34
27.6
1761
33
90
32
2003-04
68
32
145.96
66
34
35.0
2024
38
90
33
Note: * in 1000000s ; $ in 1000s.
Beginning: Based on Selected Educational Statistics, assorted old ages.
Technology development for Poverty Alleviation
There is considerable grounds that agricultural research has led to important additions in productiveness and enhanced incomes in developing states ( Lipton and Longhurst,1989 ; Kerr and Kolavalli,1999 ) . The development of improved cultivars and direction patterns, mechanisation, improved works nutrition and harvest protection engineerings have been in the head of agricultural engineerings lending to increased harvest outputs in many developing states. The Green Revolution, which is normally referred to as “ seed revolution ” which predominated in the early sixtiess contributed to unprecedented additions in nutrient production, wheat and rice outputs increased by several creases. Due to the impact of green revolution the incidence of rural poorness declined as agricultural growing and buying power of the people rose. Progresss in agricultural scientific discipline and engineering has increased productiveness, hence it will be an of import thrust to better nutrient and nutritionary security and cut downing the figure of hapless in the coming old ages. As more than 90 % of the of the nutrient consumed in hapless states are produced locally, the efficiency of production has to be improved for the well being of the hapless, through the usage of appropriate engineerings.
It is besides seen that seed engineerings have benefited the rich than the hapless, landed than the landless and work forces instead than adult females. This will convey about some disagreements in the attempt to cut down poorness in all the developing states. The consumption of modern engineerings associated with commercialization is an unjust procedure that at best worsens the rural inequality but more likely to increase rural poorness. As evident in the Asiatic states the displacement into hard currency cropping will press husbandmans to give their ain nutrient harvests and lead to more nutrient insecurity. All countries with favorable conditions will profit and decline the regional unfairnesss.
It is frequently assumed that engineerings could profit the hapless husbandmans due to increased output degrees. This will enable them to run into the household ingestion demands and besides market the extra green goods and earn income. The engineerings could besides make employment among the rural hapless, peculiarly the landless laborers and gain higher rewards. It can besides profit a broad scope of the rural hapless through growing of off-farm income. Displacement of labor from agribusiness with the development of economic systems is a common phenomena in most of the states. ( Schuh, 1999 ) Although this will hold a negative consequence on the agribusiness sector, this is an inevitable tendency that has to be encouraged. Therefore, poverty relief should concentrate on assisting the hapless to acquire off farm income. Thus the research resources have to be carefully spend, as poorness can non be alleviated within agribusiness entirely.
There is grounds provided by Hazell ( 200 ) that the current research were non suited for the hapless husbandmans on four counts:
Technologies are non directed to the resource hapless husbandmans. This is because the hard currency demands are high for off farm inputs and they require more H2O. Due to these grounds hapless husbandmans have achieved lower outputs from modern engineerings. These engineerings besides carry increased uncertainness and hazards in hapless husbandmans Fieldss.
Some of the engineerings developed for rough climes are extremely undependable due to miss of research into development, appraisal and polish
Physical resources are missing to follow modern engineering
Poor entree to knowledge as agricultural information foremost range husbandmans through mass media and extension agents. Poor husbandmans, who are of low socio economic position, rely on informal beginnings for engineering information ( Dasgutpta, 1989 ) and their cognition about engineering can be easy distorted. Poor cognition about engineerings is an of import restraint to acceptance ( Reddy and Reddy, 1972 ) .
Sometimes engineering reaches the husbandman at the worsening phase of merchandise monetary values. This is, as indicated before the early adapters are normally big husbandmans who earn a ample income.
Therefore to recognize the full potency, the engineering should efficaciously make the hapless husbandmans and for the hapless to follow the engineering they should hold a reduced or balance of resource demands. Furthermore, little and average husbandmans should have precedence in public funded research and extension. Besides research should aim on adult females as they are more involved an agribusiness in the rural scene.
Food and Poverty
Cereal Production in South Asiatic Countries 1996 – 2002
Rice
( ‘000 )
Rice Production ( Mt. )
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
Bangladesh
28,184
28,152
29,857
34,600
37,627
36,269
38,134
India
122,500
123,700
129,055
134,496
131,614
139,735
116,580
Nepal
3,710
3,640
3,699
3,834
4,216
4,164
4,130
Pakistan
6,457
6,499
7,011
7,733
7,203
5,823
6,343
Sri Lanka
2,061
2,239
2,692
2,857
2,859
2,694
2,794
Entire
162,912
164,230
172,314
183,520
183,519
188,685
167,981
Wheat
Wheat Production ( Mt. )
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
Bangladesh
1,369
1,454
1,802
1,908
1,840
1,673
1,606
India
62,097
69,350
66,345
71,287
76,368
69,680
71,814
Nepal
1,012
1,072
1,000
1,086
1,183
1,157
1,258
Pakistan
16,907
16,650
18,694
17,856
21,078
19,023
18,226
Entire
83,381
90,523
89,839
94,136
102,469
93,534
94,906
Beginning: Food and agriculture organization 2002
Emerging research tendencies
Modern biotechnology is an project with far-reaching socio-economic deductions. The developed states have to a great extent invested on biotechnology R & A ; D and rapid advancement have been made in the development plague immune harvest assortments, bio pesticides, growing promotants etc, which are being commercialised. All the states of South Asia are traping great hopes on agricultural biotechnology to relieve poorness and hungriness. Biotechnology seems to offer limitless potencies for work outing old and new jobs. The biotechnological research and coevals of new engineerings are high cost and requires extremely trained work force and infrastructure. , the scenes which are available merely in the industrialised states. Therefore biotechnologies are considered as pro-rich engineerings. Despite this most of the states in the part are in the procedure of developing work force in this country. Some states such as India has gone far in front in this procedure by non merely developing the skilled work force, but besides puting in the sophisticated substructure for research. Most of the smaller states are fighting to accomplish in this field, frequently constrained by encephalon drain and unequal substructure. Although the biotechnological research is dearly-won its application will be within the range of the husbandmans and other users in the Asiatic part, They will besides necessitate accomplishments in their application, hence at the get downing merely the progressive husbandmans may follow the engineerings. The pro-poor characteristics of biotechnology will include decrease in the cost of production with the usage of less expensive inputs such as bio fertilisers, biological direction of plagues, sensing of pathogens and their bio control and pertinence of biotechnological tools in a broad scope of conditions for dry and fringy lands. There are besides other characteristics of biotechnology, which could be used in concurrence with traditional agriculture patterns.
There are besides monolithic jobs in biotechnology such as bio safety issues and the supplanting of traditional primary merchandises imported from the Asiatic part such as seasoning agents and sugar replacements, which are marks of biotechnology. Industrialized states may non demand any more of primary merchandises which the husbandmans used to bring forth, taking to acceleration of poorness. The private sector in developing states is puting on biotechnology due to the possibility that new engineerings could be patented. Many of these states have formulated Torahs to let private companies to obtain properness rights to new engineerings for commercialization. As seen from the tendencies, if statute law is internationally acceptable a few big companies will keep the ownership of these patents. Under these state of affairss, the developing states will non be able to equitably portion the familial resources and likely to endure. The people in Asia should examine these new engineerings, but freshness should non run down our uninterrupted committedness for less glamourous but indispensable programmes which are important for poorness relief. These include station crop losingss, renewable energy, agricultural reform, population policy every bit good as aggressively focussed programmes for little graduated table manufacturers and rural adult females involved in agribusiness. This indicates that the public sector should play an proactive function and control over prosecuting agricultural research and engineering. Appropriate policy and programmes are required for preparing new engineerings.
In agricultural engineering development some new tendencies are besides apparent. In the past agribusiness production was grain based, production led and environmentally unfavorable. Even though important additions in nutrient production have been made following these schemes, the nature of future challenges call for a alteration. In mobilising this alteration, the intensification of land and H2O usage, efficiency of the usage of inputs like seed, fertiliser, agrochemicals, addition in productiveness and the care of the quality of the environment are the cardinal considerations. Controlled environment agribusiness ( CEA ) , a high engineering is expected to reply some of these issues, where the familial potency of the harvests could be manipulated to the maximal under controlled conditions. Some of the in-between degree husbandmans have taken up to CEA due to its many advantages largely the income that could be generated within a short infinite of clip. Under Sri Lankan conditions many of the enterprisers are those populating in semi urban countries. This will be a agency to live over some of the urban poorness that exist in the urban countries. Another emerging tendency is the involvement in organic agricultural production oriented to the production of chemical free healthy nutrients. This low input based agricultural production system is good established in some of the western states, but going popular in the Asiatic continent. Although the harvest outputs are relatively lower compared to the traditional production with the usage of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, the merchandise monetary values are at least twice or more higher and export chances are besides available.
A paradigm displacement in engineering development
The agricultural production has preponderantly shifted from the earlier construct of addition in output to the utilizable production of the whole concatenation that links the manufacturer to the consumer. This could be attributed to several factors. As a consequence of trade liberalisation most of the states are traveling towards policy scene and substructure development function. The aim of this is to cut down the dealing costs, while promoting the private sector with greater entree to resources, particularly recognition and information.. Soon a paradigm displacement has taken topographic point from primary production to development of secondary merchandises as demanded by the consumer. This will convey approximately better use of primary merchandises, value add-on and income coevals at each phase of production -consumption continuum. This attack will associate the agro-industries to the production system, unlike in the yesteryear where agro industry was considered as a separate entity. This would intend that the modernisation of agribusiness will assist to relieve poorness by developing engineerings for processing and value add-on and be competitory in the international market. In peculiar, the export trade goods will be straight employment heightening due to their labour intensive nature. If the income from exports are significant, it will take to important decrease of poorness.
Therefore, in the development of engineerings, focal point should be on several important issues. Of these merchandise quality will be one of the most of import. This will include biochemical word picture and physical constituents impacting either the alimentary value or industrial processing of primary merchandises ; developing cistron affecting such qualities and germplasm sweetening, development of station crop mechanisation and storage installations, integrated pest direction in storage, germplasm betterment for factors that cause storage losingss, placing chances for merchandise variegation, processing of primary merchandises, milling, usage of byproducts and appraisal of demand for merchandise development. Therefore, establishments involved in agricultural development will necessitate a alteration in head set from engineering development from production to give to those engineerings for merchandise use which will bring forth income and employment. Therefore, a paradigm displacement from engineering development for the interest of it as done on the yesteryear has to be reoriented to type and quality of merchandise as determined by the market demand and non by the handiness of engineering. To accomplish the best consequences, policies should be set in topographic point to use the engineerings generated and rating systems and quality criterions should be established and substructure developed.
Decision
Need for regional appraisal of agricultural research
Although there is ample grounds that agricultural research has increased nutrient production in the South Asiatic part, there is on traveling contention whether agricultural research has been good to the hapless to get the better of poorness. Presently the research is demand driven and caters largely to the big or commercial husbandmans. Most of the technological inventions are developed in the developed states. It is noted that many of these engineerings are non low-cost by the little husbandmans. The market demand for merchandises excessively have changed, and merchandise development should take into histories the market demand. The inquiry is that how these developments could act upon the well being of the rural hapless and relieve their poorness. At a multi-stakeholder Regional Consultation held late, December 2003 in New Delhi under the sponsorship of the World Bank, the function of agricultural scientific discipline and engineering in planetary poorness relief was discussed. The Consultation noted that despite the important advancement made in the past 30-35 old ages in raising nutrient handiness and ingestion degrees, bettering nutrition degrees and cut downing poorness, much remains to be done in the hereafter to accomplish the marks. If the current tendencies are any indicant, the figure of hungry people would simply worsen from 294 million to 217 million by 2015. Therefore, ends for cut downing poorness can non be met without significant impulse and enterprise.
In the South Asiatic state of affairs besides there are many unreciprocated inquiries sing the engineering coevals to undertake poorness. Therefore, a regional engineering appraisal is proposed with the engagement of all the stakeholders. Among the many, a few cardinal issues that the proposed appraisal may turn to are listed below. :
What is the potency of agricultural research to do the little husbandman more feasible?
How can agricultural research be focussed to relieve the poorness among the rural husbandmans?
What engineerings are suited for rain fed countries where many of the hapless live?
Is the development of engineerings under the variegation scheme turn toing all issue of the little husbandmans?
What is the potency of the emerging engineerings such as biotech ( production and processing and value add-on ) to heighten off farm employment in poorness ridden countries?
How can the entree to markets be improved for the little husbandmans?
How can the engineering information disseminated to the little husbandmans? How can one guarantee that the little and fringy manufacturers are benefited from the “ IT revolution ”
What extent is the deficiency of substructure influence entree. What are the short options to miss of rural roads, electricity, storage etc, and can the private investing be mobilized to get the better of these short approachs?
What institutional agreements that are available to help the rural hapless in get bying with natural catastrophes, drouths, inundations etc ; to avoid inauspicious impacts on nutrient and nutritionary security?
What are the actions needed for development human capital, including gender balance to do the best usage of the engineering?
What are the best mechanisms for research support to concentrate on engineerings needed for the hapless and the underprivileged?
Are the policies and legal models set for developing engineering aligned to help the hapless husbandmans?
