Agriculture
Based on the building blocks of watershed and microfinance, we are developing a series of sustainable livelihoods for the poor.
Dryland Agriculture
We have worked out a package of agricultural practices finely tuned to the resource endowments of the watershed, which is accessible to the poor (low-cost) and sustainable (low-risk). We have experimented with 36 improved varieties based on indigenous seeds of 9 crops — sorghum, maize, pigeonpea, cotton, soyabean, gram, pearl millet, groundnut and wheat — which give good yields even with low external inputs. These varieties have been developed from the local germplasm by scientists working on-location across India’s drylands and are, therefore, well adapted to this challenging environment. Of these we have shortlisted 15 varieties of sorghum, maize, pigeon pea, cotton, soyabean, gram and wheat. Under our agricultural extension programme we encourage a few carefully selected farmers to set up seed production plots of some of these varieties. SPS buys back seeds from these farmers and then distributes them to farmers in the area. With an increasing number of these farmers the SPS team is encouraging the adoption of No Pesticide Management (NPM) agriculture.
Along with 7 other partner NGOs, in 2008, we initiated an All-India Consortium on NPM Agriculture. The NPM idea came up as a response to the difficulties faced in Organic Certification, which is both expensive and inaccessible to small farmers. The idea of the NPM movement is to encourage farmers to grow crops without any chemical pesticides, create an identity for their produce and link these small producers to markets. The need to use small doses of chemical fertilizers arises on account of the poor soil health in these areas. Unless soil health is built up over time, a move to full organic agriculture will be impossible. Hence, NPM agriculture stresses building up soil fertility through appropriate management practices (such as composting and recycling of agricultural residues, use of farm yard manure, green manuring crops and bio-pesticides) with a gradual phasing out of chemical fertilizers.
SPS Core Team members Dr. Debashis Banerji and P.S. Vijay Shankar guide the agriculture programme.
Crop Aggregation and Marketing
To make farming viable in India, we need to ensure remunerative prices for small and marginal farmers who sell off most of their produce in local markets at very low prices immediately after the harvest. Through our SHGs, over the last 2 years, we have facilitated an initiative to help farmers aggregate their produce and collectively sell in bigger markets at a time when they can get a better price. A striking feature of this initiative is that funds have been almost entirely mobilised by the SHGs from mainstream banks on the strength of their own corpus. This is an initiative by the people based on their own institutions and capital. This has a significant impact on the empowerment of women, who play a crucial role in the whole aggregation process, be it in fixing the price, ascertaining quality or in making payments through banks. The programme has extended to pigeon pea, soyabean, gram and wheat growers.
SPS Core Team member Rangu Rao directs the crop aggregation and marketing programme
Livestock Support
Over the last two years, we have started a livestock support programme for small and marginal farmers. While people have large stocks of cattle in our area, milk yields have been poor due to lack of health, water, fodder, affordable credit and a market. Our watershed programme had already ensured water and fodder. We have now introduced quality preventive and curative veterinary care. Our painstaking efforts have ensured that the Indore Milk Union includes our area in their milk collection route. And SHGs have extended credit to their members (at low rates of interest with long repayment periods) to purchase quality indigenous breeds. These animals have all been insured through a tie-up with the Oriental Insurance Company.
Having first minimized risk, the programme now emphasises building up systems to ensure transparency and provide incentives to the farmer to increase production. On the procurement side, activities focus on building up a fair and efficient milk collection and payment system. On the production side, various programmes like pregnant cow care, fodder production, regular deworming and vaccination, support in selection of good animals and improved breeding services have tried to raise productivity of farm animals. In these efforts, it has been our endeavour to strike a balance between getting better yields from the present stock as well as induction of indigenous and crossbred animals. A dedicated cadre of paravets and milk cooperative society secretaries provides feet to the programme by making available these services in far-flung villages.
SPS Core Team members Rangu Rao and G. Reghu lead the livestock support team.