Who Makes it Click? Understanding the Stakeholders in Agricultural Innovation Systems in Tripura State of India

The Agricultural Innovation System (AIS) is a network of organizations, enterprises and individuals that focuses on bringing new products, processes and forms of organization into economic use, together with the institutions and policies that affect their behaviour and performance. In the small North East Indian state of Tripura, System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has grown to develop into an innovation system where various stakeholders have come together to make the state self-sufficient in food grains. The present study was conducted to understand the characteristics of the leading stakeholders of the SRI innovation system in the state, their competence, relationship among each other and the enabling environment. Data was collected through a structured interview schedule and competence scale. Actor Linkage Matrix and descriptive statistical parameters were used to analyse data. The work of the administrative units at grass root levels to disseminate an agricultural technology is unprecedented. In addition, the contact between the research institutes and the farmers’ needs to be improved and so does their exposure to other SRIpracticing parts of the country. The lessons learnt from the SRI innovation systems in Tripura, if applied to other similar crops and other similar parts of the country as well as in the developing world, would definitely prove to be a model for development and prosperity.