Agriculture:- Model Bankable Projects in India | Land Development : Biopesticide Unit Part 1 --- www.nabard.org
| Biopesticide Unit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
1. Introduction
1.1. Pest problem is one of the major constraints for achieving higher production in agriculture crops. India loses about 30% of its crops due to pests and diseases each year. The damage due to these is estimated to be Rs.60,000 crores annually. The use of pesticides in crop protection has certainly contributed for minimising yield losses. The pesticides, which are needed to be applied carefully, only when the threshold limits of the pest population is exceeded. However, quite often the indiscriminate and unscientific use of pesticides has led to many problems, such as pests developing resistance, resurgence of once minor pest into a major problem besides environmental and food safety hazards.
1.2. The problem of insect-pest is acute in case of all the crops and especially so in case of commercial crops. The use of insecticides and pesticides have increased manifolds during the past 3 - 4 decades with the introduction of intensive cropping. The average consumption of pesticides in India is about 570 gms per ha. as compared to developed countries like Japan, Thailand and Germany where the consumption rate is 11 kg, 17 kg and 3 kg per ha, respectively. Though the average quantum of pesticides usage in India is low, the damage caused due to their indiscriminate usage and poor quality maintenance is alarming. Interms of value, much of the pesticide application is accounted for by a few crops. For example, cotton, paddy and vegetable crops account for 80% of the value of pesticides applied in India.
1.3. Pesticides or chemicals are meant to control harmful pests such as insects, nematodes, diseases, weeds etc. However, excessive use of pesticides not only leave residues in soil, water and air but also have adverse effects on the non target organisms such as pollinators, parasitoids, predators and wild animals. This has adversely affected the ecological balance resulting in pest resurgence, development of resistance in the pest species and environmental pollution. Development of pest resurgence and resistance has resulted in high cost of production and low income especially to cotton farmers in AP, Maharashtra.
1.4. In view of the several disadvantages associated with the unscientific use of pesticides in agriculture, there is an urgent need for minimising the use of chemical pesticides in the management of insect pests. Growing public concern over potential health hazards of synthetic pesticides and also steep increase in cost of cultivation/low profit making by farmers has led to the exploration of eco-friendly pest management tactics such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM aims at suppressing the pest species by combining more than one method of pest control in a harmonious way with least emphasis on the use of insecticides. In simple terms "IPM is the right combination of cultural, biological and chemical measures which provides the most effective, environmentally sound and socially acceptable methods of managing diseases, pests and weeds". The major components of IPM are prevention, observation and intervention. The IPM seems to be the only answer to counter some of the major pests of crops, which have become unmanageable in recent years. The success of IPM largely depends upon conservation of naturally occuring bio control agents.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2. Importance of Bio-pesticides
2.1. In nature every ecosystem exists in a balance. Growth and multiplication of each organism depends on the food-chain, its predetors, parasites, etc. In biological control system, these interrelations are exploited. The natural enemy of a pest, disease or weed is selected, its biology is studied for mass multiplication and utilize the same to check the target pest. They are also specific in their action and perish once their feed (i.e. the pest) is exhausted. Thus they are based on natural principles, do not leave any residue, safe and economical.
2.2. Among the alternatives, biological control of pests is one of the important means for checking pest problems in almost all agro-ecological situations. Bio pesticides are living organisms which can intervene the life cycle of insect pests in such a way that the crop damage is minimized. The agents employed as biopesticides, include parasites, predetors and disease causing fungi, bacteria and viruses, which are the natural enemies of pests. Further, they complement and supplement other methods of pest control. Utilisation of naturally occurring parasites, predators and pathogens for pest control is a classical biological control. On the other hand, these bio agents can be conserved, preserved and multiplied under Laboratory condition for field release. Once these bio-agents are introduced in the field to build their population considerably, they are capable of bringing down the targeted pest' population below economic threshold level (ETL). However, the crux lies in their mass production and application at the appropriate time.
3. Major advantages of bio pesticides
Bio-pesticides are preferred over chemical pesticides for the following reasons:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
4. Status of bio pesticide use in India
4.1. Last decade has witnessed a tremendous breakthrough in this aspect, especially on standardization of production techniques of Trichoderma, Gliocladium, Paecilomyces, Pseudomonas, Trichogramma, NPV and Bacillus to use them against many insect pests and diseases.
4.2. There are a number of instances where bio control agents have been successfully employed in India. Some examples of these are given below :
4.3. The popularity of biopesticides has increased in recent years, as extensive and systematic research has greatly enhanced their effectiveness. Also, techniques for the mass production, storage, transport and application of biopesticides have been improved in recent years.
5. Scope for Commercial Production of Biopesticides
Though there are about 140 biopesticide production units existing in the country as on today, they are able to meet the demand of only less than 1% of cropped area. There exists a wide gap, which can only be bridged by setting up of more and more units for production of biopesticides. This requires large scale investment and private participation.
Some of the local small scale industries have already started production and marketing of Trichoderma viride (against few fungal diseases) and Trichogramma (against sugarcane early shoot borer). There is a scope to enhance production and use of biological control agents in the days to come as the demand is on the increase every year.
6. Location of Biopesticide Units
In order to achieve optimum results, care needs to be taken to set up biopesticide facilities in areas which have appropriate climatic conditions. The production of Biopesticides requires controlled climatic conditions. Temperature control is less costly in locations where there is no extreme conditions. Besides the climatic conditions, the proximity of the location to the market is also important. However, care must be taken that the production facilities are set up at least a quarter of a mile away from farming areas, so as to prevent the contamination of production facilities by insecticides from the farming areas. Also, as air pollution can damage biopesticides, the production should be located away from industrial and urban areas.
7. Technology
Based on a detailed study conducted by NABARD in Karnataka, the following two model projects are standardized by grouping similar infrastructure requirements. This will increase the efficiency of all input material and will help to run the unit without any lean period. The model one is developed in the area of mass production of predetors and parasites where as the model two is for the multiplication of viral and fungal based products. The technical details in brief for production of selected bio-agents are given in Annexure-I.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The technology used were indigenous and the scientific aspects of production were standardised by ICAR Research Institutes and State Agricultural Universities. Machinaries and laboratory equipments are available from various manufacturers and are of BIS standards.
8. Objectives of Biopesticide Project Models
9. Basic requirements for establishment of Biopesticide units
Based on the field visits to bio-control production units and in line with the technology and objective of biopesticides production, various facilities required for the successful implementation of such projects are indicated below:
9.1 Land
Land is required for construction of culture and rearing rooms, processing room, laboratory, office etc. In the present models, we have assumed only rented buildings, hence no land cost has been considered except for poly house.
9.2 Building and civil works
Biopesticides production involves rearing of insects. Hence, the basic infrastructure to be created includes only the civil structures built in such a way as to provide environmental conditions suitable for rearing of insects. The production unit has to be located away from industrial unit to avoid pollution problems. For the proposed installed capacity, an estimated built up area of about 1000 sq ft is required for model-I (mass production of Trichogramma, Chrysoperla and Cryptolaemous beetles) & for Model-II (production of NPV, Trichoderma and pheromone lures) about 2400 sq.ft. area is required. Other utilities required are power, water and vehicle. Among others, the civil structure may be designed to have separate room for diet preparation, corcera culture, egg production, host culture etc. The host culture room for NPV production should be kept at a distance with proper hygiene and entry may be restricted in such a way to prevent any contamination. In other words, one should not enter host culture room after visiting a facility, where NPV is extracted from dead infected larvae.
9.3 Plant and Machinery
There is no requirement of heavy plant and machinery. Racks, trays and other facilities are required for rearing insects. Apart from this centrifuge, mixers and some fabricated equipments for insect collection and rearing are required. For production of Trichoderma fermentors, laminar flow apparatus etc. are required. All the machinery required are locally manufactured.
9.4 Raw material
For rearing of insects special diet is required which comprises of pulses, vitamins, antibiotics etc. For production of Trichoderma molasses-yeast medium, is required. All these materials are available locally.
9.5 Water
The water requirement is mainly for feed preparation, washing, cleeaning, drinking etc.. Water quality should be tested to establish the suitability.
9.6 Power
Power supply is essential for bio-pesticide units. Electricity charges under recurring cost are considered in the models.
9.7 Manpower
Production of bio-pesticides required skilled manpower. There is need for a number of labourers at each stage of production. The project is labour intensive. The manpower requirement is as under:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
10. Scale of production
These biopesticides can be produced on a small or large scale. Small scale production is particularly suitable to village or community level cooperatives, which can produce and distribute these for local use. As the production technology of some of these agents (particularly Trichogramma) is relatively simple, the local farmers/SHGs can be trained to undertake the production. Medium and large scale production can be undertaken by firms, sugar mills cooperatives engaged in the manufacture and distribution of agro-chemicals. Foe example, fertilizer companies, which already possess sufficient in-house technological expertise and marketing resources, are ideally suited for producing biopesticides on a large scale. Similarly, seed companies are particularly well placed for undertaking the production and marketing of Trichoderma. The installed capacities of the model projects are given in para 13.
11. Market Potential
Considering the negative effects of indiscriminate case of pesticides, importance for organic farming and promotion of sustainable farming practices it is estimated that there will be further scope for new units, particularly in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, AP, UP, West Bengal and Karnataka, where crops such as sugarcane, pulses, cereals and vegetable crops are grown in large scale.
The National Integrated Pest Management Workshop, 1992 estimated the gross demand for a few biopesticides which is given below:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
At present, in some states, state government is purchasing the product from the private parties and selling it to the individual farmers at a subsidized rate.
12. Regulatory measures
As the bio-control agents are living organisms, it is very important to have effective regulatory measures. The quality control of commercial bioagents must be strictly enforced by the Government. In this connection, the Directorate of Plant Protection Quarantine and Storage, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, GOI have issued guidelines/data requirements for registration of bio-pesticides in the country. As per this, all the units have to meet the Indian standards and technical specifications to be eligible for registration under the Insecticides Act, 1968.
13. Bio-pesticides Registration
At present, Bacillus thuringensis, neem based formulations, microbial pesticides like fungi, NPV etc., are included in the schedule of Insecticides Act, 1968. This ensures the quality of bio-pesticides at farmers level. The standard parameters, protocols for data generation, guidelines for registration are prepared and circulated to prospective entrepreneurs by MoA. Now as such, any person dealing with biopesticides without registration is ill-legal.Accordingly, registration cost is included for Model 2.
14. Project Details
14.1 Unit Size
The unit size of the models in brief are given below:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
14.2 Financial programme of the models
The summary of financial programme is given below :
(amount in Rs.)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The details of project cost and cost of production (recurring cost) are given inAnnexures II - III and IX -X for Model- 1 and 2 respectively.
14.3 Economics of the project
Based on the various techno-economic parameters (Annexure IV & XI), income and expenditure have been arrived for the models. Further, based on the cash flow, financial parameters and repayment schedule have been worked out to establish the bankability of the project. (Annexures V, VI & VII for model 1 and Annexures XII, XIII & XIV for model 2)
14.4 Financial analysis
The cash flow statement covering the Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR), Net Present Worth (NPW) and Internal/financial rate of return (IRR/FRR) have been worked out for the project. Normally the BCR should be greater than 1, NPW should be positive and IRR should be greater than 15%.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The detailed financial analysis have been given in Annexures (VIII & XV).
15. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
The projects on manufacturing biopesticide products would be considered for refinance support by National Bank. Therefore, all participating banks may consider financing this activity subject to their technical feasibility, financial viability and bankability.
16. LENDING TERMS AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS
16.1 Margin Money
The promoters/company should normally meet 25% of the project cost out of their own resources.
16.2 Interest Rate
Interest rate will be determined by RBI/NABARD from time to time. However, at present banks may decide interest rate.
16.3 Security
As stipulated by the RBI.
16.4 Repayment Period
Depends upon the gross surplus generated. In the models, we considered 7 years as repayment period with one year grace.
16.5 Refinance Assistance
As per the existing policy, NABARD provides refinance assistance @ 90% of bank loan. However, it may vary from time to time.
17. CHECK LIST
A check list of various points to be considered (for both models) for feasibility of the project is appended (Annexure XVI).
|
No comments:
Post a Comment