Relevance of Azospirillum Bio-innovation: Lessons from Eco-enterprises in Tamil Nadu, India.

Azospirillum bio-fertilisers as a source of nutrients bring multifarious advantages for the poor farmers including affordability, environmental safety and sustainability of agriculture systems. Researchers, manufacturers and farmers have also benefited from this bio-innovation. An innovation systems approach has been used for analysing organisations along with the institutions and policies specific to this bio-innovation to understand their poverty alleviation focus. The main research question explored was: In what way do the poor participate and how their needs are expressed and represented in policies and programmes for bio-fertilisers? Though, Azospirillum bio-innovation system is very vibrant with diverse actors and linkages, poverty focus did not get reflected in the agenda of these actors and organisations. This paper while analysing the Azospirillum bio-innovation system brings out positive lessons from some local efforts in the State which can be helpful in bringing a pro-poor focus to the public sector R&D in the State. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]