India requires multi models approach of innovation: Dr V Prakash

“The key to any productivity today is not only new ideas, new paths and new products but a single word called “Translational Innovation” and India requires multi models and not a single model fitting all,” said Dr V Prakash, distinguished scientist of CSIR India and Director, Research, Innovation and Development at JSS Mahavidyapeetha, Mysore.

Making a key note address on a topic ‘Cost effective Incremental Innovation for India is important for a Sustainable Food and Nutrition security’ at the Tenth India Innovation Summit 2014 organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Bangalore recently, he opined that we need to do with “Translational-Innovation models in management in the chain of reversing Rural to Urban Pan India.”

He further said that agricultural gadgets which are adaptable for moving the agri products from land to processors and from land to production units (involving Bioengineering), and all the way down to even value addition on the deck of a van in the farm perhaps in the long Run by using GPS! ?

Quoting the latest report from United Nations Population Division and Population reference Bureau, he said, “The world is moving towards human resource rich world as against the notion of human resource poor world by 2050. And there is enough space for everybody to grow provided equal Space of Opportunity is available”!!

To a large extent today in the market both in Small and Medium Enterprises sector and Global companies more money rolls in and rolls out by “Incremental Innovative Technologies (IIT). This is not enough for a market like India. The companies here in India need to look at Delta Incremental Innovative Technologies (DIIT), which makes a huge change in the risk taking by the team, gaining consumer confidence, many a times a turnaround in the business confidence, added Dr Prakash.

“It is important to remember that Culture and Science co-exist and has a role in improving the Quality of Life by Global Networking of Scientific knowledge through the power of Science, Education, Information and Awareness by using the informatics of Traditional Knowledge and Judicious use of combination of Scientific knowledge and Resources which can build New India. Empowerment through Science based Innovative approach can bring in that change which can improve the Quality of life of People,” Dr V Prakash concluded.

The introduction of food security bill last year changed the landscape of this basic need in India, and it is a fertile ground for innovation in terms of agriculture production, storage, distribution and marketplace. The advances in, biotechnology, transportation, handling, packing and storage changed the current models to incorporate more consumer-centric approach than supply centric approach. The improvements in Information technology infrastructure resulted in better information flow across the supply chain and marketplace.

Nagaraja Prakasam, Acumen partner, Water and Sanitation who chaired the session on “Green Revolution 2.0 – Food Security and the role of innovation” said that 50% of our population who is depending on agriculture in India is contributing 13.7% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) where as 20 % of the population working in services sector contributes to about 64% of the GDP. Hence there is need to support and help the farming community to scale up their yields, productivity levels, enhancing the profit margins for farmers by minimizing the farm wastes, reducing the cost of expenditure etc. The session outlines some of the trends and debates the spaces for innovation in this food ecosystem.

Sharing his thoughts about the applications of information technology to the agriculture Vijay Anand, Vice President and Managing Director, Intuit India said that QuickBooks, a product from Intuit has played a key role in enhancing the profits by 15% for farmers who are using this product by sharing information on daily basis.

Devi Murthy, the visionary behind Kamal Kisan and founder of Simple Farm Solutions sharing her thoughts about the small land holdings, labour costs, rural to urban migration, food security issues, said that Kamal Kisan has been working on developing designs, manufactures, sources, and distributes a series of simple farm equipment specifically targeted for small farmers in order to: reduce labor dependence; reduce farming production costs; and reduce dependency on fuel. She further said that Kamal Kisan’s technologies are simple, adaptable, and affordable. These technologies are marketed through service centers in rural communities where farmers can subscribe to Kamal Kisan’s mechanized agricultural services at a reasonable price point.

Gopi Sankarasubramani of Navadarshanam shared his experiences of developing a small organization, as a registered charitable trust operating near a small village 50 km south of Bangalore, which investigates ecological and spiritual alternatives to the modern way of living and thinking. At Navadarshanam, the members undertake many activities such as Eco-Restoration, Organic and natural Farming, Food and Health and Alternative Technologies in the areas of housing, energy and cooking fuels, he added.

Photo caption – L-R Gopi Sankarasubramani of Navadarshanam, Dr V Prakash, distinguished scientist of CSIR India, Nagaraja Prakasam, Acumen partner, Water and Sanitation, Vijay Anand, Vice President and Managing Director, Intuit India and Devi Murthy, founder of Kamal Kisan.