2. Justification for Support - Linkages with GEF Themes and
Operational Programmes

The project has direct relevance with GEF/SGP Operational Program on Sustainable Land Management (OP #15). The principle reasons for development of this project are extensive land degradation due to un-sustainable farming practices, indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides & fertilizers in District Badin, which has adversely damaged the land ecosystem and biodiversity of the area.

There are various pests such as stem borers, plan hoppers, leaf rollers, defoliators, rodents and weeds that damage the paddy farms in the project area. Currently, they are being controlled mainly through indiscriminate use of chemicals containing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). These non-degradable pesticides are getting dissolved into the land, air as well as ground water; thereby increasing the risk of entering into food chain. The extensive use of chemical pesticides with increasing ratio of POPs has resulted into manifold negative effects not only on the paddy ecosystem but also human life is also on the risk.

The use of POPs has been globally restricted in all its forms and manifestation through international agreement. Pakistan is also one of the signatories. Therefore, successful implementation of this project will directly support to the global cause of environmental protection and the concerns of transboundary climate change.

Due to unsustainable land management and inappropriate farming practices, cost of production has increased having economic burden on the local farming communities.
Community based Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is the application of an interconnected set of methods for managing pests including pest prevention techniques, pest monitoring methods, biological control, pest attractants and repellents, bio-pesticides, use of insect resistant varieties and the chemical pesticides at the last resort. Community IPM is people-related. IPM focuses on long-term prevention or suppression of pest problems with minimum impact on human health and the environment. It involves regular monitoring and technical management of all those processes of crop production starting from preparation of land up to post-harvest management practices. These activities are directly linked to help mitigate land degradation processes in the project area for greater productivity enhancement keeping in view the thematic areas of GEF/SGP OP #15.
· What are the principal reasons why the project activity is needed?

· Due to lack of knowledge and skills, the local communities don?t take care of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) approach for crop protection in paddy farms.
· Community is unable to properly monitor and manage their paddy farms by applying available alternative environment friendly methods.
· Most of the manpower in the target areas is engaged in paddy farming and their main source of income come from this sector
· They are unaware of proper management of their paddy farms
· The area has great potential for crops of economic importance such as rice, sunflower, sugarcane, cotton, wheat, chilies, banana, paan, vegetables; etc.
· Rice, being one the important economic crops of District Badin; there are about 30 Rice husking Mills. There is also great potential for processing industry.
· Women folk are actively involved with their women in the rice farming. The project aims to further improve women participation and raise awareness about indiscriminate use of pesticides in paddy farming system.
1. Clearly identify the problem the project aims to solve

1. Land degradation due to un-sustainable rice pest management practices
2. Prevalent pest problems such as stem borers, plant hoppers, defoliators, weeds, etc.
3. Indiscriminate use of hazardous insecticides including Padan, Mono, Cyper, Limda, Rifit, Amicon, Amida, Thiodan, Karate, Confidor, Actara and Regent which are equally hazardous to human and land ecosystem of the project area
4. Increasing cost of production for rice growers
5. Increasing resistance in pests due to indiscriminate use of insecticides and emergence of secondary pest problems
6. Lack of scientific farm management skills and knowledge among the paddy growers.

3. Context/Baseline (not more than 300 words)

The total geographical area of District Badin is 6,726 sq. km (672,000 ha) and population 11,36,000 as per 1998 census. Total cultivated area is 454000 ha, irrigated 204900 ha (1995-96) and forest area is 5000 ha. It comprises 5 Talukas viz Badin, Matli, Golarchi (Shaheed Fazil Rahu), Talhar and Tando Bago.

The project?s target area Union Council Golarchi (Shaheed Fazil Rahu) is situated in Tehsil Golarchi, District of Badin. There are 250 villages in this UC with total population of about 40,000 as reported by FAHRDA and local NGO. It is located at a distance of about 35 km from District Headquarters. The major source of income of the inhabitants is agriculture mainly rice farming. Some people are engaged in different small scale businesses in Hyderabad and Karachi city. The inhabitants of this area have a simple lifestyle and they comprise of Sindhi (40%), Punjabi (40%), Bengali (15%) and non-Muslim (5%).

The total cropping area of Union Council Golarchi is 14170 ha (35,000 acres) and 10121 ha (25,000 acres, 71%) are under rice cultivation. The main crops are rice, sunflower, sugarcane, cotton, banana, paan, vegetables etc. The area is irrigated from the Sukkur and Kotri Barrages. District Badin has remained the victim of natural calamities one after another. The underground water is almost brackish. There is shortage of irrigation in whole of district. However through better water management practices, the situation can be effectively ameliorated.

Most of the population is engaged in rice farming being their main source of livelihood. The climate is moderate with absence of extreme heat and cold. A fairly strong wind blows almost throughout the year.

Keeping in view the above-mentioned issues, the project will focus on sustainable land management minimizing use of pesticides from Rs.3,500 to Rs.1,000 per ha.

Before establishment of the Field Station cum Laboratory at Union Council Golarchi, the extensive baseline survey of the project will be undertaken by the involvement of local community and DEVCON partner organizations, local CBOs as well as the Department of Agriculture, Badin. Through the baseline survey, following information will be collected:

· Types and exact amount of hazardous insecticides being used: To determine the mean %age of POPs components present in the soil and paddy fields, information about types of insecticides with their chemical groups would be made available.
· Frequency of insecticides sprays: Based upon the personal contacts with local NGOs, CBOs, Department of Agriculture and the local growers, exact number of insecticide sprays being used currently in the project area would be determined.
· The level of insecticide residues in soil, ground water and orchards: To determine the level of insecticide residues in soil, ground water and orchard plants, the soil, water and fruit samples would be tested from an authorized laboratory or the nearest PCSIR laboratories.
· Existing paddy farm management practices: In the absence of environment friendly technologies in an area, usually the growers either depend upon chemical applications or use the indigenous methods of farm management to minimize their crop losses. The project would collect the detailed information from all the local sources in this aspect.

One of the main objectives of the organized baseline survey would be to compare the initial situation of the farm management before commencement of the project with the situation after completion of the project. This exercise would also help in both the internal and external monitoring & evaluation of the project.



4. Project Strategy

Community based Integrated Pest Management (IPM) involves all those processes of crop production starting from preparation of land up to post-harvest management related to crop protection. It focuses on long-term prevention or suppression of pest problems with minimum impact on human health and the environment.
To implement the project activities in effective and efficient manner, all stakeholders will be involved from planning to implementation stage. The farming community of Union Council Golarchi, District Badin will be directly involved in various project activities and considered as main partners of the project.

The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) and local CBOs in Badin would be actively involved in the project implementation process at the stage of community dialogue, planning of activities, monitoring of orchards and outcome of the project. The project team will be enabled to mobilize resources in coordination with the stakeholders to make it a great success. The local development organizations and communities in the project area will be equally involved in the project activities specially Farmer Field School (FFS). All these activities will be properly coordinated with the administration of Union Council Golarchi. Women will also be one of the major beneficiaries of the project in term of having low risks when the use of pesticides is curtailed. Application of various cultural practices and IPM based techniques promoting sustainable land management will be the main strategies to manage pest and build capacity of the farmers. The major rice pests such as stem borers, plant hoppers, defoliators, etc. will be taken into account under the project.

Project will be initiated with community dialogue in Union Council Golarchi, determining initial situation of the target area and selection of growers. A community based IPM/ICM resource center will be established for mass multiplication and mass releases of environmental friendly insects including a range of beneficial wasps, coccinellid beetles and chrysopids. In addition to this, neem oil as bio-pesticide, petroleum based product DC Tron, insect pheromones, light traps and environmental friendly chemicals would be made available and introduced in the farming area.

In first phase, project team will meet the local community to ensure all kind of their possible support for achievement of targets. At least 8 rice farms will be selected for experimental purposes, which at the end of year will be surveyed and compared with those farms having no project activities.

The exposure visits of traditional farmers with those practicing biological approach in other parts of the country will be organized that will improve farming skills of the growers in community based IPM. These visits will help farmers to learn various pest management techniques. IPM Field Days and seminars will also be arranged for the growers to further polish their knowledge and skills and building their capacity. IPM training modules and brochures will be prepared that will also strengthen farmers approach towards community based IPM. Project team will submit quarterly progress reports to the sponsors on regular basis. At the end of the first year, a comprehensive survey will be done in order to find out achievements of the project.

The project activities will be introduced to other Union Councils of District Badin in the forthcoming year, following the same activities with modification according to emerging needs and expectations of the growers. At the end of second year, project infrastructure will be taken over by the local CBOs and willing communalities with technical support from the project so that biological products and services could be commercialized shifting the project towards programme approach for its long-term sustainability. To achieve these objectives, ECI would also make sure to link this project with their already operational IPM program in Sindh through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

6. Anticipated Results (not more than 300 words)

The following results are expected after completion of the project.

(a) Impacts on Participants/beneficiaries

§ Community will be introduced with SLM practices to combat desertification and enhance crop productivity.
§ Reduction in cost of production from Rs.27,664 to about Rs. 20,000 per hectare in two year period.
§ Environment friendly techniques for effective IPM would be available
§ Awareness about the pests and their management will be raised
§ The capacity and skills of the farming communities will be developed with availability of IPM training modules, brochures and extension material.

(b) Demonstration value i.e. value of the activity as a mode for possible replication

The primary objective of the project is to introduce SLM practices and reduce number of insecticide sprays, preparation of IPM training modules and information package for staff of AED and growers to enhance their skills and capacity. The resource will ultimately be available for replication of similar activities in other areas of the province of Sindh if like minded NGOs / CBOs are interested.

(c) Value as a learning experience

The project activities such as farmer field schools are of tremendous experience for learning the new techniques and their replication in other areas.