Project Detail

Initiate and Enhance Sustainable Practices in Agriculture of the Small Farmers from the drought prone villages of Sangamner Block of Ahmednagar Distt, Maharastra

Sangamner taluka is located in the rainshadow of Sahyadri ranges. The average rainfall is 450 to 500 mm. Almost 80% of the villages in Sangamner block do not have irrigation facility. Changing agricultural practices has made agriculture as economically unviable. The purpose of the project is to organize small farmers from 10 villages of Sangamner block into village based ?Krishak Panchayats? to facilitate the start of economically and ecologically sustainable agricultural practices with special emphasis on agro-biodiversity, and participate in the process of conservation of indigenous seeds as a part of biodiversity movement. Bajara is the main crop in the area that provides subsistence to the small farmers. It has been observed that the cropping practice of Bajara has changed from mixed cropping (with beans and cereals) to monoculture. It has been experienced by most of the farmers that the capital cost per crop is growing but the returns from the crop are not ensured. The indigenous varieties of seeds important for agro-biodiversity are replaced by the high yielding varieties available in market. High yielding varieties are highly dependent on rainfall and demand use of chemical fertilizers. It was observed during year 2002 that due to low rainfall most of the farmers lost the crop totally. Indigenous variety of Bajara can withstand the low rainfall. The mono-cropping of Bajara has not only affected the economics of the crop but also has affected natural nitrogen fixation process. It has been observed that the white grub to a great extent affects the soil. Farmers use Thaimate or Gas poison to eradicate white grub. But these chemical pesticides are not effective. The problem of white grub persists because farmers use raw cow dung as fertilizers. After spreading raw cow dung they immediately cultivate the land. Raw cow dung helps white grub to grow. The techniques of composting and use of neem cakes are the important treatments in such cases. The traditional mix cropping practices of ERWAD and MALIV are being lost. These traditional practices play an important role in conserving agro-biodiversity. Expecting high yields, farmers have turned towards mono-cropping practices. ERWAD is mix cropping of Bajara with beans and cereals. MALIV is the cropping pattern of mixing vegetables with cereals. It is also true that MALIV was totally controlled by the woman in the family. But with increasing demand for high yield varieties, men have started cultivating total land and MALIV is lost. This project intends to regenerate these practices with changed situation.

Project activities:

1) Organise small farmers intovillage based Krishak Panchayats:
a) Visits to villages: Atleast two visits/village/month.
b) Meetings with small farmers: Atleast one meeting/village/month.
c) Baseline formation of Agricultural reality through PRA technique with all the 10 villages.

2) Krishak Panchayat members produce organic manure from available natural resources:
a) Identification of farmers: Atleast

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Project Snapshot

Grantee:

LOKPANCHAYAT

Country:

India

Area Of Work:

Biodiversity

Operational Phase:

Phase 2

Grant Amount:

US$ 18,357.00

Co-Financing Cash:

US$ 48,395.51

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 31,000.00

Project Number:

SGP/GEF/IND/OP2/04/MS17

Start Date:

12/2004

End Date:

1/2006

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

Project Characteristics and Results

Capacity - Building Component

At least 10 farmers, one farmer from each village, will be selected for orientation meeting regarding production of organic manure. 20 Village level workshops of the Krishak Panchayat members regarding organic manure production will be held and technical guidance will be provided to initiate the production of organic manure. This will help Krishak Panchayats to realize the importance of organic manure and members of the Krishak Panchayats will get opportunities to learn about various techniques of composting. The project will initiate the process of seed banks through Krishak Panchayats on the norms of self help groups. Low cost seed processing for storage as well as good germination rate will be facilitated through links with different scientific and research institutes. Workshop on formation of seed banks will be held for the Krishak Panchayat organizers and secretary, in collaboration with ADS Karjat and necessary support will be provided for appropriate and low cost technology for the storage of seeds. Total 20 farmers and 10 demonstration plots will be selected. Planning workshop for the farmers will be organized in collaboration with PRAYAS. On farm, technical support will be given to the farmers including frequent interaction with the farmers by visiting the plot at least twice a month. The demonstration will include use of indigenous variety of Bajara, in the mixed cropping pattern. It will also demonstrate low cost water harvesting practices; use of organic manure as per the availability of biomass; use of Neem cake for white grub and importance of the trees on bunds in pest control. At least one meeting per month will be held after initiation of the demonstration plots. Two exposure visits of the farmers to the agricultural university and PRAYAS demonstration plot will be organized; this activity will also involve other selected farmers who can participate in the process of demonstration in the future.

Project sustainability

Krishak Panchayats are viewed as the people?s institutions and will be owned by the farmers since beginning based on the norms of Self Help. There are various possibilities of value additions to the process of Krishak Panchayats. One of the idea is to link Krishak Panchayats with Gram Panchayats as the committee looking after organic farming. Another possibility is that Krishak Panchayat take up the role of bio-diversity committees of Gram Panchayats. The activities of seed bank, composting will be owned by group of farmers, who are trained. This institutional mechanism ensures sustainability of the project activities.

Replication of project activities

Lok Panchayat is part of a regional network Uttar Maharashtra Lok-Vikas Manch which is working on the similar issue. There are 27 partners of this network and the learning as well as experimentation done in this project will be exchanged with these partners so that they can initiate similar type of process in their field. Interventions like Vermi composting, use of bio-pesticides can be easily replicated in other geographical areas. The activities of building inter linkages with Agriculture universities, agriculture department and other NGOs will help in disseminating the learning derived from the project. This will further encourage the replicability of the project.

Notable Community Participation

The Krishak Panchayats at the level of villages will be formed through the participation of small farmers. The responsibility of conducting the activities will be with two farmers in the role of the Organizer and the Secretary. The Organizer will look after the responsibilities of providing leadership, encouragement to keep the forum active and the Secretary will look after the responsibilities of keeping records of meetings, seeds and other activities. Farmers will provide land and labor for the production of organic manure. They will also take up the responsibility of collecting biomass necessary for the production of organic manure. The farmers will constantly monitor the production process in association with the animator. The land for experimentation will be availed by the participating farmers. The participating farmers will provide 5 acres of land for a period of 30 months for the demonstration process. Basic inputs like manure, labor and bio-pesticides will also be contributed by the farmers as their commitment to the change process. The project will only provide the technical monitoring support, documentation and capacity building support etc.

Policy Influence

The project has been recognized by the National Centre of Organic Farming, a Government of India body and the NGO has been made a nodal agency for organic certification and traditional seed conservation.

Planning non gef grant

The project has been scaled up over a 1000 ha area through support under the National Project on Organic Farming.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

Today, use of agricultural technology available in market is capital-intensive, requires high chemical input and results in low productivity and ecological destruction. The project will consolidate locally available and easily accessible agricultural technologies, which will help in establishing economical agricultural practices for small farmers. This includes traditional cultivation practices, farm bunding, use of organic and locally produced manure etc.

Project Results

?The project received Best NGO State Government Award and community workers were also recognised.
?10 Krishak Panchayats have been formed with membership of 300 farmers. Monthly meetings of Krishak Panchayats are being held resulting into exchange of experiences and reflection about current agricultural practices. Regularized information is being disseminated to 300 farmers regarding organic farming, agro-biodiversity & bio pest control. All the 300 farmers have acquired knowledge and skills in the production of organic manure by using different techniques. 10 production units of organic manure have been initiated through project activities. At-least 150 farmers initiated the production of organic manure as per the inputs provided in the activities during project period. Over 100 indigenous varieties of seeds available in local areas have been collected from the farmers and different NGOs. Krishak Panchayat has started 10 seed banks on the norms of self help. The seeds are being classified and disseminated in systematic exhibition. 10 plots demonstrating alternative agricultural practices emphasizing agro-biodiversity have been successfully operating for 30 months. There has been systematic documentation of the process and consolidation of learning and dissemination to more than 2000 farmers. Inter-linkages with agricultural universities and like minded NGOs in the region have resulted in organic farming and certification network.

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Indicators

Biophysical

Number of globally significant species protected by project 20

Biophysical

Hectares of globally significant biodiversity area protected or sustainably managed by project 10

Empowerment

Number of CBOs / NGOs participated / involved in SGP project 10

Livehood

Number of households who have benefited* from SGP project 150

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