.Science
in Rural Development
Director,
(Scientific Information) NARC, Islamabad
Rural development is a multi dimensional concept which envisages a variety of improvements needed for the welfare and progress in the short and medium to long term spectrum of village life. Being practiced in rural areas, agriculture science is most supportive to rural development among all sciences. Around 230 million households in the developing countries or almost 50% of the population is based in rural areas. Therefore, science-based rural development occupies a high place in any nation's socio-economic agenda for progress having an agrarian economy.
Science provides ample support to conservation of valuable natural resources including land, water, forests and environment. Rural people have very special relationship to their land and natural resources since these are their key assets for economic survival and a status symbol in the society. Therefore resource conservation technologies have a significant role in rural economic sustainability and development. Only science provides the answer to the issues like land conservation, enhance water use efficiency and improve water management, and provide solutions to non-exploitative use of natural resources including indiscriminate chopping off forests and pastures from over-grazing by providing alternate fuels and animal feed production technologies.
It is a paradox that most of the science and scientific discoveries are taking place at urban centers, generally away from the rural areas. Moreover, all the science done is not converted into technology for onward transmission to end-users, mostly located in rural areas particularly in case of agriculture science. Therefore, there is a strong need to establish a permanent pool of technologies to be well maintained, regularly updated and networked with rural centers, clusters and communities. Seasonal and irregular technology transfer/dissemination efforts cannot help in rural development to achieve the long term goals of sustainable development. Technology transfer needs to be round the year, whole time, and a household activity.
There are generally two categories of rural population which can play a significant role to expedite and ensure rural development, if properly focused and provided science-based, low cost solutions.
a) Land Owners Community
This community may be the first clientele of science-based solutions for rural development since it has the basic potential/ capability to respond to the technological interventions, e.g:
It can adopt better crop varieties and production technology packages developed by scientists and researchers.
Adopt non-exploitative methods of natural resource utilization including land, water, forests, pastures etc.
Can benefit from latest developments/ innovations in livestock, poultry, fisheries sub-sectors .
Can establish small to medium size agro-based industries including fruits and vegetable processing units for preservation, grading and packaging/canning for local market as well as export.
b) Landless Community
This community can also benefit from scientific developments and promote the cause of rural development by adopting the following professions which do not necessarily need land holding/ownership. These activities/jobs/ business can be initiated with low investment:
Beekeeping is a high return activity to promote economic prosperity of rural populations by honey production and enhanced pollination of crops.
Poultry and fisheries are also low investment and less land-intensive activities and can be initiated on lands declared otherwise unfit for cropping.
Establishment of repair workshops for farm machinery implements and tractor/auto mobiles.
Frontline Technologies
Technologies like tissue culture and biotechnology have tremendous potential to
support the cause of rural development. Tissue culture technology, in
particular, is low cost and easy to deploy. Scientific interventions for
production of better quality potato, tomato, banana and a variety of other
improved horticultural crops have a promise to support food needs of rural areas
and their marketing at urban centres at good prices.
Technologies like zero tillage and laser land leveling can improve both production and productivity in rural areas by lowering input cost and enhanced water use efficiency, respectively.
Geographic Information
System - GIS
GIS technology is helping/ playing a greater role in urban as well as rural
infrastructure development. To explore the cost-effective paths to connect
habitations to lay pipelines for transportation of gas, water etc. role of GIS
is very important to facilitate and expedite rural development.
Alternate Energy
Solar, wind and small dam-based power units and bio-gas plants can provide
solutions to reduce load on forests due to indiscriminate chopping off trees for
fuel wood and other household consumptions and help support the cause of safer
environment and natural resource conservation.
Hygiene and Sanitation
Medical Science has a special focus on improvement of hygiene and sanitation
conditions in rural areas as they have a key role in rural development. A number
of interventions by medical science have a promise to support the cause of rural
uplift. Basic health related matters/concepts along with family planning and
reproduction health care facilities have a role to ensure the well being of
rural population all over the world, particularly in developing and less
developed countries (LDCs).
Basic Education and Skill
Development
Education is one of the major 'agents of change' which can lead rural
populations from abject ignorance and poverty to a variety of new concepts
focusing on improvement in quality of life. Development of basic skills relating
to agriculture, natural resource conservation, poultry, livestock, fisheries
beekeeping etc. can play a major role in rural development.
Pakistani Scenario
Development of new technologies based on scientific knowledge has played a key
role in the transformation of human and animal labor-based medieval looking
Pakistani rural society of 1950s into a progressive and technology-based culture
over the past 30-35 years. Major role in this regard has been played by
agricultural research and development (R&D) organizations, centers,
institutes and labs both at federal and provincial levels supported by
international centers, agencies and donors. Now, there are more than 200 R&D
institutes/ centres in agricultural research and development sector in Pakistan
with 5000(+) scientists and researchers. Total regular budget of these
institutions is Rs.12(+) billion. These centers/institutes have, over the years,
developed several research-based packages of technology for a variety of areas
to promote the cause of rural development in Pakistan.
Some of the areas strengthened with the development and induction of science-based new technologies include, introduction of hundreds of new crop varieties with high yielding, early maturing and disease resistant features, dwarf plant/ varieties consuming low fertilizer and low quantity/ quality of water; livestock reproduction capacity enhanced from one to 1-3 off springs through embryo transfer technology, increased sheep pregnancy rate from 45-75%; artificial insemination increased milk production three times; hydropericardium vaccine developed by Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) is now being produced by nine manufacturing units in 500(+) million doses per annum with a net saving value of Rs. 40-50 billion in the poultry sector; 45 livestock feed mills replicated by private sector based on PARC model with an estimated investment of 450 million are benefiting 150,000(+) livestock farmers in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Farmers can now get same yield of wheat crop by 50% reduction in fertilizer application using band placement technology. Honeybee production has been increased manifold by introduction of European honeybee in 1980s and now Pakistan is having 300,000 bee colonies, producing 3000 tonnes of honey annually for domestic use and export. Science has played a significant role in development and introduction of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program reducing reliance on pesticides; improved water management and water use efficiency enhancement techniques and equipment like raingun sprinkler and trickle irrigation have played a significant role in rural development and prosperity of farming community. Farm mechanization is yet another area that has substantially reduced human and animal labor input in rural sector and have spared them for better and more useful utilization along with enhanced returns from agriculture sector for the farming community.
Returns from investment in science and research have been calculated from 50-700% all over the world. Science has many times proved this in Pakistan also. A single variety of wheat, cotton or any other major crop has returned all the expenditure incurred on the whole center/institute established for undertaking research on that variety or commodity in 10-25 years by substantially increasing income of farmers, overall returns to the national economy and additional foreign exchange earnings. Scientific discoveries transformed into knowledge and packages of technology disseminated to farmers have played a key role in the rural development of the country.
Pakistan has a focus on value added agriculture and agro processing industry for crops, livestock, forestry and fisheries sub-sectors. We believe that rural and urban development is interdependent and mutually reinforcing.
There are about 50,000 villages in the country with population below 10,000; around 450 small towns with population less than 100,000 and 40 medium size towns with population above 100,000 and two mega cities namely Karachi and Lahore. Overall rural and urban population ratio is 66:34 percent.
Rural development is therefore a focus area in our policy planning and socio-economic uplift programs based on agricultural development which is the main hub of bulk of employment and productive activities. The knowledge-based agriculture will enable fewer farmers to provide more and more food thus releasing resources for an industrial society. Our rural development strategy focus on the following major areas:
Enhance the asset ownership of the poor by improving access to land, water and livestock.
Enhance activities in non-farm sector, including agro-processing, provision of agricultural inputs and supply of basic consumer goods and services.
Promote rural industrialization including "one village, one product" movement.
Deepening and intensifying market development, including input, output and rural financial markets.
Provision of rural infrastructure including roads, clean drinking water supply and sanitation, education and health facilities and village electrification.
Concept of value added agriculture to be strengthened by providing institutional support for improved quality of output, grading, packaging and refrigerated transport upto the cargo terminals for air-freight to the export market.
Rural industrialization based upon analysis of local comparative advantages, maximum employment through promotion of labor intensive industries and technologies in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), encouraging value addition and enhancing workers skills along with facilitating technology upgradation.
Indigenous Knowledge (IK)
Agriculture is one of the oldest professions on the globe and has been a way
of life for millions of people from the time unknown. Farming community has been
practicing agriculture generations after generations on the basis of knowledge
generated by their ancestors and added up with various new concepts over the
centuries. This experience, known as indigenous knowledge (IK) has not been
formally documented in most parts of the world, particularly in the developing
countries.
Before the advent of modern scientific era, most of the agriculture was based on indigenous knowledge (IK). There is, therefore, a growing interest at national and international levels in the role that IK plays in a variety of participatory approaches to development. Research is generating more and more data showing the relevance of IK for sustainable development. These data may be systematically shared with fellow researchers, practitioners to further step up research efforts.
Regular storage, updation efforts and networking of this vital knowledge based on practical experience stretching over centuries is crucial for development of rural areas. IK "home" development is therefore necessary to be established to benefit from this still largely untapped resource. Potential contribution of IK to development is increasingly recognized and more and more national IK resource centers are being established worldwide.
Information and
Communication Technologies- ICT
Science is generating knowledge and knowledge-based research and technology
rapidly in a variety of areas including agriculture and allied disciplines.
Technology packages based on scientific knowledge are developed for
dissemination to the relevant clientele mostly located in rural areas. Gone are
the days when this knowledge was used to be transferred to rural communities by
one time most popular method of 'face to face communication' through a large
team comprising hundreds of field workers and extension agents. Population
explosion has virtually made it impossible to reach a target group of farmer
families after short intervals and keep them updated on latest developments in
new technologies on regular basis. This has given rise to the concept of
information and communication technologies-ICT which is a blend of IT based
communication activities, particularly Internet which has emerged over a short
span of time as the most powerful and effective medium of communication human
history has ever witnessed so far. It has provided web based systems, services
and solutions to many of the communication oriented activities in sharing of
scientific knowledge which could have been dreamed only, a few year ago.
Agriculture was and remains mainstay of the rural sector with ICT adoption becoming a critical success factor for securing this sector's economic and social viability. However, successful ICT development, dissemination and implementation will depend on rural communities and their learning from the past experience.
Therefore there is a vital need that all the knowledge generated by modern science and available in the form of indigenous knowledge (IK) is documented, pooled and made available to rural populations. ICT can play a major role as an 'agent of change' in rural development if it is made a household activity to ensure its extensive and continuous use for dissemination of science based knowledge to rural communities. China, India and Indonesia are following this model of knowledge-based technology transfer among the developing countries, to a large extent.
Among the latest technologies, only ICT has the capability to bring visibility to the scientific research and development endeavors, convince about the utility of science, particularly in developing countries, and help in bringing more funds for further research to alleviate poverty, ensure rural development and bring prosperity to rural populations across the globe.
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