CENTRE FOR TECHNOLOGY AND PRODUCT MARKETING |
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| CENTRE |
Science and Technology (S&T) hold immense promise for the development of rural areas. The benefits of Science and Technology have however, not been fully reaped by rural people to meet the basic human needs like food, health, water, energy, shelter and employment. Improvement in technologies, products, processes and development models offer tremendous opportunities to address these problems facing the rural folk in the farm and non-farm sector. Awareness generation and capacity building through demonstration-cum-training among the rural poor about the importance of technology relative to their needs and transfer of technology are necessary. On the other hand, product marketing is another inadequately addressed area as far as rural producers are concerned. Problems of quality standards, market demand, response to emerging consumer market demand response to emerging consumer preferences, strategies to meet the competition are also areas that need attention.
In order to build the capacities of development planners and practitioners and carryout related studies, the Centre for Technology and Product Marketing (CTPM) was established in May 2005. The centre will also address the problems of technology transfer and marketing of rural products. |
| FOCUS |
| Focussing on the overall rural development through technological intervention and market promotion effort will be made to ensure sustainable development. This would require a systems approach to need-identification, choice of technology, appropriate economies of scale, ecological sustainability, optimum use of local resources upgrading of skills and capabilities, market research etc. |
| MANDATE |
| The mandate of the Centre for Technology and Product marketing are |
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Conducting training and undertaking research technology transfer and marketing of farm and non-farm sector products. |
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To document good management practices of transfer of technology covering project cost, accessibility, acceptability, maintenance, profitability, marketing, etc. |
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To prepare Technical Brochure and Information, Education and Communication materials on various technologies for the benefit of the rural populace. |
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To help in popularising and disseminating appropriate technology by liasing and networking with all major stakeholders (technological institutions, technology promoters, users, District Rural Development Agencies (DRDA), Zilla Parishads (ZP), District Industries Centres (DIC) Council for the Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART), Marketing Support Organisations (MSO), Financial Institutions, local bodies, Non Governmental Organisations (NGO), etc). |
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To undertake Action Research on the transfer of technology and to document the experiences for wider dissemination. |
| Rural Technology Park |
| The Rural Technology Park (RTP), an extension wing of the CTPM, has been established to demonstrate appropriate technologies suitable to the rural areas. Currently the following technology-based units are functional in RTP. |
* Vermi-culture
* Cost effective rural building technologies
* Sanitary Park
* Water Conservation including Rain water Harvesting
* Hand made Paper
* Renewable Energy (Solar Energy)
* Natural Dye
* Bio-Technology
* Value addition and Food Processing
* Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
* Home-based Chemicals
* Apiculture |
| Plans are on the anvil to expand the list of technologies that need to be show cased and also to establish an information clearing house on cost effective appropriate technologies for rural development. |
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| TRAINING PROGRAMMES AND CLIENTELE GROUPS |
| For the year 2006 – 2007, the Centre has proposed to offer twenty-five training programmes focusing on the broad areas like Rural Building Technologies, Food Processing Technologies, Cultivation and Processing of Medicinal and Aromatic plants, Cottage and Village industries, micro enterprise promotion under SGSY, solar energy, bio-diversity conservation and marketing of rural products. The list can be seen at the end. The clientele groups include civil engineer officials and non-officials of DRDA, ZP, KVIC/KVIB, Handlooms, Handicrafts, Coir, Sericulture and prominent NGO and financial institutions. |
| RESEARCH (2006-07) |
* Documentation of Good Practices in Non-farm sector under SGSY
* Comprehensive Marketing Plan for a District. |
| ACTION RESEARCH (Current) |
| Action Research on Solar Energy in Pusalapalem and Thamingula villages of Paderu Mandal, Visakhapatnam district. |
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