New Delhi: While the rural economy within majority of areas of India has witnessed good or mild growth, there is still a vast section of society that remains marginalized in the far flung landscapes. As the government programmes continue to work towards bringing major changes in local ecosystem, these rural populations still have less or no technological exposure at all, thus remaining unaware of new means to earn livelihood.
In this background, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India says that it has established several rural bio-resource complexes to provide economical and technological empowerment to women and lower sections of rural population through selected biotech packages like cultivation of aromatic and medicinal plants, mushrooms, Spirulina and seaweeds, biological control of plant pests and diseases, vermi-composting, bio-fertilizers; aquaculture; floriculture; poultry farming and animal husbandry.
DBT supported this programme with financial aid of around Rs 15-16 Crores. The State Government Departments and the State Agricultural Universities have provided technology inputs in terms of land, building, infrastructural facilities such as road, power, water, transportation, subsidies such as irrigation, fertilizer etc. These institutes with adequate extension services and work force training also provided proven and field tested technological knowledge and intervention.
Five bio-resource complexes have been established at University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS, Bangalore), Orissa University of Science & Technology (OUAT, Bhubaneswar), GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUAT, Uttarakhand) Haryana Agricultural University (HAU, Hissar) and Marathwada Agricultural University (MAU, Parbhani).
These complexes consist of clusters of 3 to 5 contiguous villages in which economically viable and ecologically compatible technology were provided to the rural people in the entire cluster in a holistic and sustainable manner.
These five bioresource complexes empowered women and SC/ST population through biotech packages. These were established under aegis of SAUs across India, consisting of clusters including 3 to 5 villages that were provided with economically viable and ecologically compatible technology.
The participants in each programme are engaged in cultivation as well as farm and off-farm processing to add value to their produce and trained in the technology adoption and in handling computers for weather forecast and market intelligence in local languages. The programme has brought about both economic and social benefits.
As a post project activity, all the bioresource complexes are being sustained at the State Agricultural Universities and are closely working with the concerned line departments like agriculture, horticulture, sericulture, animal husbandry, fisheries, rural development, health, sanitation, food processing, forestry etc. as applicable. The beneficiary group have formed cooperative society and sharing specific responsibilities under the coordinating and monitoring of the implementing agency.
The major goal was to provide economical and technological empowerment to the target community through selected biotech packages. Project components include extension, training and field demonstration activities. This was felt essential to provide long-lasting impact and sustainability to support a network of contiguous rural areas in a holistic manner with a basket of technologies along with supporting market linkages.
