Tata Chemicals is at the forefront of yet another green revolution in India through its Tata Kisan Sansars. The TKS provides farm extension services which are helping farmers in North India change their lives

With their technological innovations, farming know-how and social commitment, the Tata Kisan Sansars (an upgraded set-up of the Tata Kisan Kendras) is unlike anything Indian agriculture has seen. The TKSs, 800 of them, currently operational in the North Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, provide end-to-end agricultural solutions to farmers, while using sophisticated technology such as satellite mapping and geographical information systems.

One-stop shops for complete farm solutions
The rapid strides in crop-cultivation techniques have necessitated comprehensive and continuous farmer education. Given the huge size and spread of the Indian farming community, educating and training farmers in new agricultural methods and practices has become a major challenge, one that demands institutional and manpower resources.

It is here that the TKSs provide the cutting edge. They act as one-stop resource centres, offering cultivators a wide range of agri-services and solutions — from the stage of sowing of seeds to post-harvest management and marketing of agricultural produce.

The Sansars also provide various sales and support services, including agro inputs, guidance on cultivation, crop-management techniques and other post-harvest management methods. They offer need-based farm machinery, besides location and situation-specific technology solutions to farmers at their doorsteps.

Staff at each Sansar provide farmers with solutions to every agriculture-related problem. A well-stocked library of journals and magazines helps farmers keep abreast of news and the latest global developments. In addition, the Sansars mail regular bulletins on farm-related news to subscribers. The training halls at the Sansars are used for workshops and screening films related to agriculture for the farmer's benefit.

Tata Kisan Sansars stock seeds, pesticides and fertilisers that farmers can buy at affordable prices, and lease out farm equipment and implements to farmers who cannot afford to buy expensive modern machinery.

The Sansars also take care of one of the biggest worries for small farmers in India — finance. Farmers can get credit, insure their crops against natural disasters and even avail of buyback facilities.

Special events — educational, social or just pure entertainment — are organised for members of the Tata Kisan Sahyog Parivar, an organisation promoted by the TKS network to build relationships with farmers and their families.

Leveraging modern technology
Precision farming, an innovative project pioneered by the TKSs, is helping small farmers harness sophisticated modern technology, such as satellite mapping and geographical information systems (GIS), to maximise their agricultural yields.

Precision farming involves putting to use satellite-imaging technology to help farmers decide the kind of crops they want to grow. The TKS network runs crop clinics where agronomists use computers to access information from the GIS and advise farmers on what to grow, where and when to grow it, and how much urea and nutrients to use.

At the soil-testing laboratory, technicians analyse soil samples to determine their composition and confirm what the satellite maps have indicated. Additionally, the TKS network operates experimental farms where scientists conduct agricultural research and development.

By making optimum use of information on soil conditions and key climatic factors, precision farming helps in the estimation of likely crop yield, the extent of pest-induced damage, and in identifying crippling crop diseases.

The unique solutions offered by the TKSs go beyond providing services and products to India's agricultural community. They have enriched the lives of farmers through their integrated educational and training institutions. The Sansars enable the farmer to be an equal partner in the development process.

TKVK and TKS network
The command area of the TKS covers the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. The network of farmer centres is divided into Tata Krishi Vikas Kendras (TKVK) and franchisee TKS. The TKVK serves as a resource centre for both the TKS (franchisee) and the farmer. Each TKVK spans a radius of around 60 km and 20 TKS. Each TKS spans a radius of around 8 km and 60 villages.

Currently, 40 TKVKs and about 800 TKS are in operation, catering to the needs of the 14,000 villages that fall in the command area.

Each TKVK contains all the infrastructure necessary to work as a comprehensive resource centre to fulfil the needs of the TKS network. Every Sansar is equipped with an administrative office, a training hall, a crop clinic, a soil-testing laboratory, a research and development farm, a storage godown, an exhibition hall and a TKS retail outlet, all under one roof.