Agricultural Technology Project Launched

The World Bank aided Rs 861.3 crore ($240 million) National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) was formally launched yesterday by agriculture minister Som Pal.

The five-year project is aimed at revitalising the agricultural research and extension systems to develop and transfer sustainable technologies for food security, poverty-alleviation, natural resource management, and environmental degradation prevention. It will replace the National Agricultural Research Project and the National Agricultural Extension Project which have completed their terms.

World Bank operation advisor John H Joyce described it as the world's largest project of its kind to be funded by the World Bank. The NATP programmes would be demand-driven, location specific and multi-disciplinary. The planning process would evolve from below and would envisage linkages between institutions and extension agencies, he said.

 

The NATP's total cost of $239.7 million comprise $96.8 million as IBRD loan, 73 million SDR (equivalent to $100 million) as IDA credit and $42.9 million (equivalent to Rs 155.03 crore) as the contribution of the Indian government. Of this $5 million have been made available in 1997-98 under retrospective financing for the pre-implementation activities upto the date of signing the agreement.

The IDA's contribution is in terms of an interest-free soft loan returnable in 20 years, while the World Bank's component is a loan payable in 25 years with an interest ranging from 3 to 6 per cent, depending on what the money would be used for.

The project would have three components: development of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) organisation and management; support for agro-eco systems research; and innovations in technology dissemination.

ICAR director general R S Paroda said an agricultural technology management agency (ATMA) will be set up under the NATP to provide an effective linkage between the farmers, extension agencies and research workers. ATMA units, in the beginning, will work in 24 selected districts of six states, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.