Times Agricultural Journal

ENGINEERING WEALTH

OUR b2b MAGAZINES

Innovative financial engineering and setting up benchmarks for earnings and efficiency can enable a technology revolution

IT in Agriculture India, compared to Brazil and Mexico, is far behind in the conducting Information Technology- Biotechnology (IT-BT)-based experimentation in agriculture. Brazil has initiated a small farmers movement on the BT front. But though we, as a country, claim to be a software superpower, we have not been able to converge IT and BT for our agricultural advancement. The need of the hour is to educate our farmers about the opportunities and challenges placed before us.

The most optimal advantage of Information Technology (IT) and Biotechnology (BT) to the farmers of India depends on the quality and skills of ‘financial engineering’ involved in the whole exercise. The involvement of Indian farmers in optimising the use of IT and BT will require innovative benchmarks for earnings, efficiencies and versatility. Different agricultural business possibilities in IT and BT will have to be viewed through different products and processes.

The IT earnings could be systemic, strategic, people-driven or brand-driven. The BT earning models could be general or special. In both the cases, farmers’ involvement would be possible through confederations with a corporate cooperative structure, multi- purpose financial valuations, active rural participation and comprehensive coverage of IT and BT at affordable price to the beneficiaries.

Financial engineering will require a long-term view by all the participants, including the government, with flexibility in the short-term. Of course, financial engineering does require a lot of scope for financial innovations. In India, making both I T and BT a farmers’ movement would require freedom to innovate with systemic monitoring. Rural resources could be tapped through reasonable products, earning benchmarks and down-to-earth structural control. Perhaps, we may not have to look for outside help if financial engineering is well practised here.

Scope for financial engineering

The hidden wealth in Indian agriculture will become visible if the farmers are systematically brought into the IT and BT movement. A very large spread of farmers and their fragmented pieces of land will have to be brought into an appropriate organisation, using strategic, operational and financial techniques. The financial engineering required for an optimal application of IT and BT to agriculture may be viewed through the following important aspects:

Earning Benchmarking and Versatile Financial Monitoring Parameters

Multipurpose Valuations

Multipurpose, Dynamic Financing

Innovative Ownership - sharing

IT-BT Networking for Rural Financial Participation

Small Entrepreneurs Financial Confederation IT-BT earning benchmarks The farmers and their families will have to be educated and convinced about various earning possibilities, which may require both patience and organisational strength. Indian farmers do not easily agree on losing their individual identity and ownership rights. A structure will have to be evolved to offer both, organisational strength and individual freedom. Farmers should be made to understand that the WTO mechanism has brought to them global earning opportunities. These opportunities will have to be tapped through systematic application of the collective algorithms of IT and BT’. Multiple earning benchmarks will have to be defined as follows -

Indian farmers will have to be convinced about branded products and processes. They will have to be made aware of the European ways of agricultural bargaining. Europe illustrated a high calibre of collective bargaining, while tackling the American threat in the WTO Mechanism. Collective bargaining should depend upon strategic use of biotechnology applied to new seeds, fertilisers and other agricultural boosters. High achievers among the farmers will obviously be required to use IT - based agricultural control processes, to retain their competitive advantage and repeat high earning ratios. Timely and adequate patenting of their products and processes can be facilitated by an effective use of cost-efficient I T - solutions. Patenting of BT - based findings will also require lot of funding, to sustain long-drawn legal processes.