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Moderated conference on rural advisory services for family farms: 1-18 December 2014

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Mon, 8 Dec 2014 14:51:35 +0100
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I am Dr. Kumaran from India, working with the aquaculture sector. Here are some of my views on the questions raised in the conference background document for your thought:
 
Question 4.1: What are the unique characteristics or features of rural advisory services for different types of family farms?

The aquaculture/fish farming sector is relatively commercial in nature and has these three categories of farms in the ratio of 10:70:20. 

The large farms or corporates are self-reliant. 

The 70% small or medium category, the regulation (registration) is with the government and the inputs, technical counselling and market is in the hands of private inputs companies and processing companies respectively. The fish/shrimp grown requires regular attention and at least weekly attention from the technical expert which the inputs company alone can provide, though their service is paid indirectly in the inputs cost. The government can only facilitate the provision of quality inputs by imposing certain standards but it is not possible for it to supply them. The government extension system is mostly skewed towards welfare measures and lacks adequate manpower, capacity, extension orientation and budget as the case of elsewhere. The small and medium aqua farmers rather do not expect the government machinery to do technical counselling rather they expect facilitation in the form of institutional credit, insurance, electricity, market intelligence etc. 

The third category (20%) is truly traditional and it requires the support of the public extension system. This category can be nurtured and notified as organic producers as they mostly farm with home-made feeds and indigenous technical knowledge. The public funded extension system should spend their maximum time and budget with this category by providing quality seeds and technical backstopping. Hence, the extension system has the following roles: 
category I: Only regulatory role
category II: Regulator, mobiliser and facilitator role 
category III: Education, input provision and facilitation.

Question 4.2. What are the current gaps in rural advisory services for smallholder family farms?

I agree with Dr. Mahesh Chander that the small and medium scale farmers need technical counselling on specialised topics like food safety, traceability, labour standards, market intelligence etc. which are lacking even with the private extension services that are dominant in the aquaculture sector. [I presume the reference is to Mahesh's message 41, where he describes the widening range of rural advisory services expected and required by farmers in developing countries...Moderator].

Question 4.3 What role can producer organizations play in tailoring rural advisory services for family farms?

Aquaculture is being done along the water bodies as clusters. Disease is the major issue in aquaculture, particularly in shrimp farming. The disease-causing pathogen can enter into the farm either through seed (vertical) or by cross contamination and vectors. The research institutions have recommended better management practices and biosecurity measures to prevent the risks of entry of pathogens. It is essential that all the farms operating in the cluster should follow all these better management practices otherwise one farmer's mistake can spoil the whole cluster. Hence, collective compliance of better management practices is the key with an institutional mechanism (farmer group) to enforce it. These producer groups do collective seed procurement by contracting a reliable hatchery and in some occasions do collective marketing by negotiating with buyers/marketers. 

Question 4.4 Are there regional specificities regarding rural advisory services for family farms?

Provinces are differently developed and connected accordingly where the extension agencies can reach through appropriate mode. I feel it is the sectoral differences (like agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries etc) that need different kinds of extension approaches and services. There is no one fit to all situations. Again, one crucial question is that, many a times we lack demand-driven technologies/technological packages. Unless the extension worker is not provided with technological input how can he/she perform at the field level? Farmers need immediate solution and we do not have an answer?.

Question 4.5 How to improve the outreach and impact of rural advisory services?

As discussed previously, division of labour/work between different service providers is one point. Information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly mobile phones, are going to play an important role in the days to come. Voice and text messages in local languages could be very useful. For that, dedicated mobile service providers with wider networking is important. As somebody pointed out, most of the new/innovative methods are confined only to the project sites and when the project is over/withdrawn there is no follow up. Any new concept need to be linked and integrated with existing extension department to continue after the project is over.

The viability of any new concept with manpower, organizational and budgetary requirement (costing of the model) is very important for success.  

The conference is going on well and I will join you again.

M. Kumaran
Principal Scientist ( Agricultural Extension)
Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA), 
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), 
Chennai,
India
e-mail: mkumaran (at) ciba.res.in

[To contribute to this conference, send your message to [log in to unmask] For further information, see http://www.fao.org/nr/research-extension-systems/res-home/news/detail/en/c/264776/ 

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