Annual Report 2009-2010 - Department of Agriculture & Co-operation

narrowcasting centres, 18 regional centres and
one national centre of Doordarshan Kendra
telecasts agricultural programmes for 30
minutes, five days a week. Programmes of
regional kendras and some narrowcasting
centres are being repeated the next day on the
respective regional satellite channels. Audio and
video spots on emerging issues, namely, Rabi/
Kharif campaign, Kisan Call Centres, Kisan Credit
Cards, etc., are also publicised through the
programme using free commercial time. Live
crop seminars on Doordarshan involving farmers
and experts have also been organised.
9.18 The other component of the mass media
initiative is the use of 96 FM transmitters of AIR
to broadcast area specific agricultural
programmes with 30 minute radio transmissions
in the evening, six days a week.
9.19 Establishment of Agri-Clinics and Agri-
Business Centres by Agriculture Graduates: The
ACABC scheme was launched in April 2002, with
the aim of providing extension and other services
to farmers on a payment basis; supplementing
agricultural development and entrepreneurship;
and promoting self-employment in the
agriculture sector by setting up agri-ventures in
agriculture and allied areas. These agri-preneurs
are actively involved in providing consultancy and
extension advisory services to farmers at the
grass roots level. The selected graduates are
sponsored to undergo two months' training
through MANAGE at various identified Nodal
Training Institutes (NTIs), which also provide
hand-holding support for one year. NABARD
supports the Ministry of Agriculture in disbursing
credit-linked back ended subsidies at the rate of
25 per cent of the capital cost of the project
funded through bank loans, as well as a full
interest subsidy for the first two years on bank
credit through the concerned branches of
commercial banks/financial institutions. The
subsidy is given at the rate of 33 per cent in
respect of candidates belonging to SCs and STs,
women, and other disadvantaged sections, and
those from North Eastern states. So far, 20,228
agriculture graduates have been trained and 7151
agri-ventures have been established in the
country during the period of implementation of
the scheme (from its inception up to February
2010.).
9.20 Pre-seasonal DAC-ICAR Interfaces: Preseasonal
DAC-ICAR Interfaces are organised
under the co-chairmanship of the Secretary (A&C)
and Director General (DG), ICAR, to evolve joint
strategies on emerging issues in the agriculture
sector. During the interface, both the Department
of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC) and the
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
share a common platform to deliberate upon
various recommendations made by expert
groups in different areas. Actions taken on the
recommendations of the previous interface are
also reviewed. The participants in the DAC-ICAR
Interface are senior officers from the DAC,
Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairy, and
Fisheries (AHD&F), and the ICAR. The 29th DAC-
ICAR Interface in the series was organised on
17 August 2009, and was mainly focused on
developing strategies to mitigate the effects of
drought on crop production in the country.
Copies of the proceedings and group
recommendations of the said interface were
circulated to all the concerned divisional heads
of the DAC, DAHD&F, ICAR, all the states, and
related institutes, for necessary follow-up action.
The Pre-Kharif Interface for 2009-10 was held on
11 February, 2010.
9.21 Kisan Call Centers: The scheme was
launched on 21 January 2004 to provide
agricultural information to the farming
community through toll-free telephone lines. A
country-wide common eleven digit number
'1800-800-1551' has been allocated for KCCs.
Replies to queries of the farming community are
being given in 22 local languages. Calls are
attended from 6.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m., on all
seven days of the week. Since the inception of
the scheme, over 39.65 lakh calls have been
received. During the current year, around 6.89
lakh calls have been received up to 31 October
2009. In order to make farmers aware of this
facility, audio and video spots on Kisan Call
Centres have been broadcast/telecast through
All India Radio and Doordarshan; publicity to KCC
Agricultural Extension
53